Prologue
Back in 1962, President Kennedy gave a speech at Rice University on the space race and how the United States would not only be a part of it, but they would lead it.
Less than seven years later, Apollo 11 was orbiting the moon as its lunar module Eagle set down on its surface. Ahead of schedule, six and a half hours later, Neil Armstrong became the first human to walk on the moon.
Less than three years later, there was another space mission, one not in any history books. The President gave no enduring speech about its mission. There were no television cameras at the launch because it would take place in the middle of the night. The official statements released after the launch, one that would rival the Saturn V lift offs, was it being a military mission to put another satellite into orbit around the earth.
It was a lie.
January 1972
Raymond saw Jerry Taylor coming his way down the corridor. The usual entourage was around him, holding out calculations and technical data sheets about some launch coming up in the near future. It was one that was being kept secret, only a core group in the know. He only knew because of Bill Rose, one of the scientists involved. Why Bill was in the team on the mission, Raymond didn’t know. Bill was a theoretical physicist and his direct involvement in a launch was a mystery. He understood why Gordon Scott was one of the astronauts. Gordon had flown test flights, been in training since 1965, and Raymond thought he should have been the lead on whatever mission was coming up. But that honor was given to Jerry Taylor, another scientist in theoretical physics, and someone who only entered the astronaut program in 1969. It didn’t make sense, but Raymond knew to keep his mouth shut, for he wasn’t supposed to even know anything about it.
Raymond ducked into the nearest office, the one belonging to Jonathan Keith. The youngest scientist in the program, and he knew Jonathan must be brilliant, which made his friendly easy-going manner surprising. Jonathan never displayed any of the attitude some of the others would do, such as Jerry Taylor, who made it known he was in charge and never let anyone forget it.
“Hey Raymond, what’s up?” Jonathan asked, turning from his computer, the massive monitor and supporting components taking up most of his desk.
“Just ducking out of sight of Jerry.”
Jonathan laughed, then turned back to his monitor.
“What are you working on?” asked Raymond.
“I..huh…can’t discuss it.”
“A secret mission? Must be military. I just don’t get why Jerry seems involved in it.”
“I guess he has certain skills it needs. How’s the training going?”
“Good.”
“Being the youngest has its advantages.”
“You would know,” Raymond replied. Jonathan looked around and laughed, causing Raymond to do the same.
“Have they told you what mission you could get?”
“No, just that I’m backup for a couple coming up.”
The day progressed for Raymond like any other. Hours of training, medical checkups, cognitive skill tests, and review of launch protocols and what to expect when the big rockets ignited. By the day’s end, he was exhausted. A quick shower and dressed back into his civilian clothes, he headed out to the parking lot.
He passed the two Corvettes and Mustang belonging to some of the guys until he came to his Chevelle. It wasn’t as nice as the sport cars, but the Chevelle had been within his budget and truth be known, with the modifications his brother-in-law had made, a hell of a lot faster. It was a 68 SS 396, a solid platform for the modifications performed on it. It sat lower, with wider tires, and once running, idled with the rumble only an American V-8 could produce.
He idled through the parking lot, then gunned it once on the road, heading toward NASA Parkway. Across the bridge, he turned south toward Port St. John. Less than ten minutes and four turns later, he pulled into the drive of the home he shared with Bill Rose. Bill was already home, for his green Camaro Z/28 sat in its usual spot. He eased in next to it and killed the engine.
Bill had transferred nineteen months prior from California to be closer to the launch site. A chance encounter in a bar two weeks after Bill arrived, and Raymond found himself inviting Bill home for the night. It went from a few dates to Bill moving in.
Bill was in the kitchen pulling broiled fish from the oven.
“Wash up. It’s ready,” said Bill.
They sat in the small dining room, the curtains pulled on the large bay window allowing them to see the neighbors walk past on evening strolls or taking dogs for their walk.
“Is your secret mission about to go to launch?”
“Yep, and don’t ask anything else. You need plausible deniability. I need them to trust me.”
“Okay, Dr. Frankenstein,” Raymond joked, as he did whenever Bill clammed up about that mission.
They got the kitchen cleaned up and found themselves on the sofa watching Hawaii Five-O. They began to mess with each other, rubbing a foot along a leg or tickling the bottom of a foot.
“You better stop,” said Bill.
“Or what?” Raymond replied as he ran his index finger up the bottom of Bill’s foot.
Suddenly Bill was on him, pinning him down. There were kisses and nips on the skin along his neck, around one ear, even a tug on the earlobe, then they were kissing.
Clothes lay strewn from the living room to the bedroom, and on the bed, Bill was on his knees taking Raymond’s legs behind the knees. He pushed them forward then down, pressing each knee into the bed either side of the torso.
“Yeah, fuck me,” Raymond uttered as he guided Bill to his tight opening. Then he moaned as cock stretched him open. He felt the fullness of the penetration, how the cock bore into his depths until Bill finally began to fuck. The tug outward, then the push, each time feeling the fullness of it. He dug his fingers into the flexing thighs and lay back savoring the pleasure of their fuck.
Bill shifted positions, came to his knees, and held both legs against his chest, and fucked. Harder, faster, slamming cock into Raymond’s depths. The bed rocked until banging into the wall, the rhythm of each hit aligning with the smack of hips against ass.
“FUCK!” Bill cried out, slamming cock all the way into Raymond and he kept pushing against the upturned ass as he came.
Finally spent, Bill pulled free, guided Raymond to flip over and get on his knees. He wasn’t finished. Still hard, cock slick with his first load, Bill shoved into Raymond again. He held the narrow waist, and began to fuck with a steady pace.
Bill loved the feel of a second fuck, how it took longer to cum, how he could fuck and fuck and fuck until he didn’t think his cock could take it.
Raymond loved Bill’s second fuck for it stroked his arousal, pushed him to the point of release. His cock swung heavily between his thigh as it drooled its slick. He took it in hand and stroked as roughly and as fast as Bill was hammering his ass. He came first, spraying cum across the bed beneath him. Each spurt intense from the cock pumping away inside him. He kept stroking until it was almost painful and the hands on his waist tightened.
Bill slammed into Raymond depths, pushed tight against the ass, and shuddered with his second release.
Raymond was in the kitchen making coffee, scooping the ground beans from the can into the filter basket, when Bill walked in adjusting his tie. He turned on the small television that sat on the counter, switching it to the morning news that was in progress giving the day’s weather. The channel cut away from the weatherman, going back to the main morning newscaster, Thomas Harris.
“This just in. There was an accident earlier this morning on Bama Avenue. One of the astronauts from NASA, Gordon Scott, was seriously injured when a car backed out into the street in front of him. Police say Scott was speeding, and after hitting the rear of the car spun across the road into the path of a truck. He was transported to Jess Parrish Memorial Hospital. There are no further details at this time.”
“Fuck!” Bill exclaimed, “fuck, fuck, fuck.”
“What is it?”
“Gordon; he was on the mission with Jerry.”
“They’ll just delay the launch and get someone else to take his place.”
“It’s not that simple.”
“What do you mean?”
“The delay would be almost two years and…Jerry is not going to want to delay that long.”
“Almost wo years? Why such a long delay.”
“Just get the coffee made. I’m going to need it.”
The phone rang, and Raymond and Bill both stared at the wall mounted phone, then looked at each other to see who would pick it up.
“Get the coffee made,” Bill repeated as he reached for the phone. “This is Bill…yes…I understand. I’m leaving now.” Bill hung up the phone, holding the receiver in the cradle as if it could jump out. “Forget the coffee. I have to go.”
“They’re calling you in as soon as possible?”
“You got it. I suggest you get in early and be prepared for a long fucking day.”
“What will it have to do with me?”
“Shit flows downhill, and I bet Jerry Taylor puts everyone through their paces today. This is going to set him off,” said Bill grabbing up his keys and wallet. “Don’t be late,” he exclaimed as he went out the side door. The Camaro rumbled to life, then Raymond heard the bark of tires as Bill backed out of the drive, then took off down the street heading to the Cape.
He dumped the coffee in the filter basket, rinsed it out, then headed to the bedroom to finish getting ready. Five minutes later, he raced through the kitchen and out the side door. It was a repeat of earlier. The bark of tires as he backed into the street, then another bark of the rear tires as he accelerated away.
Raymond checked in and headed to the training office. As he passed other offices, he looked in to see how others were responding to the news. It seemed every other office was empty with the alternating office having two or three people huddled up talking in low voices. A few of the doors were closed and as he passed one, he heard Steven Matthews yell no.
He turned the corner and passed one of the conference rooms and saw Jerry Taylor, Gabriel Garcia, Shirley James, Jonathan Keith, and Bill sitting around the table. Jerry looked pissed and the others were heads down not saying anything. When he got past the door, he wondered how long it would take for everything to settle down. He was about to enter the training room when he heard Bill’s voice.
“Raymond.” It was spoken so softly and casually, he turned to see Bill standing outside the door to the conference room. He had the look of someone defeated or beaten. He looked pale and flush in the face.
“Raymond, Jerry needs to talk to you.”
“Oh shit,” Raymond whispered, then headed back to the conference room afraid to make Jerry wait.
When he entered the room, he saw files on astronauts on the table, and right in front of Jerry, his file, open to his academic credentials with a photo from his college days.
“Take a seat,” said Jerry in a blunt tone.
Raymond went to the nearest seat, one by Jonathan who gave him a worried look.
“What’s going on?” asked Raymond.
“You have a dual degree,” said Jerry, stated as fact, ignoring Raymond’s question.
“Yes, sir.”
“Physics, with some course work in theoretical physics, and a degree in aeronautical engineering.”
“That is correct.”
“You ranked eleventh in your class, all the while taking more flying lessons, and…” Jerry looks at the file and shakes his head, “a bit of illegal rocketry.”
“How do you know…I can explain-“
“You are smart, take initiative, and can be daring when the need arises.”
“Sir?”
“From this moment on until we launch on the twenty-fifth, you are on a crash course of training for the mission. Gabriel will bring you up to speed and Shirley will be escorting you to each meeting or training session. You will not drive that hot rod out in the parking lot. I’m having it impounded until you get back from the mission. You will not do anything to jeopardize this mission,” Jerry stated in a harsh tone that indicated he was furious with Gordon and wasn’t letting anything else get in his way.
“But sir, I-“
“You’re here to be an astronaut, is that right?”
“Yes, sir, but-“
“Well, now you’re an astronaut.”
Raymond stood dumbfounded. One minute he was just a trainee, one he assumed was too young and others would come before him. He looked at Bill and saw the shocked expression and knew it was real. He was on the mission shrouded in secrecy. By the day’s end, he would know everything.
Shirley sat in front with the driver, and Raymond was in back with Bill. Gabriel had met with him after the meeting in the conference room giving him a synopsis of the mission that was so secret. They were going to Mars and back, but not in the conventional way they were going to the Moon. There was a new method of travel, one where they passed from the visible realm through one unseen, another dimension of space, then back into the visible realm where they wished to go. Gabriel told of the tests done, the last with one of the Apollo missions where they sent a small unit from an orbit around Earth to the Moon’s surface and back. It had taken less than ten minutes, most of the time spent letting the astronauts on the Moon’s surface check the device and record its data before letting it cycle into a return mode.
Raymond had vaguely understood Gabriel’s explanation of how the science worked but he missed part of what Gabriel was saying for he kept replaying the conversation in the conference room, how he was now going to be part of some experimental space flight, one that would pass through another dimension of space, one the scientists thought was the fourth, but when pressed, none were sure. It could be another dimension, one within the fourth.
He looked out ahead at the multi-story scaffolding covered in canvas fabric. He had been told it was to keep debris from demolition efforts from blowing across the Cape or out over the water. Publicly, the launch pad LC-34 was deactivated a few years ago. Now he knew the lie of it. How that covered scaffolding concealed a rocket. One to lift off in less than a month…with him on board. He wondered how in the hell they got it to the launch pad undetected.
“Some people are not going to believe this is just some satellite launch,” Raymond uttered, more to himself than to the others.
“That is why we’re launching at night. Everyone in the region can see it, but not in any detail, and with the official announcements keeping to the story of it being a military satellite will give those who will know the rockets are far larger than necessary the opportunity to speculate what kind of military satellite is so large that it took a larger rocket,” said Shirley.
“Is it a Saturn V?”
“Yes. Well, sort of.”
“Sort of?”
“You’ll see,” Bill whispered.
The driver maneuvered the Ford van up to the LC-34 and parked. Shirley climbed out first, then Raymond and Bill. They went through an opening in the fabric and under the construction structure to a lift.
“You knew all about this?” Raymond whispered to Bill.
“Yeah, I knew.”
“It sounds unbelievable…crazy.”
“I know, but the science, the calculations bore it out and the tests have been perfect. Not one failure once the calculations were worked out.”
“Part of me is so excited to be a part of it, but another…Jesus,” Raymond utters, his voice trailing off as he follows Bill to the lift. He looked up expecting to see five massive nozzles of the rocket engines of a Saturn V, and the cluster of five were right over his head, but there were two more nozzles, one on each side of the first stage section. Two pods for fuel and engines were added to the main first stage.
“Jesus, it needs more thrust?” asked Raymond, coming to stop while staring up at the seven nozzles.
Bill comes back and stands next to him. “The device in the craft is fucking heavy as hell. It has some lead lined chambers and a magnet running down the middle of it. To get it off the ground and into space, we needed extra thrust. The second stage is more powerful too, with three F-1 engines instead of five J-2s. There is also the speed needed in orbit.”
Raymond was shocked at the thrust the rocket would be doing in the first two stages. He wondered how he would endure it. “You’re kidding me.”
“I’m afraid not. It will be a hell of a ride off the launch pad. Come on, we’ll give you the grand secret tour.”
As the lift climbed, Raymond could see how the rocket was a Saturn V, just heavily modified. He saw the look on Bill’s face. The amazement of what they had accomplished. It was almost reverent, how Bill stared up at the rocket.
“It’s obvious we started with the V. To the first stage we added two F-1 engines for additional thrust to get this heavy bitch off the ground and moving. The pods are fourteen feet in diameter and one hundred twenty feet tall and its all fuel and engine. They’ll break away first, then when you’ve broken out of the stratosphere, the first stage drops away and the second fires to get you to upper reaches of the Thermosphere.
“It’ll be these first stages that will be the worst on you. We’ve developed special chairs, more like lounge chairs with padded sides, that will expand and shrink around you. They are supposed to help with the effects of the g-forces.”
“That’s why I have to do more acceleration endurance testing.”
The lift continued upward, passed the one hundred thirty-eight feet of the first stage, then passed the eighty-one feet of the second stage.
“After the second stage gets you into the Thermosphere and up to 25,800 miles per hour, it’ll drop away, and the third stage will fire. It’ll swing you up to the correct altitude and the orbit needed to aim at Mars, then it’ll drop away.”
“The third stage drops away in Earth orbit? Don’t we need it for the return?”
“The command and service module has its own J-2 engine to get you up to speed in orbit over Mars for your return.”
Raymond looked up as they passed the third stage. He knew it was a bit over fifty-eight feet in height and over twenty-one in diameter, and above it, he could see how the command and service module seemed to bulge outward, a few feet wider and from his advantage point, it looked taller too.
“The rocket is three hundred and forty-two feet tall.”
“That’s taller than the V.”
“Yep.”
Raymond looked at the command and service module as they came up to the access platform, then down, seeing just how far down it was to the ground. He knew the Saturn V was a beast, three hundred and sixty-three feet in height, and yet this modified rocket was taller. He felt dizzy.
“Gabriel calls this the Kepler 1.”
“Yes, internally, of course, for out there,” said Bill pointing toward Titusville, “it doesn’t exist.”
That evening, Raymond got home late, after nine o’clock. One of the drivers had brought him home since Jerry did as promised and impounded his car somewhere on the Cape. He found Bill in the kitchen preparing dinner, knowing he had not been home very long himself.
“Go shower and it’ll be ready when you come back,” said Bill.
“Thanks. I’m beat.”
“Gabriel and Jerry are going to put you through your paces. The next two weeks will be the worst, then they’ll back off to keep you fresh for the launch.”
“Two weeks…I wonder if I’ll survive two weeks of this,” Raymond replied as he headed to the bathroom already undoing the buttons on his shirt.
Raymond lay on his stomach. Bill on his back with their fingers laced together. Bill moved slowly, gently, working into Raymond’s depths.
“Yes…keep going,” Raymond uttered as he closed his eyes and focused on the feel of their fuck.
As exhausted as they were, he more so, he had initiated their sex. He wanted the intimacy, to feel Bill against him. Warm flesh against warm flesh. One body undulating over the other. The fullness of the penetration, and how it reflected the connection between them.
Bill began to move faster, working hips against ass, pumping cock into Raymond’s depths. Bill tightened his hold of Raymond’s hands and pushed them down tight to the bed as he pushed up. He hooked Raymond’s legs with his own legs and moved with a greater need. Sweat beaded up on heated skin and breathing became labored.
Raymond’s cock was rock hard and pinned beneath him, rubbing against the bed with Bill’s movements, pushing into his depths over and over. He wanted to cum, but not before Bill.
“Bill,” Raymond whispered.
Bill pushed into his depths, lay heavily on his back, and ground hips against his ass. Then Bill shuddered with release.
Raymond rolled to his back with Bill’s guidance, then felt the warmth of a mouth on his cock. It didn’t take much stimulation, for he was so hard his cock ached for release. The mouth moved up and down only a few times and he was pushing up filling it with cum.
For the next two weeks, Raymond trained, did simulations with Jerry going through various possible scenarios, and he worked out. Every night he ached and was so fatigued, he fell into the bed, asleep almost before he hit the pillow.
The week before the launch, his routine slowed. There was more rest, and simple training and work out sessions. The only thing that didn’t diminish in intensity was the simulation runs with Jerry.
Then the twenty-fifth arrived. He tried to sleep in as directed but found himself at the table for breakfast with Bill. After Bill left for the Cape, he lounged around home alone. Just before noon, he wandered into the kitchen to prepare something for lunch. He heard a car pull up, the door slam, and a couple of seconds later, Bill rushed in through the back door.
“I’ve only got about an hour,” said Bill in a rush as he crossed the room. “You’re not going up without us having more time.”
Bill led Raymond to their bedroom.
Their sex was frantic, Bill only unbuttoning his shirt and shoving slacks and boxers to his ankles. He moved over Raymond, pushed into the depths of his ass, and fucked. Raymond hugged Bill, clung to him desperately as cock piston inside him.
Then it was over. Far too soon. Bill kissed Raymond, long and hard, then pulled away with a forlorn look.
“I’ve got to get back,” said Bill as he got dressed.
Raymond and Terry sat in the heavily cushion chairs facing straight up. The chairs vibrated and moved against their bodies, all meant to help with circulation and the g-forces they would have to endure as Kepler 1 pushed upward breaking earth’s gravity. They could hear the countdown coming from the base of operations on the Cape. There would be no Houston for this flight, everything kept within the inner circle.
“1 minute and forty seconds…”
“You ready?” asked Jerry, sounding the most relaxed Raymond had ever heard him. All the tension and bluntness were gone.
Raymond chuckled. “Yes. More than ready after the last few weeks.”
“I’m sorry about the way we put you through the ringer, but this mission is so important to me and the guys that to delay it was just unthinkable.”
“I know it being secret made everything more difficult.”
“Boy, you don’t know the half of it.”
“59, 58, 57,56…”
“We’re about to make the largest jump in man’s technology and understanding of the universe, so let’s not fuck it up,” said Jerry.
Raymond knew he was serious, but the humorous tone also meant he wasn’t worried about him on the flight. There really wasn’t much to do other than monitor the systems and engage the drive at the appropriate time. Drive. It was such an odd term compared to what was going to really happen, but it was what all the scientists called it.
“Will people know about it…when we come back?”
“Not for some time, but soon enough.”
“10, 9, 8, 7…”
The rockets fire and the rocket shudders on the launch pad. Raymond is holding his breath and must remind himself to just breathe. He checks the monitors and a quick glance over to Jerry and he sees him doing the same.
“Commit.”
The rocket begins to move, slowly at first, but suddenly the acceleration is staggering.
“Liftoff.”
“We’re clear of LC-34,” Jerry utters as the g-forces build.
“Everything looks good,” said Raymond as he scans the gauges.
The rocket rumbles and shakes as it accelerates. They feel it rotate and turn as the color of the sky changes.
“First stage will separate soon,” Jerry utters.
“Two minutes and twenty seconds…first stage separating.”
The second stage fires, and the rocket accelerates again.
“Kepler 1; all systems good,” said Jerry to the base.
Suddenly they are flying smoothly, the second stage separated. The third stage fires, pushing them into their orbit pattern, increasing their speed. They circle the earth twice using the time to check all the systems.
“Ready?” asked Jerry.
“Ready,” Raymond replies.
“This is Kepler 1. We are ready in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1; system engaged.”
The ship seems to slow for a second, then everything blurs. The moon seems to wobble. Raymond wonders if they are breaking apart, but no warning lights are flashing. Then he feels like he is floating, unmoored from even the chair. He sees multiple cockpits from multiple angles. Through the window he sees multiple moons. Then everything turns to a bright flash of light.
Everyone in the control room watches the monitors. The feedback from Kepler 1, the radar systems following it as it orbits the earth for the second time.
“All systems are a go,” someone calls over their headphones and the speaker broadcasting in the room.
They had watched the launch of the Kepler 1, how it lit up the sky like the sun. The two pod engines dropped away after five miles of altitude, then right on schedule the first stage separated. Phone calls were already coming into NASA about the launch for it had been visible from south Georgia all the way down to Miami. The official statement about it being a military satellite was being repeated for each call.
Kepler came around to the point where the drive was to be activated. They were to space jump through another dimension to Mars, orbit it a couple of times to check their systems, then space jump back to earth’s orbit.
“…in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1; system engaged.”
The radar image blinked, then disappeared.
“Lick…do you have eyes on Kepler 1?”
The team waited to hear back from the Lick Observatory where they were looking through the C. Donald Shane telescope toward Mars. It would only be a tiny reflection as the craft passed in front of Mars. A minute passed, then another, then an hour passed.
“Hey guys, we don’t see them. They are not there.”
Part Two
Allen Leonard drove up to the gate, lowering his window as he approached. He recognized the guard coming out; Robert or Ryan or something like it. He could never remember. He met so many on the Cape he easily lost track.
“Mr. Leonard, you’re early,” said the guard as he looked at the identification card Allen held up.
“Just trying to get caught up before I take my vacation.”
“Going somewhere fun?”
“Hawaii. It’s our twenty-fifth anniversary and I always promised Irene we would go there some day.”
“Well, you can’t disappoint her. Congratulations on the anniversary.”
“Thanks…Ryan,” looking the name tag.
He eased over the speed bump, careful with his new baby, a Corvette Z06. It just came out and the dealer told him he got the first one to come into the state. Despite not wanting to be smug about it, it did make him smile to know he had something none of the astronauts had, at least for now.
He drove to the parking lot, locked up, and headed inside. He looked at his watch seeing it was a quarter to seven, then made note of the date. In four days, it would be the fourteenth of December 2021, exactly twenty-five years since Irene and he got married. Come tomorrow, they will be flying out of Orlando to Hawaii.
The corridor was quiet, only a few as early as he. He cut through the double doors to his wing of the building, seeing Nathan, one of the young engineers, enter one of the offices. Nathan did trajectory calculations for smaller launches. He moved down the hall, seeing the conference room straight ahead. The blinds were closed, and the lights were on, which was unusual for so early in the morning. He turned right and passed the door heading toward his office when it swung open behind him.
“Allen!”
Allen turned to see Sharon Mills standing in the door.
“Yeah, what’s up?”
“Jack wants you to sit in on this.”
“What’s going on?”
“Not out here.”
Allen entered the room behind Sharon who took a seat on the far side of the table. At one end sat Jack Anderson, the head of their group, and at the other end, Brian Neiman, Associate Administrator, only third down from the top. He knew the meeting was serious and worried it was going to be about budgets. It was always about budgets.
“What’s going on?” Allen asked as he sat across from Sharon.
“What we discuss in this room stays in this room,” said Neiman.
“Yes, sir,” Allen replied, looking from Neiman to Anderson who nodded with a grim expression.
“Jack, fill him in,” said Neiman.
“Allen…at three fifty-two A.M. EST, we picked up a radio transmission. It was from the crew of Kepler 1-“
“Kepler 1? Never heard of it,” Allen interrupted.
Anderson shook his head and leaned back like he was exhausted. “Until this morning, neither have I. I’ll explain after filling you in on the current situation. The Kepler 1 was radioing about their reentry and having trouble with some instrumentation. It seemed they were picking up signals that didn’t make sense, so they settled into orbit until they knew what was going on.
“We here on the ground knew nothing of any Kepler 1 mission for there was no mission by that name. Or so we thought. A few phone calls and pushing past some security protocols, we finally got someone on the phone who knew something about this Kepler 1.”
Anderson leaned forward putting his elbows on the table with his hands together, one hand a fist with the other rubbing it. It was a habit of Anderson’s whenever he was nervous or anxious.
“We have a splash down site picked that was close to a Navy location that can do the retrieval. Right now, we have a carrier fleet heading to a location 150 miles east of Guam and should be in position at 5:00 P.M. EST. Then we will direct the Kepler 1 in a reentry. They are adjusting their flight path for this splash down point.”
“But what is this Kepler 1?”
Anderson inhaled and exhaled so hard everyone could hear it, then he sat back, as if he could not find a comfortable position.
“During the early morning of January 25, 1972, there was a launch from LC-34 that was so bright it lit up the night sky.”
“A Saturn V? From a deactivated launch complex.”
“It had been secretly refurbished for one more launch,” said Anderson.
“And it was not a Saturn V rocket, well, it was but heavily modified,” added Mills.
“Modified?” asked Allen.
“The payload was enormous for a space flight. I don’t know the details, not yet. The files are being retrieved and flown down. But what we got from the crew of the Kepler 1 is the rocket had two extra F-1 engines-“
“Jesus,” Allen uttered.
“…that gave it additional thrust on lift off. And the second stage used the same engines; dear god that thing must have accelerated to the point of human endurance. Its mission was to get into orbit, accelerating to 25,800 miles per hour, then…then…
“Slip into another dimension, the fourth, and come out at Mars where they were to set into an orbit around the planet, do a quick survey, then slip back to Earth,” said Anderson.
“You’re fucking kidding,” Allen uttered in a low disbelieving voice.
“We’re not fucking kidding you,” Neiman replied in a gruff tone.
Allen didn’t know if the tone was directed at him or just Neiman’s frustration with the situation.
“The Kepler 1 was going to pass through a wormhole of its own creation to the planet Mars, then come back? We’re trying to get to Mars now and nothing like this has been put on the table,” said Allen, looking around the table.
“I don’t know if we should call it a wormhole, but the Kepler 1 was to appear in Mars orbit in less than minute, spend two hours or so in orbit, then come back,” Mills replied.
“Less than a minute? To get to Mars? Why have I not heard of this before?”
“The ship disappeared. Just completely vanished. From what we can gather from our contact in Washington, they thought it disintegrated during the transition between dimensions, so the secret program got killed, the files sent to a warehouse outside Arlington, and forgotten,” said Mills.
“Until this morning when they radioed of their return to earth’s orbit,” said Neiman.
“Damn,” Allen uttered sitting back and rotating toward Anderson. “Are we going to get them back here or will some spook group I’ve never heard of disappear them?”
“We’re not going to do that,” said Neiman, visibly irritated.
“Bring them here or disappear them?”
“They will not be…disappeared.”
“We’re working with NSA on getting the two astronauts to one of our facilities. It may be Ames or Edwards,” said Anderson.
“Once we get them settled someplace, we’re sending Sharon and you out to talk to them. Find out what happened,” said Neiman.
“Do we have a story about their reentry?” asked Mills.
“Why? It’ll be in the middle of the ocean?” asked Allen.
“It seems the command module will split during reentry, jettisoning the main section behind the crew module allowing it burn up in the atmosphere. A way of disposing of it.”
“Crude as fuck, but effective,” said Neiman.
“And it’ll be a bright meteor in the sky as it comes down over the ocean. Someone is bound to see it,” added Mills.
“It can just be that; a meteor,” said Neiman.
Raymond suddenly realized what he was facing. He looked over to Neiman. “I’m supposed to be flying to Hawaii tomorrow for my anniversary.”
“It’s canceled.”
“But what if the crew were taken to Hawaii instead of the mainland. It’ll take a few days for physicals and to let them get their feet underneath them. I mean, they’ll be in their eighties and a reentry can be rough. This will let me-“
“Not get into trouble with Irene?” Neiman interrupted, smiling for the first time. “But it is a good plan. Hawaii will make it easier to control this until we know what we’re dealing with. Jack, get Sharon set up for a flight to Hawaii today. I want someone on the ground when that crew is flown in. Allen and his wife can arrive tomorrow.”
“I’ll have it taken care of when we break,” Anderson replied.
“Sharon, how soon can you be ready to go?” asked Neiman.
“If I can leave to go pack, I can be ready within the hour.”
“Jack, get her on the next available flight. I’ll call my contact in Washington and have the crew flown to Hawaii.”
At 6:15 P.M. EST, the crew module for Kepler 1 flew over southeast Asia, the South China Sea, then over the Philippines. The service section of the module was jettisoned over the Philippine Sea as the crew module made a low arc toward their splash down target to the east of Guam. It was early morning at the splash down site.
The service section hit the atmosphere and immediately began to heat up until a flaming mass. The people on the small island of Colonia and the crews of several container ships saw the bright tail of smoke and fire as it lost stability and altitude. At approximately 70,000 feet, it broke up and rained burning pieces to the ocean below.
The crew module passed over Guam close enough anyone looking would have seen it. Then out over the ocean, parachutes were deployed, bright red and white, to make them visible. They slowed the module and allowed for its descent to the ocean.
Just to the south the Naval ships watched its descent, already on course to intercept.
A helicopter hoisted the module to the deck of the USS Nimitz before opening the hatch. The captain had not been told much about his unusual assignment but had been told to be cautious and to survey the exterior, running tests for radioactivity before touching it.
The module was within all the normal tolerances and the captain directed two of his crew to release the hatch. Once open, the two men stepped back and a man came out, followed by another. One looked late thirties, the other early thirties.
“I’m Captain Morales of the USS Nimitz.”
“I’m Jerry Taylor and this…is…Raymond Nelson and…”
Jerry and Raymond looked across the deck of the aircraft carrier, not recognizing any of the jets or helicopters. They looked at the captain with dumbfounded expressions. Raymond sensed things were very different from when they launched that morning or was it the morning before. He wasn’t sure about the time changes and his location east of Guam.
“Excuse me, what is today’s date?”
The captain looked at him as if he were an alien. “It’s the eleventh.”
“The month?”
“December.”
“December? Oh shit,” Raymond replied, and he turned to Jerry. “We lost most of the year.”
“I think we lost more than a year,” Jerry replied looking at the row of jets on the flight deck. He turned to the captain. “What year?
A helicopter flight to Guam for initial health checkup and rest. Then an unmarked jet to Hawaii where they landed at the airport, taxiing to Hickam Air Force Base. Escorted into a nearby building to a nondescript room. Raymond and Jerry hadn’t talked much on the flight and once inside sat opposite each other. After spending a day on the aircraft carrier, they were flown to Guam where they spent three more days before being put on the jet to Hawaii. Four days of checkups and waiting. Waiting like they were now doing.
It had been over forty-nine years since they launched. Forty-nine years before they reappeared, when for the two of them it had only been a few days. It was the stuff of science fiction, something one would expect in some Twilight Zone episode.
“I heard Jonathan once joke that we were traveling through a time free zone, and we might come out in the future,” said Jerry leaning forward resting his arms on the table. He needed to bend over and control his breathing. It felt like he could hyperventilate at any moment.
“Bill worried we didn’t know enough to be doing the test.”
“Bill Rose?”
“Yeah.”
“The two of you were an item, weren’t you?”
“What?”
Jerry smiled for the first time since their arrival. “I’m a scientist at heart, I accept the facts as they are presented to me, and I know we studied it, homosexuality, back in the fifties. Hell, some German doctor was talking about it in the thirties. It is part of our humanity, so…” Jerry shrugged his shoulders.
“And you knew?”’
“As did Jonathan and Shirley. Shirley James…I wonder what happened to her. You know she knew more about what was going on than Gabriel Garcia.”
“She was nice.”
“And damn good at her job.”
“Jerry…it’s 2021.”
Jerry looked across the room at Raymond seeing a fear, he felt himself. “I know.”
Food was brought in, then they were led to sleeping quarters, probably for visiting officers where they were allowed to clean up and change clothes.
The next morning, after breakfast had been served, two men came into the room. Both in dark blue suits with white shirts. One wore a red tie, the other blue.
“I’m Gregory Harris with NSA and this is Wayne Lee with the State Department. We need to know what happened out there.”
“During the forty-nine years life went on here on earth?” asked Jerry.
“Yes. Where were you?”
“We don’t know,” Raymond replied.
“Give us a rundown,” said Lee, taking a chair across from Raymond, focusing on him more than Jerry.
Raymond looked over at Jerry who nodded. He took a breath gathering his thoughts on how to tell what they experienced. Would they believe it? He doubted it but then again, they had shown up forty-nine years after the launch.
“We got into orbit with a speed of 25,800 miles per hour and when he came around into position, the jump drive-“
“Jump drive?” asked Lee.
“It was the nickname everyone gave it.”
“Oh, okay. Go on.”
“For a second there seemed to be nothing happening. Then everything around us seemed to be stretched out. Lights looked like lines instead of points.”
“The ship was moving that fast?”
“No. The effect was…was more like space was moving around us.”
“You didn’t feel any acceleration?” asked Harris.
“The theory behind the system is we are not moving through space but stepping through another dimension of space,” said Jerry.
“Is there still research on this?” Lee asked Harris.
“Probably, but we won’t know about it. So, Raymond, go on.”
Then everything got weird. I mean, for a second, we saw the moon and earth out every window. It was like being in a house of mirrors. Then we were in orbit around another planet.”
“Mars?” asked Lee.
“No, it wasn’t Mars. We think it was Neptune.”
“Neptune?”
“It was a large planet and was blue and looked to be gaseous.”
“Our initial readings indicated we were in orbit around Neptune,” added Jerry.
“How long were you in orbit?” asked Lee.
“We did two orbits, then engaged the ship to bring us back, so just under seventeen hours.”
“Wait a minute,” interrupted Harris. “You mean from launch to getting in orbit around Neptune then engaging to come back was less than twenty-four hours?”
“Yes.”
“Where did you lose forty-nine years?”
“When we engaged the system, something happened. The ship phased into the other dimension then everything went dark for like five minutes, or so it seemed. Then we were back in orbit around Earth.”
“Five minutes, but actually nearly fifty years pass.”
“I guess,” Raymond replied, looking exhausted and scared. Jerry nodded letting Harris and Lee know what Raymond had said was true.
“Fuck,” Harris uttered, sitting back, looking from Raymond to Jerry.
“Can we go home?” Raymond asked, getting Harris’ attention.
Harris looked at him grimacing. “I don’t know, but you can’t go to the home you had. We got your records and…Raymond you died in a car crash west of Titusville and Jerry, you drowned at sea during a fishing trip.”
“They covered up our disappearance,” Jerry uttered, then laughed. He settled down and looked at Raymond. “I doubt anyone from back then is still alive, and if they are…Jesus, they’d be in their eighties, I think.”
Raymond knew what Jerry was suggesting and he turned to Harris.
“Is Bill Rose still alive? He was one of the scientists involved with the mission.”
“I’ll check, for I would like to know more about what was going on with this mission. You said his name is Bill Rose.”
“Actually, it is William…William Scott Rose.”
“The others on the core team were Gabriel Garcia, Jonathan Keith, Steven Matthews, and Shirley James,” said Jerry.
A knock on the door, and Lee climbed to his feet to check it. From the corridor everyone could hear the person.
“Allen Leonard and Sharon Mills from NASA have arrived.”
“Bring them in,” Lee replied, then stepped out of the door frame and closed the door.
“Maybe they can shed some light on this,” said Harris toward Lee.
Allen and Sharon entered the room a few minutes later. Jerry, then Raymond raised their heads, watching them come into the room and take a seat with Lee. Harris stood at the small side table pouring a cup of coffee.
“Anyone else want a cup of coffee or water?” Harris asked with his back still to the room.
Everyone stated they were fine, and it was obvious they were all ready to begin.
“I’m Allen Leonard, and his is Sharon Mills and we are here to offer what assistance we can and to hear firsthand what happened.”
“You tell us,” said Jerry.
“Excuse me?” Allen replied, more from the gruff tone than the statement.
“We knew it was a risky mission, hell all of them are to one degree or another. But we were supposed to go to Mars and back and be home in time for dinner.”
“I haven’t had a chance to see all the files on the mission yet, but we’re getting them from DC and…”
“You don’t have files on the mission?” asked Jerry, getting angrier.
“It was classified and after you disappeared, well, they shut the program down and the files were taken to a secure location and locked away.”
“Jesus; you just swept it away and pretended nothing happened?”
“Sir, I don’t know the mindset of the staff back then, but from what I gather, they were terrified they may have sent you into a realm that was…permanently out of reach.”
“So, now what?” asked Raymond, sounding defeated.
“We access your condition, get your story of what happened and after that, I’m not sure,” said Sharon.
“You don’t know what will happen to us?”
“We’re not going to make you disappear or anything, but you have to understand some protocols have to be set in place,” said Lee.
“So, tell us, what happened?” asked Sharon.
Jerry leaned forward, resolved to have to tell the story again, of the events they had experienced. He started with the launch, how everything went smoothly, putting them in the correct orbit. Then he told them what happened when they disappeared.
“…and you came into orbit around earth thinking you were in 1972?” asked Allen.
“Yeah,” Raymond replied, while Jerry leaned back in his chair with arms crossed indicating he was done talking.
“We contacted Jonathan Keith, and he is flying to California to meet with you.”
“Jonathan? He’ll be California?”
“Yes. He was living in Huntsville, Alabama where he had been working after leaving the Cape.”
“He must be…”
“Seventy-seven.”
Raymond had dared not consider it, and he knew Jonathan was one of the youngest on the mission team, but he had to know.
“What about Bill Rose? William Rose?”
“We’re tracking him down. It seems he left NASA about two years after you disappeared. We had him in California for a few years, then in Boulder where he worked until retiring. We tracked him to the Tennessee mountains, somewhere near a little place called Archville. But he is not answering any calls.”
“Bill is still alive?”
“Yes.”
Raymond tried to process it, how long it had been, the fact Bill was still living and would now be eighty-one. Then he wondered how soon he could get away to go find him.
Raymond had said he wouldn’t do it. Even signed a document stating as much. He slowed, taking the exit ramp for 74 East near Cleveland, Tennessee. He was following the GPS lying on the console, but he could picture the map in his mind. He had studied it so much he could picture how 74 would circle around Cleveland then head east toward Murphy, North Carolina and onward all the way to Wrightsville Beach on the coast. His destination was nowhere near that far away. It was now nearby, before the state line into North Carolina.
He was anxious, but not nearly as much as he had been over the last four months. Four months of debriefings on the mission, of meeting with NASA scientists trying to figure out what happened, pouring over the old mission files and their flight recordings. When Jonathan had shown up in California, it had been a shock. Nearly bald, slightly hunched over, and showing his age. But the old curiosity was there, probably revived by their return. It had been one of the more bearable times while going through everything. Then there were the new identities, or new backgrounds for their names, Jerry and he were able to keep their names. It was assumed no one alive today would know them and if they steered clear of family and any friends that were still alive, they could have a peaceful life. NASA and a defense contractor had made it more enticing by paying them 2.25 million dollars in backpay and setting them up in a house near the Cape.
The next interchange came into view, and he pulled to the right lane to exit. The old Chevelle rumbled as he let it coast, losing enough speed he didn’t need to brake. It wasn’t the car he had when he left. That one got sold off when he was presumed dead. But it was so similar it was like driving the original car. The gas mileage was horrible, made more obvious by the shockingly high cost of fuel, and he knew it didn’t drive nearly as well as the newer cars. He had looked at a Corvette like the one Jerry bought, then he had shopped for other makes, but nothing captured his eye. It was a fluke he had the Chevelle, but he had found a car show going on in Port St John and stopped to check it out. He marveled at how cars of his day were now classics, even models no one back then would have looked twice. A few of the cars were for sale, the owners either at an age they could no longer take care of them, or they had other rebuilds ready to tackle. There had been a 56 Chevy, a 66 Corvette, a 68 Mustang, a 74 Firebird, and along the back row sitting beneath an oak tree, a 68 Chevrolet Chevelle SS 396, red over black with a white interior and black carpeting. The price had been just one more shock, but as he looked the car over, sat behind the wheel, then looked under the hood, he knew the man selling it had made himself a deal.
A few miles down the road, Raymond came to a lake at the dam that created it, and the road curved hard left to follow the lake shore. The lake was narrow, one set within the valley and he drove along the side of it until he came to State Road 30 right in a sweeping curve right. He slowed, swung the car onto the state road and accelerated. The road snaked through the mountains, passing homes, a campground, and a church.
Raymond kept trying to think of what to say to Bill as he slowed and accelerated from curve to curve. He had considered trusting someone in NASA to make contact, explain to Bill what had happened and prepare him for his arrival. But he didn’t trust anyone to keep his secret. He was defying protocol and going to meet someone from his past. Someone only Jerry knew was more than one of the guys that was part of the mission.
He finally came to the sign for the community of Archville, and slowed to turn on Greasy Creek Road, wondering how the name came about, picturing all sorts of scenarios involving large amounts of pig fat or some other grease and a silly accident. A hard curve to the right, then one long sweeping curve left brought him into the community. It was nothing but a tighter cluster of houses and where the road ended into another, a church anchored the corner. The GPS showed him turning right, and he turned on the narrow two-lane road wondering if the gadget was working properly. The road left the small community until there was nothing but woods on each side as it followed a valley. He came to a fork, one road cutting off to the right and down a steep grade and the other staying at the same level and following the grade. The GPS said to go right, and Raymond eased onto the road and followed it as it turned south. It was a short distance, just a little over a tenth of a mile, and the GPS said to turn left. He stopped and stared at the narrow gravel road that looked more like someone’s private driveway. Checking the GPS one more time, he eased onto the rough gravel surface accepting the directions for he finally spotted a street sign leaning into the overgrowth on the side of the road. He was close and his heart was racing. What was he going to say? Was there anything he could say for he knew his mere presence would be a staggering thing to see.
He passed a couple of houses wondering how anyone could live so far from anything. He hadn’t seen a gas station since the roadside station he passed before coming upon the lake. It seemed so far down into the woodland, but suddenly there before him, a house in a small clearing. He parked underneath a tree, eased the door closed, and slowly moved toward the house. His mind was a jumble of things he should say, nothing taking priority leaving him still confused on where to begin when he first lays eyes on Bill. He prepares himself, for he knows Bill has just turned eighty-two and it’ll be a shock for him to see how time has passed for him. As he nears the house, he hears the unmistakable sound of wood being chopped. The impact of ax into wood, a short silence, then another. It is coming from the rear of the house, and he veers left to go around to where the noise is coming from.
There he is, Bill Rose, in a denim shirt and jeans. The ax is raised, then brought down with precision, hitting the cut log, splitting it in two. He watches Bill toss the two pieces onto a trailer behind a garden tractor, place another log on top of the wider log section used as a base. Bill steps back into position preparing to swing the ax.
“Bill.”
Bill looks up and freezes. The ax falls to the ground.
“No,” Bill utters just loud enough for Raymond to hear.
“Bill, its me.”
“You…disappeared…they said the ship came apart in the shift, and…”
“We reappeared a few months ago and…Jerry and I thought we came back and it was still 1972, but it was-“
“2021.”
“Yes.”
“Oh god,” Bill uttered going down to his knees.
Raymond rushed to him, going to his knees in front of him. He saw the tears streaming from the eyes, eyes that had not changed with the passage of time. He took Bill’s hands and waited for him to settle down.
“We knew the risks of that fucking mission. God dammit, we were fools,” Bill whispered.
“But we didn’t know how our sense of time would play out.”
Bill pulled one hand free and wiped his eyes, then gave Raymond a small smile. “No shit.”
It was his Bill. Still the same man in ways he couldn’t describe, despite the years. He leaned forward and kissed him, then let their foreheads press together.
“I don’t know how to say this. It has only been a few months for me, but I’ve missed you so much.”
“But I’m an old man now and you…you’re still the young man who got roped into that fucking mission.”
“They told me you never settled down with anyone.”
Bill grimaced, shaking his head. “After what happened and losing you…I felt so guilty, responsible for my part in it-“
“But we all knew it was a dangerous mission.”
“But I was the one that got left behind. The one to feel guilty and try to make sense of it.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Me, too.”
They sat on their knees, holding hands, and staring at the other, trying to make sense of it.
“Have you had lunch?” Bill asked.
“No.”
“Well, let’s go in and I can warm up some leftovers.”
Bill moved around the kitchen, taking containers out of the refrigerator, then going to the range putting some items in boilers on top, but the roast, he wrapped up and put in the oven. Raymond sat at the small table that was within the kitchen, telling Raymond what happened.
“Neptune? You sure?”
“Oh, yes. When NASA compared our images to their images, which were astonishingly good, there is no doubt where we reappeared.”
“Jesus, that was some swing and a miss. How long were you in orbit?”
“Long enough to make two trips around the planet.”
“Not long at the speed you were going.”
“Then we reengaged the system and came back.”
“To 2021.”
“Yeah.”
Bill had pushed back at first, but Raymond was not going to allow it, and they soon found themselves in Bill’s bedroom. Bill was hesitant at first, and Raymond knew there was a fear about their age difference. He whispered reassuringly to him as he undid the buttons of the shirt. The skin showed its age but overall, Bill was fit, and Raymond kissed each newly exposed area as he had often done before.
When they were naked, both aroused for the other, Raymond lay back, placing his legs on the shoulders. Bill moved over him, and he felt the cock rubbed over his ass, then press against his tight opening. He threw his arms out and clutched at the bed as the cock penetrated him. Slowly, Bill pushed inward stretching him open. Inch after inch bore into his depths until Bill was halfway inside him.
“Bill,” Raymond uttered.
Bill began to fuck, to move over and within Raymond in a manner not experienced in far too long. He pushed deeper and deeper while increasing his pace. The bed began to squeak, to rock with the rhythm of their fuck. Raymond watched Bill, stared into the eyes until the pleasure of their fuck was too much, and he rolled his head back closing his eyes. Moaning and grunting, Bill fucked until Raymond felt his own need for release. He stroked his cock as Bill’s cock piston in his depths, feeling his arousal increase until he wanted to come.
“Raymond,” Bill uttered in a soft cry.
Raymond knew what it meant. The breathless utterance. How Bill shoved into his depths and kept hammering against his upturned ass. Then the familiar shuddering and jerking as Bill filled him with cum.
Raymond lay back and watched Bill settle between his legs and suck his cock. The head moved up and down, slowly, deliberately, stroking his arousal until he cried out and shoved upward. The suctioning mouth took his load.
Day turned into night, and Raymond and Bill lay in bed. They fucked. They napped against one another. Then they fucked again, until Bill was exhausted and spent and Raymond satisfied.
Raymond lay in bed next to the sleeping Bill. He wondered if he could stay, knowing the chances were slim. He stared into the absolute darkness of the room seeing nothing except what his mind created. The time with Bill since arriving. The drive up, moments back in Florida. Then the headache came again. It made him gasp for breath, as it had for the last month. He had asked Jerry if he had them and Jerry said yes, and the frequency was getting worse. He wanted to ask Jerry if he was missing time, waking up from some trance state to find minutes or hours had slipped by unnoticed, but he feared confiding that to Jerry, believing it would be too much of an admittance.
Raymond would have two days before the black van showed up. Six hours later, he would be landing at Titusville-Cocoa Airport. The men who came for him said very little and treated him like an escaped convict. A black car waited for them at the hanger, and he knew it was not a NASA vehicle. It crossed the causeway bridge, then headed south on the parkway. They drove through Courtenay and Sunset Lakes in silence, and Raymond just watched the familiar scenery passing by. The driver got on A1A and took them across Banana River, around Port Canaveral, and back north into Cape Canaveral. They pulled up to a building Raymond had never been to before and parked in a secure parking lot behind it.
“This way, Mr. Nelson,” said the driver as he opened the back door.
“What’s going on?” Raymond asked, knowing something was wrong.
As they crossed the parking lot, a headache struck him, blinding him with pain. He bent over clutching his head, then passed out.
Raymond woke to the sound of beeping, and saw it was a monitor for his vitals. He looked around the room trying to remember where he was at. The room looked like a hospital room, but through the large window facing a nurse’s station, he knew this was no hospital. There were too many monitors, large screens that covered the wall behind it. Then he remembered coming to the Cape and being led toward a building.
A man entered the room in a white lab coat and black framed glasses propped on top of his head. He was dark skinned with black hair and looked Indian.
“Raymond, I’m Dr. Vihaan. How do you feel?”
“I, huh, feel okay.”
“Raymond, you need to tell us what is going on with you.”
“What do you mean?”
Dr. Vihaan frowned, then looked through the window the nurse’s station at another man behind the counter. A slight nod of his head and the other man gave a nod in return.
“Can you sit up?” Dr. Vihaan asked when he turned back to Raymond.
“Yes. I feel fine now.”
“Good. Follow me.”
Dr. Vihaan led Raymond to the next room where Jerry lay strapped down on the bed.
“Why is he tied down?” Raymond asked as he approached the bed, fearing he knew the answer.
“He’s having seizures, bad ones, and headaches to go with them. Before falling into a coma, he admitted to losing time.”
“He’s having seizures?”
“You’re not surprised by the headaches or losing time; you’re suffering the same, aren’t you Mr. Nelson.”
Raymond looked at the doctor and nodded. “What is happening to Jerry…to us?”
“We don’t know.”
“We think the universe is trying to right itself,” said Allen Leonard, coming into the room wearing a white lab coat and carrying a notepad he was scrolling through.
“Excuse me?” Raymond replied.
“An hour ago, Jerry Taylor phased out of existence, then back again. It was only for a few seconds, but I was standing here when it happened. That bed was empty for a few seconds.”
“And you think it will happen to me too?”
“It has already started, hasn’t it?”
“I guess so,” Raymond uttered as he turned back to Jerry.
“We really fucked up, didn’t we?” said Raymond, looking at Allen.
“We messed with something we didn’t understand, so yes, we fucked up.”
Suddenly the air felt charged and the lights blinked on and off. Jerry began to have a seizure, fighting against the straps. Then he was gone.
“Oh shit,” Raymond uttered, then a headache struck, dropping him to his knees. He fell to his side and began to have a seizure. As drool came out of his mouth, he shuddered and jerked around on the floor. Then he phased out, came back, then phased out again.
He was gone.
“…one minute, twenty-six seconds before launch; all systems look good.”
“Jesus,” Raymond exclaimed, suddenly aware again. He was strapped in the Kepler 1. He looked over and saw Jerry looked just as shocked as he felt. “Jerry…didn’t we-“
“Yes; it had to be real. Fuck.”
“What is that Kepler 1?” asked the command center.
Jerry looked at Raymond with real fear in his eyes. He shook his head and mouthed ‘not again’.
“Abort. Repeat, this is Kepler 1, abort,” Jerry exclaimed.
There were debriefings, system analysis that showed no issues, and during it all Jerry and Raymond tried to explain something was wrong with the mission. It was late in the day before they were allowed to go home.
Raymond pulled into the drive, parking next to Bill’s green Camaro. He entered the back door where he could smell dinner cooking. He came into the kitchen to find Bill moving preparing dinner. He dropped his briefcase and rushed him. Wrapped up in a bearhug, he began to cry.
“Hey, what’s the matter? It’s just a scrubbed mission. They’ll reschedule it and…”
“No, they shouldn’t do it, and… I’m not doing it. Neither is Jerry.”
“What? Ray, what happened on the launch pad?”
“I can’t describe it, but that mission is deeply flawed.”
“The monitors show no issues. Nothing. Everyone is asking why Jerry called for the launch to be aborted. They think he got scared and…”
“Bill, get that mission scrubbed.”
“I can’t do that, even if I wanted to.”
Raymond stepped back, wiping his eyes. He stared at Bill and smiled weakly. “I missed you.”
“They must have run Jerry and you through the ringer today. Come on, sit down and we’ll eat. I’ve got it ready.”
The house was quiet except for the moans and grunts and utterances of Raymond and Bill. They were on the bed, naked, aroused, Bill on top of Raymond. Bill moved in that primitive manner, working his hips, driving cock into Raymond’s depths.
Raymond clung to Bill, reassuring himself Bill was truly there, hovering over him, penetrating him. He worked his hips pushing upward what he could, taking every push inward. His own cock was hard and drooling on his stomach as Bill undulated over him.
It was their third time that night. Raymond didn’t want it to end, and Bill had merely chuckled playfully and entered him again.
Bill pulled out. “Roll over.”
“Raymond got to his stomach, with his cock pinned beneath him as Bill moved over his back. Cock penetrated him again and an arm came around neck bearhugging them together. He felt Bill’s hot exhales on his neck, then the kiss of lips. Bill moved over him slowly, body undulating and pushing cock into his depths.
“Don’t stop…keep going,” Raymond uttered.
Raymond moaned as Bill pushed into his depths. The rhythm of their fuck was slow and gentle. Unhurried and intimate. He felt a hot exhale then lips on his neck as cock pushed all the way into his depths.
They didn’t talk as much during sex, the two of them knew the other so intimately there was no need. Bill knew what Raymond liked, what turned him on, and Raymond knew how to spur Bill into action, to arouse him making him want their sex. When to touch and caress and when to be more physical. Raymond felt Bill increase his pace, fucking faster and faster. Then the push inward all the way, hips jamming against his ass, as Bill came inside him.
Bill moved to his side, and he rolled to his back. He was hard, cock leaking, and he watched Bill lean over and take him in the mouth. He shuddered at the feel of the tongue and lips. How they moved up and down his cock until he couldn’t take it. He pushed upward and came, filling Bill’s mouth.
Then they lay back breathing hard. They looked at each other and laughed, for it amused them how after fifty-one years they still aroused the other. How they could tease each other, still be playful, and how they loved to fuck. No, they were not as physical nor did they have the same stamina, but they didn’t care.
Raymond lay next to Bill realizing he knew this person before, long ago, and now he had him again, only this time they had shared a life together. After the aborted mission, then what happened on the launch two years later. After the coverup of the accident and hauling away of all the files to a secure location, they got transferred to Huntsville where they worked until retirement.
Now they lived in the mountains of North Carolina, outside Blowing Rock. Just two elderly men who loved to go into town for lunch or dinner, or drive to Asheville for a couple of days, taking in some new Sci-Fi flick at a cinema or roaming the streets and spending far too much time in bookstores.
“Remember, we’re taking your car in for new tires in the morning,” said Bill.
“I remember,” Raymond replied, smiling at how Bill still took care of him. The one who cooked and loved to spend an hour ironing shirts or outside weeding the flower beds while he sat under the gazebo reading. He knew it was a such good luck, this long life with the one he loved. He tried to imagine what could have been if things had been different. If he and Jerry hadn’t aborted the mission, then refused to do it two years later.
He could still picture the Kepler 1, how it left the launch pad, thunderous like no other launch. It had been perfect, and the Kepler 1 was soon in orbit. The astronauts signaled they were a go, and the system was engaged. Debris rained down into the atmosphere for an hour after the Kepler 1 blew up.
“Bill, let’s swing by that diner for a late breakfast after we drop the Chevelle off.”
“Good idea, and after we eat, we can take the parkway up to the state line. Air out the Camaro for it hasn’t been driven much lately.”
“Sounds like a plan.”