The Calculating Stars (Lady Astronaut, #1)(117)

Manpower. Of course. Why use any of the women who were qualified and sitting right here when you could bring some more men in?

“Now, I want to be clear that this isn’t a PR decision. It has nothing to do with the UN hearings. We’d always planned on expanding the program as things got settled, and Colonel Parker’s injury just accelerated that timetable a little.”

Sure it did. I glanced at Nicole, who had her mouth twisted in a little moue of displeasure.

“It’ll take a while to get them hired and up to speed, so I’ll need your patience and help with that. Meanwhile … I think it’s time to deploy one of the ladies.”

Sabiha scooted her chair forward and stared at Clemons intently. You could see the same thought bubble over her head as was no doubt appearing over all of ours. Me. Let it be me. Please let it be me.

I sat calmly, with my hands folded on my lap, the way my mother had taught me. Beneath my shirt, my heart was leaping out and waving its metaphorical hands. Pick me. Pick me …

“Parker’s suggestion, and I concur, is that we send up Jacira Paz-Viveiros.” He lowered his cigar. “Congratulations.”

Finally! A woman was finally going into space. Normally duty assignments were quiet, professional affairs, but even the men were visibly thrilled for Jacira. I congratulated her, grinning so hard my face hurt.

And I meant it, too.

But … I was feeling such a weird mix of emotions. Jacira deserved the flight. I was thrilled for her that she was going to be the first woman in space. I was relieved that it wasn’t Betty or Violette, who clearly would have just been picked for publicity. Jacira was a real pilot. I was also weirdly relieved that it wasn’t me, because as the first woman in space, she would be subjected to a level of scrutiny that would break me. Especially without resorting to Miltown.

But beneath all of those thoughts, I was afraid, because there was a part of my brain that wondered if Parker really had managed to ground me.





THIRTY-SEVEN

WOMEN ARE READY FOR SPACE

By ROBERT REINHOLD





KANSAS CITY, KS, Dec. 16, 1957—Next week—if all goes as planned—a new milestone in space history will be reached when Jacira Paz-Viveiros is lofted into space for nearly six days to become the first woman there. The decision by the International Aerospace Coalition to send the 32-year-old beauty queen into space along with two male crewmen has been made despite long doubts, and what some might call prejudices, about the abilities of women to withstand the physical and psychological rigors of such an ordeal.


Sitting at the CAPCOM desk, I began to understand why Parker always had that damn tennis ball to throw. Mind you, I wasn’t actually the CAPCOM yet—Cleary had that pleasure. I was just shadowing him while Benkoski and Malouf wrapped up their space walk.

Cleary occupied himself by doodling, and had filled a page with circles attached to circles attached to circles and then a sudden jagged line. “Shit.”

He sat up in his chair and turned the microphone on while simultaneously patching the capsule through to the loudspeakers. “What sort of problem?”

Benkoski’s voice crackled through the room, and the quiet murmur of idle conversation stopped. “We can’t get the hatch closed.”

Everyone started to move at once. Nathaniel grabbed his headset and the phone at the same time. I spun in my chair and reached for the library that spanned the shelves immediately behind the CAPCOM. The IAC had an entire volume dedicated to hatches and their closures.

“Copy that. Describe the malfunction?” Cleary’s voice gave no indication of the quiet energy that filled Mission Control. His job was to be the sole voice that the astronauts had to deal with while everyone else ran through all the possibilities.

“It gets within one centimeter of closure and then stops. We’ve looked for obstructions, but nothing is obvious.” His breath echoed through Mission Control.

I winced. The capsules didn’t have airlocks, just a hatch on the side. For the space walks, both astronauts were in pressure suits. If they couldn’t get the door closed, they couldn’t repressurize, and they also couldn’t reenter the Earth’s atmosphere.

“Is it aligned correctly?”

“Yes. It is not an alignment issue.” Behind his voice was the steady hiss of oxygen flowing into his helmet.

Nathaniel walked over carrying a schematic. “Tell him to open the hatch all the way. There’s a stop that keeps it from swinging all the way open, but if he pulls it, then they can open it fully and get a better view.”

Cleary nodded and repeated all of that to Benkoski.

“Confirmed door release. Working on it now.”

Through the speakers, we could hear his conversation with Malouf as they worked on the problem. Or, rather, we could hear Malouf working on it. The capsule was so small that, when suited, only one of them could be near the hatch at a time.

While they worked, Nathaniel conferred with the mechanical team. At some point, Clemons came stalking into the room, still shrugging into his coat. He demanded a status report.

I just tried to stay out of the way.

“Kansas, we see the problem.” Malouf’s voice broke through the chatter. “A loose washer is jammed in the seal near the hinge. We are attempting to pry it out.”

“Glad to hear it.” Cleary’s shoulders relaxed a little.