Baikonur Cosmodrome. USSR. 1957.
It had been 6 hours since the launch of the most important space launch this century, and the room was currently filled with the smoke of tobacco, courtesy of the stressed and slightly depressed scientists and technicians at mission control.
The CRT monitors showed the data being streamed from the payload as they worked on decoding the data they were getting.
However, there was no happiness on their faces despite the historical success.
Because their success had cost the life of an innocent soul.
"How is she doing?"
The Chief Designer, Sergei Korolev, spoke softly as he kept an eye on the data being received from the Sputnik 2.
The young technician he called paused for a moment, as a trace of sadness flashed through his eyes.
"The signal is degrading, Comrade Chief. The vitals are erratic. Thermal shielding is failing."
The young man took a deep breath as the whole room quietened down to hear his words.
"She is burning up in there."
"...How long?"
"A few hours at best. Minutes at worst."
On the monitors, the heart rate of the adorable dog that was the sole passenger of Sputnik 2 kept spiking and halting, showing her stress.
All the technicians and scientists in the room, even the hardened military people who still had a heart beating in their chest, could imagine the stressed whine of the pure soul they had doomed in this mission to reach the stars before their enemies across the seas could.
The internal temperature sensors slowly kept ticking upwards. 35 degrees Celsius. 36. 37.
By the time it reached 40, they knew that it was only a matter of time before the dog died.
With a deep breath, Chief Korolev sent a silent prayer to the ancient gods of his people. Specifically, to the Vysshiy Vozduk, The Emerald Shield, to guide the soul of the pup.
And as if the world had responded to his request, something would soon change.
"Alright. Focus back on the task. We still have to make sure that we give the Premier-"
"Comrade Chief....We are picking up something."
Korolev zeroed in on the instruments being pointed out by the technician.
"Look at the Doppler shift..."
"That does not seem natural-"
"Contact! Something is on an interception course!"
That sent a wave of trepidation across the room as they considered various possible scenarios, from a third-party attack to the USA launching a strike to take down Sputnik 2.
However, what they saw next was beyond their wildest guessess, which was saying something.
The radar pinged and showed something truly impossible by this day's standard.
"That blip...It's impossibly long. Contact shows a speed of Mach 2-no, Mach 5...Mach 10...."
The voice fell away as they watched with awe while the silhouette on the radar kept speeding up according to their instruments.
Then, just as impossibly as it accelerated, it came to an abrupt 'slow' cruise, right by the side of Sputnik 2, matching the capsule's speed effortlessly.
"There is no way anything can speed up and slow down that quickly!"
Sergei turned around to the military liaison.
"Contact your superiors and tell them that-"
"Comrade! Look!"
Korolev turned back to the instruments and, for the first time, felt like the world no longer made any sense.
The internal temperature of the capsule that held the little pup called Laika kept dropping. Something that should have been impossible given the failure of the temperature control systems.
The radiation levels around the capsule also dropped straight to zero, another impossibility in the orbit of the Earth.
"Comrade Chief! Cremia is on the line! They.....they are saying..."
"Saying what!?"
The technician flinched at the frustrated and terrified roar of the Chief Designer before speaking out with an equal mixture of awe and fear.
"They..They say they are seeing Vysshiy Vozduk escorting the capsule-"
"I think that's enough, Comrade."
The sudden calm voice startled everyone in the room, who turned around, only to pale at the sight in front of them.
Several squads of soldiers who looked no different than the regular army poured into the room with stone-cold faces, making sure that nobody could walk in or out.
The same thing was reported over from the Cremian Astrophysical Observatory before the line abruptly went dead.
To the scientists, it looked as if the Premier was taking things a bit too seriously, but Sergei Korolev was not some average person and knew exactly who he was dealing with.
The Komitet gosudarstvennoy bezopasnosti. Or KGB for short.
And leading them was a man who had a kind smile and looked no different from an average old man, just like Korolev's own grandfather.
Yet, there was no way this man was normal.
After all, it was impossible for a man who held himself like the leader of the soldiers to be normal. Not to mention the conspicuous golden ring with an emerald spiral etched into it that he wore on his ring finger.
The unnamed man from the KGB smiled and spoke softly.
"Comrade Chief. By the authority of the Premier, I am hereby taking command of this mission-"
"Sergei! The capsule! It has landed safely in the Ural Mountains!!"
The young technician, showing his clear lack of survival instincts, interrupted the old man's words before realizing what he had done.
The Chief's face went pale as he subtly stood in front of the young technician."
"Comrade-"
"Not to worry. And, thank you for the information, young comrade."
The old man turned towards one of his subordinates and nodded towards the workstation of the young technician.
The subordinate moved swiftly and looked at the instruments before nodding back at the old man in confirmation and walking out of the room, intending on contacting another team from HQ and having them deploy to retrieve the 'package' from the Ural mountains.
"...As I was saying. I am taking command of this mission and all its data. You and the rest of your staff are hereby ordered to forget about the last hour. If you fail to do so, you will all be tried for treason and be punished accordingly. None of you shall speak about what happened here as long as you live. Not even to your family or descendants."
The soldiers moved swiftly, taking everything not nailed down while the technicians and scientists stood rigidly, not even daring to breathe deeply lest they stick out from the crowd.
"You will be paid what you are due for this mission and will be asked to go back to your daily routines and jobs from now on."
The old man gave one final look to the Chief.
"This mission was a failure. Sputnik 2 burned up on reentry. No survivors. Am I clear?"
"...Yes. Comrade."
The old man nodded with satisfaction and patted the shoulder of the Chief before whispering into his ear.
"Forget about what you saw today, young one. Sometimes, as the people on the otherside of the seas say, Ignorance is bliss."
With that, the old man and his people left, leaving behind a bewildered and terrified group of scientists and technicians, many of whom would go on to retire soon after, while others would 'disappear' for trying to leak 'State Secrets'.
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USSR:We need to send innocent dogs (Laika) to space to die in the name of science and as a part of our dick-measuring contest with the USA.
Rayquaza: Lol no. YOINK!!
We need to send innocent dogs (Laika) to space to die in the name of science and as a part of our dick-measuring contest with the USA.
Rayquaza: Lol no. YOINK!!