The director of Roscosmos felt uncomfortable. A simple ergonomist specialist was sitting in front of him. It's not that the director avoided the common people, on the contrary, he often met with collectives, workers, engineers. But this is so-to meet with a group of specialists surrounded by a group of assistants, to talk… About what? Yes, almost nothing about anything: how life is, this and that. But important issues were resolved at meetings of very important people. And here is a serious question, and he has only one person, an ordinary specialist, not even the head of the group. There was another specialist present, but this one is his own. Rogozin was poorly versed in technical issues, and in such cases he took a trusted person as an assistant. This time it was cosmonaut Maxim Suraev. So it was two against one, but it was Rogozin who was uncomfortable, as if he had made a mistake in front of a visitor who was sitting and asking a mute reproach: what's going on in your office? It's also good that the project is joint.
The reason for the situation lay here, on the table. This was the conclusion of the expert present that all seven furrows on the wall of the household compartment of the Soyuz spacecraft were made by different hands. And another conclusion of a mechanic specialist who recently left the office, Rogozin prudently put away in the table. It was clearly shown that all seven furrows were made by a different tool.
- Are you sure about everything that is written here?
- Dmitry Olegovich, everything has been rechecked, errors are excluded.
- Okay, thank you for your work, - at these words, the specialist stood up, - I strongly ask you to remember about confidentiality.
- Do not doubt, Dmitry Olegovich. Good-bye.
When the door to the office closed, the Director looked at Suraev, who was leaning on the windowsill. Both knew that there were six people at the station, and both realized that this was the main question now.
- What do you think, Max?
- Did someone work with two hands?
The thoughts of the two people converged. Primitive thoughts. Well, what can you say smart here?
- This is the devil knows what! Did they get drunk there and take turns poking the drill into the wall on a bet? Until one of them finally put a hole in it?
This, of course, is not true. Dmitry knew our people, and cargo control was established. And, if anything, they would not drink on the sly, they would share the "joy" with the entire crew. But in any case, jokes, stories and films have created a reinforced concrete stereotype: these are Russians, yes, yes! Yes, it is they, the Russians, who illegally transport alcohol into space. The whole world knew this-from Europeans and Americans to the very last Chinese. And if this turns out, then it will be us who will be squinted at and pointed at. And not only partners, but even worse, opponents and envious people in the government will not miss their chance.
- On your return, you need to check blood samples for alcohol.
- It's useless, Dmitry Olegovich. People are not stupid, if anything, they will hide everything. They will take samples sooner or later. And I can't believe it. No matter what they say, I don't remember anything being brought to us on the flight.
- And it's good that they are not stupid. A stupid person, for good, could try to drill in an arbitrary place, and the shell could open. And then the kayuk station.
- Yes, it seems that the person who did this knew the structure of the ship well. But I'm sure they're not ours.
There was a faint shadow of doubt in the last words.
"But what should we do now?" What should I say to the press, what should I show to television? They're waiting! How long will it be possible to keep them in the dark? And the partners?
- I think it's wiser to completely withdraw from the investigation. Put the case in the hands of professionals, and wait for the results. And let them unravel this tangle.
Rogozin remembered with annoyance how many times he had promised himself not to say too much. But the journalistic education and the political gut took their toll every time. Oh, if you knew where the investigation would lead, it would be better to muffle this story from the very beginning, not to advertise it. But who could have predicted that everything would turn out this way. And that trampoline, damn it. Once I accidentally said something, and that's it, the word is not a sparrow, they spread it and replicated it, they will remember it for a long time. It's uncomfortable in front of the Americans.
With these thoughts, he looked at his watch and turned on the video link. NASA Director Jim Brandenstein appeared on the screen.
"Hello, Dmitry," Brandenstein said in English.
- Hello, Jim, - Rogozin also answered in English. He had an enviable language practice.
- How is the investigation of the incident progressing? Brandenstein got straight to the point.
- It is already obvious that the hole is unnatural. We have strengthened control at all stages of ship assembly and we believe that a repeat of the incident in production is excluded. Now we are considering what equipment to bring to the station to make round-the-clock monitoring in our compartments. The investigation is not over yet, but we are making every effort to identify the perpetrators as soon as possible.
- That is, you do not exclude that the hole was formed at the station?
The question is to the point. Before closing the hatch of the ship, a video was taken during the operations for its docking with the rocket. The place of damage also fell into the edge of the frame, but it looked untouched. This was the first call that the investigation would not be easy. Did Brandenstein know about this?
- There is an investigation, Jim, all versions must be checked, and Roscosmos has no right to interfere.
- Dmitry, let's be honest. We have also analyzed the images, and I am sure that your investigation has reached a dead end. If I'm wrong, refute my words.
- To tell the truth, we are experiencing temporary difficulties in the investigation, but I am sure we will overcome them.
- Dmitry, it's no secret that Roscosmos has temporary difficulties in everything. Listen to me carefully. Brandenstein paused. – We guess the cause of the incident, and if we are right, then you yourself will not be able to guess. The situation is very serious, and all you can do now is not to do anything. Give the investigation to the lower ranks, tighten it as long as possible. And let's agree on our meeting, which was scheduled for October. I suggest the following: I will arrive at Baikonur the day before the launch of Soyuz MS-10, and I will be accompanied by my escorts. You provide reception and accommodation in the format that our side will specify, do not be surprised at anything. Then, the day before the start, we will meet and talk privately.
- I agree, I will give the appropriate orders.
After a simple farewell ceremony, the session was closed. It was as if a stone had fallen from the neck of the head of Roscosmos. If the Americans know something and are sure, then the reason is most likely on their side. Who! Okay, they ask you not to strain yourself – we will not even think, we are tired of this topic.
Jim Brandenstein stared through the blank screen on which he had just seen his Russian colleague, collecting his thoughts. For the first time, he strongly regretted that NASA does not have its own ships. It would be easier with your own ship, but here you need to go to the Russians. Of course, there were no problems, the Russians are always ready to carry them for money, but... but this time we will have to let them into the secret, there is nowhere to go. Or maybe it's time? Keep your partners in the dark for so many years…
Jim went to the table and once again opened the folder marked "top secret". On the slightly yellowed title page, the unassuming name "Grey man"was stamped with a typewriter. Here it is, the solution to the oddities on board the ISS.
Legends of different tribes and peoples have preserved the stories of the appearance of a strange creature that pretended to be a man and took his appearance. One of the tribes of Central America, where this phenomenon happened more than once, gave him a name-the gray man. It was borrowed when choosing the name of the topic of the investigation. Later, linguists made a clarification - because of the poverty of the language, the word of the aborigines was ambiguous, and it would be more correct to translate it: "faded", "nondescript", "in the shade". But the name has already caught on. Not only ancient sources spoke about the existence of a gray man. Some fairy tales, fantastic stories and mystical detectives reflected real events that took place in the very recent past, and even in our time. And when the US military encountered the phenomenon in Vietnam, the Pentagon opened a case and began to collect information.
The flow of material on the gray man increased significantly when people began to look closely at cases of disappearance and unusual behavior of people. But this did not bring the understanding of the essence of the phenomenon closer, and the matter came to a dead end. The nature of the gray man and where he comes from remained unclear. Once his appearance coincided with the fall of a large meteorite, and then the NASA leadership was initiated into the matter.
All the stories with the gray man developed and ended the same way.
Someone appeared among a group of people, he disguised himself, manipulated others, suppressed their will and sent visions. Then he reproduced the appearance and habits of one of the people, and he disappeared. Occasionally after it was possible to find a corpse. The gray man was slightly different in behavior, but some people differ even more from each other, so often people around did not attach importance to anomalies in the behavior of a fellow at first. But the gray man adopted the appearance perfectly, not the essence, and after a while he fell on something big. This was always the case, and always after that, the gray man was chased and killed. But at the same time, he dragged people into the other world. Occasionally there were happy cases when no one died, but more often there were still victims, and-from people. The worst tragedy occurred in Guyana in the 70s of the last century, when almost a thousand people died at once, and the CIA made great efforts to disguise the causes of the tragedy. The body of the deceased gray man very quickly disintegrated into simple substances and compounds, and therefore there were not even laboratory samples that gave at least some hint of its nature.
The appearance of such a creature has been noted on four continents. Usually he appeared alone, in some cases it was possible to incorrectly assume the action of two, maximum – three individuals. No mass phenomena were observed. But this is on the controlled territory. Russia, Central Asia and the remote provinces of China were not covered by the research – it was one big white spot. "Perhaps something will change after our meeting", - Jim thought.
Andrew Feustel, the commander of the ISS-56 expedition, was puzzled. He made an announcement at the general meeting this morning. And he couldn't get rid of the feeling, no, he definitely saw that there were six people in front of him. The whole crew gathered and settled down to listen to him. Who is "from below", who is at the "ceiling", someone in the center. Six of them! If there were six people in front of him, then there should be an extra one. But there was nothing superfluous. He went through the faces in his memory: the commander of the ship that brought him to the station, Oleg Artemyev, Richard Arnold, who is making a career, Segrey Prokopyev, the commander of the last ship that arrived, the German Alexander Gerst, who will replace him as head of the mission, and the only woman Serina Aunon. Here they are-all five of them, and there is no one else. But if you remember the picture and count it, there were six of them. And if you remember who was where? And then the memory began to fail.
Andrew remembered how, as a boy, he watched a mirage in his native Pennsylvania. One fiercely hot day, the horizon opened up, and some huge dark man was walking in his direction. But he already knew about the mirages then, and was not at all afraid. And here there was some kind of obsession. Or the twilight of consciousness. Russian Russian, Andrew, preparing for flights with the Russians, not only studied the Russian language, but also ordered several books with national epics. On the books it was written "fairy tales". That's where he found out about it. But that's a fairy tale, and there's clearly something wrong with him here.
The instructions required, in the event of something like this, to resign the powers of the commander of the expedition and transfer them to a replacement, that is, Gerst. But that would be a precedent. "There are very few days left, I'll be patient," Andrew decided. But there was no peace. If it's canned food, then I'm not the only one who could have been poisoned. We haven't had any feasts with the Russians lately, but how are the others? And then Andrew realized that there was something wrong with the crew. Lately, everyone seems to have moved away from each other. The siren, as Serina was called here in the Greek manner, generally closed herself and sought solitude. Russian Russian cosmonaut While preparing for the flight, Feustel received advice from experienced astronauts on how to understand a Russian cosmonaut – you need to make a list of Russian superstitions. Whether it was a joke or not, but Feustel did it. And now the situation could not be better defined by the saying "as if a black cat ran between us". Why it was black, Andrew never understood, he did not see the logic in this. Here a black cat would have been noticed immediately, so it's not black, but gray. So where is she?
Close to the damaged Soyuz, Andrew met Sergei.
- Hello, Andryukha! - Sergey was tipsy, there was a smell of alcohol and some kind of flavoring from him.
"After all, these Russians are transporting vodka," Andrew grimaced. Sergey understood everything, became serious and explained:
- This is medicine from the first-aid kit. Tincture of eleutherococcus. There is alcohol in it, but it is a medicine.
- Are you healthy?
- We need to talk privately. - Prokopyev became stricter, and, after a pause, continued.
- I seem to have everything in order – pulse, blood pressure, tests. But the feeling of someone's presence does not leave me, as if there is someone else at the station.
- Did this feeling occur before taking the medicine?
- yes. I would like you to look after me, if there are any deviations in behavior.
If it had been Oleg, who had a few days left to work at the station, Andrew would have kept silent. But Sergey was staying for the next shift, and it was unacceptable to ignore what he said.
- Listen, Sergey. I have the same symptoms. As you can see, I'm fine, I'm in command of the station. There is some kind of syndrome, I don't think it's dangerous, but it won't hurt to take air samples. Let's not tell anyone yet, and let's watch each other and the crew. - Andrew felt a sense of relief – the problem was not in him!
- Commander, - Sergey decided to answer the question, - and if a person has gone crazy, how can he understand whether he is normal or not?
Feustel was already thinking about this question: no way!
- I think that if, as you say, the roof has gone, but two people have it at once, then there are chances.
- That's good. I mean, if we are dealing with a mystery, then we need to check all versions. Without thinking about how delusional they are. It's just stupid to check.
- - Are you talking about something extraneous presence? It's unbelievable.
- The hole in the ship is even more incredible. You know that when you go to the station, you can't avoid this place. I talked to the guys – everything was perfect there, and I also examined the ship. The hole appeared later.
Andrew thought about it.
- Okay, let it be so – all versions, it's stupid to check. But do nothing without a common plan!
- Okay.
Everything was prepared for the return of the crew. Some handles from the hatches of the Soyuzams-08 were dismantled. Gerst was warned that the undocking procedure would be unusual, and his word was taken from him not to be surprised and not to interfere, and that his command of the station would not begin until the separation of the ship.
The crew of the ISS-56 mission said goodbye, and plunged into the Soyuz . The last to leave the station was the former commander Andrew Feustel. At parting, they hugged Sergei, and he whispered:
- We are acting according to the plan.
- yes.
- Good luck.
Andrew closed the hatch to the lander. After waiting for the time for the astronauts to take their seats and buckle up, Sergey turned to Hearst:
- Alexander, we need to examine the inner hatch.
The German, as agreed, did not object, and climbed into the household compartment of the ship. As soon as he was inside, Sergei slammed the hatch behind him and turned the handles. He looked around briefly. There was a siren in the distance to the left, and she was looking at him in amazement. There was also a siren behind, and this second one also looked surprised, but the emotions were not so strongly expressed. Sergey opened the hatch, from where a rather surprised German got out.
- It didn't work out, and that's fine, - said Sergey, and, half-turning to the one who was behind, he said:
- Now you are.
The siren climbed into the household compartment. Sergei also slammed the hatch behind her, and looked back. The siren was in a faint, Gerst was dumbfounded, but tried not to show it. Everything is right. He quickly did some manipulations, pushed off from the hatch and shouted into the air: "Get off!".
Suddenly, a stupor fell on Sergei. His hands stopped obeying and reached for the hatch. Far away. A push from the wall, but this was also provided: Sergey managed to tie himself with a pre-fixed file and tighten the knot tightly. Now his fingers grabbed the knot and began to pull it, but it did not give in. And then Oleg was released. But something came over Gerst, but the German hardened materialism turned out to be less malleable. And Serena was still fainting, and that's right! There is a division! Sergey heard Oleg's voice in his headphones:
- Maybe we should undock the household compartment right now?
- No way! Take this thing away!
When the Siren was revived, Gerst said:
- Prokopyev, as the commander of the ISS mission, I ask you to submit a report to me about what happened.
- I will do it, Alexander, but think about what we will present to Earth. This is something that we threw into space, it is not displayed on the video.
"To tell you the truth, I didn't see much. Although I just felt an outside force. But how did you manage to understand that it exists at all?
- It's very simple – we gave everyone a task, and then watched how it was done.
The ship separated and began to execute the departure program. This program was written here, on board the ISS, and provided for a shortened section from separation to switching on the engines. "How good," thought Andrew, " that we still haven't made our own ship, and we fly on Russian, two-volume ones! If there was a "Dragon" from Mask, or a "weave" from Lockheed, I don't know how I would have to get out of it." Oleg confidently watched the controls, and Andrew had his own task-to pick up the pointer in time and make sure that Oleg did not untie. The pointer was a salvation – if Oleg is attacked by a morok, then he will not do anything without it. And if it's on Andrew, then he will be powerless with a pointer. "If only this creature did not guess in advance what was waiting for her," Andrew thought hopefully.
On October 4, 2018, the descent vehicle of the Soyuz MS-08 spacecraft successfully landed southeast of the city of Zhezkazgan.
October 6, 2018. A group of installers was slowly fussing over the rocket. In a few days, this rocket was supposed to deliver the Soyuz MS-10 spacecraft with a crew into orbit. The shift supervisor was watching everyone, trying not to lose sight of anyone. In his hands he had a technological map, in which he made marks from time to time. Suddenly, he felt unwell. He knew his six-man shift perfectly well, but now he saw that seven people were working with the rocket. And he couldn't concentrate enough to figure out exactly what was wrong. There were no extra people, all familiar faces, but in total it turned out seven. Some kind of obsession… And who would get in here, through the security perimeter? No, it is contraindicated to work in this state, you need to rest. He approached one of the technicians:
- Petrov, I'll be away for a while, well, you know what to do here…
- Don't worry, Sergeich, we'll manage.
Passing the security post, Sergeich had to leave a mark – the time of departure and a signature. But the guard was dozing, and Sergeich passed by – there was still not enough to explain for the absence, or even the bonus would be cut, so the money is small. And he will take the guard by the gills when he returns, and he will cover him. He walked to the hall in front of the dining room, drank a soda and sat down on a row of wooden seats with a sloping back. Fatigue fell on Sergeyich, and he fell asleep. He woke up suddenly, along with the realization that he had been sleeping too long during working hours – how could he afford such a thing! And not even in the captcha, but in a prominent place. It was noisy, people were already scurrying past him. Suddenly, his boss and his escorts entered the hall, Sergeich just managed to jump up.
- Well, you give, Pankratov! He called in sick, but as soon as he went to the dining room, he overtook us! Food is a life-giving force. - And proceeded to the hall.
Sergeyich couldn't say anything. I got through, but I could have gotten stuck.
Brandenstein's story and the documents shown struck Rogozin.
- So, this something copies and replaces people, and it is dangerous.
- Only copies, Dmitry. It can't really work, but it can perfectly simulate the activity.
Rogozin strained, trying to imagine what it looks like, but for some reason the company "RK-Assets" JSC, established by his predecessor, came to mind. For almost a year, its employees received a salary, were present at the Roscosmos office, attended various events, but after that, according to the documents, no activity was found in it, in the sense of no activity at all.
"In the next ship," Brandenstein continued, " instead of the third crew member, you send a container. It should be quietly removed from the ship, and replaced with ours. It contains a human simulator made for a special purpose. It is packed with different sensors, but not only. If he's lucky, he'll be able to capture and paralyze the alien. Then this will be the first such case, and we will get invaluable material. Our astronaut Haig has been given the appropriate instructions, we will warn Ovchinin together.
- It's dangerous for people. And what if he understands everything and starts to resist?
- It's dangerous, but if you do nothing, the danger will not go away. We have calculated the options, this one is the best. A gray man is hard to figure out, but it's easy to kill.
- You called it poorly. "It's easy to kill a person." Have you tried to establish contact?
- It was. But the fact is that he himself is very eager for contacts, but understands it in a peculiar way.
Late morning in Moscow on October 11, 2018. The Soyuz-FG carrier rocket with the Soyuz MS-10 spacecraft slowly broke away from the launch and went up. Rogozin watched from the bunker, but the fiery spectacle did not interrupt the impression of yesterday's meeting. "Gray man," he thought, " how many more of them are there in my organization? "
27/03/2019