CHAPTER 18: Incident on the Moon
(January 5, Year 35): Kevin had disembarked from the VLV at the New Orleans airport just as the sun finally rose completely above the horizon. It was just 7:00 AM, and the flight from New Athens had taken well over 2 hours. Slightly after 1:00 AM the 'jangling' of the phone had roused him with the message from Mark's secretary of an emergency meeting of the taskforce at 8:00 AM the next morning. He had rushed to arrange transportation and get to the airport, but once there found he had to wait until the VLV was fueled.
Conference room . . . .
Specialist Rebecca Levy could hardly contain her nervousness. She had been up all night going over the data, and had been notified of a meeting in the conference room only earlier that morning. She had been told to bring all the records of last night’s incident and the similar incident of several months before, and to be prepared to present to the Prime Minister and his staff.
Only 23, Rebecca had been one of the children brought along on the Alpha 2 relief mission, and had received her training here on Alpha 2. A data analyst, for two years she had been assigned to the team involved in interpreting and monitoring sensor data received from the long range sensors, including mapping and monitoring for any activity elsewhere in the Alpha Centauri star system. Shifting the data disks from her right to her left hand, she opened the door to the conference room and entered.
Around the small conference table sat the Prime Minister, Mark Johnson, Sophie Gardner, the Secretary of Defense, Dr. Miller, the head of her department, and her immediate supervisor, Specialist 1st Class Levine. In addition, President Takai Maesaka was there, and she also recognized Kevin Murphy, the Governor of New Athens, and Yitzak Meyer. As she entered the Prime Minister looked up from some papers and motioned her to the empty seat on his left. Rebecca took the seat and sat waiting for some indication of what was expected. After a few seconds Mark closed the folder in front of him and looked thoughtfully at Rebecca. "This report is very interesting," he commented, "please summarize both incidents; how they were detected, and what conclusions you draw."
As Rebecca started to get to her feet, Mr. Johnson waved her back with, "no need to use the data disks or the lectern for now. This is a small group, so let’s make it informal. I see you have additional copies of the report, so why not just hand them out and discuss the contents."
Rebecca stumbled with her first words, but soon gained confidence. "About 3 months ago, in reviewing monitoring data from Alpha-2's primary moon, an anomaly showed up. As you are aware the Alpha 2 moons, like Earth's moon, always keep the same side to the planet, so the far side can't be viewed either from Alpha 2 or from the Eretz Israel while in its current orbit. The anomaly was detection of what we presumed was a large meteor headed for the backside of the planet. While instrumentation wasn't focused well enough to be precise, the estimated weight was several megatons." Pausing, "that by itself wouldn't constitute an anomaly, since fallout from the asteroid belt isn't uncommon. The anomaly is the lack of a seismic reaction on the moon itself."
Dr. Miller asked, "absolutely no sign of seismic tremors at all?"
"No, none," she responded. “although it would be an exceptionally large asteroid; perhaps a ‘one in a century’ or more event.
Mark Johnson thought for a moment, then asked, "is there any doubt that we would detect the reaction of an impact of that size?"
Rebecca shook her head, "with our instrumentation we should definitely be able to. At first we assumed the seismic sensors just weren't properly adjusted or had malfunctioned, but upon review they were found to be operational and properly calibrated. Unfortunately, however, the sensors were tightly focused at the time, and may not have detected the meteor as it passed out of the moon’s shadow. While unlikely the incident was finally assumed to be a ‘near miss’, since instrument error was ruled out.”
Rebecca continued, “then last night there was a similar occurrence. The first incident we marked down to an anomaly, the second incident makes a pattern; especially since we had adjusted and focused the sensors to detect any reoccurrence, including a ‘pass by’."
Mark Johnson interjected, "detail, please."
Rebecca continued, "about 9:00 PM last night a massive object of several megatons appeared briefly near the edge of the primary moon and fell toward the back-side surface. The trajectory was what one would expect of fall-out from the asteroid belt, and the calculations showed it should have impacted. We know it didn't escape the moon’s gravitation or we would have sighted it as it left. However, again there were no seismic tremors, the same as with the first incident. From the mass of the object the tremors would have been easily detectable; but nothing."
Sophie Gardner looked at Rebecca thoughtfully for several seconds, "no chance of instrument failure or malfunction? Or miscalibration?"
"None," Rebecca responded, "we checked and double checked."
"And your conclusions?" Dr. Miller asked.
Taking a deep breath, Rebecca responded, "the object was definitely there, but did not impact nor did it just pass by. Which means,” she added, “the object is still there; it either is still suspended above the surface or it made a soft landing. There is no other answer."
There was several more minutes of questions, answers, and clarifications before Mark thanked Rebecca and her supervisor, and told them they could leave; but told the rest of the attendees to stay. Once they had left Mark looked around the room, "now you know why the emergency meeting. It looks very much like the possibility of neighbors has become a reality. At least unless we find there is some other explanation."
Takai sat staring at the table for a few moments, "Yitzhak, what's the status on the Israel? If its mission were changed to our primary moon, instead of Beta 3, how long before we'd be ready?"
Yitzhak thought for a moment before responding, "assuming we want to arrive near January 15, when the backside is in full sunlight, we'd have to break orbit around the 13th. That doesn't give us much time. All the primary engines are currently off-line but could be operational by then. Also we could start to increase speed to approach escape velocity using the secondary engines in the meantime, which could save a day. Yes, we can be ready to break orbit on the 13th, sooner if we can also get the primary engines up within the next two days. We'll need more fuel, but if we assign more shuttles we should be fully fueled by the time we’re ready to start the main engines."
Bert Miller asked, "since all the orbital adjustments up to now have been with the liquid fuel engines the primary engines haven't been in use for several years. You're sure they'll be workable?"
Yitzhak nodded, "we tried some very low power tests before we started refurbishment. They'll work, but I’d still want a few days before we try full power. One other thing; we have to go completely over and rework the laser cannons. They've been out of use ever since the peace treaty and we just might need them."
Mark was silent for a few moments, then looked over at Dr. Miller, "any problem in getting some of your people up there to check them over?"
"None," Bert responded, "I'll have them ready to shuttle up by this afternoon. Yitzhak," he added, "I'd like to meet with you after the meeting to go over everything you need."
Mark looked around the room, "if there are no objections, I think we should shoot for that. Leave orbit January 13, enter orbit around the moon on January 15. And first priority for whatever is needed for the mission." There were no objections, and Mark looked over at Bert Miller and asked, "I've been told some of your people think we may have another way to detect moon activity. Would you explain?"
Bert Miller nodded, "yes, it relates to the dust thrown up by the objects, or ships if that’s what they are, when they land. There’s a light layer of dust currently circling the moon at elevations up to several kilometers. Any disturbance on the surface causes additional dust, and it stays temporarily in orbit and spreads around the moon before the gravitational pull brings it back. It stays long enough that the cloud is visible
as a 'halo' around the visible edges of the moon before disappearing. We think we'll be able to detect when, or if, there are future disturbances on the backside by monitoring changes in the dust cloud."
"How accurate?" Yitzhak asked, "and how long after the event?"
"Right now we still have more instrument calibration, but it looks good. Even a soft landing of a space ship of any size should have a measureable affect. As to time? Depending on where the event occurs, and its size, it could range from less than an hour to as much as four hours. In fact, last nights event should already have affected the halo; and I’ll get my people on it immediately.”
"Before we break up, there's one more facet that needs discussion," Mark said, "and that's how to handle the announcement, and I think it's now reached the point where it can't any longer be kept secret."
The other attendees nodded their agreement.
"After the meeting I'd like to meet with Takai and resolve that. But it seems to me the taskforce role should expand. We can't any longer proceed in a low key mode, but should switch to high priority. From now on Takai has first call on all colony resources in addressing the problem, answerable only to me. Additionally, he has asked me for the full-time assignment of Kevin to the taskforce, and I have agreed."
"Any questions?" he asked, and when none were raised, the meeting broke up.
CHAPTER 19: The Gath
(January 5, Year 35): Gath-Tuc-1 lumbered across the floor on his hind legs, his awkward, heavy-muscled body moving in a graceless, plodding fashion. Positioning himself in the chair he reached forward and activated the controls of the telescope, deftly tuning them to bring the ship orbiting the planet below into sharp focus. After a short look he readjusted for a view of the buildings on the surface of the planet. Increasing the magnification, Gath-Tuc-1 watched the strange, bipedal creatures moving from building to building. This was part of his daily routine, a routine which he had followed ever since the new ships had arrived. Within a matter of minutes his mate, Gath-Tuc-2, entered and lowered her bulk into the adjoining chair.
The Gath had evolved from small quadrupedal mammals that fed upon the lichen covering flatlands of Beta 3, eventually increasing in both size and capability until they formed a crude sub-surface civilization, living in well organized colonies. In spite of the shortcomings of the species, the Aberi sensed more than normal potential. The brain was abnormally large and complex, it just never had a need to be fully exercised. The Aberi intervened more than was their custom to modify the species, influenced by the high potential they presented. This included genetic changes to convert the two front legs into prehensile hands, the key step in allowing the brain to develop, which resulted in their stooping, semi-upright stance.
The powerful, blocky body of the Gath had evolved to fit the gravity of Beta 3, twice that of Earth, and to protect themselves in the coolness of their burrows the Gath had developed a thick layer of fat beneath a skin covered with short, ‘spiny’, brown hair. The Aberi had done little to improve the appearance of the Gath, since appearance meant little to the Aberi; it was the mind they sought. In spite of the appearance a look at the face on the large head, which extended from the body without any apparent intervention by a neck, would have disclosed an alert intelligence in the small, pig like eyes above the broad mouth.
However the initial expectations were never fully achieved. Even with their large brains and manual dexterity the Gath failed to move in the direction desired by the Aberi. While they developed rapidly in the analytic and scientific fields, in other areas they were limited by a lack of imagination or emotion, and by the rigid society they had developed. The Aberi finally left, leaving an archives and assigning the task of watching them to the Aberi team on the Alpha 2 secondary moon.
Very soon after the Aberi left the Gath discovered the location of the archives, but in their typical plodding fashion had taken over 20 years to achieve entry. Once entry was achieved, however, and their massive brains applied to the task, deciphering the text in the upper chamber had been rapid, and within 20 more years, about 400 years before the present time, they found the key to the lower archives.
From that point Gath technology advanced at a rapid pace. Within 100 years the Gath had established a complex underground society, rarely bothering to visit the surface. Below the surface they developed a network of tunnels, caverns containing factories, farms, to grow the fungi and lichens that formed their basic diet, and residential areas housing billions of Gath, all maintained by heat drawn from the planet's core. There they lived peacefully with no natural enemies.
But the Gath were a product of their past; while they changed significantly both before and after the arrival of the Aberi, they still retained their initial unaggressive herd instincts. As such individual names served no purpose but to identify their position in the herd. Once Gath reached adulthood they operated in pairs that were rarely separated, with pairs identified only by their role in the hierarchy of whatever body or organization of which they were a part. They mated for life, and if no mate was available, that individual simply wasted away and died. On the home world, which they called Gath, the rulers were thus Gath-1 and Gath-2, while here on the moon of the planet they called Tuc, the local rulers were Gath-Tuc-1 and Gath-Tuc-2. A simple, orderly approach for a plodding, unimaginative species.
During the last 200 years the Gath population had expanded exponentially, and about 100 years before the Gath had begun to look outward toward Alpha-2, or Tuc as they called it, as a location for future colonization. As such they began a study of that planet and a plan for eventual colonization. It didn't take long for them to notice the signs of habitation by a native race and realize the planet was occupied. But it was also apparent the native race wasn’t very advanced, lacking even the simplest devices.
In the plodding fashion of the Gath it took a number of years to decide on a course of action, which was to mount an expedition to eliminate the present occupants and create a colony of their own; but not right away; perhaps in 50 or 100 years. With that in mind the Gath began to concentrate on development of the technology necessary for the task.
But something had jarred the Gath out of their complacency. About 35 years before they had observed new satellites orbiting Tuc, and since they themselves had by then achieved limited, local space flight, realized another intelligent species was about to beat them to their goal. Changing plans, or speed in making plans, was uncharacteristic of the Gath. But in this case they reacted rapidly by sending a small expedition to the primary moon of the planet to construct a base and observe activities on the planet below, with plans to send a larger expedition of conquest some years later.
Gath-Tuk-1 and Gath-Tuk-2 had been placed in charge of the expedition, and had been there ever since. But by the time the first Gath expedition reached the moon the orbiting ships were gone, the new species was gone, and all that remained were the cluster of buildings left behind by the visitors, and some members of the previous dominant indigenous culture; leaving the planet in the control of a third species, the Kraa.
This caused a reassessment. Before, they had hardly taken note of the Kraa, cowering in the northern forests as they were. But now, since they had effectively eliminated the previous dominant culture and the newcomers as well, the Gath had to take note. During this ‘reassessment’ the invasion plans continued unchanged, since the Gath had no incentive to change; it was easier to simply continue. Their plans had called for constructing an underground base on the far side of the moon with underground hangers and quarters for an invasion force. This was the plan and was well underway, so even with the new race gone, and the Torgai reduced to a pitifully small population, this plan continued to be implemented. That the force they planned was ridiculously massive in light of the primitive nature of the inhabitants didn’t occur to them, so they continued as if nothing had changed.
Even before the relief expedition arrived from Earth the moon base was well under construction and several thousand Gath live
d and worked below the surface. The fact that the new race had returned made no real difference to the Gath, as the original plan had always presumed its presence. The only difference was there were more of them now than there had been before, but still the number was tiny compared to the Gath forces being put in place.
Now, everything was ready, and the final part of the plan would soon be underway; invasion and colonization of the planet. That stage had already been initiated with the recent decision to dispatch the invasion fleet from Gath.
January 16, Year 35
The Israel had finally entered orbit around Alpha 2's primary moon and begun their search. They had completed five complete orbits, each adjusted to allow observation of a different strip of the ‘backside’, but up until the last pass nothing unusual was detected. But, on this last orbit, something unusual had been observed; Ensign Lee had touched Yitzhak's shoulder and pointed to the very edge of the viewing screen for which he had increased the magnification. Clearly visible were several rectangular shapes, which passed from the screen within seconds. Now, with their orbit adjusted to pass directly over the rectangular shapes, their attention was riveted as they began their pass behind the moon. At first everything looked much the same as before. A barren, crater scarred landscape. At first.
Captain Yitzhak Meyer twisted the dials to maximum magnification, focusing his attention on the viewscreen, and began talking into the recorder. Currently they were in the radio-shadow of the moon, but as soon as they left the black-out area the recording would be sent in burst-mode back to Alpha 2. He was recording his impression of what appeared to be artificial installations on the surface below, although the complete visual record and files of sensor data would also be transmitted.
"There is sign of heavy and extensive construction, with a number of large, rectangular surface structures. The structures appear suitable for serving as hangers or maintenance facilities, although the size makes it more likely they are elevators. This is borne out by three large objects which could be spaceships located next to the rectangular structures. These spaceships appear to be sitting on rails to allow them to be rolled in or out of the buildings. There are also large piles of rock and dirt a distance from the buildings that support the conclusion of underground construction; perhaps very extensive. "
Resurrection: Book II: Settlement Chronicals Page 20
