by Keith Martin
“You get back to work now, that’s an order from your President.”
They both laughed, and said their goodbyes.
* * *
Ashley just sat for a while, more than a little amazed. She was now an adviser to the President of the United States. What would come across her desk next?
7 Look What I Found
On the Moon Otto tied into every department on the base as he visited every inch of the place. He understood that for them to create a world able to sustain human life on the Moon all of them would have to work as one. As a military base it had run by the brute force of will, now it would have to become a living ecosystem that would hold the seeds of mankind safe for the future.
He stopped into Command and Control and requested access to the public address system. It was shift change and the whole crew of S.M.B. would hear his words at once.
“Good morning S.M.B. This is Otto Chisholm. I would like to ask all department heads and all personal interested to meet me in the chow hall for our first base wide meeting of minds. Lets call it in one hour so that we all have time to get ready. Thanks all for your time and Ill see you there. That is all.” He thanked the controller for the mic time and headed into the Base Commanders Office. “Fred do you have a few seconds?” He asked entering the office without knocking.
Fred invited him to have a seat and sat back to see what was going to happen next. “How can I help you Otto?” He got the ball rolling.
Otto knew he was stepping on the Commanders toes a little and he didn’t want to make an enemy of him. “Fred we need to talk.”
“I was noticing that a few seconds ago when you called for a base wide department head meeting without checking with Control first. But I will admit that I’m more curious what the meetings for then the scuff on my boot polish?” He simply made light of the situation. There was no training manual on this situation and he was just going to roll with it and help all he could along the way.
Otto figured shooting from the hip with this old warhorse would just save time and effort. “Fred we have to create a living, breathing world for the personal on the Moon and for the generations that could be stuck here for the rest of time. The military base design that was drawn up for S.M.B. wont work under this new need. We have to change the way we do things here or it will kill us all in the end. We wont get to resupply when things run out.”
Fred could run a military base like a well-oiled machine, running a planet was just a bit over his pay grade. “Otto this whole jump starting a planet is a bit beyond the training I was given. I’ll be the first one to admit I need some help. So what do we do first?”
* * *
An hour later Otto stood with Fred by his side, the top of a table used for their stage. The chow hall was standing room only. Fred got the ball rolling the only way he thought he could. It was pass the buck time. “Thank you all for your time this morning. Before I make a fool of myself I’m going to turn this meeting over to Otto, from now on an order given by Otto is an order given by the Commander of this base. Will this meet with everyone’s approval?” There was no dissention in the ranks what so ever.
Otto thanked Fred and continued. “I’m not the answer to every problem that comes down the pipe, but I am going to be able to answer or find the person to give you the right answer most of the time. Lord knows I’m not perfect. Now with that said, we as a people must make this base and the Alpha Chamber into a new world for us to live in. So first on the list of needed systems is for oxygen production and carbon dioxide scrubbing. Next will be food production and all other systems fall under these. I want reports from all department heads daily on their progress to complete their parts of this equation. All needed personal will be working to create this world of ours to live on. Those here and in charge will pull personal from the flights as they arrive to create your crews. Train them to do the work needed then have them train more personal to get the work done faster as they arrive from the planet. We need all the greenhouses up and running as quickly as possible. Lets use the bulk of the arriving personal to build the greenhouses and to add a few extra greenhouses just because I love a good breath of fresh air.” The crowd had a chuckle but quieted quickly.
“All arriving personnel utilized on the greenhouse crews will be holding these positions for a few months at least, set up a training program to get them up to speed and on the job as quickly as possible.” He looked to Ton next. “Once you have your six hundred miners, will that keep you until we finish the greenhouses?”
“That will do me just fine for now. As the greenhouses are brought on-line all personnel interested in helping out on the digging crew report to me or my brother Steve for reassignment to our crew.” Ton made his report quickly.
“I say we split the rest of the arriving personnel into two crews. Crew one will be the unloading and set up crews. It will be the backbone of this entire operation. It is your duty to make sure the shuttles are downloaded as quickly as possible after every crossing and all needed supplies delivered to the proper departments. Then you will be responsible for the installation of all the prefab housing unites arriving from Earth.” He had them all on the edge of their seats. For the first time since most had arrived on the Moon there was someone taking control of the situation and doing something about it.
“People we have to utilize the prefab base as planed to house the personal as we arrive here to start this colony. We wont have time to use Alpha it is not ready to house us. As quickly as these units arrive we have to try to install them. For now lets throw out the original design of the base and start figuring out how to get a base online and completed with what we can get here before the flights to Earth have to stop.”
“Once crew one is completely manned all arriving personal will belong to crew two. Crew two will be the support staff that will be utilized to fill in where needed and keep the rest of the crews working ballsout. The chow hall will be operating twenty-four seven from now on. The work schedules will be rotated to stop a rush at mealtime. This crew will fill in where ever things start to fail to keep us all working towards our common goal. The survival of Mankind!”
Now he figured it was time to reel in the whole crew to his way of thinking. “I am not able to do this on my own folks. I’m just a man here before you scared like heck because the world we once knew is gone. But its time to Cowboy up and ride this one all the way. This will take us all working, as one, we all know that. But it will also take every one of our brains connected in this common direction. If you know of or are thinking up a better way to do anything, we want to hear your voice. We are assembling the best people we can up here, PhD’s will be digging rocks for a while that’s a fact, but a smart PHD will see ways to make the hard easier. This is what we are all looking for in every department. If you see a way to make this a better place, then please talk to me?” He let them all drink in his words for a few seconds knowing how to work his team.
“Now, back to work. Greenhouses, housing, dig rocks, feed us all, in that order. Agreed?” The single roaring voice of the whole crew agreed he was guiding them in the right direction.
* * *
Shianne sat in the truck looking out at the ball field in Central Park. She was exhausted from all the hours of work she’d done in the past week. Not to mention what her life had been like before that. She knew she must stink to high heaven. She hadn’t had a shower in way too long. The fires all around the eastern seaboard that tried to destroy the masses of bodies had belched a stench into the air choking all in its path. The smoke from the pyres was turning mid-day into dusk. It truly looked like the end of the world was coming.
Reports were starting to come in confirming the road out of the city was finally cleared and traffic was starting to flow out into the country.
She could still see bodies out on the lawns. Now the park was scattered with women’s bodies. They were the prey of desperate subhuman beasts, those who hurt and kill others to rob them of whatever they had.
She sat there taking in everything when it hit her. The bang? Like a shot? But was it a shot? It was real close; everyone had heard it and reacted as if under fire. But was it a shot?
She checked her Glock, keeping it in hand she got out of the truck, she was not far from where she had been that day. Walking over to the Red Leaf Maple tree she spotted a Chi’s container from her lunch hung up under the Azaleas that skirted the old maple. Then she realized Chi was dead. It hit her hard; she had known him for many years.
Her tears flowed freely leaving streaks through the filth on her face as she thought of what had brought her to this spot again. She stood there trying to recall where the sound had come from. She could see the children hit the ground. She was saddened to think that our children were trained to do such a thing. Like good fighting men. “Pow…” and all hit the ground. Then she remembered what she had missed.
The children were looking in the same direction. It was off to the right of the ball field. So whatever it was must have come from that direction. She knew it would have to be close. She had heard weapons fired thousands of times and this sound whatever it was would be no more than a few hundred yards away. She searched through the lawn area out under the surrounding trees and found nothing to be concerned with.
Walking back on the trail through the park she spotted a sign directing her to the rose garden. It was in the right direction so she gave it a try.
Just a few seconds into the rose garden she spotted it. A crater a few yards wide, maybe a yard deep. Ejecta from the impact lay in the standard pattern covering an area at least ten yards across cut the walkway in two. Whatever it was it was moving fast when it hit. She looked in the hole, then got on her cell phone. This she would have to pass on right away.
“Hi Ashley, no I’m fine. I’m in the park now. I called because I just found what looks like an impact crater in the rose garden.”
“Is this for real?” Ashley knew her sister could be a con artist just to see if she would fall for it.
“If you like, I’ll dig up whatever made it myself?” She shot back teasing her sister.
Ashley believed her. “Ok, how big are we talking?” truth was in her voice so Ashley just rolled with it.
“Two yards across, a yard deep, dirt thrown for thirty feet or so, I don’t see any meteor in it. But then I would think it would be buried some. If you would like I could go digging around to see what I find?” She knew that would have Ashley in action.
“Don’t you touch a thing; we don’t know what it could do. Get away from it. I’m sending a team, and we are on the way. I’ll delay your ride until we can land together ….Do you copy that?”
“You’re not the boss of me.” Shianne jest. “Copy …” Then added. “I’ll be on the grassy knoll for your touchdown. Don’t worry sis, I’ll be good.” As she hung up she knew Ashley would call out the National Guard for this one.
* * *
Ashley set up the tracking network that was monitoring the progress of the virus. She e-mailed and called everyone she knew around the globe to help out. This information was published in real time as the virus progressed across the planet.
Many told her she was being an alarmist; they believed that the Atlantic being such a vast body of water would some how capture and absorb the virus from the air. Others tried to hide from it.
* * *
The virus swept across Europe, and the Arab states first, then the wind carried it into Africa and India. The virus now had a united front that covered a line, seven thousand miles long. The winds decided how fast and how far it would travel and it grew with each passing hour.
The virus was moving through the lower atmosphere only. The upper level winds, the jet stream, did not carry it at first. If it had it would have enveloped the Earth with the virus in just days. The virus was averaging just ten to fifteen miles an hour.
By the time it reached the pacific coast, another five billion would be dead.
* * *
In these areas of death, the women were not faring well. With their men dead, many chose death rather than living on without them. Some killed their daughters, believing the family could be together in Heaven. A massive wall of diseases followed in the wake of the virus.
* * *
Millions of women died in third world nations, they fell everywhere of fevers and dehydration. It was escalating into a mass depopulation of humans on Earth. Entire island nations were wiped out. Densely populated areas were hit hardest. The ones who survived this time of death were the farmers and the mountain people who lived in small groups in remote areas. Their lives had always been so hard that the death of their men was just another change in their way of life forced upon them by nature. They simply buried their dead and started working to survive.
* * *
The old fleet of Columbia Class Shuttles did their best to help out. They would pick up loads where they were stationed in orbit and return to SMB. At this point everything they could get off planet was a good thing. So every Shuttle in the fleet did its best to deliver every pound of supplies to could to S.M.B.
Warehouses on the Moon were filled to capacity and the alpha chamber was being used to hold the continuing flood of supplies of every description. Food, tools, loaders, and personnel were being moved at a pace not thought possible.
Joshua had it under control with the help of S.M.B. Mission Control and his copilot Conman. It was all working flawlessly with the help of the crews and personnel pushing themselves to the limit.
It took two hours to fuel, load and preflight a Galaxy Shuttle for a mission on Earth. Two more hours would have it over the orbiting supply depot; the loads disgorged and back on the planet for another load. This was making for some fast turn-round’s.
Joshua and Pete, where not leaving the cockpit of G-1, they ate and caught catnaps when they could. It was wearing on them, but no one was about to suggest they take a break. With Joshua’s experience as a Shuttle pilot, G-1 was delivering loads into orbit faster then the rest of the fleet. He used his performance with G-1 to drive the other pilots to push their ships harder taking more loads into orbit.
Pilots and copilots were spelling one another during these missions. One would sleep while the other would take Command. It worked for catching a catnap but most of the crews hadn’t been off their ships for a week. It was showing on them all.
* * *
The population of S.M.B. had grown from just over three hundred to a staggering thirteen hundred in the first seven days. The greatest young minds on the planet were now on the Moon and some of their Professors had followed them up. Most of them were men, a few were women, and the number of women was growing. Getting the men off Earth was the original intent, but what if they could never return; what then?
It was a question that required input from Doctor Chris Walker.
Chris Walker; a Doctor of Geology from MIT. He had earned his position as a Commander of the base by heading up the design team that created it. “Joshua, we have nine hundred and forty men and two hundred sixty women on base now. If men can never return to the Earth, pickings will be real slim. Correct this for me, please? Over.”
“Roger that, but where are we going to put them Chris? I know we will have room in a few months, but what about now? And air for them all? ” Joshua needed someone to do the thinking for his energy-zapped brain. The workload was overwhelming him, how could they ever accomplish such a massive task?
Otto walked into S.M.B. Command and Control overhearing the conversation. He knew what to do. “Tell him I said to just do as you asked. We can take a lot more women if we have to, after all they are small.” He made light of the situation.
Joshua overheard his father and added. “Yea…we can kick Dad out and I will keep ten of them at my place. You know I just want to help out, over.” He volunteered wryly.
Chris held the activated mic up to Otto. “Tell my walking hormone to keep his pants on Chris, we will hot rack them. If we work them eight hours off and s
ixteen hours on, we can get three women to a bunk. That’s how we do it until we get caught up on their living quarters. We can also use the extra greenhouse that’s coming online if we have to. Just dorm them up in the greenhouse and keep the shade activated all the time so they can sleep in there. Tell him to bring up another three hundred men and seven hundred women. We‘ll see if we have more room after we get those personnel on base. Tell him to bring all the liquid oxygen he can find; we don’t want to run out. Have Vandenberg fill and send all tanks they can locate. In fact, have them order a pressure vessel that will hold enough oxygen to test the limit of the G-Class lift off capabilities.” He gave this some quick thought. “I want as many of these Oxy tanks delivered full and ready to cross in the next three weeks as we can get our hands on. After that the virus will be just too close to risk it any longer.” Chris released the send button.
Both Chris and Joshua thought Otto was nuts. But he asked for it and he would get it. “I copy that Chris. I can hear him. I think he has gone nuts, but I won’t tell him that to his face. Over.” Chris and Joshua laughed. Otto knew his orders would be executed as he gave them.
* * *
Joshua needed to know how much time they had left before the virus reached the west coast of the United States. It had been several days since they last talked and he knew she would have the latest on the virus’s travel. He dialed two on his cell, she picked up instantly.
“Ashley Chisholm.” He could hear excitement in her voice.
“Hi Ashmo, it’s your bro. I need a progress report on the spread of the virus.”
“Well, it’s been moving pretty steady at twenty to thirty miles an hour over land, but it crossed the Atlantic at closer to forty two. We are lucky it’s moving so slowly. I think we have three more weeks at best. We are lucky because there are low-pressure systems all across Asia extending down into Africa. It’s slowing the advancing line to a walk. I will call you once it’s over the Pacific. After it hits Los Angeles I’m shutting down Vandenberg. It will only be a few hours away at that point, if we get that much time.”