One Giant Leap

by Keith Martin

  The two men took their seats in the transport vowing that they were with that phone until there was word of Steve’s condition. The back of the transport filled with other miners that had rushed to check on Steve. No one wanted to be far from that phone until word was given of his condition.

  * * *

  The flight to the Moon for G-3 was routine, except for the second record of the day. Fastest crossing to the Moon ever. Shianne’s new fuel mixture was working out just fine.

  An isolation area was constructed in a small hanger to house the women for their twenty four-hour quarantine. It was designed to hold up to sixty women at a time and had all the comforts of home including a big screen TV and gaming systems to entertain the women as they waited out the time.

  Chief had three women who he had chosen to help him care for the Moons crops, so he volunteered to go for the lock down so he could see them sooner. He was walking down the halls with a bag of good bud in his pocket and a few quarts of rum in his backpack. The man was ready for war.

  He felt free and on top of his game. Three foxes to have at home and his first all out party with a woman in years. He was rolling high.

  “Don’t worry fella’s….” He stopped at the guard post on his way in. “I will do all I can to make them feel welcomed here. And if that don’t work, I will feel them all until I feel welcomed.” He finished lustfully with a wink.

  He passed right in and he was facing a room filled with the most stunning women he had ever seen. As he leaned his head to look to the heavens and give thanks his cell phone rang. “Yes lord.” He jest answering like a fool showing off to the women to get a laugh, was shocked by the voice he heard.

  “Otto here Chief.”

  He stopped dancing around and started doing business. “Hi Otto, What can do for you?” He responded seriously.

  “You have two women there, Linda and Jill; they will be together, their friends of mine.”

  “I think I see them you sly old dog.” Chief was pushing Otto’s buttons now. He could see two of the women were an obvious couple. He figured they had to be Otto’s girls.

  “You will show them and all the women the utmost respect at all times. You will see to their every need, or there will be no end to the ice mining you could do for us all. Do I make myself clear my friend?” His voice held no room for joking around.

  “Yes Sir. You have such a way with words.” He was trying to hold a good front with these women looking right at him.

  “Don’t go partying all night either. You have to take care of all of the ladies needs. That would include breakfast mister.”

  “Otto you can trust me, they will be fine.”

  “Don’t try turning it into a naked Turkish bath Chief!”

  He knew Otto was just playing with him and he again declared to be Otto’s eyes for the girls. “It will be an honor Otto, for you!”

  “And Chief… Party on.” Otto gave him some leeway and hung up.

  * * *

  It was back to being the greeter of S.M.B. for this flight of women “Excuse me ladies.” He shouted to be heard over the chatter that had started up. “It has been requested of me to welcome you all to S.M.B.”

  He looked right at Linda leaning up against a table with Jill leaning into her, both holding each other. “Linda? Jill?” Both looked to him. “Let me show you to your room first.” He directed them to follow. They fell in behind him and he guided them into a very nice stateroom and stood at the door. “This will be your room for the night.”

  “Thanks.” Linda said and Jill broke the ice.

  “I’m Jill and this is my life partner Linda. We are a pair.”

  “I will not argue that at all ladies. My friends call me Chief. I will take care of your every need while we are in lockup. And if you ladies ever need anything, im the closest one to call I will be there for you.” He knew Otto was going to keep a close eye on these two stunning beauties. “I am under orders to watch out for you. It’s a job that for me will never end. You will always be safe when you are in my care. All of your family in fact.” Chief assured them of his loyalties. “Here on the Moon we are all family.”

  “Orders from Otto?” Jill asked.

  “Yes Jill orders from Otto.’ He opened up to them both and was totally blunt with them; they were a part of his family now too. “You ladies had best get ready for this ride. You’re not just moving in with a man; here he is more than that. He is helping to bring all of us together to save the race. My job is to make us all feel good along the way. In twenty-four hours you two will tell Otto how great of a job I did. But know this… here, if he said jump…. all the Base Commanders would jump first and ask questions respectfully after. I know he has big plans, real big plans. I just don’t think he has the key to make it all fit together yet. We have to help him find the key and see where it takes us all.”

  “You get my vote Chief.” Linda assured him.

  “Me too.” Added Jill

  “One question… Do you both have PhDs?” He enquired.

  Jill fielded the question for them. “Yes we both have PhDs. I’m an Oceanographer. Linda is Chair Linda from California, PhD in Political Sciences.”

  “And you’re both so stunning.” He turned to go care for the rest of the girls and find his catch. “Otto...you the man!” He shouted just loud enough for them to hear and both smiled. He suddenly stopped and looked back. “Come help me out, I could lose one of these and then what would I do?”

  They both gave chase and he stopped with them all before him. “First we will see you all to your rooms. My three ladies, you know who you are. My friends here will show you to your room directly across from their room.” He winked to Jill and Linda. They took the three that came forward in their care. Chief split the rest up by twos and gave them all rooms. He stood in the hall to finish conveying his plans so that all could hear him. “First we have three ten pound trout. I will slow roast them with garlic and butter with a large squeeze of fresh lemon over it just as it comes out the oven, steamed veggies and some good drinks.” He pulled out a quart of the rum and a big bag of his homegrown and the room erupted with party girl cheers.

  Chief was in heaven.

  * * *

  Ton was sleeping when they found him. Vic and one of his miners were standing over him when his eyes opened. He was wondering what was going on, but his mind told him to sleep and to ignore these men. “A man can’t even get some sleep around here without being disturbed.” Ton complained as he turned over to put his back to them.

  “Ton, Steve’s been hurt, get up now.” Vic’s words did the trick and Ton was out of bed in a flash.

  He was dressing as he let loose with the questions. “What happened? And where is he?” He wanted answers now.

  “He is in the O.R. Ton. But he will put through, Ben here saved his life.” Vic informed him of the news gathered so far.

  Ton stopped dressing at this news and shook Ben’s hand. “Tell me what happened?”

  “Steve and I were digging into that water chamber those snotty nosed kids say is out there to the north of the base about three mile.” Ben sat on the edge of Ton’s bed; the adrenalin had run out of him. “I was pulling a mucker with a full load of rock onboard… then there is a roll of flame that’s down to the top of the mucker spreading down the tunnel. Thank the good Lord that the cab was sealed Ton. I didn’t feel much of a shock wave, just the heat of the flames. Well Sir, I just spread dumped my load, and put her to the floor in reverse. I found Steve blown off the cutter, lying on the floor of the tunnel some distance away. I thought for a second that the blast had taken his soul; I checked to be sure he was still breathing. No point in making a fuss if the boy was gone I say…. the lad was breathing just fine, but he was hurt bad… knew time was what he didn’t have to spend, so I loaded him in the bed and powered up. You should have that mucker looked at before it’s used again Ton… it was smoking like a stack when I switched off and got into a crew transport brought up by the boys. They we
re clearing the tunnels for me all the way…. Drove him right to the Med Lab door Ton… got him in as soon as heavenly possible.” He was feeling the closeness of the breath of death. He had chased the beast all the way and won.

  Ton was shaken by the effort that this man had given for his brother. He was deeply indebted to Ben now.

  Vic figured Ton needed the whole tale from the gate. “He did a wall pass at one twenty plus.”

  Ton was amazed. Everyone could have died in both transports and he knew it.

  “Was nothing Ton. You know if just one man controls both drivers it is easy to do; me and the boys do it all the time for the love of Christ.”

  “At one twenty?” Ton asked Ben.

  He started to look a little sheepish. “Well we were moving right along, I will give you that, but I was careful as we passed on by.”

  Ton just shook his head and finished dressing. “Gas on the Moon…?” He asked Ben as they road down the lift from his house in the main chamber.

  “Yes sir. Flame was blue and deep purple, only yellow in a small band at its head. Whatever it is it’s got a belly load of power and it’s hot as a brand. I will have the cutter pulled out and we will replace the head with a gas head. Two days max to switch it out. We have that brand new gas cutter head you ordered up. Still in the box if I’m right.”

  “Don’t let anyone get hurt, this is bad enough. The ‘oops I’m dead’ has got to come to a stop. I know this was just an unknown. But damn it, there should have been a core sample taken to be sure. We are all relaxing too damn much. I’m one of them too, I should have caught this before it happened.” He was just mad at the world at this point. But mostly he was mad at himself. He let it happen just as much as anyone.

  A few minutes found them pulling up to the Med Lab. There were dozens of people standing around waiting there for news, at least half where miners.

  Chris headed Ton off and stopped him from entering the O.R. “Let me tell you what we know so far Ton.” Chris was trying to keep control of this bear with words.

  Ton looked ready to rip someone’s head off, but waited for Chris to continue.

  “He broke some ribs, three it sounds like, and one punctured the left lung. His spleen was ruptured and he has some bleeding around the brain.”

  This tale was going south fast and Ton was not enjoying the ride.

  “A nurse just came out and talked with me a minute ago. She reported that he should pull through fine, but that it is very serious. Steve is in critical condition. If it wasn’t for Benny here, the boy would have died.”

  * * *

  Steve made it through the surgery and they are holding him in the O.R. to be sure he will pull through before he got moved to recovery.

  The Doctors Craft came out together to report on the situation. Ed took the floor. “Spleen removed, lung patched, ribs set with Bone-Bond. It will only take a few days to heal the ribs now. Bleeding has stopped and the boy has one hell of a knot on his skull. The cutting of flesh is going to hurt for weeks. He is sleeping and he is going to be with us here for a week or more. He will pull through.” He turned to Ton. “You have strong blood in your family my friend.”

  The miner’s rose up a cheer and all felt relieved by the news. Within minutes the doctor’s report was repeated on the public address system so that all on base would have the news they were waiting for. Steve was loved by most and considered a friend by all. This news needed just to help the base return to normal operation. Half the base was sacrificing sleep time waiting for good news.

  The base calmed and halls cleared as everyone returned to their normal schedules.

  * * *

  Things were going well with the girls. Chief took an hour to play with his women and had a shower before heading out to cook for the crowd. He found much of the meal started and the fish lay waiting for his touch. “Angels.” He turned to the room. “We have angels here.” “You two are just heaven sent, smells great so far, when should I get this in?” He started to spice the trout as Jill and Linda fluttered about the kitchen helping out. He used fresh garlic and a little lemon peel; the trout looked like food of the gods. Jill took it from him and told him not to bother with anything else. He demanded that he do clean up and the two agreed instantly. Little did they know Chief was the master of pass the buck, they were soon to figure that out for themselves.

  The meal was divine and the conversation stimulating. Chief was interesting, and his three women where fun. They were all having a blast.

  Otto called Chief on his cell phone. “Hand the phone to one of them.” Dinner was just finishing up.

  “Hand the phone to whom?” He teased Otto as Jill snatched the phone from his ear.

  “Hi Otto, Chief is mean and he keeps hitting us.” It was Linda’s turn to snatch the phone away.

  “Hello Otto. We are fine and Chief is just great.”

  “CHIEF STOP HITTING ME… OUCH IT HURTS!!!” Jill shouted not willing to stop playing.

  Otto made it short. They would have plenty of time later. Linda could tell something had happened that Otto wasn’t sharing with her yet. The base P.A. was not hooked up in the quarantine area, so they had no idea that Otto had almost lost a good friend. He just checked with them to let them know that he had them in mind.

  Chief was chastising Jill, who was following him around as he picked up all the dirty dinner dishes and cooking pans. He was placing everything on a cart, Jill pitching in and some of the girls helped too. It was all on the cart in a wink.

  “This is the part I’m going to like.” He pushed the cart into an airlock. He closed the door and there was a rush of air. “Presto….” The chamber was cycling through again. “… Change-o!” He pulled the chamber door open and pulled out a cart full of snacks and drinks. “Load up the fridge girls so it all stays cold.” He pushed the cart into the crowd and picked up his backpack.

  He started to pull quarts of rum from the pack. Three hit the table in a flash. Then he pulled out a big bag of green bud and a huge pipe. Its P A R T Y time.” He walked up to Linda and did the out of the blue, a joint at his fingertips trick. “For you my lady….” He winked at Jill. “For sleeping well when its bedtime.” He smiled as he invited her to indulge.

  Linda accepted with a smile. It had been years, why not, this was their new life and changes where going to be a big part of it.

  “So you smoke a pipe?” Jill asked picking it up and looking into the bag. “We love rum neat and a soda back, just one soda for us both.” She started to load the pipe with a nice nugget of green bud. “And a lighter would be nice too.” She demanded, holding the pipe at the ready for Chief to light.

  Chief gave her a light and took off to fetch drinks. The six of them took over the little table in the rest area and it was a party.

  Jill and Linda had a great time with Chief and the girls. They stayed out late and they never got more than a buzz going. They poured one of Chiefs girls into their bed, another stumbled there herself; Kim was the one real one of the three. She would be the queen in his house that was obvious to everyone. She was a joy to be with and she had a brain; her looks were a tool. “I’m on the Moon, and I get to have a family. It worked. I’ll make him very happy.” She admitted to them all with Chief holding her. “I may even love him one day…” She kissed his cheek and finished “… if he doesn’t get so out of line I have to kill him.”

  They all laughed at how weird life had suddenly just become for them all.

  * * *

  G-1 pulled up on the satellite and slowed to match its speed. Joshua radioed Mission Control to report their progress.

  “Hi Joshua... Shianne here...Over.” She had taken command while the Commanders were checking on Steve’ progress.

  Now there was a voice he knew he would hear from Mission Control one day. “Hi Shianne, I see you made it. What’s new? Over…”

  “That’s Commander Shianne buster. Call signs Shi Blue, over.”

  He just smiled and went with it. He knew
she was a great flier. She was an ace in fixed wing craft. She scared the life out of him at times with her barn storming antics; but then it was his own fault for teaching her to fly like that.

  She wouldn’t get into a stunt plane with Joshua though; she knew whom the family Ace was.

  “He made me vow to stop calling him Fred. Over”

  Joshua was just losing it. Shianne told him of all that was going on and he fed off her excitement. Everything she was doing was new to her. She was babbling on at mach 3 when the General cut onto the line.

  Joshua knew the General looked over all the data G-1 had sent. He knew they would be sent to capture it. So here he was flying next to it awaiting orders. “Lined up now, Cargo doors open and retractor arm extended. Over.” He let the General know he understood what the mission would be.

  “That’s a go G-1. Bring her home. Over and out.” The General gave them there leave to get the job done. As he cut his transmission he wondered why he even tried to be in command of the Chisholm’s. They always seemed to be at least one step ahead of everyone.

  Shianne didn’t yet know of The Seeker, and she was feasting on a rush of information just from hearing Joshua’s exchange with Fred. “The Seeker…? Over.” She demanded more input.

  “See you in a few days Shi…” He could tell his sister was not picking up on the thoughts he wanted kept secret for now. So he just cut the transmission short. “…Give the family my love. Over and out….”

  * * *

  “Let’s suit up, it will be a lot easier.” Joshua advised Samantha.

  “Yes Sir, I love dressing in front of you.” She walked toward their space suit rack. “I would undress for you too if you would let me…” Sprinting the rest of the way to escape his reach. She liked teasing him with her femininity.

  Once in the cargo bay, Joshua used the load arm to grasp the satellite by the lip of the single main thruster bell. It worked like a charm. The ‘Seeker’ was gently pulled down and the two of them lowered it to the cargo floor and strapped it down. The whole action took no more than an hour.