Parker's Folly (26 page)

Betty glanced down nervously and said, “thank you, Captain. If you will excuse me, Sir?” The Captain nodded and she quickly hurried off, proceeding to act busy examining the contents of one of the supply lockers.

“You should not have embarrassed her,” Ludmilla scolded.

“A good job is nothing to be embarrassed about and deserves her officers' praise.” Jack look back to the Doctor. “Tell me, how are you adjusting to... shipboard conditions?”

“I must tell you that I am still somewhat skeptical of your explanations, Captain.” The Doctor was obviously uncomfortable discussing the conversation from last night's dinner.
How can he be so considerate, so nice and yet tell such lies?
Unable to reconcile her thoughts and her feelings, Ludmilla blurted, “You are some kind of rogue or scoundrel, I do not know what to think about you!”

“I see,” Jack replied evenly,
is there a glimmer of hope in that indecision?
“I will ask you one more favor then—try to reserve your judgment of me for a few more hours. Until after we have sent people to check out the chamber beneath crater Giordano Bruno.”

“And what are you expecting to find there? Proof? Aliens?”

“I have no idea, Doctor. Let's just say I have a feeling about it.”
Yes, anticipation mixed with dread,
he thought grimly. “That's why I would also like both you and the corpsman to be available on short notice while the shore party is outside of the ship.”

“Of course we will be ready, but you are sending a party of armed Marines into an airless crater on the lifeless Moon—what kind of trouble do you think they will find?”

I wish I knew,
Jack said to himself, but out loud only replied, “Just being cautious, Doctor. Good day.”

Outside the transparent bow of the spaceship the gray desolation of Earth's Moon loomed large. The Sun appeared low on the horizon, sending light at an oblique angle to cast long, dark shadows over the crater's interior. The sharp division between light and dark only emphasized the mysterious jumbled rock formations near the center of the crater.

The bridge was crowded with crew members manning their stations and observers in the spare seats provided for them. Lt. Curtis, wearing her spacesuit sans helmet and backpack, was standing beside the Captain, who was seated in the command chair. The ship came in over the north side of the crater and then circled around anti-clockwise to the smoother terrain to the south.

“Set her down on that flat area, just inside the south crater wall, Helm.”

“Aye aye, Sir.”

Silence embraced the bridge as the Moon came up to kiss the underside of the silver ship. Dust fled in wispy streamers across the lunar surface, escaping from the press of cushioning repulsors. With barely a bump the 7400 ton spaceship settled on six large landing struts, which extended in the last seconds before touchdown.

“The ship is landed, Captain,” reported Billy Ray from the helm. After some initial creaking and popping sounds the ship fell silent save for the occasional electronic beep from the instrument displays.

“Very good, Mr. Vincent. Mr. Medina, please launch a reconnaissance drone when you are ready. I want to see what our people are walking into out there.”

“Aye, Captain. Launching reconnaissance drone now.” From an equipment bay on third deck a small portal opened like the iris of a camera. A spherical object, about the size of a basketball, was ejected out and upward, toward the center of the crater. It followed a gentle parabolic arc, coming down about 50 meters from the ship's port side.

The drone rebounded before striking the lunar surface, buoyed by built in repulsors that kept it floating a meter above the surface. The probe sped away, heading for the center of the crater, gently undulating over the uneven surface.

At the helm, Bobby leaned toward Billy Ray and whispered, “an Imperial probe droid.” To which Billy Ray replied, “we are living the dream, pardner.”

“Lt. Curtis, see to the landing party, if you please.”

“Yes, Captain.”

In a lowered voice he added, for Gretchen's ears only, “and Lieutenant. I would like you to include Lt. Bear in the expedition.”

“If you think that wise, Sir.”

“We either trust him or we don't. He has always proven reliable when on a mission of importance. And besides, you don't know what you may find in that cavern. Bear's physical strength may be useful clearing the way or moving rubble.”

“Yes, Sir. That means we will need two sleds.”

“Fine, better to have two anyway. The Chief can fly the second one. Let me know when you are ready.”

“Aye aye, Sir.” With that, Lt. Curtis headed aft to organize her shore party.

* * * * *

“Sir, the recon drone is nearing the area of collapsed rubble.”

“Put the video up on the main screen, Mr. Medina. We are looking for a possible way into the uncollapsed part of the chamber.”

“Yes, Sir.” The view from the drone's built in cameras showed a crazy quilt of black and gray, with large slabs of rock lying juxtaposed at seemingly random angles. The drone rose and fell as it flew over the tortured surface.

“Lt. Curtis, Bridge. You should be getting the video feed from the drone.”

“Bridge, Curtis. Yes Captain, we are all watching it.”

“Captain, I'm getting more anomalous sensor readings,” called Jo Jo from the engineer's station. “There are weak radiation emissions coming from under the ground ahead of the drone. If I had to guess, I would say that there was a power source down there somewhere.”

The Captain nodded thoughtfully. “Very good, Mr. Medina. Keep searching for a way into the chamber.”

Two of the crew were lowering a second hover sled from its storage position on the ceiling of the cargo hold. Freddy Adams from engineering was waiting to run checkout diagnostics on the sled once it reached the deck.

Lt. Bear came ambling up from the rear of the hold, wearing a spacesuit designed specifically for his large ursine physique. The clear helmet was an oddly shaped bubble, extended in front to accommodate his long snout. On his back was a large, sinister looking weapon, much bigger than the mini-rail guns issued to the other members of the shore party.

Most of the other expedition members were watching the live video from the drone on a large monitor hanging on the bulkhead. The drone had found an opening large enough to allow the party access to the chamber below and was picking its way past fallen slabs of rock in an effort to see what lay inside. As this little drama was unfolding the Chief returned from the arms locker where he had checked out a weapon for himself.

“About ready, Chief?” Lt. Curtis asked. The suits had a very low power spread spectrum radio that was always on. It provided a way to converse with other suits closer than a couple of meters without having to activate the main radio. The open channel simulated being able to hold a normal conversation among personnel in close proximity.

“Yes, Lieutenant. I'm gona' go check over the skiffs.” Everyone called the open cargo carriers sleds except the Chief, who insisted on using the more nautical term. Traditionally, a ship's small boats and launches were part of the boatswain's responsibility.

“Carry on then, Chief. Lt. Bear I see that you are ready as well.”

“Yes, Lt. Curtis. Melissa helped me get into the suit. We find a way in yet?”

“Looks like the drone has found a passageway inside. The video feed has it about to emerge into the main chamber.” Lt. Curtis pointed to the display on the hold wall. The picture had shifted to false color, indicating the use of infrared illumination inside the lightless cavern.

As the drone cleared the tunnel into the main chamber a glowing squat spire was visible in the center of the open space. The glow indicated that the spire's temperature was warmer than the surrounding rock or the debris that littered the cavern floor.

“Lt. Curtis, Bridge. Are you getting this?”

“Yes, Bridge, we see it. Looks like we have a target for our investigation.”

“Roger that. Signal when you are ready to disembark.”

The two sleds exited the port side cargo door and followed the trail blazed by the recon drone. To reach the cavern entrance the sleds needed to traverse two kilometers of relatively smooth crater floor and another two klicks of jumbled rock debris. The lead sled, piloted by Lt. Curtis, carried Dr. Saito and the three Marines. The second sled, piloted by Chief Zackly, carried JT and Bear.

“Are these things hard to handle, Chief?” asked JT, making small talk to ease the tension.

“Not really, Mr. Taylor. They handle more like a hovercraft than a helo or a real boat. Things 'll get more interesting when we get over that broken rock near the cavern opening.”

“The Chief is just happy to prove he's still useful,” said Bear, trying to get a rise out of the old sailor.

“Pipe down you furry fleabag.”

“Hey, remember that I'm an officer.”

“Yeah, and I've always wanted an officer rug to put in front of the fireplace.”

“I take it you two have known each other for a while, then.”

“Four or five years, the Chief was already with the Captain when I joined up.”

“So you've been on the project for a long time, Lt. Bear?”

“Longer than anyone except the Captain, Lt. Curtis and the Chief. They all came with the Captain from the Navy.”

“Yeah, I noticed that Lt. Curtis was wearing a Naval Academy ring. Did you all serve together?”

“I served shipboard with the Captain,” said the Chief with obvious pride, “Lt. Curtis flew helos for the gator navy. I ain't sure when the Captain met her, but she got out around the same time we did. The Navy was cutting back on personnel. The chair warmers and REMFS were closing ranks and chasing out the real sailors.”

“Yeah, the Army's chickenshit level was rising when I got out as well. We'd go on a mission and then spend the next month being grilled by lawyers and state department assholes. The bureaucrats and accountants were chasing the warfighters out. Evidently the Marines have the same problem. I understand from the Gunny that her whole squad was about to turn into civilians.”

The sleds, which flew about a meter and a half above the terrain, were entering the chaotic landscape above the collapsed part of the chamber. The uneven surface caused the small craft to pitch and weave like a car in a carnival ride.

“I hope none of yous gets seasick 'cause puking in a spacesuit is not a good thing.”

* * * * *

Both sleds reached the opening the probe had found in good order. En route, none of the party succumbed to motion sickness but they were still happy to ground the sleds and step out onto a solid, if uneven, surface. There to greet them was the recon drone, which the Captain had ordered back to the surface so it could lead the party inside.

The spherical drone hung motionless before the inky black mouth of the cavern entrance, its face a collection of round lens openings. It looked unblinkingly upon the shore party like an impassive mechanical clown head.

“OK people,” Lt. Curtis called for attention. “Sizemore and Taylor, take point. Dr. Saito and I will be next, followed by Lt. Bear. Washington and Sanchez bring up the rear. Turn on your suits' night vision displays and active near infrared illumination as you enter the cave. Everyone ready?”

A chorus of affirmatives come over the local link. It had been agreed that the Chief would stay with the sleds and keep a lookout for any changes on the surface while the shore party explored the cavern. “Folly, shore party, we are ready to enter the cavern. Have the drone lead off.”

As confirmation came from the ship, the drone spun in place and floated into the darkness. Lt. Curtis motioned JT and PFC Sanchez forward. A minute later the last of the expedition members disappeared into the dark opening.

“They are almost to the main chamber, Captain,” reported Jo Jo from the engineer's console. The engineer was tasked with directing the drone, though the reconnaissance drone was smart enough to navigate the cave on its own. He instructed the spherical robot to move 10 meters into the chamber and stop, illuminating the space with its built in IR source.

“Captain, I just saw an increase in the readings on that buried power source. I think it knows that the shore party is there.”

“Keep an eye on it, Mr. Medina, and let me know if it changes again. Shore party, Folly. Be on your guard, we have gotten an indication that there is live equipment under the chamber that might be reacting to your presence.”

“Roger that, Folly. We will be careful.”

“Cargo hold, Bridge. Mr. Adams are you there?”

“Go Bridge. This is Adams.”

“Mr. Adams, please have your party ready to help secure the sleds and anything the shore party brings back. You may want to string some cargo netting from the deck to the overhead opposite the cargo door opening. They might be returning in a hurry and it would be good to have something to keep them from colliding with the far bulkhead.”

“Aye Aye, Captain. We are suited up and will rig the netting.”

“Ms. Write, could you take control of the 20 cm scope from the navigator’s console? I would like to keep an eye on what's happening out there.”

“Sure, Captain. JT showed me how to operate it on the way here.”

“Colonel Kondratov, you might want to review the areal shots on the port engineer's console with Dr. Gupta. Something strikes me as not quite right about this crater. If things go sideways, you can man the weapons console next to the engineering station.”

“Da, Captain.”

Why do I have this uneasy feeling? Gretchen is a highly competent officer, she'll be alright. After all, she has three Marines, a Green Beret and a 1300 lb polar bear with her, all armed.
Still, Jack couldn't shake a feeling of impending trouble.

All members of the shore party had moved into the uncollapsed, open area of the cavern, fanning out to find shelter behind some of the slabs and boulders that littered the chamber floor. The drone was hanging in space at chest height, about 5 meters further into the chamber.