The Price of Freedom, Episode 2.
By Bentley
"Goooooooood morning, Freedom and Atlantis!" The weak disc jockey impression ended and the wake up song replaced it. The wake up song was a shuttle tradition: meant to give a few minutes to the crew to shake off the morning grogginess they all felt. For most, it was because they had just woken up, but for a few, it was because they were never able to sleep. Today was "Space Oddity", a weak pun on the Anglicization of Foma Filatov's name.
"This is Ground Control to Major Tom," David Bowie's smooth voice sang as the astronauts slipped back into utilitarian consciousness. "Planet Earth is blue/And there's nothing I can do."
After an appropriate musical interlude, Capcom's voice pulled them firmly into the minute-by-minute existence men must live in them when their two-week's vacation costs more than they will make in their life.
"Big day today, Gentleman. And woman. We attach the Wallace Lab to Freedom. Finally, we'll have a space station that isn't just an outpost for three people at a time but is truly able to run as many experiments as we want.
"Colonel Warfield, well, you're doing a damn fine job commanding the shuttle, so we're going to keep you there. You'll be observing the construction of the space station, as well as the experiments on the space shuttle, and generally making sure your craft remains flight worthy. Message from your wife: she loves you.
"Major Daithwaite, you're actually going to be on Freedom today, observing the activities and helping the team to bring the new capsule up," Capcom's voice continued, preemptively overruling the objection Chris was scrambling to make when he heard his name. "We know you're the pilot of Atlantis, but Major Tom, err, Major Foma, I mean, Major Filatov is required by the Russian Air Force to do some flying every six months to keep his pilot's license. You already performed an excellent take-off and docking, yesterday you performed the main burn of the mission to lift the space station, and there's still deorbit left, so today, let Filatov pilot the shuttle one time around the station to get the module where it needs to be. In typical test pilot fashion, I have messages from about six girls, all of whome love you"
"Major Filatov, as we discussed, you'll be piloting the shuttle. Since you've already been in space for four months, no one seems to have anything new to say.
"Cosmonaut Lukin, you'll be on Atlantis observing, too. Try to make sure Filatov doesn't crash into anything.
"Captain Stanley, well, here's your chance to have the Space Station you keep bugging us for. You'll open up the module and start powering it up after the spacewalk happens. Your wife left a message for you: the judge accepted your faxed signature on the forms since you're not going to able to make it to court anytime soon. I'm sorry, that should have read, your 'ex'-wife left a message for you.
"Dr. Livingstone. Quite the day for you, Martha. You have greetings from your congressmen, your governor, your principal, just about everyone. Oh, the National Education Association, for being the first teacher-in-space to, well," the waking space behemoth was silent for a moment in silent remembrance of Christa McAuliffe's supreme sacrifice as the first teacher-in-space on Challenger. "For being the first teacher in space.
"Dr. Ford, you're of course one of the spacewalkers who's going to be making everybody else wait for him today. Oh, and the National Society of Black Engineers congratulates you. They say, 'Trevor Ford is exactly the type of role model young people need.'
"Dr. Gatsfield, you have no greetings from the National Society of Black Engineers, presumable because you're not Black.
"Dr. Ross, you have no greetings from the National Society of Black Engineers, presumably because you're not an engineer. Apparently Applied Physics just doesn't make the cut. Yes, even from MIT. Oh, and don't forget that you'll be the other astronaut on the spacewalk pulling the Wallace Lab into place.
"Mr. Wagner, your stockbroker called. He said all your shares fell, but since you sold most of them to finance this trip, your loss in the stock market was less than it would have been otherwise. So, always look on the bright side of life. Speaking of which..."
Sometimes the ground controllers played a second wake up song, on days they thought the crew needed extra time to prepare themselves. Today, apparently, Monty Python's "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" was appropriate. At least, it would make the world's most recent space tourist forget the loss of much of what he had worked his life for. Or at least, what his father and other male ancestors had worked most of their lives for.

"For life is quite absurd,
An' death's the final word,
You must always face the curtain with a bow,
Forget about your sin,
Give the audience a grin,
Enjoy it, it's you' last chance of the hour.
So, always look on the bright side of death,
Just before you draw your terminal breath."

To Be Continued...