Star One: Tycho City Survival (15 page)

Vice President
Edwards nodded his head in agreement. “We also have a few military command bunkers
that might be able to survive; everything depends on the severity of the
earthquakes.”

“That’s the
problem,” Tim said with narrow eyes and a deep frown on his face. “Very few
areas in the country will be safe from the earthquakes and tidal waves we are
expecting. Even in Colorado they will experience some earth movements.”

“We can only
hope and pray for the best. If only one bunker out of ten survives, that’s a
victory for us,” President Kateland informed them. She leaned back and closed
her eyes in thought and then opened them, looking at the vice president and Tim
McPhryson. “Use whatever resources you need to make this happen. Get the
military involved if necessary; they can help build bunkers if necessary.
Coordinate through General Karver; it is crucial that we do everything in our
power to give our people a chance to survive.”

“We’ll get it
done,” Tim promised.

“One other
thing,” added President Kateland, leaning forward. “Make sure Star One and Tycho City have first priority on all supplies and equipment. They are still our best hope
of saving people.”

After the two
left, she walked over and gazed out of the window. She had a beautiful view of
the lights of Washington D.C. For nearly ten minutes, she stood there looking
at them and thinking about the events of the last few days. She knew she had
some hard decisions ahead of her, she just hoped she was ready for the coming
days and months. They would be difficult for her, the country, and the entire
world.

-

Mase arrived safely
back in Tycho City. The first thing he did was to go to the Control Center to check on the FarQuest mission.

“What’s the
current status of the FarQuest?” he asked Captain Daniels as he stepped into
the Control Center.

“On course and
all systems showing in the green,” she replied as she glanced at a couple of
computer data screens. “Commander Erin reports that the ship is functioning
like a dream.”

“I hope it
continues that way,” Mase replied, pleased to hear the mission was proceeding
smoothly.

Captain
Daniels stepped closer to Mase. “Sir, what is this neutron star stuff?” she
asked in a quiet voice. “A lot of my people are asking questions. Is it true
the president is placing the country under martial law?”

“I understand
your concerns, Captain,” Mase answered evenly. “I will be issuing a detailed
statement later to help clarify the situation. I am sure a lot of our people
have questions. We will also be posting additional information on Tycho City’s internal internet site sometime tomorrow. And yes, the president has placed
the country under martial law until this emergency is over.”

Captain
Daniels nodded uneasily. There were only a few military people on the Moon, and
she was one of them. “A lot of people are worried, especially after the
president’s address. They’re concerned about their friends and family on
Earth.”

“I think we
all are, Captain,” Mase responded. “Keep me posted on the FarQuest mission and
let your people know we are working on keeping them safe.”

-

It had been
nearly a week since Mase had returned to Tycho City. He had spent much of that
time meeting with department heads and explaining what he intended to do. The
department heads in turn were expected to inform their people as to what was
going on.

“How soon before
we can start on the new cavern?” asked Mase, looking over at Isaac. He was
meeting with a number of people to get some special projects rolling.

“We can start
tomorrow,” answered Isaac, glancing over at Steffan who nodded in agreement.
“We have the two main excavators in position, and the crews are ready.”

“We will be
digging down another one hundred and seventy-five feet,” Steffan informed them,
unrolling a large drawing of the proposed cavern on the table so everyone could
see.

Mase stood up
and came around the large conference table so he could see better. “You’ve
changed this some since we last spoke,” he commented as he looked at the
completed drawing.

“Yes,” replied
Steffan, gesturing toward the drawing. “We added several smaller caverns off to
the side. The main cavern will be seventy five hundred feet long and eight
hundred feet wide. It will have a center height of two hundred and twenty-five
feet. The ceiling will be slightly curved until it meets the outside walls,
which will be one hundred and fifty feet tall. This will give it added
strength.”

Mase pointed
to several roof supports that were drawn in. “How many of those will there be,
and what will they be made of?”

Isaac took a
deep breath before he answered. “The supports will be made of Luxen, and there will
be one every three hundred feet along the center of the cavern.”

“Luxen!” Mase
spoke surprised, his eyes narrowing. “How many supports are there, and where
are we going to get that amount of Luxen?”

Steffan
pointed to one of the small caverns off to the side of the main one. “We will
complete this cavern first,” he responded. “It is only six hundred feet long,
one hundred wide, and fifty feet tall. The cavern will contain our new fusion
reactor as well as several processing facilities for raw materials. Once the
fusion reactor is installed we can begin producing our own Luxen.”

“How long?” demanded
Mase, knowing it would take some time to complete the reactor. “We don’t have a
lot of time to get all of this done.”

“Three months
to construct the cavern and get the fusion reactor up and running,” Isaac
replied. “Tim McPhryson has promised we will have all the necessary parts
within four weeks.”

“We will be
working on the main cavern as we wait for the Luxen,” Steffan continued. “We
will also be putting a one inch layer of Luxen on the curved ceiling of the
main cavern.”

“Can we make
that much Luxen in the time we will have?” Mase asked. They were talking about
thousands of tons of the alloy. Luxen was created in the center of the reactor
because of the tremendous heat that was necessary to create the alloy.

“Barely,”
Isaac confessed. “It will be close, but we should be able to do it. We plan on
running a three shift operation on the reactor.”

Mase nodded
and then looked over at Jolene. She still looked nervous from all the responsibility
he had given her setting up the ecology for the new habitat and making it self-sustaining.

“Jolene, how
are your plans coming for the new habitat?”

Jolene took a
deep breath before replying. “I have talked to both Julie Gray and Kathleen
Preen on Star One. They are sending me samples of the plants they are using and
suggestions for animals.” She stood up and, leaning over, pointed to two more
small caverns off to the side of the main Tycho City one. “We will be setting
up both of these two smaller caverns to grow food. We will be using a lot of
hydroponics and intensive small plot gardening methods. The environments in
both of these will be controlled so we can substantially increase plant
growth.”

Mase looked at
the two indicated caverns; they appeared to be twice as long as the one the
Fusion reactor was going in. “How many people are you going to need for this?”

Jolene sat
back down and opened a notebook she had brought. “Each food cavern will have
its own control room where nutrients, humidity, temperature, and other
variables will be monitored. They will be computer controlled but will also
have a small staff twenty-four hours a day. In addition, there will be crews
tending and harvesting. I estimate I will need close to forty people for each
food cavern. These will be very similar to the ones already established on Star
One. We just need to duplicate what Julie and Kathleen have already done.”

Mase nodded. What
Jolene proposed sounded reasonable. “I know we don’t have the qualified people
here in Tycho City for this. Get with Linda and tell her the type of people you
will need. She will help to find qualified candidates we can bring up from
Earth.” Mase had assigned Linda the job of working with the various department
heads to determine the personnel they would need to keep their areas operating
during this crisis. She was also helping to screen candidates from Earth.

The door to
the conference room opened, and Captain Daniels stepped in. She had a worried
look upon her normally calm face. “Sir, you need to see this.” She walked over
and turned on the main viewscreen on the wall to an Earth broadcast station.

Instantly, the
scene of a massive riot appeared on the screen. There were burning buildings,
and police lines were being pushed back and overrun. It was obvious numerous
people were being injured.

“Where’s
this?” asked Mase, leaning back in his chair and gazing at the screen.

“There are a
number of riots that have broken out,” Daniels reported. “This is going on in a
number of cities around the world. This particular riot is in Chicago and was
caused when several grocery stores ran out of food.”

“People are
panicking,” Isaac said his eyes glued to the viewscreen. “They are trying to
stock up on supplies, particularly food.” He could see several police vehicles
on fire even as more were arriving. “The news of the neutron star and what it
may do to the Earth is all over the Internet. People are starting to question
what the president said about the nation surviving.”

“It’s only
going to get worse,” Captain Daniels informed them. “I received a message from
Jane Kinsey earlier today. They are setting up a list of protocols that all
inbound shuttles will have to go through shortly. There is some concern that
one might be hijacked and used against Star One or us.”

“This
situation is getting serious, fast,” Steffan commented worriedly. “These riots
are only the first; there will probably be many more in the coming days.”

Mase nodded,
tearing his eyes away from the screen. “It just stresses how important it is
for us to move as quickly as possible. If the situation on Earth continues to deteriorate,
it could endanger the shuttle launches. We need to make sure we get everything
and everyone we need up here as soon as we can.”

The group
nodded as their eyes went back to the viewscreen. It showed mobs breaking into
stores and looting them. The police seemed helpless to control the situation.
Many of the people on the Moon would be concerned about friends and family on
Earth after seeing this. They would be demanding to know how soon their friends
and family members could be brought up to Tycho City and possible safety.

-

On Earth in Colorado, Warren Timmons was outside one of the new bunkers that was being built into the
side of a small mountain.

“How soon
before construction is complete?” he asked the supervisor in charge of the
operation as he watched several large yellow trucks hauling rock away. Everywhere
he looked were armed soldiers. The area was restricted, and no one could get
within five miles of the construction site without being stopped.

“Four months,”
the supervisor replied as he looked at a clipboard he was carrying. “That will
complete the basic internal structure. If necessary, some of the living
quarters can be completed after it’s closed up.”

Timmons
nodded. He had just been told by President Kateland that he would be in charge
of this facility. Already six thousand people were secretly being chosen to be
brought here. Every effort possible was being used to keep what was being built
in the Rocky Mountains in Colorado out of the public’s knowledge.

Warren just hoped the facility would survive. It would be capable of surviving a nuclear
strike, but the expected earthquakes were another matter. He let out a deep
breath as he contemplated living years deep underground. In his heart, he
wondered what the point was. If the Earth’s orbit was changed significantly,
they might be trapped underground permanently. It was not a prospect he cared
to think about.

Mase was at
Farside meeting with Adam Strong and Charles Turner to discuss the future of
the astronomy complex. The discussion had been heated as neither of the two
scientists wanted to abandon Farside.

“Adam, it
could be extremely dangerous to stay here once the moonquakes begin,” Mase
insisted, not wanting to see the people at Farside put in danger.

“Commander,
our entire living area is one hundred and twenty feet underground. Surely if we
reinforce it we could ride out the quakes,” replied Adam, stubbornly shaking
his head in denial. “Once the neutron star passes, Farside is going to be
needed to determine exactly what has happened to the solar system and what the
long-term effects will be on the orbit of the Earth, as well as the Moon.”

“The orbits of
all the planets are going to be affected,” added Charles, wanting to stress the
importance of keeping Farside up and running. “It will take time to determine
the exact orbits of the planets once this is over. It might be several years
before the final orbits can be determined.”

Mase shook his
head feeling exasperated at the two scientists. “I don’t think you two
understand what I’m saying. It’s just too dangerous to stay. Perhaps after the
neutron star has passed, we can reactivate Farside.”

“Commander,”
Adam spoke once more, disagreeing with Mase. “I am not saying we keep the
entire staff. Just enough people to help make repairs in case the complex is
damaged by a moonquake and to keep the Albertson reflector operating. We have
other instruments that will also be invaluable in observing the passing of the
neutron star. This is an opportunity we can’t just throw away!”

Mase leaned
back in his chair and folded his arms across his chest. He knew the two had
made some good points. “Just how do you propose to protect the reflector if
there is a moonquake? I can guarantee you that some of the dish antennas are
going to be lost.”