“How did a Russian get on here?!” yelled Noah. 

“How would I know?” replied Griffin. “Command just told us to make a quick supply run to base Alpha2031!” 

“Nooo….” 

2 months earlier

As Griffin and Noah finished their 50th and final space flight as a duo. Family and friends of both gathered at their landing area to congratulate them on the milestone. Both enjoyed their time together with one another. They were so close they considered each other brothers. They both kicked back and watched the radiant sun glare overhead as the doctors did their health exams. They have been Astronauts for almost 20 years now. Their age was certainly starting to show. Griffin turned to look at Noah. His white sliced hair made him look confident no matter what he was doing. Griffin groomed his curly brown hair and stretched his arms after being subjected to sitting in the shuttle chair for 40 hours.  The doctors gave them the all-clear so they picked up their bags and walked away in perfect sync. On their way out of the main launch area of Kennedy Space Center, they saluted the flag one last time before they boarded the bus home. 

The second Griffin got home he went straight to the bathroom in the master bedroom. For a government worker, he had the bathroom of a king. Marble countertops, diamond-cut tiles, and beautiful chandeliers that seemed to make his bathroom look like a dance hall.  He filled the large tub with crystal clear water, he then dropped in his favorite orange and purple bath bomb Just as he was about to enter the refreshing bath his wife hollered, “Did you have fun up there?”
“Yup!” he yelled back.  

A few weeks later and a few pounds heavier he was called by a SpaceX representative.

“All available units are dispatched around the solar system, you are one of the only people that can get these oxygen supplies to Mars.” the SpaceX representative said. 

“No, I am already retired,” responded Griffin as he was getting up to leave.

“You're the only hope that the 300 people on Mars base Alpha2031 have.”

 “I’ll go but only if my partner Noah does too.”

Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, a Russian general was speaking to his men.

“For your first assignment of the Russian Space Force, you will need to delay an American rocket from making a supply delivery.” the Russian general said with a deep Russian accent. “We need to slow them down no matter what so we can at least get some of Mars before China and America take it all. Gregori, I want you on that ship...”

 Griffin and Noah were told that the shuttle would only take a few hours. The base they had to make the delivery to was extremely high-tech, complete with a dozen motorized landing pads that look straight out of Star Wars. 

Before Griffin knew it the Shuttle had taken off and was en-route to Mars. He looked outside the tempered glass window, a sudden realization hit him. By international law, an Astronaut is only allowed to go on 50 space flights due to health concerns. That means he and Noah have just broken a world record. Wow! That’s amazing, he thought. The shuttle slowly stabilized allowing Griffin to put his feet up on the dashboard. He turned on his music and watched the stars blur by.  Suddenly a loud clang rang out from in the cargo bay. 

“Huh, that’s odd, they told us that it was just going to be oxygen,” Griffin remarked. “You stay here, I’ll go take a look.”

He opened the airlock to see a white male in his early twenties staring at him. He must have been hiding in the closet, Griffin thought, then immediately pressed the silent alarm to notify ground control. Griffin grabbed his manacles and went over to detain the man. 

“Put your hands on your head and get on your knees!” 

He got an uppercut and a whole lot of Russian swears in return. Griffin quickly regained his composure and struck back. A fistfight quickly ensued with each dealing heavy blows to the other. Every fist felt like a truck ramming him. Noah knew that something was wrong so he put the shuttle on autopilot and went back to check. As he entered the cargo bay he saw the two men fighting for their lives. Griffin backed up a bit to regroup. The Russian pulled out a knife and was swinging it madly. The pair tried desperately to disarm him.

“How did a Russian get on here?!” Yelled Noah. 

“How would I know?” Replied Griffin. “Command just told us to make a quick supply run to base Alpha2031!” 

“Nooo….” 

The Russian made a quick attempt to stab an oxygen tank, not knowing what would happen if he did. Griffin and Noah knew the consequences of him doing so. The shuttle would blow up instantly killing everyone on board. Griffin tried to calm the furious man down to no avail. If they were to survive and bring the oxygen tanks to Mars, they had to do something quickly. Griffin still had 6G coverage so he pulled out his phone and pulled out google translate. 

He typed in, “If you hit, we'll all explode.” His phone played It back in Russian. That seemed to chill the Russian down a little bit. He was more cautious near the tanks. 

“I don't want to be here anymore.” The Russian typed. 

“I understand that, after we make this delivery we’ll let you go.” 

The Russian nodded in agreement. They all went up to the cockpit and sat down. 

Warning! Warning! The oxygen levels on this spacecraft are dangerously low. Please replace one or all oxygen tanks immediately. 

Griffin knew what this meant. He took one last deep breath and dashed to the cargo chamber. Someone must have hit the oxygen tanks loose during the fight. He reached the supply bay just as the oxygen cut off. Sure enough, the oxygen tank was unloosened and in order to keep cabin pressure, the ship automatically depressurized. Thankfully they were carrying oxygen tanks so Griffin grabbed one from the crate and tightened it just in time. Everything turned black and Griffin saw stars. He woke up just before the ship landed. Greg and Noah both were still knocked out, thankfully the ship was on autopilot and the men arrived safely. 

The elevator of the landing area lowered them and closed the airlock above them.  Griffin and Greg were both rushed to the medic area where they had their wounds taken care of. After a little bit of negotiation, the Russian was to be sent back to Russia. 

Griffin knew that if he didn’t do anything, Greg would be sent back and he was to be executed for failing his mission. He knew that it didn’t do anything, a somewhat innocent man was going to die. After hours of phone calls and emails, he was able to get Greg American citizenship and for him to stay in America to work as a part of NASA. Little did he know that this is what the Russian general wanted in the first place. He had NASA right where he wanted them. 

To be continued.