Lunar Escape

by C P MacDonald

  “What’s it say?” asked Shona moving into view of the vid-screen. When Mouse saw her he raised his eyebrows and gave Calin a quick questioning look.

  “Mouse, meet Shona. It’s her security stick.” Calin explained.

  “Well, I stole it, so technically it’s not really mine.” Shona corrected him, giving Mouse a smile.

  “Hello there.” Mouse said smoothly.

  Calin rolled his eyes in disgust, “Mouse, focus on the job at hand, OK?”

  Startled, Mouse jerked his eyes away from Shona and turned back to his screen. “OK, I got the file opened. Now let us see what we got here…” he mumbled to himself.

  Suddenly he jerked his head back and shot Calin a dirty look, “This is not just government hardware, it’s a PPD stick! Damn it Calin what did you have me open?” he exclaimed as his fingers flew to activate firewalls and AI networks. “If they traced this decrypted stick I’m a dead man!”

  Calin gestured at Shona beside him and said, “She is looking for her brother and we think this stick can tell us where he is.”

  “Here, I’m sending you the opened data. I’ve got to shut down and dump my drives. Hopefully, I’ve kept a trace from being sent out. I'm out.” He blurted before the screen went dark.

  From the comm station speaker Rose announced, “File received” just as the vid-screen filled with the decrypted documents.

  Shona looked around, "Who's that?"

  "Oh, that's Rose. My AI copilot, secretary, and sometimes babysitter for Dean. I forgot to introduce you." He leaned back in his chair and said to the ceiling, "Rose, say hello to Shona. She is staying with us for a while."

  Rose replied, her voice smooth and welcoming "Nice to meet you Shona."

  "You too Rose," Shona replied.

  They turned back to the screen and swiped through the files and folders, both on the lookout for any useful information.

  “What is all this?” asked Shona.

  “It looks like it’s about the Exoplanet mining complex outside the city. But this map of the tunnels doesn’t look right,” Calin pointed to the map file. “The last I knew of it didn't extend that far north. All of these tunnels here are new. How did they dig that many tunnels so fast?”

  “Wait, go back!” Shona snapped. “Zoom in that part” she pointed to a short tunnel that branched off one of the new ones.

  When they zoomed into for a closer look at the map, right beside the short tunnel was a simple tag that said “MG10”.

  Shona looked at Calin, “That must be where Mining Group 10 and my brother are.”

  At that moment Dean sauntered up the loading ramp and into the ship. “Find something?” he asked as he wiped the grease from his hands on an even greasier rag.

  Calin gestured at the screen, “Shona thinks this location is a reference to her missing brother’s mining group. But it is located deep inside Exoplanet mines outside the city.”

  Shona paced back and forth and stared at the floor. “I think I will have to ask for some more help. Getting into those mines and out again is more than I can do alone, I’m a thief, not a magician.”

  She turned to them and asked, “Can you guys get me into those mines? I hate to ask this because I’m out of creds and I can’t pay you anything.”

  Calin silently glanced at Dean, who replied with a silent nod. Dean knew of his reluctance to play Good Samaritan and help people out, but he had a gut feeling this was too important not to help.

  “Don’t worry about the pay,” Calin stood up from the comm station and placed his hand on her shoulder. “We'll help you find your brother, it’s the least I can do. If it wasn’t for you, I would be in those mines as their unwilling guest.”

  He turned back to the map on the screen and continued, “Besides, I'm feeling very curious about these new tunnels. There is no way they dug that many tunnels that fast with no one knowing. There might be some worthwhile information there I can use.”

  Shona shrugged, “I don’t care about the tunnels, just finding my brother. And when I find him, we are getting off this damn rock! I’m tired of all this, always running around looking over my shoulder. You two are a crew, I’ve operated solo for years. Once I get my brother I’m done.” The anger melted from her face into sadness as she thought about her brother.

  Calin stepped over, put an arm around her and gave a little squeeze, “Don’t worry, we'll find your brother. And I may have an idea on how to sneak into the most heavily guarded complex on the Moon.”

  Chapter 11

  Calin’s plan to sneak into the Exoplanet mines outside of Caldera City was simple and a type he had done variations of plenty of times before. They would go in as shift workers, but they needed to get a couple of fake I.D.s to get past security. Luckily, Calin knew a guy.

  Melvin’s Print Shop was on First Avenue and right down the street from the Capitol Building. To the public, Melvin was the go-to guy for almost any print job, including company I.D.s. But he was also the Black Market’s go-to guy for fake identification of any company or government agency on the Moon.

  After a quick comm call from Calin, Melvin fabricated two Exoplanet miner I.D. papers for Calin and Shona. As he stood in Melvin’s back stock room, where Melvin did his REAL work, Calin flipped the I.D. over in his hand and examined the work.

  “Melvin, your work is always amazing, these look like the real thing.” He said with admiration.

  “They should because they are. Just last week I did a bulk order for Exoplanet.” Melvin replied with a grin and a nod at the two passes, “I may have misplaced a few during printing.”

  Shona slipped her pass into a breast pocket and asked, “But what about the keycard access points?”

  “They will work there too. The fee you two paid me includes a 48-hour temporary employee file inserted into Exoplanet’s records.” Melvin leaned back into his chair and crossed his arms with a grin. It was clear he was proud of his work.

  Calin tapped his I.D. on the counter, “It’s always a pleasure doing business with you, top-notch work as always.”

  The ding of Melvin's front door interrupted their conversation. A vid-screen from a security camera displayed two PPD officers as they entered the front of the shop.

  “What the hell?” exclaimed Shona.

  Melvin held out his hands to calm them. “Relax guys, I do work for them too. Just give me a minute.”

  Calin and Shona watched on the vid-screen as Melvin conversed with the officers. One cop gestured back behind Melvin, toward the back room and took a step forward. Melvin quickly stepped in front of the officer and held up his arms to block them.

  “Uh oh, that doesn’t look good.” Stated Shona.

  “We’ve must have gotten flagged on security cams. Getting this close to the Capitol Building so soon after stealing that stick was probably not the best idea,” Calin said with a shrug.

  On the screen, the two officers drew their weapons and forced themselves past Melvin.

  Calin grabbed her hand and urged, “Let’s get out of here. The back door is this way.”

  They raced out of the building into the back alleyway. They darted left and exited onto First Avenue, which had filled up with workers headed toward the first shift of the day. They spotted a small crowd of tech workers and attempted to blend in with them.

  The two PPD officers raced out of Melvin's and looked around for their targets. Calin realized it would only take a minute for the cops to spot them. Everyone else on First Avenue this early wore tech coveralls with utility belts full of tools. He and Shona were in casual clothes, they stuck out worse than a pair of dirtsider tourists.

  It only took seconds for the PPD to spot them in the crowd and yell for them to halt.

  Calin lifted his gun and fired off two rounds, both rounds found their mark. The officer flew back with the impact and slammed into a wall behind him.

  Calin grabbed Shona's hand again and ran down the avenue, weaving through the early morning commuters. They ducked into a narrow
service alleyway. They ran as fast as they could and tried not to slip in the greasy puddles of condensation that dripped from the pipes above their heads. He had an idea and pulled her through the maze of alleyways that serviced the buildings and businesses around First Avenue. The distance between them and their pursuers increased with each corner they turned. When they rounded another corner Calin spotted what he had been looking for, a stack of crates on a loading dock, waiting to be picked up for shipment.

  “Hurry, over here. We need to split up, if you hide in here for a while I will lead them off,” he said as he flipped the lid off of a large crate. He didn't wait for an answer and boosted Shona up and into the crate. Their eyes met as he lowered her into the crate.

  “Meet me at Dirty Pats for lunch tomorrow?” he asked with a casual smirk.

  Shona nodded in agreement and crouched down into the crate while Calin placed the lid back on. He could hear the PPD down the alleyway as they got closer. He jumped off the dock back into the alley and paused long enough for the officers to come around the last corner and spot him.

  “You! Halt!” they commanded.

  With a grin and a quick shot in their direction, he took off at top speed down the alley. Like a street rat, he darted around dumpsters and weaved between the stacks of crates that littered the corridor.

  He could hear the hum of a mag-lev tram nearby, the pitch getting lower and then higher as the tram went around a curve on the tracks. He must be near Capitol Gardens, the new dome connected to the Capitol Building he had seen on the news.

  The mag-lev tram was a mass public transport system that connected the main sections of the surface city. The tram entered each dome or building through a large airlock on the elevated tracks that wove throughout the city. The trams connected all the various buildings and business sectors throughout Caldera City. The tracks snaked their way through domes and between buildings to provide spectacular views of the city to the visiting tourists.

  A crazy idea formed in his head, so Calin hung a left to exit the alleyway and cut through a barbershop back onto First Avenue. There, 50 meters away was the entrance to Capitol Gardens.

  With the PPD still in pursuit, Calin jumped the entrance gate and ran into the garden dome. But instead of going down the main aisle he clung to the perimeter of the dome until he spotted what he was looking for, a maintenance gate that led to the dome structure overhead. A series of walkways spiraled up the inside of the dome toward the peak, used by workers to maintain the interior of the dome surface.

  Still at a dead run, he leaped and reached up with his cybernetic arm to grip the top of the gate that blocked the maintenance walkway. With a cybernetic powered boost, he heaved himself up and over the tall fence to drop safely down the other side. He paused to catch a couple of deep breaths then preceded to run up the stairs to the first level of walkways. The mag-lev track beside him circled the Gardens, giving the tourists a top view of the park before it exited outside to the surface of the moon.

  Calin could hear the PPD behind him yell over their comms for security to unlock the Garden gate. He darted full speed up the stairs to the next level, three steps at a time, He could hear the next tram when it entered the dome through the magnetic airlock. One more level up and he could look down on the track that circled the dome. The tram had to slow down to enter the airlock below him. But after it left the airlock, the tram sped up rapidly. As he ran above the track, the tram sped by him 5 meters below him. Without breaking stride, Calin placed a hand on the walkway railing and leaped over it into the open air. Even though he had prepared himself and leaned into it the drop onto the surface of a tram traveling twice his speed was enough to knock him off his feet. With a hard thud, he tumbled onto his back and slid along the top of the tram, his hands scrambled for a handhold on the speeding train. As he slid toward the edge and the 25-meter drop, he wondered if this would be his last crazy idea.

  He continued to slide across the top of the train pushed by the high-speed wind until he reached the junction between the cars. He grabbed the edge and dropped to the articulated platform that joined the two cars. He yanked up on the door handle and ducked inside to safety. Luckily for him, it was almost empty at this time of day. What few passengers where aboard ignored him, distracted by the view out the windows of the park. He plopped into a seat and exhaled hard as the adrenaline left his body and his energy with it. He pulled the fake I.D. pass out of his pocket and turned it over and over in his hands. He couldn't help but began to second guess whether all of this was worth to help Shona out. Being a good Samaritan just for the hell of it was not on his work resume.

  Chapter 12

  Shona cracked the lid of the crate enough to watch Calin leap off the dock and give a friendly wave to the pursuing guards. She shook her head in disbelief at his brazenness and watched as he led the guards off on a wild goose chase through the back alleyways.

  She closed the lid and settled down to wait until the coast was clear. That Calin was something else she thought to herself. It was a rule of hers not to get involved with business partners, but something about Calin made her want to trust him. Maybe if they got through this, she would relax her rules a little, to see where things went.

  After 30 minutes she lifted the lid again enough to peer out and scan the dock and alleyway. She waited a few more minutes then decided the coast was clear. She pushed the lid off to the side and clambered out of the crate to drop to the cluttered dock. Now she needed to find a place to lie low until she could meet Calin at Pat's tomorrow.

  She stood there and tried to brush off the dust and dirt from her clothes. She grimaced at the state she was in. When she glanced up at the sign above the door on the dock a large smile crossed her face. The sign said Luigi’s, a high-end clothing store whose owner happened to be an old friend of hers. First on her to-do list was a change of clothes. The security guards were looking for a low life thief, what better way to hide in plain sight than to change her status to a rich tourist?

  She reached up to release her hair from its ponytail and ran her fingers through her hair to straighten it out. She tried her best to look more presentable and less like someone who had climbed out of a shipping crate.

  She pushed the delivery button beside the back door and she couldn’t help but give a large smile as Luigi himself unlocked and opened the door.

  First, his eyes widened in surprise when he recognized her, then narrowed in suspicion. He looked past her up and down the alleyway and exclaimed “Shona! What a surprise! My dear, are you in trouble again? Come in, come in!” he repeated and motioned for her to step inside.

  “Thanks, Luigi. I hate to be a bother but I need a favor, no questions asked. The less you know the better OK?” she asked.

  “Of course, of course, my dear!” he answered. “You are always welcomed at my establishment. What can poor old Luigi do for you today?”

  Shona let loose with a laugh at “poor old Luigi”. Luigi was on older gentleman yes, but poor? Outside of the mining CEOs, she wasn’t sure if she knew a richer Moonie. Luigi had established himself as the premier high fashion shop in Caldera City and could charge the prices to back it up. Everyone from the Governor to the ultra-rich tourists shopped at his store.

  “I need a change of clothes, and quickly,” she asked politely.

  “I’ve got just the thing for you, and it should be in your size too. Come, come” And with that, Luigi clapped his hands for service from his amry of employees who jumped into motion. Before she could even blink, there were two clothing racks in front of her, all with the latest fashions and styles from Earth. With a bow to Luigi in appreciation, her eyes gleamed as she held up the various dresses and latest jumpers to herself in the mirror.

  Chapter 13

  Calin peeked around the corner toward the Exoplanet mining annex and watched the next shift of miners show up for work. The plan was for him and Shona to sneak into the mining complex as miners. The first major hurdle was all miners wore the same issued m
ining suit. So they needed to “borrow” a few, and he had just spotted their targets.

  The two miners, engrossed in a heated discussion over last night’s Zero-G volleyball tournament, trailed behind the crowd of miners loading onto a shuttle. The shuttle flew miners from Caldera City to the mining complex at the edge of the crater every shift, and it was the only way in or out.

  Calin waited for them to pass the alley he and Shona hid in before he gestured for her to take the one on the left as he took the one on the right. Simultaneously, they both stepped behind their targets and with a hard swing, struck the unsuspecting miners in the back of their heads. They caught the unconscious miners before they hit the floor and dragged the limp bodies into the alley to strip them of their mining suits. Since all the suits looked the same, it would be easy for them to blend in with the other miners.

  They quickly slipped on the suits, hid their guns in a duffel bag, and joined the rest of the miners as they boarded the shuttle. The shuttle, designed to ferry 20 people, was overloaded with 30. Most of the miners stared off into space but a few grumbled and griped about the job and Exoplanet.

  Calin and Shona squeezed themselves into a corner and pretended to be deep in conversation with each other to avoid interaction with the other miners.

  Being this close to Shona, he was surprised by how blue her eyes were and he tried to ignore how well she filled out her almost too small spacesuit.

  To distract himself he asked her, “How long as it been since you talked to your brother?”

  “It’s been a few weeks.” She leaned against the wall of the shuttle and crossed her arms. “He has never approved of what I do and has tried multiple times to get me to give it up, to get a regular job. He believed hard work was all you needed to succeed on the Moon.” Her face fell and she looked down at her feet. “Well, his hard work philosophy may have gotten him killed.”