The Eye With Which The Universe Beholds Itself (Apollo Quartet) Read Free Page A

is. True, it has been in place now for fifteen years, and has been added to on a regular basis…
    He is surprised the space station does not smell; all those years and its interior looks tired and battered, with its snaking wires and hoses and far too many broken consoles, strips of duct tape and pieces of cardboard. But there is no odour at all, and he belatedly realises the air he is breathing is constantly on the move. Perhaps in some niche, where a pool of still air has gathered, some strange smell specific to freefall living might be found.
    Through the hatch and this is the largest and untidiest module yet. The far end is sealed; it is the end of the line. There is a low table covered in velcro strips and double-sided duct-tape on the “floor” in amongst equipment Elliotn cannot identify.
    I guess, Parazynski says, you can tell us what brings you here.
    Elliott reaches for something to halt himself, and puts a hand to a rail running along one wall. Once he is stationary, he says, The Robert H Goddard is taking me to Earth Two.
    You must be a real important guy.
    No, I have a real important job to do.
    And they picked you because?
    Elliott does not answer but looks about him and wonders why there is no window in this module. Do they not want to look out? He remembers a famous photograph of the Earth rising above the lunar horizon, taken by the crew of Apollo 8, Christmas 1968. A blue marble, so small and fragile, and the greatest distance from which the planet had ever been seen at that time. The Earth in that photo would be approximately the same size as the Earth seen from Space Station Freedom.
    You’re USAF, right? asks Parazynski.
    Elliott nods, then watches as Weber consults a wristwatch and then porpoises about and launches herself at the open hatch. She swims from view.
    Parazynski continues, You ever been to Area 51?
    Again, Elliott nods, but cautiously. He has visited Groom Lake Air Force Base several times in his capacity as commander of the Air Force Flight Test Center at Edwards AFB. He has even seen some of the classified aircraft projects being developed and tested at Area 51.
    Parazynski says, That’s where the Serpos were invented, right?
    A part of Area 51, yes, Elliott replies, called S4. But I don’t have clearance for there.
    Is it true, Parazynski asks, the Rocks use technology reverse-engineered from some flying saucer shot down in New Mexico in 1947?
    Rocks? he asks.
    The Goddard, the Webb and the Paine—the Rocks.
    Elliott knows for a cold hard fact the secret Serpo engine which allows the “Rocks” to travel faster than the speed of light has nothing to do with any flying saucer, but he is not about to reveal it.
    That’s classified, he says.
    He has heard of the crash at Roswell, New Mexico, and knows of the part it plays in UFO lore, but he’s always believed it was a weather balloon. But if USAF wants to use that myth to hide a bigger secret, the true origin of the Serpo engine… It’s typical of the creative use of misinformation with which the US military protects its most closely-guarded secrets.
    Someone appears in the hatch and, grateful for the interruption, Elliott turns to watch them enter the module. It is another member of the space station’s crew. He is wearing a communications cap and his nametag reads Young. He is older than Parazynski and Weber, but still a decade or so short of Elliott’s own fifty-eight years. The man’s mouth is a tight line, his face expressionless.
    You going on the Goddard? he asks.
    Yeah, replies Elliott.
    It’s not due to depart for three weeks, Young says.
    Elliott tells him, This is urgent. They should be prepping now.
    Young scowls. They don’t tell us shit, he complains. I guess you can’t either?
    Elliott shrugs. Classified, he says. You know how it is.
    Yeah, says Young. Fuck.
     
     
    1980
    After twenty days, Elliott smells a little ripe, as does the interior of his spacesuit. Three times now, he has undressed and given himself