The Blue People of Cloud Planet (3 page)

 The Moon – 2 Weeks later

‘Welcome to the Moon and to my home where I hold a very privileged position. Of all the occupants, I have the single largest residence at the base with the most sophisticated air conditioning system. A large number of my family members reside here with me and many more are constantly travelling through space.

‘You are now going to meet one of my family who is about to put our two astronauts through their paces in the Sea of Tranquillity.’

‘Emergency! Emergency!’ Zec-1’s voice boomed in Olivia’s ears, ‘Return immediately to ROL-1,’ the strange sound continued.

‘Zec-1 is the latest in artificially intelligent computers which is installed in the advanced Roving Orbital Lander – ROL-1. I am Zec which is short for ZENIC – Zeeman Enhanced Nanotechnology Induction Computer. I control every member of my family, and there are millions of them, through the Safe Solar Protocol, SSP as it is known, which is the  replacement for the Internet used during the 21
^st
and 22
^nd
century.’

Simultaneously the heads up display in the helmet of Olivia’s spacesuit flashed the same digital warning in red light before her eyes.

‘Command received and understood.’ She replied and the voice recognition algorithm in Zec-1’s vast database confirmed the identity of the astronaut. Twenty metres away, Scott had received the identical instruction and had similarly replied and been authenticated by Zec-1.

With both astronauts initially identified, Zec-1 now started lowering the air lock bay door located on the underneath of the lander and with it the revolutionary through air lock command seats.

Olivia and Scott turned carefully and proceeded in controlled short hops towards the lander thirty metres away. In this low gravity sudden movements could end in disaster and even in emergencies, calm, precise actions were drilled into the astronauts during training.

As Olivia hopped towards the craft, she couldn’t help thinking that BUG-1 might have been a more appropriate name as it stood on four huge bent ‘legs’ in front of her.

‘This lander is the most sophisticated craft that I have designed and is multi - versatile  for take-off, landing and roving in the most inhospitable of terrains – whether solid or liquid and has the ability to climb up or down ledges of two metres. The cylindrical design is 4 meters in diameter and 20 meters in length and it stands 3 meters above ground when its legs are fully extended.

‘The most technically advanced feature is the clear hemispherical dome at the front which carries the command module. It is moulded from enhanced cyano – acrylic copolymers and contains multiple layers of programmable liquid crystal displays. I, or in this case Zec-1, can command this half metre thick dome to display any activity or situation both inside and outside the lander. The dome, depending on the level of the emergency, can be blackened from its outermost layers inwards ultimately giving protection from the severest of radiation.

‘Also, there is no more scrambling up a ladder into the air lock – the astronaut’s command seats  are capable of being cycled from the dome through the airlock to a position between the huge caterpillar tracks on the front legs just above the Moon’s surface.’ 

Olivia and Scott arrived at the twin command seats virtually together and sat in their own ergonomically designed positions. They then put their left hand palm downwards on the side arm, where, through a circular clear panel in the hand glove of the spacesuit, the palm print was read by Zec-1 again confirming the identity of the astronauts. Lap belts automatically encircled their waists and their helmets were also clamped.

‘Command enter ROV-1,’ they said in unison and, satisfied that both astronauts were secondarily identified and confirmed, the telescopic gantry holding the command seats started to rise up into the air lock. As this was an emergency entry, the speed was at maximum capability and the lower door closed behind them and sealed the craft against the hostile outer environment. Once Zec-1 had confirmed that the silicone seals were inflated to optimum pressure, the air lock was quickly pressurised to internal lander conditions and the forward internal door was opened. The seats with their two occupants were moved forward into the command dome and latched. The telescopic gantry detached itself and retracted back into the air lock and the forward door was closed and sealed, thus establishing optimum integrity inside the craft.

Concurrently, Zec-1 had already started the four take-off rocket boosters on the underside of the lander.

Olivia and Scott, still fully suited, again placed their left palms on the registration monitor on the control panel in front of them.

‘Command emergency lift – off!’ they instructed and Zec-1 took the four boosters from idle to controlled power. This lifted the huge lander quickly into the vacuum above the Moon’s surface and pressed Olivia and Scott into their seats with significant g-force. When the lander was one kilometre above the surface the emergency was declared over by Zec-1 who reported that the evacuation had taken one minute fifty five point three two seconds beating the previous best practice by 1.28 seconds.

‘Why we have to know to the second decimal place I will never understand,’ joked Olivia.

 ‘Precision is the difference between success and failure,’
replied Zec-1
.

Olivia could only smile at the computer’s apt but very correct response.

Now the heads-up display informed her that she could release the helmet from the spacesuit. ‘Command raise helmet,’ she instructed and it was slowly raised and parked behind her seat head rest. At the same time the pressurised air pack and hand controlled thrusters located across the front of the spacesuit were released and a side clamp swivelled these away from the astronaut and retracted them into a utilities compartment where they would be checked and refilled appropriately for the next use. They could now relax and not for the first time they admired the marvellous spectacle of the Moon’s surface through the clear dome.

 ‘Command return to Moon Base!’ called both astronauts again with their left hands on the panel.

‘Confirm return to Moon Base,’
Zec-1 replied
.

‘This is one of many training exercises that I have arranged during the last two weeks with ROL-1 including a two day ‘trip’ to Earth. Here they practised gravity landings and take-offs from a variety of terrains including water and ice. In the weightlessness of space they rehearsed space walks around the lander. Normally only one astronaut is outside the lander as dictated by the safety protocol. However, this rule can be broken in an emergency. To facilitate single walks, the telescopic gantry is commanded to engage either right or left control seats singly and this is a valuable feature for taking passengers on and off the lander.’

Then, when Olivia was spacewalking and gawking through the dome of the lander at Scott in the command seat, her most feared exercise suddenly took place.

‘Red emergency! Red emergency!’
commanded Zec-1
, ‘return to lander immediately.’

This was the highest level of threat to the astronauts and their lander and Zec-1 immediately commanded Olivia’s helmet and the lander’s dome to maximum black condition. Olivia shuddered as her world suddenly switched off and would have panicked but for the displays in front of her eyes which gave her a picture of the outside and her relative position to the lander. Almost immediately Zec-1 started issuing instructions to guide her to the outside command seat below the lander and the tether attached to Olivia was slowly reeled in.

Meanwhile inside, Scott’s lap belt suddenly clamped in place and he was momentarily shocked as Olivia suddenly disappeared behind the dome of black in front of him. He was then reassured as the internal display quickly showed multiple views of Olivia outside progressing towards the safety of the external command seat. All through this, Zec-1’s calm instructions echoed inside the command dome and her replies followed as each order was complied with.

When she reached the air lock and Zec-1 had confirmed the outer door closed and sealed, the lander went into final red emergency mode and a force field was generated around it.  ROL-1 then retreated from the crisis situation at full power.

10 kilometres away, Zec-1 commanded an end to code red and the dome and Olivia’s helmet cleared.

 Scott peered in – Olivia’s face was white!

‘4 minutes 29.06 seconds for red emergency in spacewalk conditions,’
Zec-1 informed
, ‘well done Olivia.’

But Olivia was not listening.

Olivia thought of that particular exercise as they were returning to Moon Base on the following morning. A shiver ran through her body as she remembered the return of the nightmare that previous night in her quarters. She feared that another uncontrolled outburst might jeopardise this training and her aspirations for space travel in the future.

‘Command, prepare to dock!’
Zec-1 announced
.

 They moved forward to their seats and placed their left hands on the control panel.

‘Confirm command to dock.’

 Though not yet in view, they knew that the Moon Base would soon appear over the lunar horizon and with the sun low in the sky they were rewarded with a spectacle of light from the multi-faceted ‘rooves’ of  the base.

‘It’s just like the Eden Project,’ Olivia said to Scott, ‘but on a larger scale.’ Scott had only seen pictures and agreed, commenting...

‘Yes, the geodesic design has stood the test of time but there were a few more problems to solve up here.’

‘Construction of Moon Base was started by me in 2050 and it was fully operational by 2100. Occupying an area over 500 metres square, it is located near one of the poles where significant deposits of ice lie just below the surface. It is shaped like a cross with the main large dome at the centre and three linked smaller modules on each of the four arms. From the fourth arm protrudes the maintenance hangar with a flat roof to dock space vehicles. Research, accommodation, recreation and utilities are housed in the other three arms of the base. The central dome houses the control and communications centre where up to 500 technicians monitor space missions and flights.’

‘ROL-1, you have permission to dock at 3A,’ called the lunar flight controller in the observation tower of the Moon Base.

‘Confirm docking at 3A.’

The lander was one kilometre above the roof of the base and now descended under Zec-1’s control at 10 metres per second. At 500 metres the four main thrusters under ROL-1 increased their power and slowed the vessel to 1 metre per second descent speed.