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She’s on the moon and absolutely everything about this is ridiculous. She definitely didn’t want to go. Putting on a spacesuit in low G should most certainly not be on the list of things the Director of JSC has to do. She is a bureaucrat for heaven’s sake, not a bloody astronaut.
Molly laughed at her when she informed her to reserve a spot for none other than Margo Madison herself on the next shuttle. Some comment about moon dust in certain body areas was provided immediately.
Honestly, Margo couldn’t even be annoyed with Molly. She thought that it was a joke herself when the president informed her of the honor to represent him during the celebrations of the five-year anniversary of the Lunar Peace Treaty. They could have done this back on earth but of course, presidents liked their symbolism.
Margo would have gladly stepped aside for Ellen to do this, but the girl who caught the tank was busy campaigning to become the next president. Margo couldn’t wait for the new symbolic gestures she would have to deal with.
If presented with the choice, she would have sent Aleida. The young engineer seems much more excited about the prospect of setting foot on earth’s closest neighbor. However, an invitation to the Oval Office paired with the president specifically asking you to shake hands with a Soviet representative on the moon, well, let’s say, one doesn’t exactly respond with Lovely offer thanks. How about we send our most senior engineer instead?
So this is how she, Margo Madison, at age 48 suddenly had to fit medical tests (you would think high blood pressure would have warranted an immediate rejection) and basic astronaut training into her hectic schedule. Obviously, Emma had been incredibly accommodating in making it work.
Accompanied by an annoyed sigh, Margo lifts the helmet over her head and clicks the locking mechanism shut. She sends a quick thumbs up to an equally suited-up Nick Corrado and the astronaut starts the depressurization.
On the other side of the moon base, Corrado leads the way to the rover. It’s his fifth time on the moon and he is much more efficient than Margo at getting to the vehicle. She on the other hand feels like a hot air balloon pulled down by heavy weights.
Back on earth, Margo had always appreciated their rover design: long-range, exceptional performance on rugged terrain, and low maintenance. Unlike Soviet vehicles, which have a sort of typical Soviet brutalism to them, NASA’s rovers are a testament to the agency's engineering abilities. However, these superiorities seem irrelevant to her now because there’s simply no graceful way to get into a moon rover if wearing a bulky spacesuit.
In an attempt to assist, Corrado reaches out to her. A fruitless effort as Margo swats his offering hand out of the way. The entire situation is annoying enough as it is. She will try her best, in order to not become just another funny moon story circling the halls of JSC.
* * * * *
Corrado neatly parks them right next to the Soviet rover. If getting into the rover was awkward, having people watch you get out of one should be a violation of human rights. Corrado had clearly learned his lesson because he doesn’t even offer to help this time. The satisfaction about it is short-lived though as she can already see one of the cosmonauts rushing towards her to assist. Who said that chivalry was dead on the moon? In an attempt to not become the talk of Roscosmos, she hauls herself up in what must be the most ungraceful way possible — but she does it herself.
After steadying herself she recognizes the approaching cosmonaut as Sergei.
“Margo, isn’t this just the most exciting place for a reunion?” his voice chimes over the radio. He is grinning. Of course, he’s enjoying a stint on the moon. She would have bet her right hand that he would.
“Sergei,” she replies warmly and after giving his words some thought she adds, “I must confess I prefer managing space explorations from my office in Houston.”
He chuckles at that, “Suits and rover need some getting used to, but the view…”
He’s not looking at Earth.
Her entire life Margo has done nothing but reach for the stars and here she is, standing on the moon and all she can think about is how hot she’s getting in this spacesuit. Perhaps she should have a team reevaluate the Liquid Cooling and Ventilation Garment.
She’s glad when Nick Corrado pulls her out of her thoughts, informing her that the camera equipment is set up.
Time to shake some hands.
* * * * *
They finished the photo-op and are on their way back to Jamestown base with Sergei and his Astro-chaperone trailing behind them because apparently, one publicity stunt on the moon isn’t enough for Washington and Moscow. So now, the Soviet delegation is to be invited back onto US soil on the moon. There, Margo and Sergei are to sign a pact for joint development of the South Pole–Aitken basin for Helium-3 mining. She recognizes a pattern here. The political way to celebrate one treaty seems to be to sign another. Bureaucracy at its best.
Back at the base, Margo prides herself on disembarking the rover with more finesse than on-site. Did she just catch a wink from Sergei there? She scrunches her nose in annoyance. At least one of them is enjoying themselves.
Before she realizes what’s happening, Corrado ushers the two of them into the pressure chamber. The door is sealed and Margo and Sergei are left alone bathed in the red warning light of the chamber.
“Reminds me of London,” Sergei says with a side glance toward her and her cheeks redden instantly. Last year’s IAC had been uncharted territory. Although she hates to admit it, the fact that his wedding band had been missing had caught her attention, and to be perfectly honest with herself, it had felt like he had almost flaunted it in her face.
Therefore finding herself in another crammed space with him is — to say the least — awkward. Especially now that she’ll have to take off a spacesuit in front of him.
The lights in the chamber turn green, accompanied by an all-clear sound and they quickly remove their respective helmets. As he pulls off his Snoopy cap, his hair is all tousled and some irrational part of her wants to run her fingers through it and smooth it out. It’s not useful at all.
She knows they will have to assist each other to take off their suits. It’s part of the job. Still, it feels oddly intimate when he twists the glove and arm segments counterclockwise to separate them from the upper torso of her suit.
She can't bring herself to meet his gaze but senses his intense stare fixed upon her. Focusing on the task at hand she returns the favor by unlocking his arm segments. They are so close, she can feel his warm breath on her skin. She can’t remember a time when they were this close before. Maybe that time when he made her climb into the docking module. The proximity is unfamiliar but also oddly calming. She dares a look at his face and oh… He’s affected by this just as much as she is. Her entire body tingles.
They are alone in a pressure chamber on the moon and wearing spacesuits. They couldn't be further from their roles as directors of rival space agencies of opposing political systems. Her breath catches as she watches him lift his hand to caress her cheek. His eyes briefly flicker to her lips and her heart stutters in her chest. She finds herself on the brink of doing something extremely unprofessional when he suddenly pulls his hand away and takes two steps back.
His eyes drop to the floor and he audibly clears his throat. The hand that had traced her cheekbone a minute ago now reaches out to open the mechanism connecting the upper and lower segment of his suit.
Whatever fleeting moment they had just shared, had passed. Relieved but also slightly disheartened, Margo follows his lead undressing from her suit.
They both awkwardly waddle to the wall of the chamber to hang the upper torsos of their suits and as she steps out of the lower section of her suit, he politely faces away from her.
It's truly regrettable that their brief moment has come and gone, because she can’t help but notice his toned physique as he removes his cooling garment. He has clearly worked hard during cosmonaut training.
Regaining her composure, she finishes by stepping into the blue overall and pulling the zipper up. When he finally looks at her again, for a brief moment a shy smile paints his lips before he pulls open the door to the inside of the base.
And just like their elevator rides in London, they are back to being Dr. Nikulov and Miss Madison.
* * * * *
Someone baked a cake. On the moon. Complete with a small chocolate Helium-3 symbol adorning the top. With the official part of signing documents dealt with, the atmosphere at Jamestown base became festive quite quickly in celebration of the first Soviet visit since the attack. Margo considers the absence of guns likely contributing to the relaxed atmosphere.
Torres, a young astronaut, even walked up to Sergei and declared him the new Linus of Jamestown. Naturally, Sergei accepted it proudly and promptly pinned it to his jumpsuit. The only grim face in the room might have been Sergei’s shadow.
Now she watches Nick Corrado and Sergei whisper conspiratorially by the cake stand. Upon her arrival, nobody had been brave enough to pass on the Linus to her and by the looks of it, this information is just now passed on to Sergei.
She will be back in Houston tomorrow and while she's glad to leave this astronaut business to the actual astronauts, even she can't help but acknowledge the benefits of this trip.
As she slips her hand into her pocket, her fingers brush against the smooth edges of the small pebble, Sergei had ceremoniously brought her from the doorstep of Zvezda.
The stone is heart-shaped. It could be a coincidence.