Lunar Escape

by C P MacDonald

  She nodded in agreement and reached across the table to shake hands.

  Calin stood up from the table and tossed back the last of his beer. “You've got good timing. I already have a delivery schedule with Sam this afternoon. After I pick up his package at the docks, I'm heading to the Nightshade. I can book the server time while I'm there. Meet me back here a few hours so we can go over your plan of entry. OK?”

  Dean chimed in and asked Shona, “Hey, you want to go get something to eat while you wait? I know a great noodle shop down the alley. My treat.”

  Calin rolled his eyes at Dean and interrupted. “Sorry Dean, you will be busy installing that stealth mesh on the Sea Rover. If we have to sneak them off the Moon that new tech will come in handy.”

  Shona suppressed a grin at Dean’s flirtation, “And I need to go finalize preparations for tonight." With a nod to both of them she added. "I will meet you gentleman back here in two hours.”

  Both Dean and Calin hung back and let Shona leave first. They could not help but appreciate watching her leave and gave each other knowing grins.

  Chapter 6

  In ten seconds things were going to get complicated, and he didn’t like it when things got complicated. This complication came in the form of a PPD patrol. The standard quad group came around the corner and headed across the dock toward where he hid among the crates. They wore standard patrol armor, visored helmets with a heads-up display, and voice-activated comm gear. The .155 Snout carbines they carried held 200 rounds of slugs, enough firepower for any serious firefight.

  He inched himself back deeper into the shadows and cursed silently in Russian. Normally he would be safely hidden among the crates on the far side of the dock when the patrol passed through, but they were two minutes early today.

  As his heart hammered in his chest Calin didn’t even breathe when the squad marched by him, only a few feet away. Luckily a heated argument of last night’s Zero-G volleyball game distracted them. Calin froze in the shadows until they disappeared around the far corner of the dock.

  Dock 2B West was a low traffic dock on the west side of the spaceport. Which is why Calin used it when he scheduled his shipments. Most of the cargo here was standard municipal supplies for Caldera City, cleaners, office supplies, paper goods, and other essential but non-regulated items. Crates and shipments here received a cursory examination by Customs but were mostly ignored. Most of the primary cargo shipments came in through Dock 1A Main on the other side of the spaceport where Customs paid a lot more attention and it was harder to bypass. But Calin paid people up on Harbor Station to get his shipments onto the lesser regulated shuttles. It cost him a decent stack of credits, but it made his job a lot easier.

  The skipper of a transport shuttle parked off to the side sauntered down its gangway and looked around at the deserted cargo dock. Before he headed back up into the shuttle, he rubbed the side of his nose with his thumb, their prearranged All Clear signal.

  To call the cargo ship a shuttle was being generous and more of a traditional description than a technical one. The shuttle looked like an odd collection of tech cobbled together. It didn’t need to be elegant to get the job done nor be aerodynamic as it flew in the vacuum of space. Most the shuttle's body comprised of a standard plastic shipping container; rectangular, 50 feet long and 15 feet tall and wide. The front part of the shuttle was a square cockpit for the pilot, with two hydraulic arms that extended out behind it to clamp onto slots in the sides of the shipping container. There were clusters of thrusters at the end of the arms and under the cockpit. This way the pilot didn’t need to worry about unloading cargo, he simply dropped off the rectangular container and flew off for his next delivery.

  Calin slid out of his hiding spot and preceded to cross the wide-open dock to the shuttle like he owned the place. The first rule of smuggling was to never look like you’re smuggling.

  “Hey Skipper, how was the trip?” he asked as he walked up the ramp into the shuttle.

  “A touch of solar storms but nothing too serious. Let's get this done, I’ve got a scheduled departure window in 5 minutes.” The skipper said as he waved him inside.

  Calin stepped into the cockpit and slid the hatch shut behind him. The Skipper polarized the viewports so they wouldn't be observed. Calin slipped a crytodisk out of his shirt pocket and tapped it against the disk the Skipper held out to transfer their standard fee. With a grunt of approval, the Skipper bent over and touched a series of bolt heads set into the floor in a particular sequence to cause a panel to pop up next to his foot. Calin reached in and grabbed a small plastic case a foot long and six inches wide and tall. The case was a Null-box, a sensor proof plastic box that didn’t show up on scans, molecular sniffers, or even old fashion x-rays. The Skipper, someone Calin had used on many occasions, was a professional and never asked nosy questions about what he carried in, he was happy to get paid with no questions asked. The pay he would probably use at The Nightshade to enjoy the very VR sims he had unknowingly smuggled in.

  Calin knew that cargo skippers barely made enough to live even a simple life, so in a way, he considered it a public service to help supplement their income with some light smuggling work. Besides, it added some real excitement into their boring lives. The Skipper title was honorific only, much like calling the flying cargo container a shuttle. They never actually flew the shuttles, they had an AI Pilot that did all the work. But even with modern tech, the insurance companies felt safer if there was a human on board in case there was ever a mechanical or AI failure. The Skippers punched in their destination and went along for the ride. Calin figured doing a small amount of harmless smuggling helped livened up their boring supply runs.

  The Skipper de-polarized the cockpit window and peered out to make sure the dock was still clear. They walked down the gangway laughing and smiling like two old chums. Appearance was everything.

  Chapter 7

  The Nightshade was always open. The population of Caldera City worked shifts around the clock, so the club never closed. It was not a high-class joint by any stretch of the imagination. Located in a long-forgotten corner of Sub-Level the club, formerly an old warehouse, wasn’t on any city planning map. But it was one of the best known open secrets among Moonies. The beer and Virtual Reality simulations were cheap, and no one asked nosy questions. Calin suspected that Sam had illegally tapped into the city power grid. Despite the rolling power brown-outs that were part of living in Sub-Level, somehow The Nightshade always had a constant, uninterrupted power supply for the VR sims 24 hours a day.

  When Calin walked into the club, he gave a nod to the bored bouncers who leaned against the far wall with their arms crossed. He had been here enough for them to know him by sight. As he weaved his way through the tables his eyes flicked around the club. The low light inside concealed the dirt and grunge that coated every surface, but also provided dark areas threats could easily hid in. But since it was still during the day-shift the club was slow and not very crowded.

  Like any nightclub in the Solar System, there was a typical dance floor with the usual young couple or two grinding away to whatever the current trend in music was. The club included a full-length bar along the back wall that served watered down drinks. But Calin knew the Virtual Reality suites were hidden in the back of the building, these were Sam’s main cash machines. The VR suites provided a full sensory virtual reality experience; fetishes, exotic vacations, violence, or almost any illegal activity you could think of.

  He crossed over to the bar and tapped a metal finger against the bar to get the barkeeper’s attention, “I’m here to see Sam, he’s expecting me.”

  The barkeep nodded his head toward the door in the back marked Private and pushed a button under the bar to buzz Calin through.

  With one hand to hold the case in front of him, he kept the other hand in plain view as he stepped through the door. On the other side were two of Sam’s guards, weapons drawn and aimed at his head. One guard stepped forward while the other kept hi
m covered with a blaster. Calin raised both arms up and calmly accepted a pat-down. With a scowl he reluctantly surrendered his blaster. Sam was an annoying pain in the ass to work for and immoral, but he was no fool. No one got in to see him carrying a weapon.

  Inside the back office, Sam sat at a cluttered desk surrounded by his usual entourage of low life muscle. Calin weaved through the stacks of beer kegs and crates of liqueur and tossed the Null-box of VR sims on the desk. He cut to the point and stated ”Delivery.”

  Sam glared up at the interruption and dropped a comm tablet on the desk with a huff. But when he noticed the Null-box he grinned and reached out to flip open the lid. Inside were stacks of VR chips, each pre-programmed with out of this world fetishes or experiences. With a glance up at Calin, he extended a hand toward an open seat.

  Calin, with reluctance, took the offered chair. “I told you it would be on time.”

  Sam nodded in agreement, “So far, you have yet to disappoint. The usual price?” he asked and held up a cryptodisk.

  Calin held up his hand “Not so fast. There’s been a situation and I need to renegotiate payment for this shipment.”

  Sam frowned, his good mood replaced with confusion. “Negotiating is done at the start of a job, not at the end.”

  Calin slouched in the chair and said, ”There’s been a situation and I need to ask a favor.”

  Sam frowned, his good mood replaced with confusion. “Favors are for friends, and we are not friends.”

  “I need access to your AI server, tonight.”

  Sam squinted suspiciously at Calin, “That’s not a lot of notice. Why should I bump someone else's server reservation for you?”

  “You’ve come to me plenty of times with rush requests, and I’ve always come through.” Calin pointed out.

  Sam scratched his chin and considered Calin’s statement, then grinned. “All right, and it will be a big favor.” The thought of having the top smuggler in Caldera City in his dept obviously appealed to Sam.

  “Done.” Calin agreed reluctantly. He had a bad feeling this would cost him more than the 10k he was getting from Shona. This was why he didn't do charity work or help people out, he reminded himself.

  “When do you need access?” Sam inquired. He picked up his comm tablet and looking at Calin questionably.

  “Tonight, 9-11pm, with a secured up-link of course.”

  Sam gestured at one of his henchmen, who went over to a storage locker and pulled out a small device. The up-link was a portable comm unit which used an encrypted channel to communicate to Sam's AI server. Untraceable and unblockable, every professional thief and crook in Caldera City came to Sam for their AI assisted hacking needs. Sam had this server specially programmed with anti-security algorithms for lock picking and bypasses.

  Sam slid the up-link across the desk toward him and asked “What do you need it for? A big job I’m guessing?”

  Calin smirked. “Are you kidding? You know better than to ask that.”

  "It was worth a shot, sometimes people slip up and let loose some juicy gossip. What can I say, information can be valuable." Sam chuckled.

  Calin got out of the chair and held up the up-link “Thanks for this. Where do you want me to return it?”

  “When you’re done drop it off to the doorman out front.”

  Calin backed slowly across the room and kept his eyes on both Sam and his muscle until he was at the door and had retrieved his gun. It wasn’t until he was clear of The Nightshade did he release a shaky breath. Dealing with someone as unpredictable as Sam always made him a little nervous.

  Chapter 8

  Silas watched the numbers go up as the tower elevator sped to his office while Jon, his head of security, briefed him on the current situation around Mining Group 10. Jon’s only concern was to cover up the disappearance of MG10, he was not concerned with WHY they had disappeared. That was above his pay grade and Silas had no intention of telling him.

  Mining Group 10 was the lead dig crew on a new outlying tunnel in Exoplanet's main mining complex. Located right outside Caldera City, it was the primary economic reason for the existence of the city. Three days ago MG10 discovered a system of man-made tunnels where there should have been solid rock. There was no record of any mining or drilling activity in that region, private or military. Even his informants inside the Planetary Patrol Division couldn’t find any mention of a secret military outpost or base anywhere near Caldera City. Also, these mysterious tunnels led to a central large cavern, that again, should not have been there. And inside that large cavern, 300 feet below the surface of the Moon, was a building of unusual architecture. The last he heard they still hadn’t found a way inside, there were no visible doors or hatches. Silas hoped it was a secret, black ops Government base from the early occupation of the Moon, from the pre-colonial days. And he also hoped it would still have some secret tech, hardware, or secrets he could use for his own agendas.

  Jon, continued with his debrief and said, “Sir, the cleanup crew has finished with what we are calling a mining accident with MG10. The PR spin is sitting on your desk for your review and approval. I believe you will find it satisfactory. Also, we’ve removed all records of MG10 from our public servers and encrypted them offline. Captain Avis is waiting in your office to give you his full report.”

  “Good, good. Jon is it? Great work. Schedule a meeting with your security department heads, we will need to shuffle a couple of patrols around. And I need a squad of troops you can trust to keep their mouths shut. OK? Good."

  “Will do, Sir.”

  “Bambi…” Silas said smoothly as he turned to his assistant.

  “It’s Brandi, Sir.”

  “Brandi. OK, Brandi. It will be a busy day so cancel my dinner appointment with that solar energy guy, it's a big waste of time, anyway. And be a dear and order a steak, well done, a loaded baked potato, and a chocolate milkshake delivered to my office in an hour.”

  “Anything else, Sir?” Brandi asked.

  “No, that will be all, that will be all. Thank you Bambi,” he said with a wink and he openly gave her smooth gorgeous legs a slow leery look.

  Brandi gave her skirt some small tugs down as she pretended to pay attention to the numbers changing on the elevator display.

  With a slight ping, the high-speed elevator arrived at the Governor’s office at the top of the Capitol Building. The pair of gold-trimmed mahogany doors slid open with a slight hiss to reveal what power and prestige would get a man on the Moon.

  The floors were Italian white marble polished to a mirror finish. Gray moon rock columns supported the 15 foot high ceilings. But instead of the smooth moon concrete that was the typical construction technique in Caldera City, these had been carved into facsimiles of Egyptian columns, complete with detailed hieroglyphics. Silas always had an interest in ancient history, especially the rulers and conquerors, and he preferred to surround himself with objects and settings similar to those of the great conquerors of history.

  He had gold and platinum used repeatedly throughout the office for trim and opulent decorations. The focal point of the room was his large desk in front of a floor to ceiling glass wall that looked out over the city. The desk had been carved from a single red oak and transported all the way from Earth, at considerable expense. It was a statement of power and wealth. Silas never tired of the view. His penthouse office, high above the city, separated him from the regular citizens of the Moon. They lived and worked here because he allowed it. This was his domain, his Kingdom on the Moon.

  Captain Avis, his Head of City Security waited for him with a helmet tucked under one beefy arm as he looked out the glass wall over the city. Standing over six feet tall and passing 200 lbs even without armor on, Avis was an imposing figure.

  Avis turned and looked at Silas’s entourage and his deep voice rumbled, “I’m sorry Sir, but I have sensitive information. Those two need to leave.”

  Silas turned to Brandi and Jon and flicked his hand to wave them off. “If you
would please, give us a few minutes.”

  Brandi and Jon immediately turned and headed back into the elevator, grateful for any excuse to leave. With a tension releasing exhale, Brandi punched the lobby button on the elevator and waited impatiently for the elevator to descend. Express elevator or not, it did not descend fast enough for them.

  Silas circled around the large desk to his chair, he turned to Captain Avis and said “So what is it? Is this about MG10 or the tunnels?”

  Captain Avis did not bother to wait on an invitation from Silas, sat himself in the guest chair in front of the desk and steepled his fingers before he gave his report. “As of this morning, the tunnels have been completely mapped. Your scientists have yet to figure out how the tunnels were carved. Some sections look brand new with walls as smooth as glass.”

  Silas waved his hand dismissively, “Whatever, not important. What about the building? Have they gotten inside yet?”

  Avis stood up, his nervousness clear as he paced back and forth in front of Silas with his hands clasped behind his back as he continued his report. “The tunnel system is more than one layer, as is the building in the center. The tunnels encircle the building and even lead up to the surface to a camouflaged exit. To get into the building we used mining lasers to cut through the wall. And what we found inside…” he paused, uncertain on how to continue.

  “Go on!” encouraged Silas impatiently.

  “Sir, what we found inside is unlike anything anyone has ever seen. I have never seen a base like this. We’ve found tech and writing that we’ve never seen before. It’s strange, all of it is strange!”.

  Captain Avis’s outburst surprised Silas. The Captain was always a rock-solid person, maybe cold as space at times but stable. But the information he was telling him made Silas excited, the possibilities going through his mind was limitless!

  Avis stopped pacing to look out the glass walls out over the Moon again and took a breath to get himself under control before he continued his debrief. “The central building is circular, large and is comprised of multiple floors. So far each floor has a circular hallway with doors on each side. We have yet to explore the entire building yet, there are still some doors we haven’t cut through yet.”