Apollo's Outcasts

by Allen Steele

  I slowly nodded. It was the same reason that Dad had given for not telling Melissa and me where we were going until we reached Wallops Island; deniability was our best defense. And it explained a couple of other things, such as why F-30s had given chase to the Spirit of New York and tried to kill us with an ASW when that didn't work, and also why Gordie had observed radio silence during the two and a half days it had taken us to reach the Moon. The people who had arranged our getaway knew that the daughter of the late president was among us, and they'd done everything possible to protect her.

  "But..." Melissa was still in shock. "Why didn't she tell us herself?"

  Mr. Lagler shrugged. "Maybe she didn't want you treating her any differently than anyone else." He paused. "She just lost her father," he quietly added. "Perhaps she had other things on her mind."

  Melissa didn't respond to that. I wondered if she regretted having treated Hannah so rudely. Something Dr. Ernsting said, though, spurred a question of my own. "Has anyone heard from our parents?"

  The adults looked at one another, each reluctant to be the one to deliver bad news. "I'm very sorry," Dr. Rice said at last, and there was no missing the Scottish lilt of her voice, "but we've learned that they were among those who were arrested at Wallops Island just after you left."

  Logan's mouth fell open, and even Nina appeared to be stunned. "They were caught?" she asked, and her guardian slowly nodded. "What's happened to them?"

  "We...don't know," Dr. Rice said. "No official announcement has been made. What little information we have came from a source at Wallops just before the government severed all communications with the island." Kneeling down, she reached out for Nina. "My poor child. I'm sure your family will be all..."

  Nina stepped back from her. Once again, the stoical mask had slipped down over her face, but I could see the fury in her eyes. She didn't want to be comforted by strangers. But Eddie burst into tears again, and his little sister took his hand before Dr. Rice could move toward him.

  Something went cold inside of me. Dad had sacrificed his freedom to make sure that Melissa and I escaped, and Jan had done the same for Hannah. Now both of them were in the hands of the authorities. And if my father's fears about President Shapar were true, then Dad and Jan were in grave danger. It was possible that Melissa and I would never see them again.

  "I'm going to get them." Logan's voice was a whisper only I heard. At first I thought he meant his parents, but then I looked at him and saw the barely restrained rage in his face. "That whole crew...Shapar and everyone around her. So help me, I'm going to get them."

  You and me both, I silently added, although I didn't say so aloud.

  "Yes, well..." Mr. Lagler cleared his throat with a discomfited cough. "You've come a long way. Perhaps you should get some rest and a good meal." He lay a hand upon my shoulder. "Come with me. I'll take you to my home."

  The other grownups murmured in agreement, then they turned to collect their charges; Logan went away with Dr. Ernsting, and Nina reluctantly allowed Dr. Rice to herd Eddie and her toward the nearby stairs. Melissa didn't look very happy about following Mr. Lagler, but neither she nor I had much choice in matter. I didn't know if Apollo had an orphanage, but if there was one, I didn't want to wind up there.

  "I'll be in touch," Gordie said to me just before we left him. "Maybe we can get in another flying lesson."

  "Yeah. That would be great." I wasn't very enthusiastic about the offer; I was too wrung out from everything I'd just learned. Gordie forced a smile, then turned to walk off. Nicole favored me with a smile of her own that was a little more comforting, then she headed toward the customs entrance.

  Mr. Lagler's apartment was located on the third tier of the crater wall. I'd later find out that Apollo's senior administrators rated the living quarters with the most space and the best views, so the Laglers' apartment was on the same level as Mr. Porter's, while Dr. Rice and Dr. Ernsting lived on the ground floor level near Apollo General. The sunlight within the crater was already beginning to dim by the time we climbed the stairs to get there; apparently the reflector mirrors were turning to provide Apollo with its artificial night. There were only a few elevators in Apollo, and most of them were used to connect the solarium with the sublevels beneath the crater, so we took stairs to get to his place. It felt odd to walk up stairs after a lifetime of using a mobil, but I managed to get the hang of it.

  I didn't know what to expect from Mr. Lagler's apartment, so I was bound to be surprised in any case. His home was nowhere near the size of the house I'd left behind in Maryland: three rooms and a bath, with Mr. and Ms. Lagler in the master bedroom and Melissa and I sharing a slightly smaller second bedroom. Mr. Lagler informed us that, since their son was at college in Hungary, Melissa and I could use his room for the time being. It had only one bed, but a futon had been borrowed from a neighbor; I volunteered to use it and let my sister have the bed. MeeMee was hardly overjoyed by the prospect of sharing a room with her little brother and a bathroom with two strangers, but she had enough sense to keep her objections to herself.

  The apartment was carved out of solid rock, with bamboo wall panels to cozy up the rooms a little. Indeed, it seemed as if everything was made out of bamboo: the beds, chairs, and tables, the cabinets and countertops of the small kitchenette in a dining nook of the living room, the doors, even the frames of the ceiling light fixtures. Bamboo was easily cultivated in the ag domes, while wood was expensive to import from Earth; no one cut down the trees in the crater park, since they were an important source of oxygen.

  The highlight was a narrow window in the dining nook that faced the crater's outer wall. Looking through it, one could see the lunar landscape spread out below, with Earth high above the landing fields. But Mr. Lagler was particularly proud of his holo TV. Built into the ceiling, it had cost him nearly three months' salary to have it shipped up from Earth, but it was worth every lune if it let him watch European soccer games.

  Ms. Lagler was a plump and pleasant lady who could have been anyone's favorite aunt. She fawned all over Melissa and me as soon as we came through the door, and already had a pot of lamb ragout simmering on the stove. Like most loonies, their diet was mainly vegetarian, but on special occasions the Laglers would spring for fresh meat from the colony's livestock pens. I wasn't crazy about lamb, but I was too polite to object. Besides, after three days of sucking on food pouches, I could have eaten horsemeat. Melissa wasn't picky, either; sitting across the dining table from her, I was almost embarrassed by the way she shoveled the food into her mouth.

  Mr. and Mrs. Lagler didn't say much until after dinner, but once Melissa and I helped Mrs. Lagler clear the table, Mr. Lagler escorted us to the twin bamboo couches arranged in front of the holo. He and his wife didn't have many rules, he told us, but they expected us to obey the few they did. We were to help them keep the apartment neat and pick up after ourselves. We would abide by Apollo's water conservation laws, which meant no more than three showers a week for no longer than five minutes apiece; Melissa was horrified by that, until Mrs. Lagler explained to her that water was a finite resource which was constantly recycled. We would attend morning classes at Apollo High, and in the afternoons we were expected to do our time in Colony Service.

  "What's that?" I asked. Nicole had mentioned it to me, but hadn't explained what it was.

  "All residents above the age of twelve are expected to contribute at least twenty hours per week to community work," Mr. Lagler said. "No exceptions, not even visitors who expect to be here more than four weeks."

  "We might not be here that long," Melissa said, confident that she'd found an exemption for herself.

  Mr. Lagler gave her a forgiving smile. "Perhaps...but I wouldn't count on it. Besides, you'll find yourself getting bored if you don't do something once school is out, because that's what everyone else your age will be doing."

  Melissa responded by folding her arms together and putting on her best MeeMee pout. "So what do we do in Colony Service?" I aske
d.

  "Depends on what you volunteer for. You can do custodial duties like sweeping the walkways and emptying the recycling chutes. There's a lot of work in the farms and livestock pens, and the solarium maintenance crew is always looking for new people. If you'd prefer to work outside, you can get trained for dome inspection and repair." He paused. "You're both at least sixteen, aren't you?" he asked, and nodded when Melissa and I said we were. "Then you can join the Rangers...but that takes a major commitment, and the training can be pretty dangerous."

  I liked the idea of seeing more of Nicole, but having to work with Billy Tate wasn't very appealing. Besides, I didn't think I was ready for a job that would have me risking life and limb. I shook my head, and Mr. Lagler shrugged. "As you will. But you'll need to sign up for something by the end of the week, or else you'll be assigned a job. Believe me, you don't want it to come to that...people who try to dodge CS usually get sent to the waste treatment center."

  Melissa made a face, then yawned. "Yeah, well...thanks for the warning, but I'm tired. Do you think I can...?"

  "You're excused, yes. Go on to bed." Mr. Lagler made a show of half-rising from his seat, but Melissa didn't notice the courtly gesture as she stood up and shuffled away to the guest room. He watched her go, then looked at me. "Aren't you going to bed, too, Jamey?"

  My eyes were feeling grainy, but I wasn't quite ready to sleep. "Could I sit up just a little longer? I want to..." I hesitated. "I'd like to ask you about something."

  Mr. Lagler frowned. "Yes? What is it?"

  I waited until I heard Melissa shut the door behind her. "On the way here...when I was on the ferry, I mean...Nicole told me something I'd never heard before. That I was famous, or something like that."

  "Oh, really?" He raised an eyebrow. "And you didn't know this before now?" When I shook my head, he looked past me. "Imagine that, Elsa. The boy doesn't know."

  Ms. Lagler had just finished cleaning up; she left the dining nook, wiping her hands on a rag. "Why would you be surprised? He was so young when it happened. He wouldn't remember..."

  "Are you talking about my mother?" I asked, then quickly added, "Ma'am."

  She smiled, appreciating the formality. "Of course," she said, settling down on the couch next to her husband. "Oh, Connie was such a beautiful woman. We were very fond of her, Algis and I. When she died..." The smile vanished and she shook her head. "Such a tragedy. Just terrible."

  "You know how she died, do you not?" Mr. Lagler asked, taking his wife's hand. "And how you were saved...you know this, too, yes?" I nodded, and he went on. "That story has become well-known in the years since...how a mother, in her last seconds, gave up her own life in order to save her child. It's told to everyone who comes to the Moon as an example of the sort of courage it takes to live here, and what may be expected of all of us if we are to survive."

  "I understand."

  I thought I'd said the right thing, but Mr. Lagler shook his head. "No, I don't think you do. You're the child who was saved, and so you're part of the legend...but unless you find yourself in a similar situation, you cannot understand what a brave thing it is that your mother did. Not really."

  "But it was an accident, right?" I asked, and he nodded. "Then how could I find myself in a similar situation if this was something that...?"

  "I don't know, but the day may come that you will. And when it does, you'll have to find for yourself whether you're worthy of your mother's..."

  He was interrupted by a soft chime from the phone on the living room table. Mr. Lagler picked it up. "Hello?" he said, then listened for a moment. "Yes, they are, but his sister has gone to bed." Another pause. "Of course...yes, I will. Thank you for letting us know."

  He put down the phone, looked at me again. "The town manager will be making a special address to Apollo in just a couple of minutes. His assistant called to tell me that it concerns you and your friends, and that you should watch." He reached over to pick up the holo's remote. "Maybe you should wake up your sister."

  I thought about it for a second, then shook my head. "That might not be such a good idea, sir. She's pretty cranky when she has to get out of bed."

  An understanding nod, then Mr. Lagler pointed the remote at the holo and thumbed a button. A miniature soccer field materialized before us, with doll-size players scrambling for control of the ball. Mr. Lagler touched another button and the field disappeared, replaced by a life-sized speaker's podium. The bamboo podium remained vacant for a few more seconds, then Loren Porter stepped out of thin air to walk behind it.

  "My fellow colonists...thank you for taking the time to join me tonight." Although his voice came from a ceiling speaker, it sounded as if he was in the same room with us. "I'm sorry to have to speak to you on such short notice, but a matter has occurred which may have significant impact on the future of Apollo."

  Mr. Porter glanced down at the podium, as if taking his cues from a screen we couldn't see. "Earlier today, a transfer vehicle arrived in lunar orbit bearing passengers who left the ISC spaceport at Wallops Island three days ago. Those passengers are six children, their ages ranging from nine to seventeen. Most of them have parents who work for the ISC, and who decided to send their children to safety following the death of President Wilford."

  As he spoke, a small window opened to left side of him. Within it was a holo image of President Wilford: his official portrait, familiar to everyone.

  "There is a reason why they did this," Mr. Porter continued. "As many of you know, his former vice president, Lina Shapar, has proposed that the United States cede from the ISC and take control of helium-3 reserves here on the Moon. Such a unilateral action, of course, would be in direct violation of the United Nations Space Treaty, which has directed the international use of lunar resources for the last 130 years. It would also violate the accords that created the ISC itself, which state that helium-3 and other vital lunar materials are to be shared among the nations that belong to the ISC."

  Another window opened to Mr. Porter's right, this one displaying an official holo of President Shapar: blonde and beautiful, but somehow vaguely reptilian, with an unblinking gaze that I'd always found unsettling.

  "Although Vice President Shapar's position was supported by many within her party," Mr. Porter went on, "it was not supported by President Wilford, who was in favor of continued international control and sharing of lunar resources. This was not the first time since they came to the White House that the president and vice president were in disagreement. Vice President Shapar also spoke in favor of military confrontation with the Pacific Socialist Union, while President Wilford wanted to re-open negotiations with China and her allies."

  "Shapar was bucking for her boss's job," Mr. Lagler murmured. "That's why she worked against him...she had political ambitions of her own."

  "Who is she, Algis?" Ms. Lagler asked. "You know I don't keep up with American politics."

  Mr. Lagler folded his arms across his chest. "Lina Shapar used to be Miss America," he said quietly, "before she married a senator from her home state. She didn't have any political ambitions before then, but after they were married she began to be more outspoken. Most of what she said echoed her husband's conservative views, but she was more charismatic than he was, and the voters loved her. Then Senator Shapar was killed in a plane crash and the governor appointed Lina to fill out his term. She rose quickly within her party even though her politics became more radical than her husband's, and when George Wilford...who was a moderate...won the presidential nomination, he tried to appease his party's right wing by tapping her to be his running mate." He shrugged. "It's been obvious for awhile, though, that the two of them actually despised each other, or that Shapar wouldn't hesitate to take positions that undermined the president's agenda."

  I only listened to this with half an ear. I was paying more attention to what Mr. Porter was saying. "When it became obvious that Vice President Shapar was intent upon taking control of helium-3 reserves, a number of ISC officials signed a petition
in protest of her position. This included the parents of the children who have come to the Moon. They did so with the support of their European and Asian colleagues, but not long after the petition was made public, they learned that the vice president had placed their names on a secret list of political enemies, and that she intended to persecute them if and when she became president."

  Mr. Porter paused to let his words sink in. "This has occurred," he went on after a moment. "As soon as George Wilford was pronounced dead and Lina Shapar was sworn in to take his place, her first act as president was to issue an executive order calling for the arrest of everyone she'd placed on that list. She did so on the grounds that they were involved in a Chinese-led conspiracy to assassinate the former president, and that these individuals posed a threat to the national security of the United States."

  The images of George Wilford and Lina Shapar vanished as Mr. Porter continued to speak. "This has been the White House's position for the last three days. The parents of those children who've fled to Apollo have been arrested, and we have since learned that they will be charged with conspiring to kill President Wilford...."

  "No," I whispered. "They're lying. Dad wouldn't do that."

  "I know," Mr. Lagler said quietly, then held up a finger. "Just listen."

  "However, we are now aware of something that people back on Earth don't know." Mr. Porter was staring straight at the camera. "This information comes from another child who was put aboard that LTV before it left Earth." Again, he paused for a moment. "Please allow me to introduce you to Hannah Wilford, the daughter of the late President George Wilford."

  Mr. Porter moved away from the podium, but didn't vanish from sight. A couple of seconds went by, then Hannah appeared.