by A J Britnell
“Maybe it’s time to stop stringing him along, he’s the best thing that’s ever happened to you – it is normal to have relationships you know.”
“Not in space it isn’t and not at work.”
Eileen finished her mouthful, “Well this is the nearest thing to a normal life any of us are going to see so I don’t see why we can’t have a family life too.”
Haruka smiled and shook her head at Eileen’s hypocrisy, “Does this mean you are going to take your own advice and make a move on John?”
Eileen dabbed her face with her napkin and looked at her friend defiantly, “You know, I think I just might.”
Early the next morning, Haruka went in search of Eileen. There was no reply from her apartment but it was not hard to determine where she would be as all her friend could talk about the previous night was the new laboratory that Healey had entrusted to her. She entered the room to the sound of clanking glass and found her with her head in a cupboard, stacking supplies she discovered in crates all around the lab.
Haruka knocked on the counter, “Anyone there?”
Eileen emerged, a little sweaty, “Oh hi there,” she struggled to her feet, looking tired but extremely pleased with herself.
“What time did you get here?” Haruka asked as she nosed in a nearby box.
“Oh, about four, I couldn’t sleep knowing this was waiting for me. It’s so exciting; Healey said I’ve got some research grants on some fascinating new studies and also we’re offering operating facilities for the whole of the moon - can you believe it?” Eileen launched into a recitation of tasks to complete by lunchtime while flitting about the room, checking the contents of the unopened crates.
Haruka was pleased to see her friend with renewed purpose but she quickly turned the subject, “I’ve been thinking about what you said last night about me and Stefan.”
Eileen stopped what she was doing, intrigued.
“I think I’m going to give us another try.”
“That’s brilliant!” Eileen beamed, but she could sense hesitation in her friend.
“You’ve got to remember something Haruka; we’re like a family, we love each other like a family, it makes little difference if you are in love with someone in this situation – we will always let our emotions get involved, whoever it is. We just need to find ways to deal with it.”
“I know – you’re right, but it’ll have to wait because we’re off to the hotel soon. I was actually going to ask you if you wanted to come with us but I think I know the answer.”
Eileen paused; her concept of time distorted, “Oh are you going so soon?”
“Healey called them late last night. They’ve only got a few more days of good light and with the Perigee event next week, the hotel will be become too busy.”
“I see - but I’ve got too much to do here unfortunately. I’ll come next time; I’d much rather go there as a tourist anyway.”
Turning to leave, Haruka said boldly, “Oh I still plan to have a little fun! I’ll see you in a few days.” She headed back down the corridor to collect her duffle bag she had packed earlier. It was difficult to decide what to wear; should she wear her EVAC uniform or blend in with the other tourists in her civilian clothes. They would not have time to get started until the morning so it seemed prudent to go for the latter so as not to cause concern to the public. Pulling her apartment door closed behind her, she felt a sense of excitement; her first official mission and it was a destination she had longed to visit.
From the direction of the men’s apartments, Haruka could hear the pleasant sound of chatter; Stefan appeared with Claus deep in conversation about the day’s itinerary. They turned right without noticing her so she bustled behind them, dragging her baggage by the long strap until she caught up.
“Hey there, Haruka,” Claus greeted, “ready for your holiday?”
“It’s not a holiday,” she replied defensively, “it’s a fact-finding mission with hopefully a contract at the end.”
“Well you look like you’ve packed for a fortnight. Have you got your ball gown in there?”
“Ha, ha, very funny!” Haruka stole a glance at Stefan who merely nodded in her direction, they continued down the corridor to the hub, “So what are you two planning on doing while I’m away?”
Stefan finally spoke, “We’re just getting the full tour from Healey. We’re going to take a look at the new ship and hopefully practice muster procedure.”
“Let’s face it, we don’t have a clue where anything is yet – I get lost just looking for the toilet,” Claus added.
“Sure, I’d like to go through equipment too, Healey couldn’t have reckoned for every disaster,” Stefan surmised. “Hopefully by the time you return we should ready to react to anything.” They soon arrived at the central hub where John and Marcus were waiting for Haruka, all packed and eager in their own casual wear. After partaking in a light breakfast of porridge and fruit, the trio said farewell to their colleagues and departed for the airlock and their transfer bus. Haruka left Stefan’s farewell to last. She led him into an alcove and subtly planted a kiss, her lips only momentarily brushing his. “I’ll see you soon,” she whispered.
“Yeah, soon,” he could barely form the words and then with dim recognition he blurted out, “Take care!” It was hardly sensual but the act amazed Stefan who had become accepting of their secret relationship and took the open show of affection as a promising sign. Claus agreed and punched him in the back.
The tour was taking some time. For every room they entered, Healey had a story to tell; this is the largest, the deepest, the most expensive, most technologically advanced. After the umpteenth superlative, Stefan bravely interjected and asked if they could investigate alone under the pretense of needing more time in each area than Healey could possibly afford. Healey conceded and gave the team his science officer, Kapur as a guide. Kapur was a breath of fresh air with his calm professional manner. Born in India he studied at MIT and became a part of EVAC Rapid Response after being snatched up during his graduation ceremony. It became obvious why; he was incredibly intelligent, without being arrogant and the group warmed to his enthusiasm instantly with a barrage of questions in an attempt to probe deeper into the operation.
Claus leant in, “So, Mr. Kapur how is the facility powered?”
Kapur pushed his rimless glasses further up his nose, “Well we are connected to the solar grid but we are making headway with our own solar array satellite, you know with microwave transfer.”
“Interesting. What about life support?”
Kapur led his eager students on to continue his tour, “If you’d like to come this way I’ll be happy to show you the recycling plant where we filter and recirculate our oxygen and water supplies. We take every opportunity to simulate Earth’s atmosphere to ensure our wellbeing.”
An hour later, the group circled back to the rocket launch pad. Kapur lead them to staff recreation room with a viewing window. Stefan felt drawn to the craft and stood by the glass while the others talked, not really a part of the conversation.
“So, Mr. Kapur…” Claus began.
“No please, call me Gopy.”
“So, Gopy…. How do you put up with Healey?”
“Ha, I wasn’t prepared for that question. I don’t know what the official response is!” Gopy turned his back and walked away. Claus was afraid he had offended the man but Gopy sat in one of the leather effect sofas with his arms outstretched. “The way you survive is by playing the game. We act like he’s a god and he looks after his adoring subjects. Secretly we all think he’s a complete jerk. On the plus side – the man is a genius and life is never boring – I will tell you that for free!”
Herman, who skulked at the back of the group, suddenly felt some affinity for the man and cautiously joined him, “But doesn’t he scare you?”
“No, he’s a pussy cat! Look, if you are good at your job you have nothing to worry about, he doesn’t bother us. The worst thing is listening to his motivationa
l speeches – the man’s arrogance is phenomenal!”
“Oh, yeah, we’ve had one or two of them already,” added Claus, patting Herman’s shoulder.
Eventually their tour arrived at the hangar of the EVAC flagship craft. Healey had been sketchy about the details; evidently because it was hard to find the words.
A swarm of technicians obscured the ship behind their scaffold platforms but it was clear to see how vast the craft was. The group wandered over. Gopy tried to catch the eye of the chief designer but he was obviously in the middle of a shop floor debate and under pressure.
“Sorry guys, we’ll try to speak to him in a bit but I’ll go over the basics.” Gopy moved them around to the rear of the craft. “For us to be able to react to any situation we need to have the equipment to hand; it has a cargo hold big enough to take three of your Bug sized craft.” The bay doors were open, swathes of protective plastic hung from the ceiling along with looms of electrical conduit awaiting fitting.
Claus, ventured closer, disappointed at the shrouded mystery and asked, “So when will it be ready?”
“To quote Healey – yesterday.” Gopy polished his glasses. “Since he decided to contact you it’s been relentless. This ship wasn’t to be unveiled for a few months but since we seem to be going live everyone’s been dragged from their projects to get her finished.”
Stefan walked on to the left flank and watched a woman apply decals to the stubby wings. He looked up at three immense thrusters.
“She is capable of vertical take-off in low gravity but as you can see from the rear there are powerful rocket boosters for leaving Earth’s orbit.”
Stefan looked impressed.
“You can also reconfigure the wings after re-entry, enabling you to control the speed of descent with the help of traditional jet engines,” Gopy added with pride.
Herman had a million questions as they all did and so the tour moved on to the cockpit.
“If you’d like to follow me, I’ll show you the really impressive part.” They dutifully obeyed. Gopy stopped briefly at a desk to collect an armful of manuals, “Some homework for you.”
Chapter Nine
The moon was no longer a baron onlooker, it had become a destination, an extension of our civilization with the same political and ethical rows that had plagued the Earth for over two millennia.
A committee at the United Nations had the difficult job of approving any potential business ventures. It had taken them a whole year to decide on the very principle of building on the Moon. Who had the right to build on the Moon? How could they share the wealth? Finally, a set of guidelines were agreed for the development of the Moon and a select group was formed to look at every proposal in detail to ensure that they met the strict criteria, their mission statement included; ‘the Moon belongs to everyone and no one’.
To gain a contract a company had to have business links in all five continents, with the profits shared equally.
The problems had been more than financial; there were ethical considerations. Many people were against any development of the lunar surface and the largest group of objectors called themselves, ‘The Moon Heritage Society’.
They were often seen outside the UN building in Brussels, waving placards and shouting slogans, the most popular being; ‘Don’t harvest the harvest moon!’
Although the committee tried to be considerate of their beliefs, the general global consensus was that of support, mainly because the experts promised cheaper fuel for all - if they could extract the rich mineral deposits beneath the Moon’s surface.
Haruka and her enthusiastic colleagues, John and Marcus, returned to the main launch pad to board a tourist shuttle, along with a dozen passengers heading for the hotel complex. The interior of the craft was luxurious with powder blue upholstery from floor to ceiling. There were three rows of two seats on either side of a wide isle and an automated drinks dispenser ran up and down on a rail to the serve the passengers. The clinking of belt buckles and squeaking of fidgeting bottoms on vinyl subsided as the people settled down to begin their lunar adventure.
“Welcome aboard the Lunar Transfer Service,” a soft female voice announced.
“We will be leaving in a few short minutes and I would like to remind all passengers to remain seated for the duration of our flight. The journey time is expected to be approximately two hours and forty minutes and we will be flying at an altitude of twenty metres.”
Several passengers chuckled and Marcus leant across Haruka to nudge John, “You can hardly call it flying!”
“Shut up Marcus. As long as it’s a smooth ride, I don’t care what they call it.”
With that, the craft elevated in a wobbly motion, comparable to a hovercraft and tilted forward before moving on at a modest pace. Haruka groaned slightly as her stomach lurched to keep up.
The grey landscape fell beneath them as they glided over the lip of a shallow crater. Its surface, dense basalt, was dark and solid unlike the loose, dusty rubble that ran up to it and on into the distant ridges. The light was strange, like rather poor strip lighting, but the contrast between lit areas and those shadowed by boulders was dramatic, the shadows here where blacker than black, totally void.
Pushing north, the craft travelled through a deep canyon. Shafts of dazzling light pierced the craggy fringe of the crater as they climbed higher. At this altitude, the landscape, bathed in sunlight, seemed reminiscent of Earth canyons. Beautiful, riven rock glistened in a somber pallet. But it was just a fleeting glimpse and the warming sunshine soon disappeared when the craft flew into the night.
They followed the Eastern limit for a few hundred miles before turning east towards the near side of the Moon, skimming over the Smyth’s Sea. A crescent of blue appeared; the Earth was finally visible and an audible gasp of approval could be heard as the passengers wondered at the apparent Earthrise. It was invigorating; the light from home bathed the grey land, creating a dawn from the night.
As the shuttle approached the Sea of Waves they passed the terminator and the landscape illuminated again. The craft’s windows automatically tinted to limit the glare. John ducked down to peer through the top of the window to spy the nearly half Earth, hanging high above.
At the Sea of Crises, the craft banked port, heading for the landing site at the Sea of Serenity. At this point of the journey, three ascending tones preceded the next announcement, “If you look out the port window you will see the Apollo 17 landing site – N.A.S.A.’s last Apollo mission to The Moon. In the distance, you can still see the Lunar Rover.”
Marcus craned forward to catch a glimpse of the iconic machine, “Can you see it John?”
“Nah, it’s too far away. You have to get a special excursion to see the sites; costs a small fortune I’ve heard.”
The craft travelled in an arc around the site, lifting higher over a ridge before descending to a modest spaceport. Perfectly situated between the Apollo 17 and 15 sites, the passengers transferred to a wheeled shuttle service that would ferry tourists between the sites or southwards towards the hotel complex.
They exited the craft through a cylindrical air jetty that led to a small but functional terminal building. From here, they boarded a four- metre tall bus. Its proportions were huge but necessary; the six axels connecting two-metre high wheels seemed to overpower the vehicle but a high road clearance would ensure the bus provided a tolerable ride over the rough terrain.
It was surprisingly busy, Haruka thought, with two other buses being loaded for different destinations at the same time. They waited their turn at the airlock doors and Haruka huffed in frustration. The constant waiting was starting to irritate; waiting for doors to close, for atmospheres to equalize, for rooms to decontaminate, she longed for a time when she could just fling open a door without consequence and run out-doors in little more than her bare skin.
The daydream was a refreshing release as she imagined herself in the stereotype of running through a meadow on a windy, summer’s day. It was short lived
as a jolt rippled through the bus each time a set of wheels crossed the threshold and she returned to the monochromatic world with bitter resentment.
Marcus and John were sitting in the seats in front. “John, why can’t we just fly to the hotel?” asked the wiry young Englishman.
John turned to Marcus with a look of disdain and snapped,” It’s a Lunar Heritage site - you idiot! They can’t have rocket boosters blasting the hell out of the Eagle, there’d be nothing left.”
Marcus wiped spit off his eyebrow, a little surprised at John’s passionate outburst. “It's only a pair of legs and a flag,” he mumbled under his breath. John’s head whipped back in annoyance but he said nothing, he just rolled his eyes in disbelief at his friend’s ignorance.
John had been lucky enough as a child to visit the Moon with his grandparents. It was a fantastic time; his brothers were only there for the fun of it but John shared his grandfather’s love of space and had every moment etched in his memory. His family had been wealthy for generations, owning considerable portion of the Kentucky farmland but his grandfather used some of the money to help revolutionize agriculture around the world, including genetics.
John patted Marcus on the shoulder. He remembered that Marcus’s childhood in South London had not been as lavish as his own and thought back to the first time he met the lad at a recruitment seminar in Paris. They were comparing application forms and John was staggered at Marcus’s degree qualifications. Marcus exuded boyish charm and therefore, universally liked. His clean shaved chestnut skin glowed, his light- brown afro either closely cropped or shaved and somehow, he managed to smell clean and fresh unlike most of the other men on board. With all these attributes, Marcus received plenty of female attention in his short life and John wondered how he coped in almost celibate space.
“Sorry, pal,” he conceded.
Marcus took the apology and asked John to recount his last visit as they journeyed on to the Sea of Tranquility.
An hour later, the bus arrived at the hotel complex. The hotel was named The Magnificent Desolation, after the famous quotation by Buzz Aldrin when he first commented on the alien vista.
