Dreams Can Come True

A send off and photos in the Cupola (Thomas)

You are looking for Annie so that you can help her work on capturing stuff with the robotic arm. You know that she would be working with Daniel and Artmei on the medical tests. You decide to wait for her at the destiny module. You don't have to wait long. You are greeted by Annie who has a slight smile.

"Are you ready to go over the procedures for the Canadarm?" You ask.

"Yes, I am," You pull Annie towards the computers. You know she doesn't need any help but she took your offer without saying anything so it must be a good sign. She quickly gets herself ready for the training. She double checks the computer program. You are watching over her shoulder. You are impressed at how quickly she is able to get the stuff ready.

"Can you double-check the stuff for me please?" Annie shuffles over. You nod as you take her spot. You check everything for her.

"You are good to start the docking procedure," You confirm. Hopefully, she isn't worried about the idea of docking a spacecraft. You get the feeling that you should just trust Annie. You trade places with her again. She gets to work on running the simulation. She seems a little tense.

"Annie you might want to loosen up. It's throwing off your inputs," You place your hand carefully hers. You can feel her hand loosen. She gives you a confused glance. You quickly make some inputs for her.

"I see," She announces. You find it interesting how she is reacting to your feedback. She quickly gets the hang of the controls. After ten minutes she gets the attempt done. She gives you a questioning look.

"Don't worry Annie you did well," You comfort her.

"Thank you. How many attempts should I do now?" Annie responds.

"Two more," You decide to be nice because she has a few days to practice before the Cygnus cargo vehicle arrives. Twenty minutes later she has finished and you are working on the EMU suit maintenance for Annie. You are finding it a little difficult to keep the area clean. At least the repairs are easy to do. Your thoughts are interrupted by Akira.

"How are the repairs doing Tom?" Akira asks.

"They are going alright. I've just finished" You respond. You grab the stuff that you used out of the air. You quickly stuff the things back into the storage area.

"We should probably get the HTV ready to go," Akira remarks.

"I'll join you in a minute," You respond. You pull yourself towards the waiting cargo vehicle. Annie and Olivia have already started getting some of the stuff ready. You grab a tablet so you can see what is going in the trash. It's mostly hygiene trash. You get to work on helping the others. Your ears prick at the sound of Olivia's whistling. It's a good thing that you find music in most forms entertaining.

"Tom were you able to fix the EMU visor?" Annie asks as she passes you some of the stuff.

"Yes I was able to," You respond as you start digging around for a spot. It doesn't take you long to find a spot. You start humming along to Olivia's whistling as you finish helping them to get the HTV ready for departure. It doesn't take long because the Russians have started helping. You are impressed that Artmei was able to convince the others to help. You double-check everything again. You are satisfied with the knowledge that the rest of the experiments are going in the cargo dragon.

"I think we are ready to send the HTV back to earth," Artemi beats you to the announcement. For some reason you find yourself glancing at Annie.

"I think Tom wants to give Annie the honour of letting go of the HTV," Olivia announces before you can say anything.

"Well, she should have as many goes on the Canadarm," You retort. Hopefully, they understand. You get to work on closing the hatch. The good thing is it doesn't take long for the pressure to equalise. Two minutes later everyone is in their respective stations. Annie starts to get to work on freeing the HTV.

"Everything is looking good so far," Akira informs you.

"Roger that," Annie replies. She carefully manoeuvres the capsule away from the station.

"Artemi how are we looking?" You ask. The annoying thing is you can't see the capsule as it leaves.

"It's out of the danger zone," Artemi responds.

"I'm releasing the capsule now," Annie responds. She gives the command to send the capsule down to earth. At least you won't have to worry about it because the rest will be handled by the ground team. A minute later you find yourself taking photos of the capsule as the RCS thrusters maneuver it the rest of the way from the station.

"It's a cool thing to watch isn't it?" Daniel remarks.

"Yes," You agree with him. The good thing about releasing a capsule is the fact that it leaves you a spare afternoon. You quickly finish up with the photography. An hour later you find yourself in the Russian segment with the rest of the crew. You are helping Ivan make some lunch. The good thing is it doesn't take long to prepare. You start disrupting everyone's meals.

"Thank you, Tom," Akira remarks as you pass him his meal.

"No problem," A minute later with all of the meals distributed you decide to engage in a conversation. The good thing is Daniel has asked about space station photography. You are glad that there is someone else who wishes to do the photography. You soon finish your meal despite the conversation.

"If you want Daniel I can show you what I mean in the Cupola," You decide that it would be a nice view over the earth.

"That would be nice," Daniel responds.

"And when you're done helping Daniel I would like to do some more training," Annie adds. You are glad that Annie wishes to do some more training.

"Certainly," You respond. Ten minutes later you are in the Cupola waiting for Daniel. Whilst you wait you use the opportunity to take some photos of your own. You have always been impressed at the earth in some way.

"May I join you?" It's Daniel.

"Of course," You try to make as much room as possible. You take the opportunity to pass him the camera. Daniel double checks everything and he seems to be satisfied. He starts to take some photos. The shutter soon comes to a stop then he passes you the camera to double-check.

"Perfect," You respond. You now only have one task left and it should be relatively easy depending on how Annie is feeling.