This was followed immediately by Mary's anxious voice. "What the hell happened? Somebody talk to me!"
****
"We're okay," Hugh said, looking at Larry. "Aren't we?"
"Yeah, I'm okay, but—"
"But what?"
"I think I swallowed some of this stuff."
"Check your suit." Hugh turned to examine the badly damaged elevator car.
"Bob, how are you doing?"
"I'm all right," he sounded out of breath. "Scared the hell out of me, is all."
Hugh entered the car with a piece of conduit he had picked up from the collapsed area of the hallway. With it, he knocked down the drop ceiling to reveal the maintenance hatch. The fall had loosened it and Hugh knocked it away effortlessly. "Bob," he said into his COMde, "look down the shaft. You should see my light coming through a hatchway on top of the car."
"Yes, I see it."
"Come on down, you can reach us through it. Watch your step."
Soon, all three were again on the ground floor. Fortunately, Larry's Ess-CEPS was undamaged.
"What in the world could have made that elevator fall just as I was under it?" Larry asked.
"Just bad luck, I guess," Bob proposed meekly.
They all negotiated the rubble without incident, and they and their cargo were back at the shelter door within half an hour.
"Mary, we're at the door," Hugh announced.
The hatch opened and Balaji, Martha, Mr. Smith and Mary aided them in carrying the suits into the shelter. Stanley stood alone a couple of meters from the door, his arms folded on his chest.
As soon as the hatch was closed, Mary rushed toward Hugh. He thought she was going to throw her arms around him, but she stopped just short.
"Are you, are you all okay?" she demanded.
"We're fine Mary, just a little shaken up, is all," Larry said. Hugh just looked at her and noted that she never broke eye contact with him. He could see that she, too, had been a little 'shaken up'.
Mr. Smith stepped forward and slapped Hugh on the shoulder. "You boys sure scared us there for a moment. I thought Balaji was going to wet his pants."
"Ridiculous!" Balaji declared indignantly. "I am in full control of my bladder at all times!"
Hugh and Larry wound their lengths of cable around their waists, saving them for possible future use when Stanley stepped up before the three of them, his hands again on his hips.
****
Mary was calm for the first time since Hugh and the others had left to retrieve the suits.
Now, she found she was just standing, looking at Hugh, as he finished wrapping the cable around himself. She noticed, even through the suit, that his hips were small and his shoulders broad. Stanley then stepped between them and she shook her head, snapping herself back to the present.
"Gentlemen," Stanley said, "now we're going to remove the EverBreath from your lungs. One at a time, we will remove your helmets, of course, leaving the masks on. I will then open this switch cover on your chest packs. I will rotate the button a quarter turn counter-clockwise, and the button will then rise up one quarter of an inch. Then you will exhale, emptying your lungs as much as you can. At that point I will depress the button. Instantly, the remaining EverBreath in your lungs will be removed and oxygen will be forced in. Then, you must quickly remove your mask. You may experience a small amount of discomfort, and you may suffer fits of coughing for a minute or two. It will not be severe, and will quickly pass. Are there any questions? Bob, sit down, you're first."
Anxiously, Bob started forward. Larry stuck out his hand and stopped him. "Hey, he got to go first last time." Then Larry took the seat.
Mary joined the others in huddling around Larry as he sat. Stanley removed Larry's helmet and told him to exhale. As he did, Stanley opened the cover to the extraction button. Larry nodded and Stanley pushed the button. Larry convulsed once, ripped the mask from his face, and coughed violently. After a moment Larry looked up at Stanley. "You're never going to make a living selling these things," he said.
Next, it was Bob's turn. He endured the ordeal better than Mary thought he would.
Stanley turned toward Hugh. "All right Sergeant, you're next."
"No, Doctor, I have one more mission to execute."
Mary again strode toward Hugh as if she were going to attack him. "Oh no, you're not going out there alone!"
"Mary, it's just a recon."
"I don't care what kind of con it is. You are not going out there alone."
"She is right, Hugh," Balaji spoke up. "It is very foolish to go alone, and you know it."
"Look, Bal...Bal-ah-gee, I almost lost Lair-ee just now. I'm not going to risk another of you civilians doing something I am trained to do. This has to be done, and I'm going to do it."
"What's so damned important?" Mary asked.
"I told you, I have to figure out where we are. To do that, I need to go outside the dome. Now, is someone going to open this door or do I have to do it myself?"
Mary grabbed him by the helmet and looked hard into his eyes. "Don't get yourself killed. If you do, we'll be stuck with Stan."
"I'm guessing that's a joke."
"About fifty/fifty."
After Hugh left, Mary explained what Hugh was doing. She told them what he'd said about not seeing any stars out of the windows upstairs.
"I can make no sense of that at all," Balaji said.
"Could those windows be facing the side of the cliff we slid down?" Bob asked.
"No, that room was facing in the direction of our slide," Mary noted.
Mary picked up the emergency communicator and called Hugh, as they all gathered around to listen.
"How do you plan to exit then re-enter the dome?" she asked.
"I'm hoping the garage is no longer buried under several tons of rock, as it was when I drove up to the dome. I plan to use Little John's docking bay to exit."
"Whose bay?" Mary asked, looking at the others.
"Little John," Hugh said, "a remotely operated maintenance vehicle. I'm entering the garage now. Wow! What a mess. There are two LPCs in here, both on their sides and badly bashed up. There's a lot of EFS—that foam sealant—in here, too—the same stuff you saw rolling down the walls outside the shelter door. This stuff has hardened. I hope it hasn't solidified over Little John's bay door."
For several seconds Hugh did not speak. Mary got nervous. "Hugh? Hugh are you all right?"
"Yeah, I'm at Little John's house now on the side of the dome. He's a little guy, so his door is kinda small. This bay is a small airlock, so I should be able to enter and exit without evacuating the remaining air out of the dome. No power, so I have to open the door manually. There, now to retrieve Little John."
Again, it became quiet for several minutes.
"Hugh?"
"I'm just checking to ensure all the doors in the garage are closed and sealed. Just in case. I don't want all the air sucked out of the dome."
Mary was more nervous now than when he went after the suits. He was risking his life yet again, and this time, he was alone. If he ran into trouble no one could help him in time. Mary needed to hear his voice to know he was all right. She kept asking him questions until he figured it out; then, he maintained a running dialog explaining his every move in painful detail.
Hugh entered the small airlock and closed the inner door behind him. "Okay, I'm opening the outer door. I'm outside now. All I can see is a rocky ground, like millions of smooth round river stones, disappearing into the darkness at the limit of my lights. I'm turning the intensity of my lamps up to maximum. I still don't see anything. I'm going to walk away from the dome a few meters. I'm walking up a steep incline. I'm about twenty-five meters out now and—" His voice stopped. There were several seconds of silence.
"Hugh?" Mary called to him. "Hugh!" Concern painted her voice.
Hugh's voice returned, speaking slow and measured. "Mary, can everyone hear me?"
"Yes, Hugh, what's the matter?"
"Most likely a large fissure that opened up with the quake," Mary said.
"I don't think so. I'll tell you what this looks like. Ever look at a slice of French bread through a magnifying glass?"
Hugh was looking at the most bizarre formations of stone he'd ever seen. Huge columns rose up into the darkness at every angle. They divided, were joined, and split off, and they varied greatly in shape and size, some were as thin as a man's arm, others were many times larger in diameter than the dome. There were thousands of them branching off in all directions, and Hugh could see no end to them. Here and there were spaces, like the bubbles inside of bread, some tiny, others mammoth. It was inside one of these bubbles, on a large arm of stone, that the dome had come to rest.
"Hugh, what you're describing is not possible—"
"Here," Hugh said, turning on the camera in his chest pack, "look for yourself."
"Look?" Mary glanced at Stanley.
"He's turned on his camera. Bob, put your helmet on, that will power it up, then you'll be able to see what he sees."
Bob replaced his helmet. Stanley pressed a button on the suit and the images appeared on the inside of Bob's helmet visor. Mary was front and center as the others crowded around Bob to see the video on the visor. Though reversed, the images were stunning.
Stanley turned to Mary and asked, "How would you explain that, Dr. Eddington?"
She turned slowly to look at him. "I'm ready to entertain any hypothesis, Stanley."
"You're the lunar geologist, Mary."
"That's right. And just like you, I'm seeing this for the first time. I have no measurements, no samples, nothing. Why don't you just sit down, Stanley?"
"Dr. Eddington, need I remind you who is the leader of this team? I think from now on, you will all resume addressing me by my title, Dr. Whit—"
"Stanley," Mr. Smith interjected, "I think the lady made a real good suggestion. Sit down."
The others observed this confrontation in silence. Mr. Smith turned around to face the group and said, "And call me Joe."
Mary spoke again to Hugh, "You'd better get back in here."
"Everything okay?"
"Nerves are a little strained. Mine as well."
"Okay, I'm headed back."
Balaji took the communicator from Mary's hand, set it down, and led her away from the group.
"Mary, are you all right?
"I just wish he'd stop taking such chances."
"Hugh?"
"Yes," she said reluctantly. "I know—he's trying to save all our lives." She folded her arms and looked away from Balaji.
He took her gently by her forearms and looked into her eyes. "He has no choice. Mary, it is evident you care a great deal for him, why not tell him so?"
"Oh, he knows."
"Does he? And just how does he know?"
She reached up and slowly removed Balaji's hands from her arms then looked him square in the face. "Okay, I like him, all right? Apparently, everything I was told about him is true. This does not mean I want to take him home with me."
"Still intent on traveling the road alone, are you?"
"You know, it looks as though he has his own road. Did that ever occur to you? Do you think it would be fair for me to ask him to give up his career and come with me?"
Balaji led her over to some boxes and they sat. "I'll tell you what I know, Mary." He took her hand. "I know that love will find a way."
"Oh, Balaji, you're a hopeless romantic and entirely unrealistic."
"Why?"
"He's a soldier and I'm a lunar geologist. Two rather divergent career paths, don't you think?"
"Mary, did you know that my wife is an oceanographer?"
"Really?"
"Indeed. She currently resides in Glaciesia, the underwater city beneath the polar cap with our two children. It is easier, I think, to find excuses rather than reason."
Mary glanced down at her feet a moment then spoke in a whisper, "Balaji, you're my friend, the only person for three hundred thousand kilometers with whom I can be honest, and I haven't been totally honest with you. The truth is...I'm scared. I've had a few men in my life, and all of them have hurt me. I was engaged once, did you know that?"
"I did not."
"He was killed; plane crash. Every man I've ever known has left me. I know, the plane crash is not the same thing. Still, it just reinforces my belief that men equal pain and heartache. So, I selected a pain-free route. Is that so hard to understand?"
"Mary, I think Hugh is cut from a different bolt of cloth than any other—"
"Balaji. Think about our situation a minute. Sergeant Hero out there seems determined to get himself killed just as I'm starting to like him."
"This brings me back to my original question. You care a great deal for him. Why not tell him?"
Chapter 15
Hugh was back in the shelter within forty-five minutes. With the door shut behind him, he began the EverBreath extraction process. Stan and Balaji offered to help, but he refused. Soon, he was standing before the others, helmet and mask off, gently coughing, and removing his gloves. He walked straight up to the telemetry panel and examined it closely. Then he turned to the rest and reported, "Okay, here's the deal. The pressure is dropping slowly out there. When the shelter determines this loss of air is of sufficient threat to the human life inside, it will automatically seal this door closed. The only way out after that will be by means of a rescue party with special equipment. Here, then, is our dilemma. We are under the surface of the Moon; how deep, no one can know. It could be a few meters or well over a kilometer. If a rescue team is coming, it will take them months, perhaps longer. Remember, they will first have to stabilize their own situation up there. And as Staa...Staa ...Dr. Whitmore pointed out, we may have to accept the fact that JILL has been destroyed.
"My point is: I don't think we can sit here and hope to be rescued. We need to all get suited up and exit this shelter before it becomes our tomb."
"And go where, Sergeant?" Stanley asked.
"Upward, try to get ourselves out of this cave or chasm or whatever it is."
"If JILL is destroyed, we will have exerted ourselves for nothing."
"Doctor, if JILL is destroyed it will make no difference. Remaining here, however, is certain death. I'd rather have a fighting chance."
"I see. Sergeant, I'm sure you've been trained to go without food and water, but we have not. Out there is a vacuum. We'll not be able to eat or drink. And the physical demands on our bodies will require a greater consumption of our food and water. With these suits, we can sit still down here and not use the remaining air stored in the shelter. Thus, we'll be able to remove the helmets in order to eat and drink, and as we will be sedentary, our bodies will require less nourishment." Stanley then turned to face the rest. "Stay here, and we can survive for months. Go with 'Sergeant York' and you'll be dead in three days from dehydration. Remember, drinking EverBreath will not help you. It's not water."
There was a long period of silence. Then Larry spoke. "He's right, Hugh. We stand a chance of living longer if we stay here."
"Okay. Just as long as everyone understands the alternative is slow asphyxiation inside this block. So, stay if you want to. I'm going. If anyone wants to come with me, suit up right now."
Without hesitation, Mary, Joe, and Balaji started to dress.
"Dr. Whitmore," Hugh said. "I'll need food and water for four."
Stanley casually picked up a lamp and started walking away from Hugh toward the others. "No, I'm afraid not, Sergeant. That will reduce our life expectancy. There is no sense in providing sustenance to those who cannot possibly use it."
"Now, wait just a minute—" Larry objected.
"That's inhumane!" Martha stated.
Even Bob spoke up, "Dr. Whitmore, please."
"Shut up, all of you!" Stanley spun around and cracked Joe hard on the back o
f the head with the lamp. Joe quickly grabbed the back of his head and bent over. Stanley then punched him in the kidney, pulled up the back of his jacket, and took Joe's pistol from its holster.
"So sorry, mister...Smith, or whatever your name is. The power is where it belongs now. Consider this gun a badge of authority, or rank, if you prefer, Sergeant. You four put your suits on, and then get out. Now."
"I think I'll go with them," Larry said.
"No!" Stanley demanded. "Sit down and shut up. I might need an electrician. You'll thank me one day."
****
Everyone, except the gun-toting Whitmore, gathered around Mary to hold on to her as she took her first breath of EverBreath. Mary heard Larry whisper to Hugh, "I'm sorry."
Mary was slow to take that first deep breath. She held off until her lungs felt they were going to burst. As she inhaled and felt the liquid filling her lungs, her mind instantly reacted. She wanted to rip the helmet and mask off and just breathe. She experienced tunnel vision, and could only think of getting to air. She involuntarily refused to take a second breath, and was starting to turn blue. Hugh grabbed her helmet and shouted into her face, "Breathe!" That second breath was like spring air and she quickly calmed down.
Balaji convulsed violently, then got his second and third breaths rather quickly, and was fine. Joe was a trained scuba diver, so his transition was a bit smoother, but not by much.
Soon, the four of them were standing outside the shelter. Stanley and Bob closed the door.
Without a word, Hugh went to Joe, Balaji, and Mary and changed the frequency on their suits' built in COMde units. Then he spoke. "This frequency, thirty-ought-six, is known as Springfield. Nineteen-eleven is called Colt. Thirty-thirty is called Winchester; it, and the emergency frequency, can be monitored by Dr. Whitmore. Memorize those codes and numbers.
“I changed our frequencies because I'm sure Dr. Whitmore is listening in. From now on, our conversations are our own."
Dark Moon Rising Page 11