Blue Bloods

John Walker looked down on the Earth from above. He wished he could spend his life in the sky like this. He found peace above the strife, the politics, the people.

Above the atmosphere.

He wished he could live in space, but working here wasn’t a bad start. After a final wistful look at the scenery, he turned and started working on the exposed controls of the satellite he’d been ordered to adjust. Time left in the cold vacuum of space hadn’t been as cruel as time in an atmosphere would have been, but this was an older satellite. The vacuum and cold had worked some mischief inside, and when he got the display to come up, half of it stayed blank. Frustrated, he hit the switch on his radio.

“Astronaut Walker to Space Shuttle Atlantis. Come in Space Shuttle Atlantis.”

The radio cut some of the sneer out of the reply, but not nearly all of it. “Space Shuttle Atlantis reads you Astronaut Walker. Go.”

Walker ignored the sneer. His adherence to the minutiae of protocol made him a spectacular astronaut. Being a spectacular astronaut got him into space so often. He kept his voice even and unconcerned when he replied. “Space Shuttle Atlantis, there is a problem with the adjustment to this satellite. The left half of the screen has been damaged. It will not display.”

“Understood Walker. Atlantis will research and advise. Stand by.”

He waited while, inside the shuttle, the others fired up the radio modem that technicians had hastily bolted into the shuttle before the mission. With it the astronauts had access via satellite to all the information on the internet, as well as live real time chat with any scientist or engineer in the world. Ostensibly, that allowed them to find a solution to whatever problem came up during the mission. In reality, it let them check Facebook while they travelled from satellite to satellite.

While he waited, Walker went through another check, varying the order this time to keep him from missing anything due to routine. Suit integrity was fine. Radio was functional as little as thirty seconds ago. Air supply held enough for another three hours. Battery pack would last twice that, although that went faster the more he used the radio or other powered items. Jets were functional, with nearly full fuel supply. Suit climate control was nominal. Everything critical was working fine.

He looked down at the satellite, lowering his head until he nearly touched the display with his helmet. Close up, he barely made out tiny ice crystals formed just under the surface of the display. Walker smothered a curse when he realized what had happened. At some point before launch, the satellite had gotten wet. Damp, at least. When the launch vehicle fell away and the water exposed to space, some of it had crystallized in the display, cracking it. At this point it was probably irreparable.

Worse, he realized, taking it inside would do more harm than good. It had been functioning normally for years now. That meant the only thing that was broken was the manual access computer display screen, not any of the functional parts of the satellite. If he took it inside, the water would melt. If he didn’t get each and every bit of the satellite bone dry before re-releasing it, the water might crack one of the operational components next time it froze.

Walker pushed himself back with his suit jets, careful not to brush the exhaust against the satellite. Once clear, he spoke into his radio again. “Astronaut Walker to Space Shuttle Atlantis. Come in, Space Shuttle Atlantis.”

After a few long moments the astronaut at the communications station replied. “Atlantis to Walker. We read you, Walker. We don’t have an answer for you yet. We’ll let you know as soon as we can. Why don’t you bring it inside? You’ll be more comfortable in here.”

“Negative, Space Shuttle Atlantis. The satellite’s seals have been compromised, and water has infiltrated and damaged the manual access computer display screen. We’ll need to program blind, move it externally, or rig it for demolition. Please contact Space Shuttle Command at NASA for further instructions.”

“Atlantis to Walker: you sure on that damage, Walker?”

“Affirmative, Space Shuttle Atlantis.”

“OK, Walker. Do you want to come in while we wait on the reply?”

“Negative, Space Shuttle Atlantis. Astronaut Walker will remain on station.” And enjoy my private view of the world.