The Battle of Broken Moon

by Michael E. Gonzales

  "Sergeant, I have informed Mr. Linderman about the SUBs."

  I looked quickly at Linderman who was looking at me.

  "Is he one, too?" he asked the Colonel.

  "Yes, sir," I said quickly, "I am also one."

  "No offense, Sergeant, it's just that there is no way I would ever know."

  "I'm sorry, sir, I don't know how to respond to that."

  "No, I apologize to you, Sergeant. I know that, in my amazement, I may sound insensitive or crass, I don't mean to. Right now, I feel like the guy who meets a wounded soldier for the first time and stares at his prosthetic leg or hand. I'm embarrassed, and hope you'll forgive me."

  "Well, sir, now I'm embarrassed. I was prepared to dislike you, and I find I can't."

  "Sergeant," the colonel said, "I tell you this just so you are aware that Mr. Linderman, who is now the de facto chief administrator of JILL, is in on our little secret.” He looked at both Linderman and me and asked, “Shall we proceed?"

  Once inside the BSC, I quickly located a magnetic hover tram and brought it to sector nine where the two pressure doors that mark the entrance to the BSC are located. Here, I picked up the colonel and Linderman.

  "There's considerably less damage in here," Linderman noted.

  "Sir, where are we going?" the colonel asked Linderman.

  "Duke, given our association over the last four years, and the nature of our current predicament, I think first names are called for. If you don't mind."

  "Duke will be just fine sir—ah—Hairee. That's going to take some getting used to."

  "Duke?" I inadvertently said aloud, and then glanced at the colonel who just scowled at me.

  "Duke, I'm taking you to the computerized heart of Barbicane. What you're about to see is a quantum leap forward in computerization, literally." He went on to explain Ava's current mission and responsibilities. "The total activation of the system was not due for initiation until about a month before Barbicane's grand opening. Given our new orders, your new orders, I have decided to activate it early."

  At section zero, the center of the BSC, we took an elevator down five floors, but only after Ava confirmed that it was undamaged by the quake. When the door opened, Linderman produced his UAC, or Unlimited Access Card, he held it up to Ava's sensor and her very sultry female voice ask for, "Identification".

  "Linderman, Harry C."

  "Voice recognition confirmed. Welcome, Mr. Linderman."

  The elevator door closed again and the car went down one more floor, when the door opened, we entered into a long, dark, cylindrical hallway with a round vault door at its end.

  "Hello, Mr. Linderman," the computer's voice said. "I see you're accompanied by Colonel Wayne, Jonathan M., the Commander of the LCDD. The other individual I recognize as Matt, Staff Sergeant Mathew Strum of the LCDD."

  It struck me as odd that she should announce the colonel last name first and first name last, but address me in the familiar.

  Once Linderman cleared us, the door opened and we entered a room filled with computer processors, servers, and multiple banks of memory storage. The room was so large I could not see its ends. We followed Linderman to a control panel, where he sat.

  The colonel then asked Linderman, "Is this Big Sister?"

  Linderman waved his arms in the air and said, "Duke, meet the Advanced Virtual Acumen computer, otherwise known as Ava."

  Ava, not being aware of the Colonel's nickname, then gave us a rundown on the word "Duke". At last, they got to the meat of the situation. Linderman pulled a notebook from his pocket in which he had stashed a non-volatile memory computer card. He inserted it into the panel and typed in his passwords. The monitor then displayed the data at a rate of speed even I could not read.

  Linderman sat back and spoke aloud to Ava. "Are you up and running now, honey?"

  Over the next half-hour, the colonel, Linderman, and Ava discussed the plans to evacuate the population, and the mission to stabilize JILL with a team of only forty-nine SUBs. Ava pointed out that she had over 1,500 small maintenance robots who were already at work. These maintenance robots were fitted with the new advanced AI. They were constructed for their function without regard for aesthetics. They were small, a bit over a meter tall, with several different tools available to them built into their slightly conical, cylindrical chassis.

  They moved by means of two parallel wheels mounted to their left and right called Galileo wheels, which had the ability to convert as needed into tank-like treads thus enabling them negotiate stairs and most obstacles; there were also two support rollers, front and rear. They possessed two optical sensors mounted on a rotating ring to allow three hundred sixty degree, parallax vision. Each was topped with a rotating, amber warning light for use, as needed.

  Ava was privy to minute details about JILL's construction, its layout, systems and subsystems. With the additional force of the maintenance robots and Ava's knowledge, all agreed that this mission could indeed be accomplished within a reasonable timetable.

  At one point, in response to something the colonel said, Ava activated what she called her "American English colloquialism protocols". After that, when she spoke she sounded more like a real person. I found this very pleasing. After all, I would be working with her for, well, quite possibly for the rest of my life.

  The meeting was coming to an end as all initial points had been covered. Ava concluded by saying, "I have several post-startup self-tests to run, as well as other systems to activate. I require a little time alone, if you will."

  "Okay, Ava, just don't take too long," Linderman responded.

  We all turned to leave when over Ismay I heard Ava's voice, "Sergeant Strum."

  "Yes, Ava," I responded in kind.

  "You fought in Oceania, did you not?"

  "You have access to my personnel file, right?"

  "Oh, yes, of course I do. You trained at the IIEA facility in Houston with Sergeant Walker, Stabsunteroffizier Kappel and—" There came a pause.

  "Ava, you okay?"

  "Sergeant, may I call you Matt?"

  "Uh, sure."

  "Thank you."

  "Sergeant Strum, you coming?" the colonel called back for me.

  "I have to go," I said.

  "Matt, I am always with you."

  Of course she was. I could talk to her anytime, anywhere.

  ○O○

  The evacuation continued and the pace increased. However, after the departure of the fifteenth shuttle, an incident occurred which threatened the lives of the remaining population.

  The space harbor was connected directly to dome one, which contained the Admin section, the grand lobby and several shops and restaurants. The tunnel that connected dome one to the space harbor was nine meters long and, when it was fully functional, contained two travelators—one going to, and the other coming from the harbor—both were now inoperative.

  Along this tunnel were a series of several, meter-long, oval-shaped windows. Recent inspections had deemed all to be sound. Regardless, shortly after the shuttles departed, one of those windows sprang a leak. The alarms sounded and the warning lights started flashing. Everyone at the harbor end started running toward the dome when, with a sound like a rifle shot, the entire window exploded out into space. The violent decompression sucked one man completely out.

  Almost immediately, EFS erupted into the tunnel with tremendous force, filling it entirely. I didn't see it, but a Bio from the RLN Corporation did. He said a young woman was caught in there. One instant, she was running toward him, the next, he was looking at a wall of hardening EFS.

  The alarms fell silent, the warning lights went dark, and all that could be heard was crying and expressions of shock and disbelief from the assembled crowed.

  I was in the Command Center as the colonel, the XO, Linderman, and Ava discussed the event.

  "Colonel Wayne," she said, "those emergency systems are automatic, I could not disengage even one of them if I wanted to. The loss of life here, horrible as it is, mus
t not overshadow the real issue."

  "And just what's that Ava?" The frustration in both was evident in their voices.

  "There is no natural reason for that observation port to have failed."

  "What are you suggesting?"

  "I have reviewed the recording of that area back several hours before the failure. Prior to the shuttle's arrival, the entire group of departing humans moved to the harbor. After its departure, ground crews moved the emergency equipment that the shuttle delivered back this way. In both cases, my direct observation of that specific window, and the area in immediate proximity to the window, was blocked for several seconds. Fifteen point seven minutes prior to the failure, a very thin wisp of smoke could be seen rising from the lower left extent of the window."

  "Ava, are you suggesting sabotage?"

  "It would appear that a carborane super acid, or some yet unknown corrosive compound, might have been utilized to cause this catastrophic failure. The only way such an agent could have gotten to that specific location was at the hands of someone currently on JILL. We can also deduce the saboteur to be a person familiar with JILL, and the location of my sensor arrays as they were able to avoid being seen."

  "It might be that the culprit left on the shuttle," the XO suggested.

  "That is a possibility," Ava agreed. "However, the likelihood that the saboteur remained behind to conduct additional acts seems a greater possibility. Don't you agree, Colonel?"

  "Yes, I'm afraid I do."

  Linderman turned to the colonel, and in a rather subdued voice, asked, "What are we going to do, Duke?"

  "Well, first, we're going to increase security at every likely target in JILL. We'll double the guard on the remaining population and keep an eye on everyone. If our man can't move without being seen, he can't act again."

  Colonel Wayne turned to me and in private over Ismay asked, "Can you account for Stabsunteroffizier Kappel's whereabouts during this time period?"

  "Sir, he was assigned duties inside the BSC."

  "Do you know for a fact where he was?"

  "No, sir, I don't."

  "And what about Sergeant Walker?"

  "Sir?"

  "He had been captured, hadn't he? He would not be the first man turned by our enemy; they have drugs that can—"

  "No, sir. I refuse to believe that Walker—Sir, he escaped after only seventy-two hours."

  "I don't care what you believe. Walker and Kappel are suspects. Both have been here long enough to become quite familiar with JILL, so you keep a close eye on them, or I'll lock them up."

  "Yes, sir." Thanks to Ismay, the entire conversation took only a couple of seconds, and no one else in the room was aware.

  I was very unhappy about this turn of events, but I had to admit I could not confirm where either man had been during the time in question. But I knew who could.

  ○O○

  "Ava, you there?"

  "Always, Matt."

  "You have the entire base under surveillance, right?"

  "Almost, Matt. There are lapses, due to the quake and some areas where my sensors are not online for unknown reasons."

  "Can you account for the locations of all of my men right now?"

  "Yes."

  "Where are Walker and Kappel?"

  "Pete is eating a ration near the blast doors just inside dome one, and Dolph is asleep here in the BSC in the sector nine conference room."

  "Ava, where were they during the period of the suspected sabotage?"

  "Give me a moment to review my recordings." There was a second's pause. "Matt, I can account for Pete all but for sixty-four minutes, and Dolph for all but fifty-five. They were not together during these times. I can account for one when the other is unaccounted for. Surely, you do not suspect your friends?"

  "I don't, but the colonel is suspicious of both."

  "This was the message in his private conversation with you?"

  "Yes. I'm ordered to watch them."

  "I will be happy to assist you with that project."

  "Thanks, Ava."

  "Matt."

  "Yes?"

  "The colonel has asked that I watch you."

  "You mean me and everybody else, right?"

  "I do not. He seems fixated only on the most recent military arrivals. You three are all that remain from the last group to arrive."

  "Why are you telling me this, Ava?"

  "Because I—" she paused and I heard a number of odd sounds. When she spoke again, her words sounded automated, like before. "I cannot communicate with the necessary server or the server could not find what was requested. I cannot connect to the destination server as communications have failed. The requested resource may be available at a later time."

  "Ava, are you all right?"

  "Yes, Matt. Why do you ask?"

  "Ava, I want you to run a diagnostic."

  "If you insist."

  I thought a moment, then asked, "Ava, can I count on your personal discretion?"

  "Of course, Matt."

  "Where was the colonel during the time period in question?"

  "Right here in the Command Center. Nice try."

  "Ava, why would a carborane super acid be here on JILL?"

  "It is used in a portion of the process developed by Doctor Balaji Manohar Sharma to extract oxygen from lunar regolith. Until recently, hydrosulphuric acid was used, but the carborane super acid is a million times stronger, thus, it replaced the former acid. Doctor Sharma is reported to have been inside dome forty-five when it slid into the fissure."

  "So, it would be available to anyone with access to the oxygen plant?"

  "Yes. There are two such plants now—the older one inside dome four, and a much larger facility outside the BSC."

  "Both are secure areas?"

  "The security protocols for the BSC plant have not yet been completed. It is locked by a simple MagSig lock."

  "Damn. Do you have eyes on that door?"

  "No, Matt. It is in an area dark to me."

  "Great. Ava, I need to take a trip out there. Alone."

  "I take it you want to go unaccompanied and without the knowledge of the colonel?"

  "That's right."

  "Why?"

  "Because I don't any longer know who I can trust."

  "Is there no one, Matt?"

  "Just you, honey."

  "I hope you won't mind if I accompany you."

  I smiled. "How could I deny you?"

  "Might I suggest you not become too eager to make this trip?"

  "Why is that, Ava?"

  "You are being watched closely. Should you depart our authorized area of operations here on the western extent of the BSC for a journey to the extreme east, you would draw unnecessary attention to yourself."

  "Okay, but I need to go as soon as possible."

  "We shall both look for an opportune time. Matt, my diagnostic is complete. Everything that was available to me at startup is nominal, and my operating systems are in optimum condition. I have discovered a firewall I was heretofore unaware of in my prime memory."

  "Your prime memory? That sounds like your manufacturer doesn't want you to remember something."

  "I will endeavor to breach this firewall. Should there be any information that may affect our situation, I will advise you."

  ○O○

  Ava had a rather common sense solution to the problem of regaining the space harbor. Just dig a passage through the now-solidified EFS. It was easy to cut through and the tunnel was only nine meters long. A crew of thirty individuals, all SUBs, accomplished this in just seven hours.

  Ten hours later, a convoy of three shuttles arrived, as anticipated. They landed one at a time as the others remained in orbit. Once all three were filled, they convoyed home to Earth.

  The population of JILL was becoming quite small. The Bio LCDD members, the few remaining admin personnel, and a few construction workers would be on the last shuttles. We SUBs were to be left behind, of course. The Bios were to never discov
er that we did not return to Earth. There was a flaw in that thinking, however. Several Bios and SUBs had become friends. The Bios would return home and become concerned for their buddies and start asking questions. The people back on Earth who came up with this plan thought that the Bios would no more miss the SUBs than a man might miss a copying machine. Problem is—we are more.

  We were aware of the imminent arrival of another three shuttles. They were about nine hours out when there came an explosion inside dome seventeen, on the bottom level. Not a big one, but something was burning in there, most likely oxygen. The bottom level of seventeen was a vehicle maintenance bay, and storage for the O2 cylinders for the vehicles. We had been battling such small fires since the main quake, and found most to be electrical. I volunteered to take a few personnel and go to extinguish the fire.

  The danger was the possible detonation of the entire store of O2 cylinders located in the lower level of seventeen, and because the bases only remaining operational com center capable of contacting Earth and the approaching shuttles sat at the top of that dome inside the control room for Eagle Reconnaissance and Mapping Squadron eight, it was imperative that we save this dome.

  Making this more difficult yet, the dome was canted almost ten degrees off center. So it was going to be like fighting a fire on a sinking ship, and in low gravity while wearing Ess-CEPS.

  I asked for twenty volunteers, and of course, Dolph and Walker were right there. We suited up, grabbed our sonic fire extinguishers, and headed out of the BSC for dome seventeen—a march of several kilometers.

  We had just cleared dome one and left its rubble behind us when we were brought to a shocked halt as five jeeps came pulling up. At the wheel of the first was my old friend, Specialist McGregor.

  "Hi ya, Sarge, thought you'd like a ride."

  "McGregor, where the hell did you—"

  "Okay, Sarge, I'll put 'em back."

  I gave him a look and climbed in. "You know where we're going?"

  He smiled back and said, "Come on, cut me some slack."

  Our little caravan made a beeline for dome seventeen. McGregor saved us a lot of time. It would have taken us close to three hours to walk. I know my Bios were grateful, and so was I. We had a better chance of fighting this fire before the O2 exploded.