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placed into position, it struck him what an odd looking bit of kit it was. Something else was apparent but seemingly not discussed prior to the event, the orbital position of the satellite seemed in-congruent to common sense. The team of highly skilled and trained astronauts appeared to be setting the device to inevitably fail. Their orbit was shallow, they were not in the proper satellite band, it seemed a foregone conclusion that this machine, forged by the greatest minds in science at the greatest cost, would very likely and sooner rather than later, enter the Earth's atmosphere and burn up, possibly within a matter of days. As navigator, it stood to reason that any irregularities would have been shared with him, indeed it seemed odd from the very start when the schedule of events was first presented to him. So fine were the margins that in a matter of hours, the shuttle itself would begin to surf the searing heat of the re-entry. NASA did not train astronauts to be sheep, there was something extraordinary going on here and roger Coffey intended to find out.
     
    Coffey waited until the team had returned safely to the shuttle and gotten out of their suits. Corrigan led them into the cockpit and they began to ready themselves for re-entry.
     
    “ What the fuck is going on here? Why don't you people talk to me?”
     
    There was a cool silence as none of the crew felt the need to answer him with any haste. Finally Mahindra answered, she was the dark skinned Science Officer who had been short with him from the start.
     
    “ What do you want us to say?” She asked obtusely.
     
    “ Well, I'm pretty sure that something is seriously amiss here and I am obviously the only one who is out of the loop. Is anyone going to give me an explanation why we just dumped a billion dollars worth of hardware on a crash course for the Pacific?”
     
    There was another silence as the team did not care to look at the enraged navigator and began their re-entry check-lists.
     
    “ Is this some kind of 'need to know' bullshit mission, if so, just say and I’ll shut my mouth.”
     
    Mahindra looked up and spoke sharply.
     
    “ You said it, now get your shit together Commander.”
     
    Coffey slumped down on his seat. He might expect something like this in the military but he had never been wilfully kept in the dark on a space flight before. It was hard to believe that NASA would send up a crew that were all working from a different page. Coffey signalled to Kallowitz to strap him in and he obliged in rough style. Being left out in the cold was one thing but the open hostility was something else. For the first time in his career as an astronaut, Coffey wanted with all of his heart to be back home. Back on Earth, back to Florida.
     

CHAPTER SIX
     
     
     
    The Royal Standard Hotel, Islington
     
    19:39 November 11 th 2020
     
     
     
    Joshua sat on a plush brown leather sofa in the quiet lounge bar of his hotel. Supping a Gin and Tonic, he clutched a small digital Dictaphone which he had set to record at the push of a button. He intended to secrete it in a loose pocket somewhere on Jimmy's arrival. He wanted Jimmy to be open with him and feel at ease. Shoving a recording device in his face was not the way to go. Indeed, it was unlikely that they would stay in the public bar. Joshua's room was spacious and contained a nice seating arrangement around a tray of tea and coffee making facilities.
     
    Joshua grew concerned that Jimmy had stood him up. Joshua's punctuality was legendary and thus many had fallen foul of his high standards in the past. The reporter had to give him some leeway though, the London traffic was always bad. If it was not road works then it was an accident.
     
    Joshua perked up as he caught a glimpse of a very sheepish looking man peering through the large windowed fascia. A brief wave was enough to confirm he had got to the right location and as he walked in, Joshua realised that Jimmy had gone to some length to