Moonbase Crisis

by Kevin J. Anderson

  Then a yawning hole like a mine shaft appeared in the cliffside. One of the termite machines emerged from the new tunnel, digging its way out with sharp excavation tools.

  King leapt aside. The machine was just a mining device, but he and Major Fox had the bad fortune to be near the shaft opening when the digger emerged. JJ’s gasp echoed in her helmet. She was far enough to one side that none of the rocks from the tunnel fell on her, but she backed up a few steps and started to slide on the steep slope. She caught an outcropping and steadied herself. As the men bounded away, the boxy termite robot threw off rocks and debris, clearing its path.

  At last, through the transparent dome on the machine, JJ got a good view of the smooth-skinned creature at the controls as it passed her. Spotting King and Fox with lamplight yellow eyes, the rounded alien reacted with alarm, waving its tentacles furiously.

  Fox opened his radio channel. “Cadets, climb as fast as you can!”

  JJ used all the strength in her legs to jump to a higher outcropping. In the low gravity, she jumped five meters up and hauled herself onto the flat terrace. Above her, King bounded to a wide ledge.

  “C’mon!” He gestured for Major Fox, and the other man jumped up next to him.

  Focusing on King and Fox, the termite robot used its mechanical jointed legs to chase them up the steep wall. The robot lost its footing on a crumbly ledge and tumbled twenty meters before catching itself and climbing upward again.

  It was below JJ now, and she climbed higher.

  “Hurry!” The men scrambled up to another terrace, surrounded by rocks precariously balanced on the edge.

  “We’re more maneuverable than that thing is,” Fox panted.

  “Yes, sir,” King said. “But a robot doesn’t get tired.”

  JJ caught up to them as they reached a ledge with loose boulders. Fox looked up at the next level.

  “Wait,” King said. “We could start our own avalanche!”

  “Agreed,” Fox said. “I may have underestimated you cadets.” Together, they began to push a boulder. The frightening boxy walker closed the distance, scrambling up the rockface. Inside the transparent dome, the enclosed creature thrashed its tentacles in agitation. JJ’s skin crawled.

  “Somebody’s got to stop that thing,” she said.

  Digging their boots into the ground, King, JJ and Fox pushed on a heavy boulder until it slid, rocked, and finally tumbled off the ledge. The rock fell, graceful and inexorable.

  “Right on target!” King said.

  Without bothering to watch the slow, low-gravity avalanche, they hurried to the next large rock and pushed. The trio knocked loose several more enormous chunks of lunar rock, and the dreamily bouncing boulders caused a cascade of regolith and rocks that swept down upon the pursuing robot. The avalanche knocked the alien machine loose from the steep slope. Jointed mechanical legs flailing, the robotic digger tumbled along with the rocks, caroming off the walls all the way to the crater floor, where it lay half-buried in debris under a slowly settling cloud of dust.

  JJ wanted to cheer, but they weren’t home free yet. They were only halfway up the crater wall, to where the rover was parked. And the aggressive inhabitants of the base might know about them now.

  “Don’t slow down now, Cadets. No telling how those creatures communicate, but that one could have sounded an alarm.”

  Fox reached another ledge, then jumped to a precarious-looking perch, which seemed to be the only way to reach a more stable walkway. When he landed, however, a chunk of rock broke off, and the ledge spilled out from beneath him. He scrambled for a hold with his gloved hands, but fell backward, tumbling out into the emptiness.

  JJ clung to a rock, holding her breath and watching in horror.

  “Major!” King yelled, barely managing to keep his own balance. There was no way he could have kept Fox from falling.

  The plunge seemed to last forever, as Fox tumbled an incredible distance to a wide terrace much farther below. The astronaut lay motionless on his back in a pile of rubble. He did not answer King’s and JJ’s repeated calls.

  “He might be okay,” JJ said, doing some mental calculations. “That’s about—what?—thirty or so meters?”

  “Uh-huh,” King said. “Like a ten-story building, maybe.”

  “But here that’s like falling five meters—between fifteen and twenty feet on Earth.” She gulped. It was still a long way to fall.

  “So maybe he’s just stunned,” King said. “And maybe his radio got broken.”

  “What if his suit’s damaged?” JJ asked. “He might be leaking air.”

  “Then we need to get him back to the rover ASAP,” King said, jumping down a ledge toward Fox.

  We should have been tethered together, JJ thought. But the first part of the slope had been gradual. Then, because the alien robot had startled them, they had fled up the slope without taking all safety precautions. She started to climb down to help.

  “JJ, wait,” King said. “It’s a pretty safe bet that Major Fox is injured. I’ll have to carry him up the crater wall. Look, Commander Zota told us our spacesuits weigh about 110 kilos each. Let’s say the major weighs around 160 pounds in normal gravity.”

  “Okay.” JJ multiplied the kilos by 2.2 to get 242 pounds. “That means that in his suit the major’s over four hundred pounds, so about seventy pounds on the Moon. Won’t it take both of us to carry him?”

  “Uh-uh. I figure the Magellan spacesuits weigh less than ours—I hope so. Even if they don’t, I lift weights, so I should be able to handle it for a while. What would help is if you get to the top as fast as you can, and lower the winch cable as far as it’ll go. Let’s hope I can get the major that far.”

  “I’m on it,” JJ said. She knew King was strong enough, but climbing a treacherous cliff face and outrunning alien robots at the same time, could make the job more difficult. “You’re sure you don’t want me down there to help?”

  “I don’t think that’d speed things up enough. A cable and winch would. We need you ready to drive off the second we make it to the top.”

  “So someone’s got to get up to that rover,” JJ finished. “And that’s me.”

  As she started climbing again, King added, “Oh, and stay safe—I’m counting on you. These aliens could come after us any time now. That robot thing that chased us probably warned the others before the avalanche smashed it.”

  “Got it,” JJ said. “One cable coming up—well, actually down.”

  Moving with caution, but as swiftly as he dared, King climbed down the rockface to reach Major Fox. Pressing his faceplate against the other man’s, he saw that Fox’s eyes were closed. Life-support monitors showed he was alive, though. King would have to get him up to the crater rim somehow, without any help from the major.

  King clipped his tether to the major’s suit, then paid it out as he climbed to the next ledge. Anchoring himself in a stable position, King stretched the tether taut and pulled, hand-over-hand, lifting Fox off the ground and up to the ledge. King was already sweating and tired, but there was no time to rest.

  When he got Fox to the next ledge, the major groaned into the suit radio. A good sign, but King doubted the astronaut would regain consciousness soon enough to help get himself to the top of the crater. Steeling his thoughts, King climbed to a higher terrace and pulled on the tether, lifting Fox up again.

  They had now ascended ten meters. This was much harder than King had expected. His arms ached, and it was a long way up yet. It wasn’t important what King’s muscles thought they could do, though. They didn’t get a choice. He couldn’t stop now. He focused all his concentration on four simple thoughts: Find a safe route upward. Climb. Pull. Balance the major. Again. And again.

  Pausing to catch his breath, King glanced up. The top of the crater looked far, far away. Bright lights appeared up there as JJ moved the rover to the very edge. Good—she’d made it!

  The next ledge was only three meters higher, and he easily got the major onto it. But the
following handhold eluded him. King scanned the crumbling crater wall, finally settling on a narrow strip of rock, barely wide enough to stand on. It was all he could see.

  Far above, a glint in the starlight showed the cable coming down as JJ engaged the rover’s winch. King balanced on the precarious ledge, hauling on the tether, hand over hand. But there was no room on the narrow shelf for Major Fox.

  King propped him against the wall, where a boulder jutted out from the cliff. The rock seemed sturdy enough, anchored into the crater wall. Balanced uncertainly, Fox groaned again, waking up. King had to get the man to a stable place before he began to twitch, or else he would fall again.

  His mind reeled with exhaustion. Only four thoughts: find the route, climb, pull, balance.

  The next ledge was easier, and King got Fox to safety. Then another. King was burning through his oxygen too quickly from the exertion.

  By now Fox was groggy. “Cadet King? What happened?”

  “You were injured in a fall.” King sprang to another ledge, grounded himself, and pulled. Dangling on the tether, Major Fox moved his arms and legs in an attempt to help. “Keep still, I’m getting you to the rover.”

  When they reached the next stable spot, King was surprised and thankful to find the cable from the rover’s winch dangling within reach! He clipped the tether to the cable and let JJ haul the major up while King climbed alongside.

  With the winch turning and the cable taut, King kept pace with Fox. Soon they reached the lip of the crater, where he felt incredibly relieved to see the rover.

  King turned for one last glimpse down into the crater and saw with a sinking heart that the buried termite robot was moving, dragging itself free from the rubble. Its legs were damaged, and it walked with a drunken gait. King couldn’t see the alien creature inside the control bubble, but as the termite machine struggled back toward the covert alien installation, King knew the mysterious base inhabitants were not going to be happy.

  King’s oxygen was close to empty now.

  Fortunately, Major Fox’s life-support systems hadn’t been damaged in the fall. By now, he was awake enough to try walking with help. Breathing hard, King unclipped the tether, and they staggered toward the rover … and air.

  “We’re at the airlock, Major! We’re safe. Let’s get you inside.” He and Fox cycled through while JJ backed up the rover and turned it around. Even before the two emerged from the airlock, JJ was driving away at top speed.

  Moonbase Magellan—and Earth—had to be warned.

  In the crater adjacent to the moonbase, Dyl was inside the Halley, with the hatch sealed and the oxygen tanks filling the compartment. The Multi-Axis Rover had maneuvered the damaged supply ship onto flatter terrain. Together, the team had repaired the breach in the hull, adding patches and new plating to seal the seams. They had also replaced the landing strut and the broken imager. Concerned about the unidentified threat that had brought the Halley down, Chief Ansari had also engineered a way to add an extra fuel tank, for good measure.

  While the compartment pressurized, Captain Bronsky tested the engines, and Cushing and Ansari checked the Halley’s exterior for any further signs of leaks. Dyl monitored the instruments, watched the pressure increase normally.

  “No sign of any air loss. We’ll be ready to go soon,” Cushing said, sounding surprised.

  “Systems nominal,” Dyl said. “Told you it would be a piece of cake.”

  Then a message broke into their communications circuit. JJ’s voice. “Mayday! This is the rover!” Coming over the crater’s edge, they saw the rover’s bright lights. “Major Fox is injured, and we need help! That place is definitely an alien base—we were attacked!”

  Ansari wasted no time. “Everybody, we’d better get ready for company.”

  ***

  Twenty-One

  The drive back from the alien base to Magellan had been grueling. JJ and King split the driving duties and alternated taking care of Fox, who had a broken arm and deep bruising from the fall. Using basic First Aid he had learned as a Scout, King splinted the arm to keep it still. The major spent most of the trip in a fever, and the cadets gave him pain medicine from the rovers medical kit. Although they saw no sign of aliens, neither King nor JJ slept much.

  After JJ and King brought the rover back to Moonbase Magellan, Major Fox was taken inside and now lay on a raised table while Dr. Romero and Song-Ye tended his injuries. Everyone gathered in the base’s small medical center, which was a partitioned-off area in the hab bubble.

  “It could have been much worse,” Dr. Romero said. “Medipack sixteen, please.”

  Song-Ye handed her a medipack. “I think Major Fox’s suit did a good job of maintaining his body’s integrity.”

  Chief Ansari looked almost as exhausted as JJ felt.

  “Do you have a headache, Chief?” Dyl asked.

  “This whole situation is the headache.” The chief leaned against the module partition, pressing her fingers against her closed eyes. “I spoke with CMC and showed them the images that Major Fox and the cadets brought back. They don’t doubt it anymore, but they can’t do anything for us from Earth, either.

  “Even if they wanted to send us help, there are only a few other ships capable of traveling from the space station complex to the Moon. And none of them are ready to fly. They weren’t expecting to send another ship here for half a year. They say it would take weeks for the most slapdash emergency launch, and then several days in transit.”

  King gave a low whistle. “Weeks, huh? And that’s for an emergency.”

  “You sure they believed you about the aliens?” JJ asked.

  Ansari gave a heavy sigh. “They can’t deny the presence of the other installation, but I’m not sure they’ve fully accepted that non-humans are behind it.”

  “We saw them with our own eyes!” King protested.

  “Pfft,” Song-Ye said. “I’m not sure I would have believed you, if I were at CMC instead of here. It does sound kind of crazy.” She had put Newton back in his cage in the ag bubble for this emergency meeting.

  Major Fox drew in a sharp breath as Dr. Romero moved the broken bone back into place. JJ was amazed that the major’s suit was less damaged than he was.

  “That’s one of the problems of being an astronaut,” said Fox. “A lot of the people back home think we’re crazy to begin with. They don’t understand why we’re interested in space.”

  “But aliens attacked us,” JJ said. “Somebody on Earth needs to wake up and do something!”

  “I can give them astronomical proof that ships are flying in the vicinity—and not from an Earth trajectory,” Dr. Wu said. The introverted astronomer had come over for the meeting in the hab bubble.

  Dr. Romero used a medical laser to fuse the ends of the broken bone together. “My uncle is on ICSA’s board of directors. He says there’s so much negotiating involved in every decision that it takes a month just to agree on who’s allowed to attend the meeting. Actually, he said it takes a month to decide whether or not they’re allowed to blow their noses.”

  “In other words, we’re on our own to solve this problem. Business as usual.” Ansari nodded wearily. “The occupants of that base are bound to come over here. They know we’ve located them, so there’s no point in them hiding any longer. I’m open to ideas. Anyone?”

  “We could go into our emergency shelters, try to wait it out,” Romero suggested. “We don’t have the option of all leaving.”

  “The cadets could take us back to Earth the same way they got here,” Fox said, grimacing again as the doctor placed an immobilization wrap on his arm.

  “We don’t know how!” Song-Ye said.

  “How are the repairs going on the lander?” JJ asked.

  “Pretty much finished,” Dyl said. “Systems are nominal.”

  Captain Bronsky shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. The lander’s built for a maximum of four passengers, and we brought only enough fuel to get two people back.”

  “Th
ere’s a stockpile of fuel here,” King pointed out.

  “We do have plenty of fuel,” Ansari agreed, “even to fill the extra tank I added. But there are ten of us and only four seats.”

  JJ pursed her lips. “What would they do on Star Trek, Dyl?”

  “They’d think their brains out until they came up with a brilliant solution just in time,” Dyl said. “Usually the first couple of things they try don’t work, but there are always alternatives.”

  “The lander seems like the most obvious choice, but it can’t hold ten,” Cushing said.

  “Why exactly is that?” Song-Ye asked. “Isn’t fuel the limiting factor in spaceflight?”

  “No seats, no passenger room,” Bronsky said. “We’d all have to wear suits for the entire trip. Physically, there is not enough room in the cockpit cabin for more than four.”

  “But it’s a supply ship,” Song-Ye pressed. “It must be able to carry more mass than that.”

  “Is the cargo area part of the main compartment?” JJ asked. “Does it have oxygen and pressurization?”

  “Yes … ” With a frown of concentration, Ansari grabbed a datapad and began making calculations, while Dyl got out a notecard and pencil and sketched the interior of the lander. Ansari pointed to the sketch. “There is pressurized cargo space here, and here, behind the seats. If we took out these two panels … ”

  Ignoring Dr. Romero, who was tending his bruises, Major Fox sat up and started working on another datapad. “That would change the oxygen requirements, of course. As you said, we have the extra fuel capacity.”

  “But still only four passenger seats,” Bronsky insisted. “You can’t just dump people in an empty part of the craft and expect them not to get thrown around.”

  “I may be able to rig something,” Dr. Romero said. “We have plenty of ways to secure cargo, which means we can certainly come up with a work-around to secure some human beings. So we’ve got spacesuits, fuel, oxygen, restraints and … I could use some extra cushioning.”

  “What about the pads in the bunks?” JJ suggested. “They’re lightweight.”