"Still no visual contact and we are past closest approach. Bringing up targeting radar and lidar – okay, I have contact," Happy informed them, his voice changing under the heavy acceleration. "I doubt if they can shoot over their shoulder at us. They will still have about six hundred meters a second on us when we cross their path. Computer says they are on a great circle line that goes through Armstrong. Their targeting radar is also on a USNA frequency. We will hail them on the emergency channel."
On the big screen there was a small flare of yellow light in the sky from the opposite direction the Happy Lewis had left and then nothing for ten long seconds. Then the entire half of the landing field where the scooter had been sitting erupted in a fountain of stone dust and grit filled with small flashes. It wasn't even but sprang away from the surface opposite the direction from where the flare had flashed.
"Cluster munition impact on our landing site Happy," Heather informed him. While she was still saying it the moon hut shook with a rumble that made her coffee cup walk a hands breadth across the com console surface. Katia didn't look scared - just horrified.
"USNA spacecraft. This is the Armed Merchant Happy Lewis," they heard on com, "you have ten seconds to acknowledge and surrender or you will be destroyed. Starting now," Happy informed him.
Heather and Katia looked at the clock counting off the seconds in the corner of the screen. At about eight seconds Happy said, "Target maneuvering, attempting jamming, my missiles away," he told Heather. "Idiot," he added barely audible.
"Happy Lewis, you..." began a Midwestern voice that cut off.
"Detonation... both of them," Happy immediately corrected. "One would have done the job," he lamented and Jeff cut thrust going ballistic.
"Losing line of sight in a few seconds," Happy reminded her. "Contact through Home if needed."
"Orbit, look at Armstrong Happy," Heather instructed before she lost contact.
There was a garble that might have been acknowledgment, but he was gone until he came around again. The weapons had also burst past the horizon when they caught up with the USNA ship so they had not seen them as Happy and Jeff had.
* * *
"Happy, I need you to take this thing," Jeff requested.
"What's the problem?" Happy asked suddenly tense. "You lose green lights?" he asked scanning the boards.
"No, but I don't know how to fly it. I've never studied the procedures manual or taken any of the piloting courses."
"Oh shit. I sort of forgot in the excitement. So how did you fly it two minutes ago if you can't fly it now?" Happy asked confused.
"I've seen you guys roll it on the thrusters and type a manual thrust order in the computer. This sets the thrusters on manual," he said touching a switch, "and the joystick is just like a video game set. I just eyeballed attitude out the ports and typed the command line thrust for four G and a second delay, then cut it manually. I sort of felt I had to do that much with you busy. But I haven't got the foggiest idea how to call up the navigation program and get it in a orbit going the right direction."
"Well," Happy breathed, counting how many years of luck he had just used up, "I think maybe we will buy you an instruction course when we get a chance. It's usual to at least read the course before manual ship handling in combat."
"Hey I was just flying it. You still had the comm so I wasn't scared," Jeff explained with conviction. "If I'd done something really stupid you'd have told me." The scary thing was he seemed to believe it.
* * *
"Well, we won't be line of sight again for something over a hundred minutes if he comes around real low," Heather informed Katia. "What else do we need to do?" she said screwing her face up in thought.
"You're asking me?" Katia seemed shocked. "I'm not in your line of command and I don't want to have any part of shooting at USNA spaceships!"
Heather slowly smiled at her indignation. "Be happy they didn't target these huts at the same time as the landing pad. That was another reason I was in a hurry to direct everyone. I wasn't sure we'd survive if we got hit. We're not buried very deep and have no real armor at all. I'd say it would be the height of self interest if you have any ideas about how we will get hit again or how we should react. Your little butt is very much on the line here too!"
"Santee, do a roll call on another channel and report back to me if everybody is OK," Heather spoke into her mic and flipped a couple switches.
"Heather, Johnson here. It occurred to me they may have a recon flight behind the bombing run. They would probably wait a few minutes until they can see if there is any emergency response at the impact site. I can't see them waiting a full orbit to assess their success. They'd want the information relayed to the ship doing the first run so they can make a second run if needed."
"You in the 'B' rover, Johnson?"
"Yeah, with Julie again."
"Illuminate that quadrant of the horizon to the west from where the other ship came. If you see anything coming in low in the next fifteen minutes launch a Mark III as soon as the weapon shows a solution and shut down your radar and move that rover out of location as fast as you can."
"You got it."
Heather flipped a few switches and spoke to Johnson again. "I'm relaying through your com dish to Home. If you get any radar return at all cut my link so it can't be used to target you."
"Roger Control." Johnson sounded a little less excited than before.
Heather punched in a short series of numbers and spoke again, "Heather Anderson calling Home Militia. Please reply to zero-zero on the Lunar face." She watched the clock for a ten count and repeated her request. She was in the third repeat when Jon answered from Home.
"Home Militia, Jon Davis here. What's up Heather?"
"Jon the Happy Lewis will be coming around the west side of the moon in about forty minutes. Can you give them a message for me?"
There was a pause and he replied, " Yeah we'll have about ten minutes to contact them before we go behind the Earth."
"I may get cut off any moment. Tell Happy and Jeff to do a camera run from Armstrong to Central and look at their landing field. Tell them I said to return the favor."
"That doesn't sound good, Heather. Is this going to come back and bit Home on the butt?"
"Figure I'm asking Jon my friend not Jon the head of the Militia," Heather told him. "The Japanese didn't agonize over it when they saved our butts." she snipped.
"I'm sorry..." Jon started and then Johnson cut him off.
"Incoming. Relay terminated. Missile away. We're outta here!"
Katia and Heather turned to the big screen just in time to see a small hard spark disappear to the west at a terrific acceleration.
Suddenly the screen glared around a circle on the screen blacked-out in overload. It reversed from black to brilliant white once it dropped in brightness to a level the camera could handle. It grew quickly then the expansion slowed running down through the colors of cooling until it faded out in deep red.
"Damn, you are shooting nukes!" Katia seemed awed.
Then a smaller ball of orange fire from conventional explosives expanded in a half dome out on the plain and a skirt of dirty regolith rolled out of its base, expanding even after the flash subsided.
"Wahoo..." Johnson screamed out of the speaker. "Ya missed sucker!" There was a single thump as the ground wave passed under them. It took the sand storm of lunar soil a full two minutes to pass like a grey and brown blizzard and then Heather swung the camera around and watched the wall of debris drop and recede away from them.
"Targeting radar going back up," Johnson reported. "OK - clean sky three sixty!" he reported. "Nothing up there to give a return. Radar down and maneuvering again just in case."
"That second one, was that a drone or a manned ship do you think?" Katia asked. "Would a drone be able to shoot so quickly?"
"I'm not sure," Heather admitted. "They have control of the com sats so they could run a drone. I'm just not aware of any armed drones in service. So figure manned. You're wr
ong you know. They aren't exactly nukes."
"Right," Katia agreed. "They just happen to make a ball of white hot plasma that must be a kilometer across when they go off."
"They are respectable. We're loading them for ten kiloton equivalent. But they use no fission and have almost no prompt radiation. They're just something different we have available."
"Whatever. Somehow I doubt the guys in that ship would appreciate the fine technical details of how they were blown to hell. So tell me. Is your buddy on Home going to relay your message? I'm not real sure if he was apologizing or arguing still when he got cut off."
"He'll do it," Heather said with confidence. "He might turn me down but I told him Jeff was on the Happy. He'd slit his wrists with a rusty hacksaw blade before he'd cross Jeff."
"This is the young guy we had breakfast with yesterday?"
"The same."
"You know, I used to think I was a judge of human nature. But when I first set foot here the other day I thought it likely that after a few weeks some magistrate from one of the other moon bases would come out with a bunch of papers telling you this was illegal and chase you off. I'd hate to be the one serving you those papers now."
"You saw how they served us - with a cluster bomb on our landing field. It was self defense. It was self defense as soon as they illuminated us with targeting radar."
"Dave Santee reporting," the speaker announced. "Everybody found cover. There is some minor damage from the ground burst, but nothing life-threatening. We're going to have to rebuild two of the landing squares, but the one will be usable as soon as it is swept. The B rover has some antenna damage and there are some radiators on the back that should be inspected after being sandblasted from that near miss. Johnson wants to come in to shelter and get that done and a new missile mounted for the one he shot. That have your OK?"
"Yes Dave, have Johnson come in and have 'A' rover in the other shelter. Pop a couple thermal decoys in the alternate shelters too. You can rearm him and whatever else he needs. I'd rather everyone stay under cover until we have contact with the Happy Lewis again. If you can't find anything useful to do in pressure take a break and get some rest. We don't know what will happen in the next few days and you may need the rest."
"I believe I was offering you a luncheon before we were so rudely interrupted?" Heather said with a smile.
"Damn you are a cold one," Katia muttered.
* * *
"Madam President," Jon explained carefully. "The lunar activities you are describing are not in any way sponsored or under the protection of Home. Except for the protection Home may decide to extend to its citizens wherever they travel. It is my understanding the area of the moon they are colonizing has no other national claimants. Unless you'd care to inform me your government has claims to the area that were not published?" He paused but there was no response. "It is at this point a private enterprise. I know citizens of Home are involved but I have no idea if any citizens of other countries are associated with the development. If you wish to charge these citizens of Home with a crime you are welcome to stand before our assembly and make a complaint and offer evidence. I assure you the citizens of Home will consider if any of their actions are within our jurisdiction and if they are a crime and vote on appropriate punishment or sanction if they are convinced."
"Mr. Davis, do you really think I am going to come to Home and stand before your electorate as a petitioner?"
"I did not mean you personally, President Wiggen. When I said 'you' I had more in mind you'd send someone like your Attorney General, or someone at least qualified to practice before the United States of North America Supreme Court since you, or they, would be addressing a judicial body of equal stature."
"You flatter yourselves." she said bitterly.
"Constantly," he agreed cheerfully.
"Whatever jurisdiction the crime took place in murder is a universal crime acknowledged by all civilized people," she insisted righteously.
"But homicide is not always murder," he reminded her. "I'd check very carefully and make sure your supposed victims didn't fire first. That would most likely make it a case of self defense, even in self-styled civilized jurisdictions."
"Do you have some evidence for such an accusation?"
"It is not even an accusation... yet. It's just that a small remark from Miss Anderson caught my ear. I'll check with the crew of the Happy Lewis when they are available in about seven minutes and see if I understood it correctly."
"Could... might you share that communication with me so I can make a personal judgment about what it could mean? It may help clarify things when I speak again with the commander of Armstrong Base."
"Miss Anderson asked me to have her ship do three things. To make a camera run of the lunar surface from Armstrong to Central, that's the short name of the real estate development they are creating. She also asked that he check their landing field. Apparently he will know what he should be checking, she didn't say. She also asked me to instruct him to 'return the favor' without a hint at what favor they had been shown. I have to ask what she expects to find on the surface between the two outposts? That is an unusually long distance to travel by rover. If there is some group or force traveling to them unannounced you could see where they would suspect it was not a friendly gesture? You might ask your commander what favor they might want to return. And why the com satellites in lunar orbit are down. Please don't take it as a threat, but from personal experience with the Singh clan, if your people illuminated them with targeting radar or lidar when they flew over I wouldn't give an plastic deciyuan for his chances of living more than seconds. I'd consider it suicide to do that myself."
"Com is down for the moon? But my commander called me just fine a few minutes ago to protest his ship's destruction and he indicated some group was fomenting unrest in Armstrong that is creating problems for him. Apparently people not reporting for their duty shifts. He didn't say anything about com being down."
"They have control of it. Obviously the system isn't down - to them."
"So you intend to communicate this message to the ship not knowing if it will precipitate more hostile action?"
"I certainly do. I have confidence in my friends that if they have resorted to violence or do so again today they have cause. I know Jeff Singh well and I can say with confidence the young man has discipline. He is not one to strike out first in anger or frustration. If I am wrong, Madam, I will stand to trial as a conspirator with them. I'm that confident in them to trust my reputation and freedom to their character. Can you say the same of your moon base commander?" This time there was a pause before she answered.
"We're like two parents whose children have had a row at school and we're both sure our darling couldn't be in the wrong without even knowing the dispute. I don't think it's productive to keep sparring like this until we both have more information. I'll speak with you later Mr. Davis," and she disconnected.
Her face had less a hard look and more of a worried look at the end, Jon thought with satisfaction. He looked at the corner of his screen and there were less than two minutes until he could call the Happy Lewis.
* * *
"Happy Lewis this is Home com, please respond."
"Hey Jon, I didn't expect to hear from you. What's up big guy?"
"How does it feel to fly a ship with your own name on it? Can the computer tell which of you your number two is talking to?"
"No problem. Jeff always addresses the ship by 'Happy Lewis' but I'm just Happy when I'm not Hey-you".
"Hey, you - you have a message from Heather," and he related it. Then he asked, "Care to tell me what she is looking for on the surface and what favor she wants returned?
"No idea what she expects from the camera run. I'm assuming she wants the field checked for ships. We went out of line of sight before she could give me detailed instructions, but I'd have done that much on my own initiative. They cluster bombed our landing area maybe two minutes after we lifted. Turnabout would be fair p
lay don't ya think?"
"I was just on com with President Wiggen. She's pretty worked up you took out their ship. Screaming bloody murder, literally. Central knocked another ship out of the sky behind you too. Of course they see Home as being behind it if Home people did it - as if every one of you is somehow an agent for our agendas."
"Crap I'm getting slow. I should have thought they'd have a follow-on. I guess we should just sit still and let them shoot our asses off. That would be so much more convenient."
"So - they did shoot first?"
"Cluster bombed our field," Happy confirmed again.
"That's what I suspected and even told Wiggen to consider that possibility first. I backed you guys and I'm satisfied it was the right thing to do now," Jon told him.
"We're going to drop low past Armstrong like we are landing then flip and climb out hard just before crossing their sky to get down where we can take a real good look."
"Look? Or if they have traffic sitting on their field are you going to take it out?"
"I believe that is current operational information Jon. I don't think my commander would appreciate me sharing that with you."
"You think I'd warn Wiggen?"
"Nah - Not you Jon, but I don't think you could call her and get the info to Armstrong even if you wanted. We are about seven minutes out from visual on Armstrong. Heather would just expect better operational security of me even if we aren't real military. It's common sense."
And we are about to go behind Earth from you, Happy," Jon informed him.
"What I want to know is what made them decide to attack us?" Happy asked him. "They didn't try any legal action or threats at all. It doesn't make sense. If you figure that one out give me another call."
"Maybe there will be a rover visible headed for central in your photo run," Jon suggested. "They might have wanted to isolate you and make you feel vulnerable so when they show up and demand you vacate you cave right in."
"If they think that they don't know this crew. If they had caught anyone working in the ship and killed them they could kiss Armstrong goodbye."
The matter-of-fact certainty of the statement made goose bumps up Jon's neck. He knew Happy well enough to know he hadn't misspoke. If the Happy Lewis was destroyed with lose of life he was saying Heather still had the means without her ship to take Armstrong Base out a fifth of the way across the lunar face. Jon wasn't sure how, but he believed him.
April 3: The Middle of Nowhere Page 23