Chapter 37: Lunar Base

I called up the cloaked shuttle on my suit’s communicator.

“This is Captain Brian. I need a shuttle to pick us up from the lunar base urgently!” I said.

“Captain, this is the scout vessel, Argyle. I’m in a high orbit and can reach you sooner.”

The voice sounded like Ship.

“Very good. Get here as soon as you can. I don’t know if they left something unpleasant for us.”

“Confirmed,” replied Argyle. The call ended.

I turned to Nazira. “Help’s coming. We need to check for explosives. I have a suspicion they left us too easily.”

We both started searching the control room. A few minutes later, we stopped and faced each other.

“Nothing here?” I asked.

“No, nothing.”

“Well, either there’s nothing, and they didn’t leave an explosive, or it’s somewhere else.”

“Let’s check the corridor back to the airlock.”

We left the control room, checking the corridor.

The hyper drive went offline and Ship decelerated to sub-light speed. Jem sat watching the tactical display.

“Attention, we’ve arrived at the Haddleton system,” said Ship.

“Ship, Deploy cloaked probes. Gather intel on the system.”

“Confirmed,” replied Ship.

Blue dots spread out into the system on the display.

A while later, Cathy, Laine, and Yuhi arrived.

“We’re waiting for a report from the probes,” said Jem.

“Ship, what records do you have of this system?” asked Laine.

“This system was previously uninhabited.”

“Commodore, we’re waiting at the edge of this uninhabited system? Why can’t we enter the system and look?” asked Laine.

“Why not? Ship, take us into the system,” said Jem.

“Confirmed,” replied Ship.

Their vessel started moving ahead.

Nazira and I reached the airlock and found no explosives.

“This is good. We just have to wait for help to arrive,” I said.

“So your vessel will dock and rescue us?”

“Yes. We breathe slowly to conserve oxygen. It shouldn’t be a problem.”

Nazira had a worried look. I smiled and put on a confident expression. No need to cause her to worry.

Soon, my communicator alerted me.

“Captain, this is Argyle, the scout vessel. I’ve arrived outside the lunar base. Unfortunately, I detect an explosive device on the outside of the airlock. Don’t open it.”

“Do you have repair bots that can remove it?”

“Negative, Captain. I don’t have repair bots. Recommend you use the airlock on the far side of the base.”

“Can you dock on that side?”

“Negative, Captain. There’s debris in the way. I can land within 50 meters of the airlock.”

“Do that. I’ll meet you over there.”

“Confirmed,” replied Argyle. The call closed.

“Come on, your highness,” I said as I took her hand. We walked back to the control room. I found no space suits along the way. I knew we had to put some distance between us and this airlock.

“That’s it, Commodore. The probes have completed their scans of the system,” said Laine.

“And what have they discovered?”

“No intelligent life. No vessels. The third planet can support life, but nothing more than plants and small animals.”

“So, no reason to stay?”

“A moment, Commodore. I want to check something.”

Laine pulled out her portable device and scanned through data on it.

“Commodore, this planet is in the database of planets with obelisks. We gathered this data previously from the orbital station.”

“You’re suggesting there’s an obelisk on this planet?”

“Very possible. Suggest we scan the planet surface.”

“Agreed. Ship, perform a detailed scan of the planet. We’re looking for an obelisk,” said Jem.

“Confirmed,” replied Ship.

“What happens if we find this obelisk?” asked Cathy.

Jem looked to Laine to answer.

“Cathy, the obelisk is part of a network of devices. They can transport you instantly to another system.”

“Wow! And you think there’s one here?”

“Yes, according to an ancient database.”

The princess and I travelled through the control room and along another corridor. We soon reached the airlock on the far side of the lunar base.

“Is your vessel outside this airlock?” asked the princess.

“Yes, but we need a space suit to reach it. It can’t dock because of debris.”

“I think I see the flaw in your plan.”

“Yes, but we can’t use the other airlock without an explosion. I need to get us some space suits.”

“How do you plan to do that? There’s none here,” she asked.

I held up one finger and called Argyle.

“Argyle, do you have two space suits aboard?”

“Confirmed,” replied Argyle.

“There’s none here. I do have my away team uniform.”

“The distance exceeds the capabilities of your uniform.”

“Agreed. Is your airlock pointed at our airlock?”

“Confirmed,” replied Argyle.

“Can you move the two space suits into your airlock and explosively decompress the outer door?”

“Confirmed,” replied Argyle. “The air would propel the suits in your direction.”

“I will use my away team uniform and endeavour to catch them.”

“This is highly dangerous. I cannot control the direction the suits will travel.”

“We’ve little air remaining here. Please move the suits to the airlock and await my order.”

“Confirmed,” replied Argyle.

I closed the call and turned to Nazira.

“Your highness, I have a cunning plan...”

“Attention, scan complete,” said Ship.

The tactical display showed a map of the planet, with a red dot near the equator.

“That’s it!” said Laine.

“So, what next? Do we inspect it or just make a note of its location?” asked Cathy.

Laine turned to Jem.

“The obelisk is hazardous. If we approach it, we might get transported far away, unable to return. I remember last time I lost you and Brian,” said Jem.

“That’s true.”

Yuhi blinked.

“I’ve decided we won’t investigate. Ship, make a note that this system has an obelisk, in case it’s useful in the future.”

“Confirmed,” replied Ship.

Laine looked unhappy about the decision, but she said nothing.

“Ship, recall your drones and take us to our next destination.”

“Confirmed,” replied Ship.

“Laine, come with me to the main dining lounge. We can prepare dinner together. Cathy and Yuhi can join us in one hour.”

“Yes, Commodore,” they all said.

I turned to the princess.

“Please wait for me here. I plan to get us some space suits.”

“Yes, Brian,” she said with a tremble.

I opened the inner airlock door and stepped inside. Then I closed the door.

My away team uniform had a protective hood and gloves. It also had a few minutes supply of air. Not a space suit, but all I had at the moment.

I pulled up the hood and sealed the face mask and put on the gloves.

Then I called Argyle on my communicator.

“Are you ready for an explosive decompression?” I asked.

“Confirmed,” replied Argyle.

I pressed the button to decompress the airlock. In the back of my mind, I wondered where that air went to. We needed all we could get.

A light came on, indicating the outer door was ready to open.

“Argyle, go ahead!”

“Confirmed.”

I pressed the button and the airlock door opened. Outside, I could see the scout vessel a short distance away. On the scout vessel, an airlock outer door opened, and it blasted the space suits out towards me.

As I took a step outside, I attempted to assess the direction of the space suits. They were coming my general direction and bouncing along the ground. The lunar gravity was less than Dentra.

Then I saw a problem. The debris that made docking impossible would stop the space suits. I’d have to get out past the debris to catch them.

It was challenging to walk in the low lunar gravity. I ended up bouncing along. In my mind, I was thinking if I could only get one space suit, I could take it back and change into it and fetch another. I had two chances and little margin for error.

I was past the debris, waiting for the space suits. They were slowing down, so I stepped further out to meet them.

Success! I’d got one space suit. The other was just behind it.

While holding the first one, I grabbed the second space suit. Once I was sure I had both, I turned and bounced towards the airlock.

It seemed like an eternity for me to return to the airlock. I pushed the space suits through the outer door and followed inside. A moment later, I’d closed the door and pressed the button to re-pressurize the airlock.

Once re-pressurized, I opened the inner door and carried the two space suits with me.