SuperMoon

by H. A. Swain

  “I see them,” I gasp.

  “Here it comes!” says Gemini. “This is pass five!”

  “I’m close!” says Talitha. Everyone inhales. I watch on-screen as the ExploroBots, swimming in a row, align themselves above the tail, then reach out just when the ship glides past. Their silver fingers stretch forward.

  “I missed!” Talitha cries, and the Res Extensa keeps going.

  “Damn it!” Fornax snarls.

  “It’s okay,” says Kepler. “You were really close.”

  “Pull them in a little bit,” Gemini says. “And turn fifteen degrees to your left so you’ll be in position on the last pass to reach out before the landing arm gets them. Then all you have to do is give the ship a push and let go.”

  “Okay,” says Talitha. “I think I can do it.”

  “I know you can,” I say.

  I watch as on the far side of the station, a little door in the belly of the Res Extensa opens and an umbilical connection unit protrudes. The small ship spins ninety degrees to line up with the robotic arm still making its elegant trek across the black sky divide. As the ship slowly turns, the circular windows come into view and I see more people on board.

  “There are others in there!” I exclaim. “Who does she have with her?” I step up closer to the holo and squint. “External camera one, zoom in,” I command. The image tightens up, but remains blurry.

  “Almost there,” says Talitha. “I’m reaching out.”

  “Here it comes,” says Gemini. “You’re lined up.”

  I hear the others inhale. I hold my breath, waiting for her to connect, but then I see a flash of brown. A furry face. Small pointy ears. “Quasar?” I say aloud. “Zoom in! Zoom in!”

  The Res Extensa creeps closer as the robotic landing arm strains forward. The ExploroBots reach out their arms. Then on the screen, just as the ship passes the camera and leaves my view, I see Castor’s face in the window, plain as day.

  “Stop!” I scream. “Stop!”

  TALITHA NEVA

  MOON UTILITARIAN SURVIVAL COLONY

  WHEN UMA YELLS, I jerk my head away from the window, breaking the connection with the ExploroBots in my control. On the large holo projection behind me, I see the fleeting image of my brother’s face peering out the window of the approaching ship.

  “Castor!” I shout, and run to stand with Uma.

  “Quasar, too!” She points to the image of the ship as it disappears from view.

  “What are you doing?” Dr. Fornax screams.

  “You idiots!” Micra screeches.

  “The loading arm almost had it!” Gemini yells.

  “Go back! Go back!” Fornax cries. “This is the last chance.”

  “I can’t fling them into space!” I yell. “That’s my brother on there!”

  “What if it’s a trick?” Uma asks.

  “You saw him!” I shout.

  “What if it was a holo?” she says.

  “What if! What if!” I yell, clutching at my head.

  “Now!” Dr. Fornax yells. “Now!”

  “I can’t do it!” I say. “I won’t!”

  Uma grabs my hand. “Of course not,” she says. “You’re human. He’s your brother.”

  We turn and face the window, side by side, staring at Castor, staring back at us. His eyes are wide with terror as the robotic landing arm connects to the belly of the Res Extensa and pulls it in to dock.

  “You two are the most worthless—” Dr. Fornax starts to scream.

  “Holos off!” Uma shouts, and the images of Fornax and the others blink away. “I’ve had enough of them,” she snaps. “We’ll do this our way. Where’s the gun?” she asks as the ship locks into place.

  I pat my body and look around the room. “I don’t know!”

  We look at each other, then we freeze when the loading bay door hisses open.

  “What now?” I whisper.

  “We have to buy some time,” Uma says, clutching my hand tight. “Pretend to go along with her. Make her think we’re on her side until we figure out what to do.”

  D’Cart is the first one through the door. She marches onto MUSC, head held high, surly grin on her face.

  “Ah!” she says, taking a deep breath. “Home, sweet home. How I’ve missed this place.” She looks at us and laughs. “Not!”

  “Hello, Zaniah,” Uma says, and steps forward with her hand extended. “It’s so nice to finally meet you.”

  “Oh, is it?” she asks. “You called me silly and said I was a disappointment.” She keeps her hands on her hips.

  “That was just for show.” Uma blushes and looks down. “I didn’t want Dr. Fornax to know how I really feel. But I got rid of her.” She peers up.

  D’Cart narrows her eyes. “What do you mean, got rid of her?”

  “Disconnected,” Uma says with a shrug. “We don’t need her any longer now that we have you.”

  Aurelia wheels through the door next. Without thinking, I run to her. “Aurelia! I’m so happy to see you.”

  “Hello, Talitha,” she says, and lets me hug her. “I am happy to see you, too.”

  Next, Mundie marches out and stops. Uma and I both gasp and back up.

  “Oh, don’t worry about him,” D’Cart says. “I’ve got him in my control. Just like I’m going to have everybody here soon enough.”

  “Do you have my brother?” I ask, peering through the doorway, fearing it was a trick like Uma thought or, worse, that he’s in her control, too.

  D’Cart sighs, annoyed. “He’s with us. And your dog.” She rolls her eyes. “That was Aurelia’s brilliant idea.”

  “Thank you,” says Aurelia.

  “Castor? Quasar?” I call, my voice quivering with anticipation.

  I hear a little yelp, then Quasar dashes through the door. He runs in circles, yapping and dancing on three legs. Uma and I both drop to our knees and catch him up in our arms. Then Castor walks through.

  I stand up, not breathing. He looks at me, eyes moist, face twisting with emotion. “It’s you!” I yell, and run for him.

  Castor catches me in a tight hug.

  “Wolflo em.” I whisper our twin language in his ear. Follow me. He looks at me quizzically, but I lift my eyebrows and repeat, “Wolflo em.”

  I step away from Castor and say, “I’m so happy that you’re here! Now that we’re all together, we can help D’Cart take over.”

  He nods slowly, then turns to D’Cart. “How can I help you?”

  “Well, well, well. That’s better!” D’Cart says, glancing at my brother. “I see you decided to change your tune.”

  “Yeah. You were right. This place is great,” Castor says, with a complete lack of emotion. “Now that I know Talitha’s safe, I’ll do whatever you want.”

  But D’Cart doesn’t seem to notice that he’s such a bad liar. “Good,” she says, swanning around the loading bay, looking things over. “First, I need to go to Fornax’s office to hack the MUSC cybermind. Shouldn’t be too hard now that we’re on board and through security. Then we can take over the MUSCie implants and get this show on the road.”

  “But wait!” Uma says, her eyes darting back and forth. “Do you want to speak to Fornax?”

  “Why?” D’Cart’s face twists like she ate something nasty.

  “So she knows you made it on board. You can rub it in. Want me to call her up?” Uma asks.

  “That’s a great idea!” I say, trying to buy more time. “In fact, you should Stream it when you confront her!”

  “Yeah!” says Castor. “Show all your followers how you stuck it to the MUSC CEO! That would be epic.”

  A little grin plays at the corners of D’Cart’s mouth. “That would be nice,” she says as she thinks it over. “Good for ratings. Can you call her up?”

  “Definitely,” says Uma. “Just give me a second.”

  “But keep her on mute,” D’Cart says. “I don’t want to hear her mouth.”

  “Fornax’s holo will be over here,” Uma says, pointing
toward the back of the bay. “So you stand over there by the exit, facing her, to get the best shot for your Stream.”

  D’Cart moves, and Aurelia stays by her side.

  “Wait, I don’t want her in the shot,” says D’Cart. “Aurelia, you go wait over there by Mundie in the back. I want everyone to know that I did this alone.”

  Dutifully, Aurelia wheels over to Mundie, who stands so still I think he might be dead on his feet. “What happened to his face?” I whisper to Castor.

  He grins slyly and whispers, “Quasar and I kicked his ass for you.”

  “Should I launch my PEST now?” D’Cart asks. “How’s my hair?”

  “You look great,” says Uma. “Get ready. Here goes!”

  As soon as Uma reconnects to Dr. Fornax’s muted holo, D’Cart launches her PEST and opens her mouth, but then a person rushes into the loading bay from the hallway with a PEP gun raised over her head.

  D’Cart spins, eyes wide. “What the—” she says, just as the butt of the gun connects to the side of her head. She crashes to the floor.

  “Mom!” Uma yells, and darts across the room. The woman tosses the gun to the ground and catches Uma in her arms. “How did you get here?” Uma asks.

  “Randazza let me in,” her mother says.

  Behind her, Randazza peeks around the door frame. “Did you get her? Is she out?”

  “Like a light,” Uma’s mom says.

  “Good!” says Randazza. “I didn’t survive fighting in the Water Wars on Earth and claw my way up here, then work this job for twenty years, slinging food for MUSCies, to have some little snot like Zaniah Nashira come back and take it all away. I’m going to retire soon. Be sitting pretty, too. Dr. Fornax might have her head up her ass half the time, but she provides nicely for people who are loyal.”

  “How’d you know not to shoot her?” Castor asks.

  “Huh?” says Uma’s mom.

  “Her suit has reflective tech woven in. A blast from that gun would have turned on all of us,” he explains.

  “Oh,” says Persis, blinking back surprise. “I didn’t know how to shoot the gun, so I hit her instead.”

  “That girl always was a pain,” Randazza says, standing over D’Cart’s body. “I’ve known Zaniah since she was a child. Fornax brought her up here an orphan, just a tiny slip of a thing. She was mad as hell. I tried to take her under my wing. Nurture her, but she wanted nothing to do with anybody. She was always demanding and thought she knew best. Couldn’t listen to nobody for nothing. That girl gave Earthlings a bad name on MUSC.”

  “What do we do with her?” I ask.

  “Put her back on the ship!” Uma says, still holding tight to her mother, who won’t let her go. “Before she wakes up.”

  Castor grabs D’Cart’s arms, and I take her legs. Quasar chases after us, barking at the body. We pass Aurelia, who stands passively waiting for the next command, but I see Mundie lurch.

  “Agh,” he groans and blinks.

  “That blow might have broken the connection between him and D’Cart,” says Castor.

  “Poor guy,” I say, almost feeling sorry for him. “Once he wakes up, we’ll have to explain what happened.”

  “Maybe he’ll be a little nicer now that we saved him from a life as a technoslave,” Castor says.

  “I doubt it,” I say as we harness D’Cart into the captain’s seat of the Res Extensa.

  I wipe my hands across the seat of my pants and follow Castor to the door, saying, “Good riddance,” over my shoulder before we step into the loading bay with Quasar at our heels.

  Ahead of me, Castor goes down sideways. Before I can react, a blow comes hard and fast and throws me back. I try to scream but the air is knocked out of me. When I look up, I see Mundie on top of me. This time, his eyes are alive with spite.

  “You think you can get away from me!” He smacks me hard across the face with the back of his hand, then yanks me up by the front of the shirt.

  “Talitha!” I hear Uma scream.

  Mundie wraps one hand around my throat and presses me against the wall of the ship. “All those years, following you around like a damn dog, waiting for you to notice me.”

  Quasar runs, teeth bared, but Mundie kicks him away. He lands with a high-pitched yelp and rolls out into the loading bay. Aurelia darts across the doorway toward the dog.

  Mundie squeezes tighter as I fight to kick and punch, but his arms are long, and I can’t make contact with his body. Through the doorway, I see Uma swipe the PEP gun from the floor. The edges of my vision go gray and blurry. I gag and sputter, then I hear a BOOM. Electricity fills the air. As if in slow motion, I watch a silver wave of energy travel through the portal and envelop Mundie’s body. He stiffens for a moment, then goes slack. The wave reaches me just as his fingers leave my throat. I watch him go down as the jolt of the electricity hits my body and I slump, too.

  UMA JEMISON

  MOON UTILITARIAN SURVIVAL COLONY

  I STAND WITH the gun in my hands, my whole body shaking, but I can’t move. I’ve never held a weapon. Never hurt anyone. And it doesn’t feel good. “Did I get him? Did he go down? Where’s Talitha?” I scream.

  Aurelia cradles a quivering and whimpering Quasar while Castor shakes his head, still dizzy from Mundie’s blow. He picks himself up off the floor and stumbles back into the Res Extensa, yelling, “I need help!”

  Mom, Randazza, and I all cram into the cockpit where Mundie has fallen like a tree across Talitha’s limp body.

  “Help me get him off her,” Castor says.

  The three of them lift Mundie as I slide underneath to free Talitha. For the third time in one day, I hold her unconscious body next to mine. “Oh, Talitha! Oh, no. I’m so sorry,” I cry over her. “I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

  They dump Mundie’s body into the seat next to D’Cart and harness him down.

  “Let’s go,” says Randazza. “We’ve got to get out of here and lock that door behind us before they both wake up.”

  Castor helps me carry Talitha into the loading bay, then he takes Quasar from Aurelia’s arms and checks him over while I sit on the floor with Talitha on my lap.

  My mom squats beside me. “This is her?” she asks quietly. “The Earth girl that you love?”

  I nod, because I can’t talk, because if I talk, I’ll cry. And if I cry, I might not stop. I never thought I’d meet someone like Talitha. Someone who makes me feel as if I belong because she accepts me for who I am and she likes all the things that might seem strange to others. Once I did meet her, I assumed my time with her was fleeting. A mere moment on the Earth, then memories that I would carry back to the Moon in my heart. And so, to have her in my arms and know that I have hurt her is too much for me to bear.

  “I can’t lose her,” I say.

  “You won’t,” Mom assures me. “It was just a residual shockwave. Probably through his hand to her body. She’ll wake up any minute and be fine.”

  “No, not that.” I hold her tighter. “I mean, when all of this is over. When D’Cart is safely gone and the people all wake up and Dr. Fornax comes back…”

  “What do you want to do?” Mom asks. “Go back to Earth with her?”

  I see the pain in her eyes. Her memories of her time down there. Having to return and carve out a life from trash without my father at her side. It’s too much to ask of her after everything she’s given up for me. I soften my grip on Talitha, but I can’t let her go. Not yet.

  “How is she?” Castor asks. He leans close to her face. Their profiles are the same. Soft bristles of Mars-colored hair. Warm skin scattered with bright freckles like a starry night sky. The slope of their noses, the jut of their chins. But I could never mistake them for each other. All planets look the same from far away, but zoom in, and they are unique. Talitha has an essence that makes her who she is.

  “Latihat, kewa pu,” Castor whispers in their strange twin language.

  We all stare down at her, waiting, and finally she sighs.

  �
�Oh, thank gad!” I cry, then softly pat her cheeks, calling, “Hey, hey! Are you waking up? Are you okay?”

  For the third time, she blinks up at me with eyes the color of evergreens, then she says, “Seriously? Again?”

  I laugh softly, trying not to cry. “Last time,” I tell her. “Promise.”

  She sits up. “What the hell happened to me this time?”

  “Uma shot you,” Castor says with a laugh, while he strokes Quasar’s fur.

  “Did not!” I help her to her feet.

  “Actually, she saved you from that zombie mutant Mundie.” Castor shudders.

  “Where is he?” Talitha looks around the room, frightened.

  Castor points to the window, outside of which the Res Extensa sits.

  “We’re going to have to do something with them soon,” Randazza says.

  “Uma.” Mom jerks her head toward the holo we all forgot about. “Fornax is trying to tell us something.”

  From across the room, I see Dr. Fornax’s holo, gesticulating wildly on mute.

  “Do I have to unmute her?” I ask.

  “Probably should,” says Mom.

  “Ugh,” I say, then command the sound on again so Fornax comes across loud and clear.

  “You have to get that ship out of there now!” she shouts. “Initiate system launch.”

  “Override!” I say, surprising even myself.

  “What?” snarls Dr. Fornax. “What are you—”

  At that moment, standing on the precipice of MUSC, with the stars whizzing by, one foot away from a ship that could take us back to Earth, everything becomes clear to me. “I have some demands,” I tell her.

  “You don’t have time for demands,” Fornax says.