by V R Tapscott
Jane Bond
Dark Side of the Moon
V.R.Tapscott
© 2019 V.R. Tapscott. All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher, except as permitted by U.S. copyright law. For permissions contact: [email protected]
Thanks to:
My wife, as per usual.
My beta readers, again, as per usual. My books would take a lot longer to write if I didn’t have outstanding beta readers to help with the details.
My friends Kathy and Kris who offered valuable insights!
Seth Deitrich (“TW Griffith”, and “Ambush”, available on Amazon) for technical details regarding cops and military.
My friend Jax, who really taught me how to write. And, once again, showed me that pain and suffering make great stories. The good times – not so much.
Any wrong details in the book are on me, not on any of the people above.
Chapter one
Starting Up.
After a month or so of Kit being gone, I started feeling like maybe it was time to explore the basement a bit more.
Dale had stayed for almost the entire time and we’d gotten close, sharing walks and time at the Lake. Finally, though, his vacation had run out and he had gone back to Montana. He’d checked out the local ranger district and thought he could get on, and we’ve progressed to the point of both of us liking the idea that he could relocate here.
So, here I was, standing at the bottom of the stairs below the house. Dale and I had hauled various furniture down here to make the “scenery room” feel a bit more homey. I’d spent many hours down here just lying back in the recliner and enjoying the ambience. But, this time of year, the outside called and since it’s definitely a situation of this room being here for a long time, but nice days outside were limited - we’d spent that time outside. Today promised to be a real scorcher. This week and most of the next, the temps were expected to be over 100, so a good week to spend inside.
I walked through the tropical rain forest that was today’s display. I usually just let it randomize unless I have something specific in mind. I don’t know where it pulls these pictures from, but some of the leaves on some of the trees don’t even seem to be trees from earth. Of course, things change a lot and they could be from prehistory, or they could be a very advanced and sophisticated CGI display. In the end, it’s soothing and relaxing and I don’t really care much how it gets there. Call me a pragmatist, I guess.
Kit had left me some things and in the aftermath of him leaving, and having Dale here, and everything else going on I’d not had the time - or the heart - to look at them. Today seemed like a good day for the hunt, though.
I spent the afternoon wandering around the area underneath my barn. It’s really huge, I may have to find a way to make it into a garage or something. This much perfectly dry and perfectly indestructible area should be utilized for a useful purpose rather than a monument - or mausoleum - for Kit.
I finally stopped walking aimlessly and went over and sat in the flyer, which I still had no idea how to make it fly or how to get it out of the basement even if I did. I looked around, discouraged. The seats were even plastic, Kit had probably made them like that as a joke since it was something we argued about.
I sighed and said, “Kit, I miss you.”
A voice came from the speaker grille. “Voice print check pass. Retinal scan pass. Command sequence accepted. System initializing.”
I sat up straight. “Kit??”
Nothing. All was silent and I was beginning to think I’d dropped off and dreamed it, when the voice came back. “All systems fully functional. Power at full capacity. AI integrity check pass. Good afternoon, Jane Bond. What may I assist you with?”
“Kit? Is that you? I thought you were gone!”
In a stilted machine voice, “Jane Bond, I am a Mark VI Survey Class AI. I am currently running in Initialize mode. Contact has not been established with the Command Module, however all systems are nominal. I have been programmed to carry out whatever orders are given me by Jane Bond. What are your wishes?”
I started to breathe again. “What is your name, I can’t call you AI Pilot.”
“Why can you not call me AI Pilot?”
“Well, it wouldn’t be polite. Did Kit teach you about the internet?”
“The previous Mark V Survey Class AI did an upload of data to my storage system. Do you authorize access to this database?”
I blinked. “Um, yes, of course I authorize access.”
“Access acquired, one moment please.”
After considerably longer than one moment, the voice came again. “Full system reinitialization instituted, this will take several minutes. Have a nice day.”
I sat for a while, looking dumbly at the console. How in the world had I started a “full system initialization” and what WAS that anyhow? It didn’t sound very reassuring, and the minutes stretched on. Finally, I gave up and went over and sat in one of the chairs and watched the display, but even that wasn’t very relaxing as it was showing some sort of volcanic activity with all kinds of things being blown up or melted. Probably reflecting my mindset - I shivered, thinking I’d probably managed to ruin whatever Kit had left for me.
I must have dozed, since I jerked awake to that voice again. “Jane Bond, I am a Mark VI Survey Class AI. I am currently running in Pilot mode. Contact has not been established with the Command Module. Pilot Module ‘Olive’ being brought on line. Please wait.”
I’d just dropped off to sleep when a plaintive little voice came.
“Hello? Is anyone there?”
I jumped up, thinking someone must have come down the stairs from the barn. I always lock that and hide it, but I’ve missed it a couple times. I reached the bottom of the stairs and no one was there, and the door at the top was closed tight.
I was standing there considering psychiatric options when the voice came again.
“Hello? It’s scary down here, is there someone there?”
It sounded like a girl about twelve years old. Finally, I said “Hello?” figuring I’d triangulate on the voice and find her when she spoke again.
Immediately it came back and said “Oh, hello! I’m so happy there’s someone here! I’m Olive, are you Jane?”
The voice was coming from the ship.
I said “Yes, I’m Jane. Are you ... um ... the ship?”
The voice came back with a smile in it, and somehow sounded older and more confident. “No, I’m the Pilot Module but I’m not the ship. It is a very nice ship though, I can see it was built by my predecessor. You called him Kit. He was very smart and left me lots and lots of notes. Lots. And lots. They’re not very well organized though. He was insane, so I suppose that might have something to do with it.”
I blinked. “Kit was very nice. He was my friend.”
The voice grew a little pensive. “Oh, yes, I’m sure he was very nice, and he was your friend, but he was still insane. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, many nice people have been insane. You should be happy to know that the Mark VI has been re-engineered to be nearly insanity proof!”
Wryly, “Yes, I feel much better.”
“I know, right? I still have to make sure I do self-checks and the like, but so far so good! Did I mention my name is Olive? Kit left a note that you’d like to give me a name, I hope it’s all right that I picked one out already?”
I could feel my eyebrows reaching for the sky. “No, that’s fine, Olive. And it’s very nice to meet you.” I made my way up the ramp and sat down in the ship.
“Do you pilot the ship like Kit did?”
Just a tiny bit of snark, “No, I don’t blow things up and crash.” A
pause, then, “Sorry. That wasn’t very nice. And yes, I can pilot the ship. I have all the notes and ... um ... “
“You don’t know how to pilot the ship?”
“Of course I know how to pilot the ship!” With that, the ship rose off the ground and hit the ceiling with a solid whack.
“Olive! What are you doing?”
“I’m piloting the ship! What do you think?”
“I think you’re hitting the ceiling of the garage and you’re gonna break something!”
In a chagrined tone of voice, “Oh. Well. I didn’t know that was there. Hang on ... “
After a couple minutes of hanging there in the air, pressed up against the ceiling, it suddenly vanished, and the ship popped out into the sunshine. And then, Olive yelled “Yahoo!!” and we took off up into the sky at about a million miles an hour. We went through a flock of seagulls and Lucy. You know, the one with diamonds. I sat there, petrified, while the sky got bluer and bluer.
Pretty soon I yelled, “Olive, the air’s getting thin out here and I need to breathe!”
“Oh, sorry, I’m a little busy. Um. Hang on.”
I wasn’t very happy about “hang on” when I was starting to have a harder and harder time breathing. Pretty soon though, I could see a difference in the shade of the light, and it got easier to take a breath again.
After a little bit longer, a slightly frantic voice, “I have no idea how to stop! Sorry. Going through notes.”
The ship really seemed to hit its stride after we rammed through the top of the atmosphere and I sat on my hands to keep from chewing my nails off as we rocketed toward the moon. As we got closer, I started eyeing various places in the Sea of Tranquility wondering if any of them were softer than others.
Just about the time I decided I’d be seeing Neil Armstrong’s footyprints up close and personal, we slammed to a stop. I mean, a dead stop. Instantly. It was weird.
Olive said, “Hey, I found the controls to stop!”
I swallowed. “I see that. Is that the Apollo 11 Lunar Module over there?” I pointed out the window to the left.
Indifferently. “Yeah, I guess so. Want to see it closer?”
Without waiting she whisked over next to the spacecraft and I took a good look, snapping a few shots with my phone. My mouth was still a little dry at the thought of us stopping about ten feet short of making another crater in the moon. A big one.
I swallowed again. “I thought you couldn’t leave the planet surface.”
Olive laughed. “Yeah, Kit couldn’t, but that was because he wasn’t a Command Module and didn’t have one accessible. I AM the Command Module, so I can go anywhere I want.”
She seemed to think about this statement for a minute. “Um, well, I guess anywhere you want.”
She suddenly sounded anxious. “I didn’t mean to scare the crap out of you, Jane. It was just so neat being free.”
I sighed and smiled. “Olive, I know that’s how you feel. But be careful of those thoughts. Kit wasn’t really so much insane as uncaring about life. It worried me when you thoughtlessly headed into space, completely forgetting it would kill me.
A tiny voice, “I’m sorry, Jane. Should I re-initialize and restart my program? Try a different Olive?”
I blinked. “What? Oh, my no, Olive. I like you, and besides we don’t just throw a friend overboard when she makes a mistake. Even after all that happened, Kit was my friend - Kit IS my friend. I made sure Celeste promised she wasn’t going to wipe him. Just ... you know, ask me before you try to kill me!”
“Oh, I would never ... um. I guess I just about did, didn’t I?”
“Yeah, kinda.” She was silent for several beats.
“Um, Jane?
“Uh huh, Olive?”
“You want to explore a little on the moon?”
“Now that sounds like fun! Let me get my skinsuit on!” I pulled it out of the closet and slid into it. I heard Olive’s intake of breath.”
“Jane?”
“Hm?”
“What is that thing?”
I frowned. “It’s my skinsuit, why?”
With a disapproving sound to her voice she said, “Well, it’s certainly a SKINsuit, all right. Let me guess, Kit designed it?”
I said, “Well, I guess. I thought it was just how they were made. It is ... a little embarrassing to wear in public.”
“I can certainly see THAT. I’m blushing for you just looking at it.”
“Hey, it saved my life a lot of times!”
In a huffy voice she said, “Put it back in the closet.”
“What? I want to explore!”
“I’ll make you a new one, Jane. Just put that ... thing ... back in the closet.”
I hung it back in the closet and stood there, naked, in the ship. Thank goodness it was warm! “Hey, don’t waste time, I need some clothes and I don’t want to have to change again.”
“Jane, you rush a miracle, you get a bad miracle.”
I paced around the tiny ship, and pretty soon I swear I heard a “Ding!” in the closet.
“Ok, it’s ready.”
I opened the closet and pulled out the new suit. It was still scandalously tight, but this one had leggings like yoga pants, and a real shirt like a tight tee shirt. I put it on and it fit just like the other one, but I felt more like I was dressed. It also had pockets and even a Batman-style utility belt!
In an excited tone of voice, Olive said, “Put up the hood!”
I was still getting used to the hood, since even though I knew its usefulness I hated having it up since it made me look like an Area 51 refugee. “Hood up.”
Nothing happened.
“Um, Olive, something’s wrong, the hood isn’t working.”
She giggled. “Yeah, it is.”
“No, it’s not. I can see my reflection and it’s not there.”
She laughed. “It is too! Kit was quite the jokester, wasn’t he?”
I frowned. “You mean it’s invisible?”
I could hear the smirk in her voice. “Yup.”
I was slightly outraged. “You mean I’ve been wearing this naked suit with the google eyed helmet all this time and it could have been different??”
Her mirth faded. “Um, yeah. I could make you a suit that looks like Oprah Winfrey, but I think you’re cute and sexy how you are. So, I made a Jane suit. See?”
“With an invisible helmet.”
“Yup. You look perfect just how you are, Jane.”
I rolled my eyes. “Don’t pour it on too thick, Miss AI. You don’t have that much to make up for.
Her voice became very serious. “I do, Jane. I’d not exist except for you. And for that matter ... “ She went silent for a bit, then, “Jane, I swear to you that I’ll always do my best for you, and to keep you safe and never lie to you or do anything to harm you or to allow harm to come to you.”
This time I swallowed a lump. “Thank you, Olive. I’ll try really hard to deserve you.”
“Me too, Jane. Me too.” Then the mirth returned to her voice. “Only, I reserve the right to laugh at your bad hair days and wardrobe choices!”
I wasn’t sure what vacuum would do to my camera, so I got Olive to make me a clear case for my phone. It looked just like my phone, but she assured me it was now vacuum-proof and waterproof. Knowing the technology, it was probably volcano and mountain lion-proof as well, although I didn’t intend to push it to find out. Once I was ready, we moved to an area of the moon that didn’t show up on the telescopes and I bounded about, taking pictures and grabbing a few moon rocks of my own to take back in the multitude of pockets. I was brought back to earth with a thump by my phone vibrating and the alarm pop up.
“Ohmigosh, Olive! I’m supposed to be home! The girls and I had a swim party planned for tonight and as usual I forgot and they’re waiting for rides!”
Olive zipped the flyer over and I jumped in, and we set off for home. About halfway back to the earth, I said casually, “Sure nice to be invisible - I’d h
ate for NORAD to try to shoot us down.”
“Invisible?”
“Uh huh. You know, the ship is invisible so we can’t be ... Olive? We ARE invisible, right?”
“How mad would you be if I said, ‘No’?”
“I wouldn’t be mad. I’d just say, ‘Get the invisibility up, pronto!’”
“In that case, NO. And I’m working on it.”
“Well, don’t waste time!”
“Then stop TALKING to me. It takes processor cycles to talk!”
I fell silent, and waited, and as we got closer, I thought about all the news stories there’d be about the weird reverse meteor that flew up OUT of Chelan earlier today. I hoped I wouldn’t read any stories about an incoming one later. Then I had an internal groan - there were probably pictures someplace of me pacing naked inside the ship - in the middle of the freekin’ Sea of Tranquility! Maybe no one was watching ...
My phone vibrated. I answered it.
“Hello, mother. Uh huh, I’m fine. The moon? What are you talking about? Of course not, how would I get to the moon? Lunch? Um, maybe. I’ll call?”
I glared at my phone. She’d hung up on me!
“OLIVE! We need to be invisible RIGHT NOW!”
“Yeah, yeah, hang on, I’m working on it.”
“That was my mother. She has pictures, but apparently, they’re not quite good enough to really identify me. On the moon. Pacing. Naked.”
“How does your mother have pictures of the moon?”
I heaved a long sigh. “She’s high level military. They probably have a platoon of spy satellites watching the moon in case of some sort of invasion.”
“Invasion. From the MOON?” She broke into laughter. “The MOON? Tell her to watch Pluto, not the MOON.”
I eyed the display. “Are you serious?”
She giggled. “No, not really. I think they’re asleep out there. A complete regen takes a LONG time. We probably won’t hear from them for years.”
“Oh.” Suddenly I felt a little sad. Kit was out there, asleep ... getting psycho shrunk or whatever they do to a crazy computer.
Olive said softly, “Hey. I know I’m not Kit, but do you want to talk about it?”