First Light: Book one of the Torus Saga

by Berg, Michael

  “Yes. There are some values in the world that for intended purposes call for respect, but in essence the respect can be ill placed where those values accepted as normal, are in fact, negative and detrimental.”

  “And so do not deserve such respect, which is then seen when a person is bold enough to challenge them. There have been many examples throughout history and they are still occurring. Think of this ID chip and the propaganda used to convince people they should respect the authorities for looking after them, when in fact, the authorities want to control them.”

  “I could not agree more, and...” Jenna gave Lyle a wide smile, “I love you.”

  The Lunar Lander spacecraft stood on the launch pad with just its pilot as the sole occupant. He was busily carrying out pre-flight checks and bringing systems online. As his two passengers walked along the tube connecting the craft to the departure room, he watched them carefully trying to assess their character. He was not a suspicious man by nature, but with the secretive exploits of the military fresh in his mind, he was uncertain now about most things going on at the base. He was a civilian pilot who had realized his dreams of flying spacecraft on the Moon and he was proud of this achievement. Billed as the best pilot in situation on the lunar surface, he never failed to live up to these expectations, due to both his skill and his attention to detail.

  “Permission to come aboard,” Lyle said through the intercom.

  “Permission granted,” the pilot replied. “Welcome aboard, I am Jack Ofler, just call me Jack.” Lyle and Jenna shook hands with Jack, both doing their best to hold back a laugh. He saw this on their faces but was not concerned as he was a jovial person by nature himself. Most people he had ever met did likewise when they were introduced, and he had often thought he should change his name, but had never got around to it. “We are going to spend the next nine days together so it is best we get to know each other on a first name basis.”

  “Hi…Jack. I am Lyle, pleased to meet you.”

  “Jenna. Nice to meet you Jack.”

  “OK, there are the formalities done. Now we can get down to business. I’ll fill you in on our flight plan once you have stashed your gear. Your sleeping quarters are at the rear, to the left of the recreation room. Galley is to the right.”

  “What about work space?” Jenna asked.

  “It is in the passageway with holographic banks on either side. You will pass through it on your way.”

  The couple followed Jack’s directions, stashed their gear and returned, pausing at the holographic banks on their way back. “Looks pretty good,” Jenna said approving of the array of holographic computers.

  “OK, here is our flight plan,” Jack said as they sat down in two of the four available seats in the flight control section. “We leave in five minutes, so do those harnesses up while you listen. Our flight will take ten hours from Luna One to the Leibnitz Mountains. We don’t rush these things. Our only course deviation will be as we pass over the Sea of Nectar, Mare Nectaris. We do this for reconnaissance purposes as it has been selected for research and every flight to and from Luna One on a heading south, is required to gather data on each pass. Additionally if there are any problems during the flight, a small depot has been established there for emergency purposes.

  “Sea of Nectar sounds very sweet,” Jenna said.

  “Ha, you’ll be buzzing by the time we get there. The views between here and there are spectacular to say the least.” Jack replied. This mild joke further broke the ice amongst them. “Firstly we will pass by Theophilus to our right, a huge crater some one hundred kilometers in diameter with surrounding peaks rising to over four thousand metres. It is often regarded as one of the most superb features of the Moon. Then we will pass by the Pyrenees Mountains to the east of Nectaris. They catch the sunlight beautifully and you will notice some of the orange colored lunar sub surface showing through. From there, we veer slightly west for a straight line approach to the south.”

  “Sounds like an interesting ride,’ Lyle said.

  “It is. Now, our cruising altitude will be at three hundred feet so you will get a nice close up view of the terrain as we travel. You can take those harnesses off once we reach cruising altitude but they must remain on until that time. And lastly, as we leave Luna One we will pass almost directly over the historic Apollo Eleven site, so I’ll take her down to one hundred feet for you to get a good up close view.”

  “Cool,” said Jenna thrilled at the prospect of seeing the site. “I have always longed to see it.”

  “Then long no longer,” Jack replied, again in a jovial way.

  Liftoff was as per schedule, the Lunar Lander rising effortlessly before engaging forward thrusters.

  A short distance later, Jack brought the craft in low over the Apollo Eleven site and slowed to three metres per second. “Nobody is allowed to go in,” he said as they looked at the transparent dome covering the site. “The dome was erected to protect it from debris, radiation, space rocks and to keep people out. They want it preserved as it was left back then.”

  Indeed, aside from the dome, the landing site appeared as though the pioneering astronauts had just left it, with their footprints still clearly visible.

  “Reminds me of Scott’s Hut in Antarctica,” Lyle said. “The cold temperatures have preserved that place. It too looks the same as when they left it over one hundred and seventy years ago.”

  Jenna was busily looking around the entire site taking in the historical values. “See there,” she was pointing at the seismometer left behind by the astronauts as part of the ALSEP package they had deployed. “Readouts from that continued well after its use by date. And there,” she pointed at another object a little further away and just outside the dome. “A laser reflector. It still is used to calculate the Earth – Moon distance, though mostly for astro-physics students as we have a lot of much newer technology in place for that now.” She was clearly excited about the site and Lyle noticed her youthful exuberance.

  “OK, we need to go to three hundred and get going,” Jack said. “Sorry to interrupt your time.” A minute later they were at cruising altitude, “OK,” Jack said. “We are at three hundred, you can unbuckle.” They traveled through relatively featureless terrain until Theophilus Crater came into view. “We need to skirt around it to our left and go between it and the Madler Crater.” Towering peaks gave the impression they were a mountain range rather than the walls of the crater. It was a remarkable sight as they reached into space, their contrast against the black sky making it even more spectacular. Jenna and Lyle were used to seeing mountains on Earth reaching into an atmosphere, but here on the Moon with none, they took on an entirely different perspective illuminated by the sun, with the blackness of space in the background.

  “Good isn’t it,” Jack said noticing the looks of awe on their faces.

  “Sure is,” they replied together, their view not faltering. The Lunar Lander had a mostly unobstructed view with a transparent flight control cabin aside from some hardware located in the floor and in a dashboard for the pilot.

  “Now we are about to traverse along the side of Mare Nectaris,” Jack told them as the peaks began to recede. “It is pretty flat except for the other side where we will approach the Pyrenees Mountains to pass over our reconnaissance point.” He swung the Lander a little to the left to align with the point. As they traveled along over the featureless terrain, the distant mountains gradually came into view.

  “More like a clump of hills really,” he said when they were close enough to see some detail. “In a moment you might notice some of the lunar sub surface. Once the sun hits it, the orange will be very evident.”

  As if on cue, they reached a point where the sunlight on the hills illuminated the orange lunar soil, creating a vivid contrast against both the blackness of space, and with the gray found on most of the lunar surface.

  “Beautiful,” Jenna said.

  “Like you,” Lyle whispered to her.

  “I heard that,” Jack
added. They all laughed.

  A short time later, Jack turned the craft to their right for the heading straight to the Leibnitz Mountains. The Lander followed the course of the terrain maintaining an altitude of three hundred feet, which required it to go up and over, and down and over at times.

  “I suggest you get some food and some rest,” Jack said two hours later, interrupting them as they analyzed data at the holographic banks. “We still have a bit to go and you might need to rest up a bit before we land. The galley is fully stocked so just take your pick.”

  “What about you,” Lyle asked.

  “I need to remain in the flight control cabin to monitor our flight even though we are on automatics. I’ll grab some food later.”

  Lyle and Jenna left the holographic banks, fixed some food and then sat in the recreation room to eat and talk.

  “What a trip,” Jenna said.

  “Yeah, one I will never forget. We have done a lot of traveling lately and seen some amazing things. This counts as up there amongst the best despite the Moon being lifeless.”

  “Hey, not entirely lifeless. I am here, and you.” After finishing the meal, they took Jack’s advice and rested for the next few hours.

  “Hey sleepy heads, time to wake up. Only half an hour until we land,” Jack said waking them. They had both slept longer than they had anticipated.

  “Did we miss anything?” Jenna asked through a yawn.

  “Just a lot of craters.”

  Half an hour later they touched down at their destination. The only signs of life were another two Lunar Landers, and the mining outpost. This consisted of a small service building used to house personnel and machinery, about one hundred feet square.

  “Gee, not much living space here,” Lyle said looking concerned.

  “No, there never is at these outpost locations. You need to get used to cramped conditions pretty fast. Stay here whilst I go over and arrange some room.”

  “What, they don’t know we are coming?”

  “Oh yeah, they know that but they just think you will cram in with everyone else. My orders are to get you some space though. Just wait for a bit.” Jack put on his spacesuit and then proceeded to the airlock on board the Lander. “Back in twenty,” he said through the helmet communication system.

  Jenna and Lyle watched him take the steps across to the mining building in typical lunar style where each one would carry him a little through space in the same bouncing way people had become familiar with since those first Moon pioneers.

  He returned in the same way twenty minutes later with good news, “I told them you would need some extra space for your work. They were reluctant at first as space out here is such a premium, but I talked them round. You are lucky as you get an entire room to yourselves.”

  After donning their own spacesuits and taking the bounce-like walk to the building, Jenna and Lyle were shown inside to their room which both of them thought was more like the size of a cupboard.

  Chapter 27

  Raynie was tired. Her and Jake had been traveling on foot for hours since splitting up from the others. After meeting Ryan’s friend in Carson City, they had gone their separate ways the next day - his friend had been unable to supply them with any transport. Jake was feeling similar as they walked the last few miles into Reno. As a security measure they had not taken public transport, with the systems requiring all passengers to register their details and destination prior to travel since the ID chip announcement was made. John and Tobias had taken Lorraine and Asper with them and were heading south towards Las Vegas, with Ryan deciding to remain in Carson City with his friend. Their plans were to split up and meet again in two weeks at a house Jake’s parents owned near Lassen Volcanic National Park in northern California. The decision to do this would allow Lyle and Jenna enough time to return from space and report, as they were required to do, and then be able to connect up with the group. They had all taken the technology John and Ryan had built, and were confident it would enable them to remain secure.

  Reno had never been much of an attractive city in the past with significant crime statistics, and nor was it attractive in the present. Dogged by the problems associated with gambling, it mirrored the characteristics of Las Vegas, just on a smaller scale. Even the authorities had virtually given up on it, with its crime, falsehoods and facades thinly disguising some of the worst traits of humanity inside. There was very little evidence of development other than a few holographic projectors here and there, and other technology deployed to control its citizens and visitors. It continued as it always had, riding on the back of chance where one could lose or gain fortune that in turn often brought turmoil into a person’s life. Those in central authority secretly hoped it would just go away, so they left it to its own device, and to run its own affairs, until now.

  Seizing upon the opportunity of the security announcement, the authorities went busily about the city rounding up anyone who could easily be injected and therefore, made to conform. They saw it as an experimental ground, testing the new technology and testing their ways of both interrogation and deprivation.

  In contrast its sister city to the south, was shown all the consideration they considered it worthy of despite its shortcomings. Facades were taken to an extreme where the old palaces of money laundering were revamped into glittering towers, and a person could spend a life above ground working and then gambling their lives away. The authorities saw this as a perfect medium to disguise their motives of conforming. Playing with those embattled souls who sought escapism from their embattled lives through a quick win or a quick sleaze, they promoted it to anyone who was foolish enough to want it. And oh the smell and the taste!

  It was not a real smell or a real taste - it was just an air about the city, a feeling for underneath it all, Las Vegas in these times was not unlike Reno in delivering the worst human beings could offer. That is not to say all people who lived in either city aspired towards the offerings of crime and disingenuousness, for there were, as there always is, those with a sense of decency and composure, but they were rare and mostly stayed away from the others.

  The group had decided to split up and immerse themselves in to the two cities considering them a mire of circumstance that would make it more difficult for them to be tracked. In contrast to this assumption, the authorities were in both cities in force, and so they had made a mistake.

  Agent Eight had enough information on them and he could find them anywhere as long as they were in the vicinity. And his success was imminent as he watched the couple struggle the last few miles into Reno. He watched them as they entered a restaurant looking like it had not been renovated since the twentieth century - it’s faded painted signs and poorly attended maintenance as evidence. He saw them embrace each other in a kiss just after they left and he hated it. He watched them walk through the park in the city center holding hands as lovers, and he hated that too. Then he watched them take lodgings in a motel on the old strip, and so decided it would be there where he would make a move. As he started the engine to his invisibly concealed six wheeled vehicle, the low hum of its’ six engines made him feel even better, more powerful. By punching a holographic switch on the dashboard he took it out of covert mode where its’ very material construct refracted light from the vehicle’s surroundings thus rendering its invisibility, and then he barked a command. It was on full automatics and so during the short drive over to the shabby motel he positioned his weapon.

  The vehicle surged ahead and within a few seconds, stopped again immediately outside the motel. Agent Eight immediately went inside. The clerk at the desk looked at him and began to speak, so he shot him. Not to kill, his weapon was set on stun. Then he went upstairs and began his final search. Nearly every room was occupied and so each of them bore the brunt of his weapon. Door after door, stun after stun. He had done it at least two dozen times before he reached them.

  They were lying on a bed together almost asleep. He did not shoot them as it would be inconvenient to have
to carry them to his vehicle. He just spoke, “you two are coming with me and don’t resist!” Raynie and Jake could not resist anyway, as they were outgunned and simply too weary.

  He led them downstairs amongst the din that had arisen after he had begun shooting. People were screaming, others trying to assail him, whom he shot. He took the couple to his vehicle. They were already in handcuffs and were whimpering at the pain. His half smile returned, looking as bad as ever. He would show that Superior One bitch.

  They could not protest, only whimper. The pain had them and so did he. Then he drove away without remorse where if he hit any pedestrian, which he managed to do at least five times, he didn’t care. He was an Agent and no one could stand in his way…except that bitch back at headquarters. He kept driving but became sick of their whimpering, so he shot them telling them to ‘shut the hell up!’ It would be only a few hours until he arrived back to headquarters, his assignment a success.

  **********

  John and Tobias were inside buying some supplies at the store, whilst Asper and Lorraine waited outside. They were standing beside the highway outside the Walker Country Store located on route three nine five heading south towards Mono Lake.

  “What are you thinking of?” Tobias said to Asper.

  “Calling Raynie and Jake.”

  “Maybe we should see how they are getting on in Reno. It has been quite a few hours since they were dropped off and they did have to walk the rest of the way.”

  “Ok, we’ll call them.” John said touching a device positioned behind his ear, which he then spoke softly into. “Jake, Raynie?” There was no answer. “Their device is on,” he told the others. “I’ll try again. Jake, Raynie?” Still no answer. “Maybe they are sleeping or something. I’ll try again later.”