Moonday Page 5

  She was happy to see him and was a little excited. She seemed in a hurry to show him all the medical equipment she had at her disposal before she drew his attention to one of the screens. The results of the first week’s monitoring devices were displayed on the screen. There was a comparison with their original values and the display showed that all the measurements for everyone on the Moon Base were satisfactory. She tapped on her results and it instantly changed to show the results of the body chemistry analysis. Everything had been evaluated to look for potentially hazardous changes. Peter had signed the employment contract and knew that he had agreed to these conditions but seeing all the details on the screen, how every breath into a Smellaid, how every toilet flush was measured and recorded left him with the eerie feeling that he’d lost something.

  Beatriz explained, “The machines don’t only do an analysis of body chemistry, they can also do a DNA analysis and comparison in real time.” She sounded impressed.

  Peter looked at her smiling and thought she has settled in nicely. He could see that she was going to enjoy supervising the health of the team and that she would make the most of the opportunity to use these first-class machines for her own research. She was going to enjoy her five-year stay, and she was going to make the most of it.

  Beatriz looked at Peter and smiled before saying, “I think it is great that you’re visiting everyone today. They’ll be glad that you’re interested in their work.”

  Peter smiled and nodded in agreement to hide his guilt. He took a deep breath, as he thought, now he was going to have to pay Dervla a quick visit. He thanked Beatriz for her time and set off towards Dervla’s laboratory.

  The way to Dervla’s lab was through the second garden. He liked the colours of the plant cover in the second garden better than in the main garden and it seemed calmer there, or maybe the light was different because it was later in the planned day.

  Peter stood in front of the entrance to the main lab and looked around. The entrance door was the same size and looked the same as the second lab. He glanced at the Smellaid briefly, before he pressed the buzzer and announced himself. He wasn’t sure what experiments Dervla was conducting and he suspected that her experiments were riskier than those of the geologists. It took a minute or so before Dervla answered. She came to the door and opened it without smiling.

  Peter found it difficult to get close to Dervla. She was friendly enough but seemed distant. She willingly showed him the DNA plant experiments she was doing for Maria, but the other side of the laboratory was taboo, and he wasn’t allowed to go there. Her own research projects were confidential.

  Peter nodded as she explained. He already knew this was the case and confirmed his understanding with a little smile. He asked if she had settled in and if she needed anything. He could see that she wanted him to go so she could continue her research, so he thanked her for her time and set off back to his office. As he was walking back, he thought that Dervla seemed satisfied and obviously had her work under control.

  Peter sat down in his black self-adjusting chair and smiled. He’d quickly got used to his new working environment and it already felt like home. He made himself comfortable and opened his captain’s logbook and began writing. He chose every word carefully. His logbook belonged to the company and not him and he was very conscious that it could perhaps be used as evidence in a future lawsuit. This was why he also kept a second private diary, which only he knew about. In his secret diary he wrote his honest thoughts, but first he wrote the logbook. After only a few sentences he paused and tried to remember. This morning he had had the time to visit the VIP suites on the first floor of the main residential area and he had been impressed. The suites were luxuriously furnished and much roomier than his allotted accommodation. The Moononauts were only given the basics that were needed for their five-year stay. He wondered briefly if there were no tourists coming and they had at least four days warning before someone arrived, and the robots could clean the VIP suites really quickly, why he didn’t take one of these luxury suites for himself. He sighed. He knew why he wouldn’t. It was, of course, against the regulations and he was sure they’d certainly be supervised by Columbus. He laughed quietly. He certainly didn’t want to get a tourist bill when he got home either.

  He turned his thoughts back to work. So far, the team seemed to be getting along with each other very well. Peter was relieved. He definitely preferred working when everything was running smoothly. He thought about the relationships in the team. He smiled as he thought that Damian and Filip didn’t seem to have any problems because of their close family relationship, and everyone else in the team seemed to have a professional respect for others.

  Then he leaned back in his chair and stroked his chin with his hand, as it occurred to him that actually, so far there had only been Steve who had come to Peter to complain. He had turned up with an annoyed red face and had told him in no uncertain terms that he was more competent than Liam and it was difficult to understand why Liam was his supervisor. Peter was a little surprised by Steve’s behaviour, but he managed not to let it show. Steve had been assigned two roles, his main role was as a geologist working with John, and his second was as an engineer supporting Damian and Liam. Steve’s personality profile wasn’t ideal for the Moon, but his qualifications were, and he had a lot of them.

  Peter knew Steve well enough and had expected something from him, but not within the first week. Steve hadn’t reacted positively as Peter had explained patiently that Liam has been working on the Moon for five years without any problems and he knew his job well. Peter remembered Steve’s expression as he asked him, “Was there something special that was causing a problem?” Steve had remained calm, but you could see it in his face that the matter was not resolved. Peter didn’t write about it officially, but he made some notes in his private diary.

  There was a lot of different surveillance sensors available to Peter in his office. He’d tried a few of them before on Earth and he chose one he felt familiar with. It was the daylight camera with sound for the canteen and recreation room. Steve and Europa were there. He could see Steve standing there with his game helmet on. Peter didn’t know which game he was playing, but he could hear Europa, who was standing next to him, laughing at him.

  Peter heard Europa say, “You’ve given your opponent Avatar twenty percent brain damage. The option is meant for medical purposes and not for people who just can’t play very well.”

  Peter watched Steve as he glared furiously at Europa who turned and returned to work laughing.

  Peter turned off the device quickly. He felt like he had done something bad, intrusive. He had witnessed a private matter between the two of them.

  Peter leaned back in his self-adjusting chair, closed his eyes and thought about life and working on the Moon Base. He imagined they would find a routine and live together for five years in a relaxed and professional way and work until it was time to fly home. Just a few more weeks until the Annual Closure for the Leonid meteors. He laughed to himself, then we’ll see how people get along in party mode.

  First Annual Opening

  Date: Saturday 21st November 2139 - 12:00 CET

  Location: Alpha 12 - Moon Base

  There was a stillness in the communications area that masked the nervous anticipation. Peter leaned against the back of his safety chair trying to find comfort in its stability and security. It helped him feel less nervous. He looked up at the ceiling, he couldn’t see them, but he could hear the soft scratching sound coming from the hydraulics of the moving shields as they slowly exposed the Moon Base to the outside world. It was his first Annual Opening, and it seemed to be taking forever. He glanced over to Liam and Damian. They looked busy and professional. He assumed they were familiar with the process and knew what needed to be done. He breathed deeply a few times and managed to calm himself. He smiled as he noticed the slight nausea deep in his stomach disappearing. He raised his hand uncertainly and touched his captain’s hat briefly. He felt reassu
red. He hadn’t forgotten it.

  He heard Liam say, “Prepare for the gravity transition.”

  Peter relaxed further into his chair as he felt the force of the returning gravity. He closed his eyes and quietly thanked Art Feldmann for her discovery. He appreciated it now more than ever since they had just had four days of celebration with only the Moon’s gravity. Now within a few minutes, the local gravity was being increased from sixteen to eighty percent of the Earth’s gravity and he could feel the growing stresses and strains on his body.

  He felt his head become heavier and he tensed his neck muscles to keep his head steady and upright. His felt his arms and legs pressing heavier against his body and the simple act of breathing became more difficult. He felt tired and heavy. He looked down at his body, had he gained weight during the holiday?

  He knew he was going to need a few minutes to get used to it, but it didn’t take long before he felt able to move normally again. He looked over to Damian and Liam and asked with a concerned voice, “Have you restored contact with Earth Base Columbus?”

  They were sitting in front of their keyboards concentrating on the monitors. Peter thought they seem to be enjoying themselves. Liam pressed a couple of keys before answering. He knew that this was Peter’s first time and could remember his own. The gravity transition took some getting used to. So, he took the concern in Peter’s voice seriously, “We need to launch the Moon satellite before we can contact Earth Base Columbus.” His voice was calm and didn’t reveal any emotions.

  “Luna is flying like an eagle.” You could hear the smile in Damian’s voice. He’d always wanted to say those words, to confirm that the uplink to the Moon satellite had succeeded and had successfully returned the communication handshake.

  Liam watched the automatic confirmation messages scrolling up the monitor as the system prepared to go to the next step. The second step started, the uplink to a satellite in near-Earth orbit needed to be established before the connection to Earth Base Columbus could succeed. Damian was avidly watching and listening to the communication status. He heard it beep twice with a retry tone and smiled with relief as the longer successful tone sounded. The connection to Earth had succeeded. Almost immediately, he heard the rush of noise as the first messages from Earth Base began arriving. The expected, “Welcome back to the real world” message came first. It was followed by a short four-day summary of the events of the last few days.

  Peter heard Damian sigh with relief and noticed how he visibly relaxed. He’d been worried about the many interfaces that could have caused problems. Damian thanked Liam for his help. The Moon Base was alive again.

  Damian knew that it wasn’t just his but also Peter’s first Annual Opening, and they both had an important role to play. He had just finished his and Peter’s was to come. So, he smiled and nodded encouragingly in Peter’s direction, but didn’t say anything. He didn’t want to disturb Peter’s thoughts.

  Peter had prepared a short speech and was following the local custom, traditionally everything that happened during the closure stayed private, and he wasn’t going to mention anything about it. He wouldn’t even mention that they’d had four days of Moon Madness. He smiled as he thought about his joke. Then became serious as he stroked his chin with his right hand and felt his four-day old beard. He’d practiced his short speech many times. This was going to be the first message since the Leonid closure and he wanted to appear professional, an experienced and capable Moon Major. People were going to remember this moment, and his wife would be watching. He cleared his throat. He hoped that his voice would sound good.

  As was expected of him, he hadn’t shaved for four days. Peter thought it was a strange custom, but he did try to go along with the traditions, it seemed to make the people at home happy, and he thought he looked pretty good. He grinned as he remembered Meichun’s first Opening, she’d worn a fake red beard.

  The plan was to stand up and look straight at the camera and say, “We’re overcoming the gravity of the situation” before giving his short report. It was surprising how many people on Earth still watched the speech, and Peter felt nervous as he performed his speech flawlessly.

  After it was finished Peter sat back in the chair and relaxed. There were moments that you know you’ll never forget. This was one of them and he was glad it was over.

  An hour after the official Opening, the whole team were due to meet in the meeting room on the Moon floor. Peter was a few minutes early, but he was relaxed about punctuality today as he knew everyone was affected differently. It was going to take a little time for some of them to get used to the stronger gravity. Some of the team had adapted quickly, but others, he already knew, were having problems. It was different going to lower gravity, that had been easy. Although Peter thought that the alcohol had helped. He felt his leg muscles tense as he sat down, and he remembered that as part of their training they had been taught that gravitation sickness resembled seasickness, and you never know until you’d experienced it how you were going to react. Peter was thankful that he seemed to be coping well.

  Peter was sitting in the meeting room chatting with Beatriz when the others started to come in. Charlie and Maria arrived together. Charlie was smiling broadly. Peter thought that the few days holiday had strengthened the team. Filip and Paul were both laughing as they arrived. Europa and Liam arrived very punctually but separately. The rest of the team showed up within the next minute or so. Peter was pleased that they were all there and no one was too late. He hoped it meant they weren’t suffering.

  Peter summarised the news from Columbus. Nothing particularly exciting had happened on Earth during the last few days. He smiled and looked at the team, as he explained that the outstanding requests for scientific reports and other work-related information would be processed today. Columbus had sent greetings and the family video mails were sent after the work requests.

  “Well I just want to say, well done everybody for surviving the annual Leonid meteors.” He laughed gently and looked at Maria. “If you get a chance, let me know what it’s like in the gardens.”

  Maria nodded and smiled, “Sixteen percent gravity still keeps the plants under control. I will check, and Charlie will help me if there’s anything that needs to be done.”

  Charlie looked at Maria and glowed.

  Peter looked over to Filip and Paul. He sounded serious as he said, “Is there anything you’d like to report when it comes to damage?”

  Paul looked at Filip, sniggered and looked guilty. Filip, who was the more reasonable of the two, answered, “Some of the drones had an accident. It has been discovered that mixing beer and sixteen percent gravity is a greater challenge to flying drones than we first thought.” He put his hand over his mouth, his eyes opened wide, and a look of horror crossed his face as he burped long and loud.

  Everybody in the room laughed.

  Peter managed to stop laughing first and asked, “You can fix them, can’t you?”

  Both Filip and Paul nodded eagerly.

  Peter smiled, and his eyes twinkled as he said, “And next time I would recommend you drink less carbonated drinks at sixteen percent gravity.”

  Peter ended the meeting with the words, “And remember what happens during the Annual Closure, stays secret.”

  After the meeting and before returning to his office Peter walked to Art Feldmann’s statue. He wanted to see if she’d survived the closure. He looked up at her and saw her floating near the ceiling. Her system worked automatically. During the Closure her field was turned off and she was lowered safely to Moon level and after the Opening she floated back into her usual place near the ceiling.

  Peter was pleased. He headed towards his office thinking how he was looking forward to the return of their routine and of course the party next year.

  Lost Contact

  Date: Sunday 20th November 2140 – 12:00 CET

  Location: Alpha 12 – Moon Base

  “Luna is flying like an eagle,” Damian’s voice sounded light an
d unconcerned.

  Peter was sitting in the safety chair right behind Liam and Damian in the communication area, half listening to the proceedings. His thoughts were drifting. He could hardly believe a year had already passed. He was looking forward to the video mail from his wife. Last year she’d recreated the outfit from their first date and he wondered if she remembered what she was wearing on their first anniversary. He had absolutely no idea. She could tell him anything and he would be prepared to believe it.

  He briefly touching his captain’s hat, it reassured him that everything was as it was supposed to be. He thought back to last year’s opening, restoring communication with Earth had taken longer than he’d thought. He hoped that they could connect faster this time.

  Peter looked over to Liam and Damian, “Have we restored contact with Earth Base Columbus?” His voice sounded a little bored.

  Liam turned to face Peter, he seemed relaxed as he muttered, “It sometimes takes a minute or two.” Nonchalantly he turned his attention back to the monitors and rested his hands on the desk near the keyboard. He watched the messages scrolling on the monitor and then pressed a few keys before leaning back in his chair. The uplink to the Moon satellite succeeded and pinged back its confirmation. Both Liam and Damian were watching the system automatically go to the next step. The system was searching for a connection to a satellite in near-Earth orbit.

  Peter speculated to himself that it might be taking a while because of the communication delay. He stared unseeing at the backrest of Liam’s chair, with his right hand he played with his four-day beard and tried to remain patient. He practised his short speech in his head one more time and hoped that he wouldn’t forget anything. He nodded to himself. The first message after the Leonid closure was a serious matter and he wanted to sound just as good as last year. He cleared his throat gently and wondered if his voice would hold for the speech as he started rubbing his nose.