The President paused in his address, removing his glasses and blowing on one of the lenses before returning them to dangle on his nose.
"We understood that just having access to the system would not be enough to render the weapon operable. The protocol requires cipher codes and iris scans to arm the system before it is ready for action. I have just been informed by this terrorist group that they have managed to secure the required cipher codes and iris scans for arming the weapons. Let me assure you that there is absolutely no evidence of this being true. We are presently conducting an investigation and there appears to be no sign that the cipher codes or the scans have been compromised."
Lauren Westlake, the National Security Advisor, raised her hand and asked, "Mr. President, are you saying that this Oil Liberation Front group is trying to bluff us into some sort of submission to their cause?"
The President answered without emotion, "I think you see the picture quite clearly, Lauren."
Secretary of Defense Edward Benson stood to his feet. "Mr. President, it seems feasible to me that Staff Sergeant Ensley could have informed them of the need for these ciphers and scans. He would have known that. If they really had the means to connect to the central command computers, surely they would have provided proof?"
"I agree, Edward. I think this group is bluffing. The question is...do we call that bluff?"
Blaine Farnsworth, Head of National Security raised his hand. "Mr. President, what if the console operator downloaded the entire program from the Base's super computer and subjected it to the power of a quantum computer? Would they not be able to find out what the ciphers would be?"
The President looked thoughtful. "I suppose that might be possible, Blaine, but I think it highly improbable. There are only a handful of quantum computers available that might be able to do that in such a short time. The technology is still in its infancy."
Silence reigned for about five seconds as the Council members gave the matter some thought. Then suddenly everybody started speaking at once. There was a cacophony of voices until Cassie Williamson shouted above the noise for everyone to be quiet.
The President continued. "I know this whole business has come as a shock to us but we must not panic. We need to remain calm and work on a plan. The Oil Liberation Front has made a few demands. Cassie, will you please read out the communication?"
"Certainly, Mr. President." Cassie held up a printed page and began to read:
To the President of the United States of America:
We, the Oil Liberation Front, are a group of people, resident within many countries, who believe that the signing of the Global Energy Participation Agreement was an ill-conceived and manipulated accord designed to cripple the Oil Industry as a whole. We do not believe that oil, as a fuel, is the sole contributor to Global Warming or the drastic ecological changes that the Earth has undergone. There are many other factors involved. The OLF has a pact to change the agreement, particularly the transition period, to prevent a mass melt-down of the world economy.
You thought you were safe from the use of the Cerberus system against your country and others because of the requirement of cipher codes and iris scans for the arming of the weapon—well, you were wrong, Mr. President! Your security has been compromised, and we will use SWANC against you and any other country that stands in our way.
Starting tomorrow, July 14, 2026, we will give you four days to draw up a new agreement and have it signed and ratified by all the participating countries changing the conditions and terms of the transition. The G8 countries, Mr. President, will all take your lead. We believe that there is a place for Helium-3 in the future but not to the exclusion of oil. The new agreement should reflect a more gradual transition with Helium-3 playing a lesser, supplementary role to oil. We also have taken control of your lunar mining facility, and as of today, there will be no further mining until further notice.
The new agreement, to be drawn up between the United States and the associate countries, will be broadcast by the Accord Chairman to the World on international television, on July 18, 2026 at 12:00 p.m. EST. The OLF hopes to gain your cooperation and that of the participating countries during these trying times, because, sir, the alternative is too ghastly to contemplate. We are well able to carry out our threat, so please do not test our resolve.
The Chairman.
Oil Liberation Front.
The room was deathly quiet for ten seconds as the NSC members all looked around at each other. Then, the President spoke. "Well, ladies and gentlemen, there you have it. Now we also know that the loss of communication with the lunar mining project is the work of their hands. The demands are clear and concise and we need to decide how to respond. I say we call their bluff!"
Everyone remained silent and then slowly the members got to their feet, one by one, until all were standing. Basil Horne, Vice President of the United States, was the first to show his agreement. "We do not negotiate with terrorists," he voiced loudly and started clapping. He was followed by Edward Benson and then Cassie Williamson. Eventually all the NSC members were clapping and voicing their agreement.
∞∞
Chapter Twelve
More Disruption on the Lunar Dig Site
Monday, July 13, 2026
0700 hours
Chen Ng arrived at Dig Site One to investigate the sudden breakdowns of three robotic excavators. This was highly unusual and the prospect of production downtime loomed, clouding his normally upbeat personality.
He had never experienced this many excavators offline at any one time and felt a little overwhelmed. All machines had scheduled times for maintenance and the three excavators in question had recently been through routine scrutiny for problems. Chen's shift cross-over, Shou Satou, a native of Japan, was equally troubled by the event. The first breakdown happened at the end of Shou's shift and due to low oxygen levels in his tanks, he had not had time to diagnose the cause, so the problem was left for Chen to rectify.
The two maintenance specialists had discussed possible causes of the breakdown during cross-over before Chen left the control room to start his shift. On the way to the dig site, one of the operators contacted him to say that two more excavators had broken down. He stopped in at Processor One to check on the inventory of excavator parts and modules kept for general maintenance hoping that the breakdowns might be of a minor nature. After the inventory check he made his way back through the airlock to the waiting machines.
A quick look at the square box housing the robotic computer on the first excavator revealed that the cover had been opened recently. The two fastening screws had red dots of paint that mechanics always lined up to 90 percent on the horizontal. The red dots on the screws were out of alignment. Chen knew that Shou would never breach that maintenance protocol, so someone else had unscrewed the cover and retightened it.
He checked the computer box covers on the other two excavators and found that those had also showed signs of tampering. Removal of the cover from the first excavator box cover confirmed Chen's suspicion. The motherboard had been completely destroyed. He was flabbergasted. Someone had deliberately struck the motherboard several times with a heavy metal instrument, maybe a wrench.
Chen switched on communications with Lunar Base Control and called for the on-shift Operations Manager.
Timmy Rose came on immediately, "What have you found, Chen? We see that another two excavators have stopped working!"
Chen spoke softly, a quiver in his voice. "We have an incident regarding these three machines. I can't fix them immediately." He was reticent to talk openly about the problem in accordance with John Miller's instructions regarding secrecy.
"Will the machines be out of action for a while?" queried Timmy, sensing that something was wrong.
"For a time," said Chen with some resignation. "I'll need to come back for spares and see what I can do."
"10-4, Chen. I'll talk to you when you get back. We'll bring one of the spare machines into action for the time being," Timmy
Rose concluded.
Chen shuddered as he followed the conduit of wiring to the working parts of the excavator. Whoever did this has committed an act of sabotage, he thought to himself. The conduit had been opened at the first bend, the wiring cut off and removed. It would take hours to replace it in the one-sixth gravity conditions of the moon. Production would definitely suffer with only one spare machine trying to take up the slack. However, they needed to keep the other machines spare for routine maintenance scheduled for the shifts to come.
There was nothing else Chen could do for the moment, so he made his way back to the Base and spoke to Timmy Rose. He shared what he had found and Timmy immediately sought out the Base Commander. They asked if they could talk to him immediately and he acquiesced.
*
Jet Goodman arrived at the dig site with one thing on his mind—to find more evidence of the explosion. That was the final outcome of the discussions with John Miller and the others; there had to be someone on-site deliberately trying to sabotage the operation. Murder might even be a part of the plan.
John was not yet ready to declare a crisis but he certainly wanted everyone to be extremely careful. The problem was that any of the mining team could be a suspect so he was not ready to make a direct approach to the entire team. More clarity was required and discretion was of the utmost importance. The first and best option was to wait and watch.
Jet approached Processor One and parked the Beast outside the entrance. He knew there was a collapsible ladder inside that could be used to climb up to the processor's roof, fourteen feet above the regolith. The rooftop was not made for ease of movement and he had to be careful not to slide off. Even in low gravity, a fall from that height might do damage to the suit. Clambering up the ladder took a great amount of effort with its corresponding use of oxygen. When he was on top he could see Jensen Crater, where Chen had stopped to pick up his toolbox before returning to Processor One.
The landscape was reasonably flat and bare, and he soon lost interest in the view from his lofty perch. He moved toward the main exhaust vent that released the unwanted gasses from the heating processes and stooped over the oval release flap. A small titanium case with a short antenna was stuck to the neck of the main vent. A closer investigation revealed a tiny glass lens on one end of the case. This was what he was looking for—a miniature video camera with a built in transmitter.
Jet pulled on the case, which appeared to be magnetized and it popped off the neck of the vent. So this is how it was done! His pulse rate quickened as he stuffed it into the pocket in the leg of his suit. To find the camera was one thing but to find its owner was another. There had to be a receiver for it somewhere on the Base to pick up the signal. Lui Wong would know exactly how this worked and how its owner could be traced. Jet realized he would need to be careful because he didn't know Lui that well. She might even be involved, for all he knew! John Miller would have to make that call.
He continued with testing and monitoring of the various products being produced from the regolith. Several square miles of the moon's surface were being mined to a depth of ten feet by the twenty working excavators, servicing two processors. This alone would yield 300 pounds of Helium-3 from each processor for every square mile. There were other considerations, such as separating oxygen, titanium, and silicone from the same soil and Processor One housed the mechanisms for the collection of these materials. Sampling was a standard procedure in Jet's routine and kept him busy most of the time.
Glancing at the HUD, Jet checked the time and his oxygen levels—1600 hours, the oxygen at the 20 percent level. It was time to return to the Base. He couldn't get over how quickly the time had slipped away while he had been busy with the process. Chen had left sometime earlier, and he noticed that three excavators were motionless, no doubt requiring more than on-the-spot maintenance. That seemed odd. It was rare for that many machines to be down at the same time.
The Beast was waiting patiently like a servile mount ready to do Jet's bidding. He had been nervously vigilant throughout the shift, remembering the incident at the solar array, but nothing out of the ordinary had transpired. He looked forward to a meeting with John Miller to discuss the camera and the involvement of Lui Wong, their IT specialist. The trip back was uneventful.
Jet found the Commander in his office, busy with paperwork. Miller waved him to the chair opposite the desk and Jet sat down, waiting for the Commander to finish typing which took all of five more seconds before he looked up and smiled.
"Hi, Jet, what's on your mind?"
Jet pulled out the camera case and placed it on the desk.
"I found what I was looking for! This is how, whoever it was, managed to see me approaching the solar array before the explosion," he said pointing to the case.
Miller examined the camera with its antenna and raised his eyebrows.
"A video transmitter! You were right—found on Processor One's roof?" the Commander queried.
"Yes, Sir. I want to know if we can get Lui Wong involved to find the computer that's being used to receive the signal."
John Miller looked thoughtful and replied, "Leave it with me. I'll think about it. We may have no other option but to involve her but I would like to think it through. Oh, and two more things: first, Chen discovered a deliberate act of sabotage!"
Jet looked puzzled. "I did notice that three of the excavators servicing Processor One were not in operation."
Miller looked solemn as he leaned back in his chair. "Yes, Chen discovered that the control boxes of all three machines have been tampered with. It will take many hours to repair the damage."
"That means we will start falling behind in production! Earth Mission Control will be upset," responded Jet peering intensely at the camera case on the desk. "What was the second thing?"
Miller looked pensive. "Yesterday at 0900 hours we lost all contact with EMC. At first we thought the problem was on EMC's side but I asked Lui Wong to check the main external antenna—she found that someone has damaged it! I asked Chen to see if he could fix it but with all the machines down, it will just have to wait."
Jet drew a deep breath. "We'll have to tell the others what's going on. This is not looking good."
John nodded his agreement, "It certainly doesn't, but we won't tell them the real cause just yet—not until we can track down this individual—or individuals!"
Jet fidgeted with the cuff of his LCVG and retorted, "I concur with that. It's all the more reason to bring Lui Wong into this."
"I will give it my consideration," said Miller.
"Thank you, sir," said Jet, rising from the chair. "I'll wait to hear from you. Perhaps we can talk to her together. I believe involving her would be a step in the right direction."
Jet left the office and went to his room to remove his LCVG. When he had donned some jeans and a T-shirt, hunger took over and he headed for the self-serve.
Beth Eaton was busy heating up food in the microwave and she smiled at him as he entered.
"Hi, Jet," she said pleasantly. "Having a good day?"
"Yes, in fact it hasn't been bad—just very busy. I had to do testing in both the processors and it takes hours."
She lowered her voice, "Have you made any headway on our problem?"
With Beth being one of those involved, he felt no hesitation in sharing the day's find with her. "Yes, I found a small surveillance camera on the top of Processor One. I left it with John. John also mentioned that according to Chen Ng, some sabotage has been committed on a few of the excavators, plus our EMC communication antenna has been damaged."
"Interesting!" said Beth looking into his eyes. "I wonder who would want to retard the project's progress and also have you out of the way?"
"I may not necessarily have been the actual target. Whoever it is may just want to make a statement," replied Jet as he searched the frozen meals in the freezer for something he felt inclined to eat.
"You mean there's somebody on the team who resents the transition to Helium
-3?"
Jet found a meal and removed it from the freezer. "Exactly," he said matter-of-factly, slipping the meal into the microwave.
"Do you think there's real danger in this for any of us?" she asked, her eyes reflecting concern.
Jet looked at her and nodded. "Yes, I think we should all be extra vigilant but not show any alarm to the others. John will let us know how we should proceed."
"Do you have any idea who it could be?"
Jet looked thoughtful. "Not really. It could be anyone. We can't rule out any particular person until we have more evidence. I have asked the Commander to consider asking Lui Wong to investigate all the incoming signals."
"The guilty party could have that sort of equipment hidden somewhere," said Beth, looking doubtful.
"That's true, but we'll use the process of elimination and see how far we can get!"
"Are you feeling okay?" she asked, giving him a tender look. "Do you need anything to help you sleep?"
Jet smiled, feeling good about her concern for his welfare, despite the fact that it was her job; she genuinely appeared to care.
"I'm good, but thanks for caring," he answered appreciatively.
Beth smiled and left the self-serve to work her way toward the Control Room, leaving Jet to finish his meal. He gazed after her as she maneuvered through the doorway of the self-serve. He knew it would not take much to form more than just a strong physical attraction to her.
At that moment the com burst into life and John Miller was asking for him to come to the Commander's office. Jet quickly finished his meal and returned to Miller's office, hopeful that some progress would now be made toward gathering more information.
The Commander was waiting for him as he worked his way down the hallway to the office. It was just as well that Miller's office was separate from the Control Room. At least it afforded a greater amount of privacy for their deliberations. Jet entered and immediately sat down eagerly awaiting the Commander's decision.
"I have given the situation some consideration," said Miller, ready to share what was on his heart.
The Helium-3 Conspiracy Page 9