Alpha Class

by TS Paul

  “Oh. I wondered. Much of this looks new.” Maxim said, setting another module inside the shipping container.

  “It is. We will store everything, and when we get on the other side of the gate, we’ll pull it back out. This way it’s all in one place and ready.” Bobcat logged each item they put away.

  “What about all the space junk in the other dome?” Ron dragged a large spool of wire over to the container.

  “That, we are throwing into one of the other containers. Lots of salvage there. We can always use high-end composites and lightweight materials. Many of the other departments have one project or another that needs materials.”

  “What about the technology?” Yana looked up from the system she was disconnecting.

  “What about it? This stuff is just junk compared to what we have up in the Meredith Reynolds.”

  He pointed up to space. “This stuff is just cluttering up the moon, so we’re disposing of it. We did leave the flags and the base of Apollo 11 in place. The Queen instructed us to put up a very nice monument commemorating the landing on the moon and those that lost their lives getting here. We tried very hard to not disturb any of Neil Armstrong or Buzz Aldrin’s footsteps. Trust me when I say moving NASA's junk without making a mess is a chore even with the magnetic beam.”

  A low chime sounded, and Bobcat looked around. “Lecture time. Have a good time and try not to fall asleep. Marcus can get on a roll and forget you’re not as interested in what he is teaching as he is.”

  CHAPTER NINE

  “Not another lecture. I’m not sure my brain can take another one!” Maxim mockingly clutched his head causing the girls to laugh.

  “He’s not all that bad. His theory on gravitational anomalies is brilliant.” Tina tried to defend her friend.

  Maxim stared at Tina for a moment, “That may be true, but did we have to hear all of it? He lost me at vertical deflection, physical geodesy, and gravimetry. Have you asked him about the rovers yet?”

  Tina bit the inside of her cheek, “I’ll ask today. I promise.”

  Marcus walked into the room and stared at the five kids. “So for today’s lecture, I thought we would continue on the science of Gravimetric analysis and how it relates to what we do with our current technology. If you remember from yesterday’s session gravimetric analysis is what we use…”

  “Marcus, Sir?” Yana raised her hand.

  Marcus stopped talking and looked at the tall Russian girl. “Yes, Yana?”

  “Will we be using any of these principles in our work on the base or during operations?” she asked.

  “Not normally. We use this form of science to speculate on how one body differs from another.”

  “So it’s not something we need to know for any operation then?” Yana smiled to herself.

  “Hmm, you have a point Miss Konstantinovich. How about we discuss regolith then, instead?”

  Nestor stood. “Sir, you already gave us the background on how it is used in the construction of this base and the chemical makeup of moon soil.”

  Marcus looked at the boy. “I have? Well, have I mentioned solar radiation?” There were nods among the kids.

  “What about oxygen generation?” He carefully watched his interns. “NASA and many of the Earthbound space agencies use a piece of machinery called the Environmental Control and Life Support System or ECLSS. Water is processed into oxygen and hydrogen. This is the primary reason so much water is sent into space. Up here water is life. Over on the International Space Station, they process human urine into the air they breathe first before processing any pure water.”

  “Eeew! Is that really true, Marcus?” Tina made a face at him.

  “It’s completely true, Tina. In space, nothing is wasted. All resources are a precious commodity. That is the main reason we are cleaning up the moon. By the look on all of your faces, you never considered where your bodily waste goes did you? Let’s talk about that shall we?”

  —

  “Ugh! I’m never eating or drinking again! I can just taste it.” Maxim had a disgusted look on his face.

  Yana started to laugh. “We’ve been among these people for months, and you are just now wondering these things? Back home we did similar. Night soil was used as fertilizer for crops as well as tanning hides. Grow up Maxim.”

  “How did they get all the water we use up here? Marcus never did explain that part.” Ron now had more respect for those that grew the food he ate.

  “Mom told me some of this. It’s one of the reasons they hate us down there. The Queen ordered entire icebergs lifted up to us. She did pick ones that were navigational hazards to avoid damaging ships.”

  “If they were a danger why care about it?” Maxim could only stare at Tina.

  “Natural resources were being stolen or at least that is what the environmental groups all screamed. The bergs were in the ocean, but that didn’t matter to them.”

  Ron looked over at Nestor. “What did the Queen do? Did she stop taking them?”

  “The ones at sea she did. A couple of the countries in South America and those near the Arctic actually offered to sell them to her. Mom said she agreed and gave them what they wanted in exchange. There is a place that she took me once in the bowels of the Meredith Reynolds that is a giant pool of water. Some of the water they found out in the asteroid field is in there too. Mom says some comets are nothing but frozen water and that there are plans to intercept and capture them.”

  Yana smiled at her young friend. “Maybe your mom should come talk to us.”

  “I’ll ask her,” Tina agreed.

  “Who are you asking?” Bobcat stuck his head into the room.

  “Hi, Bobcat. Yana asked if we could get mom to talk to us sometime.”

  “Your mom is one of the hardest working women up there, but I bet if you asked nicely she would do it. So, Marcus tells me you want to get out of here for a bit. Thanks for that. I won an ounce of gold off William on how long you could stand Marcus’s lectures without running away. He does like to ramble.”

  All the kids nodded yes. Maxim rolled his eyes while doing so.

  “So we have three LRVs outside. I like to call them Moon Buggies. The engineers that were here one time souped them up pretty good. New batteries, transmissions, and structural enhancements make up the majority of improvements. How would you all like to take them for a spin?”

  All the kids had big smiles on their faces. A day out of here!

  “There are a few rules of course. The LRVs have locator beacons on them as well as a travel radius of about fifty miles. Use the solar panels, or you will run out of juice earlier than intended. Use the radios and call us if you run into any trouble or find any tech we might have missed. Get your helmets and survival packs. I’ll show you how to drive them.”

  Bobcat had to jump out of the way, or he would have been knocked to the floor. The five kids jumped up and hit the ground running. Scrambling out of the improvised lecture hall they all but ran to their quarters to their stuff.

  “We actually get to drive on the moon!” Ron found his helmet and survival pack under his bed. The new and very cool TQB skinsuits didn’t normally use a helmet. A special shield would snap into place if the suit were exposed to space or toxins such as gas. The helmet was an accessory that was added if you were space walking or used on planetary surfaces. Asteroid miners and other heavy duty positions used a hard suit that enclosed the entire body.

  Maxim pulled his helmet off the top of a box and inspected it carefully. “Is good. Mother Russia never put a man on the moon, and now here I am! Is good.” Carefully he attached the helmet and activated the seal.

  “Too bad the Government won’t care. They only want us dead and technology under their control. It is good we’re not around anymore.” Nestor put on his helmet too.

  Yana nodded her head in the boy’s direction. “What do you think Tina?”

  “We need some time out of this box so let’s go.” Tina glanced up at the curved roof and shudd
ered. She was just a tiny bit claustrophobic.

  All five of them finished snapping the helmets into place and went to the main airlock near the flight deck. Using the safety protocols, they checked that each other's helmet was properly fastened.

  Bobcat and William were waiting for them.

  “Got your gravity shoes? Without them, you will be like superman and fly off into the sky. The only difference is he could come back down. If you forgot them, now is the time to tell me. How about helmets? Got one of those? Wonderful.” William gave him a push and motioned counting money. Bobcat just shook his head.

  “Everyone get their helmets on properly? There should be two small green lights up in the far corner of your HUD. If you don’t see them tell me now.”

  None of the kids stirred.

  “Good. Those lights signify that the seal on your helmet is good and that you are connected to the sensor package. Your suit can sense if the air is breathable as well as toxins or lack of atmosphere. You navigate using your eyes and tongue. It takes practice so keep to the basics for now. In the lower right should be the communicator. It will detect radio frequencies and auto connects to other helmets. Non-TQB frequencies can be detected, but it takes a fine hand or a special comms helmet to understand them.” Bobcat looked around to see if everyone was paying attention. He found five sets of eyes staring back at him.

  “Great. Let’s go outside.” He waved at William who pressed a couple of buttons on the wall. A loud ‘whooshing’ noise could be heard as all the oxygen was sucked out of the landing bay. The bulkhead door to outside opened with a powerful ‘clang.’

  The surface around the base was rocky and uneven. Piles of regolith and moon rock were everywhere. Construction of the base required explosives, and they had made a mess of the surface area. Directly outside the door all three LRV were lined up and ready to go.

  Bobcat jumped up onto the first one in line. “Can everyone hear me OK?” All the kids including William responded.

  “Now. Each of these can hold two people and a total cargo of around five hundred pounds. If by chance you find something bigger than that, mark it on your map, and we will use a pod to get it. You, boys, are stronger than humans but let’s not overdo it...OK? These suckers drive like regular cars now. The solar panel is an upgrade and can recharge the entire battery in a couple of hours if needed. My suggestion is to leave it deployed unless it's bouncing around too much. Top speed on these is around fifteen miles an hour. You can take two of them so pick one.”

  Bobcat jumped off the rover and bounded over to William. They both watched as the kids kicked the tires and peered into the engine compartment. The engineers that upgraded the buggies painted names on them, Wheelie, Rota-Ree, and Dr. Crankinstein.

  “Hey, Bobcat? What do the names mean?” Tina was crouched down behind Wheelie.

  “Even I had to look that one up. Blame the engineers. It’s an old cartoon program they thought fit these things.”

  “Oh, OK. Cool. We would like to take Wheelie and Rota-Ree, can we just go?”

  “Not just yet. Use your tablets to navigate. Just northwest of us is the Mare Crisium area. That is marked on your maps as a No-Go area. There is a large amount of electromagnetic interference coming from there. It may cause a dropout in communications. Stay away from it. Everywhere else is open to you. Have fun, but stay alert and learn something. Now get out of here!”

  Yana and Tina grabbed the pink colored LRV with the name Rota-Ree painted on a flag hanging off the back. Yana slapped Tina’s hands off the wheel and checked over the controls. Someone had thoughtfully labeled everything and decorated every empty surface with pastel flowers. “I’m driving. You navigate.”

  Putting the little buggy in gear, Yana backed up and began to test out the simple controls.

  Maxim, Nestor, and Ron had much more trouble.

  “Why do I have to ride in the back?” Ron was tossed into the back by the much larger boys. He now was scrambling to find something to hold on to.

  The controls on Wheelie were far more complicated. The engineers thought a jacked up chassis and wheels fifty percent larger than standard was a good thing. Driving through the regolith and rock was similar to driving on soft sand or very deep snow.

  “Ugh, this drives like father’s old truck!” Maxim shifted to another gear as the buggy's wheels sank into the soil.

  “Your father’s truck was more comfortable and bigger!” The two larger boys were crammed into the front seats. Neither of them had room to breathe.

  “Good luck and have fun! Try to stay out of trouble.” Bobcat’s voice came over the speaker in their helmets as both buggies slipped and slid out of the base’s entrance.

  Watching them leave Bobcat turned to William. “Half an ounce of gold they get into trouble within an hour, and we have to save them.”

  Before William could respond, another jumped into their conversation, “They are smarter than that Bobcat. Give them at least two hours.” Both men turned to see Marcus standing behind them.

  Bobcat shook his head, “Ya think? I stick with an hour.”

  William looked between the two of them and shrugged. “Why not? You’re on. Both of you. I’ll take over two hours before trouble occurs.”

  All three men began to chuckle.

  —

  Just outside the base the boys in Wheelie were just starting to get the hang of the controls and were trying to catch up with the girls.

  “Hey, Ron! Where are we going?” Nestor looked back at the young human who was sliding around the small cargo compartment.

  “Hold on a minute.” Ron grabbed the side of the rover and locked his gravity boots down using the helmet controls. They acted like giant magnets and secured him in place.

  Ron, from his position in the back, couldn’t tell their location. Pulling out his tablet, he punched the locator and waited. High overhead one of the E.I.’s deployed in the over-watch satellite zeroed in on the signal and sent an update to his tablet in microseconds.

  “We are in the Mare Vaporum crater headed toward the Sea of Tranquility.” He was shouting when he didn’t have to. Concentrating for a moment, he turned his mic down.

  “Sorry guys.”

  “Is OK. Do you know where girls are headed?” Nestor looked back at him and smiled.

  Ron said, “the girls are going to the Sea of Tranquility where Ranger 8 crashed, and Apollo 11 landed.”

  “Apollo 11? Like the movie?” Nestor’s eyes widened. “Neil Armstrong, the first human on the moon?”

  Ron laughed. “Yes to all of those. Except they shot the movie back on Earth. We need to make sure they don’t drive over the footsteps!”

  “Why not call them?” Maxim asked.

  Nestor and Ron looked at Maxim as he swerved to miss a large chunk of rock. “What did you say?”

  Maxim snorted. “Call them. Didn’t Bobcat say helmets auto-connect to other helmets?”