One Giant Leap

by Keith Martin

  * * *

  Shianne lined G-2 up on runway Alpha. With the Moon’s gravity being one third of Earth’s, she had only to land one third of the takeoff weight. This was going to be easy. It was the lack of atmosphere that worried her. To keep from stalling she would have to touch down at four hundred fifty miles an hour. The Alpha runway was the longest one on the Moon and it was just three miles long. The runway at landing speed would only take twenty-one seconds to pass under the shuttle.

  She had to touchdown right at the start of the runway to get the weight stopped in time. She had no illusions of this landing being easy; but knew she could do it. It was her first landing on the Moon in a real shuttle, so her heart raced trying to catch up with her excitement.

  “Ashley as soon as you feel the landing gear touchdown you will need to stand on the brakes and hold them down hard until we reach the end of runway. Understand?”

  “You got it Shianne; just tell me when to hit it and I’m on it. I won’t feel you touch down, I’m sure.” Ashley was shaking from the adrenalin blasting into her system like a freight train as she waited for what was coming next.

  * * *

  Ashley was right; she didn’t feel it at all. Shianne came in shallow, under max power and totally in control. She set down just a hundred yards from the beginning of the runway like she had done this every day of her life. “We are down Ashmo!” She advised her sister and both started work to get G-2 slowed down.

  Pete was freaking, afraid she’d set it down too early and was about to crash. He was watching the landing with the tracking camera which was installed mid point down the runway on the hillside a quarter mile from the runway edge. This gave him, and the rest of the human race, a bird’s eye view of the action. He didn’t realize he was now cameraman for this event. He zoomed in to follow the shuttle closer, turning it to place Otto in the screen once he saw Shianne had the landing nailed.

  * * *

  Shianne told her to hit the brakes, just as the nose started to come down, at the same time she hit all reverse thrusters and cut the main engine fuel pumps. The shuttle shuddered with the energy bleeding off her hull, the ship slowed quickly.

  The white dot at the end of the runway that was their father was moving.

  * * *

  Pete couldn’t believe what he was seeing, and he zoomed in tighter on Otto. The world was watching. It was his turn to show Otto that he too felt that he was a member of the Chisholm family. After all if Jackal were in his seat right now he would be doing the same for his father.

  * * *

  They were pinned to the seat by their five-point safety straps as the shuttle rolled down the runway leaning hard on the front landing gear. The white dot that was their father kept getting larger and it was moving. “Why is he moving around so much?” Ashley said out loud.

  At three hundred yards, it was clear what was going on. Otto was moonwalking and pointing to the holding area like a fool. He was so excited with thoughts of reuniting with his daughters he too couldn’t stand still for the life of him. “And that’s our Ground Chief?” Shianne stated, smiling and waving to him.

  “Let’s hope he remembers to hook up ground power before he breaks in here.” Ashley added, laughing at her father’s antics.

  Shianne shut down the reverse thrusters and set up for the turn Otto was directing her to. G-2 coasted right to the holding pad and Shianne begin shutting down the systems not needed for their stay out here in the open.

  Ashley ran to look out the hatch window for her dad.

  Otto was under the shuttle, chocking the tires, connecting the ground power and communications cables. Even with his desire to hold his girls again he had a duty to perform and he was making sure he did this right the first time. He even double-checked his work while communicating with a G- Class Crew Chief to make sure he was doing it right. “Open, open, Please OPEN IT NOW!!! OPEN THE DOOR. I’M HERE.” He was singing. He had the staircase in position and he stood at the top waiting for them to let him in. “Open this door NOW!!” He sang out then barked.

  Ashley opened the outer hatch as soon as Shianne said it was safe. Otto stepped in and the hatch was sealed again behind him.

  The atmosphere would take ninety seconds to level out in the entry compartment before he could enter the shuttle.

  Otto had zero fear there was any virus onboard the shuttle or on his daughters. They would never chance that with the human race at stake. If the virus ever reached the base the only men alive would be the sixty-five on the International Space Station. Recovering the human race from that little gene pool would be next to impossible.

  * * *

  It took less than two minutes for the comical stripper party to be finished as space suits came off and then they were seated on his knees being family again. As they hugged him and lavished him with their kisses, both his girls jabbered nonstop. He didn’t even try to get a word in. They were going to have to calm down on their own, he knew what his girls would need, he had birthed them and raised them after all.

  It took fifteen minutes of speed talking before calmness settled in a little. Ashley and Shianne finally got up and put away the pile of space suits while continuing to give Otto all the news.

  Otto said he was in heaven on Earth… “Make that Heaven on the Moon. Or at least two thirds of the way there.”

  They were having a great time being together and their excitement from seeing each other was calming at last. He was waiting for the questions to start flowing at any time and he didn’t have to wait any longer.

  “So, tell us about this twenty four hour lock down?” Ashley asked getting the ball rolling on what they should be aware of.

  Otto asked them to take their seats before he got started. “It’s not anything against you two. The men have been through a lot and it’s not over for them yet. They don’t know you like I do. They got scared. I know you’ll understand. It did get so bad for a few seconds that Vic was passing out .38’s to Chris and me. I asked Vic about extra rounds and he said something about needing a place to lock people up… asked about an old pressure chamber we have. That’s when the idea of staying out here with you came to me… and here we are.”

  Ashley thought this was a great way to be certain no viruses made it to the Moon before any women were allowed to enter S.M.B. “Dad, were going to need a quarantine area for future missions that bring women to the Moon. It will have to be a volunteer duty of course. It’s the only positive way of knowing the virus is not present in a given population immigration. Do you think we could get men to take the risk of volunteering for this duty to bring more women to the base?”

  She had asked it of him but she answered it herself smacking her forehead to bring her back to reality. “Never mind, Stupid question. I’ll bet Pete would volunteer just to get a first look at the new personnel.”

  Shianne didn’t think her little joke was so funny, but she didn’t say a word. She just began to work up a design for the quarantine chamber while chatting with her family. She wanted it located far from the main base with plenty of blast doors between the base and the quarantine area. She started looking at the base blue prints and noticed an office complex that was carved out next to the storage hanger. It looked large enough to hold at least 50 women at a time. And she knew there was digging equipment on the Moon if it was deemed to need to be larger still.

  * * *

  She felt alive again, she felt like she had a reason to be that didn’t include her feeding or picking up after a critter. She was truly ready to get back to work. She knew she had just healed in the past few hours from all that she had seen on Earth as the virus devastated the planet. “I have good news.” She brought all eyes to her. “I started a web site from the ranch last month and…” She let it hang there, to see if they would take the bait.

  Otto couldn’t wait for her punch line and asked. “And it’s called?”

  She winked at them and replied. “It’s called ‘Catch Your Man on The Moon” Then, feigning
innocence, she added. “So far only three hundred thousand or so have filled out the permit form and submitted photos. I made it a prerequisite that all of them are eighteen to thirty years old and are either in collage or have a degree in hand.” She again looked at them both, with not a sign of any untruth at all adding before they could ask, “I don’t know why. It started like a game, then it just looked like a good idea for when the time came.” She paused for a few seconds and finished. “So here we are, and we could use it now.”

  Otto looked to Ashley for some sign of support, understanding, Unity. Ashley helped him out. “She’s your daughter!!” She said flatly with a straight face.

  It hung there, each trying not to laugh… Shianne had used that power of hers to see farther ahead than any of them. She didn’t even know why she had done it. She just felt compelled to do so.

  Otto got up and walked to Shianne, wrapping her in his arms he gave a soft kiss on her forehead. These people were family and they were blunt. It was a joy having them around again. “I’ve birthed three of the best. Next Ashmo will tell us where the virus came from and how to cure it.” He turned for the galley; it was time to cook for his crew.

  “What’s the split look like on this dating site?” Ashley asked.

  Shianne shot back now interested by a trend she was seeing. “Well full on half of them are from Asia and or China, and all of the top scored applicants are from China. There are twelve hundred fifty women in China needed on the Moon as soon as we can get them here. All hold PhDs. or have expert training in their fields of skill. They are the best China has right now and all of them applied for the job on the same day.”

  Otto was listening as he got dinner started. This little tidbit sounded valuable, ‘All filled in one day?’ He filed it away to use when the timing was right. Suddenly he couldn’t stop himself from chuckling. Both girls grew quiet, looking at him, saying as one… “WHAT?”

  “Well…” He started with a wry grin. “… They are a small people. We could get more of them in a single crossing, and feeding them would be easier on supplies.” He had to admit he was thinking strictly about the needs of S.M.B. Then he added just to tease. “I always wanted to date an oriental woman. Very intriguing?” He scratched his chin in lustful thought. “Even in my place I could keep a few!” He was just going to run with this until they stopped him. “Could we get me one that is good at giving back rubs?” He gave them his best and was finally rewarded.

  They both attacked and started helping out with dinner.

  * * *

  As soon as G-2 had come to a halt the order was sent for Pete to report at once to the Generals office. He knew he was dead meat hanging. Walking to the office there was more than a little fear creeping into him. This was going to be his first real butt chewing from a man he respected. He knew he had messed up. As he opened the office door the Generals aide told him to go right in.

  His heart sunk yet he stood tall and proud. He marched into the General’s office and stood before him at ridged attention. “Commander Pete Connelly reporting as ordered General.” He saluted the General and held it for the Generals return salute. After all he was now a Commander.

  In his lifetime, the General had raised thousands of youngsters, making men out of them or breaking them. He had a new boy now and despite the wings on his chest there was a hard little lesson Pete had to learn. He let him hold the salute for a good five seconds before turning from the computer screen to return it.

  Pete was not asked to take a seat. Pete stood like iron as the General exercised his authority. The General left him at attention for a full minute while he worked on the report of this day in Con Man’s life as a Commander. This was his personal file, for his eyes only.

  “At ease, Con Man.” The General barked.

  Pete went to, at ease, He kept his mouth shut.

  * * *

  Fred Bragg figured he started his life the day he joined the Navy. He was a pilot for his entire Navy career, bloodied in battle more than once along the way he always made it home. Even if he had to leave the aircraft behind, he was coming home if he had to walk out. His rise through the ranks was like a sidewinder to its target. Through it all he trained in everything the Navy could provide. He even took a few training missions with the Marines. Everyone respected him and his abilities to not just get a job done, but to lead men to do it.

  He perfected many ways to make a man sweat while he faced them across his desk, just to make his job a little bit easier. It was an art he learned from an old Marine Drill Sergeant when he was just a shaved tail LT. Fred had him as an aide for three months on a mission off the coast of China. He learned wonders from the man, he learned to cut most full grown men down with a single look in their eyes, now Pete was going to get the full treatment.

  “You did well today Con Man.” The general set up the dance.

  “Thank you, General Sir.” Pete started to feel a little relief.

  “You messed up big time too!”

  He was in it butt deep, and stiff as iron again. “Yes General, I did that too.”

  It was easy for the General to see this was sitting hard on him. He decided to give the lesson of humility. “You will see to their every need while they are in quarantine.”

  “Yes General.”

  “When they are on base, you will be their escort. We are talking about Otto’s daughters… I don’t want anyone bothering them. Dress blues, and three feet between you, DO I MAKE MY SELF CLEAR?” The General stood and roared the last half of his orders.

  “Understood, loud and clear sir.” He wanted to shake out of his boots. But he stood like iron.

  The General was impressed. “While they are in quarantine, you will have living quarters installed next to Mr. Chisholm’s quarters for both of his daughters. You will request the assistance of Dr. Mrs. Craft to make sure their quarters are as comfortable as possible. While they are on this base, from now until the end of time, it is your job to watch out for them. DO I MAKE MYSELF PERFECTLY CLEAR?”

  Pete came to an even stiffer attention and vowed with conviction. “Perfectly clear General, you have my word on that, SIR!”

  ‘Look at him squirm.’ The General thought to himself. He again took his seat. “Get to it Con Man. Time is at a premium.” He let his fish off the hook for now.

  Pete saluted the general, who stood and returned it smartly. Pete did a perfect About Face and made for the door. “Count on me Sir.”

  “Con Man, don’t mess this up.”

  “I won’t General.”

  “Send a request from me to meet with the Chisholm’s soon as they enter base.”

  “It’s as good as done General.”

  “OK Con Man. We are finished now. Get shagging.” ‘That boy, is going to need all the luck in the world, with those two. No choice if he wants to learn to be a part of family.’ He thought to himself returning to his reports.

  Pete called Ton to arrange for the girls housing units. Ton told him to stop bothering him while he supervised the installation of the housing units for Otto’s daughters. “Do you think this is my first rodeo? Come on Con Man get with the program!” Ton finished him off and hung up.

  Next, was the Med Lab call to Dr. Mrs. Craft. He explained the General’s orders and she agreed to take care of everything. Word went out on the women’s wire. The base was buzzing with it in minutes. Goods of every kind came pouring in to create a home on the Moon for Otto’s girls.

  He went back to Mission Control so he could sink into his seat and just get his mind straightened out. As soon as he sat down he got to work. “G-2, Mission Control, is anyone there? Over.”

  “Hi Con Man, what’s up? Over.” Came Ashley’s voice.

  “Just checking in to see if you need anything out there. Over.”

  “Let me check with Dad.” Ashley was away a few seconds then. “No Pete, we need nothing at this time except off the shuttle. So we’re fine until morning at least. Over.”

  “That’s good to hear.
I will be out at ten, with your breakfast and coffee, sound good? Over.”

  “Boy, you must have really gotten in it deep. That sounds great Pete. Bring a plate for yourself too. Over.”

  “Will do, see you all at 10am, sharp. Goodnight for now. Over.” He broke off and called Terry in the chow hall to order their breakfast and to request a little snack food for their housing unit. He was making sure everything was ready when they entered the base.

  Terry informed him that it was all in the schedule and would be ready when it was needed. Then she too asked him if he felt this was her ‘first rodeo.’ Before she hung up.

  It was then that he realized that he lived on a base that was so close nit that most of the orders he was given were being completed as a normal part of base life without his assistance at all. In fact he seemed to almost be in the way.

  He felt safe in Mission Control so he decided it was best to just stay there and make sure nothing went wrong on G-2. Not ten minutes into his vigil and a dinner tray with burger and fries arrived from the chow hall in Connie’s hands. He didn’t even know what he was doing himself and others knew what he was doing and were there to back his play. ‘How do they do this?’ He thought to himself as he accepted his dinner and Connie informed him of the chow hall schedule for the breakfast he was delivering. “All you have to do is go to Suit Up at 8am and everything will be ready for you.” She assured him that all would be ready.

  * * *

  After Shianne and Joshua broke off transmission, Joshua filled Samantha in about his sisters and how strong willed they were. He also informed her that Shianne was a little witch. “I just want us to have this time totally alone without twenty questions from Shianne.”

  Samantha understood this time belonged to them; the time for questions would come later “One more request.” He said sternly.