One Giant Leap

by Keith Martin

  “Yes May. It’s very real.” Otto assured her.

  “Then this is the goal of all we are about to reach for?” She asked looking at the green planet on the screen. It was starting to show a vast area of blue. She understood that this meant there was liquid water there.

  “We won’t know for sure until we have another mission reach the planet.” Otto answered her.

  “Hope!” Hackett added. “We call it Hope!”

  May liked the sound of it; the name conveyed what each would have in this endeavor.

  Otto wanted the rest of the story now. “Tell us all you know May.” He took her hand, looking deeply into her dark brown blazing eyes.

  She knew he was using his power to make her open up without holding anything back. The reality was, that she would never hold back a thing from him. “Its mission was to find a planet that humans could move to. The plan was for many people to go to this planet, and then a virus would be released on Earth to wipe out the human population. It was a plan to combat the population of China. We only know about it because we had a woman in deep cover who learned things during pillow talk. We tried, but there was no information beyond that to be found. We think the plan was to use a form of the Ebola virus. At the time of the launch, there were a few villages totally wiped out from the virus. We believed that it was a test of effectiveness.”

  Now it was their turn to be shocked. They all sat silently trying to digest what she had just reported …to think that someone really wanted to try to kill all the humans on the planet… It staggered them. “Was this a government program?” Otto asked the question on everyone’s mind.

  “Our woman thought this was the plan of a select few Generals. Like I said, there was no official plan, or we would have found proof of it. They did have some big money behind them. The ship cost nine hundred million to build and launch. It was sent up from a base in the old USSR.” May turned to Shianne. “Are you readying The Seeker for a return mission to Hope?”

  “Right now I just want to get it up and running again. It’s going to be the fastest ship man has ever built. It will be up to the Commanders, and the Chairs, to decide where I’m to send it.”

  “Otto… I need a drink!” May stated and accepted the shot of vodka Chief passed her. She downed it and asked for another. “This is all too much to deal with at once.” She added and downed the second shot.

  * * *

  It was Linda who brought them back to the question that needed answering for her and Jill. Their feelings for her had grown freely and they wanted to know how she felt about their man. “Lets talk of today, you’re not worried about Otto taking over the world any longer?”

  May reached over and ran her fingers through Linda’s hair. “Don’t be silly. You are all my family now. I know that finding you will enrich my life, I love you all.”

  “And we feel the same.” Ashley spoke up. “Finding you will bring joy into our lives forever.”

  Otto had to get them back on the game of saving the race. Though the subject matter was sounding great to him and he really didn’t want to distract from it at all. “Ok May, Back to business. We need shuttles. The blueprints are in a working factory in Washington State. Do you have enough women to begin rolling out shuttles again? We are talking about twenty thousand women at least, all trained and ready to go?”

  She was not ready for such a tall order, she was surprised she was being asked to invade Washington State and take over the largest industry there.

  “Yes!” She gave it some thought then added. “And it will take a support staff of at least ten thousand, to grow food and needed supplies to keep the base operating.”

  He was glad she was seeing things his way. “Ok then, we get your people installed as quickly as possible and start punching out shuttles. This will be the first step towards saving us all.” Otto spit in his hand and offered it to May. May spit in her hand and they shook on it to seal their allegiance.

  * * *

  With business complete the party got swinging again. It was much more intimate and comfortable for May without all the people. She was with family now, and she liked it like this. She sat with Jill and Linda for the most part. But, she also visited Otto’s lap; sitting on his knee while she talked.

  The gathering broke up after three and May was quite tipsy. She leaned on Otto as everyone boarded the transport to return to their quarters.

  * * *

  Otto knew where this would go if he entered his quarters with May in her condition. All of their emotions where running way too high. He knew he had to do the honorable thing and excuse himself so that things didn’t get out of hand. If their relationship was to go to the next level, he wanted her cold stone sober when she made that choice.

  * * *

  He kissed Linda and Jill passionately, then May, softly but quickly. “Ok ladies, I have work to do tonight, hit the rack. Morning is coming on fast. Its wheels up at fourteen hundred hours for you May.” He said, and then got out of there.

  May pouted, close to tears. She wanted to be with them all on her last night. She had fallen hard for them all. “Why did he leave? Doesn’t he love me?” Her tears started to flow.

  Linda and Jill gathered her into their arms and comforted her. “He loves you. That’s why he took off. He wants you to be sober when you take the next step.” Linda informed her. “Let’s hit the sheets ladies. We need our sleep, and the day is here even now.”

  * * *

  Otto spent the night at Fred’s, and Vic joined them. Both men called Otto a fool many times, over many shared shots of rum. Both respected him even more for being an honorable man. They knew he did it right. And they both wondered if they could be so strong willed if his boots were theirs to wear.

  * * *

  Come morning he went back to his place to wake his ladies. The place was quiet except for the sound of sleeping women. He checked May’s room first and found her bed empty. He went to his bed and found them nude and holding each other. He stood just looking for several minutes. The sheet didn’t cover much; the heat was turned up for comfort.

  “Wake up ladies, breakfast in twenty minutes.” He kissed each on the forehead, and then retreated to the transport before his libido convinced him to put breakfast on hold; and crawl in for an hour or two of loving these beauties.

  * * *

  May rose, growling out her frustrations with Otto. She was used to getting what she wanted and he was infuriating her. She knew he was right for being an honorable man. She just barely remembered going to bed at all. All she remembered was feeling the bond of being with Jill and Linda then falling right to sleep.

  They all rose and showered together and were quickly in the transport with Otto. Each of them kissed him as they mounted up for their ride to breakfast. “You’re mean and you’re wonderful!” Stated May as she took the seat next to him still pouting some as she kissed his cheek.

  He burst out laughing. For that she delivered a punch and crossed her arms in defense. She had found a man she would have no control over, she was totally in love. She wanted to hate him for it, but there was no way she could.

  In her country all men prostrated themselves to her, and they all begged to do tiny things for her, holding these mundane tasks as being a huge accomplishment.

  She knew Otto was never going to bow to her, he was an Alpha Male and it was that simple. He was not trying to push it on her; he simply was a good old school man.

  After breakfast Otto had to check on a few things around the base, he gave May over to his wives for supervision while he again retreated to a safe distance. The last hours on base were spent seeing those she had met and saying her goodbyes. Terry joined them as they walked around finding everyone.

  Chief gave her a pipe and supply for her use back on Earth. She kissed him for it and called him a fool. She then promised to send him wives that would give him intelligent children, and not just good looks. She liked his wives, but knew they were just window dressing, except for the one wh
o seemed to be the queen in his court. Chief knew it was true and admitted to her he looked forward to her help.

  As they walked along the topic went to the babies that Jill and Linda carried inside their bodies. Both where so happy to be having Otto’s children, they could not adequately convey to her how they felt. Then Jill, being the jokester, stopped and turned May to her saying. “You know all of Otto’s children were over eight pounds.” She shot a glance at her wife. “If she joins the gang it will break her in two.”

  They all laughed holding hands while May shared with them that having a child would, to her be, the ultimate expression of love and femininity.

  * * *

  They helped her pack her belongings and left to Suit Up, a transport with driver was waiting for their use. Otto was still nowhere to be found and was taking care of their needs. They looked for him riding along to Suit Up and May was upset by the time they arrived.

  “Won’t he see me before I leave?” She asked close to tears.

  Linda took her in her arms and said. “He won’t let you go without seeing you off… Or I’ll kill him.”

  She kissed May tenderly and then Berry asked her to start suiting up for the mission. He had her space suit laid out ready for her as Otto walked in. “I’ll take it from here Berry; Thanks.”

  “No problemo boss. I’ll just stand guard for you folks.” He exited the room and stood at the door. He knew they would need some time alone, and he was not going to allow the Empress of China to leave atmosphere without his inspection of her gear.

  Otto picked her up by her waist and sat her down on the bench. “We have no choice May. We are world leaders, we have duties much larger than our needs.” He started to fit her into her space suit.

  “I know Otto. But…” She agreed and then tried to argue for her love.

  “No but, we have a world to save. You have a people to govern. I have a base to ready for the missions it will take to save us.” He couldn’t resist any longer, he took her into his arms kissing her deeply and passionately holding back nothing at all for the first time. “I love you too, and I do want you here with us.” He kissed her again until it took her breath away. “Don’t think for a second that I want to send you back, we have no choice but to be leaders. Duty dictates we find a way to save humans for the future. Once that’s done we can think of us. You will be helping to pilot the shuttle on the way down. Joshua and Samantha will be your training officers. You will have to learn to fly and to navigate. I don’t know where all this will lead us, but I do know any woman of mine will be ready for anything. Both Linda and Jill spend hours every day doing simulator missions.”

  “I down loaded the programs onto your laptop May” Jill informed her. “We can practice together, no matter where we are. As soon as you go to the site online it will alert both of us so we can fly with you.” Jill and Linda joined them and they were a true loving unit. Holding each other for a few moments in passions embrace before Otto put them back on track.

  “It’s time to get you onboard May. You have my number and all the family’s numbers are programmed into your phone. We are only a keystroke away, twenty-four seven. Don’t ever feel it’s too late to call. Your voice is always welcomed.”

  Otto called Berry in to check on his work, then they all said their goodbyes, the three girls were tearing freely as their emotions ran wild; Otto loved them all for it. They agreed to stay in touch constantly as May stepped into the airlock door and Berry took her to the waiting shuttle.

  He could see that she didn’t want to leave. She was crying all the way to the shuttle. He teased her twice trying to make her smile, admitting that the suits made great swimming pools. Her heart was breaking to be away from those she deeply loved. “You know May; communications being what they are today most jobs of government can be completed online with just a few live appearances here and there when needed. All a woman would need would be a great management team to back her play on Earth. Then she could live like right here, if so inclined to do so.” He sat there smiling as he tried to help her out. “Just give it some thought and call me before you depart Earth again so ill be ready to receive you properly.”

  “You are a true friend Berry. You are wise and the advise you give is well though out. I could live on the Moon and govern through screens. This is true.” She surprised him as he set her on the ground to escort her to the waiting staircase leading into G-1. “I think I will be back soon. I can see no reason to spend my life on Earth just for window dressing.” She hugged him and started up the stairs.

  * * *

  The flight to earth was grand. The view was spectacular and she loved the feel of the controls in her hands. She was sad to be leaving behind those she had learned to love so deeply. Knowing she was going to return to them soon was the only thing saving her. The emotions were way too strong to resist.

  * * *

  Ton spent a week splitting the new recruits into three shifts and finding their teachers. By day eight, things were up and running smoothly. Ben and Steve were assigned to Command the other two shifts. Chris, Otto, Vic and Fred all pitched in to back their play wherever they were needed. Chief came down to help out, as did Terry, Linda and Jill.

  All his senior diggers were made crew leaders and the mining work was under way. The slag cascaded form the main chamber walls like water falls down a mountain. They decided to finish digging the family units along the top first. Ramps where cut into the rock walls to ease accessing the upper floors, jackhammers pounded day and night as the women learned to be miners.

  The main chamber floor soon started to fill with the mass of slag being pulled from the rock. To everyone’s surprise there were small veins of gold found along the way.

  Money was unheard of on the Moon so this discovery only piqued interest for a few minutes time. The gold collected to be used for building computer components on Earth. The main concern was getting the areas cleared for families to move into quickly.

  The chamber would have a thousand family units, and five hundred single units when finished. He now had over a thousand personnel on the digging crews. His biggest headache was reminding the men these women were off limits. Training them was hard enough. He didn’t want them getting pregnant while they worked one on one with the men.

  The slag started to become a problem as it built up on the chamber floor. At first, Ton would shut down the digging every five days, then seal the chamber off from the main base. It took six hours to suck all air out of the vast cavern. Then they opened a road to the surface where the fleet of loaders began their work. A conveyor would be installed to carry the rock out as fast as the belt could be loaded, and everyone would get busy. Thousands of cubic yards an hour would race to the surface. Ton still had the slag deposited above the chamber to help protect it from any meteor strikes that could come their way.

  One of the new women miners approached him with a plan. “If we dig two small chambers, let’s say a couple of hundred feet deep, a hundred wide and fifty tall. Air lock both ends. Fill one while we empty the other. I know we would have to move the slag twice. But we wouldn’t have to stop the dig while the slag was cleared.”

  “And you are?” He asked.

  “Mi, Ton.” She extended her hand to him standing tall and proud.

  He shook her hand asking her to sit with him. They chatted for half an hour about her idea and he was sold. He’d been waiting for someone to come forward with a new plan to rid the chamber of slag. “You’re hired. I want plans and a supply list drawn up right away.”

  “We will need four airlock doors.” Mi advised him.

  “They’re in hanger two. Just ask Ben where he stashed them.”

  She knew then and there that Ton was no fool, he had this planned all along waiting for one of them to think it through. She asked for a crew to start digging the two chambers. Ton called a halt to all digging except in the Chisholm’s place, and these transfer chambers. He was going to see how good Mi was from the gate. He placed her in c
harge of the operation. He knew with the crews she had the chambers would be completed in a day.

  He wondered who would come up with a design that would allow them to work nonstop without worrying about an airlock. His designs were moving forward with Steve’s help. But to construct this ‘through wall’ would require machining on Earth. At best deployment of this system would take a few months. This twin chamber system would at least speed up there ability to move slag now.

  * * *

  David was locked up for twenty-nine days straight. Otto went to see if they could work any thing out with him. “Let him out.” He ordered the guard.

  As the door opened he called to David. “Come on out, we need to talk.”

  He slowly walked out into what had once been his home. It was totally striped of any sign they had once lived there. What remained was a table with three chairs, a PC and a phone.

  He was pissed off that they kept Margaret from him for so long. He was used to having his way with her at least once a day. He knew she didn’t like it. Basically he would just rape her, and he liked it that way. She had allowed it go on all of these years, and it was what he wanted. “Where’s my wife. I need her.” He snapped.

  “We will talk of her later. Right now you need to sign these and then we can talk.” He dropped a pen on top of some papers he turned to face David.

  He picked up the pen and signed without reading a thing just like Margaret said he would. “Now tell me where my wife is?”

  Otto picked up the papers and folded them into his pocket. “You don’t have a wife. You just divorced her. Also, you signed an agreement to stay away from her. A kind of restraining order, and you will live up to it. Do you understand?”

  “I want to see my wife.” He demanded.