The Cosmonaut Page #3

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You know I don't believe in ghosts

but still...

For a few seconds, I ceased to hear.

An absolute silence.

I screamed petrified and hit with

my fist the ash that covered it all.

I have forgotten your name.

You scared me.

You been there long?

No.

You could've knocked.

I've brought you some berries.

Hi, it's, it's me.

Do you know where Stas is?

Look, are you sitting down?

You're not going to believe

what I'm going to tell you.

The Americans are coming to Star City

to train with us.

There's going to be a joint mission

between Apollo and Soyuz.

Yes.

It's gonna be the first docking

of two countries in space.

And they've asked me to take charge

of our end of the mission.

I didn't know what to say.

Ok.

Ok, I'll see you later.

Andrei, Brehznev has asked me

to develop the UR- 700 programme.

Excuse me, sir?

The Moon Programme I designed.

The one they cancelled.

Yes, yes, of course. It's just that...

I know, the N1 is a big fat iron bird

that's never gonna fly.

We have a chance here

of doing things right for once.

An open mission?

- Don't be naive.

It'll only be disclosed

if we step foot on the Moon.

Wow... I don't know what to say...

I want you to take charge of the mission.

Sir?

- I won't take a no for an answer.

We'll talk soon.

Bye my dear Andrei.

A technician from over there at NASA

was telling me a joke the other day.

Made me promise I wouldn't get angry.

If only he knew the half of it...

So Brezhnev is in the Kremlin

and he's showing his mom

around the place, as you do.

He shows her rooms

with beautiful ornaments,

luxurious banqueting halls...

Oh, and the garage, which of course

is crammed full of limousines.

And he says to her:

"Don't you think your son has done pretty

well by himself mama? Are you proud?".

And his mother replies:

"Not so much proud,

darling, as worried.

"What if the Bolsheviks return?".

I want you to be serious Andrei.

Personal feelings aside for a moment,

no preferences, no judgments.

Who do you think should go?

I would say the situation is

almost comical...

except it isn't.

You wanna know the truth?

I bet if you find these tapes

you won't like to hear this, but...

I wish I had stayed on the moon.

At least I was happy there.

I dreamt we landed on the moon

and won the space race.

The space race

is just american propaganda.

It's a name they gave to something

that we started and that we're gonna finish.

You're starting to sound like one of them.

All right, you're having this,

you're having this.

Eat, open, open up, open up. Oh yes, yum.

Happy new year. Happy new...

The salami...

I'm sending Stas to the moon.

Do you know what you're doing?

They asked me who was the best man.

So you said it was Stas?

I'm giving him what he wants, Yulia.

Where are you cosmonaut?

I need your body.

Paradise number four were your lips,

exhaling a breath that steamed

into the air in successive repetitions.

I've seen you wearing this sometimes.

Who gave it to you?

No one.

I've used it as the mission's logo.

You don't mind, do you?

No.

No, of course you can use it.

A bow and arrow? - It's a bow and arrow

for mister important over there.

See if he goes to get some lunch

cause I am getting hungry.

Say?

My shoe!

Oh no! Oh no look!

- Your shoe!

Look the shoe is lost!

Oh, it's being torpedoed!

- No, no, no, no.

Look at that!

That's not going to be nice to wear now.

You want it?

- Yes.

Oh, the color, is like...

Give the lady your shoe. There you go, that's

for you. - It's like... cosmonaut training.

Oh, I feel like Cinderella.

Lovely.

And now we can leave him by himself.

It is 39827.

Pitch trimm is 003.

Roll trimm is 987.

Time... zero, SRB. Ignition.

Lift off.

Control, what did you say? Repeat.

We didn't say anything, Stas.

THREE DAYS LATER

So...

I've made Earth's orbit.

It's gonna be mighty tricky

to get down there though.

I don't...

I don't have enough...

energy to force the re-entry.

Andrei...

I love you pal.

I remember your eyes clearly...

your nose...

your hair...

And stupid things like...

the number of freckles you have.

Yulia for goodness sake...

Would you just... put some music on,

the static is giving me a headache.

I...

I am really...

really...

sorry.

I'm sorry.

I'm gonna miss you both.

I'm gonna miss you.

I'm gonna miss you.

I can see...

I can see...

I can see...

the three of us...

together again.

Walking...

walking along the beach.

I've arrived to a place I can recognize.

There was a sign I couldn't read

but I remember it's name:

Starry townlet.

I remember where you used to live but...

I'm not sure I want to go.

As I walked closer

I started to hear drums.

The closer I am,

the more deafening the sound becomes.

The relics of a lost future?

Our future?

I can't allow myself to think like that.

You understand, right?

Plus, I feel you closer everyday.

This... civilization, this country...

They might be all

a bunch of collapsed ruins.

I don't care.

It's you and me

I care about, cosmonaut.

I want you back.

Since...

Since he died she's just...

She's different.

It's like she's...

thin.

And I don't mean her body or...

She's not quite there.

She just...

She doesn't even drink water.

Oh, god...

She doesn't eat, she doesn't sleep,

she doesn't...

No.

No.

I don't wanna work.

I don't wanna...

I can't focus, and I don't wanna...

Don't want to go to that place.

I had this...

I had this crazy...

crazy dream.

I was talking to Stas and...

I asked him:

"Was it worth it Stas?

"Was it worth losing her

to leave a footprint on the moon?".

He said:

"No. "

"No, it wasn't. "

"But for just one...

"fraction of second...

"I felt alive. "

No.

Of course.

Yeah, of course.

Yulia!

Oh, God! Oh, God!

Help!

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