by D A Buckley
A few fruit trees were scattered throughout the complex as well as strawberries and some cultural favorites such as Paw Paws. Entirely non-existent was cattle of any kind. They simply required more oxygen, water, and feed than could be grown at the current facilities and produced far too much-unwanted methane though some attempts had been made with miniature varieties of beef. Their ability to produce fertilizer was however greatly missed as the soil of the moon contained no bio-mass at all making vertical farmed hydroponics the only viable alternative. Any beef products that made it to the moon were freeze-dried and, though appreciated for the break from the fish, lacked something in flavor and texture. However, fresh red meat was, at times, given precious cargo space on the twice-daily freighters from the earth for upper management.
Pets were not permitted by anyone with the exception of Meriwether Perkins. When he visited his holdings at LBA he always brought his two Weimaraners, Bentley and Bella, whom the entire population viewed vicariously as their own. The crew actually stopped from time-to-time to see short videos of the dogs frolicking in one of the garden patches. The videos provided some sort of psychological link to terrestrial life back on earth and assisted everyone in coping with the very unnatural life at LBA.
Water was a mixture of water hauled from earth using enormous blivits that were filled with water processed at arctic facilities. These facilities melted glacial ice and then shuttled the water to the blivits in orbit over the geographic north pole. Once one hundred blivits were filled they were slowly accelerated with progressive thrust rockets and headed to the dark side of the moon in what looked like mile-long caterpillars and ferried down to the potable water facility on an as needed basis. Inside the facility hydrogen-oxygen burning water generators added water to the earth water for consumption. Captured aspirated moisture, referred to as “lung sweat,” and reclaimed urine from each work center was available for hydroponics, vegetation watering, toilets, and any other activity that could function with non-potable water. The volume of hydrogen-oxygen derived water was exceeding earth water and water shipments from earth over time became somewhat reduced in size and frequency. Because the hydrogen-oxygen burning generators required an open flame the facility was located just over five kilometers due west of the main complex. The water was piped from there to underground cisterns adjacent to each work center as a conscious commitment to the redundancy of critical supplies in the advent of a destructive meteor strike.
The main complex itself was constructed in the shape of a tree. The main trunk consisted of a large transportation terminal at one end which was open to the lunar surface. From the terminal, the main trunk or hallway proceeded for just over one kilometer and was referred to as “Main Street.” Three corridors branched off of the main trunk, one at the opposite end of the Terminal and one on either side of Main Street. These branches were expanded into separate work centers denoted by cardinal direction and proximity to the Terminal resulting in One West, One North and One East always shortened to 1W, 1N, and 1E. On engineering diagrams, the entire complex looked very much like three oak leaves attached to a twig. Each work center was environmentally separated so that a meteor strike, if one did penetrate a structure, would not lead to a total environmental failure of the entire complex.
Mr. Perkins had insisted on one rule that he referred to as his “Prime Directive” for construction crews. The intent of the directive was to mitigate the depressive effects of constant work on the dark side of the moon and perpetual night outside. Therefore the directive demanded that unless functionally required no painted surface inside the facility could be painted black or any dark color for that matter. He demanded bright colors when possible and calming pastels when it seemed appropriate to his staff of interior designers. The many lithographs displayed throughout the facility were always of epic panoramas of nature subjects such as huge blue skies, vast grassy plains, enormous mountains, and expansive seas. Everything had to provide as much psychological support to overcome limited lines of sight and cabin fever as could be accomplished. The oriental influence of bright colors, colorfully plumed birds, and lots of water were considered the most appropriate. The walls of crew rooms and offices had ceiling-to-floor high-definition LED displays that showed land and cityscapes from earth.
The contractor population of LBA consisted of three identifiable groups in the main complex and two outside of the main complex. The first of these was the administrative group and was comprised of mid-level managers, scientists, and support and administrative staff. They were uniformed in green jumpsuits or, in the case of lab workers, green lab jackets, and referred to themselves as ‘greenies” but sometimes by the other groups they were called “weeds.” Management personnel worked in the prominent leaf at the top of the tree - 1N. There were many offices and a small park of decorative trees, shrubs, grass, and a small waterfall in that work center. There were also three exercise/observation centers at the point and on either side of the leaf. Top tier managers all wore gold shirts, jackets, or blazers. The rest of the population of LBA called them ‘nuggets.” These were all contracted by a Native American Inuit company headquartered out of Canada called Gold Strike Management Corporation. Anyone not in management or administration worked in one of the two side work centers branching off of the main trunk. Science research staff were in 1W and everyone else in 1E.
At the southern base of Main Street is where the construction docks and the shuttle terminal, referred to simply as the Terminal, were located. The docks were owned and operated by Terminus Intercept Construction Corporation usually referred to as TICC and naturally, their employees were called “ticks.” It was all friendly stuff. The ticks all wore red jumpsuits and at times in competitive jest called themselves, “bloodsucking ticks.” The ticks not only constructed, enhanced, and repaired LBA but they were the builders of the Ark. The Terminal was a separate work center and provided living, dining, and entertainment facilities there. The Ark II was in geostationary orbit almost directly over LBA. A constant stream of shuttles delivered materials and construction workers back and forth every thirty minutes of every day. The Terminal was the largest and busiest work center at LBA and was half-moon shaped with the convexed side acting as the base of Main Street.
A third contractor at LBA was Interplanetary Security Specialists. That name almost always elicited laughter from everyone as LBA. LBA was as interplanetary as ISS had yet achieved. Interplanetary seemed to be a premature claim although the boldness of the corporate vision was certainly to be admired. All security personnel wore white shirts and blouses with gold, green, and red stripes on their sleeves in an attempt to be seen as drawing their ranks from the other populations.
Because LBA had management personnel, essentially a recognized governing body, and was growing their own food and providing every form of support that a magistrate would provide, they were legally regarded as a de facto independent colony. In this regard, ISS and their administrators were the law at LBA. Mr. Perkins was the de facto governor though he never really acted in that capacity except in signing policies and procedures developed by various committees. Personnel problems were typically returned to earth and never allowed to return to LBA, so no judicial actions were ever pursued. ISS personnel were, not surprisingly, referred to as the “Popo.”
For a time, management tried to dissuade the use of these urbane slang terms, viewing them as divisive. As the population grew, however, and human nature prevailed, management later began to use the urbanized slang as a means of healthy competition. These three contractor corporations constituted the TRIAD.
A small layman’s chaplaincy of various faiths was present though no space was ever dedicated for religious activities. This proved to be an unfortunate oversight when workers inevitably died at LBA. The lack of a dedicated space to conduct memorial services was the most emphatically raised complaint among the population. Inspirational services were conducted in the observation/fitness centers almost daily. The gym-like odors elicited the seco
nd most emphatic complaint. Memorial services were conducted on Main Street causing a temporary cessation of all work center activities. Future planned expansion of LBA included dedicated space for religious observances.
Since LBA was constructed on the dark side of the moon in an attempt to conceal its existence, and therefore its purpose, from the public on earth, the nearly limitless solar power available on the light side of the moon was unavailable. However, the moon was a willing provider of vast amounts of Helium 3 and this provided far more energy than LBA could conceivably ever need. The electricity was generated at a helium-electric conversion plant located for safety’s sake fifty-two kilometers due east of LBA. A Texas firm, Lone Star Galactic, again a rather prematurely epic moniker, had actually been subcontracted by Gold Strike to operate both the Power Distribution Center and the Water Resource Center. This group actually wore denim pants, shirts, and ball caps, red at the PDC and blue at the WRC. Both groups were considered a bit rogue and undisciplined. Typically, they were collectively called “cowboys.”
*****
“Good morning, Katherine,” Mr. Perkins said cheerily to the image on his rather large office monitor, “I hope that you are well.”
“Good morning to you, Meri. If it is morning there,” Katherine said while taking a final sip of her morning coffee and then slid her insulated mug across the desk. “I have no idea how you keep track of day and night there. I wanted to alert you to a special delivery coming your way on the morning freighter LBA-0139A. The package is accompanied by two armed guards and Ramos Guzman. You might remember him from the last TRIAD confab in Acapulco.”
“Well, Katherine you seem to always surround yourself with drama and intrigue. Armed guards? That has never happened at LBA before. Projectile weapons make us very nervous here. But I suppose it does make sense. How is J-Squared? Can you even tell? And, yes, I do remember Mr. Guzman. We could use him here. Our Chief of Data Management keeled over at her desk six weeks into her rotation. We had no replacement for her programmed for at least another ten months. And by-the-way LBA is a bit like Narnia if you are familiar with C. S. Lewis. In Narnia, it is always winter. Here it is always nighttime outside. Inside we adjust light levels to coincide with the atomic clock in Denver. We refer to Denver Time as Delta Time. Why we don’t just say “Denver Time?” I have no idea. If I ask my brainiacs “why” questions I get answers that make my head hurt. I just do what my people tell me to do.”
“Well, I doubt that is very often the case, Meri. And yes, I have heard of C. S. Lewis. Tony had a couple of his books. I seem to recall his favorite was Mere Christianity. He also had some books from someone named Schaeffer and some from a Grant Jeffrey. I never read any of them. He asked me to…but I was busy saving the planet by then. I packed them up for him when he left. To answer your question concerning J-Squared, they let us know that they are still there and that they will speak to us whenever it suits them although their communications with us are typically truncated these days. They have made it clear that they are eager to be integrated into the main computer on Ark II as quickly as possible. I should warn you though, don’t bring them up when talking with the President. She is still furious at the thought of how they turned the tables on all of us and now hold all the leverage in manipulating proeple and resources to achieve goals that they are now setting for themselves. She is madder than a mashed cat, Meri. Seriously.”
“I bet she is. She’s not one used to being out maneuvered. Katherine, it breaks my heart that you and Tony split up like that. I’ve never seen a man more in love. I can tell you that he was devastated when he left you. He was completely lost for a time. He asked me to transfer him to our Fairbanks office…and…well, let’s not rehash bad times. Have you considered why this is so important to J-Squared? Is there any possible ulterior motive on their part? I always worry about what I simply cannot understand. And this whole concept of an AI is far beyond my ability to understand. I mean, mine Gott, as my grandmother used to say, think of it. Two human personalities integrated over several years into a computer algorithm in order to create a single sentient program. Have we really accomplished such a thing?”
“Meri, I simply don’t know that we have. Ever since Jared and Jackie abandoned their bodies and entered the storage device, with help from Suki I might add, we have not had a conversation of any significant length. In all candor, Meri we’re flying blind. My hope is that once they are installed into Ark II they will become more communicative.”
“Well, that will be an exciting moment then, won’t it Katherine?”
“Absolutely, sir. Are you certain that the mainframe on the Ark is physically isolated from all other systems?”
“You can bet your lungs on it, Katherine. My techs here refer to its data systems as beig ‘air gapped’ whatever that means. I will not give them access to anything off that ship. I have no idea what they intend to do. I seriously do not know if they are working for us or against us.”
“I can tell you that they chose to complete their mission here after coming to a full comprehension of what we were doing to them. They committed to volunteering for this final phase of the mission. Like you, I would more redily trust them, if they were a bit more corporeal. Homestly, Meri. It is so difficult to trust an intelligence that you cannot touch.”
“Well, as usual, I’m putting all my trust in you, Katherine. I am so happy that you, at least, are a real person. I have always done well by you and I trust your judgments and instincts in these matters. I’ve been told that the interface to transfer them into the Ark will be ready by just after noon tomorrow. Until then they will be kept in the Terminal Director’s Office at the Terminal. There’s no need to bring them any farther into the complex.”
“That’s sounds fine with me, Meri. I don’t know if they even know where they physically are at any moment though I rather suspect that few things escape their notice actually. I would like to visit LBA someday, Meri. I know it’s not a Motel 6 up there but I would appreciate it if you would leave a light on for me.”
“Ha! That’s rich, Katherine. I think we can do better than a run-of-the-mill roadside motel. No disrespect to Hotel 6, but we have much better accommodations here for someone of your stature. The Visiting Officer’s Quarters here is top-notch and not very often occupied. I’ll let Rie know that you will be making a reservation soon. Don’t take too long. You’re still my favorite Bridge partner you know?”
“Ha! You’re terrible at Bridge, Meri,” Katherine chortled. “It will be soon though, I promise. See you then.”
“Good-bye, Katherine.”
Meri turned away from his wall mounted monitor and pointed at his personal assistant. “Rie, would you please get me Anthony Mathis? I believe he is at the Materials Launch Facility in Dead Horse.”
“Be careful, sir,” Rie warned, “matchmaking is a dangerous hobby.”
*****
“Freighters are made to haul freight…not people,” Ramos spoke to no one in particular. “They have three seats in them and they are all occupied by the crew.” To accommodate Ramos and his two companions a pallet with three seats welded to it was installed in the forward pressurized compartment just behind and below the flight deck. “This means that Mr. Perkins is going to have to wait a couple of more days to get his weekly load of red meat.” Ramos continued his worried soliloquy to no particular audience and wasn’t happy to be the cause of the delay of such an important item of cargo. “This trip is not starting off well. He’s going to ask his cheff, ‘Hey, chef? Where’s my ribeye?’ And his chef is going to say, ‘Sorry, sir. Ramos bumped your meat package on the shuttle.’ Just great. Just great. All he’ll think about when he sees me is how he has to eat fish or freeze-dried for an extra couple of days. What a great way to meet the boss.”
“Alright, back there,” Captain Mosey called rather loudly over the intercom,?“Ya’all strapped in? We will be lightin’ this thang up in just a second or two. We just have to finish pluggin’ this crack in the win
dshield. We hit the gantry on the way home on our last trip. The epoxy emergency seal seems to be deteriorating from too much ultraviolet light…I think.”
