Lunar 3097

by Gary Timbrell

  “How did this happen?” she inquired. “Well, when you find out, call me back and let me know—so I know who to fire.” She slammed down the phone and stared at the tech sitting at her desk, “Have you got that down yet? Or do I have to fire you too?”

  The tech grimaced. “I have only made my way through a quarter of it, and some of that’s difficult to interpret. They kept very detailed notes, but then you add in that there are over seven years of notes … Maybe we should get a few more techs from downstairs and split the load, then come together and see if we can get there quicker that way.” He looked down at the desk, waiting to be belittled again by Stryker.

  “Maybe you’re right. This could be too much for one person. I might be expecting a lot more than I should.” With that, Stryker walked out of her office and down the hall to the lifts.

  The tech went back to the notes after wiping the sweat from his forehead, looking relieved that she had gone.

  “Where are we? I have never seen this part of town before in my life,” said Abbey.

  Alex laughed. “I’m not surprised. This is Delta 3, the last place I would expect you to visit.”

  They were now in a smaller version of the van Alex had stolen after dropping off the other van and Duncan in a lot. They called in a suspicious vehicle report to get Duncan released. They couldn’t use a skipper. The wrist comm.s activate them, and their location would be known instantly.

  “We have to hide out until we work out what to do, and no one will think to look for us here,” Alex said with confidence.

  “I hope you’re right about that. I still can’t believe that we’re in this mess. I’m a total jackass for thinking what I did was a good idea.” She covered her face with her hands.

  Abbey, still dressed in the hospital gown from the med center, smelling of antiseptic, her mind wandered, probably looking for some respite from the constant stress she was under. She found herself studying the pattern on the gown and thinking, I wonder who comes up with these god-awful patterns? As if you don’t have enough to feel sorry about when you’re in a hospital, they make you wear this shit! She laughed out loud, startling Alex.

  “What the hell have you got to laugh about?”

  “Would you rather I start crying again?”

  Alex turned to face her and smirked, then turned back to concentrate on the highway.

  After about ten minutes, he pulled up to a dilapidated building. Abbey could see that it used to be a warehouse, but it looked abandoned now from the outside due to many years of weathering.

  “Is this it?” she asked, with an expression of disbelief. “Doesn’t look like much from the outside.”

  Alex stepped from the van. “Looks can be deceiving.” He unlocked the rusty lock and pulled the chain through the tabs to allow the door to open. Abbey stepped from the van and took one of the doors by its large rust-encrusted handle wondering if it would hold up to being pulled. Alex took the other.

  To Abbey’s surprise, the doors glided as if on air. It felt as if there was no weight to it at all. When there was enough room for the van to fit in, they stopped, and Alex drove it in. She walked in after the van and was amazed at what met her gaze.

  Alex stepped from the van. “This belongs to my cousin; he has owned it for years and has been slowly remodeling it into an apartment for himself. As you can see, it’s almost finished.”

  The smell of freshly cut wood and new paint met Abbey’s nose. “Wow, it’s amazing. You would never know from the outside that this was on the inside.”

  “That’s the idea.”

  In the unfinished side of the building were all types of tools and machines used to complete this massive project, and further over, still was another set of doors as large as or larger than the ones they had entered. Large tarps were covering many different shapes and sizes of what Abbey could only imagine to be different types of vehicles.

  “I need to call my cousin and tell him what’s going on,” said Alex.

  “Do you really want to get him involved in this?”

  “We already have by being here, and this building is so wrapped in security he already knows we’re here. I need to let him know what’s going on. He knows Ariana.”

  “Ariana?” inquired Abbey with an inquisitive look.

  “My girlfriend. If Derek has seen me with you here, who knows what he’s thinking. If I talk to him, I can have him get a message to her, so she doesn’t worry.”

  “Since when have you had a girlfriend? I’ve known you for seven years, and I’m only now finding out you have a girl, and which part of all this is she ‘not’ going to worry about?” inquired Abbey.

  “Well, I’m not going to tell her the truth. I’ll have Derek explain that I had to fly to South America, and there was no time to call her, and there’s no communication where I am, so she won’t be able to contact me for a few days.”

  Abbey crossed her arms. A wry smile came across her face. She shook her head slowly while looking at Alex.

  “What?” he said sheepishly.

  “Well, I have never met Ariana, but I’m sure if you have Derek tell her that little story, she’ll see it for the bullshit that it is, and you’ll be in more trouble than if you told her the truth.” Abbey threw her arms up. “You might as well tell her that you just got cleared for space flight, and they sent you to Lunar 1237 but didn’t give you enough time to tell anyone. And you’ll be back in two years. She might believe that.”

  Alex stared at her and then nodded. “Or I could tell her that a workmate coerced me into helping her break the law, then I rescued her from the Feds while kidnapping a federal officer to accomplish the rescue, and we are now on the run, fugitives of the law … being hunted by every type of law enforcement on the planet.”

  Abbey’s earlier smug expression turned to one of shame. “I see your point. She’s not going to believe any of those versions, is she?”

  Alex just shook his head. “Nope! She’s not,” he said, as he walked to the communicator on the table in the kitchen.

  “Oh, the kitchen. I just realized that I’m ravenous. Please tell me there’s food in those cabinets,” said Abbey.

  ISA Headquarters

  “The bottom line is, we need one or both of them to complete this mission,” said Stryker. “I know it sounds ridiculous, but that’s the only way.”

  “I can’t accept that. We’re an international entity. You’re telling me that these robotic logistical techs have us by the balls, and there’s nothing we can do about it?” exclaimed Addison. His face was bright red, the white, thinning hair and the piecing blue eyes made the red in his face even more hideous, and the sweat running down from his furrowed brows added to the spectacle.

  “I know it’s not my place to say, but you don’t look too good. You look like you’re about to have a heart attack,” said Stryker.

  “You’re right. It’s not your place to say, now get out of my office and don’t come back until you have some good news for me.”

  “Please tell me you’re joking,” said Alex. “Abbey, turn on the vid screen.”

  She was making giant sandwiches, cutting up tomatoes and spreading mayo on six slices of bread. She stopped and looked at Alex, then a sudden look of dread fell on her. Her eyes got very big. She walked from the kitchen, wiping her hands on a towel, and found a remote laying on the side table in the large room next to the kitchen. She studied it, then pushed a button on it. After a moment, a vid screen came up from a cabinet on the other side of the room. After another moment, the screen came to life. Abbey’s knees suddenly went weak, and she sank to the floor.

  “Oh my God!” she said in a hushed voice. “Please tell me this isn’t happening.”

  There, larger than life, Alex’s and her face were displayed with a runner underneath them stating: “FEDERAL FUGITIVES-CONSIDERED DANGEROUS-PLEASE CALL 333-0980-1111-DO NOT APPROACH.”

  “I understand if you want us to leave, we’re gone. You sure? I should have thought about it before I
came here.” Alex was listening to what Abbey assumed was his cousin on the communicator.

  “Well, I was going to ask you to cover for me with Ariana, but I’m sure she knows by now, so I won’t ask you even to try. I’m sorry, Derek. I should have thought about the consequences before involving you in this. I’ll make you this promise, both Abbey and I will make sure that you are not implicated in this in any way. We’ll only stay long enough to get some rest and shower; then we’re gone. Thanks, man.”

  Putting the communicator back in its cradle, he walked into the kitchen holding his head in his hands. He stopped and looked down at the food on the counter. He looked broken. Abbey had never seen him so down in all the years she had known him.

  Then it struck her again. It was her fault. She had to find a way to fix this mess. She got up from the floor and made her way into the kitchen and finished the food and handed Alex a plate, which he accepted and walked into the other room without even acknowledging her presence.

  Taking her sandwich, she sat at the counter in the kitchen and ate. She had a faraway look in her eyes. The type of look people get when they are sitting on a cliff and looking out over the ocean, an almost wistful look when you wish you were somewhere else. But instead of the sweet smell of earthen grasses and the tang of salty air, she could smell fresh-cut wood and new paint, quickly bringing her back to reality.

  The reality … that no matter how hard she wished, it wasn’t going to go away. She placed the uneaten part of her sandwich down on the paper napkin in front of her, and her head fell forward. She started sobbing.

  ISA Headquarters

  “How about we offer them leniency?” said Stryker.

  Addison slowly raised his head, and in a booming voice, answered. “You want me to ask the director of the international space agency law enforcement department not only to allow two fugitives to go free but give them their jobs back, so they can do God knows what this time?” He stood and paced the room. “Not to mention we have their faces splashed all over the media as villains. For God’s sake, what they did amounts to treason! If this were fifty years ago, they would be executed for what they are accused of.”

  “Well, it’s not fifty years ago. I never suggested letting them off scot-free. What they have done to this point will be irrelevant if we don’t get their help. None of us will have a job,” said Stryker, “not to mention that there’s a time constraint with this project. If we don’t leave on time, it’s another two years before we get another chance.” She then stood and stared the director down.

  Addison sat behind his desk. By all outside appearances, he was cool, calm, and collected; much different than the last time Stryker was in his office.

  “Let’s do this, we leave everything as is for another twenty-four hours and see what progress we can make with contacting them and where we are with the search. We can revisit this then.”

  He then turned and started to type on his computer, displaying an unspoken dismissive action without actually saying it. Stryker took note and left his office without another word. The door glided silently closed behind her.

  CHAPTER 10

  Warehouse

  Alex opened his eyes to find that it was dark outside. The first indication was the skylight over his head; then he turned and looked out the window facing the building next to the one they occupied but could see nothing. He’d fallen asleep on one of the couches in the large video room from sheer exhaustion. He sat up and looked around but couldn’t find Abbey. Suddenly, all the stress came flooding back and panic set in.

  He rushed from room to room throwing open every door … And finally, there she was covered in a pile of blankets in one of the bedrooms that had a bed, fast asleep. He went back to the kitchen to search for coffee. He had seen a coffeemaker, but that didn’t mean there would be coffee to put in it. After some searching, he was rewarded with a brand-new can. He opened the can and heard the hissing sound of the vacuum being broken, and then the outrush of that unmistakable aroma invaded his senses. He took a deep breath and just stared into the can.

  “Are you going to make some of that or just stare at it all day?” said Abbey, standing at the kitchen door still wiping the sleep from her eyes. She was wrapped in one of the blankets from the bedroom. “It’s cold in here,” she said, pulling the blanket around her and sitting at the counter on a stool in anticipation as Alex started brewing the coffee.

  He removed two mugs from the overhead shelf and placed them on the counter. “How do you take your coffee?” As he opened the refrigerator, he said, “Ah, I hope it’s black. There’s no milk in here.”

  “Black’s fine,” she said staring at the mugs. One of them was just plain white with a blue rim, but the other had a symbol of some sort, and a slogan ran along the bottom, which said: “To dare is …” She reached and turned the mug to see the rest of the motto. “To do.” “To dare is to do.” She murmured to herself, “Yeah, and look where that can get you.”

  “What was that?” said Alex.

  “Nothing, just thinking out loud,” she replied. “What’s our plan for today?” she asked with a look of expectancy.

  “Well, I didn’t get any further than coming here with my plan. When I decided to break you out, I thought we would have a few days here before we had to move on, but after talking to Derek, that has changed. I promised him that we would stay only long enough to rest and shower and get out of here.”

  “Well, we rested; now, let’s get showered and keep your promise,” said Abbey. “I’m sure we can find some clothes that will work for now.”

  They both walked into different bedrooms carrying their coffee with them and started looking in closets for suitable clothing.

  An hour later, they were freshly showered and clothed, ready to take on another day, or so they hoped.

  Abbey looked out of the only window that wasn’t facing the adjacent building, sipping on her second cup of coffee, watching the orange glow of the rising sun just showing itself above the city landscape.

  The glass windows and solar panels on the tall buildings were flashing all manner of colors, reminiscent of a peacock’s tail feathers, spread out in all its glory of iridescent colors, sending streaks of light in all directions, casting strange shadow effects on the buildings next to them.

  Abbey found herself staring at one particular spot and noticed that the rising sun created an effect on her brain that seemed to put the buildings into motion. The deep reds and oranges slowly gave way to yellows; the buildings started to reflect their true colors as the sun rose further in the sky. The shadows and the motion effects disappeared with the rising of the sun.

  Abbey snapped out of her trance and walked back to the kitchen to clean up the mess they had made, getting ready to leave the relative safety of the warehouse.

  They both walked to the large doors and pulled on the rusty handles, sliding the doors open just enough to get the small van out of the warehouse. Alex jumped into the van and pulled it through the doors and came to help Abbey close and lock the doors behind them.

  “Freeze!” was all they heard in a booming voice. They both stood absolutely still with their hands on the handles to the doors, too scared to move a muscle.

  LUNAR 3097

  RAIDA2 and 3 reached the plateau where the cavern had once stood. They stopped and stared, as if stunned, the way a human might react to an unexpected situation it confronted.

  If a human had been there to observe this behavior, it might have lent credence to the AIs being sentient beings. A reaction of that type can’t be just mimicry or a programmed response action. It was an emotional reaction.

  Both AIs moved into the debris field and proceeded to scan the area. It seemed that they were looking for any parts that might have been left over from when they had left the cavern intact, but they found nothing of use.

  3 reached down and retrieved a small fragment of metal. It just happened to have part of its ident # (all ISA equipment had indents imprinted on them so each pie
ce could be recorded as to when, where, and what it was used for.)

  3 searched archived records, and the partial # came up as possibly being from RAIDA 1. 2 and 3 stood as if contemplating the loss of 1; then they turned and walked back toward the Lander.

  For some reason, only known to itself, 3 opened a compartment on its thigh and placed the small fragment from 1 inside, and carefully closed the door, all the while keeping in step with 2.

  If this had been an act by a human, one might think that it was a keepsake, a reminder of a comrade. A human might be feeling sorrow from the loss of his friend, or relief that the troubled friend wasn’t hurting anymore.

  Or dare we say it, relief that the troubled friend isn’t out there hunting you anymore. But not from a robot.

  When 2 and 3 returned to the Lander, they found everything as they had left it. After some shuffling around, they started building what looked like transportation vehicles, small cart like units similar to what was used to haul coal out of a mine. They had enough parts to build five of these carts, and they connected them together. The undercarriages were wide ski-like slides that would easily glide over the shiny surface material of Lunar 3097. With the lower gravity and the great strength the AIs possessed, the carts could be filled with lead and still be moved without much effort. They secured webbing to the front of their build and strapped themselves in.

  2’s head started to turn slowly from the furthest point it could in a slow movement. This was a very robotic movement. When it reached a full sweep, it seemed to be making some calculations. Then 2 and 3 set off in a direction that took them toward a small outcropping far off in the distance, leaving only slight grooves in the surface with the empty carts in tow.

  ISA Headquarters

  “I can’t do it! I have tried, but there is so much data and so little time, I’m going to have a heart attack. This is why I have a desk down in the tech assistant’s area. I don’t want this stress. I have poured over this data for days and got nowhere with a solution for your problem,” said the balding tech, visibly shaking and sweating profusely.