Moonday

by J F Clayton

  Charlie blushed, he’d not expected that the game would go so far. He leaned over to Maria and whispered, “I know the answer really.”

  Europa once again pointed to the picture, “The next four planets are Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune.” She paused for a moment and smiled as she said, “And then comes the Pluto-Charon double planet system.”

  Europa turned to Maria, looked at her directly and asked, “Beyond the orbit of Neptune and the orbit of the Pluto-Charon double planet system is what?”

  Maria was determined not to be intimidated by Europa, “The Kuiper Belt.”

  Without acknowledging that this was the right answer, Europa turned to Paul, “And what is outside the heliosphere and in inter-stellar space?”

  Paul had known the answer, but he was still glad he had prepared, “The Oort Cloud.” His voice sounded calm and steady. He even managed a smile.

  Europa seemed impressed, “Well done. Now comes the second part of the lesson. The first part was just preparation. The date August 11, 2140. Anyone know why it’s important?”

  Uncertain Charlie suggested, “Was it the closest approach of Halley’s comet?” He held his breath.

  Europa was happily surprised that he knew, “Yes, well done.” She showed a picture of Halley’s comet traveling with its long comet tail across the southern night sky.

  Charlie breathed in and out deeply smiling relaxed and started enjoying the lesson again. He had rescued his reputation in front of Maria.

  Europa looked at Patrick and explained, “The picture was taken on Earth before you were born.” She turned to the picture and smiled at before turning around and saying, “I’m sure you all want to know the differences between comets, asteroids, meteoroids, meteors and meteorites.”

  They all nodded eagerly.

  “A stone that originates in space can have many different names depending on what it is made of and where it is located.” She showed a picture of a few celestial bodies.

  “Comets are usually made of stone and can form a comet tail of ice, methane, or ammonia as they get warmer when they approach the Sun. This means that comets are not just made of stone they are also made up of ice, methane, ammonia and other compounds.”

  She looked at her audience. Did they understand? She looked closely at Charlie.

  He noticed what she was doing and went red from suppressing his anger.

  Europa announced, “Comets come from two different sources. There are comets with a long orbital period, these have an orbit that has a duration of more than two hundred years to go around the Sun, these originate from the Oort cloud. There are also short-period comets that take less than two hundred years to orbit the Sun and these come from the Kuiper Belt.”

  She looked at Paul questioningly. He nodded encouragingly.

  Europa pointed to an asteroid in the picture and explained, “Asteroids resemble comets, but they are not so interesting. Asteroids are usually larger rocks coming from the asteroid belt between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. There are between 0.7 and 1.7 million asteroids with a diameter of 1 km or more.”

  She looked for a reaction.

  Paul opened his eyes wider, nodded his head once and seemed to be generally impressed.

  Europa was pleased by his response and continued, encouraged, “Sometimes the asteroid orbits become disturbed by mutual impacts and some of the asteroids change course and come closer to the Sun and thus closer to the Earth and the Moon, but this doesn’t happen very often. We are far more like to see small meteoroids than a large asteroid.” She pointed to a picture of a small meteoroid and explained, “Meteoroids are considered space debris. A meteoroid is a piece of interplanetary matter smaller than an asteroid. So less than a kilometre in diameter and they are often only millimetres big.”

  Europa pointed at what looked like nothing on the picture and explained, “There are the smaller Meteoroids. You probably can’t see them.” She ignored the problem presented by this explanation and continued, “Most Meteoroids entering the Earth’s atmosphere are so small that they evaporate completely before they reach the surface of the planet.” She paused for thought, then turned around threateningly, looked at Paul and asked, “And when they enter the Earth’s atmosphere, they get another name, and what name do they get Paul?”

  Paul was prepared for it, but still he felt scared, “Shooting star, or meteors.”

  A smile flashed across her face, “Yes, exactly. A meteor causes a flash of light that we see in the earthly night sky when a small piece of interplanetary debris burns in the mesosphere and evaporates.” She checked whether they were still paying attention, “But if the friction caused by the air in the atmosphere isn’t strong enough, the debris doesn’t burn completely, and the space debris manages to land on Earth and then it is called a meteorite.” She turned back to the picture, looked at it for a moment as if she had forgotten something before turning to look at Charlie and saying, “To put it as simply as possible, comets are mostly made of ice and stone, asteroids are usually rock, meteoroids are space debris, meteors glow, and meteorites kill you when they fall on your head.” She smiled sweetly.

  Charlie felt like he was burning up inside.

  Europa showed a photo of her heroine, Art Feldmann, and explained, “And to the third part of today’s lesson. Art Feldmann’s field and why it’s so important to the Moon Base.” She smiled before continuing, “Art Feldmann discovered the ability to control gravity. This knowledge was fundamental to building the Moon Base. We can generate an Art Feldmann’s field that is strong enough to easily distract meteoroids, but when asteroids come, it becomes a bigger risk. For example, when a Leonid meteor storm comes, we close the shields for protection,” she looked at Patrick, “and we take our annual vacation. Art Feldmann’s is not a strong field but it has a long-range effect. This means that as asteroids approach, the effect becomes increasingly stronger. Asteroids that are initially only slightly deflected feel an ever-increasing repulsive force as they approach.”

  Paul was prepared and asked, “What kind of field is Feldmann’s field exactly?”

  Europa seemed thoughtful as she replied, “Simply put, it is a kind of colourful flowing of anti-gravity energy.”

  Paul wanted to know more, “What happens if a comet comes directly at us?”

  Europa nodded, “To reflect comets, we can use the entire mass of the Moon to help us generate a stronger field, we have built this mechanism into the protective shields of the base.”

  As Europa turned off the display, they all thanked Europa for the lesson, before standing up and going together to Patrick’s birthday party in the canteen. They followed the same routine as they did every year. Steve had baked a cake, and Peter came in with a certificate for Patrick’s good behaviour. Patrick beamed as he accepted the certificate and explained that he would hang it alongside the other four on his bedroom wall. As Peter saluted him, Patrick grinned and saluted back touching the brim of the now rather too small captain’s hat. He enjoyed being the centre of attention and liked hearing the good wishes of the people around him. He didn’t notice that Peter had been hiding a little package in one hand. As he handed it to Patrick, Peter smiled and raised an eyebrow as he said, “Guess what it is.”

  Without guessing, Patrick took the gift and ripped off the packaging. It was a new captain’s hat. It was exactly like the other one but bigger. Patrick swapped hats and saluted Peter. Peter responded with an appropriate amount of seriousness.

  Beatriz prompted Patrick gently, “Didn’t you have another present?”

  Disappointed, he looked down, pouting and shaking his head.

  Maria nudged him and smiled as she handed Patrick the forgotten present.

  He put his hand to his mouth and blushed. Then he took the package and opened it in a hurry. It was sunglasses. He seemed confused.

  Beatriz smiled mysteriously and said, “You’ll need it when you go outside.”

  Charlie patted Patrick on the back and said, “We’ll meet at
the Art Feldmann statue in thirty minutes. Don’t eat too much cake beforehand or you’ll get sick.”

  Patrick was curious and immediately wondered if two pieces of cake were too many or if three would make him sick.

  Before he went Charlie added, “And don’t forget to bring the sunglasses.”

  Patrick’s eyes were looking for Paul. He’ll know what’s going on. But Paul had already gone. Patrick turned his attention to the cake and forgot about Paul’s absence. He managed to avoid the temptation to give Astro a little bit of cake and tried to follow Charlie’s advice.

  After the party Beatriz and Peter went to Peter’s office together. They wanted to chat a little and relax. Moonday, or rather, Patrick’s birthday had gradually become a holiday on the Moon Base. Nobody worked on that day anymore. After they arrived in the office, they both sat down and made themselves comfortable. Before Peter sat in his chair, he took off his captain’s hat and commented, “I don’t have much experience with children, but Patrick seems great for a 10-year-old child.”

  Beatriz, who was already relaxing in the visitor’s chair, replied, “Yes, he is.”

  As he poured himself a whisky, Peter asked, “Do you want some?”

  Beatriz looked at the time, “It’s still too early for me.” Then she pushed a glass towards him. Slowly and with pleasure they drank a couple of glasses. Without any hurry they enjoyed the familiar presence of each other and the taste of the whisky.

  It was Beatriz, who broke the silence, “Dervla used artificial insemination.”

  Peter was surprised but not concerned, “Really?”

  Thoughtfully Beatriz said, “I wondered who the father was. Patrick is definitely not a direct clone of Beatriz. His Y-chromosome genome must have come from somewhere.”

  Peter nodded, “Yes, he looks different from Dervla.” He thought a little, “Maybe she spliced a Y-chromosome on her own DNA. Who knows. She’s very talented. We probably have the equipment, and we don’t have many regulations.”

  Beatriz seemed sure, “Patrick doesn’t have the same mother and father. Dervla’s not that crazy. The inbreeding coefficient would be too high.”

  Peter shrugged, he didn’t know what she meant.

  Beatriz asked Meichun, “What would happen if someone uses the same DNA for both the mother and father?”

  Meichun’s voice sounded almost friendly, “Since most hereditary diseases are inherited recessively, a high inbreeding coefficient can lead to the occurrence of unexpected hereditary diseases. If the same DNA is mixed twice, this is very likely to happen because there is no possibility for the DNA to use a healthy gene variant.”

  Peter thought, whisky and DNA don’t mix with each other very well, but asked, “Do you know who the father is?”

  Beatriz shrugged her shoulders and said, “I don’t know.”

  As Patrick walked up to Art Feldmann’s statue, he saw Paul and Charlie standing there. They were in their Moon Base outside uniforms but didn’t have their helmets on. He looked and sounded amazed as he asked, “Are you going outside?”

  Charlie and Paul looked at each other and smiled. Paul said, “We are all going outside.”

  Charlie added, “You’re big enough for a little moonwalk. Did you bring the sunglasses?”

  Patrick was thrilled and his whole face shone, “Yes.”

  Charlie suggested, “Then we need to outfit you with an outside uniform.”

  Together they walked past the statue of Art Feldmann towards the spacesuit locker room. Patrick could hardly restrain himself from jumping, and each of his steps came with a small excited suppressed leap. He was imagining trying on different suits until they found a suitable one. He could hardly believe it. He was going outside.

  When they arrived in the locker room, Charlie chose one of the smaller suits. He assured Patrick it wasn’t a woman’s suit, even though Patrick didn’t seem to care.

  Charlie explained, “The smaller suits are for women and children, except for the size there is no difference between the suits and each suit is assembled specially for each person. You don’t just get a full suit. First we have to find the right parts for you.”

  Patrick let it all happen around him. He could hardly believe it and didn’t know what he could do to help, but he did want to know, “Why are the suits white and purple?”

  Charlie looked at the suit a little confused before explaining, “The suits are white so that they can reflect the Sun’s rays easily. If we are in the Sun all the time the white reflects more heat and makes it easier to keep the temperature in the suit under control. The suits come with cooling units, but we don’t want to overload them.” He smiled pleased with his explanation.

  Patrick nodded and agreed that he didn’t want to get too hot.

  Charlie kindly added, “Your young eyes will be very sensitive to the sunlight. Beatriz prepared the sunglasses for you to protect your eyes. You have to wear them.” Beatriz had already explained to Charlie that Patrick needed special sunglasses that filter more UV light than normal if he was going to go outside.

  Patrick was excited to be wearing the full suit. Paul and Charlie watched him as he moved around. They wanted to check that he could walk well without a helmet and that he was strong enough to move around independently.

  Charlie warned him, “I know you are very strong for your age, but when we go outside of the Moon Base Art Feldmann’s field, it becomes much easier to walk around. And that means you have to be careful.”

  Charlie said, “Sunglasses on, helmet on and let’s go.” They went through the airlock together and started their short space walk. This was a test to see if Patrick could cope with the stresses of wearing a spacesuit and to see if he was physically strong enough to wear it.

  Charlie watched Patrick carefully as Paul showed him around the outside of the base. They only stayed outside about 30 minutes and the time went by quickly. Even so Charlie was relieved when they got back inside, as he didn’t feel directly responsible for Patrick’s safety anymore.

  Peter looked at the surveillance monitors and saw Charlie, Paul and Patrick returning from their moonwalk. He was relieved that Patrick was back safe and sound. He knew there wasn’t any good reason to worry, but he was worried anyway. Patrick represented the future and held everyone together, a life without him would be unbearable.

  Moonday twelve

  Date: Tuesday 2nd October 2153 – 09:45 CET

  Location: Alpha 12 – Moon Base

  Patrick came running into the infirmary almost bouncing with energy. He started sliding a little too late to stop himself elegantly, but he just about managed to stop before he hit the wall, although his captain’s hat almost fell off. Luckily, he managed to grab it in time, and set it straight on his head. He looked around and said loudly and excitedly, “It’s Moonday and my birthday. Where are you?” He sounded happy. He raced around the front office of the infirmary looking for Beatriz. He even checked under the desk to see if she was there.

  He stood in the middle of the room and his shoulders fell as he realised that she wasn’t waiting for him. Uncertain what to do he stood frozen to the spot. Then he decided to look for Beatriz. He smiled. It must be a game. Then his face fell. Or, had she forgotten. She was good at forgetting things. He laughed. It was his birthday. Then he looked around to see if he could see a present or a note but found nothing and he wondered where she was. He looked under her desk again and then glanced at the door to the isolation room. He’d never been in there and wasn’t sure if anyone ever went in. Could she have hidden herself in there? There was a window covered with a curtain next to the door. He could just peek through to see if she was there that wouldn’t hurt anyone. Was she in there? He hesitated and looked around to see if anyone was watching. Was he allowed to look through the window? He moved cautiously towards the curtain and at arm’s length he lifted it slightly before letting it fall back. No alarms sounded so he tried it again and raised it a little more before letting it fall and looking around. Then he care
fully pushed the curtain aside but only enough for him to just see through and he dared himself to look through the window. He smiled as he noticed Beatriz. She was standing on one side of the bed, and her hand lay on Europa’s forehead. Europa was very pale and laying on the bed.

  Beatriz looked up as she noticed Patrick’s shadow in the light from the opened curtain. She turned around and smiled at him. He watched her come through the door and take off the plastic gloves which she put in the Re-Do machine as she said, “Patrick, I’m so sorry, but we’re going to have to postpone your annual check-up to next week.”

  Patrick looked visibly disappointed and said in a high-pitched voice, “But why?”

  Beatriz explained patiently, “Europa is very sick. She’s got a cold and it’s going to take her a few days to get well again. We don’t want you to get sick on your birthday, do we?” She smiled at him. Patrick had never had a cold, and Beatriz didn’t want to take any chances. She wanted to protect him. She wasn’t sure how his immune system would react to a virus and she didn’t want to find out.

  Patrick shook and nodded his head at the same time. He didn’t want to get sick but wasn’t sure if yes or no was the appropriate answer.

  Beatriz’s voice was compassionate and apologetic, “I’m sorry I couldn’t let you know, but I was hoping that she might be well today.” She smiled apologetically and promised him, “We’ll do it next week when Europa is well.”

  Disappointment showed clearly on his face, but he tried to be brave for Europa. He looked at her through the window and said, “Her face looks thinner.”

  Beatriz explained kindly, “She hasn’t eaten much for a few days, and she’s been in bed the whole time.”

  Patrick looked concerned as he said, “If she’s not eating that’s not good, it’s not healthy.”

  Beatriz answered patiently, “You’re right, it isn’t.”

  He asked a little worried, “How long will it last?”