“So, I think we might have a way to get us back on Earth.”
“Enlighten me.” Rajesh did not sound hopeful.
“How about this? We fire the missiles from one side, only, and then rotate the ship until it faces away from Earth, and then shoot missiles from both wings. Newton’s third law. Missile goes front, we go back. That way, we’ll move in towards Earth. And once we’re away from these asteroids…”
“…the navigation starts working.” Rajesh finished the sentence and sat upright. “It just might work.”
They went through the weapons manual. Soon afterwards, they found that the ship was hardwired to shoot two missiles at a time, so there was no way of rotating it. After all, the ship was designed for prospecting, not for war. Jackson checked through the manual twice, and then sighed. It really could not be this easy. There was a large asteroid behind the ship, erasing any chance of reversing their way out of the field.
It was hopeless– the thought hit Jackson at last. He had read somewhere that 60% of all accidents happen near the Earth’s atmosphere. All his dreams, and all the badges he would have earned… gone. And what good would they do? He thought. Rajesh had his fair share of successful missions, but he would have the same fate. Death by suffocation – about as inglorious as it could get.
Rajesh was looking out a window towards Earth, a look of mad longing in his eyes.
“Got a cutter?” He asked, startling Jackson out of his despair.
“Wire cutter? I think there’s one in the tool box.” He said, and Rajesh began to rummage through the tools. He found it.
“Any plans?”
“Yep.” Rajesh smiled for the first time. “I’m going to cut the wire of the launcher on the left. Then when we fire, only the right wing shoots, and we rotate clockwise.”
“Then how do we make it stop when it is facing the right direction?”
“We don’t. Once we start rotating I’ll solder the wire back again, so both missiles are operational. After a few rotations, we’ll figure out the right orientation, shoot, and launch ourselves backwards towards earth. As long as we aren’t off by a large angle, we’ll hit the earth’s atmosphere, and away from these asteroids. Then we’ll get back controls, communication, and land this bird.”
“Let’s do it!” Jackson jumped up.
Rajesh spent the next half an hour to find the correct wire to turn off missile control on the left wing, while Jackson, lacking a better job, looked out the left window and tried to memorize the pattern of the asteroid field. The rear view video and the guidance system were staticked out, so they would have to depend on their sense of direction to launch themselves backwards to Earth.
“We’re ready.” Rajesh said, emerging from the weapons bay.
They strapped themselves into their seats again, and Jackson hit the launch button. A missile shot out, and strangely, followed a curved path into one of the asteroids, splitting it into several large chunks. There was a gentle tug on their seat-belts. The ship was rotating slowly. Rajesh unfastened quickly, and hopped to the weapons bay again with a soldering iron. He returned after a few minutes. “I hope this does it,” he said.
“We shoot when the red star in the middle of those two asteroids is right in the middle of our view-screen. If all works, we land. If something goes wrong, we’re back to square one.” Jackson said.
“Except, with less oxygen.” Rajesh corrected him.
They stared into the multiplex glass as the star inched towards the middle of the screen. Time seemed to have frozen. Rajesh’s forehead was covered up with perspiration, and Jackson’s fingers were gently caressing the ‘launch’ key.
Three inches.
Two inches.
One inch.
The spaceship suddenly shook violently, and the red star shot out from the screen. They felt a sudden tug to their right, and then another to their left. Something had hit the ship. Both the astronauts unfastened themselves again, and looked out the window. The ship was rotating again, but now about the wrong axis.
Rajesh was the first one to solve the mystery. He smacked his forehead, and sat down again, laughing.
“The asteroid that blew up. One of the pieces hit us.”
“This late?” Jackson found that very hard to believe.
“It didn’t come straight at us. Remember how the missile swerved. Must have been the magnetic field from the rocks. Our fragment got trapped in another asteroid’s field, went around it and hit us from a side. Ha! How about that!” He said, in mocking disbelief. He picked out a handkerchief, and wiped his forehead.
“Look.” Jackson said. ”We are still rotating, right? Maybe we’ll come across the right angle again.” But he was surprised himself by the sound of desperation that showed in his voice.
“Don’t count on it.” Rajesh fell back into a prolonged silence. He took up his daughter’s photo, a black and white screenshot he had printed from one of the printers, and stared at it. The toy, which was a little fat man with the head of an elephant, rested atop his control panel now.
“What’s that nicknack you got there?” Jackson asked.
“It’s Ganesha, the god of good luck. Rajesh said.
“You’re religious?”
(To be continued)
Image: spacewallpapers.org
Science Ruins Everything 