by Ron S. Nolan
Melinda joined them, gave Vargas a stunning smile and handed him her credit chip. "We can pay for the fuel and equipment." She laughed and she said, "The sky is the limit."
"All right, I will help you this time, but we have to move fast. The factory is crawling with CREOS and it won't take long for them to figure out that you are on the station."
After Vargas processed the transaction and punched buttons on the control station, a pair of stout robots wheeled over and connected fuel lines to the rocket’s tanks while a technician rolled in a cart loaded with parts for the replacement COM system.
Melinda fetched the passengers, introduced them to Vargas and then led Astra and Maria off to freshen up. Vladamir inspected the rocket's kerosene tank that had been damaged to make sure his patch was secure. It looked solid, but he added another layer to make sure and headed back to the office. On the way, he passed by the ladies as they returned to the Explorer. He smiled as he overheard Melinda telling them about how he had rescued the astronauts on Mars.
Vargas received an update from a technician and told Vladamir, "Your tanks are almost filled, but it will take about an hour to install the COM system–the wiring is a complete disaster according to the tech that is working on it. Is there anything else I can do for you? What happened to this ship anyway? It looks like it should be in a museum, not venturing into outer space."
Vargas’s microcell chirped. "Uh oh, a group of CREOS is trying to force their way into the bay. You need to launch now! I will try to stall them. Get your crew and go!"
As Melinda and the passengers strapped in, Vladamir started the engines. Suddenly a mob wearing SDL armbands charged in through the bay office. One of the CREOS was armed with a laser pistol which he aimed and fired at the rocket hitting one of refueling robots. As the robot tried to withdraw its connector, the nozzle froze half way out spraying jet fuel onto the hangar floor.
Vladamir lifted the ship and started to turn toward the entrance, but the Explorer was hung up by the fuel hose and caromed back down against the deck in a bright shower of sparks.
Vladamir screamed to the passengers in the cabin, "Hold on, it may get rough." And to Melinda he yelled, "This is not good!"
When the spilled fuel ignited, the bay exploded in a ball of flame, blowing out the hangar doors and sucking the Explorer into space. Vladamir struggled to get the ship under control, but it slammed against one of the station arms severing the right wing off at the root.
As they tumbled nose over tail, the CREO that had fired the weapon slammed against the windshield. His body clung for a moment, face frozen white...eyes popped out by the vacuum, and then tumbled away. Melinda gasped, covered her face and began to sob.
A few minutes later after Vladamir had regained control of the ship, she explained to the passengers about what had just happened. When she returned to the cockpit she said, "Maybe we should go back and turn ourselves in."
"No way. It was those CREOS that attacked us. We did nothing wrong. I'm sure Vargas will tell the truth about what took place. Plus video of the attack will be in the surveillance footage archive. Don't worry, it will be fine."
Melinda pointed at the severed root of the wing and asked, "Is the ship okay? Can we still make it to the moon?"
Vladamir punched some numbers into the computer, and then laughed. "Of course, no sweat just another day at the office. We don't need wings in space."
"I know that look! Vladamir, what's wrong?”
"Well, the good news is that we were able to take on enough fuel to reach the moon."
"And the bad news?"
"Well...slowing down might pose a problem...and the COM system still doesn't work." Then he mumbled something in Russian.
"What's that mean?"
"There's no going back."
"What about the COM system?"
“The tech didn't have time to install the power module. You always worry too much. Who needs a radio? Don't you remember? I am Cosmonaut Hero Vladamir Kapintsky. I can fly anything, anywhere!"
Melinda shook her head from side to side. "How could I possibly forget?"
-- CHAPTER 25 --
Luna Lounge
Moonbase
When they arrived at the lounge, Jasmine assumed her usual station by the door and Sabien entered and took a seat the end of the bar. He flagged down Genie who brought him his favorite brand of cold beer that was brewed in the state of Mexico and shipped to the moonbase via shuttles returning from ore deliveries. The lounge was packed, but relatively quiet since Genie has posted a ‘No Lunatics’ blackout until nine PM–about forty-five minutes away.
On the vidscreen a succession of clips played that revealed CHIRUS tanks and mobile weapon systems surrounding the oil refinery at Prudhoe Bay, Alaska.
The USACO Secretary of Defense consulted his notepad, cleared his throat and declared, "This attack on our sovereign territory is totally unwarranted. If the CHIRUS leadership does not immediately cease hostilities and surrender the facility, I promise that we will take the fight directly to Beijing. We will not permit this kind of unprovoked attack within our nation's borders."
The camera cut to the announcer. "In other news, astronomers at the Keck Institute announced today that the newly discovered comet would likely come closer to Earth than was originally forecast. Still, they said there is little reason to worry. Here is the reaction from Reverend LeRoque of the SDL."
“The Lord has sent this comet as a warning to those who created that blasphemous Ark. If this abomination is not captured soon, the Lord will burn our planet to cinders, ending all life, as we know it. The time for the CREOS to respond is now! Bring the Ark to me! God is the only Gene Master!”
Some of the bar patrons led by Phillips cheered the Reverend and repeated his mantra while many others looked around in obvious discomfort. There were a few boos and several headed for the exit.
Sabien told Genie, "Seems like there are a lot of CREOS here tonight."
"Yeah, more and more with every shuttle arrival. I just have this feeling that something very terrible is about to happen."
Just then, a shoving match broke out between two bar patrons who had been arguing about the Ark. Genie jumped over the bar, grabbed the protagonists by their collars and hauled them to the exit. She gave each a kick in the butt that sent them careening down the corridor. When she leaped back over the bar, she got a round of hurrahs and then a cheer when she announced that ‘lunatics’ were back on the menu. Soon the bar was filled with a new variety of drink vocalizations, which seemed to feature mellow jungle sounds matched with a mix of African drumbeats.
Just as the atmosphere began to mellow, a female voice screamed. "Help! Somebody help me please!"
Genie looked at Sabien. "Now what? It sounds like it is coming from the hallway."
They both rushed to the entrance where one of the CREOS that she had just evicted was choking Jasmine.
Sabien launched a haymaker that sent the jerk ricocheting off the ceiling and then crashing down hard onto the floor. He screamed, "If you ever touch her again, you'll have to answer to me you pervert."
The jerk hobbled off and Sabien helped Jasmine to her feet. He asked, "Are you okay?"
She shook her locks back in place and replied in a quite sultry voice, "Yes, thanks to you."
Sabien stood with his hands on his hips. "Now you can talk? How come you never said anything before?"
She continued her preening. "Never had much to say, I guess–plus I had to wait for my vocal cords to develop and start working."
Genie shrugged her shoulders, as surprised as Sabien who said goodnight and headed for his quarters with Jasmine following along behind. She looked back and gave Genie a wave goodbye.
Jasmine followed Sabien back to his room. She was smiling and softly mimicking the jungle sounds that she had heard coming from the bar. Once they arrived, she started to slump down next to the doorway, but Sabien took her hand and led her inside. He told her,” I have a surprise for you.”
>
“Really?”
When he turned on the lights, Jasmine was shocked to see that the living room had been converted into a studio unit complete with a programmable bed and kitchenette. Sabien opened the refrigeration unit and Jasmine laughed to see it crammed with bottles of water. Then he touched a button on the wall and the room was flooded with high intensity light emitted by arrays of LEDs suspended from the ceiling. He told her, “I talked with Dr. Hiroshi and he calculated the lighting emission spectra that would be most effective and comfortable for you. So now you can have people food for lunch in the cafeteria and then have a sunbath for dinner. I wish I could do that, it would sure make life a heck of a lot easier and less complicated.”
Jasmine stripped off the jeans and t-shirt that Genie had given her and laid down on the bed, basking in the rays. Sabien was shocked to see how Jasmine was morphing into a well-developed young lady. As he started to leave, Jasmine jumped up and gave him a hug than a very romantic kiss on the lips. She looked into Sabien’s eyes and whispered, “Thank you. You are my savior.”
Sabien told her goodnight and then went into his room and fired off a text. Torch, you are not going to believe this!
******
Melinda was dreaming that she was back in Australia. Suddenly she was jerked awake when the rocket’s alarm system sounded and out of the darkness she saw the star-lit silhouette of a jagged mountain range approaching fast. Vladamir was snoring away, oblivious to everything.
Melinda nudged him with no result, then yelled in his ear, "Vlad, don't you think we are getting awful close to the moon?"
Vladamir jerked and his eyes popped open. He gazed out the view-screen, and then he checked the flight chronometer. "This isn't right. Touchdown isn't scheduled for another eight hours. Did you mess with the controls?"
Melinda cringed. "Not really. A few hours back, the computer requested clearance to start the landing sequence. I answered affirmative. I thought you heard me."
Vladamir shook his index finger at Melinda and exclaimed. "No, no, no! That was the standard landing sequence which requires a lot of fuel for the main engine that we don't have. I planned to use gravity assist orbital braking, which requires much less fuel. We have been in a modified Hohmann transfer orbit since we left the station.”
"Sorry, I didn't know. You never tell me anything. I thought I was helping. Now what happens?"
"We have to get back to my plan. Computer, cancel landing sequence. Cancel it now!"
There was a pause, and then the computer replied, "I am sorry, that is not possible at this time."
"What do you mean not possible? Why?"
"Because there is insufficient fuel available to cancel the landing sequence."
Vladamir's facial tick started dancing. "Then why are we landing? You stupid machine!"
The alarm went off again. "Warning, the primary engine will shut down in fifteen seconds due to a lack of fuel. It is advised that you switch to manual thruster control."
"Okay computer cut the blasted alarm! Switching to manual control...now. Melinda, tell the passengers to buckle up. This could be interesting!"
Vladamir fired the ship’s reverse thrusters and the Explorer jolted and then began to slow down. As they began their descent, the rocket’s spotlights illuminated a fast approaching crater wall as it loomed larger and larger. A sharp ping resonated throughout the ship as the COM antenna nicked the crest of the crater and snapped off. Melinda looked over at Vladamir. His face was enveloped in an ear-to-ear grin. He mumbled something in his mother tongue just as the Explorer slapped down with an ear-piercing screech sending up a spray of white regolith and sand.
Vladamir used the left vertical thruster to keep the remaining wing off the ground as long as possible, but when the fuel supply exhausted, the wing dropped and was ripped off at the root. The canopy was pockmarked by the flying gravel and covered in a layer of dust, which made it hard to see what lay ahead. They barely missed slamming into the control building and then the solar array suddenly materialized directly ahead filling the windshield. Vladamir used the last bit of fuel remaining in the line to fire the right horizontal thruster causing the ship to swerve to the left, barely missing the array but plowing directly into a four-legged robot that looked much like Holstein cow.
The impact stopped the Explorer in its tracks and the cow robot collapsed onto the windshield, spasmodically kicking its feet. Melinda turned to Vladamir. "Only you could find a way to crash smack-dab into a farm animal on the moon."
Torch overheard and called out, "Farm animal, you better not mean one of my cows."
Vladamir looked back at Torch. "You have cows here? Fascinating! My parents raised cows in Russia. I got tired of getting up at dawn to milk them–that's why I became a cosmonaut."
The passengers crammed into the cockpit to see what Vladamir and Torch were talking about.
Astra asked, "Is it still alive?"
Torch looked unhappy, "I'm not sure. I hope so."
A land crawler hurried to the crash site. After getting a thumbs up sign from Vladamir in the cockpit, it backed up and connected with the Explorer pressure hatch to transfer the group onboard. Astra and Torch loaded the Southern Ark as workers wearing spacesuits tied the cow to the roof of the land crawler. The cow's legs churned slowly as the land crawler headed for the base entrance ramp.
-- CHAPTER 26 --
Sanders and Sabien met the new arrivals at the entrance ramp with hugs for the men and kisses for the ladies After they unloaded the Southern Ark and personal gear from the crawler, Sabien told Vladamir that after pulling off that kind of landing, he really was the Cosmonaut Russian Hero that he claimed to be.
Melinda was amazed to see her husband blush. Vladamir looked at Sabien and asked, "Who told you that?”
"Actually I'm not sure;" but his eyes shifted to Torch.
Vladamir nodded that he got the message and asked if there were any rocket mechanics on base that he could pay to help repair his ship.
Sanders swept his hand around the dozens of shuttles that crowded the entrance bay. "You can see that we are pretty busy right now, but once our schedule clears, we will be happy to help you out."
Torch asked his Father, "What's going on? I've never seen so many visitors at one time?"
"Many of these ships brought up the CEO's and their scientific geniuses from companies that rent space from us. They are making back-to-back trips twice a week, ferrying up their top brains in order to protect their precious intellectual assets in case this crazy war turns into an out-and-out disaster."
"As if global warming wasn't really what they should be concerned about."
Sanders nodded. "You’re right of course, Son." He addressed the group. "The base is packed. I apologize but you'll have to double up on accommodations."
Maria took Astra's hand. "We will room together." Jensen frowned and gave Torch the family glare. "It looks like you and I'll be roommates. You need to get off your butt and do the honorable thing with my daughter so I can sleep with my wife."
Torch looked at Sabien to help him out.
Sabien smiled. "Don't look at me. I've got my own relationship issues." He gestured at Jasmine who was looking on from the side. She currently sported her sleek skin in a radiant, light brown tone.
"Her name is Jasmine and she is a new species accidentally created in the SpeeZees Lab. She follows me everywhere."
To their surprise, Jasmine joined the group and greeted them fluently with a touch of a British accent, "I am very happy to meet you,” and then she added. “Sabien and I are one." As she spoke, her skin smoothly rippled to an iridescent pink and her flowing locks turned from bright yellow to a chestnut brown. She blinked her large almond eyes and smiled revealing her beautiful teeth.
Torch pulled Sabien aside. “I thought you told me in your message that she was half plant, half animal? You’ve really done it this time haven’t you old pal. What does she mean ‘are one’?”
Sabien shrugged and said,
“It’s a long story.”
Torch laughed “I can’t wait to hear this one.”
Sabien rejoined the group. ”Follow me to the SpeeZees Lab so we can combine the Arks and make sure that the contents are safely secured.
He turned and began pulling the dolly carrying the CryoVat down the hallway with Jasmine and the others following closely behind. Once they navigated through the lab to the cubicle in the back, Sabien unlocked the door, pulled the CryoVat inside and then gestured for them to enter.
Astra was quick to point out, "This is not my original Ark! What happened to the CryoVat that you came up here with?"
Sabien handed Astra a pair of insulated gloves and put on a pair himself. He responded, "You're right. This is a new, improved version. It has a much larger capacity and I made it tamper proof. It incorporates a hidden encrypted GPS circuit in case it should be stolen. I call it the ‘Master Ark’. It should easily hold all of the specimens from both CryoVats."
Astra opened the Master Ark and was relieved to see that her locket was safely secured. After they moved the embryos from the Southern Ark into the new Master Ark, she popped open the bottle of champagne that she had brought from Brazil and poured them each a drink.
Astra thanked everyone and then broke into tears and hugged Sabien and Torch. "Thank you all so much. This means the world to me."
Torch concluded, "Now that all this is handled, I need to go and pay my regards to Genie. She's been like a mother to me."
Torch, Astra and Sabien headed for the Luna Lounge with Jasmine in tow while Maria and Jensen said goodnight and retired to their separate quarters–not all that pleased with their new sleeping arrangements.
When Genie saw Torch enter the Luna Lounge with his friends, she jumped over the bar and enveloped him in a fierce bear hug, then grabbed Astra and embraced her too. "You must be Astra. Your brother has told me a great deal about you and your noble cause."