his employee. She showed him the rapid heartbeat of Anastasia Gradetskaya. Rich switched the communication channel to a dedicated line.
RICH RUDIGER
– Terry, come in.
Terry and Igor checked control systems, navigation, guidance and a whole range of instruments of the orbital ship. They also checked their on-board computer and worked out the sequence of their actions at startup.
TERRY TAYLOR
– Come in.
RICH RUDIGER
– Anastasia has a fast heartbeat, a pulse of up to two hundred beats per minute, try to calm her. Terry was quite surprised.
Terry was very surprised.
TERRY TAYLOR
– Roger that.
Igor noticed Terry.
IGOR VLADIMIROVICH
– Did something happen?
TERRY TAYLOR
– Rich said Anastasia had a fast heartbeat.
Terry and Igor cast their eyes on Anastasia. She was sitting silently and was thinking about something. They tried to understand the cause of her concern.
IGOR VLADIMIROVICH
– I’m nervous too, like the others.
TERRY TAYLOR
– We were asked to calm her down.
IGOR VLADIMIROVICH
– She looks calm, I don’t know where they got all these indications from. Now let's figure it out.
Anastasia was sitting silently fastened to her chair. She examined the shuttle, her team and didn’t show nervousness.
IGOR VLADIMIROVICH
– Nastya!
Anastasia noticed Igor.
ANASTASIA GRADECKAYA
– Yes.
IGOR VLADIMIROVICH
– You all okay?
Anastasia was thrilled and greatly impressed by her presence in the shuttle. She thought about the upcoming mission, what awaits them and how it would all end. Whether they meet extraterrestrial civilization, whether the launch of the shuttle take place without technical problems and how the spatial displacement will take place. Imagination and negative thoughts came up with all possible plot twists.
ANASTASIA GRADECKAYA
– Yes, it’s alright.
Confusion and fear raged in her soul.
IGOR VLADIMIROVICH
– You're a linguist?
ANASTASIA GRADECKAYA
– Yes, why?
IGOR VLADIMIROVICH
– Do you know elven or Klingon?
ANASTASIA GRADECKAYA
– Why are you asking such questions?
IGOR VLADIMIROVICH
– Terry and I argued how many languages do you know?
Terry, smiling, looked at Igor, then at Anastasia. The conversation between Igor and Anastasia attracted the attention of the rest of the crew.
ANASTASIA GRADECKAYA
– And what did you bet on?
TERRY TAYLOR
– Yes, remind me what did we bet on?
Igor hesitated a bit and was lost in thought.
IGOR VLADIMIROVICH
– In case of my victory, Terry at the end of our mission takes us all to the Asian restaurant «Red Dragon». It’s located in «Babylon». By the way, they serve excellent noodles with teriyaki sauce as well as seafood in ginger marinade.
Laughing, Igor looked at Terry. The captain was clearly surprised to learn that in case of loss, he takes everyone to the Asian restaurant. The rest of the crew looked at each other and smiled.
TERRY TAYLOR
– And if I win, Igor buys a good pair of sneakers for everyone.
Igor made a surprised face.
IGOR VLADIMIROVICH
– Really?
TERRY TAYLOR
– A bet is a bet.
ANASTASIA GRADECKAYA
– Your disputes are strange. Well, all right, in general, I know 12 languages, including Elven, Krypton, Klingon, and even studied the language of Heptapods.
Having heard Anastasia’s reply, Igor and Terry both said at the same time.
TERRY TAYLOR
– You are buying sneakers.
IGOR VLADIMIROVICH
– You are buying noodles.
Igor easily hit Terry on the arm. The response to the light blow was Terry's smile.
ANASTASIA GRADECKAYA
– You are weird.
Anastasia and all the crew members laughed. Nastya's nervous tension began to subside.
RICH RUDIGER
– Terry, three minutes before the start. Take it easy, you're not on a TV show. You already have a crazy number of views that has exceeded four billion.
TERRY TAYLOR
– Rich, we talked with the team and decided to arrange a contest for the audience. Our gift will be a couple of samples brought from another planet. To participate in the contest, you must subscribe to our social and virtual accounts. All the details of the contest are on our pages, we will draw prizes and gifts upon arrival.
The team drew attention to Terry. With all his looks and actions, he showed that the situation is under control.
RICH RUDIGER
– Great, then tell me how it all ended and who won the piece of stone from another planet. No matter how painful it is to admit, your and Igor’s methods of stabilizing nervous tension do work, the overall crew performance is within the acceptable range.
The FCC team along with its leader completed the final stages of the prelaunch
