Moonday

by J F Clayton

  Dervla smiled faintly but gratefully, and she managed to say, “Thank you.”

  Peter contacted Liam and told him, “The baby is here.”

  Beatriz interrupted him, “Tell him to make an announcement for the whole Moon Base.”

  Peter nodded. He didn’t have to, because Liam had already heard Beatriz. They heard Liam’s announcement a few seconds later.

  As Paul went to get the cradle, Maria and Charlie hastily arrived. Maria thought the baby was sweet and Charlie smiled but stayed in the background. Maria said, “We’ve made some baby clothes.” She reached in her bag and showed Dervla some small colourful pyjamas.

  Dervla showed her gratitude with a little smile. Beatriz, who was being protective, noticed how tired Dervla was and ordered the others to leave and let her rest. The three of them left without arguing and went into the canteen.

  Liam and Europa were waiting there. They’d heard Beatriz’s command, and decided to go and wait in the canteen. Neither of them wanted to disturb Dervla. Europa had chosen to sit on a chair and was reading her book, while Liam was looking out the window seemingly lost in thought. When they heard the others, they looked at them expectantly. The atmosphere in the canteen was light, excited but mostly relieved.

  Charlie and Maria went over to Europa. As they arrived, Charlie said, “A baby isn’t it great?”

  Europa, who didn’t particularly like children, managed nonetheless to react politely, “In my culture a child brings great hope and joy.”

  Liam came and joined the others as Peter and Beatriz sat down at a nearby table.

  After a minute or so Steve came rushing into the canteen and said a little annoyed, “The door of the infirmary is closed.” He didn’t seem sure if he should be doing anything or not.

  Peter laughed softly, finally there was something he couldn’t do. Obstetrician wasn’t one of his qualifications. It must be a profession he hadn’t had time to learn.

  Beatriz, who had just joined them, answered Steve, “She wants to be alone, she needs a little rest. You can talk to her and see the baby later.”

  Steve went over to the others, and watched Maria show more of the baby clothes creations she and Charlie had made.

  Beatriz was tired and still wound up, but she was trying to relax. She looked at Peter and told him, “It’s a healthy boy. His weight and size are good. I’ve done the normal blood tests and they all came back fine.” Beatriz whispered, she wanted to be sure that only Peter heard, “I even counted his fingers and toes. I was worried about the spikes in radiation. They could have had a negative effect on the baby’s DNA.” She bit her lower lip softly and looked at Peter seriously, “Dervla refused a DNA test for the baby.”

  Paul’s metal crib looked professional and very shiny. He put it on the floor in front of the group, and in the quiet they watched it rocking gently. Paul reached into the cradle and with a big grin he took out a bottle of whisky, “Let’s toast the baby.”

  Steve nodded and went to fetch some glasses.

  Paul poured the whisky into the glasses and offered everyone a drink. They toasted the baby and Dervla. Both Steve and Maria pulled a disgusted expression at their first sip of whisky. Paul laughed at their faces. Apparently, they weren’t impressed by forty-year-old whisky.

  Maria put her glass down and enthused, “I think the baby is very sweet.” She tilted her head to the side and then shrugged before smiling as she wondered with amusement, “We may need to increase the daylight hours in the garden to compensate for the carbon dioxide from the baby. Does anyone have any thoughts about this?”

  They looked at each other questioningly and shook their heads.

  Maria muttered, “I need to research this.” She smiled. She liked the feeling that she had something very important to do.

  Charlie, who was watching Maria, asked curiously, “Do you want a child?”

  Maria didn’t answer.

  Liam looked at the enthusiasm of the others and decided to take a step back, he didn’t really want anything to do with the baby. He glanced at the time, finished his whisky in a simple gulp and said noncommittally, “I have something to do” and left. Nobody took any notice of him. They were busy with their thoughts, and they were enjoying the happier mood after months of darkness. They finally had something that they could celebrate.

  Peter, who felt responsible, thought maybe that’s what it feels like to be a father, but at the same time he wondered if the baby would resemble John. Or, perhaps, one of the other returners. He looked around at the men in the room and he realised he had no idea who the father was. He wondered if anyone other than Dervla knew and thought, we could do a DNA test. The results of the Moononauts were already available, it would be an easy comparison.

  Steve, who was in a good mood, joked, “We were Alpha 12. Twelve people living on the Moon Base. With the baby, we’ve become Omega 13.” He laughed ominously and said, “This can’t be good.”

  Europa looked at him contemptuously, “I haven’t seen the baby, but it is certainly not a devil’s child, and don’t be stupid. There are only ten of us.”

  Paul was smiling, he was simply glad that he wasn’t the youngest anymore. He raised his glass and said, “To Dervla and the baby.” They all raised their glasses to drink a sip of whisky, but Steve and Maria only pretended to sip.

  Europa had annoyed Steve, and he wanted to get his own back, to get a reaction from them, “We don’t have enough space in the escape pods, nor are they designed for babies or toddlers.”

  Everyone ignored his comment.

  There was a lull in the conversation and Charlie wondered aloud, “Does anyone know who the father is?” As soon as he said it Steve and Charlie looked at each other before turning to Paul and looking at him questioningly. Paul wasn’t paying attention to them as he was still playing with the cradle, but when he looked up he noticed their stares and shook his head worried that he had done something wrong.

  Steve calculated in his head and thought, “If I did my maths right, the child wasn’t conceived during yearly close down.”

  Charlie was thinking, “Liam’s not here. Does that mean anything?” He sipped his whisky absentmindedly.

  Maria tried to change the subject, “Has Dervla chosen a name yet?”

  Beatriz, who’d been observing the conversation, replied immediately, “His name is Patrick.”

  They nodded and sipped on the whisky. No one was sure what to say.

  Peter, who’d been lost in his own thoughts, filled his whisky glass and took a sip. He wasn’t sure if he should do something about the baby. There hadn’t been any training for this at the Moononaut Academy, “Do we have baby food?”

  Beatriz turned to Peter and looked at him puzzled for a moment before she explained, “We’ve had a few months to prepare in our very well-equipped laboratories. We’ve been experimenting making a baby formula. I think we’ll be able to make enough,” and she half smiled to cover her concern. She hoped Peter was okay.

  Peter’s voice was higher than normal, “And nappies, has someone thought about nappies.” Peter trying to remember everything he knew about babies.

  Beatriz replied patiently, “We’re making the nappies out of T-shirts. Steve created some for us. With many helpful suggestions from the Happynet.”

  Everybody laughed. Somehow the thought of Steve making nappies from T-shirts was funny.

  With the end of a laugh still sounding in his voice, Charlie said quickly, “Let’s take some pictures.”

  Steve looked sceptical.

  Charlie insisted, “It’s a special event. The first baby born on the Moon.” He looked for agreement before he added, “Patrick must be the first alien.”

  Paul nodded but the others looked at him surprised, what was he talking about.

  Charlie continued, “If someone wasn’t born on Earth, it means he’s an alien because he’s not from Earth.”

  Paul loved the idea, “You think Patrick is an alien.”

  Steve, who was rath
er unconvinced, objected with, “It doesn’t count. We are only 384,000 kilometres from Earth. It’s not far enough to be considered an alien.”

  Europa interrupted, “Actually, that’s an average value. We’re about 375,000 kilometres away today.”

  Steve looked decidedly annoyed at Europa’s comment. He breathed in deeply and tried to remain calm, because he knew she was right.

  Paul, who hadn’t noticed Steve’s reaction, speculated, “I mean, can he be an alien? Does it count, even if we are on a moon and not on another a planet?”

  Maria, who found the topic amusing, joined in, “His parents are earthlings. It’s not just about where someone was born, is it?”

  Peter, who wasn’t interested in the game, said to Beatriz, “I think a change is in order. Dervla and Patrick can move into one of the tourist suites when they get out of the infirmary. If a tourist comes, we’ll have more than enough time to sort everything out.”

  Beatriz looked at him with a sad, worried look. He’d not yet accepted that there wouldn’t be any tourists. Had he forgotten, they had no contact with the Earth? She felt almost angry with him, but remained quiet, she didn’t want to destroy this happy, carefree moment.

  Steve overheard what Peter had said and was immediately jealous. He deserved a suite on the top floor just as much has anyone else, “There’s room for several people up there. I’d like to live in a suite too.”

  Maria wasn’t alone in ignoring Steve. She thought, he doesn’t need a suite. He’s just jealous, so she changed the subject, “Well, now that the baby is here, maybe we should try to contact Earth again and find out what happened. We could try going over the theories again to see if we missed anything. Patrick needs our help for his future.”

  Peter grudgingly listened to Maria and didn’t like her mention of the future. He thought, if we just live in the present day and exist day to day, we can cope with the situation. We all know that there is no future here. Peter filled his glass and raised it.

  They toasted the future.

  Paul had an idea. He spoke quickly and excitedly, “Perhaps we can try something new. Liam is helping me to learn some new inspection methods with the robots. We’ve already done thermal imaging, X-rays, 3D geometry mapping, and ultrasonic crack detection comes next.” Paul beamed at the others and searched in their faces expecting to find the enthusiasm he felt echoed. He was disappointed. Nobody showed any real interest. His enthusiasm waned, and he scratched his left ear slightly when he said, “I thought we could use the technology for Earth analysis.” His voice became quieter and slower as he continued, “Perhaps we can see if something has changed. I mean, how and where the plants are growing, when nobody is there they get out of control very quickly.” He was thinking about his garden at home, and he remembered his dog Astro. He looked around for Astro, who was still over in the games corner.

  Maria suggested a toast to Dervla and Patrick in an attempt to change the subject, she didn’t want to think about the plants on Earth.

  Paul poured out whisky for everyone except Maria and Steve, who didn’t want any more.

  Peter, who was sitting across from Beatriz, smiled and looked full of energy. He wanted to organise something to try and sort out everything. He felt a new sense of purpose. He hadn’t felt like this for a long time. With a puzzled expression and shaking his head, a little he asked Beatriz, “Do we have everything we need to live?”

  Beatriz didn’t know where he was going, so she made a list for him, “Water, salt, sunlight, food, sleep, exercise, mental stability.” The last phrase was a question.

  Peter nodded. He seemed satisfied. He hadn’t really heard the list. He’d already thought about it and had already read in the Intellinet what they needed to live and found out what they had available on the Moon Base. “I don’t think we have liquid soap and moisturiser and you need that for a baby. We can’t make them on the Moon Base either.” His expression turned serious. “There’s a danger of explosion if you make them.”

  When Paul came over to pour some more whisky, Peter asked if he could check in the warehouse to see if they had any soap and moisturiser for babies.

  Paul smiled and agreed. He was pleased to have something to do. As he left, he took Astro with him. He didn’t need to go, he could have used any computer console to find out, but he just wanted to get away for a while and to move.

  It wasn’t long before Paul and his toolbox dog were back. He returned with an answer to Peter’s question, “We’ve plenty of soap, and baby soap. It is stored under optimal conditions.” It said this on the storage notes, he didn’t actually know what these were. “They’re due to be sent to Mars at some point.” He laughed with amusement, “I guess they thought there would be babies on Mars.” Paul opened the top shelf of the toolbox and grinned at the others as he got out a bottle of whisky. Then he said, “Maybe there’s already a baby alien on Mars.” Paul looked suddenly sad as he said, “Then Patrick won’t be the first alien.”

  Peter’s curiosity was aroused, he hadn’t expected baby stuff in the stores, “Is there anything else when it comes to baby equipment?”

  Paul shrugged his shoulders and replied, “Yes, it was a long list. There are inflatable cots, nappies and some other stuff that I didn’t know what it was.”

  Charlie wanted more whisky, and he called Paul to come over and bring the whisky with him.

  As soon as Paul was gone, and Peter thought that the others weren’t listening, Peter spoke very quietly to Beatriz, “The Earth’s satellites are falling slowly out of orbit. Their self-correcting orbits were regularly checked and adjusted by Columbus, and there now haven’t been any corrections in two years. We’ve no way of adjusting them from the Moon Base. Liam is trying to hack into the satellites to adjust their positions, but so far without any success.” He started shaking his head. “I don’t know if we’d ever make contact again.”

  They looked at each other briefly and then avoided each other’s gaze. Sipping the whisky served to distract them for a while before Peter added, “I’m assuming that there will be problems in three years.”

  Beatriz looked puzzled, what did he mean?

  He added, “When the employment contracts come to an end.”

  Beatriz didn’t know what to say.

  They toasted Patrick and Dervla one last time. Peter placed his empty glass on the table and looked for his captain’s hat. He looked down at the table. Where was the thing? Had he left it in his office?

  Contract renewal

  Date: Monday 26th October 2144 – 09:00 CET

  Location: Alpha 12 – Moon Base

  Peter was looking at the large calendar displayed on the wall of his office, his eyes flicked over it slowly counting the days from the beginning of the month and stopped abruptly at the red dot on today’s date. It was a reminder that the five-year contracts were due for renewal. He stared hard at the red dot, half hoping it would disappear as it occurred to him that they’d been waiting for today. He shook his head, no that wasn’t the case, they weren’t waiting, they’d put off thinking about the rest of their lives until today. It’d made their lives bearable. He glanced at the wall clock and thought about what he still had to do. He’d got half an hour to prepare before the first of the end of contract reviews. He bit his lower lip, tasted the salty dried saliva and thought about whisky. He shook his head and frowned, he needed to keep his thoughts clear.

  He reached over, and resting his arm on his desk, caressed the frame of the small professional portrait of his wife with his index finger. Today would have been the day that they travelled back to Earth. He felt a wave of sadness and laid his hand next to the picture and concentrated on it, if only they hadn’t lost contact.

  His computer beeped a reminder that the meetings were due, he turned and looked at the list of possible return dates for the Moononauts displayed on his screen. It was a list of dates with the minimum distance between the Moon and Earth for each month and it had been calculated many years before by Columbus. T
he predicted return dates that coincided with the end of a five-year shift were marked with an asterisk. It was never exactly five years per shift, normally a few days either way. He looked at their date, it didn’t have an asterisk, but the previous month’s date did. He reached out to it but didn’t quite touch the display. He’d delayed long enough. He slid his chair back, hugged his arms around his waist, closed his eyes tightly while leaning as far forward as his stomach would let him. He rocked gently before suddenly sitting upright, he felt slightly sick. They were approximately at the end of a five-year shift and the date had to be before the Annual Closure. He laughed quietly to himself because he knew that Columbus double checked the dates for suitability and they wouldn’t be pleased that he’d delayed a month. Nobody here seemed to mind. They mostly thought that the calculation was about as complicated as calculating Easter and just wanted to be given a date.

  He scrolled down the list before him and looked at the last entry. It was for fifty years in the future. He felt empty inside as he stared intensely at that date and wondered would it be far enough in future to cover their stay on the Moon. He raised his hand and with his finger scrolled back to the beginning of the list. He didn’t want to think about the future.

  He looked over at his wife’s picture again and his smile was genuine, as he realised that today was a near-Earth date. He liked near-Earth days because he was physically closer to his wife than normal. He wondered if she felt closer to him on these day than on others. He hated the thousands of kilometres that lay between them. He wondered, did she know he was close by, did she know that he was thinking of her, and he hoped that when she looked up at the Moon she thought of him.

  Meichun announced, “Five minutes to go. Are you ready?”

  A look of mild panic crossed Peter’s face and he forced himself to concentrate on the task at hand. He put both hands face down on the desk in front of him to help him and he focused on the even spaces between his fingers before deciding that he’d offer everyone a contract extension. He raised his right hand and chewed on the thumb nail hoping it was a wise decision to attempt to carry on as if nothing had happened. If they accepted that they were all going to get an extension, he was sure that everything would be fine.