Читать книгу Dogtective William in Space - Elizabeth Wasserman - Страница 7

Kazakhstan is a long, long way from home.

It is in Asia, just south of Russia and west of China. It is a very large country, and the climate is either hot and dry in summer or cold and miserable in winter. There are large expanses of grassland that are known as the Kazakh Steppe.

There aren’t a lot of people living there.

Not much happens.

Except for the area surrounding the Cosmodrome at Baikonur! Baikonur is a city in the south of Kazakhstan, and the Cosmodrome is home to one of the world’s most important space programs. The desolate plains surrounding it make it ideal for rocket launches, and it is a hive of activity.

Chief Superintendent Spears was giving me a quick update on the history of space travel. While the American space capsules used to land in the ocean, the Russians have always let their astronauts land close to the Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. More recently the Americans used shuttles like the Discovery that could take off and land almost like aeroplanes, but the Russians continued to launch their space capsules on the tips of rockets. When the capsules re-enter Earth’s atmosphere, giant parachutes unfold to lower it gently to the ground.

Although they competed fiercely in the past, the Russians and Americans now work together on their space projects. Usually the Russians and Americans take turns to shuttle astronauts and equipment to and from the station. But, the superintendent explained, at the moment the American shuttles were all grounded and transport to the station was left to the Russians and their Soyuz space capsules.

This was a lot of information, but much easier to absorb than a lesson at school. It helped being there in Kazakhstan and seeing all of this with my own eyes!

But William did not show any interest in the superintendent’s story. He had his nose pressed against the window of the car, his breath making two damp spots against the cold glass. I knew he was worrying about Boris and the danger that his friend must be facing. After all, look what had happened to Laika!

I gave him a hug. He licked my hand and his tail stirred with a half-hearted wag.

We passed two security checkpoints. And then I saw the rocket.

It was standing in a large clearing, propped up by metal scaffolding. It was so much larger than I could ever have imagined. It was sleek and fierce, and its tip pointed straight at the open skies.

My skin tingled with excitement. Only a day and a half before, I was just an ordinary kid stressing about a spelling olympiad. Now I found myself in a country that I have never even heard of before, looking at a real space rocket that appeared to be ready to lift off at any moment.

Then I asked the question I should have asked a long time before: “What exactly are we doing here, Chief Superintendent Spears?”

He gave me a measured glance, and I could see he was wondering how much I needed to know. “Well, son, you know that the ISS suffered a breakdown and that Boris, a dog, has been left behind. There are billions of dollars invested in that space station and we cannot afford to lose it. The breakdown affects the oxygen supply, and a valve needs to be replaced. A small thing, but critical. Dogs do not use a lot of oxygen – they are much smaller than humans. But Boris cannot make the repair without communication with the engineers on Earth.”

“And that is why you need William!” I said as the penny dropped.

As far as I knew, William was the only talking dog around. He would be able to convey messages between Boris and the engineers. But only if he were on the Space Station himself …

“Are you planning to shoot my dog into space in that rocket?” I asked.

The chief superintendent frowned, nodding his head. “I am sorry, but that is the only way, Alex.”

No. It was out of the question! I would never allow them to send my William on such a dangerous mission, all on his own. I looked at him. The two of us understood each other instantly. Over the past few years we had been inseparable. On our adventures up to now, he had always been the one to stow away in my luggage.

This time, it was my turn!