Quiescent Danger

“Everything is ready, Sir. The sound comms and all of the other equipment as well.”

Chief Technician of the Russian Space Exploration Program, Yuri Malga smiled at these words; but his heart moved on different lines- it galloped at the pace of a Ferrari on the Autobahn.

“Let’s do it,” he muttered. Continuing in a louder voice, he addressed the small congregation which waited expectantly.

“It has been more than a decade since the catastrophe knocked at our door. We have spent these years uncovering no substantial data on the reasons of the door. We have now obtained the recordings of what went on inside. And, we have managed to make them just audible.”

This was met with a shower of claps. But, it fell silent at the next sentence.

“It is grave. And comrades, before we begin, I would like to propose a minute of silence for those brave volunteers. The people who died for a cause,” he ended on a high note.

Silence proceeded. And as the clock ticked slowly ahead, the watch in Yuri’s mind sped fastidiously back in time. And he remembered that day…

“Ten…Nine…Eight…Seven…Six…Five…Four…Three…Two…One…Liftoff.” These words died down as the white mammoth craft pushed at the ground and rose up into the air. Orange flames leapt out of the bottom of the rocket and subsided as they hit the brown dirt below. Shouts and hoots and whistles resounded in the communications centre as the craft snaked its way through the atmosphere.

“The Earth looks so small from up here comrades. But, it is Mother Russia which decorates most of her surface,” the voice said.

 The voice belonged to Boris Malga, who was currently speeding away from the giant ball we call Earth. The older and more matured version of the younger Malga, Boris was 32 years old. Athletic, and academically the best of the University, Boris had voluntarily agreed for the mission. Who wouldn’t? who wouldn’t miss a chance to be the first being to set foot on the Moon, would you?

“We have cleared the stratosphere, and our destination is in sight. All systems working smoothly, now toggling gravity. Radar silent, no bogies in sight. Over,” he announced.

“We hear you Big Bear. Proceed on flight path and move towards target. Comrades, God be with you. Over,” the reply left the Station. Speaking on the microphone was a young fellow of not more than 25. Dressed in casuals and with a smile on his face, Yuri Malga spoke calmly into the mouthpiece.

“Comrades I am regretting my decision of not bringing my vodka up here! This flight…,” the voice collapsed into static. And the tension in all hearts multiplied violently.

No voice communication came back. All they saw was a blip moving towards the moon.  But their stomachs had a knot, more large and strong than ever. All of a sudden, the blip turned and dropped. Silence reigned. The shock on all of the Communication’s Heads and all of Politburo members was visible. Falling freely under gravity, the blip dropped into the ocean and vanished.

“Big Bear is down. I repeat, Big Bear is down. Mission Lunar King has failed.” This announcement was met with the quiet. No one spoke; no one moved. It was catastrophe.

The sound of the whirring and static brought back Yuri to the present. His glassy eyes brimmed with tears as the past flew in front of his eyes.

“The flight is…Oh my God! What is that? Base, we have a bogie at our twelve. Racing straight at our nose at around double our speed. Description to follow: Black, huge arms raised in front…and Holy mother of God…It’s not just one. It’s an army. I repeat, an army. Base, we are returning with bogies on our tail. Requesting Air Support. Base can you hear me? Base? Acknowledge. Requesting Air…”

The voice in the audio distorted into a solid boom. The data system logged the time to be precise with the sudden fall of the craft.

“Long live Mother Russia. I guess these must be aliens.”

A splash sounded and the static from the audio flooded the air of the small auditorium. The theory of aliens and of other life in space being present had been considered. But the crash had been blamed on Technical Malpractice.

But what now? The audio in the voice of brave cosmonaut Boris Malga, and his words had confirmed what they had feared all those years ago.