by Unknown
Recently, someone had salvaged a nuclear submarine with sixty live sailors. It had been lodged in a thick piece of ocean -- rare enough in itself. The sailors had been using electrolysis to make air out of the water, and there had been fish in their frozen ocean.
The best guess had the human race down to about sixty thou, maybe less.
The Moon was the holy grail of the parts of what used to be Earth. Some prospectors had been looking for it since 3 A.D.(After Disaster). The geeks said it could help them terraform Mars. It would be worth its weight in... Well, just about anything of value.
Timo looked at the pictures he had taken of it on his fly by. The Moon looked none the worse for wear. There were new craters, but even in the dim sunlight, it was quite distinctive.
Timo sent a help signal, one indicating he needed help with salvage. On the one hand, it would take some serious muscle to get the Moon to go where he wanted it. On the other, the more people involved, the smaller his cut would be.
“Timo?” a voice cracked though the short range. Timo fought the urge to slam his head on the wall. It was Den. Of all the people in all the sky, Den was the last man he'd want to share anything with. Den had greed issues. “Is that you?”
“Who else would I be?” Timo said.
Den thought he was clever. He thought no one noticed how he cheated everyone he did business with. The fact was, Den was stupid and mean, with the emphasis on mean.
Timo had never actually seen Den. He hid in his ship even when the other prospectors were having a night out on the city. Timo had first run across him at the remains of Manhattan, the largest human settlement left. Den had needed some help pulling in an ocean liner.
Timo had never seen his share.
“So you got something?” Den asked. He was attempting to be slick.
“Something big.”
Timo thought it might be best to swim with the sharks as opposed to not swimming at all--and load the spear gun. “How much can you push?”
“A hundred thou,” Den said. “What do you got?”
Even before Timo did some rough figuring, he knew it wouldn't work. With their two ships, it would take more than a year to get the Moon to Mars, by then the vultures would be picking them clean.
“You calls for help, no?” a feminine voice came over the short range. Timo looked around. If a ship could have voice contact, it had to be nearby. He missed it the first time. A mountainous object loomed behind him, then he saw a glimpse of light along an edge.
It was one of the ejected stages from the first Mars mission adapted for something more long term. The whole of the human population could fit in its fuel tanks, and have room left over. It could match the size of the sky island Manhattan. An absurdly small control module sat on the leading edge of the containment tube.
“Who are you?” Den demanded. He didn't know how to ask politely. It wasn't in his nature.
“Vera,” she said. She wasn't comfortable talking. Timo couldn't quite name the accent, but he thought he'd heard it in a movie once.
“Vera,” Timo said. “I think you have what we need. Follow me.”
***
Timo didn't talk percentages until they could both see the Moon. He figured they'd both be too awed to do anything but listen. He was right.
“I'm thinking straight split,” Timo said. “Mars wants it, and they won't be able to pay us enough anyway, so we just hang out on Mars and live like kings until we die.”
“Yeah,” Den said. “Kings...”
“We push to Mars,” Vera said. “Who can get numbers?”
“I can rough it out,” Timo said.
“I can do better,” Den said. “I got a laptop. Vera, put your ship in place to push, somewhere along the equator.”
Vera separated her control module and remote landed the engines of her ship in a nose-down landing on the Moon. It was tricky; if she went too fast, the ship would splatter all over the surface and not be useful for pushing at all.
There was a timer on his control board. It was off in the corner, out of the way and small. He had hoped he'd never need it. He set the timer for six hours.
“Den,” Timo said. “I want you out front to run interference. If anyone bothers you, I'll move up as well. Maybe we can sidestep any real problems.”
“I can do that,” Den said, no doubt thinking he could set himself up as the front man, and maybe even cut the others out. After the conversation, Timo saw Den's ship come around behind and underneath Vera's ship. He had a feeling he knew what that meant.
“Okay,” Timo said. “If I got it right, the engines will be in position in one min ten secs.”
He hoped it was enough time.
Den was going to the other side of the Moon now. He had set his trap and would be playing the rest by ear. Edging his ship up to Vera's, Timo got close enough to see her. She looked small, petite, with dark hair and eyes. He motioned for her to be quiet.
Timo quickly drew a picture. He put it up on the window, hoping she would understand.
A few moments later, Vera was in his air lock He was already moving away as quickly as he could.
“Den put a bomb on your ship,” Timo said. “He's about to get rid of you.”
“Bomb?” Vera asked.
“Yeah,” Timo said. “Play along for now. If I'm wrong, I can drop you back on your ship once we get started. It's time to activate your engines.”
Vera opened her pack and pulled out a control board. She pushed a button on the top and pushed the lever forward. The engine on the Moon came to life, pushing the Moon on the course Den had provided. Progress would be slow. They were moving a lot of tonnage.
Timo reset his timer. As long as Den was out there, it was his best protection.
“Is it on course yet?” Den asked. He was ever impatient. It was one of his charms.
“Not yet,” Timo said. “Vera? Three degrees to the right.”
“Three degrees,” Vera answered from the remote mic Timo had on the other side of the control board. Hopefully, it would sound like she was still on her ship. He made a mental note to find out how long it would take to get to Mars. With Den around, it would be best not to sleep.
“There,” Vera said as the Moon aligned with the red course on the screen. “Is on line. We are on way.”
Vera sounded triumphant. Timo was trying to figure out how long it would take to get to Mars. Then her ship blew up.
“What was that?” Den asked. He sounded almost genuinely concerned. Like he had no clue what had just happened.
“Vera's ship just blew up,” Timo said. He tried to sound shocked, and surprised. “How could that happen?”
There was a long pause, Den was probably trying to decide what his next move would be. He would try to divert Timo's attention.
“Maybe she pushed a wrong button or something,” Den said. “That is too bad. Is our prize still on course?”
***
There wasn't much talking for the next couple of hours. Vera was sleeping in the back of Timo's ship. The Moon was on course for Mars, they just had to follow it and take credit when it arrived in orbit. Timo kept a close watch. Den would try something sooner or later, probably sooner. They were looking at the biggest payday in the history of post-Earth, and still Den wouldn't want to split anything if he wasn't forced to.
Den had tried to sneak around the Moon twice. Timo had seen him, and managed to look like he was making routine course adjustments which happened to keep him out of the way.
“Circle above engines,” Vera said, taking a place on the chair behind him.
As Timo started to move, he glimpsed Den's ship underneath him, hiding in the shadow of the Moon. He could have had him this time. Timo shuddered, but he kept his ship moving steadily.
Den was following cautiously. He wouldn't know if he'd been seen.
As they passed behind Vera's engines, now closed down, Timo saw two flashes from behind one of the engine bells. Vera was sitting on the chair with her remote contro
l, looking at the small screen.
“Den,” Timo said. It was time for a distraction. “What are you doing?”
“Ain't it obvious?” Den said. “I'm gonna take you out. Sorry Timo, you've always been a good friend.”
Timo had never been that good of a friend to Den, he knew better.
“That's not too comforting,” Timo said. “Besides, I don't think that old tub can catch me.”
“I'll catch you soon enough,” Den said. “Or run you off. That's it kid, just take off and I'll take care of the Moon. I don't really want you dead.”
“You just don’t want to pay me,” Timo said. “The Moon is mine. You should be the one to leave.”
“That won't happen,” Den said.
Vera sat up and pulled herself closer to the control panel.
“Den,” she said. “Look above.”
There was a moment of silence.
“Who was that?” Den asked. He always was a little thick.
Then his ship blew up. Vera had guided two small missiles right into his ship. Timo watched the glowing debris scatter in every direction and he tried to make himself feel better over the death of Den.
Actually, he decided, the human race was better off without him.
***
Timo took his turn sleeping, setting his timer up to ten hours before he left Vera in the control seat.
Den had been stupid. All he had to do was go along with the job and he could have retired a rich man. Even split three ways, the money they would make on this salvage would be more than they could ever spend.
Den was gone. Timo hadn't slept so well in a long time.
“All good?” he asked as he returned to the control room. He had decided he liked Vera. Since he was going to be cooped up with her in his ship for more than a year, it would be better if they could get along.
“All good,” Vera said. “I put rations in side pack of space suit. Could you get?”
“Sure,” Timo said. He stepped into the air lock and opened the side pack of the greyish suit Vera had worn. He put his hand inside. There was nothing in it. Then he checked the other side.
The door closed behind him.
“You are an idiot,” her voice crackled though the intercom.
“How am I an idiot?” Timo asked, taking a quick look around. None of the suits in the air lock had hoses on them. Someone had collected them while he'd been sleeping. They would not help him.
“You knew Den was going to try to kill you,” Vera said. Her English was suddenly very good. “I had to bail you out.”
The emergency switch, behind the landing kit, was broken. Vera had been thorough.
“Maybe I had a plan,” Timo said. “But yours worked better.”
The emergency conduit was bolted closed. He was beginning to not like Vera, not one bit.
“I doubt that,” Vera said. “I know your type. Always hoping for the best in people. It's a wonder you've lived this long.”
He moved over to the small window on the door. It was over; she had outsmarted him, but maybe not completely.
“I have a backup plan,” Timo said. “We can work this out.”
“I doubt that,” Vera said, and opened the outer door.
Timo grabbed the tool kit. It had magnetics, but it came with him as the air pushed him out. Timo held his breath as he drifted away. He liked that old ship. As he got pushed outward, he noticed the chalk square just above the air lock.
He should have let Weist put in that emergency exit on the top. He might have had a chance of climbing into it. As it was, he didn't have a chance at all.
***
Vera closed the outside door and returned to the controls of the ship -- her ship now. She couldn't decide which of the two had been worse, the pig or the idealist. The pig had tried to kill her the moment she was no longer useful, but he'd been honest. The idealist thought they could work together and come out ahead; but she had seen that “repopulating the species” look in his eye when he thought she wasn't looking. Staying in a small ship with him for more than a year would have been hell.
She had been watching Timo very closely. There were individualities to every ship, an order to the controls that only the pilot would know. The controls were basic; it wouldn't take her long to get the feel of it.
“What was it you did every time you sat down?” She asked herself. Perhaps she would spend a few days talking to the ghost of Timo. It was the only way she'd let him keep her company.
She strapped herself in, like he always did. Then he would reach up and turn a knob on the far corner of the panel.
The knob wasn't there. There was a nondescript hole with no label. Vera was sure there had been something in there before.
Maybe it was important; maybe it was just an idiosyncrasy. It didn't matter. It wouldn't be that hard to pull the control panel and figure out what it was, and replace it if she had to.
There was a tool kit somewhere around, she'd seen it.
Vera didn’t know it was a timing knob, and that the ship was set to explode when it reached zero. As it turned out, an hour and fifteen minutes after she sent Timo out of the airlock.
***
The Mars colony – they still called themselves a colony – started out as a few temporary shelters put in place for the year-long exploration of the planet. The time frame had changed when the Earth died. They had spent the first few years finding ways to make the colony sustainable with the materials at hand. It had not been easy.
Even so, their population had doubled every year for the first three years.
“Some kind of comet, I guess,” Sandy said as they sun rose opposite a bright sphere which had appeared in the night sky. They had noticed it half an hour before, and it would be setting within a minute or two.
“I'll set up the telescope for tomorrow night. We'll get a good look at it and see if we can figure out where it's going.”
There was only one telescope in the colony and Sandy had it. She spent as much time teaching people the use and care of the telescope as she did actually using it herself. The colony had learned to share; it was a matter of survival.
“Maybe one of the guys found another comet for us,” Gene said, taking a last look. “We've been asking for almost a year. If it is, we'll have lakes by next month.”
Sandy was out early that evening. As the sun set, the bright sphere came up above the horizon, brighter than it had been the night before. Sandy got it in focus. She looked for a moment, and then pulled her phone out of her pocket. She almost dropped it as she dialed. The governor would want to hear this.
“You're not going to believe this,” Sandy said.
Word spread quickly. The Martians spent the week celebrating. It was the Moon, and it was on a course which would put it into a workable orbit around the planet. They would be able to make a few adjustments after the scientists made detailed calculations, and it would be perfect.
Only a few people noticed the increase of shooting stars for a few days after the arrival of the Moon. No one realized they were bits of metal.
The metal from three ships.
NORMAN GRAY
Relapse
Norman Gray is a 24 year old aspiring author from Toronto, Canada. He began pursuing his lifelong dream of becoming a science-fiction/fantasy writer in 2010, when he joined the sffworld.com writing forum. Norman attributes most of his knowledge of writing to this forum, and the invaluable wealth of expertise possessed by its members.
In Relapse, Earth is on the brink of annihilation. Two scientists disrupt the flow of time to prevent the apocalypse from occurring. But while the entire human race is unknowingly sent ten years into the past, one man retains his memory of the life that was taken from him. Haunted by his memories, his only choice is to struggle through his dark past in order to relive his bright future, and once again win the heart of the woman he loves. But is he up to the task?
7. RELAPSE
by Norman Gray
July 8th, 2022
Dr. Emil Werner and Dr. Joseph Heinrich worked tediously. They left the television on in their rundown workshop while making their preparations, watching in hope of hearing some good news. It seemed there was no such thing today; in fact, the news seemed worse by the minute.
“The world holds its breath, mesmerized by an unprecedented phenomenon that perhaps threatens our very existence.” The newscast showed an image of a black object in the sky, growing nearer. Then they cut away to a media conference where a woman standing at a podium was bombarded with questions.
Werner toggled some switches while keeping one eye on the T.V.
“Device is powering up. Standing by.”
“What can you tell us about this object and its origins?”
“All systems activating,” Heinrich affirmed.
“Very little. From the images we’ve received, it is estimated to be one hundred times the diameter of Earth, approximately. Astronomers first located it traveling from within Sagittarius A-star, roughly two hours ago.”
“All calibrations correct. Reset point programmed for June 16th, 2012. All readings are normal.”
“Have there been any attempts to make contact with it or divert it?”
“Device at full power.”
“All attempts to make any form of contact have been unsuccessful.”
“Are we ready, Dr. Werner?”
“What is its current path?”
Werner inspected everything one final time. “All systems are ready. Stand by for reset.”
“It appears to be making a nearly direct voyage toward the sun. Neptune, Mars, and Jupiter will be within its estimated collision course. Given the object’s size and unprecedented speed, it will likely continue its path with little resistance. Earth will narrowly evade impact.”