The Earthrise Trilogy (2 page)

"Oh no," Chris groaned, "not the school play."
 

Just then, Shelley came around the corner grinning from ear to ear. "How about that then," she smirked, "I've managed to get you into the school play, and Mr. Sharp wants to see you at the next rehearsal."
 

'She's impossible,' Chris thought to himself, but didn't say anything out-loud. "I'll get you for this, squeak," he called after her as she passed. He only called her squeak when he was angry with her, but as usual, she took absolutely no notice.

❧

Clare had arrived late for her first lecture, but was not bothered about it. Neither were her students, who were used to such occurrences. As usual, she began the lecture whilst entering the classroom; she could get through a couple of paragraphs by the time she'd reached the front of the class and taken her coat off.
 

Clare had built up a reputation for such behaviour, everyone at the university seemed to think it was normal for someone who had spent so long doing field studies. The eccentricity was part of her charm, and she had bucketful's of that.
 

Clare was very clever by any standards, and could always rely on her intellect to get her out of a scrape, but she also knew she was rather cute looking, so that was her backup. Many of her students had had a crush on her, but she knew just how to handle such things and took it all in her stride.

"Cute, and with brains?" Steve had said, when a friend first mentioned her to him. "Now that's what I call a winning combination."
 

Clare had taken to Steve from the outset, after all, he was pretty cute looking too, and at least her equal in the brain department. Even now, after 15 years of marriage, she still didn't know just how clever Steve really was, but she would find out before too long, everybody would.

Chapter Two

Chapter 2.
 

Star Labs

Steve Forester was head of the Moon Base Alpha project. Star Labs had been working secretly with the government for almost ten years on MBA. Steve had been drafted in to solve certain problems that had arisen suddenly a year or so back, when the previous head of the MBA project had been taken ill. He had 'been retired', according to Kay, his assistant, but Kay had always had her suspicions about the whole affair.
 

"Dr. Pebbles would never have retired," she told Steve one time, when Vinkle had been particularly obnoxious. "It was his life's work. Vinkle, or someone higher, must have pushed him. I think Vinkle was jealous of Pebbles' success with irrigation. I don't know what Vinkle's angle is, but he's been muscling in on MBA for years. I think he has his own agenda."
 

Steve wasn't really listening to all this, he was much too busy with his own problem, but he had learned long ago to nod and grunt in the right places; many years at university had taught him how to do that.

Vinkle had risen through the ranks at Star Labs, and was now acting head. He had first and last say in what Star Labs did, and it had definitely gone to his head. Rumour has it that he was once an ok guy, but if that were ever true, it was long forgotten now. Vink', as he was known, was a tyrant.
 

"A bear with a sore head." Jimmy, the lab assistant, had accurately described him, and Jimmy should know, he took most of the brunt of Vink's outbursts.
 

There had already been a run in between Steve and Dr. Vinkle. Steve had walked in on a particularly nasty tirade Vink' was unleashing on Jimmy. Steve had gotten between them and told Vinkle to his face to grow up and leave the kid alone.
 

Vinkle had snarled at Steve and said, "Don't get in my way Forester, Pebbles made that mistake."
 

"Yeah? Well, I'm not Peebles!" Steve yelled after him, as he left the lab. "You railroad me and you'll bounce off mister."
 

Now Steve was normally a cool sort of guy, and not given to outbursts, but Vink' just rubbed him up the wrong way, as he did everybody who came into contact with him. It was that day that Steve taught Jimmy his little song...
 

"Vinkle Vinkle Starlabs star, how I wonder what you are."
 

Jimmy laughed, and life returned to his cheeks. You could often hear Jimmy singing after that.

❧

Vinkle had taken a particularly close interest in MBA, and had built up quite a database on his computer. He seemed obsessed with the whole idea of living on the Moon, and had become very protective of his office and files. No one was allowed in there if he wasn't present, and he always locked the door when he went out. Even his personal secretary, Janice, was not allowed in there. There was talk going around that Vink' had installed a computerised surveillance system, so that from his office, he could spy on any section of Star Labs. No one knew if it was really true, but no one would have been too surprised if it had been. Everyone had grown to dislike and distrust Dr. Vinkle, but only Steve Forester had ever had the nerve to stand up to him. Kay had thought that the little altercation between Steve and Vink' would have signed Steve's exit papers, but it hadn't happened. Steve knew that Vink' needed him, there was no one else as advanced in his field as Steve Forester.
 

There was one man, however, that Vinkle did seem to be scared of, a certain General Carter, who was another shady character. Every time Carter came to Star Labs, Vink' would be on tenterhooks, like a schoolboy waiting to see the head for some misdemeanour or other. If anything, Carter was more obnoxious than Vink', so the two made a good pair. "Just like bookends," Jimmy had been heard to say. Jimmy had a way with words.

One day, Carter arrived unannounced, and Vinkle was beside himself. "To what do we owe the visit General?" He squirmed, as Carter walked straight into his office, slamming the door behind him. From then on Carter could be heard shouting at Vink', though the sound was muffled by the office door. Janice had been able to make out the words, 'Forester woman.' She didn't think too much of it at the time, but later, she remembered that there was a Forester working at Star labs, and assumed that it must be that Forester who was the topic of conversation. Janice had never met Steve, and so wasn't aware of her mistake. Carter had stormed out of Vink's office and made no pretence to those who saw him that he was not pleased about something. His car sped away with a squeal of tires before Dr. Vinkle ventured out of his office. When he did, Janice saw that he was shaking and asked him, "Would you like some coffee Dr. Vinkle?"
 

Vink' just looked at her, so she took that as a yes.
 

❧

"Vink' speechless?" Kay said incredulously. "I find that very hard to believe." Janice and Kay were friends, and Janice just had to tell someone. Steve walked in on the conversation.
 

"Hi," he said, in his usual friendly manner.
 

"Oh, this is Dr. Forester," Kay said, introducing Steve to Janice.
 

"So you're the Forester working here," Janice said, surprised.
 

"Yep that's me," Steve answered, "why the surprise?"
 

"Oh, just something I overheard General Carter shouting at Vink'."
 

"And what was that?" Kay asked.

"Well, it sounded like he said, 'that Forester woman', I could be wrong of course, but that's what it sounded like. So, I expected you to be female." Janice grinned at Steve.
 

"Sorry to disappoint you," Steve grinned back.
 

"No disappointment," Janice said, "no disappointment at all." She gave Kay a knowing look and made her exit.
 

"Now what do you think that's all about?" Kay asked when she'd gone.
 

"I don't know," Steve answered, "but I'm going to find out."

When he was alone, Steve called home. "Hi Hun," Clare said, "what's up?"
 

"Do you know a General Carter?" Steve asked.
 

"No, I don't think so," came the reply, "why Hun?"
 

"Well, he was here today at the Lab tearing Vink' off a strip, and was over heard to say, 'that Forester woman'. I just wondered if you had come across him somewhere?"
 

"Well, there was a Carter somewhere back in my field days, but I don't think he was a General."
 

"OK," Steve said, "just thought I'd ask, see you later Sweetie." He put the phone down.
 

Steve was somewhat distracted for the rest of the day; something inside him was giving him an uneasy feeling about what had happened. He had learned long ago to go with his gut feelings, and so determined to find out just who 'this Forester woman' really was.

Steve made a detour on his way out of Star Labs that took him past Vink's office. He knew the door would be locked if Vink' wasn't there, but figured he'd cross that bridge when he got to it. As it happened, Vink' was still in his office working at the computer. He was looking through his files for something, and must have been really distracted, because he'd left his door a-jar. Steve nonchalantly stopped outside so he could peek through the gap. Janice wasn't at her desk, so Steve gently pushed the door just a little until he could see Vink's computer screen. The text was small but he caught sight of a heading that he could just make out, it read, 'Dr. Clare Forester, the plant...' Vink's head obscured the rest, but it was enough, Steve's curiosity was fully aroused. He knocked on Vink's door.
 

"Just a minute," came the panicked voice of Dr. Vinkle, then, "come in."
 

Steve entered Vink's office. The computer screen was blank. 'So, he is up to something,' Steve thought to himself.
 

"Just thought I'd let you know that I've solved MBA's coms problem," he said thinking on his feet.
 

"Oh, that's good news Steve, thanks for telling me."
 

Now, Steve was certain there was something up. Vink' had never called him Steve before. "It was a glitch in the new chip we've been trying, I've made some modifications to the spec...It should be all right from now on."
 

"Good man," came Vink's reply, "see you tomorrow."
 

"Yes, see you tomorrow," Steve said, leaving the office.
 

"Oh, close the door would you," Vink' called, turning back to his computer.
 

"Sure thing," Steve said, closing it behind him.

It was late in the evening, after the kids were in bed, when Clare asked, "So, what's the intrigue then?"
 

"Hmm," Steve murmured thoughtfully. "For some reason, Vink has some information about you on his computer. I saw into his office today and he was reading something about you, you were mentioned by name. Add that to Carter shouting 'that Forester woman' and I'd say something stinks."
 

"Yes, I've been thinking about what you said earlier today, and I do remember a Carter, but I only heard the name mentioned by the head of my department, I never actually met the man. As I remember, I also heard he was a bit of a bully and no one liked him. Does that sound like your man?"
 

"In one." Steve affirmed. "It has to be the same guy. Now I wonder what they're up to, the way they've been acting lately, it must be something big."
 

"Do you think it's to do with your work Hun?" Clare asked.
 

"Could be, but more likely, it's to do with yours." Steve was looking straight at Clare when he said this, and he could see she was perturbed by it. "We need a plan of attack," Steve said, after a pause.
 

"Oh really?" Clare said, with a smile, sensing an adventure coming on.
 

"Yes, we need to get a look at what's on Vink's computer," Steve said, smiling a wry smile. "If the answer is anywhere, it's there."

❧

"Hey Jake," Zeek called on the coms, "what's that green thing?"
 

"Green thing!" Jake said. "You sure are technical Zeek I'll give you that. Here we are on the moon, patrolling the perimeter of the most expensive structure ever built by man, and you say, 'green thing!'"
 

"Ah, so sue me, I still say it's a green thing. Can you see it?"
 

"Not from here Zeek, where exactly are you?"
 

"I'm on the south perimeter near the disposal unit."

"OK, wait there, I'll be right over."
 

It took Jake several minutes to bounce over to where Zeek was. Gravity on the Moon may be only one-sixth of Earth's, but it still takes a while to get about in it. Jake hadn't been at Moon Base as long as Zeek and hadn't yet got his 'moon legs.'
 

"Whoa, I see what you mean Zeek, it is a green thing."
 

"Tell me Einstein," Zeek smirked, "but isn't everything supposed to be grey up here, or am I missing something?"
 

"Well, it is as far as I know Zeek, but they did discover some red dust one time."