The Orphan in Near-Space (The Space Orphan Book 2)

by Laer Carroll

  The game was played on flying broomsticks as in the Harry Potter books. In the one-sixth gravity of the Moon such vehicles were possible, though the only common element with the broomsticks in the books was the long center stick. There were stirrups in a framework beneath the stick and handlebars and other accouterments. In effect the "broomstick" was an aerial motorcycle like the speeder bikes in the Star Wars movies.

  "The coliseum is the first part of a planned amusement park. Quidditch is thought to be a big draw. The Harry Potter books are still selling, all over the planet. Every new generation seems to get hooked on them."

  Jane said, "I'll have to mention this to Phil. I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't become interested in adding Moon soccer to his stable of sports teams."

  Her boyfriend, failing to find an American football team he wanted to buy, had decided to look at International football, which Americans called soccer. It had been a lucky choice. The game, after all, was much more popular in the rest of the world than American football was. He now owned teams or parts of teams all over the globe, especially in South America.

  "You want to try Quidditch, Boss?" Riku said.

  "I do," she said with a wicked grin. "But you know I'll beat anyone who plays against me. Even if I...disengage the handlebars and steer by shifting my weight the way polo players or Western horse ropers do."

  "By God," Klaus said. "You know she's right, Rick. Expect to eat...cake."

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  LUNA CITY TRAVEL GUIDE

  overview | hotels | restaurants | bars | shops | recreation | transport

  OVERVIEW What could be more exciting than exploring and enjoying the most entrancing city off the Planet Earth? Read More

  Built in crater Becker after 19th Century German astronomer...

  Diameter 2.7 km or 1.68 miles wide. Depth is .82 or .51 miles deep. The crater is well under a million years old and so has a bowl-like shape unlike most craters which are much older and so flatter due to...

  Built from ground up, Luna City has 113 levels beginning with the basement containing moonquake resistant...

  Every essential function is triply redundant and...

  The top of Luna City is covered to a depth of two meters of Lunar "earth" to protect from meteoroids and extremes of heat and cold. The next three levels are all of rubbery foam surrounding steel springs. This is conservatively able to absorb strikes by meteoroids up to...

  These and MORE safety features are drastic over-engineering but part of the StarTel Consortium's dedication not only to your physical safety and comfort but to your peace of mind. Let there be no impediment to your enjoyment!

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  Everyone who checked into their hotel received an electronic copy of the City's travel guide on their vear and a paper pamphlet in their bedrooms. Most of the Gang skimmed it and consulted a few interesting parts of it.

  Klaus, however, studied the engineering and safety parts religiously. Riku studied the restaurant section just as religiously. Jane wouldn't be surprised if they fell asleep reading from the guide. As everyone did: fall asleep. Space travel was exhausting.

  For everyone except Jane. Space travel did not tire her. Lying in bed eyes closed she became Jane+Robot+City. This cyborg was bigger than all the previous versions of HERself put together. SHE spent much the night roaming HER body. It was well made but had problems which needed fixing. SHE initiated them. A few were quick fixes but most of them would take days, weeks, or months to complete.

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  The next day Jane had scheduled as a day of recovery and exploration of their new home. Here is where they'd do most of their work on the shield project. They'd do it via vears connected to remote avatars flying or crawling around in the testing site.

  But for now she and the rest were ready to have fun.

  They had a breakfast in the hotel's buffet room. At first foodie Rick was doubtful but from the first mouthful he approved.

  "Hard to imagine they sent eggs and bacon a quarter of a million miles through space at thousands of dollar of expense. I know most of the visitors to the City are the richest upper crust of the planet, but even maharajas would balk at the expense."

  Klaus, the mechanical/civil engineer with a specialty in space habitats, watched with amusement as the foodie ate with enjoyment. The women said nothing; they knew Klaus's ways.

  Finally that worthy said, "Actually this food comes from here."

  Riku, about to put a stick of bacon in his mouth, jerked it to a distance to look at it as if it was about to bite him.

  "They have pigs... No they can't have pigs on the Moon.... Do they?"

  "Well, they COULD. But they don't. That bacon is veggie bacon, gene-engineered to duplicate all the nutritional and taste value of animal bacon."

  Nicole, chemical engineer with minors in biology and physics, said, "The entire top level of the City, underneath the buffer levels, is a farm. Or maybe we ought to call it a garden. Or set of gardens."

  Riku crunched the bacon stick with a certain air of defiance and gazed at her. He said, "The top level is, what, a mile wide.... They actually have that planted? And lit? God. I'd hate to be the one who changes the light panels."

  "Robots do that. You're the software engineer. You know robots, dear."

  "Hmm..." Irrepressible Riku was repressed for a time while he considered the delicious problems of programming robots to do something as complex as change light panels and plant, nurture, and harvest plants. The rest left him to it as they considered what to do after breakfast.

  This included shopping at the one clothing salon in the City. High-fashion gowns and other clothing were available. It was Kate, the psycho-sociological expert, who explained the dynamics of that.

  Three prestigious designers had been commissioned by the Consortium to work with 3D clothing synthesizers on the Moon to turn Moon-grown fiber and chemicals mined from the lunar crust into fabric and shape it into their signature products.

  Of course only maharajahs or their equivalent could afford the clothing or the cost of returning it to Earth, but on the Moon there was no shortage of visiting super-rich.

  At one point Riku looked up at the high ceiling. "I always pictured the City as being low domes covered with dirt with barely overhead room to walk from one side of the dome to the other."

  Kate said, "The psychological engineers vetoed that kind of design right away. They'd researched housing in harsh environments like Antarctica or remote mountain tops or sparsely populated deserts. They found that the societies with the least amount of rage-based crime had roomy interiors. They theorize that those mimic the outdoors and gave a sense of freedom."

  "Makes sense to me. And all the greenery and the flowers? More of the 'psychological health' rationale I suppose."

  Kate nodded. Klaus said, "And it helps regenerate and refresh the air."

  They sampled other features of the City during the day. This included visiting the Quidditch field and observing some players practicing throwing, catching, and blocking the balls used in the game while flying through the air.

  When the experienced players finished their practice session all the crew took to the air along with a dozen other people. For a time the air seemed to be filled with careening flyers. There were no collisions, however. The rentable "sticks" had good collision-avoidance provisions.

  That night the group went to a party in one of the several plazas in the city. It was put on by the Consortium to welcome the latest batch of newcomers come "up" from Earth. There were several hundred people including both newbies and old hands.

  At one point Nicole said, "I think I can tell the old hands among the women. Everything is very colorful. They don't wear dresses or skirts. Instead they wear a variation on pants or shorts. Or--" She nodded toward one gorgeous woman with café-au-lait skin and long curly midnight hair. "--next to nothing."

  The woman's costume was mostly glossy black ribbons covering her body and legs and only barely covering certain strategic areas.

/>   "I highly approve," said Klaus. Riku nodded vigorous agreement.

  Riku made the woman's acquaintance and did not come home to his hotel room that night.

  Chapter 13 - Shield Experiment

  The next morning the Gang began work. During their break day they'd briefly checked out the control room they'd been assigned to do remote monitoring of the experiment. Today they arrived at it at 8:00 local time and set to running diagnostics on all the equipment that connected their vears to the avatars in the experimental setup.

  This was in a small crater half a mile wide and on average 100 feet deep. It was some 150+ miles to the east of the catapult liftoff/landing point on the equator and nearby Luna City. This put it over the horizon from Earth and from the City. Thus if there was a leakage of radiation from the experiment it would not interfere with the electronics of the City or the very distant planet Earth.

  Being over the horizon from the City meant that the Gang had to communicate with their test site via a ring of communication satellites which orbited the Moon in geocentric (or lunacentric) orbits. The comsats linked the City not only to the test site but also other installations on the far side of the Moon. Some of those were focused outward, such as radio and optical astronomical telescopes. Some of them were links between the City and dozens of robots mapping the far side of the Moon and looking for mineral deposits.

  The Gang's connections to the site worked OK but were less responsive than they would have been back on Earth. The video images were also less detailed. This meant the testers would eventually have to travel to the test site to do the up-close and detailed inspection that only humans onsite could do.

  That visit happened two days later. It was a Saturday according to City time but every one on the gang was eager to begin the shield tests. Until that happened none would take time off. Her crew members were so eager they'd work themselves to exhaustion if Jane did not rein them in.

  She detailed that job to her Exec, which both relieved her of the details but also had the side effect of forcing Kate herself to work reasonable hours.

  They were up at 6:00 that morning, made their usual toilette and breakfast and got ready for the day. These included emptying bladders and bowels since the facilities for that on the trip and at the experiment site were primitive.

  The dozens of Moon rovers waiting in Garage 13 sat in a parking area in a huge hangar on the north side of the City. They looked like oversized white self-powered residential trailers. The Gang was met by a human attendant as they entered the garage, a stout woman in a mechanic's overalls and boots. She seemed Cambodian judging by her name and appearance but her English was posh English.

  "You're Kuznetsov. You invented this induced-magnetism stuff. Cool."

  Senior Technician Oum looked down at the slate/computer in her hands and back up at Jane.

  "I see that you've been checked out on the simulators as qualified to drive one of these babies. And the rest of your crew?"

  "Right. You can see their certifications in the application we filed for this trip."

  The woman looked down again and scrolled the data on her screen.

  "Right. Looks good. Since you've only had virtual time in these babies we'll take a short tour of the city surroundings long enough for each of you to have some time at the wheel. Go inside your unit, 13-76, and do a walk-through while I go suit up. Then I'll go with you to final check you for your trip."

  They found their rover/trailer easily enough and entered it, Jane first. The instant she stepped up into the vehicle she became Jane+Robot+rover. SHE examined HER new body easily enough as every rover remained powered ON at a very low level while in Sleep mode.

  When Technician Oum returned in her white Moon suit everyone had examined the interior of the rover. JANE had powered it on and run all the diagnostics. SHE was sitting in the pilot's seat and had HER golden Moon suit plugged into the umbilical next to the seat. HER crew in their suits colored red, green, blue, and violet were likewise seated and plugged in.

  "Good. Good," said the woman as she surveyed the inhabitants of the rover. Then she sat in the co-pilot's seat and plugged in her air and electronics umbilical. She examined the readouts on the dashboard.

  "Good. Good. I see you've already got her tuned up and ready to go. Now, Captain, if you please, lift off and take her out."

  "Roger, Technician Oum. Lifting off now."

  JANE laid hands on the control yoke and touched the several buttons required.

  Underneath the rover six projectors induced magnetism in the concrete floor and matching electromagnets under the vehicle powered up. The rover lifted smoothly to two feet of height, then began to creep forward till it entered a cross row of wide cleared space. JANE tapped the UP WHEELS button on her control panel to retract the legs and wheels that normally held the trailer off the floor or ground.

  JANE spun leisurely on HER axis till SHE was facing down the row. The rover/trailer picked up speed, to a leisurely walking pace. At the end of the row SHE turned again, this time toward the exit, and moved to a fast walking pace. At the same time JANE contacted traffic control, gave it HER vehicle number, HER biological part's name, and the location of HER departure "for a check ride around the City."

  SHE instantly received an OK from the City's robotic traffic control tower. When the rover butted against the door it slid open. Seals slid away to all sides and along them as the rover moved, fitting tightly against the trailer to prevent air from leaving the garage. When the trailer was completely in the huge air lock the seals slid shut.

  JANE, monitoring the garage part of the City, could tell only a tiny fraction of a percent of air had been lost to the in-vacuum air lock.

  Outside it was Lunar night but the first two hundred feet or so was illumined by bright lights. The road north was concrete for about a hundred feet, then smooth and packed Moon dirt just visible at the edge of the light's reach. The road was wide enough for four trailers abreast but they were the only ones on it.

  As SHE proceeded into the darkness the heads-up display sandwiched between the big picture windows' two panes of armor glass brightened. The amplification of starlight and light from the distant Earth made the grey desolation of moonscape clear.

  A half mile further Street 13 T'd with an east-west road just as wide. Oum called a halt. JANE slid to a stop to float near the turn into the road.

  "Any trouble reading the map, Captain?" She nodded toward the dash board. It wasn't a big nod as her helmet could not tilt a lot.

  "No. It's perfectly clear. We're here on this circle--" SHE pointed at a location on the large image screen on the dash with a gloved hand. The spot was on the big traffic circle around the City. "Then over here and here--" She gestured at two points on the map further to the east and west. "There are the two crossroads to the rest of the Moon."

  "Good. Good. Enter the highway and turn left."

  The cyborg did so. On the packed-dirt "highway" SHE drove westward. Ahead near the horizon Earth was visible, a far blue ball.

  After a short time a Y to the left appeared. Oum had JANE take that. After a few minutes she had JANE stop and park, still floating two feet above the road. Then she had JANE lift off on the six space jets underneath the trailer and make a circle a 100 feet up in one direction then another circle in the opposite. Finally she had JANE land on the spot from which she took off.

  "Good. Good. Just remember to use the jets only when the floater engines won't do. Jets use a fair amount of power, floaters almost nothing once you're at altitude. If two feet can be considered an altitude."

  She laughed at her joke and the cyborg smiled. SHE was getting better at expressing emotion while merged with Robot and whatever machines SHE had taken into herself. She could even feel emotion after having much practiced allowing more of HER biological nature into HERself.

  Oum certified Jane as fully qualified on Moon rovers, then had HER yield HER seat to the next person the cyborg indicated: Kate, who wore a bright red Moon suit.


  JANE went back to a seat behind where HER crew had chosen seats, one of the ten in the rover. SHE sat, plugged in, and monitored the rest of HER crew as they circled the City and were certified. SHE remained seated as the last crew member (Nicole) drove the rover back into Garage 13.

  Oum stood and looked at everyone.

  "One final comment. This--" She pointed at a virtual button on the dashboard's display. "--turns on the 'Cowcatcher.' That's an induced-magnetism 'bumper' that will sweep aside any debris that's fallen or rolled onto your roadway. Where your path diverges from regular routes it has only been traveled by the carriers for the robots who constructed your experimental site. The 'Catcher will smooth and level your roadway. Use it.

  "Now Good Luck in your work. Bye."

  When the technician had exited the trailer JANE gave Nicole the order to exit the garage and begin the drive to the experiment test site.

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  It took three hours to get to the site, the last hour over the horizon from the Earth and from the City. That hour was in sunlight as this part of the Moon, forever facing away from its mother planet, was currently awash in sunlight. That was as planned, so that the team would have the lit half of the Moon's thirty Earth-days-long Lunar "day" to work. They should be long gone from the site by the time this far side of the Moon entered its Lunar "night."

  In the future they would take much less time to make the trip, but this first trip JANE wanted to be cautious. So far only robots had taken the road to the site and the cyborg wanted for humans (and HERself) to see the roadway with their own eyes and find any problems that the robots had missed.

  The end of the road was visible from a quarter mile back on the road as dozens of yellow robots had been parked on two sides of the road near the crater. As they neared the parking areas they could see that the machines sat in neat rows with smaller robots on the right parking area and bigger ones on the left. Someday big haulers from the City would pick them up and return them to the City.

  Klaus pulled up where the road dipped into the crater where the experimental setup had been built. Everyone had taken turns driving and it had been his turn again to drive.