***2010***

“Looks like they did it!” said Ivan

“Big deal” replied Sergei. “Everyone’s been doing that for decades.”

“I am not impressed. These guys all fail sooner or later.”

“It looks like it was designed by high-school students.” The room was against him, but Ivan held on.

“Well. Nobody’s gotten this far yet.”

“The bar gets lower every decade. Think of what we could have done with modern tools.”

Five men watched as the payload drifted away from the second-stage.

“Not impressed.” said one. “Now can we get back to the game?” The four began to rise.

“Tell me Sergei…” Ivan looked him in the eyes. “If you had a chance to be involved, would you turn it down?”

Everyone stopped and looked at Sergei.

“That isn’t going to happen, so why get excited? Anyway, it’s a dream that died forty years ago.”

The game ended early that night.

Anatoli was hosting the game tonight. As always, the topic of conversation had nothing to do with their work.

“Why combine an intellectual pursuit with getting your head pummeled?” Said Sergei. “It’s the dumbest sport ever invented.”

“True.” Grigori conceded after giving it some thought. “but it’s so in tune with the national spirit… and to do it well is an untouchable feat.”

“True.” Said Sergei. There were no further comments. The topic of chessboxing had been exhausted. The next hand was played in silence.

“There’s another launch tonight Ivan.” Sergei finally asked. “How come you’re not bothering us to watch it?”

“Because you’ve all shown me my future as a useless old cynic. Why fight the inevitable?” Nobody had a ready response to that.

“God. I didn’t mean to break your spirit.” Sergei said. “And if you remember, you won the argument with a knockout punch.” Ivan’s spirits couldn’t be lifted that easily, though.

“Even if I won the argument, that doesn’t stop you all from being right.” Again, nobody had anything to add. and they played on.

Four men pondered the situation as they handled the cards. The fifth was only slightly younger in years, but clearly far younger at heart. Eventually Anatoli thought of something.

“Tell me Ivan… what is it that you fantasize about that keeps you so young?” The answer was unexpected.

“What I... used to fantasize about was the old launch platform off the coast of Kenya.” They all knew it. It had been built and abandoned by Europeans sometime in the seventies.

“Ah yes.” said Anatoli. “A low latitude, good weather, and an ocean to the East. It’s what we’ve all secretly craved since we were young.”

“No doubt you have some scenario worked out for utilizing the site.”

“Of course I did.” Said Ivan.

“But you’re not much younger than us, and we’re all slide-rule men.”

“That’s true, but we’ve all kept our skills mostly up to date… and maybe Africa needs people who can handle working in primitive conditions.”

“That’s us for sure.” said Sergei. Ivan continued.

“In any case, being old may be an advantage in this situation. Nobody would resist our departure.”

“You really have thought this through.”

“I’m guessing we’ll all be thinking this through…”