Once Upon a Saturn Moon

by Edward Antrobus

  Graaf looked back at Jeef's office and sighed. "Okay. We leave. Same plan as before, now with three of us." He let go of her and offered his hand. She ignored it.

  Marsil walked over to the door leading to the hallway. She opened it and peaked outside. "The coast is clear. Let's go."

  They wound through the tunnels back towards the hidden exit at the back of the city. Every so often, they would duck into an alley or abandoned building to avoid anyone that might recognize them or know they were gone.

  Outside of the city, they hiked until the tunnel exit was over the horizon. Marsil looked for the sun through the thick clouds. "It will be the dark period soon. I don't know if either of you have been on the surface in the dark before, but it's going to get cold. Let's make camp and we will have to put on our warmest clothing tomorrow."

  Marsil and Graaf continued ignoring each other as they set up the tents. Salaris prepared their meal. From time to time, she would open her mouth but seemed to think better of it and closed it again. The only time Marsil directly acknowledged Graaf was when she announced she would be sharing a tent with Salaris that night.

  When they turned in for the night, Salaris seemed ready to talk. As soon as Marsil zipped up the tent behind her, Salaris pounced. "Okay, what is going on?"

  "I don't want to talk about it," Marsil said.

  "Too bad." Salaris shook her head. "If you want to sleep in this tent tonight, you need to talk to me. Your other options are going back to Graaf or sleeping outside."

  "Fine. What do you want to know?"

  "What happened with you and Kis? You were probably going to kill her if Graaf hadn't stopped you."

  "Graaf had no right to interfere," Marsil growled, crossing her arms.

  "Uh-huh. Like I said, that woman would be dead right now, if it was up to you. Did you really want to kill her? Like that? I thought you said you were a believer."

  "She would have done it without a second thought," Marsil said.

  "Yes, but if it were anyone else, would you have acted that way? If it had been that other woman you were expecting, about to call the guards, would you have kicked her? Would you have broken her ribs?" Salaris mirrored Marsil's pose.

  "No, I would have just incapacitated her. I wouldn't have been that brutal. She was always nice to me."

  "So, because she was mean, that gives you the right to attack her?"

  Marsil dropped her head. "It's so hard for me to separate my emotions out about her. And it's not even Kis. She's just the latest face in a line of bullies and tormentors."

  "Graaf loves you. I can see that. It's amazing the two of you were never caught, because he is crazy in love with you and it's written all over his face. He stopped you from doing something you would have regretted when you calmed down," Salaris said.

  "Yeah."

  "And to thank him, you yelled and jeopardized all of us while we were sitting in the king's office. Then the silent treatment."

  Marsil put her hands up and lowered her head into them. "I'm a horrible person," she cried.

  "No, you got caught up in some strong emotions. And in the morning, you are going to apologize to him." Salaris lowered her arms from her chest and rested them on her hips.

  Marsil sighed and wiped away a tear with her sleeve. "Yeah, I will."

  "Okay, now for the biggie. Is the king really your father?" Salaris's eyes went wide as she recalled that particular bombshell.

  "Yes. He denies it, but I saw the security footage. I can't think of any other reason why the king of Bara would personally drop a baby off at an orphanage. Not unless he wanted to keep my existence a secret."

  "Wow. I thought Vaamick had a selfish streak in him. I couldn't imagine having to live with that knowledge. You could have been a princess. Instead you are a Lun," Salaris said.

  "Exactly. I don't care about being a princess, but I shouldn't have had to run away to have love." Marsil answered.

  "Yeah, that didn't work out so well for you, did it?"

  "You know, I'm twice your age. You should respect your elders." Marsil laughed.

  "Speaking of things that didn't work out so well." Salaris chuckled. "Let's get to bed, you have a lot of apologizing to do tomorrow."

  That morning, Marsil avoided getting out of the tent. "I'll pack it up with you still in it," Salaris warned. By the time she was dressed and out of the tent, Graaf already had breakfast waiting. He didn't look up from his stim tea when Marsil walked into his view.

  "I need to talk to you," Marsil said. Her voice was barely above a whisper. He didn't respond other than to take another sip of his tea. "Look, I know I was out of line yesterday. Salaris and I talked last night and I'm... well, I'm sorry."

  Graaf continued to study his tea for a long moment. "You should be," he finally said.

  "I'm sorry that you can't go back to the city. I know you must hate me now," she sobbed.

  He dropped his mug and rushed to his feet. He had her in his arms before the mug hit the ground in the low gravity. "Oh, Marsil, I could never hate you. I know that everything that happened yesterday was very emotional for you. I'm sorry that I yelled."

  "No, you had every right to be angry. I'm angry and I did it." She hugged him back.

  They stood in silence for a few minutes until Salaris finally spoke. "Am I going to get any help packing up camp, or are you two lovebirds going to stand there smiling at each other all day?" She laughed. Marsil and Graaf laughed with her. Marsil felt as if a weight had been lifted. Things were going to get better.

  Alvin

  Alvin walked in circles for hours. He felt torn between keeping an eye on the rocky ground and the horizon for anything that might actually stand out. He looked up and stubbed his foot on one of the many large rocks strewn across the surface.

  He stopped and checked his chart. One more sweep to go.

  Alvin continued crisscrossing the surface looking for the entrance to a hidden alien society. Why won't Sam just give us a location? Wanting nothing to do with a society that left him for dead seemed logical enough, but it just seemed off to Alvin. The others didn't share his cynicism. So he spent his days searching instead of performing actual science.

  He passed his footprints in the icy soil and checked his chart again. "Good enough for government work," he muttered.

  "What was that dear," Sandra's voice crackled in his ear.

  He jumped. He'd forgotten again that the mics in these suits were always on. In the low gravity, what would have been a slight jerk on Earth sent him a few inches in the air. He steadied himself as he landed and responded. "I'm done with this sector. There's nothing here. If it weren't for the alien residing in our living room, I'd say this tunnel doesn't exist."

  "Well, Occam's razor. One exists, so it's unlikely the other doesn't."

  "I know. Of course, if Sam would just help, we wouldn't be wasting our time out here." Alvin frowned. He started to cross his arms, but the bulky suit made the gesture more trouble than it was worth.

  "His name is Donoon," Sandra said.

  "I don't trust him. How do we even know that's his real name? I'm going to keep calling him Sam."

  "Why would he lie about his name? We've been through this." She shook her head.

  "I know. No use rehashing that out here. I'm coming in."

  "Good, I need some help getting the last of the thermal blankets up. They didn't design this rover to be climbed on."

  "Roger." Alvin bounced walked across the surface back to the rover. Despite her request for help, Alvin arrived just as she finished putting the last of the blankets up.

  "There," she said. "Kind of crazy that it takes as long to get the rover ready to sleep in as it does to do the sweeps."

  "I'm actually impressed that NASA was able to cobble something together so we could make the trip in the first place," Alvin said. "I guess they knew we would never make an overnight trip if we were stuck in our suits the entire time."

  "Silly NASA, not anticipating the need to sweep the moo
n for signs of a subterranean alien civilization," she agreed with a chuckle.

  Alvin laughed with her and asked, "Is the inside warmed up yet? I can't wait to get out of this suit."

  Sandra shook her head. At least, Alvin thought she did. The helmet didn't move and the suit simply swayed side to side for a moment. "Not yet. It takes twenty minutes after I get the blankets up."

  "Well, let's at least get inside, so I can get this monstrosity off the second it's warm enough. Besides, I grew up in the Colorado Rockies. It will be warm enough for my shirtsleeves in ten."

  Alvin kept one eye on the temperature gauge as it slowly climbed. He turned to Sandra. "I'm tired of waiting, I'm taking this thing off."

  He released the latches on the helmet and twisted it off. His breath showed in front of him.

  "It's still too cold, Alvin. Put your helmet on," Sandra's voice was small and tinny from inside the helmet on his lap.

  "Not happening. These suits really weren't designed to be worn as long as we've had them on," Alvin said.

  Sandra made a cupping motion against the side of her helmet. The small voice in is lap said, "I can't hear what you're saying."

  He removed this suit gloves and reached over to her helmet. He flipped the latches. Her hands came up to stop him but he gave her helmet a little twist and pulled it off. "There, now you can hear me."

  "Alvin, you're crazy. It's cold in here." She shivered.

  "It's just a bit chilly. A lot warmer than what ma is dealing with in Denver right now." He smiled at her. He sat his helmet on the bench and stuck the gloves inside.

  "Outside. I know she keeps her home warmer than this," she said. "Now give me my helmet back, it's freezing in here."

  Alvin pulled his arms inside his suit and rotated the upper section until it clicked. He pulled it off like a stiff sweater. "It's already up to forty-five in here. That's not cold."

  She moved closer to the heater coil. "Fine, catch your death of cold. Don't forget to radio Captain—

  err, Tom with your report."

  He shimmied out of the lower half and stowed the suit before answering, "You called him by his name. That wasn't so hard, was it?"

  Alvin slid over to the communications console near the driver's seat. The back seats had been removed to make room for bedding for the overnight sorties in search of the alien city. "He flipped the switch and grabbed the mic. "Rover to Atlas, come in Atlas."

  After a brief pause, Tom's voice crackled over the radio. "This is Atlas. How'd it go Alvin?"

  "There was nothing there. Just like in the other fifty sectors we've explored."

  "Well, we will find it. I just wanted to do so before the Prometheus arrived in four days," Tom lamented.

  "Are we wasting our time out here?" Alvin asked. "If this is really an advanced civilization, don't you think they could invent a door? Especially if they are at war with another group."

  "Not necessary," Tom answered. "The entrance is a pinch point. They would only have to patrol that one spot and shoot any intruders."

  "Great." Alvin clapped his thighs. "Now I'm looking for a door where I'll get shot when I find it. That doesn't exactly make me want to try harder."

  "There is a definite chance that you won't actually get shot." Tom laughed.

  "I'm going to end this conversation before you completely talk me out of doing what you've ordered me to do." Alvin shook his head.

  "Get some sleep, Alvin. You to have a long drive back tomorrow."

  "Goodnight, Tom."

  Alvin flicked off the mic. Sandra had finally removed her suit. "Anything new?"

  He shook his head. "Just that I stand a good chance of getting shot if I do find the tunnel."

  She smiled at him. "Well, at least it wouldn't be so crowded on the flight back."

  He reached over to the bed and threw a pillow at her. "I'll haunt you."

  She caught it and stuck at her tongue. "You better."

  When they woke up, they donned their spacesuits and went outside to remove the blankets. Safely stowed, they took the long drive back to the habitat. Sandra tried to engage him in conversation, but Alvin sat silent.

  Back at the Hab, Alvin waved off lunch. "I'm just a little worn out from the trip. Go ahead without me. I'm going to take a nap," he told her.

  Alvin lay down on his shared bunk and closed his eyes. Sandra stayed in their room. He could feel her eyes watching him. He waited another minute but she didn't move. He let out a quiet snore. Finally, she seemed convinced that he was telling the truth and left.

  He waited another five minutes to make sure she was gone and left the room. He had work to do.

  Alvin rushed to put his spacesuit back on. He hated the idea of wearing it again so soon after being cramped in it in the Rover for hours, but there was no way to get to the ship without it.

  He entered the Atlas with nobody noticing him. He quickly removed the suit and stowed it by the air lock. Alvin had to cross the entire ship to get to his old bunk. They had come to a decision months ago that Sam should not be locked up in the medical bay. Since Alvin and Sandra had moved to the habitat, he was given their room.

  At least some sense hedge prevailed, and Tom and Lana stayed in the ship to keep an eye on him so that he couldn't get into the delicate parts of the ship that kept them alive and would take them home. Really, they should have somebody watching him all the time; they all left to have lunch together. An hour would have been more than enough time for the alien to get into trouble.

  Alvin tried the door. NASA had decided on being able to access the rooms in an emergency over an interest in privacy. It swung open. Sam slept on Alvin's old bed. The sight made him more upset than it should have. He took the three steps necessary to reach the bed and shook Sam awake.

  "You are going to tell me where that tunnel is," Alvin shouted.

  Sam put his arms up and tried to push Alvin away. "I no tell you. I no tell you. I no want to go back. You no take me back."

  "You will tell me," Alvin said. "Nobody is going to make you go back. We just need to be able to get there. There are very important people who want to meet with your leaders. They can work out a treaty to let you live with us."

  "No, they kill me. They kill me if I go back."

  Alvin shook his head. At least Sam's English had gotten better over the last few months. Conversations didn't give Alvin a headache like they used to.

  "Listen," he said. "You are going to tell me. All you have to do is tell me when I have the location right. I will just list some places, and you will tell me which one."

  Sam shook his head and said, "I no tell you." Alvin wondered not for the first time how the blind alien had picked up human gestures.

  "Is it near the methane lake?" He asked.

  "I no tell you."

  "Is it near the poles?"

  "I no tell you."

  "Is it near the large crater on the equator?"

  "I no tell you."

  "Is it near the triangle shaped rock outcropping to the West?"

  Sam hesitated for half a second and said, "I no tell you."

  "Aha. It's over that way. Thanks for the help. I'll make sure your people know how instrumental you were." Alvin grinned and stood up.

  Sam was silent as Alvin left the room. He turned and reached for the door. Out of the corner of his eye, he thought he saw him smiling, but when he looked up, the expression was gone. He closed the door and went back to the air lock. The area that Sam gave away wasn't due to be searched for several more weeks. Alvin would have to make sure that the schedule changed. He was tired of wasting his time with this stupid search.

  He looked at the time; if he wanted to get back before Sandra noticed he had gone, he needed to hurry. He didn't bother with checking the seals on his suit. Alvin figured that even if there were a leak, it wouldn't kill him in the two minutes it would take to get to the habitat.

  Inside, he stowed his suit and rushed back to his room. He was still wearing his shoes when Sandra en
tered. "Oh, you're back. I'm feeling better and I was just going to join you."

  Sandra eyed him but said nothing. She softened. "Well, we left you some stew. You'll just need to reheat it."

  He gave her a kiss and went to the galley. Tom would probably still be there. Alvin didn't like lying to Sandra, but he couldn't tell her this. She was with the others on his doubts about their alien guest.

  Confirming his suspicion, Tom was still eating in the galley when Alvin arrived. "You're not eating my share, are you?" he laughed.

  "If you had taken much longer, I would have," Tom replied.

  Alvin warmed up his stew and sat across from Tom. Tom had mostly finished his meal, but was concentrating on some reports on his tablet. "Looks like it's official. The Prometheus will land the day after Christmas. They could have goosed her a little and gotten in a couple days earlier, but I'm guessing Jerry didn't want to hurt his delicate cargo of government flunkies."

  "I know that you wanted to have found the city before they arrived, so I guess a few days delay is in our favor," Alvin commiserated.

  "Who am I fooling? It's a big moon and we've only explored a fraction of it. Two extra days aren't going to help," Tom said.

  "Well, I have an idea," Alvin said. "I know that the way we have been doing it is the most logical way. Given enough time, we'd have to find it eventually. But with limited time, maybe we should prioritize spots that have a higher likelihood of being it?"

  "What did you have in mind?" Tom's head perked up, the tablet in his hands forgotten.

  "Well, I know sector sixty-two isn't due to be searched for another few weeks, but I have a hunch about that rock formation," Alvin leaned in closer.

  Tom shook his head. "But Sandra said that it looked natural, not man, well, alien-made."

  "True," Alvin admitted. "But think about it. Sam, err, Donoon said they used to live above ground until it got too cold. They don't have any satellites. They lived in a series of tunnels that had to be reached by land and were hundreds of miles apart. They would want to make their cities near some sort of landmark, right?"

  "That makes sense." Tom stroked his chin. He stared past Alvin for a minute. "That makes sense. I'm guessing that you want to search sector sixty-two next?"