First Light: Book one of the Torus Saga

by Berg, Michael

  “OK, a bit of a leg work out sounds good to me. I am also feeling a little seized up. My legs could do with a bit of exercise aside from those machines in the gym.”

  The longest access tube in the Moon base complex was just over 350 meters long, and as they walked through, they could see the Earth clearly in full view. Central Asia was dominant including the Plateau of Tibet. “Looks a lot further away than the other week,” Lyle said. “Funny we get to see it now, from so far away. It would have been good to take the turn and head into the mountains that day.”

  “Yeah, I thought about it for a long time afterwards. I have always had a fascination with the place but I am yet to go there.”

  “A bit unlikely for a scientist.”

  “Hey, we are not all just about numbers, equations, and formulae.”

  “Yeah, I know, I was just having a jibe at you.”

  They stopped at the midway point along the transparent tube for about ten minutes gazing out at the Earth and the stars - the surface of the Moon just inches away. It was like a dream with the barren lunar landscape and certain death just the thickness of the tube wall away from them. A few others passed by during this time, mostly on their way to a workstation, or to quarters for rest. Shift change for general operations at Luna One was at nineteen hundred hours each Earth day without change. It was imperative for all Luna One officers to be punctual in both arriving and leaving for work to ensure efficiency. Resources for the base were counted to the very last morsel of food, droplet of water, and unit of oxygen, thus requiring all staff and visitors to apportion all activities on schedule and avoid any over runs or waste. Although there was an abundance of water on the Moon, first discovered by probes in the early twenty first century, from which the water and oxygen requirements were derived, the need for efficiency was paramount. Operations were as tight as the seals found on the airlocks, and any oversight could be very costly.

  After their walk they felt like retiring for the night to their quarters, which seemed a little strange as the Moon was bathed in sunlight. Luna One had been in sunlight since their arrival and their sleeping patterns had been disrupted. Upon arrival they had requested to be housed in the same quarters during their official welcome, which pleased the commander of Luna One, as it would save resources operating one room instead of two.

  They lay together in bed looking out through the roof windows to the stars for a while before closing the blinds to darken the room. Surveillance was not present in their personal quarters in respect of people’s privacy. “So what about the chips? I wonder if they will bring it all online during our stay?”

  Jenna was lost in her own thoughts missing the content of Lyle’s question. “What was that dear? Sorry I was miles away.”

  “I was wondering if they will bring the ID chip systems online during our time here at Luna One.”

  “I guess they will and they won’t. Deployment on such a large scale is going to take some time. I expect it will take at least a couple of months by the time everyone has been done. But the systems will be in place - they probably are up and running already. And we have to be alert to this. They might take the initiative for all science and military personnel and do them straight away. Working with or for the authorities can sometimes be very limiting where people, officers, and the like can be the first in line for such things.”

  “What about us? We left before the announcement. It would be almost impossible to avoid it if they advised all personnel at Luna One be given the injection.”

  “Hey silly, you are forgetting your intuitions.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Think about it. We have the tech both John and Ryan built.’

  “Yeah.”

  “So if they ask we simply tell them we took the injection right after the first announcement where people were given some months to get the injection.”

  “Of course! Why didn’t I think of that?”

  “So they probably will not even ask. A simple check will confirm our status.”

  “But there is the gap, we forgot about that.”

  “Oh yeah, the time it takes for the security update algorithm John built to travel from the Moon to the Earth…just over one second. Now I am worried.”

  “Maybe there is still time. Perhaps if anything does show up then they might miss it. Surely amongst millions and millions of files, there is a margin of error.”

  “As is the case for any system, but those errors will become known and they will investigate.”

  **********

  Superior Officer One had just received her latest assignment as head of authentication analysis. ‘Why me?’ she thought. ‘As if I don’t have enough to do already.’ The holographic data floating in front of her contained the necessary codes and files she would need to carry out this role, along with a list of designated officers to support her. She read through the file hoping she would not see Agent Eight listed. Her hopes were realized, as he was not there. It had been twenty-four hours since the global announcement and the system would be fully functional forty-eight hours from now. ‘Well at least I have a couple of days to get ahead with my work…except for that useless Agent Eight.’

  He had not sent a report for two days and she was not pleased. She held back though, unwilling to send anyone after him yet. She was too busy to deal with his failures and she knew he would contact her in time. His job and his life depended on it and she knew that little weasel loved his job. She turned off the holographic data and decided it was time to finish work for the day and go home.

  Going home was a release for her, with the views from her top floor apartment offering respite from the days she spent deep underground. Although all the other officers saw her as hard and uncompromising, she did have a softer side but she would never show any softness with anyone at headquarters. She was a consummate professional superior officer and like Agent Eight, her life depended very much on her maintaining this front. She had made it to the top floor after years of hard work and sacrifice, almost of her very soul. Determination to never go back was her main motivation to keep all other officers in their place, including Agent Eight. She did not really despise him, although she knew he hated her. She was simply after status as he was, and there could never be any compromises.

  Five minutes later as she rode the transit tube for officials’ only located underground away from public scrutiny and to retain secrecy for officer identification, she forgot her work and instead thought about her one real passion, music. It soothed her after a day of relentless intrusions and taking a hard line at staff, reminding her of days of youthful exuberance, now long past. Nobody ever knew anything of this though, except the very few friends she had on the outside. They were officers too and she did not trust them so they were not close friends, more like associates. Her life as an officer was mostly bland, almost as bland as the face of Agent Eight.

  **********

  “Finally,” Jenna said to Lyle the next Earth day as they were both on their way to the office of Luna One Commander. They had received a call to advise their mission duties would commence that day. “Now we are getting somewhere.”

  “Welcome. I trust you have been comfortable,” the Commander said when they entered his office.

  “Thank you, yes,” they replied in unison.

  “I see you have successfully completed the acclimatization tasks assigned to you. Sorry for this, I know you both must be wondering what your assignment her at Luna One is to be.”

  “We do know a little,” Lyle replied. “But yes, we have been wondering.”

  “Good, then I have some news for you. Your official assignments begin on this Earth day, and by chance, or stroke of luck for you as a couple, your assignments will have you working alongside each other. Now what can be better?” Luna One Commander was an openly generous man in dispensing an air of optimism whenever the chance arose. Both Jenna and Lyle had felt at ease with him the moment they met him shortly after arrival at the base. He had a manner
where everyone he met immediately felt comfortable in his presence. Jenna and Lyle had discussed this on their first Earth night, remarking how similar he was to Chan. The Commander was so very similar, even in appearance to Chan, they had even speculated if it could actually be Chan in one of various disguises or ways of appearing suddenly without expectation.

  “I have some data files being sent to your holographic devices for you to study. Each file contains an overview of your assignment, a mission brief if you will, and data detailing the logistics involved with carrying out your duties. You are indeed lucky in a way. Both of you will be traveling to a sector of the Moon that has only recently been explored, so in a way, you will be pioneers for the development of that sector.”

  “You are most kind Commander, and both Lyle and I are grateful for your wonderful hospitality and the respect you give to us,” Jenna said smiling to him and relieved they were finally on their way, to somewhere.

  “Oh thanks to you Jenna. You too are of similar ilk and I must say I am very much looking forward to seeing the results of your assignment, and yours Lyle.”

  “Commander?”

  “Yes Lyle. Jenna and I were wondering if it is at all possible for us to contact some friends we have on Earth. They were about to embark on a journey, a holiday, and we are very interested in hearing any news from them.”

  “Hmm, normally I would grant such a request without a second thought. But do understand there is something afoot here at Luna One and I myself have been instructed on maintaining a communications black out with Earth, except for official matters only, until I am advised to do otherwise. I am sorry, but I cannot allow it.”

  “I understand your position Commander, please excuse my asking.”

  “No excusing necessary. You both present as entirely trustworthy and as people of admirable character and for that I too am grateful. It is not often I meet people like you two. So many officials and others so secretive, it almost becomes a burden to my natural ways. Anyway, I am sure you will both be very busy over the next nine days, and…your friends on Earth will likely have plenty of stories in store to tell you when you go home. Oh, and one last thing. Please do not hesitate to contact me should you have any questions or requirements I can help you with. Good day to both of you.” He rose from his seat offering his hand, which they both shook in turn. “And, the best of success for your assignments.”

  “Thank you,” they said, again in unison as they left his office.

  “What do you think he meant when he said ‘secretive’?” Lyle asked as they walked the passageway from the Commander’s office back to their quarters.

  “I can only imagine,” Jenna was a little concerned. “It is likely something to do with those military personnel I saw last night.”

  As soon as they arrived back at their quarters, they engaged their holographic devices to study the mission data the Commander had given them, and were immediately very much surprised.

  “The Leibnitz Mountains, I have never heard of them,” Jenna said as they both reviewed their data. “Located almost at the southern pole of the Moon.”

  “The Malapert Crater,” Lyle added. “Situated at eighty eight degrees south. We will be at the fringe of where between the Erath side face, and the dark side of the Moon. This is exciting.”

  “You said it! And we get to ride in a Luna Lander.”

  “Sounds a bit like the days of the first Moon flights over one hundred years ago. I think they loosely called the landing craft of the first Moon landings, Landers. I bet the craft we get to ride in will be a lot more sophisticated though.”

  “In fact the Luna Lander craft of this time are significantly more technologically advanced than those pioneering craft, which were little more than tin cans fitted with thrusters and instruments,” Jenna responded. “I have a good knowledge on the history of propulsion and space craft.”

  “They are looking for rare Earth…or Moon elements,” Jenna said as they both continued to analyse their data, reading through mission specifications and objectives. “I was sure they had already found enough large deposits of these on the Moon, and in the Asteroids. It is the main reason they are mining in the asteroids. It says here I am to supervise the testing of new mining equipment and to report on its efficiencies, dependencies, and any anomalies encountered during the test. “One big thing,” her eyes suddenly widened.

  “What?”

  “They are going to use the protein mechanics I have been working on.”

  “Wow. I can only imagine what that means for you. You could go down in history.”

  “Don’t be silly, silly. I don’t want to be the subject of notoriety. I just like doing this work.”

  “OK sorry,” Lyle was joking because he knew he did not need to apologize to Jenna.

  “What about you Lyle? What is your objective?”

  “It appears as though I am there to assess the immediate impact to the surrounding Moonscape as I thought. There is not much more detail other than specific experiments I need to carry out to do this. It also says my expertise in conducting these experiments is required as I am apparently a leader in this area for disseminating results that can be worked into feasibility reports. Still a bit vague though.”

  “Perhaps there are some radiation effects as a result of this mining venture that might need an impact study.”

  “Probably. That was my line of thinking. It must be very, um…what do you say?”

  “Sensitive?”

  “Yes. Maybe they need my knowledge of containment for avoiding contamination or the like.”

  “Now that sounds better. Why didn’t I think of it before? The protein mechanics have to be contained in a very specific field, otherwise any contamination could affect organic matter and mineral matter. We are looking at nano protein strings.”

  “How do they work?”

  “Um, similar to nano technology used in many applications. Their strength is where the strings, naturally at the microscopic nano level, have a very high conductive capacity and operate more or less at human body temperature. My previous work with the cooling of fusion propulsion I mentioned to you was the foundation of this protein string work. It was though those experiments that we became aware of how to manipulate the strings and then apply conductivity testing. Some scientists had theorized about the idea but the protein banks always went beyond the normal organic body temperature. There is a certain range where organic proteins can function. Too hot and they fuse together and too cold, they shut down. But the big breakthrough I made was to get fusion to occur at the much lower temperatures than anyone had previously.”

  “I can only begin to understand that.”

  “It is all you need believe me. If I were to detail the entire process behind the fusion propulsion systems, we would need about a week.”

  They both now felt a lot more at ease with their situation and excited to be going to a region of the Moon far beyond the normal reaches of Luna One. The first lunar base was located on the fringes of Mare Tranquillitatis, commonly known as the Sea of Tranquility. In honor of the first human visitors to the Moon, Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins, the base had been built just a few miles away from their historic Apollo Eleven landing site. The other two much smaller lunar bases had been constructed at the northern end of Mare Serenitatis, the Sea of Serenity adjacent to the foothills of the Caucasus Mountains. This base honored the first Russian manned lunar landing and was operated by Russia. The third base was more of an outpost and being located on the Rumker Plateau far to the west, it was remote to the other two bases.

  “OK, we have two hours before departure. Let’s get a bit of relaxing done and chat for a while,” Jenna proposed. “We are going to be in and out of airlocks and spacesuits, and will be confined to the space inside the Luna Lander and the mining machinery when we get there. The Landers do have small recreation rooms, but really it will be like living aboard a small ocean research vessel on Earth.” Lyle opened a channel to Luna One cat
ering and ordered meals for both of them to be delivered to their quarters so they could talk without surveillance.

  As they ate, Lyle was viewing some holographic data on the origins of the naming for regions of the Moon, specifically the Leibnitz Mountains. He almost choked on a mouthful, and then regained composure, “You are not going to believe it! Hmm, maybe you will. Look at this!” With a swipe of his hand, he rotated the orientation of the data so Jenna could take a look.

  “Oh my!”

  “Indeed. I immediately thought of Chan when I read that. These coincidences are becoming uncanny.”

  Jenna read the information out loud, “Gottfried Wilhelm Leibnitz, a German mathematician and philosopher who discovered differential calculus. In his philosophical writings he regarded matter as a multitude of monads, each a microcosm of the universe and assumed an established harmony between spirit and matter as a perfect exemplar of the human soul. Wow. And a man clearly of two minds. The differential calculus determines both maximum and minimal points used to determine variables in between, and yet this philosophical edge is very much ambiguous with the harmony between spirit and matter.’

  “Sounds a bit like Chan’s statement of spirit setting the path for light to follow.”

  “With all light in the past no matter how small that past is. He also said he knew about your mission to the Moon. I wondered how, but with this, I am beginning to establish some type of connection.”

  “And…look there,” Lyle indicated to a smaller section of holographic data.

  “Malapert – bold behavior sometimes seen as impudent showing lack of respect. Now I am really seeing a connection. Boldness can be seen favorably or not, as can the interpretation of lack of respect. I am sure Chan would not espouse to showing anything a lack of respect, nor do we. Ha, even the Luna Commander told us so.”