the long way around [short stories]

Download The Long Way Around [Short stories]

If you can't read please download the document

Upload: frederick-carl

Post on 27-Dec-2016

219 views

Category:

Documents


3 download

TRANSCRIPT

Frederick, Carl - [SS] The Long Way Around [v1.0].htm

THE LONG WAY AROUND

by Carl Frederick

* * * *

Illustrated byVincent Di Fate

* * * *

Theways a tool was designed to be used are not the only ways it can be used. . . .

* * * *

Duringthe descent, the First Lunar Outpost resembled toys set out on the sand. In arough straight line were the FLO Center, the Oxygen Furnace Complex about fivekilometers distant, and the Silent Earth Radio Telescope some twenty-fivekilometers further.

Standingnow at the open hatch of the lander, Adrian gazed out. Low in the sky, itslower limb kissing the horizon, the bright disk of the full Earth cast ablue-gray luminance onto the nighttime lunar landscape. He rested his gaze onthe Oxygen Furnace, his responsibility now, but then looked upward as a lightin the sky caught his attention. The exhaust of the deceleration rocket.

Suspendedfrom the supply rocket by a hundred meters of unmeltable ceramic fiber, hung ahuge container delineated by blinking red beacons.

Sortof pretty, isnt it? came Victors voice from the radio speaker in Adrianshelmet, sounding tinny and distant even though he stood just behind Adrian withtheir helmets almost touching.

Welcometo Mare Smythii, came another voice. Home of the one and only First LunarOutpost.

Adrianlooked down from the hatch and saw a space-suited figure in an open vehiclewith bulbous wheels and an attached utility trailer. The figure waved.

Thatis our mayor, said Victor, Ralph Bernard.

Mayorof a thriving metropolis of ten, came Ralphs voice, resonant even over thelittle speaker, yourselves included.

Adrianwaved back, then clambered down the metal ladder to the surface. Victorfollowed.

Ralphindicated the person sitting next to him in the front seat of the moon buggy. Thisis Dr. Kimberly Wells. Shes our botanist.

Abotanist on the Moon? said Adrian with a chuckle.

Oh,I run an occasional low-gravitation seed experiment, she said, but mainly Imin charge of the hydroponic vegetable farm. Im also the towns medical staff.

Ralphplaced a hand on the control stick. Sorry to have to put you guys to work sosoon, but . . . He gestured toward the falling drop-container. We have tobring in the mail while we can still find it. Damn inconvenient, not beingallowed radio beacons. He pointed to the rear set of seats. Hop in. He madea sound half way between a laugh and a grunt. As an Australian, hopping shouldbe second nature to you.

Adriangave a wan smile. As he and Victor swung into the rear seats, he said, Igather youre not completely wild about the Lunaroo idea.

Asusual, said Ralph as he pushed the stick and the buggy lurched forward, itsanother case of politics triumphing over engineering.

Whydont we defer politics for awhile? Kimberly broke in. She moved her bodyslightly, as if to look over her shoulder. In a spacesuit, it was an impossiblegesture. Your first time on the Moon, Dr. Clarke, isnt it?

Itis. But ever since I was a kid in Melbourne, Ive looked at it a lot. Adrianpointed at the Earth. With a good imagination, you can just make outMelbourne. He paused. Pretty place . . . Earth, I mean. Nice to see itshining down on us.

Itdoesnt always, said Kimberly. Lunar libration keeps it below the horizonmuch of the time.

Thatsactually why the Silent Earth Radio Telescope was built here on Smythii, saidVictor. When the Earth is below the horizon, the telescope is shielded fromits radio interference. And at night, this is the most radio-quiet place in thesolar system.

Ihave been prepped for this trip, you know, said Adrian.

SERTsa damned nuisance, said Ralph. Only low-power radio equipment is allowed onthe base. He gave a short grunt. Which is why we have to chase after thedrop-container at night, using only its light beacons. A right damned nuisance.

Adrian,thinking that the mayor had probably been on the Moon too long, didnt talkuntil theyd reached the drop-container. Nobody talked.

* * * *

Withtheir helmet lights providing illumination, the four set to work disassemblingthe container. When theyd gotten the front panel off, Ralph peered inside.

Mygod! Ralph, even in a spacesuit, visibly stiffened. That is Australiascontribution to the space program? It looks like the kangaroo from hell wearingsnowshoes.

TheLunaroo did look kangaroolike, despite having a door on one sideseemingly lifted from a convertible sports car and an interior like an oldopen-cockpit aircraft, but where the riders sat abreast. It had a head with twospiky radio antennas where ears might have been expected and headlights foreyes. The tail was articulated and the feet were huge. On the door wasstenciled the name Skippy.

Weneed another vehicle, and they send us this, said Ralph. This is crazy.

Why?said Adrian. With 18 percent Earth-normal gravity and the rough ground, ahopping transport vehicle makes a lot of sense.

Crazy,Ralph repeated, as if to himself, his eyes on the Lunaroo.

Well,said Kimberly, if Canada can have its robot arm, then Australia can have itsrobot . . . kangaroo.

Inaddition to the Lunaroo, the container held a smaller box. Ralph opened it andhis mood brightened. Frozen meat, he said, and a few cylinders of preciousnitrogen. He and Adrian moved the box to the trailer. Precious nitrogen?said Adrian. Id have thought it was oxygen that was precious.

Oxygenis necessary, said Ralph, but not necessarily precious. Heating the lunarbasalt in the furnace releases all we need. But for nitrogen, weve got to relyon Earth. He laughed. But why am I telling you all this? Youre thegeologist.

AndIm also the roo wrangler. Adrian went to the Lunaroo. While the othersfinished disassembling the container around it, he untethered the vehicle. Hedtrained with one back home, and he looked forward to riding a roo in the lunargravity it was designed for. He got into the vehicle, strapped himself in, thenhopped it off the base of the container. Hey, this is great! At lowhorizontal and vertical throttles he hopped the craft a few times around thebuggy and was amazed how high and smooth the Lunaroo moved. Really great!Spiffy!

Allright, all right, said Ralph. Come on and help us get the panels in thetrailer.

Yeah,fine. Adrian pulled back the throttles and the hops became shorter and loweruntil the metal beast came to a stop. Adrian jumped out. But afterward, Idlike to inspect the oxygen furnace.

Afterwe take care of the container, said Ralph in a tired voice. Then you can hopthat thing to the FLO. Well follow you in the buggy. He sighed. After that,you can take the buggy to examine the furnace. Damn! I wish we had that secondmoon buggy.

Noworries, said Adrian as he helped lift a panel, Ill use the Skippy here togo to the furnace.

Cantallow it, said Ralph. No solo outside work is allowed. Its a rule that allvehicles must have two or more people in them. He blew out a breath, soundinglike a hurricane in Adrians helmet. All vehicles . . . all one ofthem.

TheLunaroo is a two-seater, you know.

Ido know, said Ralph. The problem will be getting someone to occupythat second seat.

Illgo, offered Victor.

* * * *

Whentheyd finished loading the trailer, Adrian took Victor for a set of traininghops. Kimberly and Ralph watched from the buggy.

Adrianhopped the roo away at low throttles. Best not to go too fast. The ground isrough here.

Howdoes it turn? Victor asked.

Itswings its tail in mid hop. Adrian executed a change of direction. Conservationof angular momentum and all that. He leaned to the side and the roo bankedslightly to that side. And body English helps. Adrian sat upright again. Ittakes some getting used to, though . . . like turning on a motorcycle. Thething to remember is, turning is hard, but braking is impossible.

Aftera few minutes, Adrian hopped to a stop and called to Ralph. I think things aregood here. Well go to the furnace now, if its okay with you.

Allright, said Ralph. But careful. Our high-point radio relay is down and thefurnace isnt in line of sight with the base. You wont be able to reach us byradio . . . not with your low-power spacesuit radios at any rate.

Ah,but the roo radio is a high-power unit, said Adrian. We should be able tocontact you by crater wall bounce if we get into trouble.

Good,said Ralph. Id hoped as much.

Adrianwatched as the moon buggy started away, then, with Victor navigating, he hoppedthe roo toward the furnace. As they progressed, Adrian taught Victor thecontrols. But suddenly, Adrian hopped the Lunaroo to a halt. Im an idiot!

Ifyou insist, said Victor. But why, in particular?

Itsa solar furnace, said Adrian. I cant tell much about it at night. Heshruggeda purely private gesture in a spacesuit. Whens sunrise?

Ina couple of hours. Victor slapped a gloved hand gently against the rooscontrol panel. Tell you what. Why dont we go to the telescope first? I have afew adjustments to make on the secondary focus. And the focus is not anice place to be when the sun is up. After that, we can swing over to thefurnace. He paused. But SERTs about twenty-five kilometers away. I wouldntwant to spend forever getting there and back.

Noworries, said Adrian. Skippy here can go a hell of a lot faster than youmight think.

Okay,said Victor, pointing. The scopes off that way.

Hangon. Adrian started the roo and pushed the throttles forward. I saw SERT fromthe lander. It looked huge.

Itsseven hundred meters across . . . the size of its crater.

Impressive!said Adrian.

Yeah.With a short pause each time the roos feet hit the lunar surface, Victor wenton to describe the telescope. Something like a sheet of aluminized silk ishung froma hoop around the rim. The material has varying density so it hangsas a true spherical surface. And with no atmosphere it doesnt move. Even smallmeteors can pierce the fabric without disfiguring the mirror.

Hmm,said Adrian, to show he was listening.

Gregoriansecondary optics sit near the focus. They correct for the spherical aberrationand allow some pointing. Three cables from the rim hold the secondary and thedetector array.

Veryimpressive, said Adrian, impressed most of all by Victors bubbly enthusiasm.

Whenthe Earths below the horizon we do radio astronomy, and when its above, itdoes automated SETI observations. Victor patted a hand on the roos door. Hey,you know, this hopping is okay.

Yeah,it is, said Adrian, distantly, his eyes drawn to the wonders of the lunarlandscape. Hed be happy if the trip went on for hours.

Atlength, Victor snapped forward. There it is, he said. SERT. At eleven oclock.

Adrianturned the roo gently toward the nondescript crater. Could have used someadvanced warning. Roos dont turn on a dime.

Stopthere, said Victor, pointing to a hole in the crater wall. The serviceentrance.

Asthe crater went by on Victors left, he leaned out toward it.

Dontlean! Adrian called out. He leaned in the other direction to keep the roostable.

Sorry!Victor pushed sharply against the roo structure, forcing his body upright. Buthis sideways motion continued until he was leaning against Adrian.

Bloodyhell! Adrian tried to sit upright, but couldnt with Victor pressing againsthim. The roo also leaned. Adrian tried to turn into the direction of lean, butit was too late. The slow-turning Lunaroo banked awkwardly, landing on but oneof its snowshoelike feet. Adrian pulled sharply down on the throttles but notquickly enough. The roo began another hop. It went up and came immediatelydownhorizontally, landing hard on its side, spinning against the SERT craterand throwing up a spray of rocks and fine powder from the regolith.

Adriansuppressed a grunt of pain as Victor fell on him, twisting his leg under theedge of Victors life-support module.

Victorreleased his harness, crawled off onto the surface, and scrambled to his feet.Adrian clutched his knee and let out a moan.

Whatswrong? Victor shouted.

Ihope just a seriously sprained knee, said Adrian through clenched teeth.

Jeez!said Victor. Id have thought it impossible to injure oneself in this lightgravity.

Well,mate, it seems Ive done the impossible.

Holdon. Ill get you out of there. Victor released Adrians harness and pulled himfree. Well have to get you back so Kimberly can look at you.

Seeif you can get Skippy upright, said Adrian, massaging his knee with heavygloved hands, so we can use its radio.

Right.Victor walked to the downed vehicle and managed to raise it to its feet. Uh-oh,he said. One of the antennas has snapped off.

Letshope it was the dummy, said Adrian. One of the antennas is only for show.Slowly and accompanied by much pain, he straightened his leg. See if you canfire it up.

Victorclimbed into the roo and threw a switch. We have power.

Great!Now flip the radio switch to Relay.

Adrianwaited anxiously as Victors hand hovered over the roo console, and then foundthe radio controls.

Damnit, said Victor. No carrier. Nothing.

Tryyour suit radio, then. Command it to High Strength. Adrian would have triedhis, but he knew from experience that Baby, NASAs speech recognition system,sometimes had trouble with Australian accentsnot to mention Australian accentsunder duress.

Baby,came Victors voice. Radio gain high. Set.

Setradio gain high. Yes, no, came a synthesized womans voice.

Yes,said Victor.

Radiogain high.

Adrianwinced as, even with the suits auto-gain-control in operation, the synthesizedvoice rang almost painfully loud in Adrians helmet.

Victorspent the next quarter hour sending an emergency call, waiting a few secondsfor an answer, and then trying again. Finally, he commanded the radio gain backto low and looked over at Adrian. No dice.

Adriannodded to himself. Im not too crazy about riding a roo with a busted knee.But there doesnt seem much choice. Take a spin in her. See if the controls allwork.

Victorhit a few buttons and pushed forward a throttle. The roo started hoppingvertically. So far, so good. He pushed the other throttle, moved it a fewmore times, and then said, Not good. Vertical motion works, forward motiondoesnt.

Leanwith the hops, said Adrian. Try body English.

Victortried again. The roo hopped but only progressed forward a few inches per hop. Nogood, he said, switching off the power. He stepped out of the roo. We have areal problem. Were stuck here.

Whenthey find were overdue, said Adrian, I imagine theyll come looking for us.He gestured, expansively. Might as well just sit back and enjoy the scenery.

Buthow will they find us? Victor sounded very serious. They thought wedgone to the furnace.

Adrianshivered as the situation became clear to him. Eventually theyll go back tothe drop zone and follow the roo tracks.

Eventually,said Victor under his breath.

Adriandidnt need it spelled out. What was the chance theyd be found before theiroxygen ran out? He thought hard for a plan. Focus, Adrian. Focus! Thenhe noticed the warning light on his heads-up display. Im afraid we . . . Ihave another problem, he said, forcing his voice calm.

Victorturned to him. Tell me.

Myrefrigeration unit. Its failed. Adrian examined all the status lights. Heatersfine, though. Everything else, okay. He knew that as long as they were in thelunar night, hed be just fineno need for refrigeration. Adrian asked thecrucial question. How long, he said in a voice made calm by his NASAtraining, until sunrise?

Idont know, said Victor with a heavy voice. Not long. Half-hour, maybe. Butthe Sun comes up very slowly on the Moon. As long as youre in shadow, the Suncant get to you.

Justas well, said Adrian with forced cheerfulness. Im not really in the mood towork on my tan. Victor didnt laugh. He didnt make any answer. Victor, saidAdrian after a few seconds, whats the matter?

Therefrigeration unit. Weve seen them fail before. Temperature sensor failure.

So?

Theproblem is that the same failure locks the heater on. The suit temperaturekeeps going up.

Adrianfought down a surge of panic. Baby. Display detail on.

Unrecognizedcommand, came Babys voice. Command must end with query or set.

Damn! Adrian foughtto keep his voice steady. Baby. Display detail on. Set.

Setdisplay detail on. Yes, No.

Yes.Linear meters and a digital clock now joined the status lights. Adrian staredat the temperature meter. The value crept higher even as he watched. It isgetting a trifle warm, actually.

Tryyour radio, said Victor in a voice saying it was useless. Use high gain. Illtry mine as well. Maybe someone is in earshot.

Notlikely, said Adrian.

Victorswiveled around toward the crater wall. Lets hide out under the telescope.Aluminized film. Itll reflect most of the heat back into space.

Butnot the internal heat from my suit.

No,said Victor in a barely audible voice. But itll buy you some time. He helpedAdrian to his feet. Think you can walk?

Dependson what you consider walking. Adrian forced a laugh. Under the telescope.Like cats under a hot tin roof.

Comeon, said Victor, offering his shoulder as a handhold. Its just a few metersto the entrance.

Ifthey couldnt hear us before, grunted Adrian as he hobbled, theyll never beable to pick up radio signals from in there.

Theressomething to be said for dying later rather than sooner, said Victor. Anyway,Im sure theyll come looking for us.

TheMoons a big place. Theyll never find us in time. Our oxygen will just runout. Its fry or asphyxiate.

Victorturned on his helmet light as they passed through the entrance.

Inside,Adrian sat with his back against the crater wall, He could see a dim bluishpatch of light on the ground stretching out from the entrancethe light fromEarth. Earthlight. I cant die here, so far from home. I need a plan. Focus,Adrian! He checked his temperature display: 38 degrees Celsius.

Victor,standing, looked out the entrance. I think, he said without turning around. Ithink our best shot is for me to try to jog back to the outpost for help.

Thatstwenty-five kilometers away.

Giveor take, said Victor, but I should be in line-of-sight radio range in, I dontknow, around twenty.

Well,if you think you can make it . . .

Victorstood at the entrance in silence. Then Adrian heard a sigh. No, said Victor,softly. Id never make it. No way the suit and the refrigeration modulecould survive a twenty-five kilometer run into the sun . . . not to mention mesurviving it. He turned away from the entrance and then just stood like astatue.

Idly,Adrian looked up at the underside of the huge bowl of the telescope, its bottomthree meters or so above the ground. Formidable!

Thetelescope? Victor also looked up at SERT. On Earth now, he said, in awistful voice, thousands of people, amateur astronomers, are at theircomputers analyzing the multi-channel radio signals from this beast.

Notin real-time, of course, said Adrian, seeking intellectual refuge from hisproblems.

Yes.In real-time. Victor spoke with the pride of one of SERTs developers. Whenthe libration moves Earth above the horizon, the signals are multiplexed andmodulated onto a laser beamed at Earth.

Interesting.An insistent inner voice pulled Adrian back. He couldnt waste what little timehe had in idle chatter. Focus, Adrian39 degrees!

Waita minute! said Adrian, aloud. Focus!

Excuseme?

Adriantried to jump to his feet, but couldnt. Victor, he said, excitedly, do youthink Skippy could fit through the crater entrance?

What?Why?

Well,I think it will fit through. Adrian tried to flex his knee, but it hadgrown stiff. Look, Id do it myself, but I cant walk. Please, Victor, see ifyou can glide it in. And quickly, before the Sun comes up.

Why?said Victor again, louder this time.

Ihave an idea. We need to hurry. Ill explain it as we prepare the roo.

Victorstood staring at Adrian.

Please!

Okay.Okay. Victor strode though the entrance. A few seconds later, Adrian heardgrunts of exertion. Soon after, he felt a vibration through his spacesuit. Skippyhitting the ground. And a minute after that, Adrian saw the head of theLunaroo slide in through the crater entrance. Adrian crawled to the roo. Then,while Victor pushed, Adrian pulled. When the Lunaroo had cleared the entrance,Victor stepped back in through the crater opening. Okay, he said, Whatsthis big idea of yours? He paused. The leading edge of the Sun is visiblenow, he added, softly.

Liftthe roo upright, said Adrian, trying to keep fear out of his voice.

Sure.Why not? Victor bent to the task.

Myidea, said Adrian, is to use Skippy to send an SOS.

Victorstopped mid lift and, through Victors helmet, Adrian saw the man mouth what?

Theroo can still hop, said Adrian. So I propose moving it to right below theSERT bowl. Well have Skippy hop, and when it gets to the bottom of the bowl,we can grab the aluminized fabric and pull it. That will deform the mirror. Asthe roo goes down, we let go of the fabric and the scope will return to focus.

Adriancould see Victor staring at him as if he were out of his mind.

Pleasefinish raising the roo, said Adrian.

Withoutanswering, Victor heaved the Lunaroo onto its feet.

Thepeople on Earth doing real-time observing should see a signal dropout, Adrianwent on. If we time it right, we should be able to send an SOS in Morse code.

Thatsyour idea?

Yeah,said Adrian.

Itscrazy.

Yourpoint? Forty degrees.

Dopeople even know Morse Code anymore? said Victor.

Theyllknow SOS. Look. We . . . I dont have much time. Lets center the roo and doit.

Victorshoved the roo directly under the low point of the bowl, paused, and then said.It feels like . . . sacrilege. I mean an astronomer purposefully degrading theperformance of a telescope mirror. And actually, I dont know Morse code

Justhelp me into the roo. Ill do it.

Itmakes more sense for me to do it, said Victor. Teach me SOS.

No.Ill do it. Adrian struggled to his feet. Using Victor as a support, he limpedto the Lunaroo and got in. He fastened his harness, turned on the power, andswitched on the lights. In the bright illumination reflecting off the bowl,Adrian felt as if he were in a gigantic inverted planetarium. Okay, he said,his hand on the vertical throttle. Here we go. The roo hopped and Adriansknee throbbed with pain.

Afterfifteen minutes of SOS sending, Adrian gave it up. The temperature in his suitwas going up fast, and the exertion of pulling against seven hundred meters offabric had increased his oxygen use enormously. And the pain had become excruciating.Adrian hobbled to his place against the crater wall and collapsed to a sittingposition with one leg folded, the other out straight. He tried to breathesparingly, pretending he was just loafing during a camping trip in the outback.

Sowe wait, said Victor, also resting against the crater wall.

Andhope, said Adrian, quietly. He glanced at Victors helmet. Arent you goingto turn on your display meters?

Idrather not know.

Overthe next forty-five minutes, their conversation slowed to the occasionalquestion of how the other was holding out. Eventually, talk stopped altogether.

Adriansheads-up helmet display, meanwhile, relentlessly revealed how many minutes ofoxygen he had left and how high the temperature had reached in his suit. Hewondered which would kill him first. He knew when his asphyxiation death wouldhappen. Judging when hed die from heat was harder. The display indicated agrim race that he couldnt help watching. He read the numbers throughsweat-blurred eyes.

Finally,Adrian knew it would be the oxygenand in just a few minutes. He wondered if heshould say good-bye to Victor, but he decided against it. It would take effortand what was the use? In the final analysis, everyone dies alone.

Suddenlythe crater went dark. Adrian started, then saw that something had blocked thesunlight coming through the entrance. Forty-four degrees.

Arethey in there? came Kimberlys bell-like voice.

Adrianalmost cried. Oxygen, he heard Victor gasp.

Kimitwas Ralphs voicebring in two oxygen cylinders. Fast!

Acknowledged.

Adrianclosed his eyes. A moment later, Adrian felt hands on him, twisting him aroundto get to the emergency oxygen snap-valve. And a few seconds later, Adriansmelled the sweet aroma of fresh oxygen. He breathed heavily. The mayor waswrong. Oxygen is precious. As he breathed, he heard Victor say, Nice tosee you guys. You know, its amazing what a little oxygen can do for onesspirits.

Nokidding, said Ralph.

Wait,said Victor. Adrian. His suits cooling system failed. Heaters on full.

Kimberly,Ralph shouted. Watch him while I get the nitrogen.

Adriansaw a spacesuited figure dart through the opening and dart back just secondslater.

Wellroll you over, said Ralph. This wont hurt a bit.

Adrianfelt himself eased over onto his stomach and felt activity at his life-supportmodule.

Damnit all, said Ralph under his breath. I really hate to lose the nitrogen. Buttheres no help for it.

Whatsgoing on? said Adrian in a shallow whisper.

Imgoing to vent your air, rather than recirculate it. Hot air out, cool air in.And expansion cooling of the gas. Adrian heard the clunk of metal on metal. Inthe old days, Ralph went on, suits used only oxygen and we couldnt do this.

Suddenly,Adrian felt a thermal gradient, a cooling starting at his back and slowlyspreading over his entire body. He looked at the temperature read-out andrealized cooling was a relative concept. The temperature stood at 42 degreesCelsius, high even by outback standards.

Victor,came Ralphs voice. Think you can make it to the buggy on your own?

Sure.

Thinkyoure up to driving?

Pieceof cake.

Wellhave to help Adrian to the buggy, said Ralph.

Hehas a bashed-up knee, said Victor.

Fine,said Ralph. Just fine. He turned to Adrian. While were riding back, Dr.Clarke, read out the temperature every ten seconds or so. Thatll tell me howmuch to vent versus recirculate. You sit in the front seat. Ill be behind,controlling the oxygen and nitrogen valves.

Youvedone this before, said Adrian, with forced lightness.

Ralphchuckled. Once or twice. He turned away, a move of habit rather thannecessity. Kimberly, he said. In the buggy, see if you can keep Dr. Clarke

Callme Adrian.

KeepAdrian in the shadow of your suit. You too, Victor . . . if you can do that anddrive at the same time.

Understood,said Victor.

Acknowledged,said Kimberly.

Okay,Adrian, said Ralph, start reciting temperatures. He and Kimberly half-carriedAdrian to the buggy and helped him in.

Forty-onepoint five, said Adrian. By the way, how did you manage to find us?

Victorstarted the buggy and headed toward the FLO.

Anobserver on Earth detected a SETI signal, said Ralph. Seems that the alienswere sending an SOS. The guy thought hed gone nuts. Fortunately, instead ofcalling a psychiatrist, he called NASA. Then a whole lot of other peoplecalled. Its good the Earth was visible. And apparently, NASA can respondpretty quickly at times.

Yeah,really, said Adrian.

Sortof a long way around, said Kimberly. Good the libration was in our favor.

Andits good we had Skippy, said Victor.

Skippy?said Ralph under his breath. Oh, dear.

Thirty-ninepoint five, said Adrian. Then, in sudden euphoria, he started singing, Good,good, good librations.

Damn,said Ralph. Too rich an oxygen mixture.

Adriangawked like a tourist at the landscape. Thirty-eight point five. Looking awayat the Earth, he launched into a half-hummed rendition of Advance AustraliaFair. Australians all let us rejoice, for . . . what the hell comes next?Then the euphoria wore off and he shut up.

Adrian,said Kimberly with a smile in her voice, after all that has happened on yourvery first day on the Moon, youd probably really like to be back on Earthright now, wouldnt you?

Gazingout at the lunar landscape, Adrian felt a strange affection for this outpost ofEarth, this precious stone, this stark, beautiful but unforgiving world.

Wantto be back on Earth? he said. Thirty-seven point five. No. Of course not. Whywould you say that?

Copyright 2010 Carl Frederick

Frederick, Carl - [SS] The Long Way Around [v1.0]_files/image001.jpg