Star One: Tycho City Survival

by Weil, Raymond L.

  “I will be speaking with Commander Larson later today about the situation,” Mase informed them. “We will be sending a message to Tim McPhryson about the Farside discovery. Tim will then have to notify President Kateland and explain to her its significance. It might take a while to get things sorted out on Earth, but I suspect supplies and assistance won’t be a problem.”

  “I will start working up specifications for a new city beneath the outer rim wall,” Steffan stated as he thought about everything that would be needed. “I will need to bring in a few construction and mining engineers to get their input.”

  “That’s fine,” replied Mase, wanting to get it started quickly. “Tell them what’s going on, but make sure they understand it has to remain a secret for now.”

  “I can do that. I will be certain to pick men and women that I know I can trust.”

  “I will start looking at the types of supplies we will need to become totally self-sufficient,” added Isaac, knowing it would be an exceedingly long list. “I may need a few people also to help with that.” He wondered how his wife would take this. Her parents were still on Earth as well as her younger brother.

  “I would also suggest that you look at expanding at our current location,” Mase suggested after thinking things over. “We have already started excavating a second cavern that is two hundred feet deeper than our current one. Would we be smarter expanding that cavern and strengthening it instead of tunneling under the rim wall? What would be the benefits of both?”

  “That’s something to consider,” Steffan admitted, his eyes narrowing in thought. “We have all of our supplies and materials already here as well as some manufacturing capability in the machine shops. I will have my people look at both options.”

  The three men talked for another hour as they made plans and discarded ideas. In the end, they came up with a plan that the three of them were satisfied with. If everything worked out, Tycho City might just survive.

  -

  Later that evening, Mase and Anthony Kleese were eating in one of the small restaurants in downtown Tycho City. It was one of the smaller restaurants that specialized in serving fast food. Mase had ordered a double cheeseburger with an extra order of fries on the side, and Anthony had settled on a chicken fried steak. Mase wanted to talk to Anthony about what he had discussed with the engineers earlier and get his input.

  “They want to build a new city in the outer rim wall?” Anthony commented in a low voice. The restaurant wasn’t very crowded, but he still didn’t want to risk being overheard.

  “Yes,” replied Mase, recalling his earlier conversation with Isaac and Steffan. “It makes sense if we’re going to try to survive here on the Moon. It will give us added protection from any harmful radiation from the neutron star as well as increased solar activity from our own sun. However, we might be able to achieve the same thing if we expand the new cavern we have started to work on right here at Tycho City. Steffan and Isaac are going to look at both options.”

  “What about family members on Earth; can we bring some of them up? I have a younger sister attending college at Stanford, and I know your brother Phillip was already considering bringing his family to Tycho City. I suspect once everyone knows what’s happening there will be numerous requests to bring their families and close friends up to Tycho City.”

  “We can probably bring some,” Mase replied startled at the suggestion and beginning to realize how many people they might be talking about.

  Mase’s eyes grew wide at the thought. In all of the discussions thus far, this was something he hadn’t actually thought about yet. He realized now that it might be necessary to build the new Tycho City much larger than the current one. This would drastically affect plans that had been made earlier. He knew he was going to have to speak to Isaac and Steffan before they made too many plans.

  Instead of 2,500 people, they might be talking about closer to 5,000 or even more. He also realized there were a lot of people that might be essential to their survival that were not even living on the Moon. That would be even more people they would have to make room for. This might mean expanding the new cavern would be the best option to accommodate such a large population. His thoughts were interrupted as he saw Linda and another young woman walk into the restaurant. Mase was surprised; he very seldom saw Linda away from the office.

  Linda looked around. Spotting Mase and Anthony, she made a beeline for their table.

  “Hello, Linda,” Mase said in a friendly voice, forcing a smile. He didn’t want to sound distressed in front of Linda and the other young woman. “Who is your friend?”

  “Hi, this is Jolene; she’s going to start working in the horticulture department.”

  “Want to join us?” Anthony asked with a pleasant smile as he looked at Linda’s friend. Jolene was an exceptionally good-looking young woman with dark black hair reaching down to her shoulders.

  Linda looked at Mase, wanting his approval. Normally she didn’t socialize with anyone she worked with. She had actually come over to the table just to be polite, plus Jolene had wanted to meet the commander.

  “Sure,” Mase spoke up, gesturing toward two empty chairs at the table. “We just ordered, and Anthony was starting to run out of things to say anyway.”

  The two girls sat down and the four quickly became engrossed in talking about Tycho City. Mase found out that Jolene had just recently arrived from Star One, where she had been working with Star One’s head horticulturist, Julie Gray.

  “Julie’s absolutely brilliant,” exclaimed Jolene, excitedly. She couldn’t believe she was actually sitting at a table with Tycho City’s commander. “She is setting Star One up to be totally self-sufficient. It won’t be long before they’re growing nearly all of their own food. Julie has already nearly made the station self-sufficient in water and oxygen use. They’re currently recycling nearly ninety-six percent of their water and producing nearly ninety-eight percent of their own oxygen.”

  Mase looked over at Anthony with a knowing look. If this young woman had worked with Julie Gray, she could be quite useful in their present situation. He would give Julie a call in the morning to see just what she thought of Jolene. He was glad now that Linda had brought the young woman over to meet him.

  “I have known Jolene for years,” Linda added with a smile. She knew Jolene was really excited about meeting the commander. “We went to college together and have kept in touch ever since.”

  “Who would have ever thought we would be together on the Moon?” Jolene commented with a grin. She was still taking everything in. Linda had promised her a complete tour of Tycho City after they ate.

  Their food arrived, and the four continued to talk during the meal. Mase was pleasantly surprised at how easy he found it was to talk to the two young women. For a while at least, he was able to take his mind off the danger from the neutron star.

  After the meal, Mase returned to his apartment to turn in. He wanted to get a decent night’s sleep; there was a lot he would have to do the next day. Anthony had gone with the two girls, commenting that he knew more about Tycho City than Linda did. He claimed that he could show Jolene some of the more interesting sights. Linda had grinned and winked knowingly at Mase. Mase sensed that she suspected that Anthony might have developed an interest in her friend.

  -

  The next morning, Mase had just finished talking to Julie Gray about Jolene when the com unit on his desk began beeping, demanding his attention. “What’s going on?” he asked as he picked up the phone.

  Isaac was on the other end. “We just lost communications with the operations station on the massif. We think it might have been a meteor strike.”

  Mase felt a sudden chill go down his back. Due to the lack of an atmosphere on the Moon, even small meteors could be dangerous. They didn’t burn up as they did when they struck the Earth’s thick protective atmosphere. That’s why most of Tycho City was built deep underground.

  “Contact Anthony and assemble a rescue team,” M
ase quickly ordered. “I will be at the launching platform shortly.”

  It took Mase only a few minutes to make it to the shuttle-launching platform. He saw that Isaac, Anthony, and half a dozen other men were already there. All the men, except Anthony and Isaac, were wearing their bulky spacesuits minus the helmets. There was no point in going on suit power and oxygen until they reached the massif and were able to evaluate the situation. His own suit was inside the shuttle as well as several spares.

  “Have you heard anything else?” asked Mase, breathing heavily from rushing over to the launching pad from his office.

  “No, nothing,” Isaac replied with growing concern on his face. “We were in contact with them earlier and then everything went silent. We know that some of the antennas are still working from the telemetry we’re receiving. However, several of the high gain antennas are silent.”

  Mase knew that the high gain antennas were the ones closest to the operations building. That was not a good sign. Those antennas were used primarily for communication with Earth as well as Star One.

  “We did manage to train one of our orbiting satellite cameras on the operations building, and it looks as if it has suffered some damage,” Isaac added with worry in his voice.

  “What type of damage?” Mase asked now feeling deep concern for the men and women who were assigned to that building. Normally there were eight people in the operations building on the massif. He waited expectantly for Isaac’s answer.

  “It looks as if part of the roof has caved in on the southern section of the building. If I had to make a guess, I’d say it was a small meteor strike.”

  Mase gestured for the men to start loading. Turning back to Isaac, “I will contact you as soon as we know something. Have the medical staff standing by in case they’re needed.”

  Moments later, the shuttle was in flight heading toward the towering massif and the operations building. Mase looked back at the men who were busy checking their equipment. This was one of the larger shuttles specifically outfitted to carry out rescue missions. Occasionally, a scientific mission would get into trouble out on the lunar surface, and the shuttle would be used to go to their aid.

  Even now, after years of exploration, there were still science teams all over the Moon doing research. They were expected to check in with Tycho City on a regular basis, and occasionally they got into trouble.

  Anthony quickly brought the shuttle over the top of the massif and then slowly circled the area where the operations building was located. The operations building was built on a small flat area nearly in the center of the towering mountain with numerous antenna towers surrounding it.

  “You can see the damage from here,” Anthony commented as he gazed out the cockpit window. “I would say a good quarter of the roof is gone, and the southern wall is badly damaged also.”

  “Put us on the landing pad,” Mase instructed as he gazed at the damaged building with concern. “We need to see if anyone survived.” Mase’s mind was full of worry and concern for the people that should be inside. It bothered him that they were not able to contact anyone.

  From the damage that Mase could see, he knew that the chance of finding survivors was extremely slim. If the meteor penetrated the building on impact, the resulting vacuum would have killed everyone instantly.

  Anthony carefully landed the shuttle on the massif’s only landing pad, stirring up the shallow layer of gray lunar dust that always seemed to be on everything. “We’re down,” he announced as he killed the power to the shuttle’s thrusters.

  Mase was already in the process of putting on his spacesuit with the assistance of several of the other men. In just a few minutes, he exited the shuttle and the small group made their way quickly to the operations building.

  “I can’t raise anyone on my suit radio, Sir,” one of the men informed him.

  That really worried Mase. From this close, they should have been able to establish contact with the people inside. The situation was looking grimmer with each passing moment.

  The men fanned out when they reached the building. Several went to inspect the damaged wall, and several others made their way over to some of the small, thick windows, trying to peer in.

  Mase and two other men opened the small airlock door and stepped inside. One look at the controls on the inside wall of the airlock told the story. The building was operating on emergency battery power, and there was a vacuum on the other side of the inner door. Mase felt a sinking feeling, realizing that the people who had staffed the operations center were probably dead. It had been years since anyone under his command had died.

  Nodding at the two men with him, they activated the controls and opened the inner door. Stepping inside, Mase braced himself expecting to see bodies.

  “I don’t see anyone,” spoke one of the other men. He walked farther into the small room and then looked into the adjoining rooms. “No one in sight, Sir.”

  “The emergency shelter,” spoke the other hopefully. “Could they be in there?”

  Mase and the two made their way through the operations building until they came to a large metal door. The door was solid, and it was shut. This door was always kept open in case of an emergency. It was a sealed bunker capable of protecting the personnel of the operations center for seventy-two hours if the center were damaged.

  Holding his breath and saying a short prayer, Mase plugged in a communication line from his suit to a connection on the control panel next to the door. “Anyone in there?” he asked, hoping he would hear a response.

  “Yes, we’re here!” a woman’s frightened voice answered back. “We’re all in here. Lieutenant Jameson and our communications engineer Allison Stowe are badly injured.”

  Mase felt relief flood over him. “Okay, stay calm and I will see what we can do about getting you out of there.”

  One of the men who had been inspecting the rest of the building walked over to Mase. “We’ve checked the building. The three rooms on the south side are heavily damaged and will have to be repaired. The south wall in one of the rooms has also partially collapsed. However, the rest of the building seems to be structurally intact. If we close the airtight doors to the damaged sections, we should be able to restore air pressure to the rest of the building. We also have an emergency generator on the shuttle we can use to give us temporary power.”

  “Do it,” Mase ordered. He wanted to get the people out of the emergency bunker as quickly as possible, particularly the two who were injured.

  After the emergency generator was hooked up, it didn’t take long to get the undamaged section repressurized. Once powered up, the lights came on and in a few minutes it was safe to remove their suit helmets. They opened the door to the emergency bunker and one of the men who had medical training went in and checked out the two people who were injured.

  Mase found out from the young woman he had talked to earlier over the radio what happened. Her name was Jenny Harrison. Jenny had only recently been assigned to the massif and was still visibly shaken. In a nervous voice, she told Mase that they had just sat down to eat when a small meteor struck the roof of the southern section of the building. She said it sounded like a loud explosion and then the entire building shook violently.

  An overhead support beam had broken loose when the meteor hit the building. The beam fell, striking and injuring the lieutenant and the communications engineer. Everyone had just managed to get everyone into the emergency shelter when the damaged roof and wall blew out. They had been extremely fortunate. A minute later and they all would have died.

  “I’m just glad all of you are okay,” Mase said as he reassured the young woman that everything was going to be all right. “We will get all of you back to Tycho City and the doctors will check everyone out.”

  “Thank you, Sir,” Jenny replied in a quivering voice. She was still feeling shaken by what had happened. “I thought we were all going to die.”

  It took a few minutes to get everyone suited up, including the two injured.
Once suited up, everyone made their way to the shuttle. Mase and four of the rescuers would remain behind for the time being. They would leave on the next flight. Anthony would be returning shortly with some construction personnel who would begin repairing the damage. The only damage to the communication towers was a lack of power. That situation had already been remedied with the emergency generator.

  After the shuttle departed, Mase walked over to the edge of the massif and gazed outward. One of the first things Mase had done when they built the operations center on the massif was to construct a small overlook on the edge of the towering pillar of rock and stone. He hooked a safety line to the rail that ran next to the edge and stood deep in thought.

  The accident today brought everything into perspective. With the approach of the neutron star, they would be left on their own. Accidents like the one today would have to be dealt with. If they didn’t prepare properly, these types of incidents could become common.

  Gazing downward, Mase could just make out the small buildings and domes on the surface, which marked the location of Tycho City. He wondered what the future held for all the people that called Tycho City their home.

  Turning his gaze upward, Mase looked at the stars. There was one exceptionally bright one which he knew was Star One, the massive space station at the Lagrange point. As soon as he got back to Tycho City, he would be contacting Steve. They had to send a message to Tim McPhryson about the neutron star. He also wanted to talk to Steve about their plans for survival. From what Jolene had said the night before, Star One was already almost self-sufficient. Mase knew that Steve would not be evacuating the station.