The Space Stowaway

Henry stirred, he stretched, his mouth felt so dry with the whisky he had been drinking. He could not remember at first where he was, then he remembered he had come to fix the problem on the space capsule. Life had not been good. His girlfriend dumping him last night. He fixed the problem without difficulty. Then a wee nip had been called for to drown his sorrows. Only the wee nip became a big nip, then a larger one, and the bottle finished. 

The pilot’s seat was so comfortable Henry had closed his eyes for a few minutes and nodded off to a whisky induced deep sleep. Henry stretched his arms and legs out and opened his eyes slowly. He let go of whatever was in his hand. He felt groggy, and his mouth felt like sandpaper. What came into focus first was an empty whisky bottle floating past his face with no cap. 

Floating, why is the whisky bottle floating? I know there is no gravity. I must be in space. Space? Why am I in space? Henry became awake in an instant, rubbed his eyes and looked around the capsule. Henry looked around the capsule. Everything looked okay. Apart from all the gauges and dials that were usually at zero on the ground, all had readings. 

What have I done? Thought Henry. He turned his head and looked out of one of the three windows. He could see the earth. But instead of the launch pad, he could see all of India. He looked the other way and he could see just blackness and bright, gleaming stars. With no atmosphere, there was no distortion to the stars. They all looked beautiful. 

This is not getting me back to earth, thought Henry. I need to go home. Henry looked around carefully. Everything was in place, so it did not float around with no gravity. I need the radio. Henry undid his seat harness and found himself floating around the cabin. It took a bit of getting used to no gravity, and gradually he managed to move around the small capsule. He was very careful not to catch any switches as he floated past. He got himself next to the radio. Henry thought, am I glad I know my way around the capsule or I would be in so much trouble. He got to the radio controls, strapped himself into the chair next to it. Then turned it on. Patiently, he waited for a minute for it to warm up. He selected each frequency range. He started saying ‘mayday mayday can you hear me?’ As he switched to each frequency range, the volume of his message increased until, at the final frequency range, he was shouting. He punched the armrest of the chair in frustration, not able to talk to anyone on the ground. Henry stopped for a moment and thought. Then said to himself, calm down. You will not get down if you panic and you will do something wrong. 

Henry eased himself off of the seat, trying not to float across the capsule. He checked the oxygen gauge to the left of the pilot’s seat. The oxygen gauge showed it was one quarter full, meaning he had three days of oxygen left. He did not know what mission the capsule was on or when it would re-enter the atmosphere. 

The next thing on Henry’s mind was water and food. Still, he felt parched from his adventure with the whisky bottle. He was aware of the rations stored in the storage area for the two space suits. He opened the compartment. There were some packets of food and bags with straws containing water. Since he did not know how long he would be in orbit, Henry took out one container of water and drank some of the water before re-sealing it and putting it back. The water revived his senses and eased the dryness of his throat. He shook his head to clear away the cobwebs. Now he said to himself, how do I get out of here and back to earth.? Henry could not remember the plan for this mission, apart from being unmanned. He looked around the capsule. 

Henry floated over to the pilot’s chair and strapped himself in. Shut his eyes and thought. How do I get out of here? But instead of an idea coming into his head, his first thought was, I am hungry. Knowing that food often cured his hangovers, he floated over to have some food. He grabbed some macaroni and cheese, rehydrated it, and heated it in the microwave. Then strapped himself back into the pilot’s chair to enjoy the food. Very glad that he had gone to the training in how-to live-in space. 

Am I going to die in space? I always wanted to die in my bed on earth. Henry became quiet and wondered if he would ever get back to earth. Stop it, he shouted to himself, get out of this terrible mood. I know if I turn on the mission system, I can look at the planned flight and maybe I can find out when I am going home. He leaned forward out of the pilot’s seat and turned on the mission system. All the screens came to life in the cockpit. He could see the orbit around the earth, flicking through other screens he found the information on the state of the capsule. Everything looked fine, no red warning lights. Now to find the flight plan. The flight plan appeared on the screen. It looked like he had another three days in orbit, then re-entry. 

Seventy-two hours of this, then back to earth. I am going to have a drink of water and another macaroni cheese to celebrate. The food supplies will run out in a short while, but there seems to be plenty of water. I needed to lose some weight anyway, and it will keep me off of the drink for a while. Henry drank some water and had the macaroni cheese. Then shut his eyes, letting sleep come to him. He knew he was going home and he could relax now. Sleep gradually overcame him.

Henry became aware of a voice in the background. ‘Hello, is anyone there? Hello is anyone there?’

He sat up and looked about. It was the radio. Henry picked up the handset and put it on. ‘I am here. Who are you?’ 

‘This is ground control. Who are we talking to?’

‘This is Norman Stone. I am in orbit and I want to come home.’

‘How did you get onto the spacecraft?’

‘I fell asleep and ended up in orbit. How did you know I was here?’

‘You slept through a launch, wow, but why were you onboard?’

‘I was changing the altimeter before the launch.’

‘We monitor the mission system; we were quite surprised when it powered up.’

‘I am glad I did or I would have been here for a while.’

‘I am going to break contact for an hour. We are going to re-schedule the re-entry to get you back home.’

‘Okay, thank you.’

Norman felt thrilled now he was going home. He sat and looked around the capsule. He would never complain about his small house ever again. 

The hour passed, and the radio came back to life. 

‘Calling Norman. Are you there?’

‘Norman here, over.’

‘We have re-calculated the trajectory. You will do one more orbit, which will take ninety minutes, and then we shall start re-entry. Please strap yourself into the pilot’s seat. Do not move until the recovery crew enters the capsule. You will splashdown in the Atlantic, where a boat will pick you up. Have you got any questions, please?’

‘No, that sounds fine, thank you. I look forward to getting back to gravity again, over.’

Over and out. See you back on Terra Ferma in about two hours.’

Norman looked around the capsule. In order to avoid being fired for drinking, Norman needed to get rid of the whisky bottle. He caught the whisky bottle and the lid, and hid them at the bottom of the garbage container. Took his seat back in the pilot’s seat and watched the earth from orbit for the last time. He watched the commands being entered on the mission system and felt the engines fire briefly to change course to start re-entry. Norman felt the capsule entering the atmosphere, then it plunged into the atmosphere. There was a terrific buffeting and then blue sky appeared. The capsule deaccelerated violently as the parachutes opened and the capsule floated down to the Atlantic Ocean. 

The capsule landed in the Atlantic Ocean. The parachutes deflated and fell into the sea. Norman sat patiently waiting to be rescued, feeling the capsule moving with the swell of the water. Suddenly, the handles on the capsule moved. The door opened and a blonde lady looked in. ‘Welcome back to earth Norman.’

‘Norman looked at her, smiled and said, ‘Will you marry me?’ 

Norman and Matilda married three months later. Norman never drank again.