Strangers at the Door

by Dan Eaton

  Christine swept into the room while she was still looking at the pictures. She took in what Myra was looking at and said, “I had some pretty interesting training for this job and got to see things and go places that most people never will.”

  She went on to explain that as part of her training in working with isolated groups of people, she had done a cruise on both a US Navy attack sub and a missile sub. The picture from the South Pole had been taken during her stay at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station. She looked at me and said, “So what would you like to talk about today?”

  She still hadn’t really asked that much about Bryce, which surprised Myra, and she really didn’t want to talk about Jessie so she said, “Let’s talk about Bryce. Why did I get so angry at him?”

  Christine made her laugh when she said, “Because he’s a boy, duh.” Then she got serious and said, “Explain to me how Bryce and that coffee mug you smashed the last time are the same and I’ll tell you why you got so mad.”

  I looked down at my mug and quietly said, “I don’t know.”

  “Okay, then let’s talk about you. How did you feel when you found out your family had been selected to come here?”

  “I was really happy. It was a great opportunity for Mom and Dad.”

  “What about you? How did you feel about beyond it making your parents happy? Myra, you’re the type of person that nurtures other people. Making your parents happy is part of who you are. What about the other part of you? How did that part feel about leaving Earth?”

  “I was okay with it. I liked the idea of actually living here, yet I was a little upset about leaving Jessie behind.”

  “Good, and that’s okay, you felt that way. Leaving home was stressful, the trip here was stressful, life here at NLH can be stressful with the lack of variety in so many things. How did you cope, day to day?”

  How did she cope? She thought about it and she really enjoyed being in school with the rest of the kids and Miss Gayle. She liked the way parties were done. The thing she liked most was talking to her friend Jessie everyday and sharing the things that had happened that day to both of them. It made her feel like home wasn’t so far away. She said, “I guess the most important thing I did was talk to Jessie everyday.”

  “So when Jessie died, she left you without the most important outlet for dealing with your stress, and at the same time you now had the very high stress of dealing with the loss of your friend. So, let’s talk about Bryce. When Jessie died, you said you had Bryce take you to the Viewing Room. Why Bryce?”

  “My mom and dad were worried about me and didn’t want me going to the room by myself. Bryce lives next door and he’s been a good friend so I asked him.”

  “What about Nina or Ananyu? Why didn’t you ask one of them?”

  “Nina and Ananyu are good friends. They like me and I like them, but I don’t feel like I’m close enough to either of them to ask one of them to do that for me. The other boys were totally out of the question so that just left Bryce.”

  Christine thought over what she had said for a minute and then replied, “So here’s what I think is going on. You suffered a major loss that put you under a lot of stress. You have a Jessie shaped hole in your life and naturally you tried to fill it so you could get back to normal. You like Bryce and nobody else was even close enough, so part of you decided to try to fill the emptiness that Jessie’s loss left with Bryce. There’s another piece of you that rejected Bryce because you know it’ll never be the same as it was with Jessie. You’re conflicted and that all came to a head at your birthday party when you tried to get Bryce to be your boyfriend. The part of you that needs the support Jessie gave you blew up when Bryce turned you down.”

  “I really do like Bryce.”

  “I believe you. The problem is, right now there are two people who like Bryce. There’s the part of you that simply likes Bryce because of who he is and then there’s the part of you that likes Bryce because it’s desperate to heal a hurt. Just to keep things interesting, there’s a third part of you that’s not buying into the whole replacing Jessie with Bryce thing. Myra, I know it’s hard, however, to get you where you need to be, I think we really need to have you deal with losing Jessie. You told Bryce he needed to deal with Nina, you need to deal with Jessie.”

  CHAPTER FOUR

  Hammer Blow

  World News TodayAugust 3, 2038

  In an emergency meeting of the UN Security council late today, China has accused the United States of being in violation of the Outer Space Treaty of 1967 by the act of building a weapon of mass destruction on the Moon. Specifically, China is accusing that the linear accelerator being built by the Transcor Corporation near the Northern Lunar Habitat is in reality a rail gun system capable of targeting all sovereign nations on the Earth who fail to bow to the aggression of the United States. China further states that they hope this matter will be addressed by diplomatic means, however, if necessary they will take whatever action is needed to maintain their security, even if it means acting unilaterally.

  The US has responded by categorically denying China’s claims and stating that the linear accelerator is a tool for economically moving large payloads from the lunar surface for peaceful purposes. They warn that any unilateral acts of aggression by China on the linear accelerator will be met by an appropriate response by any or all assets the US can bring to bear. Senior administration officials have been quoted as saying that they are working on a diplomatic response. The White House has also instructed that a range of military options be prepared if needed.

  In related news, NASA has suspended all flight operations to and from the Northern Lunar Habitat until this crisis is resolved. The Northern Lunar Habitat has also been placed on an outgoing communications lock down.

  Francisca continued to monitor the mirror from inside the depot. Each of us in the cabin took a turn walking to the edge of the open cabin and looking out at the mirror. Demarco insisted we wore a tether while we stood there, although it was worth it for the view out the door. The shadowed Moon’s surface was visible and there in the darkness of the Mare Imbrium was a barely visible tiny spot of light where the beam of sunlight reflected back by the mirror came to rest. When we had all had our fill of looking out the door, Yukiko came back through and sealed the wall section back up. With the compartment safely closed up, Commander Davies re-pressurized the compartment. She ran some checks to verify the hatch wasn’t leaking any air and then allowed Arwen to open the hatch between the CLT30 and Sunshine’s depot. Shortly after that, she gave the okay for us to take off our suits.

  The Sunshine team gathered together in the main cabin and were all smiles as they congratulated each other on their achievement. They pulled Sandy and me into their celebration and we congratulated them also. Sandy and I were listening to an excited Arwen explain the follow on missions she’d hoped her team would now get to do when Yukiko floated in and asked Sandy if he could spare a minute to talk with Commander Davies on the flight deck. Sandy excused himself while I continued to listen to Arwen talking about the future uses Sunshine would be putting to their depot here at LL1. Sandy had been gone for about ten minutes when he reappeared with a concerned look on his face and asked me to follow him. He took me over to a set of seats and said, “So, uh, we need to talk.”

  We sat down and Sandy said, “First off, your parents are safe. There’s a news bulletin out saying the Chinese are concerned over the linear accelerator your dad is building. They brought the matter before the UN Security Council and are demanding the UN deal with the issue diplomatically. If the UN doesn’t deal with it, they are threatening to do something about it on their own. Commander Davies has checked with flight operations and they are telling her to stay put. NASA has canceled all flight operations going in or out of NLH until this is resolved. We’ll stay here until this is over unless something forces us to either divert to LEO or back to one of the other lunar habitats.”

  I was shocked by what Sandy was saying. It didn’t
make any sense to me why the Chinese would care about the linear accelerator. I said, “But Sandy, what’s the accelerator got to do with anything?”

  Sandy gave me a patient look and said, “To trusting people, the accelerator is just a way to move cargo off the surface and into orbit cheaply. Yet in the wrong hands, the accelerator could be used to chuck kinetic energy weapons down the Earth’s gravity well. The Chinese are right to express concern over this. You’ve read enough science fiction to know it’s practically impossible to defend against KEWs.”

  I just stared at Sandy for a moment, having a hard time believing he was actually siding with the Chinese.

  “Can I talk to my mom and dad?”

  “Sorry Bryce. We’re cut off from the habitat completely. They’ve shut down all out going transmissions from the habitat in addition to canceling the flight operations. We can record something and have Commander Davies get it to someone who can add it to the inbound channel to NLH.”

  “Why are they doing that. I’d really like to talk to my mom and dad.”

  Sandy got a more serious look on his face and said, “That’s related to the part in the bulletin about the Chinese handling it on their own if the UN doesn’t do something. They’re talking about a military strike against the linear accelerator. The only option they probably have that would guarantee taking out the accelerator would be to use one or more nuclear bombs. NASA has killed off flight operations and any outbound radio transmissions to avoid giving the Chinese any targeting information.”

  I couldn’t imagine a worse nightmare than this. Sandy was standing there telling me the Chinese were going to nuke NLH. My parents, my home, my friends, could all be gone in an instant.

  Sandy said, “Bryce, calm down and listen to me. Your parents are okay. They and everybody else at NLH is okay. The Chinese have raised a valid concern and to make sure everyone takes them seriously, they’ve put a threat behind it. They would much rather negotiate a settlement than act by themselves militarily. Even if it came down to that, the target would be the accelerator and not NLH.”

  “Yeah, but Sandy, how do you know that? What happens if the negotiations break down? What happens if they aim for the accelerator and miss?”

  Sandy took a moment to collect his thoughts and said, “Look at the big picture. Transcor announced they would be building the accelerator two years ago. Did the Chinese object then? No. Actual construction started a year ago when your dad showed up. Did the Chinese object then? No, they waited until the accelerator was almost done and then decided to make a big fuss about it. Don’t underestimate the Chinese. They’ve known exactly what’s been going on with the accelerator and chose now to make a fuss because they want something. If they were truly against the accelerator being built, they would have started objecting two years ago. They waited until now to make sure it was far enough along that the US couldn’t back down and not finish the project. So, uh, I don’t think negotiations are going to break down, at least not permanently. It will never come to the Chinese launching a strike on the accelerator and even if it did, they’d be in enough hot water after using a nuke in outer space that they would take extreme measures to ensure no one at NLH would be hurt.”

  That sounded logical, however, I still didn’t understand what the Chinese hoped to get out of this move. I asked Sandy and he said, “So, uh, the US and China have history over the lunar north pole. Someday, maybe I’ll tell you what I know of that story. So maybe they’re getting a little pay back at the US. For some, that might be enough, still I’ve always felt the Chinese were pretty pragmatic about things and I have the feeling the Chinese want to use the accelerator. That’s why they waited until the US couldn’t back out of building it. I wouldn’t be surprised to see, a year from now, Chinese shipments going up from the lunar surface at very reasonable rates compared to what others are paying.”

  That just set me back on my heels. I said, “So you think this is about national prestige and getting a cheaper freight bill?”

  “Could be, we’ll see what happens when the smoke clears. I doubt very much the Chinese launch an attack despite what the News jocks are probably saying by now.

  If Sandy hadn’t talked to me, I would have been freaking out by the end of the evening. Yukiko picked up a news channel from Earth and put it on the monitors in the main cabin so we could watch. The news guys did mention the negotiations starting, however, they played up the military angle much more. They had special coverage showing a Long March 5 rocket variant with an unknown upper stage and payload sitting on a pad at the Wenchang launch center on Hainan Island. The speculation was the payload was the weapons that would be used against the accelerator and the upper stage was the propulsion unit that would deliver the bombs to lunar orbit. The shiny white payload section of that rocket gave me the creeps.

  To add to my unease, they had an expert describing just what it would take to target the accelerator. I had thought with the precautions NASA was taking, that the accelerator would be a difficult target. There was no GPS system in place on the Moon nor familiar landmarks like roads or bridges. The expert pointed out that NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter had mapped the Moon to 100 meter resolution starting back in 2009. Using the data from LRO and subsequent mapping missions it was more than feasible for the Chinese to remotely target the accelerator without worrying about accidentally hitting the Habitat. What was a worry was there was speculation that the shock waves from one or more explosions at the accelerator might cause slumps in Whipple’s crater wall. If that happened to the section of wall where NLH was located it could be disastrous to the people living there. That night, I didn’t sleep well. I had trouble getting to sleep and I kept waking up feeling anxious about things.

  The next morning, the news had more of the same as we ate breakfast. Sandy looked at me and said, “How did you sleep last night? You look worn out.”

  “I didn’t sleep so good. First, I had trouble getting to sleep and then I kept waking up. How long do you think this is going to go on?”

  “It may be a week, it may be a month or two. Commander Davies says we have food and air for a month, so that’s as long as we can stay here. If we have to divert, they’ll pull us back to one of the depots in LEO. So, uh, a more immediate issue is you not getting enough rest. It may be everything that’s going on is troubling your rest or it could just be you suffering from normal sleep problems a lot of people have trying to sleep in zero-g. Let’s deal with both possibilities. Tonight, you’ll take a standard sleeping pill that most people who have problems in zero-g use. It’ll help you get to sleep and stay asleep. In the meantime, I’m going to scout around and see if I can find something to keep you busy. Better you do some scut work than sit watching the idiots on the news all day long.”

  Sandy finished up his breakfast and headed off. I wasn’t sure what he thought he could dig up for me, yet I realized he was right about it not being a good idea to watch the news all day. They had just ran a piece that had come from a Chinese news source that talked about Transcor. I was thrilled to see a picture of my dad, although I hated to hear what they were implying about him and Transcor.

  Sandy came back about ten minutes later and said, “Go see Commander Davies. She had an idea I think you’ll like.”

  He pulled out his E-Pad and said, “I’m going to settle in and see if I can get some work done. Maybe get caught up on some projects I haven’t had time for lately. Got to make the best of a bad situation while I can.”

  I could tell Sandy was a little worried about his absence from his businesses and not being able to hear anything from NLH. I figured it was just another problem we could thank the Chinese for. Sandy didn’t seem that upset though, so I asked him about it.

  He said, “So, uh, yeah, it’s an inconvenience now, still let’s see how this all plays out. I wouldn’t be surprised if down the road, there’s some opportunities that come our way because of what the Chinese are doing. Even when things are rough, there’s opportunities if you kee
p your head up and are looking for them. That’s a good lesson for you to remember as we go through this. It’s not all going to be bad stuff.”

  I wandered off to find Commander Davies. The CLT30 wasn’t that big of a space and I found her where I figured she’d be on the command deck. She said, “Hey Bryce. Sandy said you needed something to keep you occupied and I have a project I think you’d enjoy if you’re interested. I’m on the committee that produces the training for the CLT30. We just finished updating the pilot training and I need to review it. If you’re game, I’d like you to take the course. You can learn how to pilot the CLT30 and give me valuable feedback on the course materials. What do you think?”

  “I’d love to, but I’m only a sophomore in high school. Isn’t this going to be way over my head?”

  “If we wrote material that requires a PHD to understand it, then we failed miserably. To fly the CLT30 requires a sound understanding of its subsystems. Sandy says you have a good head for technical things and you have the required math skills. You might struggle on some sections of the course, however, I think you can swing it. The people who will actually be piloting the CLT30 will be older with more experience, yet I think you make a good lowest common denominator. If you can pass the course, then I think the committee will feel pretty confident about the work we did.”

  It did sound pretty interesting. We talked some more about the structure of the course. Similar to the pressure suit training, the piloting course was made up of a section on theory followed by a practical hands on section for the subsystem. Then there was a test at the end of each section and a final test once all of the subsystem sections had been completed. Normally, the students would be working in an expensive simulator. I had the advantage of being stuck in an actual CLT30 which had the ability to enter simulation mode. Commander Davies would have to carefully shepherd me through the more sensitive subsystems, although she felt it could be done safely. It wouldn’t do to cause a failure in the life support subsystem while I was taking the course. While I would have liked to dive right in and bury myself in this project, Miss Gayle had a prior demand on my time for all that homework she assigned for the week I was originally supposed to be gone. If this lasted a month, I was going to be so far behind the rest of the class I wasn’t sure how I was ever going to catch up. Commander Davies and I decided that I’d spend the first couple of hours of the day doing my homework and then switch over to the pilot training for the rest of the day. That switched things up a little and if things went better than expected and I needed to finish up the homework earlier, I could just delay continuing with the pilot training.