I survived the night in B-six. If that was meant to be a test, I passed. The next morning, I reported to HQ. I must admit, I looked spiffy in a TAC uniform. I felt respectable. I'll drive the rover for Harding with no complaints. Yeah, I know it's a self-driving rover. It doesn't need a driver which makes my job the lowest, most meaningless job on Luna. Well, there's nowhere but up from here.
If I do well maybe he'll give me more responsibility. I work for TAC now, no matter what Joe said. TAC staff on base control planning and administration. They manage the supply chain ordering equipment and supplies, issue mining permits, coordinate landing schedules, all that stuff. If all goes well, I'll be working as TAC staff soon. Heck, I wouldn't be surprised if I'm on the planning council in six months.
I spent the morning standing around daydreaming about my future. My brain churned over the idea of how to manage being a TAC planner and running my tour agency at the same time. Once I got it up and running, I'd hire help. I was proud of my near genius entrepreneurial mind.
Harding never assigned me to drive anywhere so I chatted up the TAC security guy on morning shift, named Roy and did my best to aggravate Joey. They're not so bad once you get to know them. I'm a likeable guy, so it wasn't hard to endear them to myself. I did not tell them I was nearly flash frozen or battled fearsome spider webs. The entire base would have had a good laugh on my account. I'm not letting that happen.
Everybody knows I'm here. Word travels fast in a small community. Several people walked through the quints all the way to HQ to say hello or stare. I thought about visiting the wrangler crew but decided against it. They might not appreciate that I borrowed their pups to plug the leak in Felix's dome, even if it was a life or death situation.
Felix and Dr. Benson quietly walked into Harding's office holding their heads low. Felix was probably going to get chewed out for punching a hole in his dome. Dr. Benson had supplied the metal for the wire, so I guess Harding felt he was partly to blame. I stood by the office door. You might be surprised to learn that doors made on the base are crap for blocking sound. I could a make out nearly every word.
"The properties of the ore mined from the rim of Cabeus crater are quite unique." I think that was Benson's voice. I turned my head to hear more clearly.
"What's so special about this ore?" asked Harding.
"It has superconductive properties at room temperature." That was Benson for sure.
"It's extremely rare. This discovery will provide a monumental leap for technology and industry," That's Felix. He sounds excited.
"It can be used in magnets for MRI machines, fusion reactors, particle accelerators, quantum computing, the electric power grid, the applications are endless," that's Benson. He knows what he's got there, a friggin' gold mine.
"Not to mention magnetic levitation devices," Felix added.
"Which brings us to the hole blasted through your dome." That was Harding. He still seems upset about the whole episode.
"No one must know about this," Felix said almost whispering. Why do people do that, we already heard you. You told Gus and me about it. Ivan at the foundry must know. Who else did Felix tell?
"That much is clear," Harding agreed.
"You understand this ore must stay under the control of my university and TAC," said Benson.
They kept talking for a long time. Honestly, I lost interest when Astrid and Garrick showed up to meet with Harding. I had no idea being the Commander was so demanding.
I asked Astrid if she'd thought about my moon tour ideas, but she brushed me off. I pressed Garrick. He said they would reassess once the hotel had opened. That guy is dim. I've talked with bots that had better ideas. How can you open a hotel without providing guests with amazing experiences? Did they think people would be satisfied gazing at the moonscape sipping moon-ya-coladas? Hey! I just invented the first moon cocktail. What that hotel needs is an idea man, someone like me who knows how to keep people entertained.
Finally, Felix and Dr. Benson left Harding's office. Two minutes later Joey motioned for Astrid and Garrick to go in. I hadn't talked to Harding I'd barely seen him. This driving job was very boring.
I figured the meeting with Astrid and Garrick would take a while. They're planning a big party tonight for everyone in and around Moon Basse Alpha. Joey said it was a pre-opening gala to thank everyone for their hard work. I guess that included all the scientific missions in the area. There were several groups conducting mining surveys or doing their experiments in the area.
The only other sizable base nearby is Artemis Station more than fifty kilometers south by air on the rim of Shackleton Crater. Artemis is a U.S. military installation and the oldest continually occupied base at the South Pole. There is a narrow, winding road down to Artemis. I've heard it's a three-hour drive.
The Russians have a small encampment northwest of Scott Crater on the other side of the Malapert plateau, but there is no road between here and there.
Planning a gala involves many details requiring serious discussion, so I figured there would be plenty of time for me to slip away. I needed to see Wanda. Nobody was paying attention to me, so drove over to the biology quint.
Wanda requires everyone to remove their shoes and socks before entering her dome. I stepped out of the airlock on to green grass. I wiggled my toes in delight breathing in the warm air, so thick with humidity that felt like it was hugging me. I've been here countless times but there's nothing on the moon like this. I inhaled the peaty smell of composted dirt and listened to the sound of water running through aquaponic tanks covered with green leafy plants.
I watched fish swim lazily in the water below the veggies. It's an onslaught on your senses. Every inch of floorspace in the dome is covered with luscious green grass. Plants grow on the walls and hang from the high ceiling painted sky blue. Wanda's dome is the closest thing to being on Earth you can find on the moon. No wonder it always felt like home.
Wanda created all of this, and you wondered why I fell in love with her. She's the most wonderful woman I've ever met. I used to spend nearly all my free time here, with her. I'd help doing whatever she asked, I bet I'm the only fella you know who's mowed grass on the moon. We would talk for hours about everything and nothing, about old times, and the future. If anyone ever asked me for a time in my life when I felt truly connected, peaceful and content it would be the many hours spent in Wanda's garden.
I swept one foot gently over green blades of grass exciting my nerves with sensuous tickles. My nostrils absorbed the smell of fresh cut grass. That smell, it's as if your head is filled with the scent of chlorophyll. What does grass smell like? A warm summer day? Football in Autumn?
The dome is a dense circuitous maze of terraced tanks filled with plants and fish. I ambled slowly on the turf watching the fish in long circular tanks swimming through roots dangling below plants nestled in long white trays just above the water. Wanda had taught me that waste from the fish provide nitrogen for the plants, a natural fertilizer. In turn, the veggies purify the water creating a mutually beneficial sustainable environment. Dang, she made me smarter. She made me better in so many ways.
I heard someone, looked up and there she was her arms full of beautiful blossoming flowers. She looked at me as if she were startled. I couldn't speak. I stood absorbing the sight of her. She wore dirt stained khaki jeans and a blue button-down blouse; the top three buttons undone. Her auburn hair flowed with soft wavy curves hanging loosely over her shoulders.
She pursed her lips and asked. "Why are you back?"
"Why does everybody keep asking that?" I groaned. I expected a much different response. I walked toward her with open arms.
"I hope you didn't come all this way hoping to have sex."
I was stunned. It felt as if a stingray had thrust its stinger though my heart.
"I had to…I, I wanted to see you, yes to be with you. We're good together."
"It's my fault Frank, I should never have…" she continued talking but I couldn't comprehend. The venom of her stinging words coursed through my body with indescribable pain, an all-consuming ache sapping every ounce of energy from my soul.
My chin fell to my chest. I stared down at the grass. It was freshly mowed and impeccably trimmed. Someone took their time and worked with great care. I used to mow her grass. It was a man's job, she'd said. I lifted my head looking at her again. Her skin glowed, she looked like a goddess cradling the bouquet of colorful flowers in her arms.
"There's someone else, isn't there," I said.
"Frank. I never meant to hurt you. You were sent to Earth and weren't coming back," she said holding the flowers tighter.
"I'm back now. Aren't you happy to see me?"
"Yes, Frank. I just don't want you to expect something that isn't going to happen.
"I flew to the moon for you and that's the first thing you say to me?
"There is someone else Frank. He knows how to love me."
"He's bigger?" I can't believe I said that. Am I so base that I believe a man's measurements are the measure of a man? Yeah, probably.
Almost imperceptibly, without intent like sending a subliminal message, she nodded. I had the answer to my question.
"He takes his time with me. He makes me feel…whole, complete," she said with a subtle smile of satisfaction.
That night I had been so excited to finally be with her, to touch her, to hold her. I lost control. Months of anticipation, endless nights of wanting expelled in a single burst of energy. It was over in less than a minute. I was totally spent. She woke me up later saying she had an early morning. I gathered my things and strolled to my quarters with a sensation of power. It might have been fast, but I felt victorious, like a man.
"I can do better. Give me a chance."
"Frank, If I hadn't initiated things…You're a wonderful friend. We were great friends. I'd like my friend back."
I stood staring at her. Friends. She wants to be friggin friends. She just grabbed the stinger, twisted it, and pushed it deeper into my chest.
"Theek hai?" she asked. If you're not familiar with the term it means you okay or are you okay in Hindi. It was popularized by a Spin video that went viral worldwide years ago.
I didn't reply. I turned walking quickly to the airlock. I heard her voice calling behind me, Frank, Frank, but she didn't run after me. Her voice wasn't a pleading, beckoning me to come back, it sounded like apology or pity. I grabbed my shoes and threw them through the airlock.
I squeezed the steering yoke waiting for the rover to undock and seal. As soon as the light went green, I pressed the pedal and sped east across the pad past the quints, past the extractor and block domes, past the large half domes used to store and charge excavators and road builders.
I continued east pressing the rover to move as fast it would go, bouncing off the edge of the sintered pad on to regolith that no human had ever touched making tracks that will never be erased. I steered the rover aggressively around craters and bounded over bumps catching air, trying to keep my butt in the seat then crashing down. I kept my foot on the pedal praying the front end wouldn't nosedive and flip over. I launched over another bump landing in area with a smoother surface. The rover gained speed.
She had called me that night. I had been fired and was getting on a cruiser the next morning headed for Earth. She invited me to her quarters. We had been friends for months growing closer each day. She was a smart, vibrant woman, tough enough to make a trip to the moon by herself, but the moon is a lonely place.
When I arrived at her quarters, she greeted me wearing only a silk robe. As the door slid closed, she let the robe slip off her shoulders and fall to her feet. She stood before me, beautifully naked. I will never forget the vision of her ample bosoms and soft round hips.
She wanted me. I wanted to absorb her soul. I touched her softly stroking her body letting my fingers follow the curve of her abdomen and over her hips before I embraced her. Our arms wrapped tightly around the other's body, kissing deeply, passionately.
She released me and stepped backward luring me to her bed. I kicked off my shoes, unzipped my one-piece suit, pulling my arms out of the sleeves and pushing the fabric down past my hips. I stepped out of the legs and crawled to her welcoming embrace.
The rover sped forward, bumping over the moonscape toward the deep canyon of Malapert Crater, my eyes were closed reliving the experience. Her kisses and caresses urged me on. I snuggled up into her, pressing myself deep inside. My body quivered in ecstasy, the feeling of pure wanton love, a feeling I know now, I will never feel again.
The rovers right front wheel bumped over a small crater jolting me out of my remembrance. I looked ahead as the flat, cold dry desert swept past me, the horizon growing closer leading to endless blackness. If the risks I had taken to be here for her, to love and cherish her were for nothing, If I were to never love again, why go on living? I won't be missed. Why am I back? That's what everyone asked as if there was no reason for me to be here, no reason to exist.
The rover raced toward the cliff edge. The blackness of space grew before me. In seconds, the rover would fly off the cliff and soar into nothingness falling through the vacuum of the space dropping silently into the deep dark cold of Malapert Crater.
The words, "Callahan, where the heck are you?" exploded from my watch tearing me from my gaze into blackness. "I gave you a chance to save your life and you're screwing it up on the first day." It was Harding's voice.
I gripped the steering yoke harder. Everything before me was black.