Kindle Edition
Amazon
Amazon
bodemont.com
Category:
Action/Thriller
Publisher: Book Baby
ISBN-10: B01MT4DHCK
Type: Fiction
Pages: 334
Copyright: Jan 2017
ISBN-13: 97814836590523
Price: $5.99 (eBook)
The Nemesis Vector, a near-future adventure takes Sci-Fi to a believable “what if” reality right here on Earth.
The Nemesis Vector, a near-future adventure takes Sci-Fi to a believable “what if” reality right here on Earth. Two astronauts, on a routine mission aboard the International Space Station, become Earth’s unlikely heroes as the story unfolds bringing, thrills, laughter and even tears to the reader as they turn the pages. The story, taking many twists and turns, is sure to leave one asking the question, “what now?” as the characters love, support, and fight for all of mankind now unified as one entity.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzBZgL1uV9I
Excerpt
A Note From The Author
I personally want to thank you for taking time out of your day,
to check out my new book The Nemesis Vector. To read the first few chapters, go to Amazon.com.
Excerpt From Chapter 2
The stars twinkle brightly in the darkness of space that envelops the U.S.space shuttle Intrepid; now on its 6th mission docked with the
International Space Station (ISS). The shuttle is a brilliant bright white
glistening against the eerie pitch-black, backdrop of space. Millions of
stars miraculously suspended in the darkness, light the heavens even
though the light energy has been traveling for thousands of light years to be seen at this very moment in time.
Captain Rex Huntley and Captain Rory Scott, astronauts for NASA’s
space center, had dreamed of being among those stars most of their
lives. As children, in opposite ends of the country, they each had
dreamed of flying in space as glow-in-the-dark stars covered their
bedroom ceilings and spurred their wildest childhood imaginations. Who
could have known that the years of dreaming; the years of training in
both the Air Force and then with the NASA space program, would have
brought them to this moment… together.
The two astronauts float effortlessly in the zero gravity above the
Intrepid’s cargo bay giving their full attention to the repair of the robotic
mechanical arm which had recently malfunctioned.
With the robotic arm fully extended out, up and over the open cargo bay
doors, Rory chuckles sarcastically, “Rex, how is it that we are always
the lucky ones… we get the exciting jobs up here. Do you think this
breakdown is the same issue as before?”
“It’s likely Rory. From what I can determine from the troubleshooting
sequence, once again the damn left actuator that helps to articulate the
robotic arm isn’t working properly… and yeah… lucky… like hell!”
The repair of the actuator manually, is a simple fix; however extremely
time consuming when working in zero gravity.
“Alright Rory, I’m taking the cover off now.”
Rory intently watches as Rex struggles to remove the protective metal
cover from the actuator. Typically these malfunctions have been
historically caused by a single ¾ inch stainless steel bolt that through
repeated extension of the arm literally shears in half.
“Hey Rex, can’t you move any faster? You’re cutting into my lunch
hour… I’m union now you know,” Rory chuckles.
“I would, but I heard you’re behind paying your dues… so you’re on my
clock Rory,” Rex retorts. “There… finally got that damn cover off; what
a pain in the ass.”
“How bad is the damage?”
“It’s not too bad, really. It’s just as we thought too. Looks like one
sheared and broken bolt outa four. I was actually expecting much worse
the way it was vibrating. I guess it’s our lucky day.”
“Really… it’s only one bolt? Like you said, the way it was vibrating, I
would have thought it was at least two… yep, for sure we got lucky.”
“You know… I hate when I’m right. I had expected this very problem
the moment that arm began to vibrate. It’s the third time this has
happened,” Rex notes as he moves into position to remove the bolt.
“I thought the engineers had fixed this issue with a recent redesign,”
Rory questions. “I know I read something about it in a mechanical flight maintenance report, just before this mission.”
“Well, you did read that, but I tell you Rory, this is one design NASA
had better review again and consider taking this current worthless design
back to the drawing board.”
“I hear what you’re saying. No one can afford a complete robotic arm
failure during a satellite deployment.”
“Look at it this way; I think its good safety monitor practice for you.”
“Although, that might be true, from my viewpoint, it is incessantly boring.”
Looking down and forward, Rex reaches out and places his wrench onto
the broken bolt. With the wrench in position, he begins the tediously
slow process of coaxing the sheared bolt out of the actuator. With the
bolt having lost numerous threads, the removal is difficult. Trying his
best not to further strip the bolt, Rex’s arms strain with each turn of the wrench as the bolt is removed, ever so slowly.
“This really needs a redesign… badly,” Rex grunts as he struggles to
make each turn of the wrench. “There must be too much torque and
counter load for a ¾ inch bolt to handle; maybe one inch bolts would
hold this puppy together.”
“You know Rex, on a brighter note… it dawned on me while you have been grunting and groaning… we are the only qualified, triple-A mechanics available for miles… many miles!”
“Most definitely… we are the only ones out here qualified to fix this
expensive broken down, ill designed, piece of crap arm.”
“What do you think the going hourly-rate is these days for outer-space
mechanics?”
Laughing, Rex replies, “Not enough. Maybe we should start a union;
lobby for better pay, real food and decent working conditions that
doesn’t include the need for someone to fix this damn arm on every
other trip… also in my opinion, we should be getting hazardous duty
pay, plus time and a half!”
“I think you’re dreamin’, but absolutely I’m for all of that… especially the real food you mentioned… one thing is for sure though…”
“What’s that?”
“We certainly have job security… no real competition for several
hundred thousand miles, plus the work for the most part, is rather easy.”
“You’re right about that… except for the ‘easy’ part,” Rex grunts. “We
definitely have job security though. You could say we have a full-blown
monopoly, up here,” as both men begin to laugh.
“You know Rex, another nice thing about it is; up here we are the only
people, who can really complain about our work. Plus, there are no
pesky refunds; no guarantees; and a panoramic view that is visually out
of this world… incredible.”
“Yeah, for sure… gotta love the view up here. It is just like you said,
incredible; it never gets old.” Rory watches with patient boredom as Rex continues to carefully remove the bolt.
“Rex, did you remember to bring the remote to test the arm when you
finish the repair?”
“Absolutely… per NASA protocol, I need to test drive this puppy, up
close and personal when I finish here.”
“You know, it was a good thing this arm worked well enough to deploy
that Mantis satellite this morning. I’m sure the Mantis Corporation
would have been really tweaked if we would have had to bring their
multi-million dollar satellite home on the return flight.”
Agreeing, Rex says, “Yeah… failure to deploy that satellite on schedule,
would have landed squarely on the engineer’s shoulders and would have
made no one very happy.”
“I hear that; after all we are just the delivery crew out here. Are you
about done? This is really cutting into my lunch hour.”
“In case you haven’t noticed, I’m the one sweating bullets here Rory…
the one doing all the hard work, while you play safety monitor this time
out.”
“Oh my… you sound like a very sore loser Rex. It’s not my fault you
lost the coin toss… I won fair and square this morning.”
“Oh, come on, really… me a sore loser? And you call that toss ‘fair and
square’?”
Laughing, Rory taunts, “I guess you could say it was the fickle finger of
fate… I was lucky and you were… well… unlucky. What that means is you just need to continue to turn the wrench my friend. All that’s required of me… the lucky safety monitor… is to float around and observe what’s going on. So, get a move on there, Captain.”
“What does it look like I am doing? You just remember… I’ll beat you
next time, with the caveat we use MY coin.”
“Sure Rex, by the way… are you about done playing triple-A space
mechanic?” Rory continues to tease and laugh.
“Not quite, what’s the rush now? Don’t tell me about your union lunch
hour again… you are just gonna have to hang tight; I’m almost done
here.”
“No, although lunch sounds really good, I was actually reading our O2
levels and we only have forty-five minutes left in our oxygen supply.
You know the rules; we will need to head back inside when the level
gets down to 40 minutes.”
“Thanks for the update… you’re the most efficient, but boring, safety
monitor I have ever worked with. I feel so safe with you on the job,
watching my back!”
“Just keep working… and if it’s not too much to ask, I’d like to have
lunch before it gets to be dinner time.”
Rex, without acknowledging Rory’s continued rant about lunch reminds
him, “You do know I helped write the safety protocol manual, right?”
“REALLY! Gosh, I can’t wait to have you autograph my copy. It’ll
likely be a collector’s item… say… in a hundred years,” Rory laughs
sarcastically.
“Okay! I just about have the new bolt tightened down in place; couple
more turns should about do it.”
With a few final turns of the wrench, Rex puts the cover back on and
tightens down the screws. Finished, his arms tired and sore, Rex is
satisfied his repair will work and the arm will function normally; at least
until the next time.
“Here Rory… take these broken bolt pieces and put them into your parts
bag so we can take them back to the engineers for re-inspection… again.
I’ll go ahead now and make sure the actuator is functioning properly
with a little Huntley test drive.”
Pushing the buttons on the remote and
moving the arm through a few contortions, Rex confirms, “Ah ha! It
works perfectly… knew it would with my expert repair skills.”
“It’s a miracle, I can’t believe it… you actually fixed it.”
“Very funny… you’re always the comedian. You just wait; next time it’s your turn.”
“You’ll have to win the coin toss first… can you say LOSER?”
“We’ll see about that. Let’s get you back in for some food… after all; I
don’t want you doing some sissy thing like fainting out here,” Rex
laughs.
“Hold up a second, Bates is on the com.”
“Hey there fellas, Bates here… I just wondered if you guys are about
done playing out there. Lieutenant Suzuki has lunch about ready.”
“Thank you Commander. We are just now finishing up and will be
heading back in about 5 minutes or so… that is, if the rookie here can
move his big butt a little faster stowing these broken parts.”
“Have either of you tested the actuator yet?” Bates inquires.
“Yes Sir… I have, and it’s working just fine.”
“Great, we’ll see you two back in here shortly. Remember to keep a close eye on your oxygen levels.”
“Copy that Commander… my safety monitor… alias ‘rookie with a big
butt’ has been keeping me apprised of our O2 situation.”
“Oh! Ouch! You have wounded me Rex… I’ll have you know that Sahara happens to like my tush just as it is!”
“You two guys are a stitch; I’ll have a plate saved for each of you.”
“Copy that Sir.”
“I don’t know Rory, I’ve seen you from behind and I doubt she would find your ass very attractive wearing that space suit, your butt looks huge in it.”
“Well, you might have a good point, but she knows and loves what’s in
the wrapper… trust me.”
“You know what they say Rory… ugly gets better looking with a little
alcohol. Tell me, was Sahara drinking the night the two of you met?”
“Truthfully, as I recall, she was.”
“Well there ya go… but then she decided to keep you after the alcohol
wore off… go figure.”
“You’re too much… let’s start making our way back in before I starve
out here.”
“Copy that… I guess we’re done for now.”
“California roll, here I come,” Rory laughs.
Inside the space station Lieutenant Suzuki has prepared sushi for lunch;
a favorite among the crew. He has even made a small batch of extra tangy wasabi for Captain Scott. His California roll is legend and there
are never leftovers. Making this dish in zero gravity is no easy task, but
he knows it’s a real treat for the crew and they look forward to it. He
always loves bringing up the ‘fresh’ ingredients and making it on his
visits as well as hearing appreciative comments from the crew.
Climbing down the robotic arm’s framework, Rory suddenly stops and
blurts out, “Rex! Stop! I need you to listen to me… I need you to remain
completely still… do NOT move, not even a muscle.”
“What the hell are you talking about? We really have no time for practical jokes… we have to start back in; have you not checked the O2 levels to see we are at thirty-nine minutes?”
“Rex, this is not a joke… I mean it. I need you to remain absolutely still.”
“Come on, I thought we were done ribbing each other?”
Turning to look at Rory, he sees the alarm written on his face and at that
moment, feels his NASA training kick in. The job of the safety monitor
is to insure the safety of everyone performing a particular task… to keep
everyone alive. With the look of fear he saw in Rory’s eyes, he realizes
that this is not a joke but a moment of true concern.
With no further movement, he asks… “Okay, what is it?”
“Rex, turn your head ninety degrees and look to 10:00… but slowly. We
do not want to attract ANY attention where we are with any physical
movement.”
“Ninety degrees and look to 10:00.”
Rex slowly turns his head and looks up to a position of 10:00. “Oh my
God… what the hell is that thing?”
“I absolutely do not know… but I swear… it was NOT there seconds
ago. It literally appeared out of nowhere.”
“How can that be? Where did the damn thing come from? It never made
a sound.”
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