Moonday

by J F Clayton

  Everyone nodded, his suggestion sounded sensible.

  Steve was enjoying the attention. John looked apologetically at Dervla, she glanced at him and nodded before averting her eyes. His voice was steady and calm as he said, “I’ll volunteer. I want to go home as soon as possible.”

  The tense atmosphere in the room eased. Damian stood up, walked over to John’s seat and shook his hand. Filip followed his father’s example before they happily took their seats again. Peter smiled at the show and then announced, “Okay, we have a plan. The three of you will return together in June next year and before then we’ll make some improvements to the escape pods.”

  The statement felt like a solution to Peter, but he knew that the meeting wasn’t over yet, there were a few other topics to discuss.

  Beatriz asked, “Has Meichun found anything new?”

  They all heard the hesitation in Peter’s voice, “The improved Re-Do Recycle machines could have caused problems. Some scientists had claimed that the upgrade could be dangerous. But there’s always an opposing opinion to progress.” He shrugged his shoulders. “Meichun suggested that we use the satellites to look at Earth outside the optical spectrum.” He looked at Liam.

  Liam responded thoughtfully, “We don’t have direct access to the satellites orbiting the Earth. The signals are sent straight to Earth. I’ll think about it, maybe there’s something we can do.” He looked at Europa. She must have an idea. Europa ignored him. She seemed to be thinking.

  Paul broke the silence a little nervously, “If Meichun doesn’t know, how about making suggestions? I mean, maybe there was a new antibiotic that caused a zombie apocalypse.”

  Paul smiled as he heard the laughter.

  Maria joined in and sounded playfully serious as she spoke, “Or, a geological catastrophe with volcanoes and earthquakes combined.”

  Peter smiled broadly and looked around.

  Filip wanted to play too, “Or maybe a giant meteor.” Then he added a little disappointed, “but that wouldn’t have affected the other side of the world so quickly.” He breathed in quickly. He wanted to add another idea, “Or maybe there were extreme solar flares, they would have destroyed all the electronics with a gigantic electromagnetic impulse all over the world.” He smiled satisfied with his speculations.

  Nobody was taking any of these suggestions seriously and they all laughed together. It helped ease the stress a little.

  Europa stopped laughing first, “A coronal mass ejection would have destroyed the satellites around the world, and that is not the case.” Her seriousness made the others keep on laughing.

  Peter watched them relax. He liked that. He raised his right hand and felt his chin. The beard was still there. He wasn’t ready to shave yet. He got up and put on his captain’s hat, “We’ll meet again in a week to discuss the progress.”

  Final Meeting

  Date: Monday 5th December 2140 – 10:56 CET

  Location: Alpha 12 – Moon Base

  The lights turned on automatically as he opened the door of the meeting room. He noticed the flash of light and blinked. He was first. He walked slowly over to his seat at the head of the table and put his captain’s hat down. The chair moved out for him, so he could sit down. He sat down slowly and leaned back gently to relax his back. He waited a few seconds until the chair adjusted to his body. He smiled. He had a good feeling. The team had a common goal and wanted to work together. He expected everything to run smoothly.

  He stroked his beard and thought about how quickly you can get used to new realities when you work together and have something to hope for. He heard the artificial squeak of the door opening and turned to watch as they came in cheerfully.

  First on the meeting’s agenda was the progress report on the conversion of the escape pods. He waited until they were all sitting down and then he began, “We’ve agreed on our preferred date and that one of the escape pods will launch on 4th June next year.” He nodded at Damian and John. “Before then, the reinforcement work on the escape pods needs to be finished.” He looked at Damian and Liam and smiled, “How’s the work going?”

  Damian glanced at Liam, who nodded his agreement that Damian should speak, “We’re coming along nicely with our computer simulation programs and we’re certain that we’ll have made all the necessary reinforcements on the escape pod by June.” He leaned back in his chair with a satisfied smile but only for a short moment, before leaning forward to take a closer look at John and Filip and saying, “I’m really happy that we are flying home.”

  Steve interrupted the ensuing silence, “We haven’t given up trying to find a way to build another escape pod. We try when we have a little spare time. But so far, we haven’t had any success.” Despite the lack of success, he seemed self-satisfied.

  Dervla ignored Steve’s comment and changed the subject. She said in a quiet, calm voice, “I’ve been looking through the recent genetic publications for clues, and I think I’ve found something. A new variant of influenza emerged in recent months in East Asia. They’re not sure how contagious the virus will be, and there’s some evidence that it was artificially created.” She paused and looked at John before continuing, “Maybe it’s not safe to return.”

  Damian responded quickly, “We’re returning anyway.”

  Filip and John both nodded in agreement.

  Beatriz asked mercilessly, “Why doesn’t Meichun know about this virus?”

  Peter, who had grown fond of Meichun, felt the need to defend her, “Meichun only has access to the publicly available information. Those publications are private. Maybe we should give Meichun access to Dervla’s genetic publications.” He turned to Liam, “Could you manage to do that?”

  Liam nodded.

  Peter looked suddenly disheartened as he said, “I’m probably asking Meichun the wrong question. I asked her why the Earth is dark. Maybe another question would be more appropriate. But I’m not sure how to ask.” He looked at the table in front of him. He just couldn’t ask a question without assuming that something really bad had happened to people on Earth and possibly to his wife.

  The ensuing silence was broken by Maria asking, “After they leave, who is going to take over their responsibilities?”

  Charlie answered immediately, “I’m not going anywhere. I’ll help.” And he pushed his left hand slightly across the table towards Maria’s right hand.

  Maria raised her hand from the table and held her necklace. She started twiddling with it as she said, “But we are going to lose a scientist, an engineer and a technician. Someone who is qualified will have to do the work.”

  Peter thought she doesn’t want to cause any trouble, she is just worried. He looked directly in her eyes and with a soft, measured voice, he replied, “I understand what you mean, and I’ve thought about it as well. Liam will be able to take over Damian’s tasks and if necessary, Steve can support him. The geological experiments are being scaled back and John is working alone, and Steve can take over when he has finished working on the modifications for the escape pods.” Peter looked over to Paul, “And Paul will be able to take over Filip’s work.”

  Peter assumed that there were going to be no new deliveries coming from Earth, and that was going to reduce Paul’s workload. He didn’t say anything about this as he didn’t want to remind them that there was no contact and therefore there would be no deliveries. He took a deep breath and thought of his mantra, “Just keep going.” He knew that when people were busy that they didn’t have time to think and then they wouldn’t panic. He understood that the general nodding of heads indicated that there was nothing left to discuss.

  Peter stroked his beard thoughtfully before he stood up and put on his captain’s hat. He informed them, “In the future there will be a progress report meeting every week. Whoever has something to say or just wants to listen is welcome.”

  He went from the meeting to his private quarters and went straight into the bathroom. He let his hands rest on the basin, slumped a little and looked a
t himself in the mirror. He searched in the reflection of his eyes for an answer. Was he ready for the responsibility? He didn’t expect any contact from Columbus any time soon. He could see the sadness in his eyes and the down turned corners of his mouth. There wasn’t going to be any help from Columbus. There wasn’t going to be a first report after the Leonid closure. Resolutely he took his razor in his hand, glancing at it briefly before he began to shave.

  First return

  Date: Sunday 4th June 2141 – 20:03 CET

  Location: Alpha 12 – Moon Base

  With their helmets in their hands, the three-person team were standing together fully suited up in the entrance area and they were laughing. Peter couldn’t help giving a gentle smile. Everywhere people were grinning and joking. The escape pod was ready. They’d managed to finish reinforcing the protective shields and increasing the stability of the cabin. Peter heard Damian saying, “I’m sure the landing will go well even if we touchdown on land.” Peter observed the people gathered. He could feel and see the excitement and thought, “There’s hope here.” They believe that they are going to find out what has happened on Earth. He hoped they would find out. He relaxed and let the light-hearted mood carry him along and he felt the stress melting in his chest. He smiled with the others, but his smile didn’t fully hide his worry. At every launch there was a risk that something could go wrong and today was no exception. He didn’t share his concerns. He didn’t want to spoil the mood. It had been a long time since he had seen them so happy and hopeful. They’d waited six months for this day, and now it was time for the launch. He wished the team good luck, stepped back and took one last picture of them in their orange spacesuits. He could feel the mood doing him good and enjoyed the calmness growing in him.

  Art Feldmann’s statue was looking down at the group. Peter thought he could feel her gaze and glanced up. She remained an impressive sight. He smiled at her and looked almost relaxed. He wondered if she was wishing them luck and then he laughed silently. He turned around and looked back at the team, watching them saying goodbye and hugging each other, which he considered a great achievement in those bulky spacesuits.

  Peter stood a little way away from the others, but close enough to hear them. The people who were staying had formed a kind of circle around those returning. Peter looked at Liam, who was holding back from the group and trying to avoid eye contact with the returners. Damian didn’t want any of Liam’s bashfulness and forced Liam to shake his hand while giving him a friendly slap on the back. Liam forced himself to smile and managed a half-hearted attempt while he accepted Damian’s thanks. As soon as it was appropriate, without being an insult, he withdrew his hand. Peter heard him reminding Damian that he should report as soon as he landed safely. Liam reminded Damian that the satellites orbiting the Earth had roughly the correct trajectory, and at least one of them should still be functional. Peter thought Liam seemed a little worried, but he didn’t sure why. He watched Liam, whose expression was tense and serious, as he listened to Damian’s reassuring answer and his grinning promise that he would try his best. Liam nodded coolly, then he looked at Filip and John, who were busy saying goodbye to the others. Liam had already told them, “Have a good trip.” He lowered his head, muttered an apology and returned to the control centre.

  As Liam passed by Peter, Peter nodded appreciatively. Liam returned the gesture and with a slight movement of his head let it be understood that he was in a hurry. Peter turned and watched Steve, who was in a very good mood, joking, “Don’t forget anything important, it’s not easy to fly back and fetch what you forget.” He heard him laughing at his own joke as he put his arms lightly around them and shook their hands firmly. Peter heard him wishing them good luck and watching Steve, whose arms were swinging at his sides, as he walked enthusiastically, following Liam towards the control centre. Peter didn’t move when he passed by, and Steve didn’t seem to notice him standing there.

  Her eyes were tearful, and her voice was tight as Beatriz asked them how they felt and if they had everything. She reminded Damian of his mother as she was saying goodbye. He didn’t know why but it something about the way Beatriz warmly embraced them and forced them to promise that they would try to sleep as much as possible during the journey. Damian smiled as she reminded them that this would save oxygen and sleep helped their bodies to stay healthy. He could see the worry in her face even though she knew that they were taking extra oxygen cylinders to alleviate the risk of running out of oxygen if there was an extended journey time. He knew that she was worried because Columbus wouldn’t be correcting any trajectory discrepancies.

  Beatriz tried to smile, to say goodbye. She’d said enough. She managed a sad smile as she stepped back and went over to where Peter was standing. As she joined him, she turned to him and nodded reassuringly. He returned her gesture with compassion. She turned back to the others and tried not to think that there would be no rescue mission from Columbus.

  Europa observed everything and everyone very closely. She wanted to behave correctly. The hopefulness was infecting her too, but she wasn’t really convinced they had a good chance of surviving the landing nor was she convinced that they had a good chance of surviving even if they had a successful landing. She had a bad feeling about the undertaking. From her point of view, there wasn’t enough evidence that life on Earth was still possible. Untroubled, she shook their hands, she glanced down at her hand puzzled by the brief physical contact and added in a conciliatory tone, “I did an analysis of the Sun spots this morning and there shouldn’t be any solar flares to fry you during your journey home.”

  John’s mouth fell open as he frowned. He looked at Europa while shaking his head and thinking that’s supposed to be encouraging. He was still shaking his head, but he managed to close his mouth, as Damian, who had had more experience of talking to Europa, grinned and thanked her for helping and wished her all the best for the future on the Moon.

  Europa, pleased that she could help, took a step back. Paul put his arms around Filip’s bulky spacesuit and hugged him as tight as he could. Paul had tearful eyes and a sad mouth. He whispered, “Goodbye.” He knew he was going to miss his mentor, his work colleague and his best friend. He could feel the emotion deep in his chest. He tried to smile but only managed a grimace. He could sense his sadness had highjacked his facial muscles and knew his expression clearly reflected his wretchedness. He so wanted to appear light-hearted for Filip and felt even worse because he couldn’t.

  Filip saw despair in his friend’s eyes and hugged him as best he could in the bulky spacesuit before he leaned back, looked him in the eyes and then kissed him lightly on the cheek.

  Damian and John noticed that Paul was almost crying and did their best to stop him. They shook his hand with a firm grip and slapped him hard on his right shoulder. Paul coughed a few times and sniffed deeply. He managed a weak smile as he stepped back to let someone else say goodbye and thought he could cry later after they’d left.

  John smiled at Charlie, and he realised that no matter what he did, Paul was going to cry. Charlie was crying quietly, but probably only because Maria was crying. None of the returners had worked closely with Charlie or Maria. John didn’t quite understand why they were both crying. He wasn’t surprised when Maria and Charlie hugged him at the same time and he returned the hugs as best he could.

  Both Damian and Filip seemed rather surprised with the impromptu group experience.

  After they let John go both Charlie and Maria stepped back and joined Paul. The synchronised wiping away of their quiet tears and the following faint smile, seemed to Paul, who had tears quietly rolling down his cheeks, almost as if they’d planned it.

  Dervla had stood back and watched the others saying goodbye. She was still waiting, and she looked sad. First, she hugged Filip politely and then hugged Damian but closer. John looked at her briefly before glancing at the floor. He couldn’t look her in the eye. Dervla wasn’t put off, it didn’t bother her that he wasn’t looking, and she didn
’t hold herself back. She held John tightly and let her lips touch his cheek lightly. He felt her tears on his cheek, but he didn’t cry. He felt guilty, but he wanted to go home.

  Peter watched Dervla hugging John clumsily. He thought she seems to have put on a little weight, and he wondered if he should tell her discretely about the tip that Meichun had told him of being able to enter a maximum size for her clothes.

  Damian nodded first to his son and then to John. They nodded in return. Damian turned to Peter and said, “We’re ready. We’ve waited a long time, and we don’t want to miss this perigee.” They put on their helmets together, stood next to each other in a straight line before simultaneously taking a step forward. They walked into the airlock, turned around and waved at the others through the hatch. Peter imagined that they were smiling and thought he could feel their optimism.

  John waved one last time in Dervla’s direction. She smiled faintly, and quiet tears ran down her cheeks.

  Peter stood in front of the window wall, he was staying to witness the launch. He noticed Dervla following Charlie and Maria and he assumed they were returning to work. He knew that Maria was feeling sad and when she was sad she liked to spend her time in her beloved gardens.

  He half-turned to Europa and speculated, “Would it be possible to see one of the space platforms floating near the Earth with a telescope?”

  Europa sounded rather annoyed, “I haven’t been able to observe any for months, and they’ll probably end up in the sea anyway.”

  Peter spoke gently, “Could you follow the escape pod on its journey with your telescope?”

  Europa took a deep breath, she wasn’t happy, “I have my research and don’t want to interrupt it.”