Mother Moon

by Bob Goddard

  Now, as Yonaton heaved himself upright, he appeared shrunken, his calf-skin jacket hanging limp from bowed shoulders. I must look as rough as he does, thought Ben. I smell as bad, that’s for sure. He wrinkled his nose at the acrid odour of stale sweat rising from his soiled clothes.

  “Maybe we should stay in tonight, Yonny my friend,” he said, to lighten the mood. “Give the girls the night off for a change, eh?”

  Their light-hearted banter had helped keep them sane so far. No reason to stop now. Anything to prevent them thinking about the gallows that awaited them in the morning.

  “Hehehe, she was right,” said Yonaton, with a humourless laugh as he scratched his matted beard.

  “Who was right?”

  “Esther.”

  “Esther was right about a lot of things, Yonny my friend,” said Ben. “Any particular one you were thinking of?”

  “She always used to say, whenever she saw their purple-robe processions through the town…” Yonaton’s words dissolved in a coughing fit. He’d developed a rasping hack while they had been incarcerated in the damp stone room at the top of the harbour tower.

  “She used to say,” he gasped for breath, “those religious nutters will be the death of us…” he wheezed. “And in the morning hehehe… they will be! Hehehe…” His laughter dissolved into another spasm of coughing.

  Benyamin smiled in the darkness, despite the pain in his back. “I’m pleased you find it so funny. But be careful not to disappoint them, Yonny. We don’t want to die of laughing before they have the pleasure of putting a rope around our necks.”

  Yonaton’s laughter died on his cracked lips. His hand slipped down from his matted beard to his dry throat and he gulped. Ben was right. Hanging was no laughing matter.

  * * * * *

  Moon, 2087

  “It has been an interesting day,” said Tamala, as the Governor’s progress meeting got underway. “Some media developments and, of course, our new volunteers. They hadn’t come forward earlier because they were trying to persuade the fifth member of their group – Andrei Lanimovskiy – to join them in helping us. But he has declined.”

  “Yes,” interrupted Nadia. “I am ashamed to say he is Russian. Son of body parts business owner.” Her words were more clipped and guttural when she was angry. “Father bought him Greek island for 21st birthday, holiday on Moon for 25th birthday. He is spoilt child. Anyway, please go on, Tamala.”

  “Well, the two ladies in the group, Marina Wong Shee Kai and Neelam Kapoor, wanted to help Will in the Engineering Department. While Will was meeting them, I have been introducing Carlos Ferreira to Lian and getting to know George Niarchos. Mr Ferreira is an industrial chemist from Brazil who made his fortune extracting precious metals and minerals from the sea bed. He believes he can help in our Biosphere. No doubt Lian will tell us more?” Tamala looked over to Lian, who nodded in reply.

  “And Mr Niarchos owns a Greek shipping line. He has offered to help me with personnel related issues. He has studied social psychology and I would call him a genial philosopher. I think he will make a valuable contribution too.

  “Now, media developments. There has been a large response to the comet mining story, as you might expect, but no official reply from the Chinese government. Most countries have questioned their Chinese ambassadors, but it seems they are all under instruction to say nothing.

  “The United Nations, European Union, African Union and Asian Union have all lodged protests that mining may have been undertaken on Comet Santos under a cloak of secrecy. Personally, I’m surprised that a story based on a comment that Will made to his partner, should have provoked such an international outcry.”

  “There is more to it than that,” said Nadia, with a sigh. “Roscosmos already knew that the Chinese were up to something with this comet. And if they knew, you can be sure that others did too.”

  “What?” said Tamala, incredulous. “You mean the Russians knew all about this? When did they know?”

  “When the mining mission launched, apparently. Four years ago.”

  “And you’ve known about it all that time too!?” Tamala was shocked.

  “No! No, I only found out today.”

  “Oh, from your father…”

  “No reason for me to be told. Not until the circumstances changed. The Chinese will admit to it, eventually. But they will try to save face, somehow. They want to be seen as heroes, not villains.”

  “I see,” said Tamala. “So governments around the world knew there was a secret mining operation going on? Yet they chose not to challenge the Chinese about it?”

  “So it seems,” said Nadia. “At least, not publicly.”

  “Why would they do that?”

  “To gain favours. To get first options on any resources extracted, perhaps? Who knows what political horse-trading goes on behind closed doors?”

  “So why are they acting outraged now, calling in ambassadors and so on?” Tamala frowned.

  “To show their citizens how big and brave they are. That they can stand up to China, demand answers, protest. Once the story was out in the open, the rules of the game changed.”

  “This whole thing stinks,” Will said in disgust. “Ginny is being chased around California by the media over something the world’s governments knew about four years ago? Politics is a freaking pile of manure!”

  “I agree with you, Will,” said Sokolova. “Unfortunately it’s how the world works.”

  She turned back to Ngomi: “So, Tamala, what else have you got for us?”

  “Well, there are protests, of course. Chinese embassies around the world are being picketed by angry crowds. But the scientific community is divided. Half of them think that mining the comet is the only possible explanation for its change of course. The rest are saying there is nothing inherently dangerous in such a mining operation. Nothing that could cause a dramatic shift of orbit, anyway. Until the Chinese come clean we are left with unresolved speculation.

  “All things considered, there is relatively little unrest being reported. It appears most people are convinced the deflection mission is a foregone success. The controls placed on the media seem to be working, for now at least.”

  “Thanks to God for that,” said Nadia.

  “Apart from one worrying development,” said Tamala.

  “Go on.”

  “Last night, in America, there was a hold-up at a supermarket.”

  “Huh! That’s not news, Tamala,” said Will. “Since The Great Collapse there are store hold-ups every day right across America. Even California has its share of till robberies.”

  “That’s just the point, Will. A gang armed with assault weapons turned up in four utility vehicles but they didn’t take any money at all. They loaded up huge amounts of food and beer and bottled water, then they paid for the goods in full!”

  “So,” said Nadia, “these people are not convinced the comet will miss, are they? They sound like a survivalist group – preppers, I think they call themselves. Let’s hope their idea doesn’t catch on.”

  “Police are surrounding their compound in the forest,” said Tamala, “but it is like a fortress apparently. They are prepared for a siege.”

  “They’re a bunch of crazies,” said Will. “These survivalist nuts have been waiting years for an opportunity like this. They’re not going to miss their big chance.”

  “I don’t understand,” said Lian in a small, puzzled voice. “Why they steal food and then pay for it?”

  “Well,” explained Tamala, “they aren’t thieves, exactly, Lian. They’re people who don’t want to comply with the anti-hoarding restrictions that were introduced yesterday.”

  “Oh.”

  “It’s only a small incident, but, as Nadia says, it shows that some people think the comet might impact the Earth. They are taking the law into their own hands and stock-piling as a precaution.”

  “Like I say,” added Will, “just a bunch of crazies. I wouldn’t set too much store by them.”


  “We hope you are right, Will,” said Nadia. “Anything else, Tamala?”

  “The socioweb is full of wild claims and disinformation, as you would expect. Everything from the Chinese targeting California, to aliens using comets as missiles to soften up Earth for invasion. But no organised unrest according to my trend-analysis software. Nothing to worry our fellow Lunies unduly.”

  “Okay. Thank you Tamala. What do you have to report, Will?”

  “Well,” he brushed his hand across his bristly scalp, “I gotta admit I wasn’t too happy when you told me two tourists wanted to help in engineering. But it turns out they have expertise we can use.

  “Marina’s working on the printer set-up, modifying electronic film structures and programming. She seems confident we can create some of the components we need. Be a coupla days, but we should be back in business with pumps and relays if it works out the way she plans.

  “Neelam’s working on productivity and already came up with a couple of good ideas. We’ll need to set up some new lines to increase production of PV panels. But now we’ve got more manpower, that’s looking like the way to go. I’d say our tourists are gonna be a big help. I’m pleasantly surprised.

  “The new farm tube fit-out is going well. New photovoltaic panels are underway. The five mill’ tube is half done. Should get that inside for Lian’s fish tanks in the morning, then we can get the next farm tube started.

  “Water retrieval is up, but with only one tractor we can’t haul it out any faster. I’ve made a start on the old scrapper, but it’s slow going as I’ve gotta make new parts from scratch. We’ve enough titanium here – the regolith contains plenty – but smelting and moulding is a real power-hungry process. I’m having to juggle work to free up the juice we need. If I could work nights, when there’s plenty of spare power available, we could get the plass and titanium we need in half the time. But that’s your call, Nadia. All in all we’re making progress but I’d say it’ll be three months before the farm is double in size, the way we’re going right now.”

  “Hmm, okay Will,” said Nadia. “We will keep the night-shift as an option in case we need it. For the time being, I don’t want to introduce another cause of stress. Did you hear from your partner after her run in with the media yesterday?”

  “Yeah, I did. She’s holed up outta harm’s way for now. There are TV crews at Humboldt waiting for her to show up for work tomorrow. Looks like she’s got a few days unplanned vacation until the heat dies down.”

  “I’m guessing,” said Nadia, “that the Chinese government will make an announcement in the next day or two. After that Ginny won’t be news any more. Now, Lian – how are things progressing down on the farm?”

  “Quite…” Lian coughed to clear her throat, “quite well, thank you Nadia.” She looked better for a night’s sleep.

  “Like Will and Tamala, I am happy to have Mr Ferreira bringing his knowledge to the Biosphere. Already he has found ways to recover vital elements from waste recycling. He has some suggestions also for the regolith process. This could help all aspects of the colony’s work.

  “I have some difficulty…” she tittered daintily, “to understand him at times. His accent is quite funny, but we are getting on fine.” She looked up and smiled.

  “Will has told you about progress with the new tube. We have started rice and pulses ready for planting in few days. Also have the fish eggs in propagation trays, ready for the tanks Will is making. We have 79 per cent survival rate after cryo-storage, which is very good. Meats have started also, but awaiting propagators to increase production.

  “Also Mr Magrini came back to work today, after Doctor Rozek gave permission. Only light duties, with his arm in a strap.” Lian demonstrated with her own arm. “And he keeps apologising for his accident. That makes me feel not so guilty about it.” She smiled again.

  “Very well,” said Nadia. “We seem to be making some progress.” She paused to glance at her desk screen. “And now,” she said, “we have a visitor. I have asked Thijs Jansen, our Chief Astronomer, to talk to us about Comet Santos.”

  There was a knock on the Governor’s door and the Dutchman joined them in the crowded office. After introductions, Nadia asked him to give them all the information he could on the comet.

  He tapped his comm to display images on the Governor’s window-screen. The real-time view of Earth – a blue and white hemisphere hanging just above the Moon’s surface – disappeared. A fuzzy ball filled the screen and time-lapse images showed it forming into a classic comet with a magnificent double tail. Comet Santos, he told them, was a short period comet that first appeared in the inner solar system in late 2071. It returned in 2075, reaching its closest distance to Earth on September 18th that year. Analysis showed it had settled into a very short, 3.8 year, elliptical orbit of the sun but posed no threat to the home planet.

  “So, what happened?” It was Will who asked the inevitable question.

  “We don’t know. But I think the Chinese must know.” Then he turned to Lian. “I’m sorry Ms Song, I didn’t mean any offence.”

  She smiled at him and shook her head.

  “So, you think the Chinese were definitely mining this comet, do you?” asked Will.

  “I would be surprised if they weren’t. It’s the obvious choice.”

  “Why do you say that?” asked Nadia.

  “Because it returns near to Earth orbit every four years. Most comets take twenty, fifty or a hundred years to make an orbit. You can’t wait that long to get a return on your investment. Besides, it’s a big comet and full of useful volatiles as well as water. If I wanted to tap a comet for resources to use in space, this is the one I’d go for.”

  “So,” said Nadia, “you can’t say for sure why it changed course, but what would be your best guess? What mechanisms could be responsible?”

  “Well, the usual reason for comets changing orbit is the gravity field of one of the major planets, like Jupiter for instance. That’s most likely what brought it into the inner solar system.”

  “So, could Jupiter be responsible?”

  “No. Not for this recent change. Santos was mapped by early ’72. It wouldn’t pass near enough to any planet to have its orbit disrupted again.”

  “What else could do it, then?”

  “There are only two other candidates. A collision with another comet or asteroid, which is a million-to-one chance. There’s nothing out there to collide with it. Or a major out-gassing event, which seems by far the most likely cause.

  “Comet Santos is unusual,” he continued. “It rotates very slowly, only once every 29 hours. That’s even slower than the Earth is turning. It means that if something were to cause a prolonged out-gassing on Santos then the thrust produced, just like a rocket engine, would be in one direction and cause a change of orbit.

  “It seems most likely that something happened with the mining operation and a large out-gassing resulted. It just happened to be while the comet was facing the wrong way. The resulting thrust vector pushed it onto a collision course with Earth.

  “Although the comet was being tracked by several radio telescopes at the time it changed direction, we don’t have any optical footage until shortly afterwards. There is evidence of a major out-gassing having occurred.” He tapped his comm and images of an outburst from the comet showed on the screen. “But we can’t see what caused it.”

  “If the mining operation suffered a catastrophic blow-out,” said Nadia, “surely the people monitoring it on Earth would know about it?”

  “Yes,” he agreed, “they should do.” He looked again at Lian, but she said nothing.

  “Well,” said Nadia, “let us hope that if one out-gassing caused it to change orbit, another one will push it away from the Earth.”

  “That’s the theory,” he said. “The deflection mission is designed to create a major out-gassing to shift the comet on to a safe trajectory.”

  Will asked the question they all wanted answered: “What do you think are
the chances of success?”

  “Well…” the Dutchman looked uncomfortable and stared down at his hands. “The Astronomical Union has instructed me not to give any opinion when asked this question.”

  “We fully understand, Thijs,” said Nadia. “But we need to make decisions based on expert opinion for the long term safety and security of this colony. So, if you could let us know what you think we can assure you it will not go beyond this office.”

  She looked down at her desk screen and said, “There’s nobody outside. You can speak freely.”

  Ah! thought Will. So that’s how she knew when this guy turned up. She’s installed a mini-cam outside her door since yesterday.

  “Well,” the astronomer looked uncomfortable. “This is an unrehearsed operation. There is no precedent for it, so nobody knows for sure what will happen. The science is good and the maths all add up, but how it will work in practice is anybody’s guess.”

  He looked at each of the others in turn, making eye contact before continuing: “I believe that this mission has a fifty per cent chance of success. If we are lucky, then the comet will be deflected just enough to miss the Earth’s surface by a hair’s breadth. But there will be a huge amount of debris – dust and ice particles – bombarding the atmosphere. Few of these pieces will make it to the surface of the planet, but they could have a serious effect on our assets in orbit. Some satellites will be hit and the two space stations will undoubtedly be affected.

  “You may not have heard – there was an announcement just a few minutes ago – that the International Space Station will be evacuated tomorrow. We expect the Chinese will do the same and vacate theirs. It would be much too risky to leave people up there during the meteor storm.

  “And what about us here on the Moon?” asked Nadia, frowning.

  “With no atmosphere to protect us, the Moon will be vulnerable to the comet’s debris. But thanks to our position in the Lunar orbit at the end of this week, Armstrong Base will be shielded by Mount Malapert. The far side and the top of the mountain will be hit, without a doubt. The PV panels and radio and optical telescopes on that side have a high probability of damage.”