Moonday

by J F Clayton

  Maria smiled apologetically at Patrick, “I’ve a little problem with my heart and it’s constantly monitored by my necklace. I don’t want to risk going back,” she looked at the table and continued slowly and quietly, “and I need a supply of medication.”

  Peter looked closely at Maria. He’d always thought that he’d have to stay, but everything was settled. She was serious. He wondered if she was afraid of returning home, just like he was.

  Paul interrupted the silence and said in a sad and calm voice, “I definitely want to go home.”

  Patrick agreed energetically and his whole-body trembling with enthusiasm as he said, “I’m coming too.”

  Peter looked at his team and smiled. He had tears in his eyes as he said, “We were a great team, and we have a plan.” He smiled at each person in turn before adding, “Paul, Patrick and I will return in a rescue pod on October 18th and Liam, Maria and Beatriz will remain here with the last rescue pod. You can return if you need to.”

  Peter looked sad as he got up and put his captain’s hat back on, and he said, “This is our last meeting, it’s the end of an era.” Then he watched the small group standing up and shaking hands with each other. As Beatriz walked over and shook his hand he said quietly, “And it’s our last Moonday.”

  Third return

  Date: Tuesday 18th October 2157 – 07:27 CET

  Location: Alpha 12 – Moon Base

  Standing in their orange spacesuits, holding their helmets in their hands, the three returners stood just outside the communication room near Art Feldmann’s statue. Beatriz and Maria were standing in their full white Moon Base uniforms. They all looked good. Although it was early in the morning they were all wide awake. There was something final about the day, and they sensed both the end and a new beginning.

  Liam came to join them. He’d been supervising the final preparations and he told them that a message had come from Steve. He wished them good luck and a safe journey.

  Peter looked visibly annoyed. He wondered if that was all Steve had done. He wanted to check but knew that it was too late for him. He’d handed the responsibility over to Beatriz. He suppressed the thought and turned to Beatriz asking with sad eyes and a strained smile, “Are you sure you want to stay?”

  Beatriz nodded tenderly. She looked both sad and determined as she replied in a steady voice, “Yes, very sure. I’m too old to go back.” Then she smiled at him.

  Peter looked with regret as he said, “I’m going to miss you.”

  Beatriz smiled a little embarrassed and replied, “I know, but I might not miss you. It depends on whether I’m on my meds or not.” She laughed quietly.

  Peter snorted, and one of the inconvenient liquids of human emotion squirted down his nose. He hadn’t expected that and tried holding his gloved hand up to wipe his nose, which didn’t work very well. Laughing Beatriz took a tissue out of her pocket and she smiled at him before wiping his nose and she joked, “I thought I’d be doing this for Patrick and not for you.”

  He looked guilty, embarrassed and tried explaining, “I’m sorry. I can’t believe I’m going home. I’m going to get to see my wife.”

  Beatriz grinned broadly, as she threw the dirty tissue to one of the Sauberbots, “It’s understandable, don’t worry. I’ll remember you like this.”

  He pulled a painful smile in response and offered her his hand to shake. She inspected it carefully before she took it and shook his hand with a deep feeling of respect and love.

  When they let go, Peter looked over to Patrick, who was looking good in his spacesuit and seemed very excited. He could barely keep still. Peter hoped the sleep medication would work on Patrick and he would sleep most of the journey home. Then he looked around at the familiar fixings in the Moon Base and then back at Patrick and Paul standing next to each other and he smiled wistfully. Patrick was almost as tall as Paul, although when Paul smiled, he showed his wrinkles and looked old, so much older than the last time Peter had seen Paul in an orange spacesuit.

  Peter heard Patrick telling Liam, “We have our orange spacesuits on, so that we can be easily found by the search and rescue teams.” He saw Liam nodding in response and he smiled at Patrick’s inexperience, and his optimism.

  Paul, who was still standing next to Patrick, explained gently and compassionately, “It could be that no one comes looking for us when we land.”

  Patrick, who had the advantage of youth on his side to keep him positive, replied, “We’ll be okay.” Then he looked at Liam, “Did you get an answer to the message you sent to Columbus?”

  Liam shook his head, “Not yet.”

  Paul kept quiet, he didn’t want to take Patrick’s hope away. This positivity was going to help him on his way home. He looked over to Peter before glancing at the others’ faces and realising that no one believed what Patrick had said but then neither was anyone willing to disappoint him.

  Patrick didn’t notice the looks, and asked Paul, “Are you taking your golf club back? We could play golf on Earth.”

  Paul smiled, “We have to keep the weight as low as possible.”

  Patrick nodded. That made sense.

  Paul told him with a smile, “You never know, maybe I’ll come back sometime. There’ll be golf clubs on Earth, and we can track some down and play there.”

  Patrick laughed and thought it was a great idea and tried swinging his arms in a golf swing. Peter took a cautious step back.

  Liam’s communications device beeped, and he held up his hand with the checklist written on it. The robots were done. Liam looked at Peter and said, “The preparations are finished.”

  Patrick looked suddenly sad and glanced at the floor before whispering, “It’s a pity Mother can’t come with us.”

  Liam looked at Patrick and smiled compassionately, “She’ll always be there for you. She’s staying on the Moon. When you’re on Earth looking up, you’ll see the Moon and you’ll see her smiling back at you.”

  Patrick listened to Liam’s words with tearful eyes and smiling weakly. He liked the idea of seeing his mother when he looked at the Moon.

  Liam turned to Paul and gave him a small bag with the small communication device. Paul nodded, he knew what to do. Peter remembered that it was some kind of signal amplifier of Liam’s own design. He watched Liam smile as he said modestly, “I hope it works. The connectors are easy to identify and replace.”

  Peter looked at Paul. Paul knew how it worked and how to assemble it, when the time came to try and send a message back to the Moon.

  Peter turned to Beatriz and pointing at the device he said, “It has no plastic parts, we might be able to get a message back.” He looked thoughtful and worried before saying quietly and slowly, “I guess we’ll soon find out what happened on Earth.”

  Beatriz joked, “Send me a postcard explaining what happened, when you find out.”

  Peter smiled weakly. He thought about whether he’d forgotten anything. He’d already said goodbye to his office and Meichun. She hadn’t changed much over the years, she knew a lot of facts, but she didn’t make any mistakes and because she didn’t experience the physical world she had no external prompts forcing her to develop her character. She was often boring, but even so Peter thought he would miss her. He’d deleted his private logbook, and he’d told Beatriz that she could continue the official logbook if she wanted.

  Maria looked at the group and thought how good they looked and suggested, “Let’s take a farewell photo.” Everyone thought it was a great idea and they moved closer together, nobody caring about the order, they stood as friends and equal colleagues. Peter automatically breathed in, even though you couldn’t see his stomach under the spacesuit, until the photo was taken. Liam put the picture on the window wall and they admired it together as Liam went to fetch a hard copy.

  Peter laughed when he saw himself in the picture and said, “We could all do with a haircut. I hope when we land that we find Steve.”

  Everyone laughed. They looked good in that picture, eve
ryone was smiling it was a moment of happiness during the sadness of the departure.

  Peter added, “I wonder if Steve took his hairdressing scissors with him.” He hoped so because Peter was still mad at Steve and still wanted to stab him.

  Peter overheard Maria talking to Paul. Her voice sounded taut and full of regret, and her words came slowly and consciously as she said, “If you see Charlie, tell him. Tell him I’m sorry I lied to him.” She swallowed, “It was for his own good. He can start a new life on Earth. He still has time.” She gazed into the distance and sounded resigned as she continued, “I can’t leave the gardens.” She looked directly at Paul, “I have to take care of them.”

  Paul nodded and patted her shoulder with as much feeling as he could in his bulky suited hand.

  Peter looked at her with tears in his eyes. It’d been a hard decision for her. He hadn’t expected it. He asked her, “Are you sure?”

  Maria nodded she seemed relaxed almost at peace, “Yes, very sure.” She was holding her necklace as she spoke. Then she added, “I wouldn’t be able to survive long without my medication.” She looked down, “I’m sorry. Please tell him for me.”

  Peter assured Maria, “We’ll find Charlie and tell him.”

  Maria nodded but then she looked Peter directly in the eyes and said, “We don’t know what the future holds, but I feel safer here than somewhere where there may not be any medication.”

  Peter smiled friendly. He guessed she was trying to justify her decision to herself.

  Liam said, “It’s time.”

  Paul hugged Beatriz as best he could in that bulky spacesuit and said, “I’ll miss you.”

  Beatriz smiled and gently touched his cheek, “I’ll miss you too. Take care of yourself.”

  He raised his hand and covered hers still resting on his cheek, “Thank you for all the medical help.”

  Beatriz smiled with faint melancholy and said, “Safe journey and take care of the other two.”

  Paul nodded and promised he would.

  Liam returned and handed Peter the photo. Peter indicated for Liam to put it in the gadget bag that Paul was holding. Then he shook Liam’s hand, “Thank you for the work. You did a great job.”

  Liam nodded appreciatively and replied, “Have a good trip, and don’t forget, you’re not abandoning us. It’s our choice to stay.”

  Patrick was playing with his helmet and passing it gently between his hands. He said to Paul excitedly, “I want to see the Earth.”

  Paul raised his hand to stop him from playing, “Watch out. Don’t drop it. What are you looking forward to the most?”

  Patrick held the helmet still and smiled broadly, “That’s an easy question. I want to see the Moon.”

  Paul laughed and replied, “Of course, there are many things that you’ve never seen including moonlight, rainbows or shooting stars. You are going to have so much fun when we get there.”

  Patrick giggled. He was happy and excited.

  Maria added, “There’s real wind and rain, and you’ll see the beautiful plants and trees everywhere.” As she smiled she looked beautiful as she did whenever she spoke about plants, she looked carefree and for a moment much younger than she was.

  Peter looked around one last time before leaving checking that he hadn’t forgotten anything. He’d already said goodbye to Art Feldmann’s statue, but he looked at it one last time and pretended to toast it. He invited Paul and Patrick to join him. Patrick pulled a face, he thought it was stupid. Paul looked at Patrick and raised his eyebrows threateningly. Patrick reluctantly raised his arm and joined in with the pretend toast.

  Peter, who was still wearing his captain’s hat, took it off and handed it to Beatriz and said, “Look after it.” They were both holding the captain’s hat, he seemed reluctant to let it go. Thoughtfully he added, “I’ve always found it funny that we have a Moon Major wearing a captain’s hat.” He and Beatriz smiled at the same time, “But I guess you need alliteration for Moon Major. Moon Captain doesn’t sound so good.”

  Beatriz smiled briefly and then she became serious, “Don’t let Patrick forget that even when there is an atmosphere the Sun can do damage. He could get sunburn. And take care of yourself.” She patted him lightly on the shoulder.

  Peter looked around and thought, what have I forgotten. He knew it was too late now. They put on their helmets and walked through the first door of the airlock. Peter didn’t look back as they headed for the escape pod. He walked on automatic pilot. He felt stunned. It was really happening. They climbed into the escape pod and took their places, Patrick in the middle, Paul on the right and Peter on the left.

  As Peter leaned back and tried to relax, he remembered that he had never found out if Steve had left a final prank, but then he reprimanded himself, he hadn’t really looked during the last month, everything had seemed calmer than normal. Then he remembered that he was no longer in charge. Beatriz was going to take good care of his Moon Base. He could trust her. As he thought of the three who were remaining, he was surprised at how quickly he had gotten used to the fact that the others weren’t there, and he wondered if Beatriz, Liam, and Maria would get used to them not being there as quickly.

  Peter heard the count down and realised he wasn’t worried. He was just happy and relieved that a decision had been made, and he was going home.

  He braced himself as he felt the power of lift off, and as the escape unit flew higher and higher, he realised he wasn’t looking forward to the next thirty-six hours of the return flight.

  Landing

  Date: Wednesday 19th October 2157 – 19:20 CET

  Location: Earth

  The air was pure and full of oxygen. Peter took a deep breath and tried to replace the musty air in his lungs with the fresh air around him, at first smiling with relief and then pulling a pained face. The cold air hurt his teeth. Why hadn’t he accepted Beatriz’s advice and made a last visit to the automatic dentist.

  He looked at the other two. He was relieved and happy. They’d survived re-entry. The escape pod hadn’t been shaken so badly that it had fallen apart, and the braking parachutes had worked as planned. He’d been a little sceptical about them, but he had to admit that Steve and Damian had done a really good job. Although, there’d been a few moments during the re-entry when he’d thought they wouldn’t make it, but even the reinforced heat shields had survived the extreme heat of atmospheric braking and done their job protecting them.

  Patrick had wanted to get out immediately and Peter had stopped him. They’d landed somewhere in the countryside, they didn’t know exactly where, and it was dark. Peter had needed a few minutes to pull himself together. He was concerned, you never know what could be waiting for you. Peter had wriggled his toes slowly and laboriously. He’d checked his whole body to see if it was still intact but had been mostly relieved that he could still move his toes. He’d nodded to himself. That was a good sign.

  When he was ready, he’d given the signal and Paul had got out first. After that Patrick had followed nimbly. He’d jumped down the last step, so he could leave a clear footprint in the mud. Paul warned him to stay alert and look around. Slowly and awkwardly, Peter had climbed out of the escape pod. After thirty-six hours, without the opportunity to move around, Peter felt each one of his fifty-nine years clearly. His reluctant muscles were stiff and could only be moved slowly.

  As he stepped on the ground, he wondered if they’d find the others. The calculations were good and only had a fault tolerance of less than half a percent, but this could mean that they’d landed kilometres apart.

  The three of them stood before what was left of the escape unit looking at each other. Peter was thinking that anyone nearby had undoubtedly heard and definitely seen the re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere. Now they were standing in their bright orange spacesuits. They’d already opened the helmets in the escape pod to breathe the fresh air. Now he gave the sign that they should take off their helmets.

  Patrick wanted to take his off right
away, but Peter insisted that he go first. It was a precaution, probably a meaningless one but he wanted to protect Patrick. He released the holding mechanism and slowly lifted off his helmet before bending down and putting it on the floor. He stood up straight feeling lighter and took deep breaths of the cool, sweet evening air. It was glorious. His smiled showed him relaxing and then he looked around. There was no obvious danger. Paul and Patrick took off their helmets together. Paul got his helmet off first while Patrick still struggled with his, when he finally got it off Paul laughed. Both Peter and Paul watched Patrick as he breathed the Earth’s air for the first time.

  When Patrick sneezed, Paul looked at Peter anxiously. Was this an allergic reaction? They held their breath until Patrick was breathing normally. They sighed and laughed briefly with relief before they noticed that it was starting to rain. Patrick looked up and felt the small cooling droplets hitting his face for the first time and smiled.

  Peter had ordered that they only speak in an emergency while in the escape pod, and Patrick had had to wait with his questions. Now he was eager to ask and looked at Paul, “Why was it so hot in the escape pod?”

  Paul smiled and explained, “The heat was caused by air compression, and from the friction of the Earth’s atmosphere against the heat shields, as the escape pods slows down the energy is converted into heat.” Steve had explained it to Paul years ago, but he didn’t tell Patrick how he knew.

  Paul took off his gloves and got the bag with the communication device. The escape pod had automatically sent a message to Columbus on re-entry and on landing, Liam had adjusted the communication sender, so a signal had also been sent to the Moon Base. He unpacked Liam’s communication device and handed Peter the photo before he setup the device and tried sending a message. He looked at Peter, “We can try it again tomorrow.”

  Peter looked at the photo and then up at the sky and searched for the full Moon. A thin layer of clouds obscured the night sky. He waited briefly until the clouds had moved on and the surrounding area lit up in the moonlight and then he looked up and searched again. As he saw the full Moon it made Peter smile and he felt far away from home. Peter thought he’d miss his life there, his whisky and his captain’s hat. A growing pressure from his bladder reminded him that he needed to go to the toilet. He’d miss the Moon Base toilets as well. Peter nudged Patrick and pointed upwards, he looked up and smiled as he saw the white-blue full Moon.