by George Deeb
“Cracking it open!” said Radio, as she slid off her bunk before anyone else. She grabbed the lever by the door, lifted up and twisted, then pulled it away from the wall. The decompression valve opened and the cabin air was vented from the ship. Reaching for the other lever mounted on the center of the door, she lifted up and pulled out, releasing the locking lugs. With just a slight push the door swung down to act as the stairway.
As Radio moved out of the ship she grabbed the black locater box that was mounted above the door. Dal, Petey, and Travellor were right behind her. The ambient light was very dim and the lights on their helmets weren't strong enough to illuminate very far in front of them. They had thirty minutes before the ship's computer ignited the engines and guided the ship back to earth, unless the door was left open. This was safety precaution in case there was a problem getting people or/and equipment out of the ship. The open door would keep the ship on the ground, but if launch was delayed more than two hours the chances of the X37 returning to Earth successfully diminished. There wasn't any time to waste.
“I'll preflight the ship.” yelled Petey. “Only take a minute.”
“Roger.” replied Travellor. “I'll clear the takeoff path. Radio, Dal, find those crates.” he said as he scanned the ground in front of the ship for any large obstructions.
It was important that the ship leave as planned. Its arrival back home could be the only way to let them know the team made it, if the communications equipment they had yet to set up didn't work. Radio turned on the locater, and its screen lit up with grid lines marking the relative direction and distance of the crates that were scattered around the area. Each of the crates had a low power radio beacon that sent out a coded ID signal. The locater screen showed the location of each one by displaying its coded ID on the grid. Also shown on the grid was a bright blue spot that indicated the desired location for the habitat.
“Oxygen and scrubbers.” said Dal, as he tried to point on the screen with his oversized gloves. “Let's get them first.” He started walking in the direction of the crate.
Petey had finished his preflight, and had come over to where Radio was standing. She handed him the locater, and started walking after Dal. He looked at the display and found the location of the medical compartment structure crates. There were only two required for the emergency treatment of Tonio. One contained the floor and its supports and the other contained the walls and ceiling that were specially wired for the medical equipment. He spotted the crate with the floor and supports, but not the other one. “Runway is clear.” came Travellor's voice in his helmet. He looked up to see him walking back.
“We've got a problem. I can't find some of the crates.”
Travellor moved beside him and looked over the locater display.
“What's the problem?” came Radio's voice in their helmets.
Radio and Dal were already carrying one of the crates into position. Their movement was slow and clumsy. The bulky space suits that kept them alive also made moving awkward, and the reduced gravity took some getting used to. They could walk almost normally if they moved slowly, but as soon as they tried to move quickly their movement got out of sync. Their brains were expecting their forward foot to be touching down but their bodies were still floating because of the lower gravity. They had to skip or jump to move quickly, giving their brains time to adjust the expectation of contact with the forward foot.
“Can't find some of the crates. Can't find part of the medical bay.” replied Travellor.
“Can't find several crates.” said Petey.
“It's not that surprising, is it?” said Dal. “We knew some of them might not hit their mark. They're probably somewhere outside the crater.”
“What's going on out there?” came JJ's voice over the radio. “What do mean you can't find it?”
“Locater doesn't show some of the crates. We think they might have landed outside the crater.”
“SHIT! Listen, I don't care if it's the medical bay or not. I need a room to work on Tonio. He's still losing blood and his vitals are dropping. PUT SOMETHING TOGETHER – NOW!”
Travellor knew he was right. They were running out of time.
“I need help getting Tonio out of the ship.” said JJ. “We've got less than fifteen minutes before this thing take off.”
“You three assemble a habitat room, big enough for all of us, and get the air working.” commanded Travellor. “I'll help JJ move Tonio.”
They all turned and moved to their assignments. There was nothing else to be said right now. 'What the fuck else can go wrong?” thought Travellor as he entered the ship.
JJ had removed the side panels of some of the bunks, and used them to make a stretcher.
“Help me move him onto this. I'll handle his legs. Be very slow and gentle.”
Travellor did as instructed. In the low gravity of the moon it was fairly easy to lift the unconscious man and lower him to the stretcher. JJ then used some of the safety straps to secure him to it. They lifted him and moved to the door. Their suits made what should have been a simple task a clumsy exercise as they tried to maneuver the stretcher around the cramped cabin.
“We're going to keep his legs elevated as we turn him.” said JJ. “Lower his head and we should be able to get him out the door.”
Travellor lowered his end as much as his suit would allow him to, while JJ raised his end up. The makeshift stretcher was just a little too wide for the door, so they had to cant it sideways to make it through.
“Hold on.” said Travellor when they were outside.
Travellor lowered the end of the stretcher to the ground, then went back into ship and entered the cabin. He released the four latches that secured the battery operated backup time display to the front bulkhead, and pulled it out of the receptacle. He then went out and secured the door.
“We've got to move away from the ship.” said Travellor. “Can't be too close to the engines when they fire.”
He saw JJ nod his head inside his helmet. He wasn't sure how far away was far enough, so they kept walking to where the habitat was being assembled. He thought they were far enough, and then he heard beeping in his helmet. They had five minutes before launch.
“Put him here.” said Dal, as he pointed to two oxygen tanks that were laid on their sides.
They lowered the stretcher onto the tanks, which held it off of the ground. It was difficult to be gentle with the injured man because of their suits, and it took a few minutes to make sure he was supported and stable. Then there was one long beep in their helmet speakers - thirty seconds until engine start. He reactively started counting down in his mind.
“She's going.” he said, when he had counted down to five.
Everyone stopped what they were doing to look at the ship. They could have kept it there by leaving the door open. The X37's computer would have started a fifteen minute countdown to a new launch time. This would go on continuously until the ship's door was closed and secured. But there was no reason to keep the ship here. They couldn't use it to return home in – no one would survive the much longer return travel time. Their last real connection to Earth was about to leave them.
As various thoughts went through their minds, the engine nozzles lit up with fire, and then the fire formed itself into a cone shape. The ship started to move forward. It was strange that there was no sound - no roar of the engines. They also did not feel any vibrations from the engines. The ship accelerated quickly over the surface, sometimes hitting a bump and jumping up a little. As they watched, it kept rolling closer to the side of the crater, seeming to be getting too close. They knew that the forward looking radar was scanning the terrain, and the computer was calculating the distance to the side. Then they saw was seemed to be four puffs of air from the bottom of the ship, and it sprang off of the landing gear as they were ejected from it by powerful compressed gas charges. The ejected landing gear bounced and tumbled for a while and finally settled to the ground. The ship started rising upward though its att
itude stayed level. It looked more like it was levitating than flying, and that description wasn't completely wrong.
The thrust directors on the engine nozzles then pointed downward, and the climb rate accelerated. They watched as the ship neared the top edge of the crater wall. If the computer had done its calculations correctly it would travel over it and continue out to space, and back to Earth. From the teams viewpoint it seemed the ship was too low, and they all took an involuntary inhale at the perceived moment of impact – but it didn't hit the wall. It flew over it as intended and soon disappeared from their sight. They turned their attention back to their work, and that was when they noticed something moving towards them.
Chapter 8
Reality
1
To say the Trailblazer team was stunned by what they saw would be a tremendous understatement. It was closer to shock, as they watched ten golden figures walking towards them, their minds almost refusing to accept what they saw. This mission had been more than twenty-five years in the making, and no one could have beaten them here. It just wasn't possible. Travellor saw that they carried weapons, although nothing that he could recognize – but he knew a weapon when he saw one. They were probably weapons specifically designed for use on the moon. He and his team had none – not even a pistol. No one considered weapons necessary in this early stage of the mission. Everyone knew there was nothing here that could threaten them, and that they would be the first to colonize the moon. Everyone was wrong.
“Who the f...”
“Everyone behind me.” commanded Travellor. “No threatening moves.”
They all stepped back so that Travellor would be the first one the approaching strangers would reach.
“Look at 'em.” said Radio. “They look like they're dressed in tracksuits. Look at how easily they can move. Those helmets are barely helmets. They can't be Russians or Chinese – they don't have that kind of technology. No one does!”
“No one that we know of.” said JJ.
“IT'S NOT POSSIBLE!” said Travellor, barking out the words. “I've been working on this mission for years. 361 knows every technology of every nation on Earth. Ours is either equal to or more advanced than anyone else's.”
“They're robots!” said Petey. “That would explain why they don't need space suits. They're not alive. Just machines.”
“Just machines with guns? Mmmm... no,” said Travellor, “I'm very familiar with the state of the art in robotics. Maybe in another fifty years - maybe. Look at 'em. They turn to look at each other. They're talking to each other. They're alive – and their technology is way ahead of ours.”
“There's another possibility.” said Dal, obviously deep in thought. “361 overlooked someone. Think about it. Someone else had a plan similar to 361's. They were to small to worry about. We didn't look at them. The Russians and the Chinese didn't look at them. No one did. A country not even considered to be interested in space. Just the fact that they were so small kept them hidden from eyes that didn't consider them worth looking at.”
“Maybe..., but I would really hate to think 361 didn't have any idea someone else was in the game. We've got fingers in every pie on the planet. Something would have turned up.”
The two groups were only about a hundred yards apart. Then a hundred yards became fifty. Then twenty-five.
“Hold your hands up, and your palms forward.” instructed Travellor. “If they're going to kill us, there isn't a thing we can do about it.”
“I... I don't... want... todie!” came a choked and struggling voice. They all looked down at Tonio. He was holding his arms straight up and his hands open.
The strangers spread out in a semicircle as they got closer. Their features could be clearly seen through their face plates. Their weapons were held at ready position, but not pointed at anyone. The man that seemed to be the leader walked up to Travellor. He opened a container he was carrying. Inside were ten orange and yellow emblems with writing of unknown characters on them. He took one of them out and mimed placing it on the side of his helmet, and then he handed it to Travellor. Cautiously, Travellor took the item from him, and once again the stranger mimed placing it on his helmet with another device.
“What is it?” asked Petey.
“Not sure.” answered Travellor. “I think he wants me to attach it to my helmet. Maybe it's a communications device.”
“Yeah,” said Radio, “or maybe it's an explosive charge and they're a bunch of sickos who want to have a good laugh watching our heads blow off.”
“If they wanted us dead, we'd be dead.” replied Travellor. He placed the emblem against the side of his helmet and it stuck to it.
“Can you hear me now?” came a voice in Travellor's helmet. He looked at the stranger's face as he talked, and his mouth movements didn't match the words he was hearing.
“Who the hell was that?” asked Dal, as the others heard the voice retransmitted through Travellor's microphone and over to their own helmet radios.
“That was the man in front of me.” answered Travellor. “It is a communications device!”
“Have your people place one on their helmets.” said the stranger as he handed the box the Travellor.
Travellor took one of the devices out, and handed the container to Petey. He moved over to Tonio and bent over to place the device on his helmet.
“You can lower your arms now Tonio. I think we're alright.” he said, as Tonio's arms fell and he went unconscious again.
“Is your man injured?” asked the stranger.
“Yes.” answered Travellor. “A meteoroid went through the ship and damage his leg. He's losing blood. We need to build a shelter so we can treat him.”
“I do not know that word... 'meter-oid'. The translator does not know it either. You can come with us to the ship. We have medical facilities and a doctor.” said the stranger, as he tapped a panel on his sleeve and began to talk. This time they couldn't hear what he was saying. “I have called for the transport to pick us up.”
“You have a ship with medical facilities and a doctor, and it's big enough to have a transport and hold all of us?” asked JJ. “Who are you? What country are you from?”
“Yes,” said Travellor, “we would all like to know that.”
“There will be time for diplomatic intercourse later. That is for my captain to engage in. First we will help your injured crew man. I am Benua-sil-Plessa. Chief engineer of the Orysta.”
“That's the name of your ship? The Orysta?”
“Yes.” replied Plessa. He turned and looked behind himself. “The transport has almost arrived.”
Coming over the edge of the crater was a flying vehicle. In a few seconds it had reached them and landed within fifty feet. Travellor was amazed that very little dust was kicked up by the ship, and that was only by the contact of its gear and the ground.
“That's interesting.” He said. “What kind of propulsion system does your transport have?”
No answer came as they watched the door on the transport open. One person exited the ship, and behind came a floating platform.
“Welcome to your moon.” came the voice of the new arrival. It was a woman's voice. “I am Mersuul-sil-Vaana, Navigator of the Orysta. We will introduce ourselves later, after your wounded crew man has been given medical attention. Place him on the platform. It will carry him to the ship.”
“Let's do it quick.” said JJ. “Tonio's not looking very good.”
“Grab an end and let's move.” said Radio, before JJ had finished speaking.
She had already moved to the injured man's feet. Four of them lifted him up and placed him on the floating platform. It dropped about an inch with the added weight, then automatically adjust its height back up. The navigator of the Orysta, and the platform started moving towards the ship. Radio bent over and looked beneath the floating body to confirm for herself there was nothing touching the ground.
“Neat magic trick.” she said. “You'll have to show me how you do that.”
>
Plessa tapped his sleeve again and spoke, but the words did not get transmitted to the Trailblazer team. The Orysta personnel moved to the ship, except for one armed man who stayed with Plessa. They moved with ease and speed, as if they were strolling around on Earth. The Trailblazer team moved more slowly, because of their clumsier suits and lack of familiarity with walking quickly on the moon's surface without bouncing. The weaker gravity would take some getting used to. They were the last to board the transport, which was about five times the physical size of the X37.
