Space Case

by Stuart Gibbs

  She nodded. “Dr. Holtz wasn’t spelling ‘earth.’ He was spelling ‘Garth.’ ”

  Everyone in the room reacted at once. I saw astonishment, disbelief, and betrayal.

  “Mr. Grisan?” Kira asked, shocked. “He’s a spy for the military?”

  “I guess, if that’s what Dr. Holtz thought,” I said. “Whoever he works for definitely has some power over NASA. Dr. Marquez told me Mr. Grisan was the only person here who didn’t have to sit with him every week.”

  “Computer,” Nina demanded, “where is Garth Grisan right now?”

  “Dismantling the main air lock,” the computer replied calmly.

  Everyone gasped in alarm.

  Nina was the first to race out the door. The rest of us were right behind her.

  “Stop right there,” Mr. Grisan ordered.

  As the computer had said, he was standing by the main air lock. The control panel had been ripped off, and wires dangled out of it.

  Mr. Grisan was wearing a full space suit, helmet and all. He no longer looked like the reserved, meek man we knew. That had all been an act. The real Garth Grisan was a daunting presence with a cold look in his eye and a commanding voice. He warned, “If anyone comes a step closer, I’ll open both doors at once and depressurize the whole moon base.”

  “That’s not possible,” Nina said.

  “It is now,” Mr. Grisan told her. “I overrode the safety protocols. Although I won’t do anything unless you force me to.” He placed a thumb on the keypad and shook his head sadly. “I was really hoping things wouldn’t come to this.”

  It was twenty feet to the air lock from where we all stood. There was nothing but open space in between us. There was no way to get ahead of Mr. Grisan.

  Nina raised her hands, signaling him to calm down as she edged closer to him. “Take it easy . . .”

  “Stop!” Mr. Grisan ordered. “I’m not bluffing!”

  Nina froze where she was.

  I noticed Zan Perfonic wasn’t with us anymore. I had no idea how long she’d been gone—or how much she’d witnessed in the control room. I could only hope that she was circling around to get the jump on Mr. Grisan somehow.

  “What do you want from us?” Dad asked.

  “Your cooperation,” Mr. Grisan replied. “Unfortunately, you have all become privy to information that should have remained secret. And I am prepared to take drastic measures to make sure it goes no farther than this spot.”

  “Are you crazy?” Chang asked. “If you open that air lock, you won’t just kill us. You’ll kill everyone else here.”

  “Desperate times call for desperate measures,” Mr. Grisan said calmly. “There are forces at work here you don’t understand.”

  “Then explain them to us,” Mom pleaded. “Why is it so important that no one learn that there has been alien contact?”

  “That’s not the case,” Mr. Grisan informed us. “The right people can know about it. In fact, they should know about it. Dr. Holtz wouldn’t listen to reason, though. He wanted to tell everyone. He wanted the whole world to know. And I knew I couldn’t trust him to keep his mouth shut.”

  “Why can’t the whole world know?” I asked.

  “Grover’s Mill,” Mr. Grisan said.

  “Oh, come on,” Chang groaned. “You can’t be serious.”

  “What’s Grover’s Mill?” Kira asked.

  Chang started to explain, but Mr. Grisan beat him to it. “On October thirtieth, 1938, an actor named Orson Welles did a radio broadcast in which he reported that martians had landed in Grover’s Mill, New Jersey. Although Welles warned people before the broadcast that it was merely for entertainment, people who tuned in during the middle believed it—and they were terrified. There was a massive panic.”

  “Because in the story the martians were attacking earth!” Nina argued.

  “And they were imaginary!” Mr. Grisan shot back. “Now think what would happen if the citizens of the world learned that real aliens were coming. The public is primed to think that any aliens are dangerous. Even if you tell them this new race you’ve found comes in peace, they won’t believe it. Frankly, I don’t believe it.”

  “So that’s what this is about!” Chang exclaimed. “This isn’t about real people at all. It’s about you—and all your fellow psychopaths at the Pentagon. You’re the ones who are afraid!”

  Mr. Grisan’s brow furrowed in anger. “You think that’s foolish? You think an alien race is really going to come halfway across the galaxy just to make friends? That’s not how the universe works, pal. The Europeans didn’t sail across the ocean six centuries ago to make nice with the Native Americans; they wiped them out and stole everything they had. And there’s no reason to believe that another race would do any different.”

  “Of course there is,” Chang protested. “Just because humans are evil doesn’t mean the rest of the galaxy is too.”

  “Fine,” Mr. Grisan said dismissively. “You can go right on believing life’s just like E.T. When the aliens come, we’ll all link arms and sing ‘Kumbayah’ together. But my job is to be prepared for the alternative. Any life from another planet is most likely hostile—and any contact they make with us, no matter how friendly it seems, is most likely a ruse to learn our weaknesses.”

  “Wow,” Chang gasped. “Is everyone at the Pentagon such a paranoid whack job—or are you just special?”

  Mom squeezed Chang’s arm and said under her breath, “Don’t taunt him.”

  Mr. Grisan was shaking his head, sneering at Chang with disgust. “Dr. Holtz was just like you: a naive optimist, thinking his alien contact couldn’t possibly be dangerous. So much that he was willing to give up his life for it. I gave that fool options. He could have turned over the alien to me, let me talk to them, and get a sense of their intentions. But rather than do that, he chose to force my hand.”

  “So you threatened his family back on earth?” Dad asked. “Told him you’d have them killed if he didn’t go out the air lock?”

  “I wouldn’t necessarily have had them killed,” Mr. Grisan said.

  “But you still threatened them, right?” Mom demanded. “Because that’s what you do, isn’t it? Threaten those who are weaker than you. You sent that text to Dashiell, didn’t you?”

  “It was for his own good,” Mr. Grisan argued. “It was for all of your own good! If your son had backed off and kept his nose out of this, none of us would be in this position right now!”

  “This isn’t Dashiell’s fault!” Mom cried. “You’re the one who’s threatening our lives! You’re the one responsible for Dr. Holtz’s death! And you have the gall to accuse the aliens of being monsters? They couldn’t possibly be any worse than you!”

  “I did what I had to!” Mr. Grisan shouted. “While you’re all up here playing with moon rocks, I’m trying to prevent riots on earth and make sure we’re prepared for alien invasions! Yes, I took out Dr. Holtz to ensure the safety of billions of other people—and if you’re not prepared to cooperate, I’ll happily do the same to you!”

  “Hey!” Lars Sjoberg suddenly appeared on the catwalk, wearing his robe, slippers, and a furious expression. “What’s with all the shouting? I’m trying to get back to sleep!”

  Startled, Mr. Grisan turned to him, taking his eyes off the rest of us for a moment.

  Chang leaped into action. He launched himself at Mr. Grisan, soaring across the twenty feet between them quickly in the low gravity.

  Mr. Grisan spun for the controls to the air lock, but Chang slammed into him, knocking him off his feet. Mr. Grisan fought back, head-butting Chang with his helmet so hard that Chang tumbled off him, but by that point Dad and Nina had rushed to help as well. Together with Chang, they overpowered Mr. Grisan, flipping him onto his stomach and wrenching his arms behind him.

  “Garth Grisan,” Nina said. “You are hereby under arrest for the murder of Dr. Ronald Holtz—as well as the attempted murders of Dashiell Gibson and Kira Howard, sabotage, blackmail, and destruction of federal pr
operty.”

  “You don’t know what you’re doing!” Mr. Grisan snarled.

  Nina continued, “You will be handcuffed and placed under lock and key in the medical bay until tomorrow, after which you will be returned to earth under guard on the Raptor and turned over to the proper authorities there.”

  Mr. Grisan shouted something about the Pentagon having his back, and that he wouldn’t stay under lock and key for long, but I didn’t hear all of it, because Mom pulled me aside.

  “You were right about Dr. Holtz,” she told me. “He was sane, after all—while Mr. Grisan was apparently the one we should have been worried about. I’m sorry we doubted you. I’m sure that, wherever he is, Ronald is thankful for what you’ve done for him.”

  “What about the aliens?” I asked. “What happens to Dr. Holtz’s discovery?”

  Mom lowered her eyes sadly. “I don’t know. Dr. Holtz was the only one who’d had contact. Now that he’s gone . . . there’s no proof they exist at all.”

  “Rose!” Nina called. “There are handcuffs in the top left desk drawer in my room. Could you get them?”

  “All right.” Mom broke away from me and raced up to Nina’s quarters.

  Everyone else was gathered around the air lock. Dad and Nina were pinning Mr. Grisan down while he writhed angrily and told us what fools we all were. Chang was inspecting the air lock to see if he could figure out what Mr. Grisan had done to it. Lars Sjoberg was shouting at Nina, upset that Mr. Grisan would take the precious return seat on the rocket that one of his family members wanted. Kira and her father were off to the side, quietly watching it all.

  The other Moonies were pouring back out of their quarters, defying Nina’s orders, to see what all the commotion was about.

  I thought about what my mother had just said to me about Dr. Holtz’s proof being gone. It seemed so wrong. Perhaps he’d left some more evidence on his phone, but if he had, it was probably destroyed. Which meant it would all remain a mystery until the aliens ever chose to make contact again.

  And then, suddenly, understanding dawned on me. A realization so powerful I had to lean against the wall to steady myself.

  Then I walked around the corner, leaving the chaos behind, looking for some privacy.

  The mess hall was on my left, the greenhouse on my right.

  As a kid, I wasn’t supposed to enter the greenhouse, but I went in anyhow.

  The greenhouse wasn’t working out nearly as well as we’d hoped. Growing food on the moon was a big priority, but it had proved much harder than expected and the plants were barely surviving. The brochures for MBA had displayed artists’ renderings of a greenhouse so thick with plant growth it was practically a rain forest. In real life, the greenhouse looked more like the Great Plains after a drought. All around me straggly bits of greenery struggled to survive.

  I sat down, looking away from the door. I focused on a few pathetic tomato plants that had yet to produce a single fruit.

  “Hello, Dashiell.”

  I turned around. Zan Perfonic was standing behind me.

  I hadn’t heard her come in. But then I hadn’t expected to.

  She seemed to read my thoughts. “You were hoping to talk to me?”

  “Yes,” I said. “Tell me: What planet are you from?”

  Excerpt from The Official Residents’ Guide to Moon Base Alpha, © 2040 by National Aeronautics and Space Administration:

  ONE LAST NOTE

  Thanks for taking the time to read this guide to your new home in its entirety. Hopefully, you found it useful and informative. Now it’s time to start your great adventure as one of the first humans to ever live on a celestial body other than earth!

  Although there will be a great deal of work ahead (or school, if you’re a child at MBA), we at NASA would like to take this opportunity to remind you to enjoy yourself. We have taken great pains to make the base just as comfortable as your home on earth—if not more comfortable—so have fun up there! Make friends with your fellow lunarnauts (if you haven’t already). Be part of the community. Organize events. Start a book club, or an amateur theater group, or a low-gravity square-dancing society.

  Remember: Moon Base Alpha is going to be your home for a long time. The more you get involved, the better it will be.

  Have a great trip! And remember, the world is watching you!

  MIND-BLOWING DISCOVERY

  Lunar day 190

  Morning

  “How long have you known I’m an alien?” Zan asked.

  “Not very long,” I admitted. “In fact, I wasn’t completely sure until right now.”

  Zan smiled, and her big, blue eyes sparkled. It now occurred to me why I’d never seen any eyes like hers before.

  They weren’t human.

  “My planet isn’t that far in galactic terms,” she told me. “It’s only about ten light years away. You humans call it SG 61109b. We call it something that can’t be pronounced in your language. So Dr. Holtz and I just called it Bosco.”

  “Bosco?” I repeated.

  Zan shrugged. “Dr. Holtz said it was better than SG 61109b.”

  “Good point.”

  Above us the greenhouse roof had a large skylight in it. It had been one of the most expensive parts of MBA to transport and install, but it was necessary for the plants to have sunlight. I looked up and saw the earth above us, along with several thousand stars. “Where’s Bosco?” I asked.

  Zan pointed northward. “That way. In the constellation Draco.”

  I looked back at her. There were a thousand questions in my head, all vying to be asked at once. Finally I went with, “I’m the only one who can see you, right?”

  Zan’s eyes sparkled again. “You figured that out?”

  “The only time you’ve ever spoken to me is when we were alone,” I explained. “I’ve seen you near other people, but I just realized I’ve never seen you speak to any of them. Or interact with them. The only person you’ve done any of that with is me. And the other day, when Kira overheard us talking in my room, she could only hear me . . . not you.”

  “Dr. Holtz was right about you,” Zan said. “You’re a smart kid.”

  “He was talking to you that night in the bathroom, wasn’t he? But the cameras couldn’t see you, so it looked like he was talking to himself.”

  “Yes. I probably shouldn’t have approached him there, but it seemed private at the time. I didn’t realize you were there.”

  “I asked you before if you were talking to him then. And you lied to me.”

  “Technically, I didn’t,” Zan told me. “You asked if I was on the phone with him that night, and I said that I wasn’t.”

  I frowned, realizing she was right. “Well, you misled me. About that and a whole lot of other things.”

  “I didn’t think you were ready for the truth.”

  “I wasn’t the only one who overheard Dr. Holtz speaking to you. My mom did too. And some other people here. But they all thought Dr. Holtz was talking to himself, going crazy.”

  Zan nodded. “Dr. Holtz knew that had happened. It was one of the reasons he wanted to reveal my existence. He didn’t think we could keep this all a secret much longer.”

  Outside the greenhouse, across the hall, I could hear Garth Grisan being locked inside the medical bay. He was yelling the whole time, telling Dr. Janke and Chang they were fools for not seeing things his way. “When the aliens attack and we’re not prepared for it, you won’t be so pleased with yourselves!” he warned.

  Then the door slammed, silencing him.

  “What a nut job,” Chang sighed.

  I stared at Zan. She didn’t seem remotely evil. In fact I got a feeling from her that I couldn’t explain, a sense that she was nothing but goodness, warmth, and light. And yet, somewhere in the back of my mind, I found myself wondering if this could all be a trick, as Mr. Grisan had warned.

  “So how do you do it?” I asked. “How do you make yourself invisible to everyone but one person?”

  “Becau
se I’m not really here,” Zan said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

  Only it wasn’t obvious to me at all. “What do you mean?”

  “Your friend Roddy was right the other day about how difficult space travel is. Our civilization is far more advanced than yours, and even we haven’t figured out how to go from planet to planet in less than a generation. However, contrary to what your scientists tell you, there is one thing that can go faster than the speed of light. Much faster, in fact: thoughts.”

  I’d been kind of proud of myself for figuring out who’d killed Dr. Holtz, and what Zan’s secret was. But this revelation caught me completely by surprise. “So . . . you just think yourself here?”

  “In a sense. It’s not quite as simple as that. In fact the process is quite complicated. But yes, that’s the general idea.”

  “If you’re only a thought, how can I see you? Or hear you?”

  “Because thoughts are extremely powerful—if you know how to use them right. Has there ever been a time when you knew what someone was thinking without saying anything?”

  “I guess.”

  “It’s kind of like that. I’m communicating directly with your brain. And since your brain controls what you see and hear, I can let you see and hear me. Or at least I can let you see and hear a representation of myself that isn’t alarming to you.”

  “You mean you don’t look like a human?”

  Zan smiled again. “Not at all. I’ve merely tried to model the image I project to be as human as possible. Do you like it?”

  I stared at her amazing blue eyes. “Yes. Though I don’t think you got the eyes quite right. You made them too good, somehow.”

  “I couldn’t help it. Dr. Holtz told me something once: that you humans consider the eyes a window to the soul.”

  The greenhouse was right across from the mess hall. I could hear Kira and her father in there.

  Dr. Howard was saying, “Promise me you’ll never go out on the surface without permission—or do anything risky like that—ever again. I don’t know what I’d do if I lost you.”