One Giant Leap

by Keith Martin

  He turned to all those gathered in Command and Control to hear his words. “People I want a base wide meeting as soon as all shuttles have been unloaded. Have everyone report to Alpha chamber and I do mean everyone. No one is permitted to miss this meeting.” He gave his orders as he looked over their worried faces. “Don’t go fallen apart on me now people.... its time to shine and fight for life. Don’t forget that.” He reminded them all this was no time to loose it.

  They all gave him their words of support as he exited to room and headed to Alpha chamber to meet with Ton and get a report on the tunneling. He didn’t know how Ton was pulling it off but hard rock seemed to vanish before him turning to vast piles of slag to be removed.

  Otto understood the future of mankind depended on tunneling in and creating a living planet under the surface on the Moon. He was planning a digging party like had never been seen anywhere in the history of mankind. This would become the focus of at least half the personal on the Moon. He was a father of three and he understood just how fast the population was going to grow on the base. He planed to be ready for it.

  * * *

  Otto walked with Joshua and Pete to his right, Fred and Vic to his left down the long ramp in silence as he got his thoughts in line. This was going to be the hardest conversation he was ever going to have in his life. He already missed his girls so completely it was ripping him in two. He was at the vary edge of shock just like everyone on Base and on the International Space Station. There was no going home ever again, that was how he had to start thinking or he was a dead man and he knew it. It was time to make sure all of them were on the same page, one crew united to make a new start for mankind.

  Walking into Alpha Chamber he found every soul on the Moon waiting for him. He was surprised when a roar of applause rose from them all joined in by those escorting him to the chamber. “Thank you all but please take a seat we have to talk and talk now. And I remind you all that ALL OF US DID THIS AND WITHOUT EACH AND EVERY ONE OF US THIS WOULD NOT BE.” He roared to the top of his lungs.

  With all seated he took to the carved stone stage with amphitheater carved to project every sound to all in attendance. Ton had created this place just for a moment like this and he hoped to one-day see a child’s play performed there for him to enjoy.

  “Ok we are stuck here on the Moon, it is that damn simple. I for one do not see Mars as an option for colonization, too darn dry for my liking. And colonization is what we got people or we are stuck on this Moon. We are not returning to the Earth any time soon. We have to start thinking on this as our guiding thought. We need to find a place to move too. We need to build a ship able to go to wherever we have to go. And at the same time we need to act like we are never leaving the Moon and dig in for the long haul.”

  He turned to the base Commander and asked... “By your leave may I have control for the next twenty for hours of our population?”

  “Precede Otto.” He gave him leave to continue and he gained respect for Otto knowing the man understood the chain of Command.

  “For the next twenty four hours the smoking light is lit, the bar is open, please no getting out of control. I am simply giving us all a day to reflect on what has just happened. Time to except the loss of our planet my friends. I’m not being kind... we just lost the Earth and everyone and everything on it. Each and every one of have lost many friends and family members to be here... and only God knows how many will survive the next few weeks on Earth? We may have the easy side of this equation.” He let his words sink in. He didn’t want to push them. He too felt overwhelmed.

  He paused for so long it had everyone on the edge of their seats. It was a touch on the shoulder as Joshua laid his hand on his father in support that gave him the power to continue. He knew his father was trying his hardest not to break.

  Like a spark feeling his Son’s hand made all the confusion clear, he could see a future, he would be together as a family again. They just had to figure out how to make it happen. “I will be posting work schedules in twelve hours, all Department Heads report to Command and Control to help us make sure all departments are fully manned. All extra personal will be reassigned to areas as needed and there will always be Ton’s crew to join. As soon as this leave is finished I want all Shuttle Commanders to report for missions to go fetch everything you all parked in orbit.” He inhaled deeply and added. “This will be the last leave for the duration people, you find us a place to go to and when we get there we can talk of leave again. Until then we are working to get there. AGREED?” He roared out loud and clear.

  Joshua leaned in close so his father could hear his words over the roar of the crew. “Dad me and Pete are out of here, most of the Shuttle crews are coming with us until we have all supplies on the Moon waiting to be used. Most of our security forces are going with us to help out also. Your crews will need what we fetch when they get finished with their party.”

  “Ok Son, you’re right, 48 hour passes as soon as you get all the supplies on station for your crews. Get with me on a schedule?”

  “No Dad. I’m leaving with my birds. Make sure we have a unloading crew and we will be fueling and flying until we are finished.” Joshua proved to his father and the Base Commander that he was truly a Commander and ready to go the extra mile. If he had to push his people he would lead them all the way.

  Before Otto could say a word Joshua got his team rolling. He faced the crews and raised his hands to quiet them quickly. “All Shuttle Crews... mount up. All unloading crews we will be returning in six hoursish, have a great time and have crews online when we return.” He turned to his father and they embraced. “See you in two weeks Dad.” And he was gone again.

  The pace was set and the fight for survival was on for everyone on the Moon.

  In the next 24 hours Otto was sure everyone had stopped in to have a few drinks after pulling their shifts, even he stopped in to see the bar and meet with the shift Commanders after a shift change. But not a single soul on the Moon took a leave of any kind and he didn’t witness a single drunken member of the crew stumbling out of the bar or walking through the halls.

  No one gave into their pain; they all just got to work making a life for them all.

  * * *

  Shianne spent nine weeks with Ashley waiting for the flies to clean up the dead. The swarms of flies, the clouds of flies, the storms of flies, were something never seen on Earth in all history. They were so thick near the big cities that they would kill by filling the lungs of their victims with their mass. They digested the biomass of dead flesh and then hunted for more.

  The winds carried billions, Trillions of them out to sea; their bodies filled the surface of the water as they fell exhausted from the sky. The fish did their part filling their bellies on this new bounty. Every day there were more and more flies to feast on. Every day the numbers of them fell as Mother Nature helped to bring balance back to Earth.

  For a few months the bounty fell into the seas of planet Earth. This jumpstarted the whole ecosystem on a path to recovery from all the damage Man had done.

  Mother Earth was cleansing herself of the hell she was being put through. The loss of most of the human population didn’t bother her. It was a good thing. She could now heal what had been destroyed and poisoned by man.

  It was the beginning of a new page in Earths history.

  8 A New Homecoming

  Shianne hung out and helped Ashley all she could while the insects made going outside impossible. From Ashley’s third floor office the view of this happening was both amazing and disgusting at the same time.

  At first it was just a few swarms passing by, a few thousand or tens of thousands in a single swarm. They would light around on everything looking for dead flesh. The walls of the lab would be spotted with their masses.

  After her seventh day at the lab she and Ashley stayed up late talking about what the future would hold for them. There was no silver lining in their stories; they had no time for pussyfooting around about it. It was go
ing to be bad and Ashley was glad Shianne was with her. Shianne crashed on her office couch spent from thinking of it all and Ashley covered her with a blanket to keep her warm before returning to her work.

  Shianne woke to this tap tap tapping that would not stop. Her fogged mind woke to focus on the big floor to ceiling windows covering the office wall as she lay there wanting the sound to stop and let her sleep.

  The mass of flies in flight was impacting the windows and the sound of it woke her. The swarms were like clouds drifting in dark bands seeking a feast for their young. Areas of the window were completely blacked out by their masses. Ashley told her it would withstand the impact of an RPG so she didn’t worry about it giving in. She stood and walked up to get a closer look, as she grew close she prayed this would be a once in a lifetime event.

  It lasted for thirty-nine days straight. Some days were better then others. All were filled with massed swarms of flies. For eight days the day turned to shade and the swarms seemed to fill the sky with their masses. Even at night the relentless swarms passed by searching dead flesh to feast on.

  Under Ashley’s direction the labs were sealed to withstand the attack. Free took a hand in the reinforcement of the base by going behind Ashley and adding another layer of protection to her designs. All the seals worked flawlessly. Not a single member of the crew was lost while the flies ruled the world.

  * * *

  After six months at the lab Shianne decided she had had enough and she needed to go home. Ashley asked her to stay on with her again just wanting to have her right there safe with her. She won the augment when she told her sister it was time a Chisholm was at the Chisholm spread.

  Ashley couldn’t argue with her about that and she knew it. The family ranch was sitting there unattended and too much work had been done there to allow it to become overgrown and fall into disrepair.

  With Free at the controls of the gunship, Shianne took a ride out to the family’s ranch. She figured with the total collapse of industry across the planet, there was no real need for a rocket scientist until they could begin teaching the young how to help restore the planet to the industrial giant it had been.

  But that was still in the future and she didn’t want to become a lab rat with her sister. She figured she would become a rancher and live on the land she was raised on for a few years until things got settled and the colleges had a chance to start teaching again. She knew it would be years before her services would be needed… if they were ever going to be needed again.

  The flight was uneventful. The women of the armed forces held power over the landscape. So fuel was still available when the need arose. They appointed themselves the police force of the planet until governments could recover from the ashes of the death of men on Earth and it was through their efforts that the basic supplies, fuel, water and power were still flowing.

  Free was the Commander of her area of operations now. Free included this area to be all the lands within a thirty-minute flight by gunship from the lab complex. This area covered a circle 300 miles across. It was Free and her troupers that were keeping the power flowing and the water pouring forth in Her area. She also had the women of her area starting to think as a single unit with crops spread out on collective farms and all this started as soon as the skies cleared.

  As soon as the insects died off Free flew over the whole area to see who and what had survived the infestation. To her surprise the farm and wild animals both pulled through with heavy losses, but they did pulled through. The bones of the dead lay everywhere showing proof of the carnage that was endured by all. The old and the sick were all gone now as well as most of the young. This left a strong stock of beasts to start breeding up a new generation of their kind on Earth.

  * * *

  She knew her father had left his old gray truck out at Vandenberg, so she had Free drop her off there. She knew it would feel good to just sit where he spent so much time.

  Free knew it was going to be some time before she got to see Shianne again. Shianne had made quite an impression on her during their time in the sealed labs. There had been plenty of time for board games and getting to know each other as the insects forced them to take shelter. She was saying goodbye to a true friend. “I want you to stay in touch and I want you to vow you will contact us as soon as you get to the ranch and let us know your safe! Promise me you will call?” She demanded as she set the gunship down.

  “Your on speed dial Free. Don’t worry about that. Ashley would just send out the Cavalry to find me in three days anyway. So to save everyone all that effort on little ol me I’ll just call and let you know your all suckers for not joining me.” She shot back and they embraced before Shianne disembarked.

  Upon landing she was taken directly to the Base Commanders Office. There she met Colonel Karen North. She was the new Base Commander and Commander of her area of operations… California. “We lost most of base personnel to disease after the virus killed all the men. The heat out here was not kind to us at all and there was no disposing of the bodies before the maggots started doing their work. I’ve only a few hundred women who stayed on to secure the base. We keep training for when the Galaxy Shuttles again come to take on their loads. We did get them all off the planet in time.”

  “They got plenty of men off the planet.” Shianne stated.

  “It’s a start. Hopefully it will be enough to save us. After all, we started with just two, if you believe in that story. The future looks bleak, but it still looks like a future. We just have to figure out how we will make it happen. What was it like on the east coast?”

  “Hell, flies, death. I’m sure it was a lot like out here in the cities. If you didn’t seal yourself in, you’re dead right now. I’m just glad that the Earth is healing itself so quickly. The flight out here reveled massive herds of wildlife gathering up and there were birds in magnificent flocks in every valley. It proves how strong the planet really is.”

  “Yes, the planet is bouncing back quickly. How are things going at your sister’s lab? Is she any closer to finding a cure?”

  Shianne was waiting for these questions. She knew she would have to try to answer these same questions, over and over again, before Ashley found the cure. If she could find the cure! “They are all working nonstop, Ashley won’t sleep until she figures it out, and she might kill herself finding it.” She answered gruffly. She didn’t mean too. “I’m sorry Colonel; it’s been a long hard road.” She apologized while putting her head in her hands. It was obvious she was spent.

  “No Shianne, forgive me for asking stupid questions. Of course Ashley is doing all she can and more to cure the planet. I’m a fool Shianne, and an old fool at that. Tell me what I can do to help you. Do you need a place to stay? How about a shower with unlimited hot water?”

  “No Colonel, I’ll be going out to the ranch right away. My family has a large cattle ranch four hundred miles north of here. If I need anything from you I’ll trade you fresh beef for it. How’s that sound to you?”

  “It’s a deal Shianne, I’m sure things will be in short supply until we get things running again. Thank God there are a few hundred thousand of us women in the armed forces. We will help get things going again. Word right now is to stand down and guard our bases and secure our areas of operation. There are a few bad apples raising a fuss out there and any of them in our area of operation will be taken out immediately.”

  Shianne liked this Colonel; she sounded as if she could run the base and police the surrounding area just fine. She knew it would take some time for things to even take on a semblance of normalcy. “I’ll keep my eyes open up in the valley. If I need you I’ll be calling, and you bring in the troops. But be ready to stay for dinner when were done moping up what ever the trouble was!”

  The two shook hands and sealed their allegiance. They both knew that sticking together was the only way they were going to live through this.

  With that settled, she was taken to Old Gray with orders to top off her fuel tanks before lea
ving the base. As she readied the truck she was given ammo and a M-16 from one of the MPs. “Its old as hell, but it still shoots straight and will take out anyone you point it at. It’s fully automatic and will dump thirty rounds faster than you can spit. I’m giving you fifty loaded magazines and two thousand rounds of loose ammo for reloading, short of fighting a war, that will keep you safe.”

  “I do have a 9mm you know?” Shianne came to her own defense exposing the Glock on her hip.

  “That’s great, nice Glock, I supplied you with a few thousand rounds for that too and now you have a backup plan. I’m sure you have rifles at your ranch; you’re going to need them. It’s not as peaceful as it used to be around here. I don’t want to hear about you falling prey to a band of roving thugs. So you will take the rifle or a few troops with you, make a choice?”

  This MP was not to be messed with; Shianne chose the rifle.

  Next, a fifty five-gallon barrel of high-octane gas was lifted into the bed of the truck and tied down. A mechanic spliced into the trucks fuel line and installed a valve so the tank could be used on the fly. “This will get you home for sure. Do you have fuel at the ranch? We can lift some out to you if you need?”

  “I’ll radio you as soon as I reach the ranch and let you know if I need any supplies. I’m sure the ranch will need a few things. I’m stopping at a couple of places on the way. I’ll kind of keep my eyes open for the supplies still out there that we can glean from.