Xalata Orbit and Melody Fret: The Hammer of Asttar

by Nick Evans

  "And here we have security chief, A-dolf Fark. Whatever is this thing?"

  Fark's leering visage peered down from the screen,

  "It appears to be some sort of cryomorph. These were engineered originally to aid construction and also for defence - as a fighting machine it is irresistible and invincible. The technologies to develop it have all been created as part of the Lunar colonization, but no one has ever had access to them. I have to say also that this particular cryomorph is exceptionally large. Normally, cryomorph are relatively small. This one also appears to have much more destructive capacity than the ones we have created in the past. Metals appear to be dissolving in front of it, suggesting some sort of acid facility and there appear also to be huge jolts of power that are being used to blast through structures that would normally resist such a creature."

  "But who's created this thing, if we haven't?" said the reporter.

  "A good question," said Fark, "and one I cannot answer at the moment. However, we are all aware of the threat posed by certain groups that wish us not to be here on the Moon ..."

  "You mean the Asttarians?"

  "I couldn't comment on that, but sufficient to say that my security teams are going to be tightening up our environment significantly."

  "Is that necessary?" said the reporter, "this is all taking place on Farside, surely? Does Nearside have to be affected?"

  "I'm sure you realize that with molecular technologies and the power of nanotech, amazing things can be achieved in relatively little time. I would not rule out the possibility that an illicit operation that wishes us ill is already planning its attacks across the habitats. Vigilance is most important."

  "Well, that was A-dolf Fark, security chief for LunarBase, from Nearside ... " The reporter's voice got lost in the hubbub of chatter from the students.

  "Ladies and gentlemen," Mr Wiggins' voice cut through the noise. "I'm sure you're most anxious about the news, but you do have your studies to consider. I don't believe there is any immediate danger - our alert status is currently on green - so please settle down and get back to your tasks. This term will finish quickly enough without us leaving gaps in the curriculum."

  And, so saying, he disappeared down to the lab area.

  Chapter Nine

  Back at the home, the mood was sombre. Brett appeared distracted and Xalata was edgy.

  "So what's going to happen, Dad?" she said after several minutes of silence.

  "I really don't know, love. These attacks are becoming more dangerous and I think that this creature - what was it called ...?"

  "Cryomorph ..."

  "This creature is fairly much unstoppable with anything we have on LunarBase. We have weapons of course - it would be mad not to. But the power of that thing ..." His voice died off and he went back into a reflective mood.

  "Shall I make something for us to eat?" said Xalata.

  "Hmm...?"

  "Food? Something to eat? Come on Dad, snap out of it."

  Brett looked genuinely startled, "Sorry, Xally. This is just getting to me. The whole thing feels wrong. How has this thing been created and yet no one knows anything about it? Yes, food - great idea. We're fresh out of pizza, but as you've had it three days running, I guess that's no bad thing."

  "I'll make up some stir-fry," said Xalata. "That's easy and the one thing I've learned on the Moon is that there's no shortage of beansprouts!"

  Bill laughed. "After ten years, the novelty of them fades. Still, good and healthy, huh?"

  Xalata rattled the wok, pulled out some supplies of ingredients and began the process of cooking up a storm. Within minutes the home was filled with the aroma of fast-fried beansprouts, peppers, onions and tofu with a handful of dried organic noodles thrown in for good measure.

  As they sat and ate, Xalata revisited the topic:

  "Why are they doing this Dad? What's the point and what are they trying to achieve?"

  "It's terror tactics," replied Brett. "They want to frighten people away from the Moon because they see this as a sacred place. Asttar apparently came from the Moon - a load of old space junk, to my mind. But some people will hang on to improbable ideas just because it makes them feel more secure. This Frank Wordsmith guy is stirring up a storm among people who don't have much to live for - it's classic for a belief system like this. So, they want to return the Moon to its pre-colonisation state: no people, no habitats, no enterprise or space-hopping, using it as a base ..."

  "So what about the planets, then?" said Xalata. "Do they have the same feelings about Mars, for instance? I know we're terraforming there."

  "Not sure really, Xally. Their message changes to fit the context. If they can stir up people's passions with a cause to fight for, then it doesn't much matter whether it makes any sense or not. Hey, that stir-fry is great. You can stay! I'll clear when we are done - do you have any homework?"

  "Yeah, I have to do a tri-V - you heard of that?"

  "Of course - it's standard practice in all courses at your level. Didn't they use that at the Academy on Earth?"

  "Never - not even heard of it. Mind you, that place and tech. Just didn't get it. I'll sort it out - can I ask if I need any help?"

  "Of course, you know I'll always try my best to help you with anything you need."

  With that, Xalata headed for her bedroom and folded down the small desk and illuminated the screen. Without thinking, she tapped into the news feed again and was surprised to see an imposing looking man, haranguing a group of reporters:

  “The Words are the Words of Asttar. The Will is the Will of Asttar. The Way is the Way of Asttar. Hear the Words. Bow down to the Will. Follow the Way.”

  He seemed quite out of it, with a tiny fleck of foam appearing at one corner of his mouth. His white hair was swept back and fell on either side of his face. He had a long straight nose and perfect white teeth. As he shouted, he gesticulated, almost like a conductor of an orchestra, urging people to follow his direction.

  "Your ways are not the ways of Asttar. Your deeds are foul in the sight of Asttar. He will revenge himself. He will bring down nations and peoples with the might of his thunder. His power is everywhere. His sight is everywhere. He is everywhere and his followers are those who tread the right path."

  The reporters looked uncomfortable as the man - Frank Wordsmith, as the screen caption said - ranted and raved in front of them.

  "Er, Mr Wordsmith," one reporter ventured, "Do Asttarians have anything to do with the trouble on LunarBase Farside?"

  "The unbelievers who have committed sacrilege on the sacred Moon," Wordsmith's voice suddenly dropped to a sinister whisper, "will fall beneath the might of Asttar. Asttar will revenge himself on those whose own greed has led them to deface that holy place."

  "So the answer's 'yes' then?"

  "Asttar speaks, not through his humble servant, but through his actions. Fear the might of Asttar! Fear the retribution that is to follow!"

  The screen report cut away to some talking heads commenting on the news and Xalata switched away from it.

  He's looped, she thought, and I'm right here on the target of his insanity: The Moon! 'It's gonna be a bumpy ride!' Where did that come from? Jupe's, that's from a book Dad used to read me years back when we were all together on Earth. That seems so long ago.

  She, her mum and dad had been in a small village in the UK, just between Birmingham and Manchester - spaceport cities that were paving the way to the planets. She remembered a life where the days seemed long, the sun shone and her parents were happy, in the days before the Great Epidemic. Her mother with long, dark hair; her dad, tall and good-looking and relaxed. Those days were long gone by.

  She mused on her predicament for a few moments before pulling herself together and getting together the materials for her tri-v.

  Chapter Ten

  Meanwhile, across the lobby in Melody's home, there were sighs of frustration and squeaks of despair coming from the living area. Melody was seated, with her guitar in her lap, peering
at her pad where she was trying to improve a song.

  "It's just no friggin' good! I simply can't get it." She replayed a section of the song from the tutor on her pad.

  Once again, she struck up the chords on her guitar and began to sing. Her voice was clear, with a bit of edge and she sang well, but suddenly the same sequence of chords defied her fingers and she hesitated, stopped, restarted and then nearly flung the guitar on the floor.

  "Fry it!" and she put the guitar down before she was tempted to break it.

  She sat with her chin in her hands, puzzling over the music. Her anger was down to a simple fact: she want to get onto Lunar Tunes - a local talent show that had been arranged between the habitats across the Moon. The broadcasting services that were dedicated to lunar programming were hard pressed to find good material in a sterile and hostile environment so everything came back to programs about people. The Lunar Tunes franchise had been successful and this was the third series - and Melody was determined to live up to her name.

  In her head, she gave herself a good talking to and, picking up the guitar again, she began the song once more. It was a cover of a song made popular back on Earth by the singer, Jacelynn Wales - a teenager not much older than Melody, when she recorded it. Its title was I'm me. This is mine. and it had hit the music charts the previous year.

  Jacelynn's voice was similar to Melody, but Melody managed to get more emotion into the song ... but the chords were defeating her. Time and again, she sang and played and time and again stumbled over the same chord sequence. Eventually, she decided that enough was enough.

  "I'm not going to get this today - I'll go see Xalata."

  And so saying, she headed to the door of the home, let herself out and pressed the alert button next to Xalata's home.

  "Hey Melody," said Xalata, "what's happening?"

  "Same old," said Melody. "I'm going to break my guitar soon if I can't work out how to play that chord sequence."

  Xalata had already experienced Melody's frustration but she genuinely believed that her friend's voice was good enough to win the competition.

  "Here's a thought," she said, "why don't you just practice the chords but don't sing at the same time? Every time I've seen you do the song, you're always singing too. If you just keep repeating that section, it should come good, surely?"

  "Yeah, maybe you're right," said Melody. "I can't go back to it now though. My finger ends have worn until they're sore from the guitar strings and to be honest, I don't have the patience today."

  "Oh, what's the prob?"

  "I dunno. I've done my tri-v for Wiglet and I'm not sure I've really done what he wants. That's getting in the way. And, well to be honest, this whole thing with the Asttarians is getting my head."

  "So, generally, you're in a panic?"

  "Uh-huh. Fret by name ..."

  "And by nature too. Y'know, I've only known you a little while and you actually do fret about pretty much everything," laughed Xalata.

  "Well, it's not easy being a scaredy cat all the time - I just seem to be scared of my own shadow. Mum got me a break placement last year with a big company that has a facility in Habitat 22. I wouldn't go 'cos I didn't know anyone. Mum was furious."

  Xalata wrinkled her nose. If Melody was feeling skippy about stuff, then how much more ought she herself to be feeling that things were generally unstable - yet she didn't. She couldn't put her finger on why - perhaps it was that she'd always been her own person or maybe she just felt more confident, having had a fresh start, getting away from her history and generally beginning again.

  "Look," she said, "I'm not sure it's any help, but the Asttarians thing is on the other side of the Moon from us. I think it should be the least of your worries. You can sing and play as well as anyone I know - you're just frying your wiring because you've not psyched yourself up for this."

  Melody didn't look convinced.

  "Easy for you to say, but I'm the one going to be standing up in front of everyone and singing. It's like showing off your soul to people - and I'm scared!"

  "Yeah, but remember that you can do this - I've heard you sing ..."

  "Not this song - I can't get the chords right."

  "Another song, mebbe?"

  "No, it has to be this one."

  By now, Melody was getting a bit tearful.

  "Sorry," said Xalata, "I'm putting pressure on you and that won't help. Anyway, why do you think your tri-v isn't good enough?"

  "I think it's OK - I just have this feeling that I missed the point."

  At that moment, Xalata's pad buzzed quietly. "Who's this ...?" and she opened it to see Glitch's face grinning at her.

  "Hey, Xalata," he said, "I'm right near your home - fancy letting me in for a juice?"

  "What," said Xalata, "are you mad? My dad would spit feathers if he knew I'd invited someone into the home. Sorry, friend. Another day perhaps - catch ya!"

  "Wait, wait!" said Glitch, just as Xalata was about to dim the pad. "Don't you want to know why I stopped by?"

  "Why did you stop by, Glitch?" said Xalata.

  "Let me in and I'll tell you ..."

  "Bye Glitch ..."

  "No, no, OK. Erm ... I wanted to invite you to a seminar ..."

  "What?"

  "Yeah, a seminar at the Outpost at Central Air Facility. I know you're keen on the plant biology bit of our course and there's a woman giving a seminar. Her name's Castrana Machin - she's top dollar on the subject and she's visiting the Facility. My folks are going and I thought of you. Wanna come too?"

  "Hmm. Maybe," said Xalata. "Come in - I'll buzz the door."

  She pressed a space on her pad and moments later, Glitch walked into the room. He looked nervous - uncomfortable really and not at all like his usual bouncy, annoying self.

  "So, um, what do you say? You gonna come with me?" He fiddled with his fingers and glanced uneasily around the room.

  "Glitch, sit down and take a chill pill, for Frank's sake." Melody piped up from the other side of the room.

  "Oh, hi Melody. Sorry - didn't know you were here too. I, um ... there's only one spare ticket so, um I can't ..."

  "No problem, don't sweat - I probably can't go anyway. My Mum is not letting me go out alone because of the Asttarian thing ..."

  "Hey, great ... I mean, sure, OK."

  "Glitch," said Xalata, "when, where?"

  "Oh, right. Yeah, it's tomorrow at 2pm - no classes tomorrow afternoon so we can get the exeat and go off to the event. It's at the Outpost."

  "Don't know the Outpost - what's that?"

  "It's a sort of conference place, right near the spaceport where you landed. So you'll know it anyway. We could go together if you like?"

  "Oh, how romantic," giggled Melody.

  "Give over, Melody," said Xalata, "this better not be some sort of thing to hit on me, Glitch."

  "No, really," he protested, "my folks will be there too, when we get to the event. Honest, I wouldn't do that ..."

  "No? Mr Freeze? Why don't I believe you?"

  "Look," said Glitch, "it's straight up. Really. You've got to come with me."

  "Got to? Why?"

  "Sorry, no that's not what I meant. I mean, it would be great if you came too and I think you'll like the event."

  Xalata sighed, looked at Melody, looked back to Glitch.

  "OK - I'll come - just need to check with Dad."

  "Sure - no problem. I need to go now ..."

  And with that, Glitch scuttled towards the door.

  Chapter Eleven

  "And that concludes my tri-v!" Melody had just shown her tri-v to Wiglet and a few of the others in her year had joined her to see what she had done.

  "Most commendable, Melody. I think you have summed up the task very well. Your method and processes were logical and your conclusions were excellent. That was quite a 'textbook' tri-v and I'd like you to share it with the others."

  "Really?" said Melody, the relief very evident on her face. "Gosh, I'm so pleased, Mr Wiggins.
I was not certain I had picked up the right idea, but once I was on it, I followed it through to the end. Thank you so much."

  She beamed with delight and the others in the group shared her pleasure in the achievement - apart from Bad Penny who, as usual, had turned up late and was glowering at the back of the room. Her alter ego, Rose Pretty, had also arrived a little late, just before Penny. She smiled, the way a cat smiles before it pounces on a mouse.

  "Wonderful, Melody dahling. You must be so proud!" She tipped her head to one side and bared her teeth at Melody, just at an angle where Wiglet couldn't see. "So delighted that we can all share in your expertise."

  "Er, thanks, Rose. I, er ..."

  "Oh look, the poor lamb is lost for words," she said to no one in particular. Then she swung back to Melody and hissed, "You need to back off, you pushy little tart. Keep out of my face."

  Xalata was prepping her own tri-v at the other side of the room and saw Rose's attitude to Melody.

  "Hey, Pretty Thing. Leave my friend alone!"

  "Or? Newbie Earthling? What's your big secret? What can you do, huh? Leap off the edge, loser."

  Not wanting to get drawn into an exchange, but pleased to see that Rose and Penny had now moved away, she said to Melody,

  "They're bullies. Just stand up to them. You don't need to be afraid of them - what are they going to do? It's all words - and if they make it physical, there are loads of witnesses."

  "I'm not as brave as you ..."

  "I'm not brave," said Xalata, "I just don't want to be pushed about by two good for nothings like them."

  The group was gathering again, as it was time for Xalata's tri-v.

  "Hard act to follow, Fret!" she grinned at Melody. Melody smiled back and sat herself down, ready for Xalata's presentation.

  "OK Miss Orbit, would you like to present please?" said Wiglet, turning to the rest of the group and indicating that they should sit down and pay attention.

  "Sure, thanks Mr Wiggins. I've rather done my tri-v a different way, if you're OK with that. I thought that I would make the tri-v more vivid. My topic is hybridisation in the aquacultures - something I've been looking at in depth. And I'm going to a lecture this afternoon about it ..."