July, 1969

The door to the cell swung open on creaky hinges. Two guards were waiting in the pre-dawn hours on this chill morning.

"Let's go Neil. Today is the big day. You ready?"

"Either way, looks like I'll make history today, eh?" said Neil Armstrong as they led him down the long corridor.

Along the way, they met up with the other members of the team, Buzz Aldrin and Mike Collins and their guards. Each walked in silence, alone with his thoughts. The guards also maintained a respectful silence.

They walked along twisting corridors, through brightly lit hallways finally arriving at the dressing room where they began to don their preflight suits. The General arrived soon after.

"Are you ready boys?"

"When I signed up for the Space Program, I didn't expect it to be a suicide mission, sir," said Neil, "None of us did."

" I know boys, but we didn't have any missile defense technology for those last two attempts like we do today. If the Russians fire another attack at the launch vehicle, I am sure we can mitigate the threat with our new Star Wars defense system."

"Huh, Star Wars......sounds more like a movie title than a defense system," grumbled Buzz.

"You thought you had all the bugs worked out for the last attempt, Apollo 12, but the last thing we heard was Lovell saying 'Houston, we have a problem', then nothing but a bright flash in the sky. I don't want to make history as a flash in the sky sir. I sure hope you have all the bugs worked out this time", said Neil.

Mike asked, "What about that diplomatic option we heard about?"

The general look a bit uncomfortable at this, but answered directly, "We have kidnapped the Russian Czar's Daughter and her two children. Chairman Kennedy has let the Czar know, in no uncertain terms, that their lives will be forfeit if Apollo 13 is attacked. You see boys, we have taken every step to ensure a safe trip and a safe landing on the moon."

Mike chimed in with, "Using the cheapest subcontractors to make the forty two thousand parts for our LLM is ensuring us a safe landing? Ha!"

"What about the Chinese threat sir?" asked Buzz.

"The Chinese have yet to successfully launch a long range missile. Their cultural revolution was one of the best things that ever happened to us. We have covered all our bases this time and all systems are GO for a successful moon landing! God speed men." And with that the General saluted, turned sharply and walked from the room.

The men all made one last phone call to their families before being marched out to the rocket under guard. They entered the rocket on the launch pad and got settled into their seats. From here, there was nothing to do but wait for the countdown and pray.

And the rest, as they say, is history!