Dark Side of the Moon

by Alan Jacobson

  Uglov hung his head. “This is … how you say? Complicated.”

  “Try us,” Vail said. “We’re intelligent people. I’m sure we’ll grasp the concept.”

  Uglov lifted his chin. “I cut deal with President Pervak. We know each other from KGB days. He is first deputy chairman when I … work for them. We get to know each other. He trust me. When KGB no more, we stay friends.”

  “And President Pervak—what’s his stake in this?”

  “I give Yaroslav 2 million shares of Ronck. Trade for help. He get funding, get us engineers. We need lot of engineers. We were new business. But Yaroslav, he get us good talent.”

  Vail nodded. “And Ronck did … what, exactly?”

  “We make special equipment. For deep water mining. Exxon Mobil try to cut deal with Roseneft to develop major fields. But Yaroslav thought we could keep profits in house, in mother Russia. So he help us, help Ronck make oil rig technology to drill deep holes in hard places. Miles underwater. Ronck use that technology to make special drills that work on Moon. We make it small. Mini—mini—”

  “Miniature?” Rusakov asked.

  “Yes. Very small. To put on robot Moon rover. We take knowledge we get from deep water mining for drilling on Moon.”

  “So Russia’s spacecraft is fitted with this new mining equipment?”

  Uglov bobbed his head. “No, China. China buy this to build its robot lander. For Chang’e 5. The mining drill is on their rover, not Russia’s. That is what China sent to the Moon.”

  “So,” Zero said, “the Chang’e 5 has specialized mining equipment, miniaturized to reduce the size and weight. And China paid Ronck for this? A contract?”

  “Yes.”

  “We believe,” Rusakov said, “that Russia has spies in the US, embedded in corporations, contractors working with NASA, to sabotage the US Moon mission.”

  Uglov bit his lip.

  “We’re running out of time,” Vail said. “Don’t start playing games.”

  He started to perspire. “Yes.”

  “And what is Ronck’s role, beyond building this robotic rover?”

  “China goes to bring back this element, caesarium, for military. Ronck build mining equipment and rover.”

  “Right,” Vail said, “but Russia has a bigger stake.”

  “Ronck has bigger stake. My company wants to …” He shrugged. “We have to make sure US mission fail. If drill work, if Chinese get caesarium, Ronck make money.”

  “How much?”

  Uglov leaned toward Vail, as if he were sharing a secret. “We get $5 billion US.” He lifted his brow and nodded in pride.

  “Billion?” Vail shared a look with Rusakov. “When you said ‘we,’ did you mean Ronck? Or—”

  “Ronck. But …” Uglov laughed. “Remember I tell you who own 2 million shares.”

  “Yaroslav Pervak,” Rusakov said.

  Uglov smiled out of the right side of his mouth. “But if rover not work, not bring caesarium back, we only get $15 million China already pay us.” He turned his head left and spat on the floor. “Cost us year of research, $250 million US. To design, build, test very expensive. We have motivation to make it work.”

  “So Ronck is highly incentivized to prevent the US from stopping the Chinese,” Vail said. “If China brings back the element, Ronck gets paid $5 billion—a financial windfall.” There’s more to it than that. But what?

  “Why did it cost so much to build and test this equipment? Just because it was being used on the Moon?”

  “We had to make parts small. Mini. Everything small. Small weigh less. China had drill, but big—very big—too heavy to get to Moon with their rockets. They think to launch two separate spaceships, put together in space and fly to Moon. But US would know. No good. We had solution.”

  “So Ronck’s technology helped them a great deal,” Vail said.

  “And if it work way we say, Ronck get into S&P 500.”

  “The stock index?” Zero asked.

  “Yes. Index committee say we need market cap of $4 billion US. We get win with China, they pay and put us … how do they say? Over the top. China use our drill technology for Moon and Mars. To build colonies. This news will drive rally in stock.”

  “So that’s your motivation?” Vail asked. “Money?”

  “Money, yes, yes. But more. Yaroslav wants Russia to get this caesarium too. He think it very important to Russia. Be a superpower again.”

  “But he wouldn’t want to risk the $5 billion payoff from China,” Vail said. “Because his 2 million shares would skyrocket when the deal was announced.”

  “This, yes, is true,” Uglov said.

  “So the Russian rocket that launched a few days ago, that also has Ronck’s mining equipment on board?”

  “No, deal with China say only they have the mini technology for one year. So Russia mission has small drill. Not as small as drill we make for China. But,” he said with a toothy smile, “small enough. We have big rocket. Our cosmonauts stay on Moon till China gets caesarium and go home. They pay us $5 billion. Then cosmonauts come home. With caesarium.” He smiled again.

  “How long are the cosmonauts prepared to stay up there?” Rusakov said.

  “Third part of mission. To stay there for a week, two, three. Can stay a month.”

  “A month?” Vail asked. “On the Moon?”

  “Russia want to colonize Moon but we never land a man there. This prove we can do it. Many Russians upset when American beat us to Moon in 1960s. We give up. Now America busy with space station. Take lots of time to build fancy new spaceship. Spend lots of money. For what? Just fly tests. Test this, test that. Two times, three times, they test. By time you finish tests, technology old. Russia,” he said with a proud nod of his head, “we go to Moon and build colony. Make base, go to Mars and do the same.”

  “Do you have people in the US spying for you?” Rusakov asked.

  “For me? No. I no longer CEO. They do their plans, they ask me things to help fix problems. But rest up to them. They decide.”

  Vail was not so sure he was being truthful, but at this point, he had little incentive to deceive them.

  “Russia plan mission to Moon for summer, same time China say they will send Chang’e. But Russian spy, person who work for Ronck, saw plans that US was making lasers for Moon orbit. We tell Chinese Space Agency.”

  “Because if the US turned on these lasers,” Rusakov said, “the Chang’e 5 wouldn’t be able to land, and the Ronck rover wouldn’t be deployed. So Ronck engaged in industrial espionage and used its spy at the defense contractor to write malware for the spacecraft operating system to prevent the Americans from stopping the Chinese mission to mine the caesarium.”

  Uglov nodded. “China say they have problem with drill bit. Want fix in forty-eight hours. Ha ha, I laugh.” He shrugged. “But we send team. Team says Chinese rover already loaded into rocket fairing! And rocket on launch pad. They were launching much sooner than they tell us.”

  “Because of the lasers?”

  “I think this is true.”

  “So Russia also moved up its timetable.”

  “I tell Roscosmos—the Russian Space Agency—you rush, you make shortcuts, you not have good safety precautions.” He shook his head. “They tell me I worry for nothing. They can do it because they have lots of practice with the space station launches. Give Russia much experience, training, lots of cosmonauts.”

  “So Ronck had a lot at stake to make sure the Chinese mission succeeded,” Vail said.

  “Money. Lots of money. Money king in Russia. And China, they also have much to gain.”

  “But if China’s spacecraft doesn’t bring back caesarium,” Vail said, “Ronck misses its $5 billion payday.”

  Uglov pursed his lips and nodded admiration. “I see it not so complicated for you.”

 
; “And China?” Rusakov said. “It wants the caesarium for what?”

  Uglov shrugged. “You know China. Their goal is world domination. Global … what is word? Hedge?”

  Not like Russia doesn’t have similar ambitions.

  Rusakov frowned. “Hegemony.”

  “Yes,” Uglov said with a smile. “Not so complicated for you at all.”

  54

  Taurus-Littrow Valley

  We show the Russian craft in lunar orbit,” Maddox said. “I’ve got General Eisenbach and Captain Kirmani here. Stand by.”

  DeSantos and Uzi, who were at the Chang’e 5 looking over the fuel tank, stopped what they were doing.

  “Gentlemen,” Eisenbach said, “Give me a SITREP.”

  Stroud recapped the issues they were dealing with and gave him an update on each. “We’re gonna try to remove the Chang’e lander’s ascent stage fuel to use in our engine, which I’m sure you’ve been briefed on.”

  “We have,” Kirmani said. “I believe CAPCOM has an answer for you regarding that, but first we have Russia to discuss. General.”

  “We’ve been in meetings for several hours. I don’t have to tell you that this Russian landing creates a number of problems—both here on Earth for us and on the Moon for you.”

  “Do we know what their intentions are?” Carson asked.

  “Our operatives have apprehended a Russian diplomat who’s been intimately involved in the effort to embed one or more spies at key contractors.” He went through the details Vail, Rusakov, and Zero had obtained from Uglov and Lansford.

  “We didn’t expect much from the Russians going the diplomatic route, especially since we couldn’t let them know that we’re aware of what their own diplomat’s been involved in. And given President Pervak’s huge financial stake in Ronck, we could only ask about the launch and request an explanation of their intentions.”

  “Needless to say,” Kirmani said, “they were less than forthcoming—‘mapping the surface, scientific research,’ you get the idea. Not surprising, but it didn’t help us a lick.”

  “So we’ve been left to draw our own conclusions,” Eisenbach said. “Director Tasset put a team of analysts on it and their assessment jibes with what Vail, Rusakov, and Zero were told: Russia is there to secure caesarium. It’s not definitive confirmation, but given the extreme circumstances we have a high degree of confidence in that assessment.”

  DeSantos and Uzi shared a look of unease.

  “Do we have a sense of how aggressive they’ll be?” DeSantos asked.

  “It’s our belief that the Russians are there to secure the element—for themselves and for China if the Chang’e mission fails. They will not leave the surface without achieving mission success. In short, they will bring it home or die trying.”

  “And that puts you in a disadvantaged position,” Kirmani said. “Which is a failure of our intelligence since we had no indications the Russians were on the cusp of launching a Moon shot.”

  “But apologies will be of no benefit to you,” Eisenbach said, “so we’re suggesting you prepare for an inevitable confrontation. That said, the president has directed us to be extremely conservative and nonconfrontational. You are not to trigger an international incident because it’s also possible the Russians will be all bluster and no action. They don’t know that we didn’t know. So while we did not equip you properly relative to weapons, we have no indications they’re aware of that fact.”

  “So we’ll have to bluff,” DeSantos said.

  “Word is that you’re a skilled poker player,” Eisenbach said.

  “I don’t usually play for such high stakes.”

  “Look,” Kirmani said, “these are the types of situations you four have trained for. You know the deal. Complete your mission and, God willing, return home safely.”

  “If you fail and the Russians secure caesarium,” Eisenbach said, “we’ll deal with it. The Pentagon is drawing up contingency plans for preventing their craft from safely returning to Earth. That will obviously trigger a conflict here, if not outright war. How far the Russians are willing to take it, no one knows. Not to mention China. Because of Ronck’s business deal, Russia will definitely tell them we were behind the loss of their spacecraft and rover. We’re in uncharted waters. And we’re counting on you to get the job done.”

  “FUBAR,” DeSantos said. Military lingo for fucked up beyond all recognition.

  “Yes sir,” Stroud said, taking the high road. “We won’t let you down.”

  “We’re turning comms back over to the CAPCOM.”

  “Is the LRV up and running?” Maddox asked.

  “It is,” Uzi said. “We brought Digger back to the Raptor to gather whatever weapons we have. Digger?”

  “We’ve got our survival pistols,” Carson said. “We can’t fire them on the Moon because we can’t remove our gloves and the trigger guards are in the way.”

  “Can a gun even be fired on the Moon?” DeSantos asked.

  “It can,” Maddox said. “With some caveats. Ammo contains its own oxidizer to trigger the explosion of gunpowder, so the lack of oxygen is not a problem. The bullet will have the same initial velocity on the Moon as it does on the Earth. Basically, it exits the barrel at the same speed. But there’s no air resistance and little friction, so it can maintain its speed longer than on Earth. And it’ll travel at least six times farther on the Moon. And that’s without even factoring in the one-sixth gravity. It won’t lose its trajectory as quickly because there’s less pull toward the ground.”

  “But there’ll be a problem with the guy firing it,” Uzi said.

  “Correct. Remember, just as when you push against something in your pressure suits, for every action there’s an equal and opposite reaction. After you shoot, the recoil will be six times greater on the Moon. So one pound of push would be six pounds back against you. At the very least, it’ll knock the shooter on his ass. Not life threatening—well, unless he fires while standing in front of a huge boulder and cracks his helmet open—but it’d be violent enough to make the shooter think twice.”

  “We should expect the Russians to be armed,” Stroud said.

  “There’s precedent for that,” Maddox said. “The Soviets launched a Salyut space station with a 30-millimeter Nudelman cannon. And the standard survival pack for Russian cosmonauts has always included a gun, an all-in-one weapon with three barrels and a folding stock that doubled as a shovel and a swing-out machete. Idea was to help them survive in case they had to make an emergency landing in a treacherous region back on Earth. But we can assume they’ve got something more conventional for use on the lunar surface.”

  “Other than the Glocks,” Carson said, “we’ve got our tactical knives, which might just be our best weapon because they can be used with these ridiculous gloves on. You pierce a guy’s pressure suit, he’s a dead duck. Obviously it means you’ve gotta get up close and personal. I wouldn’t try throwing it on the Moon without substantial practice.”

  “So we made the mistake of bringing knives to a gunfight,” Uzi quipped.

  “You have some answers on the fuel situation?” Stroud asked.

  “You’ll need an empty vessel of some sort,” Maddox said, “to offload the fuel into so you can get it back to the Raptor. One idea being discussed is using the old fuel tank from the Apollo 17 descent stage. You’d obviously have to disconnect it somehow, without ruining the valve, but the fitting we uploaded to the printer will have one of those adjustable couplers on each end. I’ve got Issachar Makonnen here because there are a few things he needs to review with you.”

  “Good evening, gentlemen. As Bob said, we’ve been looking into your empty vessel needs. We researched the size of the Apollo descent stage propellant tanks. These tanks carried basically the same hypergolic fuels we think you’ll get off the Chang’e. The descent stage carried about 7,500 pounds of MMH fuel, s
plit between two tanks, each about 500 gallons of volume. So liberating one MMH tank from the lunar module would give you a nice vessel to transport fuel in. We also found a reference indicating that Apollo 17 had about 455 pounds, or 60 gallons, of fuel left when it landed.”

  “Would it still be there after fifty years?” Uzi asked.

  DeSantos laughed. “I remember what my lawn mower’s fuel tank looked like after not using it for a couple years. My guess would be no, but that was on Earth. And, well, I know shit about rocket fuel, subzero temperatures, and one-sixth gravity.”

  “I only point it out in case you need it,” Issachar said. “It might be there. Might not.”

  “Got it,” Carson said.

  “We did some computations and the Apollo ascent stage carried 1,962 pounds, or 267 gallons, of fuel—enough to lift a very lightweight spacecraft, a couple of astronauts, and some rocks. You’ve got four people and a bigger craft, so you’re going to need at least that amount of fuel—even the full 500 pounds—unless you slim down and drop lots of weight.”

  “Is there enough on the Chang’e?” Uzi asked.

  “The Agency found a Chang’e 5 listed on China’s slate of future launches,” Eisenbach said. “Director Tasset warned it’s old intel so it’s no longer accurate. Chang’e was originally slated to return just 30 grams of lunar sample, so the ascent stage wasn’t going to be carrying much fuel. But once they changed their mission objectives to bring back caesarium, they would’ve reengineered things and significantly increased their payload capabilities.”

  “Added to what you’ve got left in the Raptor tank,” Issachar said, “you might have enough fuel. I just wanted you to get a sense of how much we’re talking about. And that things are going to be very tight. Start planning to dump equipment from the Raptor.”

  “Thanks,” Stroud said. “We’d be in a bad way without your help.”

  “Standing by. Good luck, gentlemen.”

  “Digger,” Stroud said, “I’m putting you in charge of the empty vessel issue.”

  “Suiting up to get back outside. I’ll take a look, see what’s involved. CAPCOM, you have any info on that?”