Sputniki Yupitera

By Raymund Eich

Americans under the thumb of interplanetary Russians.

Can they strike a blow for solar system freedom?

 

Andrew wanted a new start, far from a fallen USA under foreign hegemony. The American colony on a moon of Jupiter needed nuclear power technicians like him. To get there, he must journey for months on board a Russian ship.

 

Not alone. Locked in with fellow American colonists who proclaim the New Covenant, just like him. But soon he discovers they worship God and venerate the Presidents with far more piety than he feels. Can he share their intense level of faith? Or fake it?

 

If he fails, he'll end up scorned by every American he'll ever meet. For five months trapped on the ship. For the rest of his life in the cramped tunnels of a Jovian moon.

 

Then the leader's beautiful and headstrong daughter enlists him in a daring plan promising new hope for Americans across the solar system.
 

• Language: English
• Publisher: CV-2 Books
• Release date: Feb 26, 2024
• ISBN: 9798224759293

Raymund Eich

Raymund Eich files patent applications, earned a Ph.D., won a national quiz bowl championship, writes science fiction and fantasy, and affirms Robert Heinlein's dictum that specialization is for insects.In a typical day, he may talk with university biology and science communication faculty, silicon chip designers, patent attorneys, epileptologists, and rocket scientists. Hundreds of papers cite his graduate research on the reactions of nitric oxide with heme proteins.He lives in Houston with his wife, son, and daughter.

Book preview

Sputniki Yupitera

SPUTNIKI YUPITERA

AN INTERPLANETARY SCIENCE FICTION SHORT STORY

RAYMUND EICH

SPUTNIKI YUPITERA

Handhold to handhold, Andrew pulled himself through the main corridor of the ship.

Whether from the dose of anti-nausea drug or a natural resistance, he handled free fall without trouble. He flexed his ropy arms and twisted like a dolphin, easy as childhood summer days in his hometown’s public pool. He passed curtained sleeping berths, autocook stations venting steam smelling of boiled potatoes, and bulging pipes of liquid uranium salts. The ship’s systems hummed and throbbed with takeoff prep.

For a moment, he imagined himself in a scene pulled from history, something out of Armstrong and Aldrin, updated as if the last century had gone differently.

Then the pack tied to Andrew’s waist bumped into a bulging pipe, knocking him off course. He flapped his arms uselessly, as if he’d been thrown in the deep end before learning how to swim. He bumped into the clear plastic cover of a control panel. A grab bar at a cockeyed angle. He jutted out his hand and steadied himself.

From behind him came words spoken in Russian. He had no idea what they meant, but the tone, and that of another Russian back there making a reply, was stuffed full of mockery.

Andrew bit back on angry words. He hid his face from the Russian men leading and trailing him. The one in front glanced back with a smirk but kept going at normal speed. Andrew pulled himself after him.

They continued down the main corridor to an open circular hatchway leading off at a right angle and labeled вход в капсулу 5. The Cyrillic text was as unreadable as Chinese, but Andrew had memorized it when cramming