The Mammoth Book of Space Exploration and Disasters

“How are you?” the American shouted through his mask. “Are you okay?”

Linenger was the crew’s only doctor. It was his unofficial duty to check on Korzun’s health, but the commander was unable to focus on what he was saying. He was too busy directing the stream of water.

“Yes, Jerry, I am fine!” he shouted back over his shoulder. “Stay there in base block!”

After a few moments, Korzun added some additional comments, ordering Linenger to keep a close eye on the crew. Smoke inhalation was a real danger.

It was at about this point, Korzun remembered, that the size of the white shining beneath him appeared to be shrinking. He kept the water on it, but inch by inch the flame appeared to be dying out. Korzun didn’t remember making anything like an expression of victory or relief. His pulse was still racing, and he was breathing heavily inside his mask.

“Jerry!” Korzun hollered.

Linenger floated up to a position directly behind Korzun. “I need you to prepare help in case anyone is injured,” the commander said. “Check all the American FA [first aid] boxes, see what they have in them and what can be used. Check all the Russian FA boxes, as well. See what’s in those.”

Linenger immediately sprang across the length of base block to the node, then turned and shimmied into Kvant 2, where the medical supplies were stored.

A moment later the shining beneath the commander seemed to disappear. Korzun took a deep breath but kept the stream of water pointed downward.

“It’s over,” Korzun told Kaleri. “I think it’s over.”

The smoke was slowly dissipating in base block as all six crew members, still wearing their oxygen masks, gathered for the next comm pass. The damage appeared to be limited to the SFOG itself, which was destroyed, and the nearby wall panels, which were badly scorched. The hull was intact. Still, Korzun was unsure what to do. He needed guidance from the ground on whether it was safe to remain on board; no one was sure what gases had been released into the station’s atmosphere. Both Soyuz escape craft stood ready for immediate evacuation. They were flying across North America now, moving into range of the radar station NASA operated at Wallops Island, Virginia. The quality of transmission over Wallops was never strong, but it was all they had. When they came into range, Korzun began to speak into his headset microphone, describing what had happened.

There was no reply.

Korzun repeated himself in Russian, then in English. On the other end of the line there was only static.

“TsUP, guys, we cannot hear you,” he said, speaking in clear, deliberate sentences. “We have had a fire aboard! We managed to extinguish the fire. The oxygen canister began burning. We extinguished it after using the third fire extinguisher The crew is wearing oxygen masks. The pressure is O₂ equal to one-five-five. PCO₂ is equal to five-point-five. There are nine masks left. After we take off the used masks, if we feel worse, we will put a new set of masks on and go to the [Soyuz] capsule. We will be situated in the capsules. The smokiness of the atmosphere is below average. But we don’t know the level of toxic gases.”

Finally there was an acknowledgment from the ground. “I’ve got your information,” said an unidentified voice.

“Any questions?” Korzun asked.

The comm broke up again.

“Speak, Valera!” the ground said.

“We have ten minutes left before the masks we are wearing begin to finish,” Korzun continued. The commander, in fact, had already removed his mask and taken several tentative breaths of air. “Now we are taking the masks off and checking how we feel. If we feel worse, we’ll put on a new set of masks. We have nine left. And we will go to the capsule. Then we will be waiting in the capsules, waiting for when the atmosphere will be cleaner little by little… . The next communication will be at 4:16.”

Another voice came on the line. “We approve your plan,” he said. “Everything is right.”

“Okay, I understand,” Korzun said. “We’ll be controlling the situation. The only problem is we are fighting CO₂. The capsules are ready for us to move into them. Meanwhile, I’m reporting, I have taken the mask off. Till now I feel normal.”

“Are all your filters turned on?”

“The filters, yes, the filters are switched on,” replied Korzun.

“Did anything else burn?”

“No, it’s normal now,” said Korzun. “Sasha Lazutkin is on duty [in Kvant]. When I left it fifteen minutes ago, it wasn’t burning. But the flame was so big that the metal at the end of [the SFOG] melted. All of it. And a little bit of the interior [of the module] around it. The panels were not touched, and all the rest [is fine]. The only thing that was, was the [SFOG]. We’ll get the reserve canisters and in case of loss of pressure, we’ll use reserve oxygen canisters in the base block.”

“We’ve got it,” the ground said. “Everything is all right.”