User talk:Britishfish

Moon keeper
Written By: Cody Leihgeber

If there are any gramatical errors I am sorry. Feel free to edit and fix them.

Table of Contents
Introduction Unknown Job Meltdown Chernobyl Flight to the Heavens Stranded Dealing among the stars Realizing Conclusion

Introduction
This Story Takes Place in the Union of Soviet Socialism Republics. The Main character is from Ukraine and was taken to a special training facility to work on a special space project to the moon. He and his fellow workers are almost exiled to the most northern part of Siberia when an explosion at the reactor 10 in a top secret facility occurs and they are blamed.

Unknown Job
The year is 1985 and I am almost done with my training at the national aeronautics academy in Russia. I am being trained to build and fly a space craft. I have a wife and kids that live in Ukraine in the city of Chernobyl. The city offers all the best for them and I don’t regret sending them there to live. My wife said as soon as I was sent away that I shouldn’t worry about them, that she and the children would be just fine. Even though she told me this as every day goes by I still worry that I might never see them again.

Today is May 18 1985 and I am finally graduating from the academy! The commencement hall was so packed with people, and still more was trying to get in! It was decked out in all the Soviet Unions Colors and even had an extensive snack area. Though the people and all the commotion. It all seized when a man that I had never seen before came up onto the stage and announce the session in order. He wore a Black suit jacket, red tie, and Wine red shoes. The man was also accompanied with another couple of men that were dressed in the same accord. I sat and wondered what this was all about? None of the staff seemed to be bothered by the presence of these people although the audience seemed to be dressed in there finest. Click! In my head I had figured out that these people where from the Kremlin palace. They were apart of the socialist government, and obviously “top dogs”.

With in minutes the whole program went underway. They started pledging to the flag of Soviet Socialism and then the Man said a speech, “Today we honor these fine students for there academic excellence! Most of them are going to be sent to Chernobyl to work on the nuclear power facility and others to do other odd jobs for the government. We would now like to recognize these people for there academic abilities…” I thought it was getting a bit old and now all I could do is to wait to be called. For 20 minutes he continued to call out names and then he said Sasha Pankratova! As I went up a large round of applause was heard and then I received five awards and then a beautiful diploma! The man then whispered something in my ear saying, “I have something special planned for you. Come to the entrance hall here at the academy and I will take you to your job.” I was scared and did not reply. After the ceremony was over, I than began making my way back to my dorm. Upon entering I started packing and getting ready for the trip to my new job. Though it was very unlike a government official to come and see you just to take you to your job.

That night was full of nightmares and dreams of death. Suddenly I was dreaming that my family would be in an accident in Chernobyl. On April 26 1986 a reactor would explode killing many people in the city and causing cancer in most of the surrounding cities. Though it was a very scary dream I was just going to ignore it and go on with the day ahead of me. When it was 7:00 am I went to the entrance hall were, like he said he would be, he was waiting for me. He told me to get into his car. He told me we were on our way to the city of Tomsk. There I would be working on a nuclear reactor. “For what” I asked. He said “I can’t say, though you will find out.” I did not say anything else the whole ride to the air port. I was being flown on a private jet. Just before I boarded he gave and ID card with all my information and my picture. He said that I was supposed to show it to them so I could enter the facility. Then without a word of goodbye he left. The door of the plane closed and all that he said started to become a reality.

The Pilot started the plane and it began to take off. Soon we were out of Moscow and into the country side. It was very warm in the plane. Then the Pilate shut all the windows and the plane started to go fast. It was a ten hour flight and then all of a sudden the plane started to land. All of a sudden the door opened and very polluted air started to pour into the plane from the outside. Towering buildings all gray and black because of the acid rain and polluted air. There were 10 building spread fare apart each labeled [Vosc reactors reactor 1] and so forth. Then in the first section of the complex lied a little building that I entered into and showed the man my card. They looked at me odd but I just went on. There was a man that said, “Are you Mister Sasha Pankratova” I replied saying “yes.” Then he took me to an elevator explaining all that I would be doing. After we exited the elevator he told me that if I did anything to jeopardize the mission that I would be exiled to an exile camp in the near the city of Ambarchik in Siberia. He then showed me who I would be working with. He opened a door to a narrow hall way that seemed to get smaller as you walled down it. Then he opened another door and the men on the other side of the door where really tall and all had beards except one. Serhiy was his name he was very friendly. He had just started working on this project like the rest of us and was a very educated. As the man was going down the list introducing us we became aware of each others personalities me and Serhiy had a very fun time exploring the facility. The good thing is that the man told me that Serhiy and I had to share a dorm together.

That night we partied and had fun. We ended up getting drunk! We were talking and sharing are life stories and laughing at each others failers in life. Then after a while we calmed down and then began telling stories of our past life. That instant I knew that Serhiy was from a poor family. His mother lived in the city of Tatarsk. He started to say that she was being killed by cancer and an awful truth came to pass. Serhiy and I began getting very close as friends sharing secrets and stories that I would not even tell my own mother. As I fell asleep me and him heard a plane pass over than an explosion! That instant we knew that the plane had been shot down, But why? We never answered that question. Until we figured that our jobs where unknown. No other people except the leader of the facility and our group knew of our jobs. Not even the leaders of the Soviet Union knew. We discovered we had Unknown jobs.

Meltdown
As the year progressed I was promoted to do test runs on the reactors. Soon after the first one was constructed I was the first to start it. With great force this reactor was one of the best in the world. It produced large amounts of energy and could not be beat. But as me and Serhiy looked at the control deck, there was no emergency shut down. I called one of the scientist over that worked on its design and he told us that it was safer to manually shut it down. So I took his word for it. As the day progressed the facility was powered by its first Nuclear Power Reactor! The only problem with this is that it let all its toxic waste into the Ob River. It was very unwise to do this because may lives could be at stake if someone drinks out of this river. Still I looked at the reactors profile and found that the rate at which it makes electricity is good but it makes more radiation than electricity! Right after I found this out I ordered that the reactor be shut down for some serious maintenance. It took almost 8 hours to shut it down and after that it still was hot. It took 10 days for all the radiation to be filtered out of it so people could install a better reactor core. I helped design this reactor core so I knew if it was working properly or not. It was in the middle of august 1985 when it was installed. The Leader of the Facility was very impressed and Serhiy and I was promoted to the head of design and testing of the Reactors!

The next Day was when we all were called to the Promotional Hall and we talked for 30 minutes or so and a man got up on the stage. He was the Leader of the Facility. He said that we are now in order for phase two. Unfortunately I was not informed about a phase2 I had always thought that this facility was only to build and test nuclear reactors. He said the next phase was to be announced by the head of your Branch. I thought to my self that me and Serhiy were the heads of our branch and that we were not informed of any such phase 2. After the speech was over a great cloud of doubt came upon me and I overheard one of the men say, “there was to be a craft to fly to the…” I didn’t catch the last sentence that he said but I knew somehow that something was not as it seemed. As I headed back to my workstation on my desk was a letter. Seeing it was from the leader of the Facility I ran down to Serhiy’s Office and showed it to him. Together we read it and it read,

DEAR MR. PANKRATOVA, PLEASE READ THIS LETTER CAREFULLY BECAUSE ONE MISTAKE AND YOU WILL BE EXCILED. TELL ALL THE WORKERS UNDER YOU THAT THEY NEED TO BEGIN MAKING A COMPACT NUCLEAR REACTER, AND THAT THEY ARE GOING TO BE WORKING WITH ANOTHER GROUP OF SCIENTIST TO DO THIS. YOU AND MISTER SERHIY WILL BE HEAD OF THE PROJECT LUNAR COSMONAUT 1. THIS PROJECT WILL LAND A HUMAN ON THE MOON FOR A MONTH. MORE INFORMATION WILL BE ON ITS WAY AFTER WE COMPLETE PHASE 2.

So I did what the letter had said. I told all the scientist that they were to make a compact Nuclear reactor and where going to be working with another group to complete the project. Serhiy and I were on our way to success. Then next couple of ours Phase 2 was in full swing. I was very worried that something was going to go wrong so kept close watch on the progress that was made. I was very surprised how much work was being accomplished, yet the fear of something going wrong was a very startling thing. I always new that though you give someone directions doesn’t always mean that they will follow them. Nevertheless the project kept going strong until one night someone under me tried to start reactor ten! Good thing it was in the middle of no where and had little to no uranium it exploded with massive balls of fire! There was nothing left of this reactor and critical power levels set phase two back a couple of days. Then almost instantly the Leader of the Base laid a note on my desk reading,

DEAR MR.PANKRATOVA, IF ONE MORE THING GOES WRONG YOU WILL BE EXILLED ALONG WITH SERHIY.

This lead to mass confusion. After the autumn leaves had all fell and the winter started to set in the reactor ten was rebuilt and full power was restored. Soon it was December and the Facility began showing signs of the holiday cheer! Christmas was almost here and all the people that worked in or on the facility was all called together on December 24 for the Christmas Eve party! Everyone except the administrators was there. The promotion hall was decorated in beautiful lights and holly everywhere. They even let you send letters to your family. So I was one of the 50 people in line to write a letter and when my time came to write a letter I wrote,

DEAR WIFE AND KIDS, MERRY CHRISTMAS! I HOPE THAT YOU HAVE A NICE CHRISTMAS. I MISS YOU A LOT AND CANNOT WAIT TO SEE YOU THIS COMING JUNE!

LOVE YOU SASHA PANKRATOVA

When you’re away from your family you understand that the holidays are the hardest of all. Good thing Serhiy was around or I don’t know what I would do! He cheers me up just by seeing his face! Though I couldn’t figure out why the Phase was taking so long to complete was my question? The “unknown job” that I supposedly have is tougher than I thought, with the winter coldness that I have to put up with going from one reactor another checking the control rooms for any problems. The only thing that could go wrong is for something else to go wrong but, I didn’t no if anything else would go wrong and if so what? My mind was full of doubts at the current time and the only way to clear my head was to take a shower. The only thing is the showers where community showers and I really hated to take showers other men. I thought it was wrong because I thought I should have my privacy! So I went down at 12:00 am and there was no one there and I was happy that I didn’t have to put up with anyone so I got my shower. But upon exiting there was a very scary sight. A man walked down the hallway with a large rash. I didn’t know what it could have been but I sure wasn’t going to find out. A few days latter it felt like my heart was having a melt down like a nuclear reactor, it was releasing toxic thoughts all through my body. I was lonely because serhiy began working longer hours and I was in the dorm all by myself and when he did come back he seemed to be exhausted and went strait to his bed. Every day he did this and I started getting angry! One night I asked him what he was working on and he said follow me.

Chernobyl
I went up and followed him down a hallway I had never seen before. After went through a very heavy door he showed me a space training facility. He said that I have also been chosen to Pilot. I was confused Pilot what? This was it the last straw, I was about to do something I had never thought of doing before. Then a man walked up to me and said, “Please follow me,” then he led me to an odd looking machine. It somehow spun tremendously fast and I wondered what it was used for. The man wasn’t that tall and he was very in shape. He told me to get into the machine, buckle the seat belt and plug all the heart monitors to you. So I did as he instructed without hesitation. Then the door to the machine closed and it started to spin and spin and spin! It was going at a record 110 kph and I was scared and it still went faster then all of a sudden it stopped. But as I got out I was very dizzy. As the night progressed I was put through odd test and quizzes. The next day I was permitted to stay in my dorm and sleep so I did. And then Serhiy came in and showed me my test results. Surprisingly I passed every single one! Though I had no idea what they where for.

The month was March 1986 and the reactors were still making electricity. Nothing had happened except phase 3 was starting and I was permitted to go to Chernobyl on June 3! I couldn’t wait to go back, but poor Serhiy, he would be by himself all alone. So I had to ask if Serhiy could go with me. The next day someone knocked on our door Serhiy proceeded to open it and then it was decided! The man said, “Serhiy is aloud to go with you to Chernobyl.” “YES!” I said. So we couldn’t wait to get away from the Facility but, the only thing is if spill any information then we are dead! We don’t want to be exiled because of the fact that being exiled is the worst thing that can happen to a soul. You are given a hut like thing in the middle of a mining village in Siberia and you have to mine or they will kill you!

The days seemed to grow longer. The date was April 25 1986. Serhiy and I seemed to be celebrating our recent promotion. March the 28 we were promoted to official Cosmonauts! This was an easy way to get money and really fun to. That night I didn’t know this but Serhiy as crazy as he is spiked the punch. And we both were really drunk because he emptied three bottles of Vodka into the punch. Nevertheless we were doing really thing we happened to almost bust a hole in the wall because we were seeing who was the strongest! We had never in our friendship had ever gotten into a fight or argument.

The next day I was in the middle of work and then the Television sets all came on. Everyone thought it was just a briefing but in fact it was much more than that. They started showing pictures of Chernobyl and then it exploded! As I kept watching they showed a map of the city and showed which parts were destroyed and then I saw and heard something I regret from hearing the rest of my life: The Apartment Complex of 12 STREET was destroyed in the blast! I felt my heart start to drop and then I started to cry. I thought of all the good times I had with my family and how they were so innocent and how they didn’t deserve to die. The burning and feeling of loose was all I could feel. I then proceeded to turn of the television. Then I Picked it up and threw it against the wall! At that very moment Serhiy walked in and said, “Why is the Television set broken thrown against the wall?” I said, “Chernobyl’s reactor number four just explode and my wife and children all just died.” He then came over and wrapped his arms around me hoping to comfort me but it didn’t work. This was the only time in my life that Serhiy could not comfort me! The next few days were pain full when I received a letter that stated that my family all perished in the accident. The office laid empty and the workers all taking a break because as you know working on designing things wasn’t easy. After there break it was back to the office for me and the way things were going was really surprising. The Compact reactor was finally finished and the space craft being finished! The Lunar cosmonaut 1 was to be better than what the Americans launched! The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics strived for perfection and to be better than anyone else. A soon as the engines were designed we could work on the actual vehicle. The boosters were being designed and no problems were occurring until a problem that no one thought would happened occurred! We thought that we could generate enough power to ignite and power the rockets while keeping electricity for all the components, but we can’t so we have to figure out how to put enough fuel to get to the moon. So after a couple days I said to myself if I do figure this out then I will be proud, but I know that I will not be promoted unless Serhiy gets promoted. The following days made me wonder if we could figure something out because the scientist were very unwilling to contribute there ideas and I was going to go crazy unless they would help so I prayed and then finally it was answered. The next day a man named Jonathan came to work for me. His family was immigrants from America and this lead me to believe that he couldn’t speak Russian. Then without a thought he spoke Russian saying, “Hello my name is Jonathan. It is a pleasure to meet you.” And he just walked on. Whe the other scientist told him what the problem was he started to think…then he found it, the solution to the problem! Maybe if we mounted the fuel tanks on the side of the craft we could save space. The idea seemed to work and he was a very good designer. I had to promote him to the head of design and so he was working my old job. He was keeping the operation going and we actually were ahead of all the rest of the Facility. The Leader of the Facility sent me a letter of Congratulations stating,

DEAR MR.PANKATOVA, SORRY ABOUT YOUR FAMILLY. ALSO I AM PROUD OF YOUR HARD WORK AND SO I AM GOING TO MAKE YOU HEAD OF THE WHOLE PROGRAM.

That night I went to see his secretary and told her to tell him that I would not accept the promotion. And then she paged his office stating that I did not except the promotion. As soon as she told him this he seemed startled and asked why. I said, “I want to work with Serhiy”

Flight to the heavens
“No you can not work with Serhiy” he said. So I decided to leave it at that though I had really wished that some how I could work with Serhiy but as I had been told I must not for some odd reason. The next couple of weeks I had gotten use to my new job. The job was to oversee the office Serhiy was working in. It was an easy job and if I wanted to go Serhiy I could! The only thing is that Serhiy couldn’t see me. The good thing is that I saw him every day at work and in our dorm. That wouldn’t last for long because I was promoted to a dorm with a shower, a kitchen, and living room with a bedroom. That was it! I was lonely! The next couple of months were hard because I had been so caught up in all this project, Plus I had to pilot the Lunar Cosmonaut 1 to the moon alone for 1 month. The “time to fly” seemed so far away, the scheduled date: July 22 1986, the time: 9:00 am. More and more training had to be done so I would be able to pilot this thing! As young as I am I should be able to pilot this thing, I am 31years old for crying out loud. I mean you would think that Serhiy would be able to pilot it he is only 25 years old. I didn’t want to pilot it because I was afraid that I would forget something and that I would kill myself. That was what I was so worried about. Then one day Serhiy had some papers he needed to give to me and he heard me say that I was worried about killing myself. He said, “Don’t worry you’ll be fine.” I just smiled.

After I had moved and Serhiy and I had no problem being spread apart. He and I noticed that something was going wrong. Every night in the hallway of his dorm was a strange smell! So we ignored it because some people would think that it would be weird to report a strange smell. So as the days went on and the days were fewer to launch I grew worried. Some of the staff said don’t worry, but that’s hard not to do. One day about a week before I had to pilot the craft to space, Serhiy had a rash on him! I thought to myself that maybe it was a small skin rash, but then! In my brain I remembered that man with the rash walking down the hall. His death was in the news letter that the facility handed out! It read,

MAN DIES OF CANCER MAN THAT WORKED ON ONE OF THE REACTORS GET A CANCER AND DIES.

I thought that this could be the same cancer that killed that man! “Serhiy, Serhiy that rash is cancer” I said. “No it’s not, your crazy” he said. “Please go to the nurse that works here and have it checked” I said. He agreed and so we went to the nurse and she sat him on the examining table. “Sir you have a form of cancer caused by exposure to radiation from the nuclear Reactors” the nurse said. “Oh my god! What the heck is happening to me! I’m going to die!” Serhiy said. I started to mourn and said to the nurse, “Is there anything we can do?” “No she said. We could help him if we sent him to Moscow, but he’s not allowed out of the facility.” Serhiy and I went to the dorm where I stayed and I said, “Do you think it was the smell?” “What smell” he said. “The smells that we keep smelling in the hallway were your dorm is” I said in anxiety. “Maybe” he mumbled. “You know you can’t just sit around here and not do anything. You just can’t give up. Were is the Serhiy I used to know?” I said. Then he got up slammed the door shut and left. I knew he was depressed but I couldn’t do any thing to help him. He was tired and so I decided he should go to bed. I did the same thing too.

Believe it or not the day of the launch was tomorrow! I looked all the papers over and over until I couldn’t see! I found out that Serhiy was working on the ground team that launched the space craft into space. I was told to tell everyone that I needed to goodbye that day. So I stopped to tell Serhiy goodbye. He was setting in his office with his head lying on the desk. I said, “Bye Serhiy” he responded in a sad voice, “You know I probably will die by the time you get back, you have been a brother to me and even when we met I knew there was a connection. I wish you didn’t have to leave me. If I’m dead please come and see me in the grave.” “I will” I said. I left and he just started to cry, then I closed the door to his office. That was the last time I would see him. So I returned to my dorm and got a good sleep. Then as I awoke it was 6:00 am and the papers said to be in the office at 7:00 am. As I ate my breakfast I thought of how scary the flight would be. As I took a shower the water was so cold and I thought of the cold loneliness of my family being dead. As I walked down the long narrow hallway that seemed to never end. I had remembered how I walked down the hallway for the first time. Oh and how I remembered how Serhiy and I had first met. How we partied and got drunk. Thus leading to the room were I put the space suit on. I put the suit on layer by layer, and as I thought of what Serhiy said. I then went to the launch control room and found Serhiy’s computer module and wrote,

Dear Serhiy, I love you like a brother never change, Hang in there and beat the cancer so I can see you when I get back. Love, Sasha Pankratova

As I wrote this my hands trembled and I started to cry. It was 8:30 when Serhiy found this note by then I was already in the space craft. As the minutes ticked away I found myself in a state of depression. All that I knew and loved was a light year away from me! It was 8:55 when the launch sequence began and in a matter of 5 minutes I was in space. I knew that there was no turning back because I was in flight to the Heavens!

Stranded
As I soared through the sky I felt the G forces on my stomach. The sensations of being punched in the stomach, which lead me to remember the time in school, were a kid happened to punch him in the stomach. This left him to remember his friends. Along with the hours that passed came memories and memories, some meaningful and some meaningless. Then looking at the panel above read, [MOON KEEPER-LUNAR COSMONAUT 1] it was what I had created, a monster. I created a monster that separated me from the world. If I hadn’t got this job maybe I wouldn’t have lost my family to Chernobyl, and maybe Serhiy wouldn’t have this cancer and… Maybe I wouldn’t be remembering all this stuff in my head! Lost among memories I was falling asleep just to find myself exiting the earth’s atmosphere. I was told that I may go to sleep. As the days went on I was nearing the moon until I was there.

I was skimming the moons surface preparing to land when a frequency came in that I needed to land in the sea of clouds which is 50 km ahead of you. As I proceeded to land there I knew that I would be spending a month there and that I would not be able to go back. The option of going back was something I usually had but not now, no, I couldn’t go back ever. As I landed I felt the boosters start and I started to plummet to the ground. Since I was on the ground I stared at the earth and that how I would be spending an eternity up here. The darkness all around me the absence of other humans was hard for me. It was hard enough not knowing anybody in a room let alone having no one in a room. Though I felt like god in a way because I looked at the humans from space, but god isn’t alone he has angels to keep him company. As I prayed to god I prayed for Serhiy and his cancer and myself being all alone. The cold lonely space was very scary also the fact that I might get stuck up here to rot. Though I knew that man always relied on his creations but this was one situation that Moon Keeper was causing me to be independent, like the cave men I thought that I had to recreate fire up here to survive! I then received a transmission to stay put, and not to go out into space. Though as I thought that I was going to be ok Moon keeper didn’t seem to shelter me anymore, instead it seemed to try to strangle me and send me adrift in space among the stars fending for myself. Without resources to use to my advantage. It was my enemy the Metal Cold hearted Moon Keeper. As I fell asleep I thought of how it would be such an experience up here after all if I die, I die! After the first couple of days I felt sick. I radioed back to the facility and asked if there was any pain killer on board. They responded saying, “Yes, in the sleeping quarters underneath the cabinet in the closet.” So I went and retrieved the medicine and started to suit up to walk on the moon! I had no partners no company to make sure I do everything right, so I went and put the Soviets flag in a crater where I think I saw a piece of a space probe! So I dug through the lunar dirt until, at last! This was the space probe Lunas probe 1! It was launched in 1969 in part of the race to space. It didn’t succeed because it crashed into the moon and never gave anymore readouts. It all made since to receive its computer memory core, so maybe it could give us some info on how it crashed. After the first half of the month I had done so many sample collections and test on the environment that I was crazy!

Then all at once I lost contact with the Facility and I couldn’t gain contact for the next couple of days! I began to worry and worry because for a whole week I had no contact! When I did gain contact I received notice of a very startling subject! Serhiy died of cancer two days before I regained contact on June 21 1986! I was so mad now to the earth no more friends, no family, and no help my soul stranded on this body of rock and the world just inside my grasp, everything cold hearted. The earth where I seaked comfort I only had a cold hearted piece of turf.

As it grew closer and closer to go back to earth I thought that it would be nice to put a piece of me on the moon’s surface. So I took one of my favorite shirt which was green with yellow stripes and cut a piece of it and laid it by the Soviet flag and then I prepared for the days ahead. It took great knowledge and time to make sure that the Nuclear power reactor was in check. Then I had to make sure all the computer systems were online and working. The communication outlet was getting jammed frequently and the on board flight computer started to act a little funny. Then many people on the ground team started to notice that a weird deterioration of the outer tiles and the probe was starting to sink into the lunar surface! The ground team said that no one had thought that this would happen to the space craft and that the only way to fix it would be to send a space probe with a emergency repair kit to my current location. I knew that it would take to much money and to long to do it because by the time it was done and up here I would run out of oxygen and food! So it seemed that I was stranded.

Dealing among the Stars
As if my life was just like a game of cards, every time I lost it seemed some one would die! It was a game I would lose for death was about to come upon me. For the next day I checked the fuel, the gages read,

Bottom Left rocket-50%-Good Bottom Right rocket-45%-Fair Top Left rocket-12%-Critical Top Right rocket-45%-Fair Center Buster rocket-0%-Warning! No fuel left for reentry

I radioed back to the Facility and told them what the gages said. They responded and said I was most likely not going to make it home. And that if I wanted to try to make it home I could. The consequences were that if I didn’t make it home I would most likely orbit earth for four years and run out of food and oxygen or burn up in the earth’s atmosphere! Though I knew I wouldn’t make it I told them that tomorrow I would try to launch back to earth! They sent the onboard flight computer the way to launch and the monitor read,

Launch using all the rockets then use little to none upon entering orbit. Then use the rockets to propel into a definite entry point until you have gained enough speed. Then try to make the flotation devices inflate and someone should pick you up. Enter the atmosphere above Australia and then hit the Bering Sea.

That night I said the longest prayer I think I have ever said. I asked god to help me get to heaven when I die and that I want you to do what was in your will. I didn’t sleep easy that night, I tossed and I turned and had night mares about dieing! I then realized that Serhiy and I had a bond. We both died serving the Soviet Union and we also had both had no family left so did I have anything to look forward to on earth? Was this just another nightmare? Was there any hope for me? And if I survived what would be my next job.

The next day I had to launch the Space craft. I got ready said a prayer, and sat in the pilots seat. I radioed the facility and told them that I will be going back to earth and that I was going to start in about 10 minutes. I then started up all the computer systems and then went to launch mode. As soon as I switched the fuel on button and then hit the ignite booster I began to raise slowly off the moon and Moon Keeper held our course steady. As we exited the moons gravitational field the Earth seemed to suck us in! I then hit the full of button and we started to orbit! After three days of orbiting the monitor finally Okayed me to start a course into the atmosphere. I hit the fuel on and ignite and we started to plummet toward earth! It was a very startling feeling having made it this far, just after we entered though tiles started to fly of the vehicle. The sensors started displaying messages like this, On board Flight Computer The tiles on the side of the Vehicle are deteriorating and that the Vehicle is heating up and at any second may explode! When all sensors say Warning excessive heat please hit the abort button on the manual fly control panel.

As soon as it said this we were in the troposphere and I was heading right into the Bering Sea! “Yes!” I cried! After the Flotation devices deployed I realized there waiting for me was the rescue team and as soon as I got out of the Moon Keeper I noticed the name Moon Keeper had been melted off of it. As soon as I returned to the Facility I was greeted with positive replies and then received my pay for the Deadly assignment! I then went to Serhiy’s dorm to see if any thing was left there that he had wanted me to have. Strangely nothing was missing and strangely the door wasn’t locked. I then went to his office and wondered if the was a note for me but there wasn’t and there were still papers on his desk! I went down to my dorm and took a shower and there on my dresser laid a note saying,

I am writing you this letter because I don’t think I will make it much longer. Serhiy

I knew he was dead but how could you not pity him. I mean he never even got to tell me bye and I couldn’t even see him in his final hours.

Realizing
That night I fell into a deep sleep and when I woke up I heard a knocking on my door. “Who is it” I said? I then proceeded to open the door and there standing outside my door was…Serhiy! “I thought you were dead?” I said. “No why would you think that.” He said. “We’ll, they contacted me and told me that you were dead.” I said. “Oh, that was somebody else, on the list of people working the ground team that Serhiy was somebody else. Oh, and the rash on my back isn’t cancer!” he said. After we finished our conversation I discovered do to funding problems that the facility was closing down in two days! So I packed my clothes and then Serhiy asked me if I wanted to live with him and his mother in Tartask and we can take care of her! I said why not and then after the next two days we moved there. His mother had a small apartment and was very sick! We always tried to help her but after 10 years she gave up the Ghost. The news paper in the town read,

Locale Woman Dies of Cancer! Miss Maxine Yakovel died on June 4, 1987. She had been diagnosed with mild cancer in her kidney and did not receive medical attention. She lived for two years with cancer and has lived a long and painful 2 years.

At here funeral the following week Serhiy Gave a speech like no other about his mother and it touched the heart of many people at the funeral. Serhiy and I lived at the apartment for 45 years until I was diagnose with Skin cancer! I lived for 1 year with the cancer. After I died Serhiy experienced very serious depression. Three years after I died he died when he had a stroke and then a massive heart attack just 1 hour apart. After all this time of joy and sadness I realized that though it may be raining the sun is always shining (Though sadness may be upon you god is always there to help you!)!

Conclusion
I wrote this fiction story because I wanted to show how these two friends relied on each other and that there is always help somewhere. Moon Keeper is a story that really touched my heart and I hope you enjoy it like I did!

Cody A Leihgeber