---"Angel" Season One Pilot---

Mission commander Michael Owen is on the verge death after a failed mission in space to save the planet earth. Saved by what he thinks to be an angel, this friend from another world offers Michael the opportunity to save his planet by endowing him with great power, but at a great personal cost.

Angel S:1E:1-3 “Pilot”
By G.M. Shephard
Copyright 2012
Edited by: jeffusually
kiitylover

---Part I "Failure"---

My final moment was upon me. Fear took ahold of me as I checked my O2 levels for the hundredth time. 5% according to the gauge. Breathing was a growing struggle as the pressure in my suit continued to plummet.
Using the mirror attached to the left wrist on my EMU suit, I savored my final glimpses of the Earth. It was the best I could do to keep the blue and green sphere that I called home in my view during the last moments I had among the world of the living. With the nitrogen in my Manned Maneuvering Unit depleted, I couldn't correct my axis to allow a full frontal view of my home. This is how it would end for me, I would die alone in the blackness of space, and my decaying corpse would drift forever throughout the cosmos.
“Where had everything gone wrong?”

---Two hours ago---

“Michael, Pendleton wasn’t your fault. You know that. His suit ruptured and he decompressed,” Dr. Megan McCormack said as we sat in the flight deck of the ship’s FAST Pack, secluded from the rest of the crew. "I did everything I could to save him, but after a long exposure to a vacuum, his lungs collapsed, causing respiratory failure. I tried, but on this cramped ship, my resources were limited. Even in a hospital, there would be little we could have done."

“I know Doc. One hundred and twenty seconds. If only we could have re-pressurized him a few seconds sooner."

“Perhaps, but maybe not. We all acted according to our training. No, better than our training. No one will fault us, it was a freak accident. These are the risks we take to save the world. Now Michael, we could re-run that moment over and over again, learning each time, and we would never come close to making up that time. It was simply his time.”

“Thanks Doc, I know, but still hurts. I'm the commander of this mission and I have to take responsibility for my crew," I explained to my friend as I checked my watch to see how much more time we had.

It was a godsend that the mission planners felt it wise to have Megan as part of the crew. We needed a surgeon being so far away from Earth during our year long mission. Having a doctor who also had a P.h.D in psychology was advantageous. Some days I felt like my responsibility was to just too much to bear and having her on board to listen to my burdens restored the confidence I had in my abilities to lead my team.

“Michael, You have done a remarkable job commanding this mission. I can’t imagine anyone doing a better job than you. Think about what we have accomplished. We are the first international crew, a joint effort between the us and the Russians. We are flying the largest spacecraft ever built, with revolutionary nuclear propulsion, something our two countries built together. We’ve journeyed as far as Mars’ orbit. Sean landed us on the asteroid, then Shephard and his ground team planted the devices. We had a successful detonation. Now we are a month shy of making it back home. You’ve made history Michael and within an hour, we should know if all this effort paid off.”

“What if we failed? What if the devices and our gravity tractor did little to move the Icarus off its trajectory?”

I thought of the mission so far. She was right, it was remarkable what we accomplished in such a short space of three and a half years. Since the time we first discovered the asteroid in December of 1983, mankind finally pulled together. The cold war came to an immediate end as the world’s two mightiest superpowers banded together. I sat conversing with my friend on board the result of the American and Soviet partnership–the Deliverance.

The Soviets had been working on the design of a nuclear powered propulsion system for years. It was America’s constant interference into the Soviets' atomic research that halted progress. Likewise, similar work by the Americans was impeded by espionage, or political tension. The stalemate between the two countries continued as the leaders uselessly held summit meetings, achieving little progress toward peace. A mass of debris left over from the formation of the Solar System ended most conflict on the planet in the span of a week.

Now, my friend and I conversed, sharing my innermost vulnerabilities with her as I tried to deal with the mission’s first casualty. Of course I felt guilty. I was nowhere near when a gas pocket erupted and punctured his hard suit. It was the tail end of the drilling phase, a couple of days away from departing after a month on the Icarus’ surface when the accident happened. I listened to the drama unfold below from the safety of the Deliverance’s FAST Pack.

The FAST Pack was the core of the ship’s systems. Essentially it was a large nuclear tugboat that mated with the modified Atlantis orbiter. Containing a revolutionary nuclear reactor engine that powered eight main thrusters, four aft, and four retro, the craft could reach Mars in a fraction of the time it would take a conventional solid fuel rocket.

Upon our arrival, the Atlantis separated from the FAST Pack. Collins, my pilot, successfully piloted the Orbiter to the surface where Shephard began work planting the nuclear devices into the asteroid. As the ground team labored each day, I piloted the Fast Pack and remained in orbit around the massive asteroid, using the ship’s mass to gradually tug the rock off its trajectory and supplement the effect of the nuclear devices.

The journey was near its end. We spent several months after the detonation using the Deliverance as a gravity tractor, pulling the Icarus further off course, before Earth launched phase three of the operation. A volley of orbitally launched missiles, struck the asteroid, while we took refuge on the far side of the moon. Each missile struck at regular intervals, allowing time for the first blast to dissipate before the next impact.

“Michael, this is something we all fear, every human on Earth is afraid. We simply did the best we could do.”

“I’m scared Megan, I’m afraid of the consequences if we fail,” I confessed, my stomach knotting up at the thought of my wife and daughter dying in the aftermath of an impact. The size of downtown New York, the asteroid would eradicate all life on the planet and enshroud the Earth with a thick blanket of ash, reflecting the Sun's life-sustaining energy away from the planet. Those who survived would live harsh lives underground, sealed away until the dust settled two painfully long years from now.

“Michael, you wouldn’t be human if you, like the rest of us, didn’t feel that way. I know you are a tough, strong man. I've told you before, it’s okay for you to show your emotions. It’s a load of crock that men are supposed to hide their emotion. It's okay for you to feel pain and show it.”

“I know, we’ve been through this. I don’t like breaking down in front of my crew. It makes me feel weak.”

“You’re not weak, you’re a strong man, you just have a softer side. I wish there were more like you in the world. Liz is a very lucky woman to have such a great man. And Ashley, well most girls are going to be jealous that she has such a great dad,” She paused and smiled, reaching out and touching my hand, “Speaking of, how are they?”

“Liz, Liz is hanging in there. Actually she really seems like she on the edge. I’m worried about her. Worried about Ash. She’s strong, but she still needs her mother to take the lead.” It had been about a week since I spoke with my wife and daughter via the video conference that NASA included for the crew to remain in regular contact with their loved ones.

“I know, she does look like she is getting worn out. When you let me talk to them last week, Liz did show increasing signs of anxiety. This of course is expected. You’re right, it is remarkable is how positive Ashley’s been. She was just as high spirited then as she was the first day I met her.”

“Yeah, she is a great kid, she makes her father very–”

“–Commander, sorry to interrupt you two, but Houston’s on the horn for you,” Eugene said over the P.A., interrupting our conversation. I pressed the button below the speaker.

“Thanks Gene, I will be there in a minute,” I said, turning back to Megan. “Thanks Doc. I’m really glad you are part of my team. I don’t know what I would have done all this time without you.” I pushed myself toward her, wrapping my arm around her shoulder and giving her a friendly half a hug.

“I’m glad to be here. Thank you for considering me an equal.”

“Equal? When did I think that?” I said playfully. “I’ve told you a hundred times Megan, you’re the smartest cookie in my crew.” She opened the hatch to leading to the mid deck. Mitri and Yeltsov were sitting there, engaged in yet another fierce chess battle on their miniature magnetic chess set.

“Igor, you aren’t going to let Nikolai beat you again are you?” I said in near fluent Russian as I pushed past them toward the opening to the flight deck.

“No Commander, this time I beat him,” Yeltsov said in a thick Russian accent.

“I will beat him,” I said correcting his English. He repeated it several times, trying to get it right. Mitri, who was far superior with English, took over the English lesson, helping his friend as I pushed off the floor and ascended high toward the flight deck. I could hear Shephard and Collins in one of their regular debates.

“Oh no, I can’t leave you two alone for twenty minutes can I?” I said as I moved past them and took a seat in my command chair on the left side of the cockpit.

“Hey Saint,” Sean Collins, my pilot and second in command said, addressing me by my Air Force call sign. Sean, a former Naval fighter pilot himself, followed a similar career as I, but chose instead to join the Navy, where he served as Commander of the Air Group on board the U.S.S. Stennis. Collins, also a family man, had a strong Christian faith and often clashed with Dr. Shephard, our Payload Specialist who lived each moment of his life skeptical of everything. Naturally, the two were constantly arguing.

“What are you two debating about now?”

“Sean here is trying to convince me that the Earth is 6,000 years old.”

“Well it is,” Sean said as I picked up my headset.

I had little time to listen to their arguments and was frankly getting tired of listening to them. “Quiet a moment.” I waited a second for them to be silent, then hit the talk button, “Houston, this is Deliverance, over.” A reply instantly poured through the radio with minimal delay, indicating we were getting even closer to home.

“This is Houston, we read you. How’s it going up there Owen?”

“The view is improving Dwayne, that little blue dot's getting bigger. How's it going down there?" I said to Dwayne Turner, commander of B Team, serving as the Capsule Communicator. The CAPCOM as we call, is the intermediary between the flight crew and Mission Control. Instead of being bombarded with commands from any of the Mission Control operators, all communication were passed to a single person and relayed to the crew. Since the Mercury missions, the CAPCOM has usually always been other astronauts.

"Same old boring view in the smoke filled Mission Control. Thanks for rubbing it in that you are up there instead of me."

"Prick," Shephard said quietly so only the three of us could hear, “if he wasn’t such an ass, he probably would be up here god forbid. I gave Gene a thumbs up agreeing with his statement. Dwayne wasn't known for his friendly demeanor and would often butt heads with others, myself being his favorite.

"Sorry buddy," I said, "didn't mean it that way. Anyway, you guys have an update on the Icarus over?"

"Saint, trajectory calculations are still in progress. Due to instrument problems, it may be about another thirty minutes before we can determine if those nukes worked. Sorry we don't have any news just yet."

"Roger, understood. Keep us posted. Anything else Houston?"

“Negative, your approach is still on target. Oh, tell your boys, they are gonna get their butts handed to them by Sweden in the finals tomorrow. If we get some good news, Flight just might pipe a feed up there for you.”

Dwayne didn’t give a crap about hockey, nor did he have an allegiance with Sweden. He just wanted to torment me and my Russian crew members.

“Not a chance, the 1986 World Championship will go to our partners. Any ways, thanks for the heads up. Nikolai and Igor will be excited to hear that.”

“Roger. Will keep you posted as soon as we hear word on the Icarus, Houston out."

‘Damn, another thirty minutes of waiting,‘ I thought while pressing the button to the P.A., "Ok kids, that was Houston, got another thirty before we hear whether this mission was a success or a dud.

"Okay Commander, let's hear what you think. You're what, Catholic?" Eugene said without care toward my announcement.

"Grew up Catholic, can't say I still am."

"Right, your mother was the religious one, named you after that fairy tale being?"

"Michael the Archangel you mean?"

"Like I said, fairy tales," Collins rolled his eyes.

"So what are you getting at Gene, I'm kinda busy? We've gone over the story on my name a dozen times. I really don't care what the religious etymology is, as long as you don't call me Mike, I really don't care where my name comes from."

"So what about the Earth?"

"What about it?"

"How old is it? Preacher here seems to think this planet is 6,000 years old.

“So what if he thinks that?” I said.

“So what?” Really? Owen, it’s insulting to me. NASA didn’t send me on this mission for my charming looks. I have a P.h.D in Geology having studied planetary geology and done extensive work with hydrocarbons. You know you might think that I am falsifying my data to fit my skeptical world view, but don’t forget, I’ve been paid lots of money by rich oil tycoons who have these very lavish lifestyles, lifestyles that my successful research helps drive. The reason they continue to grow rich is because my data is correct. Face it, the Earth has been around billions of years.

“Well, I must say Gene, that is a good point you bring up about petroleum. Sean, I am going to side with the Doctor here. All the scientific evidence points towards a universe that is quite old. Having said that, Gene, all you're doing is disproving the Earth’s young age. Doesn’t mean that God doesn’t exist.”

“Still, you wanna believe in that-”

“-Gene, sorry I have other things I wanna think about. Honestly unlike you and Collins here, I don’t spend a lot of time thinking about it one way or another. Chances are, that rock we call home might now be around much longer, so what do you two say. Can we just get along and quit bickering about religion?” I left without letting them reply, joining up with Mitri and Igor.

"I just heard the Soviet Union will play Sweden tomorrow in the finals," I said to my two Russian friends, watching Igor ponder where to place his bishop.

"That is good. We crush Sweden easily,” Mitri said, smiling as Igor committed his bishop right into the trap he laid out. “Michael, when this is over, Igor and I take you to game in Moscow. This sound good, yes?” Mitri spoke in English as was our custom. I would speak to them in Russian, while they used my native language. We would stop every now and then, correcting each other. In the span of time I had been working with them, my Russian evolved from passible, to near fluency.

"Nikolai, that is very sweet," Megan said as she ate her lunch, floating over the fierce match. "It's been a joy seeing how close the three of you are. You are a small model of what I know is coming between our two countries.

"Check," Mitri said, taking Igor’s bishop with his rook while unblocking a direct path where his queen threatened the king.

"Oops, that was dumb," Igor said aloud. He tried to counter, but found he did nothing but seal his fate.

"Comrade, looks like checkmate-" Mitri’s victory was interrupted as the miniature chess set exploded, sending pieces flying throughout the cabin. The hissing of escaping atmosphere flooded the cabin seconds before the ship’s master alarm sounded a warning about our diminishing life support.

"IGOR!" Megan yelled, throwing her meal aside, lunging toward Igor. I looked up at the commotion to see droplets of blood floating in the micro gravity around my friend’s neck. Blood squirted through his fingers as he clutched his neck.

"Hull breach," Collins shouted as the sound of objects striking the hull outside increased. A large impact jolted the deliverance, knocking us around.

“Stations everyone. Sean, flood the cabin," I ordered while scrambling to help Megan stabilize Igor. Shephard rushed toward the infirmary grabbing the trauma kit off the wall.

"Commander, I got this," Eugene yelled. I turned my attention to my bleeding ship, as the fire extinguisher erupted, launching itself across the cabin where it struck Sean in the chest, knocking the wind out of him. Doubling over in pain, he fought to secure the canister, his hand freezing to the rapidly cooling metal cylinder.

"Warning, Warning, Warning. Cabin depressurization," Bitching Betty, the ship's computer started flooding the cabin, warning us after we all ready determined the problem.

“Deliverance, this is Houston, come in over. We are reading multiple alarms, report,” Dwayne yelled through the P.A. Igor's blood drifted across the cabin, splitting into two separate trails, attracted to the breaches in the side of the hull.

There was no time to think. I left Collins and scrambled to the airlock, pulling myself up into the upper half of my space suit as fast as I could, powering on the life support systems. Gene rushed over, leaving Megan alone, understanding immediately what I was up to.

"Owen, we need approval from Houston before we go EVA,” Gene uselessly quoted regulations.”

“No time Shephard, we are going to bleed out. Help me with the lower.” Gene didn’t argue, instead grabbing the lower half of my suit and mating the connecting collar around my waist.

“Systems online Commander, you are 100% charged,” he said, handing me my helmet.

"Get me the hull breach kit," I yelled, pulling my snoopy cap over my head before putting my helmet on. With the final seal closed shut, the suit began to pressurize. I didn't wait for Gene before scrambling into the airlock. Gene kicked himself off the far wall with the gun in hand, tossing the lanyard around my wrist.

“Good luck commander,” he gave a thumbs up and and closed the airlock door, locking it shut.

“Deliverance to Houston, Mayday, Mayday. Come in over,” I said over the radio.

“This is Houston. We are reading multiple cabin depressurization alarms, and FAST Pack separation. What’s going on up there Saint?” The light above the outer door turned green indicating the airlock was depressurized. I quickly opened the outer door and pushed my way to the Manned Maneuvering Unit as the Atlantis’ massive payload doors opened above, filling the cargo bay with Sunlight.

“Houston, we have multiple hull breaches from unknown source. Deliverance is rapidly depressurizing, I’m going EVA to stop the outgassing.” I backed up to into the large pack until a small green light inside my helmet lit up informing me my life support pack successfully mated with the MMU. I pulled down my visor, then took the controls, firing my thruster, lifting myself up and clear of the cargo hold, witnessing the FAST Pack drifting away from the Atlantis.

"Houston, affirmative confirmation of FPU separation. I have a visual of the FAST Pack moving away from the Orbiter. She's a lost cause, spinning on her Y axis. We won't be able to re-mate with her."

“Roger Saint. Let's focus on the breach. EECOM says sensors indicate breaches on port side panels E-25, F-30, and D-18. Repeat, port panels, E-25, F-30, and D-18.”

“Affirmative, making way to F-30,” the first along the route towards the bow. I turned on the lights attached to the pack, scanning the surface of my ship as I progressed forward.

“Michael, turn your camera on, I have eyes on screen,” Megan called over the radio. I switched on the remote camera below the light cluster to begin feeding her video of what appeared before me, “excellent, you’re on the air and coming in clear. I’m seeing lots of damage.”

“MM/OD shower, Houston, can you see this?”

“Roger, receiving the feed now,” the voice replied as I approached the first panel. The red crimson stain from Igor’s blood helped me quickly hone in on the first breach.

“This is Saint, I am at F-30, what’s the current atmosphere reading?” I asked as I brought my MMU to a stop and rotated my axis to face the panel. I reached out with a large suction cup attached to a tether and attached it to the smooth thermal panel to keep me from drifting while I made the repairs.

“Saint, cabin pressure is at 78% and falling,” Turner relayed the EECOM's system readings.

“Roger, 78%,” Shephard said, confirming Houston’s numbers, “flooding cabin now.” I could hear a gas leak over the radio as Gene released the colored gas to further help identify small punctures in the hull. The debris clearly punched through the multiple layers.

First line of defense is the aluminum shell that breaks the debris into smaller pieces. After, layers of kevlar shields stop or slow the micro meteoroids. Anything the kevlar fails to stop is usually caught by a foam layer just outside the inner shell. This debris went clean through all the layers.

I quickly placed the cone at the end of the breach kit over the puncture and pulled the large three finger long trigger to inject the foam. The cone provided a soft seal, protecting the hole from the vacuum by allowing the foam to inject itself into the cavity where it would expand, sealing off the venting. A light lit up indicating enough time passed for the foam to permanently seal.

Typically, shuttle missions and MIR relied on this shielding alone as emergency EVAs took days to coordinate with the Mission Control. In the Deliverance’s case, a hull breach en route would result in not only the crew’s death, but the planet’s.

“F-30 sealed, what’s our status?”

“74%. Still dropping, but not as fast,” Shephard said, beating Houston to the punch.

“Roger, moving to E-25.” My small inertia control thrusters on my maneuvering pack propelled me forward along the fuselage. I stopped, reaching section 25, and lowered myself to the E panels running below the F row. There, I repeated the process, injecting the expanding airtight foam, sealing the second puncture before moving on to the last.

“Collins, you copy?”

“He is in bad shape Commander,” Mitri responded.

“Listen Mitri, you need to shut down RCS. The Verniers took some damage. Can you get a reading on the reactor?”

“Already shut all propulsion down. Reactor normal, she’s Russian designed. Very strong.”

“Don’t forget who helped build it. We also paid for most of it.” I mustered a joke to help calm my nerves

“We make good team, yes Comrade Michael?”

“Mitri, how is Igor?” I said as I approached the final breach, taking position. The blood stopped, but the colored gas was pouring through, “Mitri, did you copy, how is Igor?” Nothing but silence as I worked the breach kit.

“I’m sorry Michael,” Megan’s voice said, “the micro meteoroid ruptured the artery in his-” she paused as my hands started to shake, breaking the seal around the cone. I pressed harder, resealing it and waiting for the light to signal my job was done. “-Igor’s gone. Michael, I’m so sorry”

“Good job Saint,” Shephard said, breaking up the emotional moment, returning the crew to the job at hand. “Cabin pressure at 69% and rising. O2 reserves coming online. The seals are holding.

“Thanks Gene, good work team.” I lifted up and maneuvered the MMU toward the flight deck window–coming to a hover over the cluster of Vernier thrusters that made up the ship’s Retro rockets, allowing the vehicle to counter the inertia of forward travel. “Retro looks good. It appears all damage is along the port side.” Megan appeared in the cockpit window and looked out at me. Her jumpsuit was covered in blood.”

“Houston, this is Saint, come in over.”

“Houston, go ahead.”

“Hull breach sealed. Cabin pressure rising. Permission to remain EVA and check for further damage. Several Verniers appear to be damaged. Without the FPU’s nuclear reactor control system, and a damaged cluster on Atlantis, we could be dead in the water.”

“Negative Saint, end your EVA and use SRMS to survey damage.”

“Copy. The arm can’t survey the thermal tiles, request manual survey of the heat shield, and topside survey with the Canadarm. Advise, over.”

“Negative Saint, terminate EVA. Proceed with SRMS survey. We will have you Rendezvous with MIR and take refuge there.”

“Refuge? What do you mean? How are you going to get us home? Over.” Silence. I waited for what seemed like an eternity before repeating. “Houston, advise on homecoming alternatives over.”

“Commander, it’s Frank. Good work up there.”

“Frank, What’s going on?” It was strange Frank Thompson, the Flight Director, took the com. As soon as I asked, Dwayne’s sudden silence became clear. We failed, there wasn’t going to be a home to go to.

“Michael, trajectory analysis has been completed. It is my sad duty to inform you the mission did not succeed. Impact with the Icarus is imminent. I repeat, there will be an impact.”

“Heaven help us. What’s the ETA?” Shephard asked.

“Two weeks. New calculations have an impact site along the Eastern Seaboard with smaller debris hitting North America, Europe, China and Japan. We were close damn it. Another 500 kilometers, and it would have bounced off the atmosphere.”

“Understood,” I said as my worst fears surfaced. Inside my gloves, my hands were violently shaking, my stomach clenching into a tight knot. Megan stood in the window watching me, her face displaying her own dread regarding the news of our failure. “Frank, what are the casualty estimates?”

“Higher, into the 85 to 89 percen–.”

“–MICHAEL, LOOK OUT.” I didn’t have a second to process what she was yelling about when I suddenly felt as if I was struck by a freight train. My head jerked sideways, hitting the inside of my helmet while jerking my neck. I felt as if a bone in my shoulder cracked as I was suddenly ejected at a high velocity away from the ship, “OH MY GOD MICHAEL. HELP, SOMEONE HELP,” was all I could hear as my vision went black.

---

“Doc, what’s the matter?” Mitri yelled, pulling himself up alongside Megan in the cockpit. She was screaming Michael’s name. She was looking out the starboard side trying to see something.

“Michael, can you hear me. Please Michael say something,” she kept saying into the radio, ignoring Mitri.

“Houston, we have situation,” Mitri reported as Megan kept trying his direct com channel. He peered out the window, seeing the larger debris passing the ship.

“Deliverance, what’s going on up there? Owen’s heart monitor spiked, then suddenly calmed to very low levels.”

McCormack was about to reply when the whole ship jolted again, knocking her into a control panel.

“We have to get out of here,” Sean said with a weak voice, pulling himself up to the flight deck while ignoring the searing pain of his broken ribs shifting.

“Deliverance, report, master alarm is flashing.”

“Houston, larger debris hit the hull and…” Megan paused, “Michael was hit.”

“Copy do you have visual?”

“Negative visual on Owen,” Megan said, doing everything she could to keep her calm in front of the crew. Collins struggled to pull himself forward into the cockpit.

“No Sean, don’t,” Mitri yelled as he saw Sean bringing the ship’s systems online.

“We have to go after him,” he retorted, continuing with his emergency start up procedure.”

“Sean, we can’t go after him, RCS is damaged, you’ll kill us.” Sean stopped flipping the switches engaging the fuel pumps.

“We have to do something, we can’t let him die out there.” Megan grabbed Sean’s shoulder and gave him a comforting squeeze.

“Sean, Mitri’s right, we all want to go after him, but if the Verniers are leaking fuel, a burn will destroy the ship. We have to think of something else.”

“What else is there?” Gene piped in with a voice of dread behind it.

“I say we survey the vessel for damage. If it's in good shape we go after Owen.

“Negative,” a faint voice came in through the speaker. “I’m a lost cause. Stand down, do not attempt a rescue.”

“Michael! Oh god, I’m glad you’re ok.”

“I’m not Doc. Would be much easier if that would have been it. I’m in bad shape. My head’s bleeding and I think I have a broken collar bone.”

“Ok, but we can still come get you if the systems check out.”

“Negative, my pack’s leaking O2. You won’t be able to run a full damage report in time.”

"What rate are you loosing O2?" McCormack asked, trying to hold on to some array of hope.

"I already ran the numbers. With my reserve, I have about 20 minutes."

“Can you still see the ship?” She said, moving to the SRMS controls. Megan switched on the video displays, then changed the camera feed. The large robotic arm in the shuttle cargo bay was still configured for external surveillance.

“Negative. I used all my Nitrogen to stop my spin. My attitude is fixed. I can’t see the Earth or the Deliverance.

"Okay Michael, I'm gonna see if I can see you in the F.L.I.R camera"

"Won't do any good Doc. EMU suits have too much insulation, Infrared won't pick him up," Gene added, crushing the last of her hopes.

"Listen, I don't want to waste this time trying to save me, so all of you get it out of your heads right now. If we are smart, we can use these 20 minutes and let me help save you. Now first of all, how is Collins?"

"Right here Saint. In a lot of pain, but I should manage."

"Can you dock with MIR?"

"I should be able to if we can safely initiate a burn. If not, it won't matter."

Ok, Mitri, you and McCormack get on the Canadarm and start a full exterior damage analysis. Gene, pull the ship's schematics and coordinate with Houston. Collins, have the doc treat your wounds, then I want you to relax. I don't want you to do anything that can further injure yourself. I'm not coming back, so the Deliverance is yours. It's up to you to bring everyone home, understand?"

"Roger, understood," Sean said, wondering to himself what home Michael expected him to return to. All his prayers had gone unanswered. The whole planet below were holding vigils, praying for a miracle. Either God didn't care, or perhaps Gene was right. If this was the end of the world, then the book of Revelation got it all wrong. The falling star would only kill one third, Icarus was projected to destroy up to 85% of the world's population.

"Houston, can you get in touch with Liz for me? I have things I want to tell her."

"I'm very sorry Michael, we are on lockdown, no outbound calls," Thompson said, taking over direct communication.

"Where is she? Where's my daughter? How come they are not at JSC right now?"

"Michael, as soon as we can we will send someone to take them to safety."

"Houston, Repeat, I didn't catch that. You're breaking up."

A crackling sound emitted from the P.A. The crew was losing communication with him as he drifted out of range of the shortwave radio. EVAs were always performed within close proximity to the vehicle, and relied on the communications array on the Deliverance to relay the signal to Houston. In a matter of minutes, they were going to loose touch. Megan took control of herself, knowing they had little time to say goodbye.

“Michael, it's Me, listen, Listen to my voice. We are going to be fine, so I don't want you to worry about us. We each have things to say."

“Yes Michael, I’m here too. We’re all here,” Mitri said, following suit and helping Megan shift the focus toward Michael's final moments.

“Say goodbye to them for me. If somehow you make it home, tell Liz and Ash that I love them. Tell them I’m sorry.

“Michael, you know I will.”

Megan, a strong woman, who never showed her emotion, finally broke. She managed to restrain the sorrow in her voice, lest Michael hear, but a flood of tears ran down her face. Mitri reached out to her, handing her a cloth to catch her tears. "Michael, I have enjoyed every moment since the day I first met you and Liz. You are a wonderful man. As long as I live, I will never let my memories of you fade. I love you in a most special way."

“Doc, I can’t tell you how special you are to me. I don’t know how I would have got to this point without your friendship, without your advice. It’s stupid I know, there’s no hope, but please take care of my girls for me. They’re going to need you more than ever.”

“Michael, it’s not stupid. We will find a way. I will take good care of them for you.”

Nikolai held Megan, offering his chest to bury her face and muffle her cries so Michael couldn’t hear. “Comrade Michael," Mitri said into the mic, allowing Megan time to regain her composure, "thank you for your friendship. Igor and I were afraid to work with Americans. I had doubt you would want to be friends us, yet you were true friend. A shame our countries wasted so much time fighting each other. Like Doc, you accepted us as one of your own. Remember special vodka I have at home, Yes? I will drink your half when I return. I drink in your honor my friend.” Mitri nodded and laughed as Michael replied in Russian expressing his affection. Eugene took the radio next, holding the mic up to his mouth. After several false starts, he finally spoke,

“Commander, it’s been an honor working with you. Soon you will be free of this cruel world,” he paused, still thinking what to say. “Oh well, this is Eugene, signing out,” Collins took the mic next.

“Saint. It just occurred to me, you might end up being made a real saint when this is over."

"Wouldn't that be something? Would wind up as the patron saint of drifting astronauts."

"Leave it to you to sneak a joke in at this time. Anyway, Michael, we’ve been friends for a while, we’ve flown together and I just have to say how blessed I am to have known you. You are one heck of a good guy. Lord, I take this time to lift our friend Michael up to you.” Gene rolled his eyes as Sean started praying out loud. Megan took Sean’s hand to encourage him to continue. “Lord, be with our brother during his final moments. Take away his suffering as you call him home. In your name, Amen.” He concluded his prayer, skeptical his heart was behind the words he said aloud. After all the prayers he led the team on, this was one moment he couldn't announce his rapidly diminishing faith. The truth was, he wasn’t so sure there was anyone other than the crew listening.

“Thanks Sean. Just a couple of words, and I am going to depart early." Michael spoke slowly, pausing periodically to gasp for enough air to speak. "I’m not good at these goodbyes. You guys were the best crew I have ever worked with, and the best friends one can ever hope for in life. I love each and every one of you. Hopefully this is goodbye. I wish to God it is, but if not, I will see you all again real soon. Either way, Goodbye and Godspeed.”

“Michael, wait,” Megan called out, but there was no response. All they heard was some grunting and rustling around for a few seconds before they heard Michael cussing.

“Damn it.”

“Michael, what’s the matter?”

“My helmet’s jammed.”

Mitri’s emotions finally surfaced, envisioning his friend desperate to quicken his inevitable death, but unable. The sudden alarm sounding though Michael’s radio startled him until he recognized the warning. Michael had finally exhausted his air supply. He held Megan tight as they listened to his fading grunting and gasping for whatever air he had remaining. The crackling of the static intensified, drowning out the sounds of suffocation as their commander drifted further away from the shortwave radio.

Then, there was nothing but the noise produced by the cosmic background radiation, left over from the universe’s beginning. Gene reached up to turn off the speaker, bringing their farewell party to an end, when Michael’s barely audible voice spoke his final words. “Wow! Light. Beautiful light.” Then true silence. To be sure, they suffered through the noise for five minutes before killing the speaker. The four remaining astronauts of the Deliverance floated in each others' arms sharing a moment of silence as Michael passed on into the next life.
---Angel of Mercy---

A bright white flash appeared. “Wow! Light. Beautiful light.”

This was it, the moment of death was upon me. In a few more moments, it would be all over, I thought to myself as the light continued to brighten as if the tunnel to heaven was opening to receive me. The light was intense–like staring at the Sun, flooding my visor with heavenly illumination, burning my eyes. A shadow appeared at the end of the tunnel and began to take shape into that of a humanoid like figure. Out of the tunnel the figure approached me, its body offering relief from the brightness.

I reached, out trying to touch the Angel. She was beautiful, clothed in white glowing garments weaved together by the hand of God Himself. As she transgressed the dimensions of heaven into the physical world, she came to a rest floating in the vacuum outside my face mask, her face soft and void of any blemish. Long, thick and wavy golden hair floated above her head, reflecting the surrounding light.

She reached out to me with her soft, smooth creamy hands, offering to take me to the peaceful world where she came from. Longing for the safety of her embrace, I reached to my Angel of Mercy–exhaling my final breath, then the light vanished, casting me into complete darkness.
---Heaven---

I opened my eyes to see nothing but bright white light flooding my retinas everywhere I looked. Rubbing my eyes and squinting several times trying to adjust to my transition from darkness to light helped my eyesight come into focus, allowing me to see more clearly. It came to my attention that I was lying down and no longer wearing my bulky spacesuit; instead my body was clothed in Angelic white.

“Am I dead?” I said aloud.

“You are very much alive,” A soft voice said. The Angel appeared out of nowhere and stood beside me, kneeling down so that her face was level with mine. She reached out to touch my face causing me to retract in fear and back up.

“It’s ok, I am not going to harm you, you are perfectly safe and sound,” She looked human, long wavy blond hair, stunningly beautiful slender face and light blue eyes like radiating topaz. She had an almost metallic white suit on that was hugging her slender body very tightly emphasizing an absolutely perfect figure. The Angel before me was the most perfect example of feminine beauty one can ever hope to savor with their eyes.

“Who are you, where am I?” I asked her.

She smiled, pushing her tongue against the back of her teeth and gave a soft cute laugh.

“I’m a friend” She replied, “you are on board my ship,”

Now it was my turn to laugh.

“Hahaha, very funny,” I said as I looked around trying to locate the deity with the sense of humor behind the cosmic prank, breaking in the newly deceased.

“I am serious, you are not dead, I found you drifting in space and brought you back to my ship. Luckily for you, I came by and found you when I did. You would have been dead for real had I come by a few minutes later.” I sat up and looked at my Angelic prankster.

“Look, it couldn’t have been real. I’m a scientist and what you did back there is impossible, one can not move through space on their own without protection.”

“Quite a scientist, appealing to the supernatural over a rational explanation, but It’s ok, I am going to tell you everything," the Angel replied. "Rest assured, you are safe and if you listen to what I am going to tell you, you will still have the chance to save your home. Are you willing to listen to me?” I nodded yes. “Good, I am glad to hear that, because I need your help saving my home as well,” the Angel continued.

“My name is Kaaren. I am from another world far away in another part of the galaxy. My planet is doomed much like yours, but our sun is dying and will explode in about 80 years killing, everyone on the planet. My father was a great scientist and has figured out that our planet has little time, but the high council is made up of many who take to silly religions over hard science and are ignoring the dangers, choosing instead to silence even noble high ranking people such my father. Our people are being lied to and all opposition trying to expose the truth to the people are dealt with swiftly. My father, in an act of rebellion against the high council, planned to come to Earth in order to bring back hope for the people of my planet. To keep me safe, he brought me along to remain safely on planet Earth while he returned to free our people and save them. As we were making our escape, my planet’s security forces attacked us and crippled our ship, mortally wounding my father as we made our way into the wormhole. Now, in order to save the people of my planet, I must carry out the mission he set out to do,”

I started laughing uncontrollably. The Angel looked at me smiling, knowing full well that her story was hard to believe.

“You're kidding? So let me get something straight, you are not an Angel, but an alien, and you have come to Earth to get something that is going to stop your sun from exploding? We can’t even stop an asteroid and you came here to stop a star from going supernova?” I continued, “I figured God to have a sense of humor, but this is taking it a little too far. OK, jokes over, can I get my harp now?”

Angel again smiled at me. “Michael, I know this all sounds weird. Come let me show you. Will you take my hand and follow me?” She stood up and reached out offering her hand. “How did she know my first name? All my suit had on it was my last name. Regardless, there was something calming and trustworthy about her, so I reached up and took her hand, and stood up. I realized for the first time I was no longer in a zero G environment, but had both feet firmly planted on the ground. Maybe it was true and I was indeed still alive having escaped death and not yet crossed over into the spirit world. The world surrounding me, while strange, still had a familiar physical and tangible feel to it leading me to conclude, my last breath had not yet come.

---The Ship---

My savior led me out of the room. I looked around and noticed all the walls appeared to be some kind of crystal-like material. It didn’t look like a ship at all. Certainly not like we would make. We passed by several rooms with the same look, nothing mechanical or metal. We came before a door. She reached out and touched a crystal on what looked like a console to the right. The crystal lit up and the door opened. Before me I saw the blackness of space all around.

“Come, it’s ok,” She caressed my hand and gave me this reassuring trust, that it was ok.

It was amazing. Our space vehicles only had very small windows that we would peer out of to witness the wonders of the galaxy. The observation deck of her ship gave me an almost panoramic view of the universe around me. Kaaren touched another panel and the ship seemed to turn. Space began to pan to the right. Suddenly the Earth began appearing in the view. At our distance the Earth was about half the size the moon appears ed to be in the night sky.

Kaaren touched the screen where the earth was and with both index fingers pulled on imaginary edges around the small planet, pulling them in opposite directions. Suddenly the image of Earth magnified.

“How cool was that?” I thought to myself. The technology on board this ship was amazing and sophisticated, yet organic. It was not made up of bulky machines and masses of wires. I continued to watch as the pale blue dot, grew until I could see the clouds, the land and the oceans in great detail. I started sobbing.

“Are you ok?” She said.

“I am fine, I never thought I would see that again. Is this really real, this is not come kind of joke?”

“It is perfectly real, I never lie. You are safe, and soon so shall be your people. If you choose to help me, you and you alone can save them, while saving the people of my planet at the same time,” She swiped her hand across the screen and the Earth disappeared to the left as if her hand was pushing an object off a table. The image of Earth quickly panned out of sight and asteroid 1983 RQ 36 or the Icarus as the International Astronomical Union officially named it came into view. My heart lifted, I was filled with excitement. I was alive, and there was hope. I would see my wife and daughter, the crew of my ship, and all my friends again.

“What do we need to do,” I asked. She looked at me and smiled. She had the prettiest smile in the world, I was willing to do anything she wanted.

“Come, let us talk some more,” She gently took my hand and led me to another room. “Here, have a seat,” she said guiding me to a small seat with a white metallic looking cushion. It was nice and soft. Kaaren, my Angel stood before me. I couldn’t help looking at her figure in that tight outfit. I overcame my feelings and looked her in her eyes that that seemed to radiate.

“The star in the the center of your solar system is unique,” she said as a 3 dimensional model of my solar system appeared in the room. “Its temperature and size are unique in this galaxy. It is a middle-aged star that will continue to burn its hydrogen and helium fuel for another 5 billion years. Unlike the people of your planet, my people, while we look human, have a much different molecular structure. We absorb the energy from your star and it endows us tremendous power. Only a handful of people on our planet know of that fact and to protect your people a secret society was formed whose members will die to keep that fact safe. On your planet we are capable of almost anything, and are essentially gods, immortal and capable of amazing wonders.” I was starting to think all of this as a joke again.
'Is she serious?' I thought to myself. 'How can a star make someone immortal, that made no logical sense to me and violated so many laws of physics.' She continued before I could verbalize what my brain was thinking.

“For example, when you saw me the first time, unprotected in the vacuum of space, I was able to move freely without aid of machines because my body absorbs radiation from your Sun. This energy in turn can be used to propel myself at great speeds through space while seemingly impervious to harm. This body of mine may not look like much, but I can exert amazing force on matter allowing me to move the heaviest of objects, much like that asteroid that is threatening your world,” It did indeed explain what I saw, but I was skeptical.

“I’m sorry, but this is a little much for me,” That enlightening smile returned. “I never lie. Believe me.” Somehow I knew she was not blowing smoke up my backside. “Everything I am telling you is the truth. I can spend time proving to you, or we can save our people.”

“I want to save my wife and daughter along with my crew, and the rest of humanity. So my Sun gives you powers, how am I going to be able to do anything?”

“Like us, you have a unique physiology," Kaaren continued. "On Earth, you are like us on our world, but you will be empowered with similar abilities charged by a radiation given off by our planet. This is my world,” The solar system started to become very small disappearing into the blackness of space between the Cygnus-Orion and Carina-Sagittarius arms of the Milky Way. The image stopped to show the full galaxy as if we were on top of it looking down. There was a long bar running across the middle of the Galactic Center where the two sets of arms were joined.

“Is this what our actual Galaxy looks like?” No one has ever, nor will likely ever, see what our galaxy looks like. It is over 100,000 Light years in diameter. At best we can detect the radiation given off by cooled hydrogen 1 atoms visible in the microwave radio wavelengths of the electromagnetic spectrum. The long, low energy waves are able to penetrate the dark gas clouds and allow us to map out what we think the galaxy looks like.

“Yes, it is based on direct observations from outside the galaxy. Amazing isn’t it?” she said while I tried to memorize every detail of the image before it was gone. The image zoomed back in to show her home in relation to ours. By calculations, her world was possibly only 20-50 Light Years away.

“Amazing, yes, I stand here in awe of what you just showed me. That data alone is worth so much back home, with it I could advance our knowledge of the galaxy that would otherwise take about 30 years to achieve. So, what you are telling me, is I will have the same power you have now, but on your world? Incredible! I will then save your planet from destruction, while you save mine? Just how will I be able to stop a star from dying?”

For the first time since I met her, Kaaren’s face got very serious. “You can’t save our world. It is inevitable that our star will die, it can’t be stopped, yet we do have the capability to evacuate. My people can be saved by moving them to other habitable planets near us, but the plan will take decades and that time is running out. My people need a hero to overthrow the corruption and lead them to safety. One that could not be me made silent by our corrupt leaders,” It was starting to make sense to me. She continued.

“Time is running out, I have already lost precious time due to damage done to my ship’s superdrive that allows faster-than-light travel between two wormhole points. We had to take an emergency exit from our faster-than- light journey in order to repair this ship. It was one of my father’s final act before succumbing to his wounds. I have enough power to finish my mission here, and head home.”

“Faster-than-light travel - impossible, yet somehow possible,” I thought. Something else was causing me to scratch my head.

“Kaaren, I’m sorry, but I have to ask. Um, how is it you can speak my language?” She started laughing.

“Michael, it was planned that I would live on your planet until my father’s mission was complete, it would only be beneficial for me to learn how to speak the local languages in order to blend in among your people. Others from my planet have surveyed your world in the past and returned with vast data about your culture and languages. During my journey here, I studied all the data available, data which I will make available to you. Your world has so much diversity amongst your people. We are rather boring in comparison only having one language and culture.”

“How could I resist such an offer. I’m completely sold. I will become the first human to travel beyond our solar system and visit another civilized planet.” Something bothered me.

“Kaaren, when you were talking about your ship having enough power, you said you will head home, don’t you mean I will be going?”

“Michael, I watched as you risked your life trying to save your crew. You knew this would be a one way ticket, and you left your Liz and Ashley behind in exchange for a greater good because your character is a strong one. Your life was worth risking in order to save a people who didn’t deserve salvation. You love the people of your planet and have high hope for them that one day they will finally mature and put an end their childish behavior. I could have traveled to the planet and looked for others to help me, but I chose you, Michael, because I believe it was fate that one of Earth’s finest humans would drift right in front of me.

My jaw was wide open,“ how do you know that, how do you know my wife and daughter’s names, what is it you chose me to do?”

“Even on my planet, apart from the powers given by your Sun, I can see into people’s hearts and read whatever they are thinking at the time. I have seen your heart Michael, and for that, I will entrust my life into your possession. Come, I want to introduce you to someone.” Kaaren took my hand and led me to another room. In it there was a crystal case about the size of a coffin. She led me to the side.

“This is my father. This was his mission, his plan. I swore I would carry out his mission and save our people.”

---The Mission---

I looked at the body, he was wrapped in white metallic clothes and had an emblem on his chest.

“He looked like quite a man, I am sorry for your loss,” A tear ran from her face. She turned and looked at me.

“Time is running out. Will you help me do what my father could not?” I nodded yes. “My father’s knew our people well. He was an elder, and a great scientist. He knew it wouldn’t be enough to find a human to go to our home and lead a people that they would know nothing about. He knew he would have to be the one to carry it out. His mission, the mission I have sworn to accomplish is to find a human of noble character to who he would entrust great power to.”

“I am confused. Am I supposed to go your your planet or not?” She nodded.

“No, you will stay here, I will go back.” she said.

“Ok, now I am really confused,” I was starting to get impatient like listening to a little green dyslexic Jedi master speaking in riddles.

Kaaren put her hand on my shoulder and looked me in the eye. “Listen to me very carefully - my father devised a way to switch one’s spirit with another. He intended to switch places with whomever he chose until his work was accomplished and our people safe. Then he would return and relinquish his power. That is why he wanted someone such as yourself, someone who will give up that power when the time is right.”

“Wait a second, you want to switch bodies with me?” The weight of the idea came crashing down on me. All this knowledge and power in exchange for my body.

“Why me, why not find woman to switch with?” In case you haven’t realized, we are different. You want to become a man, and you want me to become you?”

“No Michael, I need to become a man. It would have been easier if my father was alive, but I am all that is left to follow his plan through. You are thinking like the people of my planet. Women have no regard in upper levels of power. Even one endowed with super power, the religious leaders would deem me to be an abomination and convince the people to follow them into damnation rather than following a woman.”

“I’m sorry Kaaren, it’s not something I was expecting. I am very much a man. It might be easy for a woman to take on male body, but the other way around is, it’s, um -”

“- Degrading? Yes, I know. From what I have read, woman of your planet deal with the same thing as we do. It’s sad really, but I envy your women. You are light years behind our most basic technology, yet females of Earth have a much higher place in life and have made much progress in achieving equality.”

“Well I didn’t really mean it like that, but as men, we are taught to be strong and tough and not allowed to show our soft sides.”

“Michael, in this body, you will never be weak or frail. You can be strong, yet show any emotion you want. There is really no difference between males and females, our spirits have no gender, we simply pilot different machinery, surely you of all people can understand that concept. Our bodies have different capabilities, responses, and advantages. We are taught from the moment of birth how to only control one vehicle to carry us through life. Wouldn’t you like to know what is it like to handle a sexy curvy body with a hell of an engine underneath the hood?”

That is so not fair, her using her mind reading to appeal to the pilot in me as well as the man in me. The entire time she was talking, I was thinking of my Porsche back home. She was indeed sexy and fast and more fun to drive. Still the thought of being a woman was not appealing to me at all.

The Decision

'I gotta man up,' I thought to myself. 'Seriously, what choice do I have? My wife and daughter along with about 85% of Earth’s inhabitants are going to die when the asteroid hits Earth. Kaaren is about to bestow the second greatest gift man kind has ever received and I am reluctant because it involves me becoming a woman?'

“Think about it, you will be the most powerful woman in all of human history,” Kaaren said aloud, as if reading my thoughts. “Unlike all other females, you will never have to submit to the egos of men. They will never have power over you. But greater than all that, imagine what you can do for your world. What was your job before this happened? You were a scientist, a pilot, and a space explorer. Imagine all that, free from the bounds of your frail body. You can boldly go where no one has gone before and explore the worlds in your solar system freed from the confines of special ships and suits. You can soar through the clouds of your planet free as a bird and see things your people wouldn’t believe. Vast knowledge of two worlds will be yours to know and use for the good of all.”

“Wow, I never thought about it like that. How can I pass this up? Of course, of course. I am sorry, I was a fool, how could I turn this down. Besides, you will be back right?”

“It will take some time, but I anticipate completing my mission and returning in about ten to twelve years. My trip will be a near instantaneous journey unlike the last trip now that the superdrive is repaired, but two years will pass before you until I reach home. I will barely have enough power left in my ship when I do. I anticipate ten years to be able to take control of my planet and lead my people safely to a new world. Then I will be able to return and you can return to your wife and daughter. So if this is this what you want, are you ready to change your world?”

---The Change---

Kaaren led me into a room deep in the ship. The room was made of more crystal. Many researchers on Earth have proposed the benefit of using crystals for data storage and other applications, but it was apparent that wherever she was from, they built a whole technology around manipulating various types of crystals for all kinds of applications. In the middle of the room, there were two large crystal like chambers.

“Is this where the magic is going to happen?” I asked.

“It’s not magic, but science. Built for other reasons, My father discovered a way to separate and transfer one’s inner spirit to another host. Our spirits are immortal, yet our bodies eventually die. If one could create new bodies and transfer one’s spirit into a more robust body, one might be able to live longer. His young apprentice, my lover, whom I will miss, was working on other discoveries that might help us move off our dying planet and hopefully live longer lives elsewhere.”

“So how does this work?” I asked, wanting to know just what I was getting involved with.

“What will happen is this: I will go into one chamber, while you go into the other. After a short painless process, you will emerge as me, and I as you. My ship has the capability of storing my planet’s radiation and as soon as you leave, I will expose my human body to it while I return home. Upon arrival, I will be powerful enough to begin my crusade. If my calculations are correct, I will arrive with just enough power to return home,” She paused, “Do you have any questions?”

Actually..,”About a million of them. How will I know how to control my abilities, what limitations do I have, will there be any that can cause me harm?”

Kaaren replied, “As for control, you will learn as you go. I have not fully grasped it myself, relax and concentrate on where you want to go. You will be able to survive in a vacuum and exposure to all known radiation will not harm you. Your body will be extremely dense and give you great strength. There is much more, but I will let you be surprised, the scientist in you will know at once, what I am talking about. We will not meet again after the transfer,” She held three crystals in her hand and showed them to me.

“In my my suit, you will find these three crystals,” She held up two crystals, one clear, one blue. “The clear one contains all the collected data we possess from your world and ours. I have added new information relevant to our new modified plan. Everything I know about using my powers, to understanding the intricacies of my anatomy. All my knowledge will become yours for you to use and I will make sure that you are not alone in your journey, but I will always be by your side in spirit to guide you in until I return.

Good, I didn’t have to figure this all out on my own. With any luck, She will be back before I know it. “The blue crystal will create the means for you to read the data on the clear crystal, while the magenta colored crystal will serve as a beacon announcing my return. It will glow bright letting you know it’s time to return to your family,” She put all three into pouches on a belt tightly hugging her slender waist above her curvy hips.

“Quit staring Michael, they will be yours in a few minutes,” she said making me a little uncomfortable, “Are you ready?” She reached out to me and led me to my chamber then looked at me and smiled.

“Thank you Michael. Enjoy all the discoveries you make while in my body for everything it has to offer is yours to explore and cherish. Promise me you will respect the gift I have bestowed you and never use it to cause pain, instead, use this opportunity to do good by bringing your people together and furthering its technology for all. Will you promise me?” She asked while looking down into my eyes. She was so tall, easily six feet or more.

“Yes, I promise,” I said looking up into her sparkling blue eyes.

“Now close your eyes and keep them closed,” I closed them and before I could react, I felt a very warm kiss on the cheek that seemed to persist for an eternity. As she pulled away, a loud hissing sound signified that the door to the chamber was closing. There was no turning back.

Episode 2
Pilot Part II “The Switch”

“Now close your eyes and keep them closed,” I closed them and before I could react, I felt a very warm kiss on the cheek that seemed to persist for an eternity. As she pulled away, a loud hissing sound signified that the door to the chamber was closing. There was no turning back.

A fainter hiss sounded that I could only conclude was her door closing as well. Other sounds began and the blackness in the back of my eyelids began to pulsate between black and a red illumination. I peaked slightly and saw my chamber bathed in red light. Fearing what could happen, I shut my eyes tightly, my heart racing as fear began to flow through my body in anticipation of what what coming. I started to feel very strange, followed by some discomfort. I clenched my fists trying to fight, fearing I was about to be struck by intense pain as my spirit was ripped from my body by this machine. Instead I suddenly felt nothing, I couldn’t even feel my hands. The calm peace I felt as death nearly overtook me hours ago returned. It was as if I was floating outside my body for a split second before I felt the feeling return to my hands and the rest of my body. As I began to open my eyes a noise intensified and there was a white flash of yellow light bathing my chamber. The light was almost blinding as if I were watching nuclear explosion detonate without number 14 welder’s glass shielding my eyes from the intense light.

As soon as feeling returned to my body, I felt a surge passing through me as if energy was passing through every cell within my body energizing it with an exhilarating rush. I felt myself floating inside my chamber when I heard another hissing sound as though the doors were opening again. “Was it finished, did we transfer?” I was about to open my eyes, when the pressure suddenly dropped and all sounds suddenly ceased. My body suddenly started traveling downward at a high velocity as if I were being sucked out into the vacuum of space.

I opened my eyes to see I was once again rapidly drifting through the the blackness of space as if I had gone full circle and returned to that final moment before I died. My arms were flailing before me in the void of space grasping at nothing. Instead of the thick gloved arms of my space suit, they were slender arms covered down to my wrists in nothing but a tight white/silvery suit. I looked up and saw the crystal ship getting smaller and smaller as I drifted away. That warm gentle kiss was her only goodbye as she left me alone where she found me. Reaching out toward the fleeting ship, I grasped unsuccessfully towards the lifeboat that rescued me as it rapidly grew smaller before a sudden flash of light erupted leaving nothing but blackness behind.

She was gone, and I was alone in space, suddenly afraid. What if she never returns, what if I am stuck? As my mind started to formulate a pessimistic notion that I made a huge mistake, the very reason for my situation returned to briefly torment me. I turned my head towards Earth and saw the planet without the thick plexiglass windows of the Orbiters fouling up the view, I saw the heavens in vibrant colors and sharpness no human will ever get to see. It was the most incredible view I have ever encountered, the whole world looked as if it was alive and radiating before my eyes. What a lucky guy I was to be able to witness the creation with the eyes of an angel.

---Deliverance Interior---

“How does she look?” McCormack asked Mitri as he floated behind her chair, eyes fixated on the small bank of monitors. The large screen in the middle displayed images of the FAST Pack system as a remote camera moved along the exterior of the nuclear engines.

“FAST Pack in good shape. Few minor concerns, but it is Russian built, she will work just fine,” Mitri replied as McCormack manipulated the twin joysticks controlling the large robotic arm with the camera array attached to the end. The cluster consisted of a visual CCTV camera, a F.L.I.R. camera (forward looking infrared), a still camera and service lighting. In addition to the cameras, a Geiger counter and other instruments were present. So far there was no detection of leaking radiation, and the cooling systems were all normal. McCormack swung the large arm mounted in the Shuttle’s cargo bay around to survey the orbiter itself.

“Stop!” Mitri shouted. McCormack stopped and then backed up the cameras. “There, Vernier jets L4U, L2U look damaged,” The strobes fired as the still camera took several high res exposures. After a minute the images slowly came up on the screen. Mitri’s analysis was correct, the two left aft jets were badly damaged and likely leaking fuel. L1U, the final jet in the redundancy cluster, was intact and could provide limited positive thrust along the x and y axis. Shephard had the ship’s master schematic log out and was looking at the RCS Redundancy Management Schematic verifying how many systems they could lose and still be able to maneuver. With a red pencil he marked off the jets that would need to be shut down.

The three continued to work as Collins rested, strapped to the bed in the midsection living quarters. He was badly banged up having broken several ribs as a ruptured fire extinguisher propelled itself impacting his chest. Compression tape around his midsection applied pressure keeping the bones in the rib cage from shifting too much. His left hand was also bandaged, suffering from severe frostbite after his bare hand froze to the condensation that rapidly formed on the canister. The cabin quickly flooded with CO2 that made breathing difficult for the crew until they could secure breathing apparatus and flush the CO2 out of the cabin. Once Owen was able to seal the breach from the outside, the O2 pressure eventually returned, but at a fraction of what they had before the impacts. If they could get to them, there were several emergency tanks on the FAST Pack that could extend their life.

---Learning to Fly---

We train for microgravity at the Neutral Buoyancy Lab in Houston TX. The NBL is a giant pool over 200 ft long, 100 ft wide and about 40 ft deep holding more than 6 million gallons of water. Microgravity is simulated to help us prepare for EVA walks where we have to service satellites. This forces us to work in an environment as close as possible to what one would find in orbit free from the Earth’s gravity. There we work as we would on the mission, experiencing minimal buoyant forces and minimal rotational moment about one’s center of mass. The downside to the simulation is water has resistance that allows for drag. In space there is no resistance and all the kicking and paddling isn’t going to move you. While I was adrift and waiting to die, I was unable to turn my body into order to correct my attitude unless my MMU thrusters acted as a force to move me.

Now, I was feeling as if I had returned to where I started from, again stuck adrift in space unable to move. This time however was different. I witnessed as Kaaren flew in space not dependent on any technological marvel, but upon her own free will. My modesty convinced me that If she could fly, then so will this ace pilot who had countless hours of flight time recorded. All I had to do was figure out the controls and I could add one more bird to the list of things I can fly.

My mind was in a daze when I first saw Kaaren floating in space, but remember her being able to move freely in any direction. In order for her to do that, she must be able to manipulate her body or the space around her that would allow free movement. She did say this body absorbs radiation from the Sun, so its possible I would I have the ability to expel that energy in order to produce thrust. Frustrated, I tried to swear, but no sound came out as there was no air for which sound vibrations to travel across. Instead, there was nothing by an eerie silence as if I were born deaf; the only thing I could hear was the faint sound of blood pulsating through the vessels in my ears.

Relaxing, I focused my complete attention toward that pale blue dot and willed my self in that direction. Suddenly I felt my body start to shift. I kept concentrating on my target as it slowly came into view. I reached toward the globe, straightening my body in the process. I was right, as I focused harder I was able to expel energy out of any part of my body allowing for a completely fluid movement in any direction. It was like the Reaction Controls System on the Shuttle that fired a series of thrusters to change the ship’s YAW, Pitch, or Roll. This was better. At my disposal was unlimited fuel delivered to me by solar radiation that was created over a million years and little over eight minutes ago. With an unlimited energy source at my disposal, I could achieve what no craft in the foreseeable future could, the fluid flight dynamics that would give me the ability to create my own forces to counteract inertia. With practice, I am confident I could fly in a vacuum with the same fluidity as if I were in the atmosphere. I thanked Kaaren for this gift as I propelled myself through space unaided as freely as taking a casual walk in the park.

Now that I had the basic flight mastered I need to find the Deliverance and rescue my crew. I figured I had about a day to deal with the asteroid before it reached a point in its trajectory where an Earth impact was inevitable. The Deliverance was in dire straits and needed immediate assistance. In my final communications, Megan was busy calming me down. Knowing my fate, she was smart enough to lie that they were okay. Megan, not wanting me to spend my final moments in pointless worry, chose therefore to withhold important information from me.

In hindsight, I wish she had been truthful so that I would know the true condition of my bird when I made my miraculous return from the dead. Before I could dwell on the vehicle’s condition, I needed to find her first, and space is an awfully big place to search. How was I going to find them in all this blackness? My eyes were sharper, capable of collecting light better than my human body was able to, but the vastness of space made this impossible. I squinted my eyes, trying to peer into darkness looking for any object that appeared out of place. After a minute of straining my new eyes, something suddenly happened. The color in my vision started fading to a mix of reds and yellows. All around me were red clouds over a black background speckled with bright yellow dots.

Unsure of what was happening to my vision, I strained my eyes as if I were trying to clear a gnat that landed on my cornea. I blinked several times before my vision changed from reds and yellows to shades of purple. The sky in front of me was black with a thin band of purple haze, with an even thinner band of white in the middle.

Was it possible? Oh man was she right! “What a gift, what a gift” I tried to yell in excitement, but could only hear the vibrations in my throat and they rippled through my head. This clearly was the best thing an astronomer could have. If I am right, she really knew what she was talking about. Were my eyes really seeing the infrared and radio spectrums? I wondered if I would be able to see in the entire electromagnetic spectrum of light. After a few minutes of squinting and blinking, I figured out how to switch between visible, infrared, radio and back to visible.

Using my new found vision that could detect the heat emitted by bodies that is otherwise invisible to the human eye, I scanned space until I found a speck of a hot body drifting unlike all the stationary stars. The heat from the Deliverance’s nuclear reaction engines was a dead giveaway allowing my me to see my girl drifting helplessly away from the Earth. I pointed in her direction and willed my way toward her, concentrating as I began accelerating faster and faster toward the yellow glow.

---Deliverance Interior---

“How is he?” Mitri asked in his moderate Russian accent as he descended to the mid deck. Dr. McCormack was attending to Collins who was loosely strapped to the bed. McCormack was giving him a small dose of morphine to deal with the pain.

McCormack replied, “He will be okay, there is no permanent damage. Any luck reaching Houston?”

“Negative, I hear faint chatter, but long range antennae are damaged. We can’t transmit or receive. We are stuck with no way home,”

The gravity of the situation was starting to hit home for them. Collins looked over their analysis of the damage and determined it was too dangerous to fire the Vernier thrusters. He instructed Mitri on shutting down the damaged thrusters, but the relays to the fuel pumps were severed and could not be shut down. Firing the rockets could instantly cause an explosion that would destroy the ship. “Might not be a bad idea if it comes down to it,” Collins said, beginning to plant early seeds of quick suicide techniques into the rest of the crew’s mind.

Dr. Shephard chimed in, "Even if we could make the repairs, Collins can’t fly in his condition and Commander Owen was the only other who could pilot the shuttle, and he is long gone,”

The cabin grew quiet all of a sudden. “Thought of him drifting helplessly in space by himself. Wish we could have done something to save him,” Mitri shared to the group.

“We are going to be there with him shortly,” Collins turned his head away from his crew and continued to speak. “Face it, we are in a hopeless situation. It won’t be long before we start running out of O2. Earth is doomed, and so are we. I frankly don’t want to sit up here and watch the fireworks show. Might as well get it over with,” Collins grabbed the crucifix around his neck and caressed it with his good hand before yanking it off with a quick tug. “How can a loving god let all this happen to His creation? You can’t be real,”

Most of the crew had mixed feelings about religion, Collins was the most outspoken of the group about his faith, while Shephard was the polar opposite. A scientist to the core, literally, he was a geologist, brought on-board for his experience with different compositions that could cause resistance in the drilling phase of the operation. Having studied the Earth’s geology, it was clear that the Earth had formed at the same time as the Sun and other planets some 4.5 billion years ago. He just couldn’t accept the fact that the Earth was a mere 6,000 years old. He didn’t believe in God, yet something stirred in him. He pushed his way over to Collins. Shephard gently grabbed Collins’ hand that held the crucifix.

“You know I don’t believe in that nonsense you tote around. You and I have had many long conversations about your belief in fairy tales, but I won’t let you doubt now. I don’t understand why this is all happening to us, and I am in no way going to buy into it now, but I will be damned if I let you give up on what you believe now. You go ahead and talk to that god of yours,”

Collins kept his head turned towards his friends. McCormack came over to where Shephard and Mitri were floating.

“I don’t know what I really believe, but what the hell. I will take anything we can get at this point,”

Collins tried to sit up in bed, but the restrains were holding him down. He fumbled with the straps the held his body to the bed only to seize up as pain from his broken ribs sent messages to his brain reminding it of the fractures.

“Stay in bed, don’t get excited, just relax,” Shephard said as he tried pushing his friend back into a resting position.

“QUIET! Listen....You hear that?” Mitri said.

“Hear what?” McCormack asked.

The crew went silent so they could hear the distinct repeated knocking sound. “Shit, what’s wrong with the ship now?” Shephard cursed, as he scrambled to the fight deck. Mitri and McCormack followed suit to where the source was coming from. As they reached the flight deck, Mitri honed in on the spot where the tapping was coming from and gave the hull a hard punch back. The tapping stopped. Silence. As suddenly as it stopped, it started again.

“What the hell, there is nothing up there but the long range array and that isn’t moving. There is nothing to cause that kind of a racket,” Mitri was about to hit it again, when Collins yelled “STOP!”

“What is..,”

“Quiet!” Collins yelled from his bed, cutting Mitri off in mid sentence. This wasn’t some random tapping, there was a pattern. It was strangely familiar. As a pilot he knew what he was hearing. There was a series of long and short sounds. He concentrated and listened with a whole new set of hears waiting for the pattern to repeat.... “This is your captain speaking, prepare ship for orbital insertion. Fasten your seat belts and keep your hands and arms inside the Orbiter at all times,”

His face lit up and yelled “YES!” as loud as he could. The rest of the crew looked at him all strange. “You okay there down there?”

“No, no, I’m all right. We are all right. It’s Commander Owen. He’s outside tapping in Morse code. He’s alive,”

The skeptic of the bunch chimed in first. “That’s impossible, there is no way his MMU can get him back to us. We saw him jettisoned from the spacecraft, his escape velocity was too fast, for a return. Face it, he’s dead,”

Mitri asked, “What did tapping say,” Collins repeated the message to the crew.

“I call crap, it’s the motor on the antennae array that is suddenly moving and causing the knocking sound. Doc, ease up on that Morphine you are giving him,” Shephard said with his continuing doubt.

“No, I am a former Naval Aviator, we didn’t get our wings unless we had that shit down. It’s a little like learning hand signals to get your driver’s license, but we had to know it. Trust me, I’m not hearing things,”

Just then, the radio sparked to life and chatter from the ground they never thought they would hear again, started pouring out of the speakers. Houston was back online.

---Deliverance Exterior---

The Deliverance was getting closer and closer. Should arrive in about 30 seconds. Kaaren was correct that surviving in a vacuum was possible, but I have been experiencing a slowly increasing need to breathe. I assume this body still requires oxygen as does all other carbon based lifeforms..,”assuming this body was made of carbon and not silicone,” I thought before catching a glimpse of Kaaren’s breasts hovering below my field of vision and quickly erased the idea from my mind. It had been about 15 minutes since I had left the ship and I was nowhere close to feeling that terrible sensation of suffocation.

I began slowing down to the point of a slow drift approaching the rear of the Deliverance's aft starboard nuclear engine. The whole craft was a genius work of technology, all built within two and a half years. By sheer luck, the asteroid was detected while it was still far away, giving us several years to build the technology to go after it. The engines were part of a sled that docked to the Modified Atlantis Orbiter. The Orbiter was heavily modified to descend to the surface of the asteroid where the ground team would deploy the nuclear devices. In addition to the top bay doors, a second set of doors were added to the bottom of the craft, like bomb bay doors that allowed rapid access to the vehicle. Once the Deliverance returned to Earth, the modified orbiter would disengage once again from the FAST Pack where it would re-enter the atmosphere and land in Florida, or Edwards Air Force Base like any normal shuttle landing.

Still learning to control my vision, I scanned the engines to make sure they were intact. Thermal didn’t pick up any heat escaping although the FAST Pack unit did have some damage to its lower aft starboard side. It would be unsafe to fire the engines up but if I were as strong as Kaaren said and I could control my flight, there would be no reason to ignite the engines. I scanned the rest of the craft. The RCS system was badly damaged. Many of the thrusters were beyond use and leaking. There is no way this ship could turn around on it’s own power, but with a little luck, I could become the ship’s new RCS system that could correct the vehicle’s orientation.

All these observations were slightly irrelevant, but a commander has to know his girl. There was one thing I needed to check that was relevant. I moved toward the bottom of the orbiter and began scanning the delicate ceramic tiles that made up the orbiter’s Thermal Protection system. Throughout the fuselage, the Atlantis portion of the Deliverance had up to seven different types of material used as part of the TPS that were strategically placed depending on where the vehicle would encounter varying temperatures during re-entry. I made several passes checking each and every tile for the slightest fracture. If any of them were damaged, heat from the friction during re-entry would enter into the vehicle and destroy it. Amazingly, everything was intact. It seams as if the majority of the damage was done to the starboard side top side, with little to no damage to the lower part of the vehicle. All in all she seemed worthy enough to make a controlled descent.

Now to get in touch with the crew. If I were to rescue them, communication with my crew was unavoidable. Collins, if still alive and remotely able to fly, would need to control the descent once inside the atmosphere. My confidence in my new found abilities was limited as I had yet to fly within the atmosphere, let alone trying to lift anything heavy while in mid flight. At best, I could guide them in making adjustments and slowing their descent rate, reducing the friction caused during re-entry.

An alternative would have been a link up with MIR, but on close inspection the docking collar appeared damaged, preventing a proper seal between the two. It would be impossible for them to safely mate with the Russian space station. At this point, the only way to return the crew safely would be guiding the vehicle back home. I was getting ahead of myself and decided to focus on inserting them into a stable orbit; then I could take my time and eliminate the threat to the planet.

I made my way to the top bay doors and I paused. The doors were open, allowing me free access to the airlock. For the first time since the change, my female form came to my full attention. I had been so excited seeing the world through my new eyes, flying unaided in the emptiness of space and saving the day, that I hadn’t stopped to take in my new body. Not only was I a knockout blond bombshell with an amazing figure, I was also a goddess...Literally. A decision would have to be made right here and now. Was I willing to openly let the world know about me, or should I remain anonymous, keeping myself hidden. If the latter, how could I remain hidden, while communicating with my crew. For the first time, my hands ran up and down the sides of my body feeling the new curvy shape that it had to offer. A feeling of insecurity ran through me and I was deathly afraid of letting my friends see me in this figure. Still, I needed to talk to them and maneuver them to safety.

In the cargo bay was an O2 tank. Flying over to it I stopped and twisted the valve and felt for a stream of escaping gas. There was enough pressure to indicate I could get a fresh lung of O2. After securing my lips around the valve of the tank, I exhaled the stale air out of my lungs, making room for new oxygen. My fingers gently opened the valve, letting the precious oxygen flow into my lungs. It seemed as if I inhaled for a minute before I could no longer draw in anymore. With lungs slightly smaller than my human counterparts, they nevertheless seemed more than capable of storing compressed air the same as the tank I just drew from. I could easily go for another forty five plus minutes, plenty of time to do what I needed.

'How am I going to pull this off,' I thought to myself as I flew over to the port side near the mid deck of the shuttle. I adjusted my vision again and sure enough I could see four faint bodies, most of their heat signature shielded by the Thermal Protection System. One was lying down, while the others were floating around nearby. Two of the crew moved toward the third. The faint silhouette was a bit shorter than the others. It was McCormack. For astronauts, there was a height limitation of 5-8, so none of us were radically tall, but Megan, being a woman, had a somewhat smaller frame, and her shape was clearly distinct now that I was looking for her. They gathered around, and I knew immediately in light of their situation what they were up to. If I had them pegged right, Collins was likely holding a prayer vigil, much to Shephard’s resistance, praying for deliverance while the others went along with it. I laughed to myself imagining him rolling his eyes as Collins led the team in prayer as he always did.

I didn’t mind nor did most of the crew. I was a churchgoing man myself going all of twice a year. Beside my sudden spurts of religion during Christmas and Easter, my heart wasn’t too into it. Sure I believed, but if you asked me why, it was likely because of the home that I was raised in. I shook my head driving the thoughts about our place in life out so that I could think of a plan that would bring salvation to my crew.

These thoughts about religion did give me an idea, 'Why not play off of that?' I thought. After all, I mistook Kaaren for an angel when I first met her. It would be impossible for me to still be alive and all would think I was long since dead. I could make them think, having crossed over, I sent some angelic being to rescue them in my place. If I stayed out of sight, I could complete my tasks, and fly away leaving them to think it was a miracle from above. It wasn’t far from the truth and beat being seen in this body. Still I needed to communicate with them, and just how I would do that still escaped me. Shouting was a useless venture and Kaaren’s, supposed psychic ability was beyond me. I was still trying to learn other abilities, let alone communicating through mere thought. All this fancy communications technology and I was suddenly in the stone age without a way to- 'That's it!' I thought. Man this was going to be crazy, but it would work. The sound of my increased pulse sent sound vibrations though my body that my ears were able to detect. What I was about to do made me nervous as hell and my heart started racing as I shifted positions preparing to make my announcement.

Flight was getting easier. I moved to the top of the orbiter near the long range array. I grabbed hold to stabilize me. Hopefully that was Collins and he was still alive, he would be the one person that would be able to talk to me. I couldn’t talk with my voice, but if I were to hit the hull, the vibrations would reverberate through the atmosphere inside. I began tapping on the hull in Morse code. I watched the body heat below. Nothing. I kept repeating the same message over and over sure enough drawing movement from the crowd. The figure lying down sat up. After a short time, one of the others started making their way to the flight deck, followed by the rest. The noise was drawing their attention.

I could see the four shapes clearly through the top side of the vehicle where there was less thermal protection. The whole crew was gathered below me now. Now that I got their attention, lets give them something to get excited about. Thinking of my message for for a second, I laughed at the idea that came to mind. My wit was always enjoyed, and deep down I wanted them to know I was with them. My small slender hand began tapping... “This is your captain speaking, prepare ship for orbital insertion. Fasten your seat belts and keep your hands and arms inside the Orbiter at all times” I repeated the message several times before noticing several wires were severed preventing the long range array from communicating.

Taking one wire in my hand, I used my fingernails as a wire stripper to remove some of the insulation around the ground wire as I continued to watch them below. Twisting the bare wire together to restore current flow, I repeated the same process on the lead wire being careful to keep the two bare wires from touching. The work was crude, but I knew without a doubt they were back in contact with the ground.

---Deliverance Interior---

“Houston, this is Deliverance, do you copy, repeat, this is Deliverance, do you copy?”, McCormack shouted into the headset with great excitement.

“Deliverance, Houston, we read you. Glad to hear you are still with us. What is your status?” Flight Director Thompson replied through the radio.

Shephard took over. “Houston, Shephard here, we lost three of our crew including Commander Owen. Collins is injured but will be ok. Mitri, McCormack, and myself are all that is left. We lost Pendleton on the Icarus and Yeltsov was killed by debris that punctured our hull. RCS is disabled, we are in bad shape and won't be making it home for dinner,”

“Roger Deliverance, we copy. We are working on a plan-” McCormack interrupted.

“Houston, McCormack here, a few minutes ago, we received word from Commander Owen. He is still EVA and just messaged us,”

Shephard cut her off. “Houston, disregard that last transmission. Commander Owen went EVA over 12 hours ago and was ejected away from the orbiter. He is dead and if alive return to the vehicle is not possible. We did hear some tapping sounds, Collins claims it is Owen communicating in morse code. He’s a little drugged up right now, so he’s likely hearing things.” Shephard continued to explain the details of the message followed by his rational skepticism that Owen was still alive.

Collins spoke up in his defense. “I am not hallucinating, I know morse code when I hear it, it’s the Commander,”

“Thank you Collins, that will be enough,” Shephard interrupted again while McCormack pled over the radio to not listen to Shephard.

“Deliverance, stand by, over,” A minute of silence passed between the two. In that time words were exchanged between the irritated crew and tempers were flaring as the hopeful faced off against the hopeless. “We have no hope” Shephard started to say, “Even if Owen is out there, there is nothing he can do to save us and the Earth. I am not going to let you give false hope to everyone down there. Collins, I said for you to believe what you want, but keep that silly belief of yours to yourself,” In a fit of anger, McCormack left the deck and went below.

“Deliverance, can you still hear the tapping?”

“Affirmative Houston, tapping continues," Mitri said, taking over for McCormack.

“Deliverance, request audio feed of the sound you are hearing. I have Davis here listening,”

Mitri held the mic up to the source of the knocking and held it there for about a minute before putting the headset back on. “Houston, what do you make of it?”

“Deliverance, Davis here, the tapping is genuine, I repeat it is genuine. Collins is correct. Message repeats..,”Please reply if you understand, what is orbiter status? What is crew status?”

“Houston, that is impossible, Owen, can not be alive-” Before Shephard could speak any more, Flight interrupted.

“Shephard, stand down. Collins, please reply to our mystery guest,”

Pilot Part III “Icarus”

---Deliverance Exterior---

They weren’t replying. Are they not hearing me? I kept my head against the hull so that the vibrations could reverberate into my ear. After repeating my message for about 5 minutes, I finally saw a body approach and put their hand up. A reply came through.

“Please authenticate your identity,” Came the tapping through the hull.

I replied “No time for formalities, if I can insert you into orbit and put you on return trajectory, can you fly?”

“Yes,” Came a quick reply. Without giving them any time to mull it over, I thought a little proof they weren’t crazy was in order. Before heading aft, I tapped a couple instructions for my pilot and left before he could reply. Returning to the the starboard mid side of the Deliverance, I grabbed ahold of the titanium frame of the FAST Pack and waited several minutes for my crew to get themselves situated. It seemed like an eternity before the beacon lights around the orbiter lit up. That was my signal the they were ready. The lights started blinking coding out a quick message that they were suited up and strapped in.

'Honey, I’m on my way home,' I thought as if I were calling wife to let her know I was leaving work. As I began concentrating on my forward flight, pushing the ship so that it would yaw to the right, I started to think about my family. In all my excitement, it never occurred to me just what was in store when this was all over. I wouldn’t be able to just walk through the front door of my house and plop down on the couch. What was I going to tell my wife and kid. “Liz, your husband is a woman now, and some alien took his body 30 light years away. Ash, your daddy is now your older sister,” My hands started trembling at the thought. Unlike the crew, who could go on living knowing I was dead, my agreement to switch places with Kaaren, rested in the hope that one day, Liz and I could be together again and I would one day get to be a grandfather. I couldn’t let them write me off, and had to let them know I was still alive. My attention returned to my immediate task at hand, putting my homecoming plans on the shelf for the time being.

As the Deliverance swung into position nearing its target angle, I reversed my flight to slow it down to a stop, nearly on target. My hands maintained a firm grip on the titanium cage that surrounded the FAST Pack. The frame, designed almost as a roll cage to keep the vital engine components safe, provided a sturdy contact point that would withstand the forces my frail looking, yet powerful hands exerted on it. After a few more final adjustments, I was happy with the position my girl was in. Moving to center aft, I found a convergence point where several parts of the cage were welded together and took a strong hold before I started pushing forward toward the blue and green globe ahead. As we accelerated toward home, my mind stated running through the math, preparing for a manual orbital insertion. This was going to be just another simulation where all the computers on board failed except the one inside my skull.

---Deliverance Interior---

“Everyone, suit and and strap in, that’s an order,” Collins, suddenly in charge, yelled to the remaining crew. As quickly as he could move, Collins made his way over to the locker and pulled out his orange flight suit worn during lift offs and landings. Megan came over to help him suit up as Shephard came over to mock him.

“I don’t care what Houston thinks, you’re all losing it. You wanna explain how Michael, if that really is him out there, is supposed to move this ship? Have you lost your fucking mind?” the Doctor was getting belligerent floating a foot away from Collin’s face. Collins tried to ignore him, focusing instead on resisting the pain of the ribs shifting as he maneuvered his suit into position on his body. Not appreciating being ignored, Shephard grabbed Collins' arm forcing him to face him. Mitri, already suited up, pushed between them, hovering in front of Shephard.

“Let’s calm down now Doctor. Whether right or wrong, make no difference. We either die here in cosmos hearing things, or we go home.” Mitri was a very nice man, but very rough looking, one you would not want to screw with. The Doctor’s ego was mostly show being more of a thinker than an actual fighter. It was clear to Megan, he finally reached the breaking point and was terrified of dying.

“Beat it Ruskie,” he yelled, suddenly abandoning ties with the Soviet Union and single-handedly restarting the cold war inside of the cabin.

“Comrade Doctor, I agree with you, but we go nowhere if we emotional. Why not prove there is nothing out there instead of fight about it,” He floated in front of Shephard trying to neutralize the threat by appealing to the Doctor to put his claims to the test, while displaying a fierce presence in the event the peaceful approach failed. For some reason, Shephard had slipped off the deep end and began raising his hands to grab Mitri, when his eyes went wide and his body froze in place. After a few seconds his eyes closed and his body went limp, floating aside. Megan appeared from behind him holding her hand up, showing Collins and Mitri an empty syringe with a long menacing needle.

“God that felt good,” She said smiling. “Mitri, I am going to help Collins onto the flight deck and get him strapped in. Can you suit up the sleeping beauty here and strap him down?”

He saluted her. “Yes ma’am,” he said as he grabbed the Doctor, moving him toward the lockers like a kid holding a balloon. Megan fastened her helmet to free up her hand to help Collins into the cockpit.

“Thank you,” Collins said as he positioned himself in front of the instrument panel, waking up the flight computers from their hibernating state before struggling to get his harness on.

“No Sean, thank you, I don’t know what you said to the Big Guy back there on the bed, but He seemed to like your prayer,” she said as she carefully tightened the harness, locking him into his seat, followed by his Snoopy Cap with integrated boom microphones.

“Houston, Deliverance here, running CCA test, do you read me over?” He made a few adjustments, lining up the cap’s built-in headphones with his ears, wincing at the pain in his ribs.

“Deliverance, read you loud and clear, Snoopy sounds good,” Davis, the active Capsule Communicator replied. Davis was the pilot of the “B” team equally trained for the mission should Collins fall sick. He and Turner, Commander of “B” team, rotated shifts as CAPCOM during critical phases of the mission. It was decided early on in the space program to have a sole mediator between mission control and the crew. All communications and instructions from the ground were routed through the Capsule Communicator as it was felt that the crew should have minimal people sending commands to them. The job usually fell upon active duty astronauts who not only have first hand knowledge of the vehicle, but have also been in space.

Collins began running through his checklist for a decelerating orbital insertion as he fired up different systems, bringing everything back online. Mitri finished securing Shephard to his seat and began strapping himself in next to Collins. Megan, seated behind Collins, ran through her own set of checklists and system tests.

“I never uttered a word to Him,” he admitted yelling back to McCormack, “I have no idea who or what is really outside there, but something miraculous is happening. Let’s see just how real this all is,” Collins said as he flipped the switch turning the exterior beacon lights on. Using a special button below the switch to temporarily toggle the lights to the off position, he began coding a message to their strange visitor outside. After a long twenty second wait, the Deliverance started to YAW right. The crew watched in wonder as some mysterious force was moving the vehicle, changing their orientation so that Earth was dead ahead, pausing briefly before beginning to accelerate forward. Each one of them, excited to be heading home after a long trip into deep space, enjoyed the ride, all silently wondering who their deliverer was.

---Insertion---

I was counting down in my mind as my body acted to decelerate the Deliverance’s forward motion. Instead of the Verniers firing an orbital insertion burn, placing the ship into a stable orbit around the Earth, the force I was able to exert on the ship made up for the damaged systems. Collins kept in contact relaying information to me via the beacon lights letting me know when the ship was in an optimal angle. “Twenty more seconds,” before insertion complete. My eyes shifted to take in the beauty of the ground below. It felt great being so close to home again. Less then a day ago, I was a different person, struggling to see my planet through the reflection in a mirror. Little did I know then, that I would be hours away from coming home. A sudden flash of light startled me with five seconds left in my countdown. About a dozen or so smaller meteors streaked across the atmosphere at a velocity about 40 times the speed of sound. At that speed, the air can’t get out of the way of the object and is compressed, causing heat to build up and transfer to the object. The burning meteors produced large plumes of smoke trailing off them. While the meteors looked no bigger than a small car, they were still dangerous, able to cause severe property damage to small areas, killing people in the process. Small asteroids can also air-burst over cities as heat reaches gas pockets in the rock. The resulting explosion could produce powerful shock-waves able to level buildings. I watched helplessly as they traveled further and further away, knowing I would be unable to stop them. It was my hope that they would touch down in an area void of people or harmlessly burn up before hitting the ground. My attention turned toward the major threat, panning across the sky in infrared looking for its heat signature. Locking my eyes on my target, I left the safety of the planet once again, and headed for the Icarus.

---Icarus---

Asteroids are said to be what is left over after the planets formed in our solar system some 4.5 billion years ago. A series of different types of supernova exploded in a perfectly orchestrated sequence that produced all the necessary heavy metals to form rocky planets, and life chemistry. Eventually the scattered remnants of the old population II stars steadily accumulated, forming a protostar and protoplanets. Whatever material didn’t coalesce into planets or new stars formed the asteroid belt, a collection of millions of small- to large-sized asteroids between Mars and Jupiter. The Icarus was unusual as it seemed to have originated beyond the asteroid belt as if venturing into the solar system from outside. It’s origins became a great mystery for scientists. Dr. Shephard will get to spend the rest of his career studying those samples he brought back, something he never thought he would be able to accomplish. I could only image how excited he was right about now, bouncing off the walls with Nobel Prizes dancing in his mind.

The Icarus was massive. As I approached I scanned the object, hoping to determine a plan of attack. The asteroid’s shape was unmistakably a piece of a larger body, having many hard edges that would most likely fit another rock somewhere in the galaxy like a jigsaw puzzle. There was a large opening in the rock right about the ideal spot I had hoped to try pushing. The fissure appeared to be about 50 yards wide and maybe about 30 high, with no immediate was to see how deep. I moved in to investigate, entering into the fissure, which was void of any sunlight, hoping to be able to see something in the pitch black. My eyes quickly adjusted to the darkness, allowing me to see some faint slight detail. Scanning the cave searching for the wall toward the back, I suddenly started feeling strange. At first it was nothing, but a strange sensation throughout my body began to rapidly increase. My body began feeling weak and a quickly growing need to breathe was building. Something was wrong and needed to get out fast. Producing the thrust needed to get me turned around proved to be suddenly difficult. I felt the energy stored in my body purging itself from each cell. I was gasping for oxygen and if I couldn’t get out, I was going to die after coming this far. There was some rock within reach that I took a hold of and pulled myself towards the wall, bringing my feet to the rock. I quickly tucked myself up and kicked off as if kicking off the side of a pool.

I cleared the fissure as I felt myself rapidly approaching the point of passing out from lack of oxygen in the brain. Bathed in the sunlight, I felt my strength quickly returning. The surge I was now feeling was similar, only I felt energy entering my body instead of leaving it. Still, I was in desperate need of oxygen and didn’t have much time. With flight control restored I made a fast break for the planet only seconds left to start feeding my brain with oxygen before it was all over for me. I flew dead on in a high attack angle hitting the Earth’s atmosphere at a fatal velocity. No space craft wouldn’t stand a chance at this speed and angle. Immediately as I hit the atmosphere my body was instantly engulfed in flames as the friction started generating intense heat. My body became a great ball of fire streaking through the atmosphere. Amazingly, my skin was not burning nor was my suit. The 1,600+ degree heat caused no pain and registered only a moderate variation in temperature. After a minute I was through, and although the air was thin at such a high altitude, I was able to take in some oxygen. “Air, the sweet smell of fresh air,” I suddenly had a voice, and was cognizant of sounds for the first time since leaving Kaaren’s ship. I was basking in the moment when I realized I no longer flying, but free falling.

---Back to the Drawing Board---

After recovering from my free fall, I regained lift within the atmosphere and escaped Earth’s gravity, ready to try attacking the asteroid again. I made several test runs, each time getting weak as I got to close. At first I thought suddenly being deprived of solar energy was causing my rapid weakness, but as I hovered in the light on the fractured surface, my body again started to become weak, making me vulnerable to the vacuum. 'If I can't go near the asteroid, how am I going to stop it?' If I were to disengage the Deliverance's sled, I could accelerate it toward the asteroid. An impact with a large mass traveling at a high velocity might just knock it off course. My mind ran through the math, calculating the estimated mass of the asteroid vs the mass of the nuclear reaction FAST Pack and determined the velocity I would need to accelerate it to. The mass was too small to create enough energy to move it to a safe trajectory in the short time I had. If it were much further out, It might work, but this close to the planet, there would still be an devastating impact.

In the early days following the asteroid's discovery, some of the brightest the world has to offer sat in a conference room for several days thinking up scenarios that could neutralize the threat. Everything from large sails catching the solar winds blowing the rock off course, to building a form of propulsion on the surface that would gradually push the asteroid off course, all the way to an all out nuclear assault.

The nuclear fuel that drove the FAST Pack's engines was not weapons grade uranium and would not cause an explosion. Since our nuclear devices were ineffective, it would be a futile effort to try any further attacks with nuclear weapons. With the Deliverance as my only resources, I had few options, and pushing the asteroid was out of the question. 'What else did we consider as an option?' I thought to myself as I was getting desperate, not wanting to come this far in my redemption, only to still fail the people of Earth. A few more ideas came to mind from the brainstorming sessions. One of them, a gravity tractor had a simple enough concept, but required a lot of time. It called for a massive vessel a bit larger than the Deliverance to act as a tugboat, using a gravitational towline to create an attraction, gradually drawing the asteroid off course By producing enough thrust to equal out the vessel's attraction to the asteroid, the rock would slowly over time follow the ship off it's present trajectory.

It sounded insane, but I might be able to act as a gravity tractor myself. As dense as I am, it would take a long time to attract the rock, but if I could increase my mass, I might be able to pull it off course while keeping my distance at the same time. If I could propel my body fast enough in tight circular orbits, I could increase my mass by propelling myself as close to the speed of light as I could get. According to Einstein, as any body with mass approaches the speed of light, it's mass increases proportionately to the speed , thus requiring that much more energy to accelerate faster to compensate for the increase in mass, thereby making it impossible to reach the speed of light within space.

I would not need to travel at light speed, but if I could propel myself as fast as possible, traveling in a tight orbit, I might just be able to attract the object away from its current path. The only concern I had regarding my plan was what gravitational effects I would cause on the tides. My mental calculations concluded the effects on the Earth's rotation wouldn't be any greater than a massive earthquake striking deep in the ocean causing, worst case scenario, a series of tsunamis. The death and destruction was unthinkable, but with the fate of the planet in the balance, the risks were necessary in order to prevent the extinction of the human race. Fully charged by the sun, I proceeded to the point that I wanted the object to move toward and began my run.

My mind was in a deep level of concentration, recalling all my meditation techniques and focusing all my will on achieving as great a speed as this godlike body was capable of. Beginning my orbits, slowly getting used to the path I would need to duplicate after each successful trip along the plane, I gradually increased my speed until I felt myself easily surpassing all known human speed limits. The world around me began to slow down from my perspective as I continued to accelerated as if with no limitation. It was as if I were watching the film where a bullet is shot at a playing card using a high speed film camera to capture the event. The spin the rifling in the barrel of the gun exerts on the bullet is captured so that one can see every rotation the lead slug makes as it inches itself closer and closer to the target.

Every pass I made, I felt I had minutes to view the asteroid before passing it up to complete another orbit. In each pass, I could see the gravitational effects I was exerting on the object. As massive as the object was, it was wobbling and moving toward me. Quickly, I adjusted my path to gradually take me further away, hoping it would follow me in the process. My plan was working, surpassing all my expectations. The asteroid was indeed moving away, but how much is what I needed to know. After I passed the rock yet again, I changed course and flew straight ahead before coming to a stop about a hundred kilometers away. This perspective was ineffective at observing the fruits of my labor, so I flew high above the asteroid to observe it's path. Watching the object in a low band of the infrared spectrum, I determined it was indeed moving off course, but remained unconvinced it was safely moving away from my home. To be sure, I began a second run at a steeper angle, hoping to draw the object further away.

---Rescued---

Flight Director Thompson was laying back in his chair puffing on a cigar. Everyone was celebrating the miraculous diversion the Icarus suddenly took. There was no logical explanation for the object suddenly changing course. Mission Control was celebrating prematurely with their crew still in orbit, but because of the immense sigh of relief knowing the would all go on living long after this day, everyone felt it was worth lighting up early. Thompson took a long drag on his cigar before extinguishing it and taking charge of his people again. He was feeling guilt as he knew, the miracle that just occurred was not of their doing. Little did he know, that it was indeed the fruits of their labor that aligned his side of cosmic events, that allowed one of his own to take on the necessary transformation that would save the world.

“Ok people, listen up, party's over. Put the smokes away, we have work to do. At this point I couldn't care less about the anomalies, the videos of a white disk spinning near the Icarus, or the gravitational distortions. We will have plenty of time to think about that, for now, we have people up there that need to come home, let's do what we do best and bring them down to the party.”

Suddenly there was a commotion, and people started whispering to each other. Chaos ensued as the phones started ringing. Everyone ignored what the Flight Director was saying, instead answering phones and chatting in excitement. Before Thompson could react, someone was tugging at his arm.

“What the hell is going on?” Thompson asked as he tried to understand why his people suddenly became so distracted.

“You are not going to believe this,” Davis said handed him a handset.

---Shuttle Landing Facility, Kennedy Space Center, Florida.---

A large crowd was gathering on the tarmac on Merritt Island, home of the John F. Kennedy Space Center. It was 4:00am EST and the sun was still an hour away from peeking over the ocean. At the far end of the runway used exclusively for shuttle and shuttle carrier landings, a couple of bright lights peered through the thick early morning fog.

The growing mass of people cautiously approached the mysterious object sitting idle at the southern end of the runway. A breeze in the night blew a thick cloud of fog, allowing a dark object to emerge from the blanket of water vapor. A loud sound of twisting metal engulfed the area, causing people to step back in fear, followed by an even louder thud as something heavy hit the pavement.

Someone yelled out "It’s the Deliverance!” As more smoke cleared, the nose of the Atlantis Orbiter became clear. Everyone started running toward the vehicle. The hatchway came into view and one of the crew, in their bright orange flight suit, was standing at the opening. The main hatch on the starboard side of the shuttle was twisted and mangled, lying in a small mess of cracks in the runway, clearly the source of the god-awful noise. The whole area erupted, cheering loudly as the crew, or what was left of them, slowly gathered together, breathing in their first breath of fresh air in close to a year.

Emergency vehicles arrived just ahead of two helicopters carrying NASA bigwigs, landing near the vehicle. Men rushed out and began pushing the crowd back to allow emergency crews to work. After about 20 minutes the crew were offloaded and placed on gurneys where they would be transported to local hospitals and treated for injuries. After a long stay in zero gravity, their bodies were frail and would need time to re-adapt to living within Earth’s gravity.

Kennedy Space Center Director Dr. Roth approached Collins. “Mighty fine flying son, you mind telling me why you chose to land this bird on my strip without calling first?” Roth was only half serious, glad his cluster of an operation turned for the better. After the nuclear devices failed to stop the threat, the military stepped in and severed all communications with the outside world. As far as the public knew, Operation THOR was a success, little did the people of Earth know, they were all about to die. It was better that way, the military tried to convince everyone. There would be no looting, or rioting. In the span of several minutes, no one would be around to question the ethics of the government’s decision.

“I didn’t, I have no idea how we got here. We all blacked out during re-entry and we awoke to the sound of you guys taking the hatch off. Once we re-entered, I lost control of the orbiter and we went into a steep dive. At some point we blacked out and wound up here,”

Dr. Roth was about to reply when someone grabbed his shoulder and whispered into his ear. “Look up.” He turned to see who it was without realizing the place was suddenly deadly quiet. All around him, everyone was looking up in the air. He turned to look up. There in the blackness in the night was a small white object. He blinked a couple times to bring it into focus.

“It’s an angel!” Someone said aloud. The object became clear, the figure appeared to be a woman clothed in a shiny white suit floating high above the crowd. Everyone was pointing at her. Her body stood straight as if at attention, legs close together. She lifted her right arm and gave a sharp salute, then suddenly ascended up into the sky, instantly traveling several times the sound barrier, producing a concussion that shook the very ground. The angel was gone.

---Speed---

The ground rapidly passed below as I accelerated, pushing the limits further exploring just what this girl could do. At 82,000 feet, all traces of life was hidden–only clusters of lights below to indicate and advanced civilization resided across the landscape. Their microscopic size however, couldn’t cloak them from my eyes. I could read a license plate and see the heat given off by a motorcycle passing through traffic. Countries once safe, could no longer defend their operations, or movements–everything above ground and exposed was mine to see.

I didn’t care really. What mattered to this veteran pilot, was the ability to rocket through the sky, faster than any man before me, higher than any air breather could hope to attain, and witness the beauty of the stars unobstructed by the particles in Earth’s atmosphere. Up here, every star once hidden from sight, emerged and danced before my eyes.
Traveling east, the Sun rapidly emerged over the horizon like a high speed time lapse video while the land continued to roll under me, forever renewing itself.

“Range to primary target, 893 miles and closing, ETA 9 minutes 30 seconds.”

“Roger, heading 156, angels 82, speed Mach 3.2. Any surface contacts?” I called asking Major Scott McMillan, my RSO.
“Negative, nothing on the scope. Ruskies are quiet.”

“They’re down there, and they know we’re up here. Stay alert.”

We weren’t immortal, far from it. They Soviets had surface to air missiles that could reach mach 5 and hit us at this altitude. It would be a crowning achievement to us bring down especially if it meant getting their hands on my bird.
“Contact! Multiple spikes, SA-4 launches detected 8 o’clock. Count six–correction–make that eight unfriendlies inbound angels 33 and climbing. ETA to impact 60 seconds. ECM engaged. Punch it Saint!”

McMillan worked the defensive electronic jamming package, confusing the missile’s tracking system long enough for us to increase our distance.

“Roger,” I said pushing the throttle higher while slowly increasing altitude. The movement was smoother, unlike anything I had flown before. I felt the exhilarating rush, feeling of the world’s fastest plane exceed all previous speed records, “Mach 3.4 and gaining. Ready on those cameras, Baikonur approaching, ETA 4 mikes.”

“I’m on it. Out run those bastards, camera’s rolling.”

The cameras attached to sophisticated gyroscopes, kept the optics incredibly stable despite the high speeds allowing sharp high resolution images of the target area below. As long as there were no obstructions, there wasn’t anything we couldn’t see.

The Black Bird was s stunning product of Cold War technology. The plane was made mostly of titanium, ironically mined from the Motherland’s womb by the freezing sweat of Russia’s political prisoners. Dummy civilian corporations established by the CIA, worked through a series of channels to purchase large quantities of the Soviet’s rich supply of the lightweight, yet incredibly strong ore before turned over to the engineers at Lockheed Martin’s Skunkworks team.
I was amongst the few pilots who were privileged enough to fly her. Everyone in the Air Force, spent many sleepless nights laying in wonder, what the thrill of strapping an SR-71 to their butt would be like.
“Capturing,” McMillan said as we entered the target zone. Below, was Russia’s Cosmodrome–the launch site that put Sputnik and Yuri Gagarin into space, beating the American Space Program. The Pentagon had become increasingly concerned on the Soviet’s increased activity in space. Their launches had tripled in two years, and Intel were reporting similar increases in nuclear testing.

It was the nuclear activity we were most concerned about especially if it meant they were violating international treaties prohibiting weapons in space.
“I’m defiantly picking up radiological signatures. Looks like the intel’s correct, the Ruskies are putting nukes into orbit.”
I ignored the slurs, choosing instead to let it go as the shortened version allowed for faster relay of critical information. With SAMs on our ass, every second counted.
“Damn, just hit 3.7 Mach and still accelerating,” I called out with excitement just as McMillan announced more radar spikes. The throttle was up against the plate, yet she kept accelerating well past her official limit. My eyes kept shifting to the temperature readings. For now, there was no danger, but another minute and the heat could start damaging the craft.

“They don’t seem to like that we are up here Saint.”

I ignored the comment and pulled the small periscope from the ceiling. Flying at the altitude the SR-71 was capable of, required greater protection than your standard flight suit. It was my first taste of being an astronaut. Before a mission, my RSO and I donned a yellow suit similar to what is worn in outer space. The bulky suit offered full pressurization and thermal protection while flying through the cold thin atmosphere.

The helmet wasn’t like one worn in a fighter plane, attached to the head and provided protection to my skull. Like the suit, this one resembled that of an astronaut as well, attached to a docking collar around the neck of my flight suit. The large helmet remained facing forward, turning only slightly with my head movements inside. If I turned to the left, all I saw was the inside of the helmet leaving me with limited visibility outside my aircraft.

The periscope sat next to the whiskey compass, the only navigation instrument in the cockpit. If anything happened to me during flight, my RSO had little he could do other than ejects what we ran out of fuel and the plane slowed to a safe speed. Unknown to most, I was equally dependent on Scott. All navigation was his job. All the navigation systems were in the back along with the electronic jamming and imaging controls.

Through the reflection in the small scope, the first of the inbound missiles exploded one by one in the distance, instantly shrinking in size as I rocketed away from them faster than a speeding bullet.
“Five down, six inbound, forty five seconds to impact.”

“ETA to turn?”

“Twenty six seconds. This is going to be close.”

“You get what you need?”

“Roger, I got it.”

“Beginning turn now.”

My thumb turned the trim dial on the throttle, being one with the aircraft. I felt the dial click twice and knew that was enough to take the plane into a gradual high speed turn, making it difficult for the radar to track and calculate changes to the SAMs.

As the last fireballs reflected through the small periscope indicating the current threat was behind us, my eyes glanced down, checking the temperature readings. The heat levels were rapidly reaching the danger level.

“Ok Saint, let’s slow her down.”

“Almost at 3.75.”

“Negative, slow her down, you have the speed record.”

3.75, 3.8, 4.5, 6.0…There was no limit, pushing this beauty beyond the realm of known physical limits. I had no way to measure my speed, I was simply guessing how many times the speed of sound I was traveling in. Heat was no longer a threat, fuel no longer a concern nor were G-Forces affecting me. The Blackbird and the orbiter had nothing on me. Flying in Kaaren’s body was superior to anything else I had flown.

Naked with noting but Kaaren’s suit, my expert piloting skills knew well enough, this veteran aviator just crushed all speed records for powered flight.

I rolled onto my back, reaching up and placing my hands under my head, interlocking my fingers. The rich blue sky in all it’s heavenly glory sparkled before my new eyes. Kaaren’s light sensitive optics allowed me to see faint points of light–distant stars once only detectible with long exposure photography, now dancing before me.

“I did it!” I said while stretching Kaaren’s lips into what felt like that bright smile of hers. An intense feeling of warmth spread throughout my body as I gloated in my victorious achievement. Life below would go on, the people of Earth safe. After all those years of training, the sacrifices I made, Icarus was finally neutralized. The massive cluster of rock and metal was hurtling away from Earth forever, sending it back out of the solar system where it came from.

“Liz honey, I did it. Woooohoooo, I DID IT!” I yelled while accelerating faster through the clouds, feeling the exhilarating rush, the excitement of seeing my wife and daughter.

Suddenly my mind switched from my new-found freedom to go anywhere I wanted and locked on to something my mind hadn’t had much time to dwell on since leaving the ship. Saving the world, and the power that had been endowed in me, had come at a personal cost. Underneath this tight suit is the body of a very gorgeous yet strangely alien woman that my mind and spirit now occupies. Suddenly I felt trapped and not so free. I considered Megan part of my crew, equal to all the rest, yet my in subconscious, society’s influence demoting woman from equals to inferiors had been engrained into my mind. It is natural for men to be quick with a joke about how superior we think we are and I admit, I have taken my stabs at times, but I know deep down there is little difference. Kaaren was right, we are the same inside, just piloting different bodies, bodies that do essentially the same task, but each having their own set of qualities. There are things that women can do that men can not, and vice-versa, but both are quite capable of piloting a space shuttle. In fact, there have been studies that women have a higher level of situational awareness, making them more effective combat pilots.

Men are quickly blamed for their degradation towards the female half of the population, but women do it too. Women would refuse to have their car serviced by a female mechanic, insisting on having a man conduct the servicing even if the woman had superior automotive repair knowledge. In 1986, it’s still a man’s world but times are slowly changing, women are making their place in business, in law enforcement, government and even in outer space. Still, my mind couldn’t shake my feelings of inferiority flowing through my subconscious as I pondered my decision to give up my manhood to save all mankind.

“My manhood!” It suddenly sunk it. In the privacy of the clouds, my hands reached down to feel my body. Starting with my breasts I found they were quite a handful, but not overly large. As for size, I had no clue, there was never a necessity for me to use my memory to store women’s clothing measurements. After a few failed attempts to buy Liz clothing I thought she would look great in, my gift buying resorted back to jewelry and I left it up to her to choose her own clothes to turn me on. As my hands touched Kaaren’s breasts through the strange material of my suit, electrical patterns alien to me raced towards my brain, registering pleasant feelings which in turn commanded my body to uncontrollably shudder as if I were hit by a sudden chill in the air.

To complete my acceptance of this new reality of mine, one final exploration needed to be completed and delaying the inevitable was useless. I could only go so long pretending this is all a dream, because I knew better. The sooner I faced my fears, the better. “Damn it, get a grip” I said aloud. I chose this, and I had great reason too. I won’t be a woman forever; Kaaren will return with my body sooner or later, having saved her planet from destruction. Besides, I am not a woman, I am a goddess. All the things women fear in life are not mine to have to worry about. No man can beat me, rape me, kidnap me. Perhaps in this body, I can help make society more accepting of our female partners in life.

Starting to feel more accepting of my situation, I thought 'Screw it' and reached down between by legs, entering into new territory as I was about to go where no man has gone before. The strange material of the suit I was wearing didn’t allow me to feel much in the way of sensations or details, but the fact was, there was nothing where my beloved pal should be. Due to the wideness of my hips, there was actually a couple inches of space between my legs and where they came together; there was nothing but a small mound instead of my familiar bulge.

My heart began to beat a little faster as realization set in. I started feeling around a bit further, when I emerged from a cloud. Suddenly I found myself staring down the beacon lights of a 747 airliner. Only seconds to react, I took evasive maneuvers and went into a dive, the engines only several feet in front of me. They were dangerously close and I needed to avoid them at all cost. My body would likely be unharmed from the event, but If I got sucked into the turbines, I could destroy the aircraft and kill everyone on-board. I released all concentration and gravity took hold, allowing me to drop the few extra feet needed to avoid a collision. Looking up I saw the plane alter course slightly before leveling out. Clearly the pilots where already past their brief moment of panic and had already shifted their thoughts to what they had just encountered. 'Was that a bird, a plane, or some woman flying through the air fondling herself?' was the question the pilot and co-pilot where likely asking each other.

This dense body was falling like a brick and my mind was shaken up from being caught touching my new nether regions at 30,000 ft, almost killing everyone on board in the process. I couldn’t re-focus my attention on flying and was again spinning out of control, free falling at terminal velocity with the ground rushing up to greet me. 'Would it indeed be terminal?' The faint light on the horizon lit the ground below illuminating the faint green and yellow squares in the earth indicating vast farm land. 'Good, no one in sight.'

Closing my eyes, I took in a few deep breaths of air through my nose and exhaled through my mouth. Having studied martial arts at a younger age, my meditation techniques were instinctively recalled as quickly as my muscles do in reaction to an attack. I began to calm down and in a matter of seconds I felt more relaxed. As my concentration returned, I felt myself slowing as I willed myself back into flight. I opened my eyes in time to see the ground rush up a couple hundred feet below. Quickly I leveled out into a cornfield, corn stalks slamming into my face as I came to a hard landing, hitting the ground doing about 100 miles an hour. My dense body skimmed chest down across the ground, digging a trench along the way. Surprisingly I felt no pain as I hit the soft soil. As my body came to a stop I noticed I had dug myself into the ground a few feet deep.

“God I hope no one saw that” I said aloud while slowly getting to my feet. I wiped the dirt off my suit. I had a high neckline preventing any dirt from getting inside, but I was pretty filthy. Thankfully the suit was not torn. The heat caused from the friction during re-entry to the atmosphere should have caused the suit to burn up, making me to think it must be made of some kind of special material that can withstand as much punishment as my body can take. The soft dirt gave out under my two inch heel and I fell backwards landing on my butt. It had just dawned on me that, with the exception of the gravity on Kaaren’s ship, it had been about a year since I had walked. This was the first time in this body I had set foot on the ground. Perhaps the reason I had been doing so well flying, is because I had been floating in zero G for the last 12 months. Fortunately I didn’t have to re-strengthen my bone mass, but I was going to have to take a little time getting used to walking again. 'Let's try this again' I thought to myself as I returned to a standing position.

I decided to try walking around a little in the cover of the corn. The morning light was growing brighter and the blue light of the early morning was filling the sky. In the distance I could hear the sound of roosters alerting the farmers of the arrival of a new day. I spent a summer on my great uncle’s farm, and that was enough for me. The supply of eggs, bacon and other produce left me appreciative of those who lived a life of farming, but I had no sympathy for anyone who had to deal with the odors of livestock permanently lingering in the air.

Ahead, there was a clearing in the cornfield. Cautiously, I peered through the stalks, not wanting to be seen. Even in the dark of the night, this white suit would be visible to anyone whose eyes had adjusted to the darkness. Confident I was alone in the field, I stepped out into the open. To my surprise, it wasn’t the end of the field, rather an opening in the middle somewhere. All around me I noticed burnt corn stalks and long trenches gouged into the earth. Those smaller meteors I witnessed re-entering must have hit here as well as countless other parts of the globe. With any luck no one with the exception of a scarecrow was hurt during the impacts that caused some rather large scars in the field.

Taking to the air, I surveyed the area and noticed several other fields that were torn up from similar strikes. One in particular had a fairly large impact crater at the end of a long trench that dwarfed the one yours truly had just carved out about a mile away. Ahead, I noticed a trail of damaged corn leading back to the road where a vehicle had driven up to the impact site. 'Typical rednecks, thinking it’s aliens from another star visiting them.' I was happy to know I was the one to burst the tired old cliche of aliens traversing millions of light years only to visit a pair of shotgun totting hillbillies named Huck and Mickey driving a red 1950’s pickup with fresh kill strapped to the hood. While I am no genius, I am honored to be mankind’s first true ambassador to a being from another world even if I am now that very alien.

Off in the distance I heard the sound of a helicopter, no make that two helicopters, approaching. The beating of the blades cutting through the air was unmistakably Hueys, and that meant military. Time to go. Making for the clouds, I leveled out at 30,000 feet and looked down, guessing I had been in either Oklahoma or Arkansas. I studied the area for any geographical markers trying to get a fix on my position. Without instrumentation and only crude navigation using the sunrise to give me a general sense of direction, I figured I could be just about anywhere in the Midwest. I gained more and more altitude while memorizing the ground below before accelerating. Within a matter of seconds, I felt myself pass through the sound barrier again, this time purposely producing a concussion that could finally get those hillbillies out of bed.

To Be Continued....Episode 4 “Solitude”

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***Archived original opening***

First time readers. The first part of the Pilot has been rewritten and posted on this site as Pilot Part 1 Redux. I much prefer the new, but keep the old as an archive. Please feel free to give that version a read before progressing forward as it introduces many of the characters in a different manner.

Prologue

My bare feet savored the silkiness of the fine powder as it filled the space between my toes. With the sea off to my right, I took care to lay my towel, stretching it out across the ground. Confident I was alone, with no prying eyes to spy on me, I unsnapped the button on my jean shorts and slid them down my long slender legs. Stepping out with one foot, I lifted the shorts up to my hand where I shook the dust off before folding them up and putting them on my bag. Next I slipped my tight pink shirt up over my head pulling my long wavy golden hair through the opening, taking care not to undo the strap to my metallic silver bikini. Setting my shirt next to my shorts, I stood up and stretched before adjusting my bikini bottom so that it was even around my shapely behind, followed by a quick tug tightening the bow resting high on my hip.

Taking my place stretched out on the soft ground with my back on the towel, I enjoyed the warm rays of the Sun penetrating my near naked body. The world around me was eerily silent, I was utterly alone with no one to disturb me as my naked eyes feasted on the most majestic sight one can ever hope to witness. For an old broad reeling in 4.5 billion years, the Earth is still radiating in beauty and splendor, looking better in her age than the day she was born. The blue/green planet I call home rose over the horizon partially eclipsed by the remains of Tranquility Base where decades ago my childhood hero made history with that famous footstep into the lunar soil. Today, my trips to the moon are like a spontaneous trip to the beach, no planning involved, no years of training, no special protection. Every Oct 18th, I come here for an hour or two, bathing in the energizing solar energy, and celebrate my birthday, the one where I was re-born ten years ago......

---Part I “Failure”---

The gauge showed oxygen levels down to 5%. Using the mirror attached to the left wrist on my EMU suit, I savored my final glimpses of the Earth. It was the best I could do to keep the blue and green sphere that I called home in my view during my final moments among the world of the living. With no nitrogen left in my Manned Maneuvering Unit, I couldn’t correct my axis to face the Earth directly. This is how it will end for me, I will die alone in the blackness of space, and my decaying corpse will drift forever throughout the cosmos. No longer able to talk to my crew safe on board the Deliverance, I waited nervously for death to finally come to me. It’s ironic, that our very ship was named the Deliverance. There was no deliverance, Operation THOR was a failure, and the people of Earth, including my family, are about to die. The death I now face, I deserved, and in a matter of minutes it will come for me as my oxygen supply finally runs out.

It was almost two and a half years ago, that our deep space probes detected an anomaly in space near the orbit of Saturn. Using a wide field survey, astronomers discovered a four mile wide asteroid whose trajectory was on a collision course with Earth. The planet’s mightiest nations were locked in a bitter cold war, with their citizens living in fear every day that their leaders would do something rash and launch global thermonuclear war, killing all life on the planet. Upon the U.S.S.R’s validation of the asteroid data, an alliance between them and the USA was formed under the leadership of President Reagan and General Secretary Gorbachyov. The two countries, aided by Japan, China, Britain and Germany, pooled the greatest minds together to build the technology to stop the asteroid officially named Icarus by the International Astronomical Union.

The Russians were already developing plans for deep space vehicles that would utilize nuclear propulsion to reach the planet Mars in four months rather than the usual 9-12 months. The design would allow constant thrust versus a single long burn that would insert them into a trajectory where they could rendezvous with the Red Planet. The advantage of this design would allow us to leave at any time without having to wait for an optimal orbital trajectory window requiring Earth to be used as a slingshot to propel a craft towards the target destination. The Russians' designs were ingenious, but they lacked the capital and resources that would have allowed it take form. The US, Japan, and other countries were able to offer financing and the technological know how to improve the Russian designs and bring the Soviets' concept into reality. As part of the USA’s contribution, our new space shuttle fleet would be instrumental in launching the components needed to build the craft into orbit, where they could be constructed in space. Atlantis was selected to undergo heavy modification and become the core vehicle and command module of the entire craft. The modified Atlantis would dock with the nuclear powered FAST Pack, as we called it, that would provide constant thrust towards the massive rock that threatened our home.

World War II was the last time that the people of Earth saw a mighty industrial machine that bound nations together and in such a short time unleashed technological wonders that would have taken decades of slow incremental progress to bring to fruition. The world’s people found themselves truly united and working together as one to overcome a threat that guaranteed death to all regardless of race, sex, or religion. All the trivial matters that divided mankind and kept them fighting each other were rendered pointless. The Icarus didn’t care about skin color, gender, rich or poor. It didn’t care what god you prayed to, it threatened the whole of humanity. It was the best time to be alive, to be able to witness mankind finally growing up and putting their differences aside, united to fight a universal threat.

After a 4 month journey, we rendezvoused with the asteroid. All the photos and models failed to prepare us for the immense size of the object. We were in the largest space craft yet to be built by man yet ants in comparison. Shuttle pilot Collins and I navigated the lander on the surface of the asteroid and our teams began working for weeks, drilling deep enough to plant the devices. Dr. Eugene Shephard, selected as part of the team for his expertise and background in geology and studies of meteorites led the team of four to begin drilling 100 meters into the rock. His vast knowledge of geology made him a valuable asset oil tycoons who needed his experience to help them reach the black gold that fueled their lavish lifestyles. Initially he was approached as a consultant, but was quickly added to the team for his experience drilling through all types of materials. The uncertainty by astronomers as to the composition and density of the asteroid would require an expert on site to be able to improvise and overcome difficulties in reaching the target depths. Types of asteroids varied and the Icarus could be solid rock, solid metals, or a loosely bound cluster of smaller objects drawn tightly together by their gravitational attraction.

Pendleton, or “MIRV” as we called him, joined the team at the demand of the military who insisted one of their own accompany the nuclear devices. Pendleton was the mission’s first casualty and certainly not the last. Dr. Megan McCormack, in flight surgeon and Psychologist was unable to save him after a sudden outgassing from the asteroid ruptured his EMU suit causing him to rapidly decompress. His lungs ruptured and by the time he was brought back on board, he had circulatory failure and ice formation in his respiratory tract. He had already been unconscious for a close to 2 minutes and was unable to be revived even after re-pressurization.

Dr. McCormack was gifted in her fields, rising to the top of the selection list, not only for her medical training, but for her extensive psychological studies on humans living for long durations in enclosed environments. In order to go to Mars one day, astronauts would have to live in close, confined spaces for the duration of the mission lasting up to two years or more. It was decided that having her expertise in the psych was critical as the weight of the mission would cause high stress levels amongst the crew. Her genius allowed her to be easily cross trained in the operation of many of the ship's systems. During the critical aspects of the mission, she was responsible for the local monitoring of ground crew’s vital stats while operating remote systems and external imaging.

Mitri and Yeltsov where the U.S.S.R.’s contribution to the team and were experts in the nuclear reaction engines of the Deliverance. They were cross trained to assist in the planting of the devices. With the exception of the loss of Pendleton, the mission up to this point was successful. Shephard collected many samples of the asteroid’s composition declaring new elements not part of the periodic table were present. His excitement at being the first to discover these new elements and the benefit to his career they would bring him came to a crashing halt when the devices failed to deflect the asteroid. Its mass was greater that we had expected and the explosion did little to move the object.

Asteroid debris from the detonation finally caught up with the Deliverance en route back to Earth and pummeled its hull. The barrage of debris inflicted damage to the nuclear and conventional RCS systems that allowed us to adjust the ship’s attitude. Yeltsov was killed by debris that punctured the right common carotid artery in his neck causing him to rapidly bleed out. Collins, also injured in the process, required immediate attention. With McCormack and Mitri desperately trying to save Yeltsov’s life, Shephard tended to Collins, ignoring the greater threat. With the cabin rapidly depressurizing, I made a rash decision to go EVA to seal the hull breach. What would have been an impossible effort - identifying the breach - was made easy as the crimson stain of Yeltsov’s blood was seen spewing into space, instantly freezing. As if the ship itself were bleeding out, I identified the wound in my bird, and sealed it with special expanding airtight foam that restored cabin pressure.

With the crisis averted, I made my way back to the airlock to rejoin my crew and ascertain casualties and the damage done to my bird. Before I could reach the airlock, a slow moving piece of debris hit me from behind, ejecting me away from the ship and sending me into an uncontrollable spin. The velocity at which I was traveling took me away from the vehicle and I knew immediately my situation was hopeless. The Manned Maneuvering Units where designed for attitude correction and minor propulsion, they were not intended for free flight in space.

The uncontrolled spin was making me nauseous. My head was still slightly dazed from the impact and watching the Earth spin around me every few seconds was making things worse. I did a quick calculation and determined I had enough fuel to stop the spin. I grabbed the stick and fired my thrusters to counter the spin. Counting downward as I began slowing my spin. 3...2...1...0... Stop. Stability was returned and my nausea was slowly clearing. I gently fired the thrusters to turn my direction so I could see how far I had drifted, but I was getting no response from the MMU.

“Impossible!”

I had calculated correctly and should have had a little remaining, but sure enough, the fuel gauge showed that I was out of nitrogen. I looked at my gauge again and again but my eyes were not deceiving me, It was empty. Worse, I noticed, my O2 levels were at 80% and gradually dropping. My EMU life support pack was fully charged prior to leaving and the only explanation was a rupture in my suit.

An hour was spent communicating with what was left of the crew before losing contact. In the time, I pled with them to abandon any attempts to come after me. I knew Collins was in bad shape and unable to fly. It was stupid of me for leaving, now even if the ships systems were ok, they would not be able to get back home. “Michael, you did the right thing,” it was Megan trying to calm me down as I tried to face the reality of my situation, “If you didn’t react as quickly as you did, we would all be dead right now. Yes we are in a desperate situation, but all is not lost. We will be ok,”

She was right and it was good to hear her voice now. We spent lots of time where I unloaded the stress weighing on my shoulders. As the commander of the most important space mission the world has ever known, I had a huge burden to bear. I was about as tough a man as you could get, and all through life, showed little emotion, but at several times throughout our journey, I broke down from the anxiety filling my mind. Thoughts and dreams of my family being killed as the asteroid impacted the planet consumed my mind at times, clouding my judgement. In the privacy of the space lab module, McCormack counseled me and taught me to control my fears. As inadequate as I felt, she assured me that only those who did not care about the life we were trying to save would be void of the feelings I had. Any person they chose for this mission, would be suffering just the same.

In our time together, we had become friends to the point where she was the only one who called me by my first name. We were all close, and I repeatedly told the crew they could call me Michael, but they all respected my rank and refused. I was named Michael by my overly religious mother, who had an infatuation with Angels. She named me after the Arch Angel Michael and growing up, refused to let anyone call me Mike, it was Michael or nothing else. The religious etymology behind my name was unimportant, but long after my mother abandoned our family I continued to insist people not call me Mike.

They stayed connected to me as long as they could talking to me as I drifted further and further away. Mitri thanked me for being such a good friend to him. He had been skeptical that Americans would not want to work with their mortal enemies, but I enjoyed talking with him and Yeltsov. “I will drink your half of special vodka waiting for us back home,” Disciplined to no end, I didn’t touch the stuff, but in my off time, I enjoyed drinking. Mitri, Yeltsov and I spent much time talking and helping me improve the Russian I learned in the Air Force. Little did they know I was flying spy planes over their home a decade before and had been taught to speak passible Russian. In four months, they helped me become near fluent and insisted I come to the U.S.S.R. to visit when we returned.

Collins, a very devout Christian, chose to pray for me in my final moments, while Dr. Shephard chose silence followed by a quick goodbye. He was not sentimental and uncomfortable showing emotion. Before I had time to say my final goodbyes, the radio cut out, leaving me alone to face my final moments in this world. My O2 was down to 5% and my time was near. I began preparing my soul in preparation to meet my maker.

---Angel of Mercy---

I did not want to slowly suffocate to death. Delaying death any longer was pointless; my soul was prepared to depart this cruel world. Being rescued was a mere fantasy that would never become reality; my mind understood that it was impossible for my crew to come save me even if the Deliverance was operational. We all knew the risks of Extra Vehicular Activity and the consequences that would be associated with drifting out of reach of the vehicle. This was not science fiction where space ships could fly around space as if they were in the atmosphere. Maneuvering in space required dozens of smaller rocket thrusters strategically placed around the craft to control the vehicles yaw, pitch, and roll. The flight stick was similar to that of an airplane, but instead of controlling ailerons to change the flow of air over the wings, the controls were connected via a fly by wires system to a complex computer that fired the thrusters at various times to turn or stop the ship. To change course required fuel for each of the Vernier thrusters and when fuel was exhausted, your angle was fixed.

I had experienced so much this life had to offer, and in a matter of minutes it would all be gone. It was time for me to go. Impulsively, I reached up and grabbed the latch on my helmet. “Goodbye Liz, goodbye Ash. I’m sorry I failed you. I hope you are someplace safe where the apocalypse I failed to prevent will pass over you. My heart agonized at the thought of your deaths. If you fall victim to my failure, may I be given enough mercy to be with you again in a few days. May you not have to suffer because of me and be granted a quick painless death. I love you two,”

Reaching up, I pulled on my helmet’s seal to expose myself to the vacuum of space. Exposure to a vacuum does not yield an instant death as most seem to think. One could actually live for over 20 seconds before the oxygen, no longer able to be transferred to the blood stream, starves your brain and you pass out. The victim could be re-pressurized and revived up to 90 second from first exposure with little long term effects. I could speed up the the experience by being exposed with a full breath of air which would cause rapid decompression and rupture my lungs as what happened to Pendleton. It would beat a slow agonizing death as I gasped for the little air I had left. Inhaling as much as I could to give me the quicker death I longed for, I pulled the latch...Nothing, I pulled harder, still nothing, It wouldn’t budge. Something was jamming the seal preventing me from killing myself.

I was cussing loudly as alarms within my suit sounded signaling my O2 had run out. It started becoming hard to breathe. I was gasping for air. After about a minute I settled down; suddenly I felt really peaceful and calm. A white flash a light appeared. This is it, the moment of death came before me. In a few more moments, it will be all over. The light continued to get brighter. The tunnel to heaven was opening to receive me. The light was intense and filled my visor with heavenly illumination. Out of the tunnel a figure approached me with the light to their back as I reached out trying to touch it. The Angel was beautiful, clothed in white, seemingly glowing garments made by the hand of God himself. As she transgressed the dimensions of heaven into the physical world, she came to a rest floating in the vacuum outside my face mask. She reached out to me offering to take me to the peaceful world where she came from. Her hand was soft and smooth radiating light. Longing to touch her and be taken into the safety of her embrace, I reached out my arms to my Angel of Mercy as I exhaled my final breath, then everything went black. ***