Moonday

by J F Clayton

Beatriz smiled and thought he hasn’t had any experience with colds or flu as she explained, “I’m not sure, it could take up to a week.”

  Patrick’s mouth fell open a little and he articulated his words clearly, “A whole week.” Then he looked disappointed as he realised, “There’ll be no lesson with Europa today.” He stared at Beatriz shaking his head. He wasn’t sure what to do and where he should go next.

  Beatriz noticed his indecision and suggested that he should go and look for Paul.

  Patrick grinned and as he turned around abruptly to run away he collided with Steve, who had sneaked up behind him.

  Steve, with his strong hands, held Patrick upright and laughed. Patrick recovered quickly from the shock and laughed as well before remembering his plan to run away and find Paul.

  Beatriz looked at Steve frustrated. She sighed and said, “Hello, Steve.” It didn’t sound welcoming.

  Steve said neutrally, “I thought I’d stop by.”

  Beatriz was suspicious, “Are you waiting for something?”

  He shrugged his shoulders and didn’t answer the question.

  She looked him in the eye and said, “I know what you did.”

  Steve took a step back and said in a low controlled voice, “I don’t know what you mean.”

  Beatriz looked at him intensely and clarified, “The DNA sequencing of the virus didn’t take long. It’s not a virus that came with us and has reappeared.” She watched him and waited for him to react.

  He remained silent, but he seemed interested.

  Beatriz’s voice was serious, “The virus is new, and Europa has had an extreme immune system response to it. She’s really very poorly.”

  Steve had enough decency to look concerned.

  Beatriz sighed again, “There are only three people on this base who know how to create a targeted virus. I am one, Dervla is another and she told me that you’ve been experimenting in her lab for months.” She paused, maybe he wanted to confess something.

  He looked at her apparently innocently.

  She kept her tone steady, “I am very impressed that you learnt how to modify a virus if you have no official qualifications in genetics.”

  Steve casually explained, “There’s a lot of good information in the Intellinet. You can find everything there.”

  Beatriz frowned, “Why did you do it?”

  He pulled a face, as if he didn’t care, “She was rude when she rejected me.”

  Beatriz was surprised but not really, “You developed a personal bio virus because she didn’t want to have sex with you?”

  He nodded calmly.

  Beatriz had suspected the answer, but the confirmation nevertheless came as a surprise. She shook her head in disapproval as she said, “Well, that’s a new kind of revenge. Come on, look at her.” They went together to the window of the isolation room. Beatriz opened the curtain further and let Steve see how pale and thin Europa looked. “Her immune system is overreacting to help her body fight the virus. I assume that’s not what you wanted.”

  He looked at Europa and then looked at the floor. He said in a small voice, “I didn’t know it would be that bad.”

  Beatriz explained, “It’s a dangerous game to play creating a targeted virus. Although if it doesn’t mutate, at least no one else will get sick.”

  He sounded remorseful as he asked, “Is there anything I can do?”

  Beatriz closed the curtain and she said, “Haven’t you done enough?” As soon as she had said those words, she felt guilty and regretted it. With a kinder tone she added, “I’ll let you know if she needs anything.”

  Steve looked guilty as he turned around and left.

  Maria, who was carrying flowers in a vase, noticed Steve’s expression and wondered what he’d done.

  Beatriz took the flowers from Maria and explained that Europa was too sick for flowers. Beatriz put them on the table and said, “We’ll put them in her room when she’s a little better.” Beatriz smiled at Maria soothingly.

  Maria was concerned about Europa’s condition. They both looked at Europa through the window as Maria asked, “Is she getting better? Can I go in and talk to her?”

  Beatriz shook her head and assured her that it was only a matter of time before Europa recovered.

  Patrick went looking for Paul and Astro. He found Paul in the warehouse playing with Astro. They’d invented a new game, and Astro was trying to find what Paul suggested. Patrick watched Paul for less than a minute and really wanted to play as well. Paul laughed and explained the rules of the game. Patrick told Astro what he should find and off he went and beeped when he had found it.

  Patrick got bored with the game quickly because Astro couldn’t bring anything back. He could only track it down. Patrick looked at his foot as he kicked Paul’s desk gently and explained that Europa was in the isolation room and that he had to wait a week for the physical and there wouldn’t be a lesson today. Patrick looked disappointed and sad.

  Patrick’s exaggerated sadness made Paul laugh and he patted Patrick lightly on the back and said, “I’ve got a short film for you. Let’s make our own lesson.” He smiled, and Patrick couldn’t help but want to join in.

  They moved over to Paul’s workstation, and Paul made sure that Patrick was sitting comfortably before starting the short film. The film was about the Orion constellation and showed where it was in the sky. Paul paused the film to remind Patrick that they’d seen Orion together and how they had followed the other stars to find it. Then he played the film again and they watched what would happen if the 3D image of the Orion stars rotated. It started with the view of the stars that we see, and the image looked flat. Paul asked Patrick, “Are the stars the same distance away from us?”

  Patrick shrugged his shoulders, “I guess so.”

  Paul smiled and said, “Wait and see.”

  The image rotated slowly and showed a sideways view of the stars. Patrick was amazed, and he looked at Paul as he realised how far apart from each other the stars really were.

  Patrick was impressed, “I thought the stars were all the same distance away. This is great.”

  With sparkling eyes Paul replied, “But what’s really good is that we can use the drones to reproduce this concept really well.”

  Patrick didn’t know what he meant but he was curious and wanted to find out.

  Paul put on a BULcap helmet and grinned. He sent out four drones holding flashlights. They moved to different distances in a long corridor in the large hall where Paul und Patrick could see them. Patrick watched them move with fascination. The drones took their places, turned on their flashlights, and waited. Then Paul turned off the lights in the storeroom. They were in the dark, except for the flashlights, the points of light looking like a flat picture. Patrick laughed and pointed as he said, “It’s great, but why did we use flashlights when we could have used the drones’ headlights?”

  Paul looked at him, laughed briefly and explained, “Because it’s more fun with flashlights.” He turned the lights back on and suggested that they visit Maria.

  Maria was waiting in the main garden. She was looking at a tree and watching two birds feeding on a half-hidden bird feeder. As Patrick approached she looked at him and put her fingers on her lips and whispered, “Super quiet.”

  He nodded eagerly and watched with her.

  In a hushed voice she said, “Even though the two birds look the same, one is male and the other female. Can you tell the difference?”

  Patrick was looked closely at the birds then glanced at Maria. He seemed confused, “The vioviolet on the left looks prettier than the darker bird on the right.”

  Maria looked at him a little taken aback at his pronunciation of violet and answered as patiently as she could, “They’re not violet. What do you mean?”

  Patrick remained looking at the birds as he spoke, and was relaxed, “You can see the difference easily between the birds. They don’t look alike at all. The left one has purple spots on the feathers.”

 
Paul laughed quietly to himself.

  Maria looked at Paul puzzled, and asked, “The sexual dichromatism of these birds is only visible under UV light. Humans can’t see any difference, only the birds themselves. Can he see ultraviolet light?”

  Paul shrugged his shoulders and then nodded smiling.

  Maria shook her head and told Patrick, “The bird on the left is female.”

  Patrick smiled and nodded, “She’s more beautiful.”

  Peter was standing in his office, looking in the mirror watching himself put on his captain’s hat. He smiled at himself and leaned closer to look at his wrinkles. He comforted himself with the thought that he looked younger than his fifty-five years, but he was feeling his age today. His muscles felt stiff and he was low on energy. He hoped he wasn’t getting sick. He felt in control as he flipped the switch to convert the wall mirror back into a picture, then turned around and picked up the certificate off his desk and went to see Beatriz. He wanted to go and see Europa before he went to the birthday party. For the last few days, he’d been to see her regularly to convince himself that her condition wasn’t getting any worse. As he walked slowly he felt helpless wishing that there was something he could do other than just wait. Beatriz had told him that it could last for another week. It was the first time that someone had become sick since he was in charge, and he didn’t like it. He sighed and walked slower.

  When he arrived, he stood in the doorway and looked at Beatriz. She saw him immediately and smiled, waving him in as she said, “I thought you’d come this morning.”

  He looked serious and nodded, “How is Europa doing?”

  Beatriz replied softly, “No change, her condition remains stable.” She looked over Peter’s shoulder and to the closed curtain and said, “We’ve many automated medical treatments, but it still makes a difference when someone is there. Someone to take care of you.” She looked at Peter, “I don’t think any machine can replace a caring hand on your forehead.”

  Peter nodded in agreement. He could see the worry in Beatriz’s eyes. She’d told him that it was just a virus, but he could sense how helpless she felt, and it bothered him. He asked, “Is she awake?”

  Beatriz shook her head, “I don’t want to wake her.”

  Peter nodded, he could understand that. Without looking at her, he said, “I’m going to Patrick’s birthday party. Are you coming too?”

  Beatriz looked towards the curtain and said, “No, I don’t want to leave her. I’m sure Patrick will understand.”

  Peter nodded and still had a worried expression as he left to go to the party.

  Peter was soon standing facing Patrick, they were both smiling at each other and wearing their captain’s hats. He nodded to Patrick, the light reflecting from the black peak of his hat, as his head bowed in appreciation and respect to Patrick, who nodded in return but with too much force and his hat slipped. It made them both laugh. Still half-laughing Peter congratulated Patrick and handed him his birthday certificate.

  Grinning, Patrick stood up straighter to accept the certificate and then held it in his arms pressed against his chest. He looked proud, he had the feeling that he’d earned it. He thanked Peter warmly and promised that he was going to hang it up with the others.

  As soon as Patrick finished speaking Steve cleared his throat, everyone turned to look at him. When he was sure he had everyone’s attention, he leant over the table and lifted the oversized cake lid to reveal his latest creation, Patrick’s birthday cake. The sounds of awe reverberated through the room the birthday cake was amazing. They moved in closer around the table to look at the details in the icing of the mini Moon Base. Peter looked at Steve and nodded appreciatively. He’d gone to a lot of trouble and it wasn’t unnoticed.

  Steve enjoyed his moment in the limelight.

  Patrick was pointing at the details of the main garden. He was a little too excited and his unsteady hand got a little too near. Luckily Maria managed to push Patrick’s hand aside just in time. Otherwise the main garden would have had a new skylight.

  Dervla was looking at the cake from different angles and asked, “How on Earth did you even manage to bake such a cake? It’s amazing.”

  Steve took a step up to the cake where the entrance to the Moon Base was and held a big knife in his hand, ready to cut into Art Feldmann’s area.

  Patrick looked worried and said, “Charlie’s not here. We should wait for him before we cut the cake. Otherwise it won’t be fair.”

  Steve looked at Patrick and smiled before answering, “If he wanted to see the cake he should have been here.” Then he pushed the knife into the cake with a satisfied smile and started cutting it into pieces.

  Peter watched him and was a little disturbed by Steve’s apparent glee while cutting. He seemed to be enjoying destroying the Moon Base. Peter tried smiling at the others. He was hoping it would distract him.

  Peter noticed Paul and Patrick standing next to each other and observed them as they raised their hands together and put the food in their mouths at the same time and realised that they had the same way of eating cake. He glanced at the other men in the room and wondering if any of them resembled Patrick. Was one of these men the sperm donor? He wondered if they had a picture of John when he was 12 years old. It could be that he looked like him. He heard a laugh and looked at Patrick and Paul sharing a joke. Patrick was getting on very well with Paul, maybe they have similar genetics. When Peter looked over at Steve, he shook his head involuntary. It wasn’t Steve, they were just too different. He needed to remember to ask Beatriz why they still hadn’t done a paternity test.

  The quietness in the room proved how good the cake tasted as everyone was concentrating on eating. Maria was looking at the cake and considering eating a second piece as Charlie ran excitedly into the room.

  He stopped near the doorway and didn’t see the cake. In between trying to catch his breath he said, “There’s a new Twitter message on my account.” He looked around before adding in a voice barely above a whisper, “Someone from Earth has contacted me.” His eyes were wide and almost tearful.

  Steve sounded cruel as he laughed and sneered, “Don’t be daft. Who would want to get in touch with you?”

  Charlie turned to him and looked hurt. He put his arms on his hips and looked at him sternly, “I really have got a new message.”

  Everyone continued watching him, they didn’t dare look at each other.

  “What’s Twitter?” Patrick asked puzzled about what was happening.

  Liam’s hand was itching to look at his mobile communication device hanging from his belt. He looked at Steve and resisted the temptation.

  Steve started laughing but managed to say, “And you think the Twitter message is from Earth? After almost thirteen years without us hearing a word, you think that they’d choose your Twitter account to get back in touch with us?” He looked at Charlie and laughed at him.

  Charlie seemed to grow smaller, “You think it’s a trick?”

  Steve mocked, “You’re such an idiot. How could you believe it’s real?” And with his words, he burst Charlie’s dream, but it wasn’t just his dream, for a short moment there had been hope that everything was normal again. Steve looked at their facial expressions and laughed as he took a piece of cake from the main garden.

  Maria walked over to Charlie and hugged him before she held his head against her shoulder and stroked his back.

  Peter turned to Steve, “We need to talk.”

  Steve nodded calmly, and they took a few steps away from the others. Steve continued eating the cake nonchalantly.

  In a hushed tone, Peter asked him, “You know that it isn’t acceptable to behave like this.” He looked intensely at Steve, “What’s the matter?”

  Steve shrugged his shoulders, “Nothing. I guess, I’m just bored.”

  Peter looked closely at Steve and asked him, “Do you need a break? Away from the others?”

  Steve immediately understood that Peter meant the Moon Base prison, “Aren’
t we already in a prison? Will it really make a difference if I spend time there?” He gave Peter a challenging look.

  Peter kept his voice steady, “You’re disturbing the others. Can’t you see that?”

  With a dismissive wave of his hand Steve said, “It was just a joke. Who’d have thought he’d believe it? How stupid can he really be?”

  Peter nodded and thought for a moment before saying, “Then we’ll let it go. I don’t want to hear anything else about it.”

  Steve nodded and looked a little guilty as he left the party.

  Peter looked him up and down as he left and thought, “Maybe it’s Moon Madness. He’s going a little crazy, or maybe he just needs a change, something new.” Then he realised that they’d all been doing the same job for almost thirteen years.

  As Peter returned to the group, Dervla was asking Patrick, “And what are you doing on your birthday afternoon?”

  Patrick beamed with excitement and was almost trembling as he explained, “We’re going outside this afternoon. My spacesuit has been measured and prepared, and we’re ready for a moonwalk.” With wide eyes he looked over at Paul and Charlie.

  With a mock serious expression, Dervla asked him, “Have you asked your mother for permission to go on a moonwalk?”

  Panic spread across Patrick’s face and in a small, high voice he stuttered, “May I go?”

  Dervla smiled jokingly and said, “Of course you can.”

  He sighed loudly, and his shoulders fell then he almost jumped up and said, “We are going to walk outside the Art Feldmann’s Field. It can be felt up to twelve kilometres away. The field gets weaker and weaker the further we go, and when there is less gravity, it’s more fun to jump.”

  Charlie smiled and laughed to himself on hearing how well Patrick remembered what they’d told him an hour ago.

  Patrick smiled and looked around as he added, “We are taking one of the moon vehicles.”

  Dervla pretended as if she didn’t know, “Indeed. And who is going to be looking out for you?”

  Patrick looked serious as he answered, “Liam is going to watch our journey from the base and Charlie and Paul are coming with me.”