Star One: Dark Star

by Weil, Raymond L.

  “It’s just amazing all of the work you have done here,” proclaimed Jennifer, gazing around at all the greenery.

  “Even this habitat serves a double purpose as do all the rest,” Julie continued pleased that Jennifer was impressed by what she was seeing. “The plants take much of the C02 out of the air and help to replenish the oxygen, plus they give us a larger variety in our station menu. In this section alone, we have a dozen different varieties of tomatoes, an equal number of peppers, several varieties of onions, potatoes, carrots and other vegetables.”

  “By using intense hydroponics gardening techniques plus the rich lunar soil, we can grow six to eight crops a year of most types of vegetables,” exclaimed Kathleen, stooping down in front of a bed of carrots with large, bushy green tops.

  Selecting one, she pulled it easily out of the soft ground and scrutinized it with a trained eye. This was one of the seed types she had personally picked out.

  The carrot itself was dark orange, nearly ten inches in length, and probably two inches wide at its top. After cleaning the dirt off, she placed it in a small sample bag she was carrying.

  “We take occasional samples from all the plots to analyze in the lab,” Kathleen explained. “We test for flavor, hardiness, and the plant’s ability to adapt to the environment in the habitat.”

  As they walked along the clean, even paths between the thick plots of vegetables, Jennifer noticed an occasional grouping of small fruit trees. “What type of trees are those?” she asked curiously, stopping to look at a large plot with six, twelve to fourteen foot tall bushy trees growing in it.

  “Those are apples,” answered Julie, stepping over to the trees and inspecting the buds, which were in abundance. “We have a number of different varieties of dwarf fruit trees planted in all the habitats, depending upon the environment most suitable for them. We don’t get a lot of fruit from them considering the number of people on the station, but it does allow for occasional variety in our meals.”

  “Nothing like an occasional home made apple pie,” said Kathleen, grinning. “It really works wonders when you’re trying to impress one of the eligible bachelors in the station.”

  “You would think of that,” said Julie, shaking her head in exasperation and laughing.

  Jennifer noticed other workers were present also. About half a dozen men and women were meticulously going through the plots harvesting vegetables. Others were thinning out some of the plots that were overly thick with plant growth.

  The air in the habitat was fresh and slightly warm with the temperature in the lower eighties and a higher level of humidity than the rest of the station. Bright lights in the ceiling simulated artificial sunlight. Jennifer knew, from what Kathleen had told her earlier that they imitated an artificial day and night cycle, even though the night part of the cycle was limited to only six hours. That was to encourage maximum plant growth.

  “Since we got Teela back online, the work in the habitats is going much smoother,” commented Julie, wiping off her hands on her work slacks and leading them down a path toward a small, two-story structure set in the heart of the habitat. “She is really good at helping us maintain all the delicate balances for the different garden plots.”

  Reaching the small building, the three went in to find themselves in a small room filled with equipment, pumps, and small liquid filled tanks.

  “These tanks contain our liquid fertilizer and hormone supplements which we put into the drip irrigation system,” explained Julie, gesturing toward the tanks.

  Jennifer could hear a low humming coming from the equipment, and she could see that several of the pumps were currently operating, pumping nutrients out to the growing plants. They ascended a short flight of stairs to reach the upper level, and Jennifer was surprised to find a small, efficient air-conditioned control room with two operators manning the computer consoles.

  Viewscreens on the walls showed the entire habitat from different angles. There were humidity, temperature, soil condition readouts, and various other types of information being displayed. From the numerous displays, each individual plot was being monitored.

  “This is all amazing,” said Jennifer, gazing at the banks of monitors. “Do you monitor every single plot?”

  “Each habitat is set up this way,” answered Kathleen, walking over to a set of gauges and visually checking a couple of readings. “We can monitor everything we need to from this room. We can adjust the temperature, humidity, plant nutrients, and even the light intensity itself if necessary.”

  “No wonder you needed Teela back online,” spoke Jennifer, realizing how complicated it must be to monitor so many different things in the habitat.

  “We do monitor each plot with buried sensors, and we can direct the controls to water or reduce the water to a single specific plot of plants as required,” Kathleen responded. “Teela lets us know immediately if anything gets out of balance.”

  -

  The girls spent the next several hours walking through each habitat. Jennifer wanted to get a proper feel for what Teela was expected to do so she could talk to her about it during their daily sessions. She knew that Julie and Kathleen needed Teela in order to maximize production in the habitats as well as replenish the station’s oxygen and water supplies.

  She was amazed by all the work that had been done to establish the large ecological habitats and the large variety of plants, animals, and the complexity of maintaining the entire system. She could well understand why Teela was so indispensable to Julie and Kathleen.

  -

  Christy looked at herself for probably the tenth time in the last fifteen minutes in her full-length mirror. She was wearing a white button up blouse that dipped down to just above her breasts, showing only a small hint of cleavage. She also wore a dark blue skirt that fit snugly around her waist and reached to just above her knees. She had been thinking about tonight for hours, ever since she had asked Steve to come over. She hoped everything would go well. Christy couldn’t believe how nervous she felt; like a teenager getting ready for her first real date.

  “You look absolutely gorgeous,” Teela said from where she was sitting on Christy’s bed, watching her with interest. Christy had asked Jennifer to install holographic image projectors in her quarters because she wanted to be able to work closely with Teela. “Commander Larson will be impressed.”

  “I hope so, Teela,” said Christy, shaking her head and making her blonde hair bounce slightly. She wondered if she should allow her hair to grow out more. She normally kept it cut fairly short.

  The chime at the door suddenly rang, and she felt a sudden thrill of anticipation race up and down her spine, leaving behind a tingling sensation. “If you don’t mind, Teela, Commander Larson and I would like some privacy tonight. I’ll call for you when it’s okay for you to come back.”

  “I understand,” replied Teela with a knowing smile. She had read up on the subject of human romance in her files and Doctor Blackwater had done a lot of explaining. “See you in the morning.” Teela blinked her eyes, causing the hologram to shut off, and she instantly disappeared.

  Turning, Christy left her bedroom and walked through the small kitchenette. Teela was learning fast, she thought, very fast. Glancing at the stove, she noticed that her meal still needed another fifteen minutes according to the timer above the oven. Reaching the front door of her quarters, she pressed the button next to it and watched it slide quietly open, revealing a pleasantly smiling Steve standing before her.

  “Hi,” he said, walking in and looking around. “Something sure smells good.” Leaning forward, he kissed her gently on the lips and then stepped back.

  “It’s some of Julie’s new catfish she's been raising on her fish farm,” Christy replied pleased with the compliment. “Jensen gave them to me; I’m baking them in the oven. My mother had a special sauce she used for catfish that I hope you will like. It’s a secret family recipe.” Leading Steve into the kitchen, they both sat down at the small table that she had c
arefully set with twin white candles burning softly in the center.

  When she had gone to Jensens, she had also picked up a bottle of Steve’s favorite wine. The wine was chilling in a small bucket filled with ice on the side of the table.

  “What’s the latest word from the FarQuest?” asked Christy, handing the wine to Steve to pour. She was curious if Ty had sent any additional messages.

  “The transmission time lag between us and Ty is steadily getting longer,” replied Steve. “It’s next to impossible to carry on a meaningful conversation with the ship now. It has reached the point that they are sending mostly status updates and crew condition reports. Ty and I did try to carry on a conversation earlier today, but it was tough with the time lag. So far, according to Ty, everything seems to be fine. They’ve put the three mission scientists into deep sleep, and Lieutenant Strett is monitoring their conditions.”

  “Everything seems to be going very well,” Christy commented, her eyes focusing on Steve. She was glad he had agreed to this evening.

  Closing his eyes briefly, Steve frowned. “Right now, I’m more concerned about Senator Farley. The latest news reports indicate that he and the group of senators and businessmen he controls are holding a secluded meeting at his vacation home up in the mountains this weekend.”

  “That doesn’t sound good,” Christy said with a worried sigh. “I wonder what he’s up to?” She wished this ongoing problem with Senator Farley would just go away.

  “They are supposedly trying to decide how to handle their response to this emergency,” Steve responded. The aromas from Christy’s cooking were beginning to make him feel hungry. “There are rumors that they are working on a measure they are going to introduce in Congress. It would prevent the President from diverting any funds away from projects that are already approved. That would curtail a lot of the President’s plans to deal with this emergency. If she can’t divert the money needed to enact the emergency projects, they might not get done.”

  Getting up, Christy walked over to the stove and stirred the fresh vegetables that Kathleen had dropped off earlier. Bending over, she glanced inside the oven. She wanted to see how the fish were coming. They were just turning brown from the simmering sauce they were cooking in, another few minutes and they would be ready.

  Behind her, Steve opened the wine and began pouring it into two crystal glasses. He couldn’t help admiring the generous expanse of Christy’s leg that was revealed as she bent over the stove.

  “Senator Farley could still cause us a lot of trouble,” Steve spoke as he finished pouring the wine. “Tim McPhryson feels that there could be some problems worldwide very shortly when the entire truth comes out. The information is partially out there now on the Internet, but the president is not acknowledging it.”

  Sitting back down, Christy took a small sip of the wine. “How much longer does he think the secret can be kept? If the news gets out that we expect most if not all of the world’s population to die within the next year, what will happen?”

  “Tim says it will probably be one or two weeks before it’s out completely anyway,” answered Steve worriedly, taking a sip of his wine. “There are just too many scientists in foreign countries that can extrapolate the results from the data we have released. They also have the ability to collect the data themselves with their own radio telescopes on Earth. Remember, they still have some extremely powerful telescope arrays on the surface. There are many scientists down on Earth who are already predicting the end, but so far they are being ignored.”

  Christy remained silent thinking about the ramifications. Their lives were going to get terribly complicated shortly, and the responsibility of protecting the station and its crew would weigh heavily on Steve and her.

  “Tim and the president believe that when the news gets out almost anything can happen,” Steve said slowly, sipping his wine and enjoying the smooth taste. Jensen had done a superb job picking out this particular vintage of wine. “They want us to get our people up here as quickly as possible.”

  “I talked to Jane earlier today,” Christy said. “They are decreasing the downtime for turning the shuttles around after a launch at the cape. They are also adding additional crews to conduct the safety and system checks. Jane said it was necessary so they could get all the people and supplies up to Tycho City and us.”

  Steve nodded, not feeling surprised by this decision. “Tim said they were also preparing a couple of military shuttles with some special equipment for us. They are to be sent up in a couple of weeks. He was very evasive as to what it was they would contain, other than he felt we would need it. I also understood that several other special shuttles are being prepared for Tycho City as well.”

  “I wonder what’s up with that?” Christy asked curiously, her eyes taking on a thoughtful look. “What could be on those military shuttles?”

  “I’m not sure, but I suspect it has to do with defending the station and Tycho City,” Steve replied. “General Karver has hinted that he would be sending us something along that line. I just don’t know what it could be.”

  The chime on her stove went off, and Christy jumped quickly out of her chair, rushing over to the oven. Opening the door, she removed the baking pan of fish and placed it carefully on the stovetop. In a few minutes, she had a steaming plate of catfish and fresh vegetables, with some of Jensen’s home made rolls setting on the table in front of each of them.

  Steve took a small bite of the fish and was pleasantly surprised at how rich the sauce made the catfish taste. He had always loved eating fish and had experienced it cooked hundreds of different ways. This was unquestionably one of the best.

  “This is great,” he exclaimed, taking another bite followed by a small taste of wine. He hadn’t realized that Christy was such a talented cook. This might be something they would have to do more often.

  “My father always liked it,” Christy said pleased with Steve’s response.

  For the next half hour, they enjoyed their meal and made small talk about the station and the progress that was being made in the different departments. Each department was working toward doing their part to make the station entirely self-sufficient.

  When they were through eating, Steve helped Christy put up the dishes and the two retired to the living room, where Christy had already turned on some soft, romantic music.

  As the evening wore on, the two relaxed and talked about their earlier lives on Earth. They even discussed why Christy had joined the space program. They both had avoided discussing the present situation since their meal, wanting to spend some quality time with each other without worrying about the neutron star.

  Steve was surprised to hear that it was the high pay that had initially attracted Christy into the space program and, once she had joined, the thrill of the job itself. He told Christy that he had always wanted to explore space and to build the space station, which he had hoped would someday be mankind’s stepping-stone to the stars.

  They were listening to the soft music and sitting next to each other on the couch. Steve’s arm was around Christy, and her head was lying on his shoulder. They were both relaxed and just enjoying the intimacy of the moment. Turning her head, Christy looked up at Steve and they kissed.

  The kiss quickly became passionate, and they could both feel the heat in their hidden desires. Christy leaned back as Steve kissed her on her lips and then on her neck, feeling his hand slowly, hesitantly reaching for the buttons on the front of her blouse. Just for an instant she hesitated, but she knew in her heart that there was no way she was going to ask him to stop. She had been dreaming of this moment for months.

  Moments later, she felt his warm mouth on her breast, and the sensation was incredible. She felt Steve’s arms slide underneath her, and she found herself being lifted easily and carried off into her bedroom. They both stopped only long enough to hurriedly remove the rest of their clothes before becoming locked in a tight embrace. Falling onto the bed, they kissed passionately and were soon lost in e
ach other’s bodies. In moments, they were totally consumed by the heat of passion and with each other. Around them, station life continued as another night slowly passed on Star One.

  Chapter Three

  Steve and Christy were watching the main viewscreen, aghast at what it displayed. The rest of the crew in Main Control also watched in shock. Main Control was hauntingly silent, with everyone watching the screen spellbound. Rioters were running rampant. Entire city blocks were on fire, and billowing black smoke filled the sky. Police and firefighters were helpless in the out of control situation.

  Several Firetrucks were burning where rioters had overwhelmed the firefighters and then set them ablaze. As the crew looked on, military troops in heavily armored personnel carriers arrived at the scene. The mob, in a heightened state of frenzy, recklessly charged the troops as they were deploying from their vehicles.

  Many of the soldiers were overrun before they could even set up a defensive perimeter. The young soldiers were ill prepared for this type of civilian violence. Some of the crazed mob who had reached the personnel carriers began trying to push the vehicles over onto their sides.

  Shots rang out suddenly from within the crowd, and two soldiers fell lifelessly to the ground. The entire scene erupted with bloodshed as some of the soldiers panicked and began returning fire, dropping people everywhere. The mob broke, scattering, and the soldiers stopped firing. The soldiers stood in a daze, looking at the carnage around them. Medical units arrived and moved in to assist the wounded.

  “This was the scene in Los Angeles earlier today after Senator Farley denounced the president and the establishment of martial law,” the monotone male reporter’s voice said.

  “Senator Farley is calling on people across the country to denounce the government of President Kateland. He is demanding the immediate rescission of martial law and the resignation of the president,” the newscaster continued. “The senator is quoted as saying it was the president that brought about the riots today, the worst of which was in Los Angeles. The death toll is expected to rise to over 100, with nearly 1,200 injured in the rioting and fighting. Military casualties are reported at 22 dead and 37 injured. The Senate is expected to vote tomorrow on Senator Farley’s bill restricting the president’s use of funds in this supposed national emergency.”