Back to the Moon by Homer Hickam

know if
Columbia
’s on hold or not. Just wait....”
    â€œJesus, Aaron!”
    SMC
    Sam couldn’t believe what he was hearing, but still he resisted the urge to get on the JSC/KSC push and yell at Bilstein. He knew the man had his hands full. From the excited chatter on the KSC loops it sounded, in fact, as if a full-blown disaster was in the making. In frustration Sam pounded both his fists on the console table. Tate’s Turds ducked their heads. He turned to look over his shoulder. Bonner just sat, staring, disbelief written all over his face.
    FSS, LC 39-B
    Jack ran into Barnes just as she emerged from the elevator shaft. He tripped over her, both of them sprawling on the deck. He stared incredulously at the tiny astronaut. She was looking back and Jack realized his blue suit made her think he was also an astronaut. He took advantage of that. “There’s a fire in the shuttle,” he said, helping her up. He pushed her inside the open elevator. “Go down to the ground level and stay inside and you’ll be safe.”
    â€œThe rest of my crew are trapped in the other elevator,” Barnes said.
    â€œI know. A glitch. But we think they’re safe there.”
    She looked at him suspiciously. “Why don’t I know you?”
    Jack looked over his shoulder, anxious to be on his way. “I’m an ex-astronaut, never flew. They let me wear the blue suit anyway. I’m here with the, uh, fire team—contract outfit.”
    Barnes stared at him but didn’t move, so he reached past her and pushed the ground-floor button. “Don’t come back up,” he warned as the doors closed on her.
    Jack turned, saw to his astonishment that Cassidy was coming down the passageway carrying a pistol. It was a big, blunt, and ugly instrument, a .45 automatic. “What the hell, Hoppy?” Jack demanded.
    â€œI took it off Virgil,” Cassidy said, disgustedly brandishing the weapon. “I guess he was afraid we’d have to fight our way off the pad. I came out to pitch it and find you. We’ve got trouble. Dr. Penny High Eagle is strapped in—”
    The sudden groan of the last flush of the propellants washing through the cryo pipes drowned out the rest of what Cassidy was trying to say. “Let’s go!” Jack yelled. Whatever it was, they’d have to sort it out later.
    The elevator door suddenly opened. Barnes was standing there. “Listen—” she started to say, then stopped, her mouth agape at the sight of the two men and the pistol.
    Instinctively, Cassidy raised the .45 toward the astronaut. Barnes ducked and threw herself forward, hitting Cassidy’s arm. He dropped the pistol and it hit the steel deck, punched out a round, and slid over by Jack’s feet. Cassidy lurched forward and fell onto the deck, taking Barnes down with him. “Jesus.” Cassidy gasped, his face contorted in pain.
    Barnes quickly got to her feet while Jack snatched up the pistol. “Holy shit,” she breathed when she saw him point it at her.
    â€œThe shuttle’s going!” he bellowed. “Get in the elevator now!”
    Barnes’s eyes rolled at the grumble of the cryos, the flexing of the ET with the super-cold liquids. She didn’t move. “You’re sure I’ll be all right in there?” she asked plaintively.
    Jack kept his finger outside the trigger guard. He was taking no chances on another misfire. “Yes. We’ve tested it,” he screamed. “Now, go!
Go!”
    Columbia
    Penny struggled to see what was going on behind her. The roar of the propellants flushing through the external tank was like a locomotive. “For God’s sake, close the hatch!” she screamed when she saw it was still open. “We’re about to lift off!”
    â€œCome on!” the big technician was yelling at the opening. “Come on!”
    â€œAre you crazy?” Penny yelled. “Close the hatch