Orbit 29 — a sci fi adventure

Orbit 29: Departure

By the time they had finished the first sweep of the lunar surface, all Mikhail could think about was getting home.

Back to his wife, his children, the dacha by the lake where the birch trees swayed in the wind like dancers.

But as he floated weightlessly in the cramped confines of the Soyuz, the glow of the Earth growing larger in the viewport, he knew something was wrong.

“It’s not right, Sergei,” he said, his voice tight, the words clipped. “Check again.”

Sergei, strapped in next to him, turned from the navigation console. His face, normally placid, had a pinched look.

“I checked. Three times.”

He ran a hand over the grizzled stubble on his chin.

“The trajectory is wrong. We’re off course.”

Mikhail swallowed. His mouth felt dry, as if all the moisture had been sucked out by the vacuum beyond the thin hull. “How wrong?”

Sergei hesitated. “We’re not heading for Earth.”

“What?” The word escaped like a gasp. Mikhail’s mind reeled. “But… that’s impossible. We did everything by the book. The burn, the angles, everything!”