Dark Moon Rising Read online

  "I can't believe I let him take my weapon from me," Joe said, as they all followed Hugh to the garage. "But he did. Funny, I would never have pictured Dr. Whitmore as the type."

  Outside the dome, they all turned the intensity of their lamps up to maximum and were awed to see the bizarre and, thus far, inexplicable formations.

  They had been walking for about ten minutes when a single, violent, shock stopped them in their tracks.

  "Not again!" Joe said.

  "Oh, my God, look!" Mary said, pointing back toward the dome. All four lamps fell in the direction of the structure. From this distance, they could see that it had come to rest on one of those 'bread dough arms,' as Hugh had described them. The shock that thundered through the ground beneath their feet was the breaking of that arm just behind the dome. The damage was growing worse and already the dome was leaning. If that arm broke, the dome would fall into the inky void below it, bouncing off every rock formation from here to the center of the Moon, for all they knew.

  Hugh called for all to follow and quickly switched his COMde to the default frequency. "Dr. Whitmore, this is Hugh. The rock formation you're sitting on is about to break and you'll fall thousands of meters. We're coming back. Get everyone dressed in an Ess-CEPS now, and put food and water into packs or bags, something we can carry it all in." There came no response. Hugh switched to Winchester and tried again. "Attention, everyone in the dome. The rock formation you're sitting on is about to break. You are all in danger. We're coming back. Put on your Ess-CEPS now, and put food and water into something we can carry it in. Acknowledge!"

  ****

  When Larry heard Hugh's warning burst forth from the E-Com he intentionally keyed the COMde in his Ess-CEPS so that Hugh and the others could hear everything through the open channel.

  "Dr. Whitmore," Larry called out, "did you hear that? We're about to fall—"

  "An obvious lie. He wants everyone to follow him and he wants our food," Whitmore responded.

  "Hugh never struck me as a liar," Larry said.

  "You're being both foolish and naïve; use your head a moment, man! His game is obvious!"

  "I think we should put on the suits," Bob said.

  "Me, too," Larry said forcefully. "We all felt the place move, and we can feel the floor is tilting. Now, move aside Doctor, and let us have the suits."

  Stanley shouted angrily, "Stay where you are. I'm giving the orders here."

  "Put the gun down, Doctor, please!" Bob pleaded.

  Larry and Bob exchanged glances. Larry saw the fear in Bob's eyes and knew it was up to him. He was about to make a move when Martha stepped in front of him and spoke to Stanley in a calm and collected voice. "I think we should put on the suits, too."

  "Move out of my line of fire, Martha!" Stanley shouted.

  "What are you going to do, Doctor, shoot me?" she asked brazenly. "Then, when we are rescued you'll be jailed for the rest of your life. Or perhaps you plan to shoot us all so there are no witnesses." There was a moment of silence. "Either shoot me or put the gun down, Doctor!"

  There came another series of small jerky movements felt both inside and outside the dome.

  "All right. Go ahead," Stanley muttered.

  As Larry assisted Martha with her suit he leaned toward her and whispered, "That was very brave of you."

  "I've worked for Dr. Whitmore for almost twelve years," Martha responded. "He can be ruthless, in a political sense, but he's not a killer."

  "Well, Miss Martha, you just bet your life on that. I hope it remains true."

  The COMde in Larry's in Larry’s suit was still keyed, so Hugh and the others outside had heard everything.

  ****

  When Hugh, Mary, Balaji, and Joe reached the massive stone bridge upon which the dome sat, now precariously balanced, Hugh turned to the others and said, "No matter what happens, you three stay here."

  Mary started to protest, but Balaji gave him a nod of understanding. Hugh hurried forward across the bridge to the base of the dome where he threw open Little John's airlock door. "Can anyone hear me?" he asked.

  "Hugh, this is Larry, we hear you."

  "Gather all the supplies you can and get outside of the shelter now."

  "We need a few more minutes—"

  "You don't have it. The door is going to seal you in any second now."

  Hugh exited the airlock, closed the door, and headed for the hallway. The first door he tried was now jammed. He ran around the two overturned LPCs to the second door. It opened, but only grudgingly. To his right, the hallway was completely mangled. There was no hope of passing through. The left was in ruins as well, but it was still passable. He moved as fast as he could over buckles in the floor, collapsed walls and ceilings, around massive pipes and conduits that had either fallen, or were pushed up through the floor.

  Around the next bend, he saw them. Martha, Bob, Larry, and Stanley standing outside the shelter in their Ess-CEPS suits, and sitting all about them on the floor were backpacks laden with supplies.

  "Okay, grab what you can and let's go." Hugh hefted three large packs onto his shoulders, and Larry grabbed two. The others grabbed one each.

  "Do we have to leave so much behind?" Bob asked.

  Hugh looked at Bob and said, "The more you carry, the less we leave. Let's go."

  Hugh watched as Bob turned to pick up one of the two packs on the floor, he grabbed the nearest to him then seemed to think better of it, he put it down, and grabbed the other pack. The only obvious difference was a small piece if red cloth tied to a strap.

  "Bob," Hugh called to the nervous scientist, "it's very dark out there, are you gonna be all right? I don't need you having a panic attack."

  "I'll be okay as long as there's some light, just a little light, that's all I need."

  "Okay, let's go," Hugh urged again, and the group began to move forward.

  They had not gone out of sight of the shelter when another fierce upheaval jarred the dome. The door to the shelter slammed shut, and from around the edge of the door, beige EFS foam oozed out.

  The corridor before them was crumpled lake a piece of paper baring their way, but over their heads, the wall had separated from the ceiling and floor above, leaving a clear path to the upper level. Hugh leapt up, grabbed the edge of the floor, and pulled himself to the upper level.

  The others handed their packs to him, and then he pulled each person up, one by one.

  The dome moved again, just enough to make everyone stop and glance at each other.

  The damage before them was such that it was obvious to all that they were not going to be able to get to the garage and Little John’s small exit.

  "What's your plan now, Sergeant?" Stanley asked.

  "There's a way out near the top. Follow me."

  The first stairwell they encountered was intact, though separated from one wall. Nonetheless, they made it up without incident. The higher they went in the dome, the smaller the plan became, as the apex was of a lesser circumference.

  The damage, though bad, was markedly less severe on this level. Around the now tightly-turning hallway they sprinted, until they came to an airtight hatch. Hugh opened the manual door release, unfolded the handle, and locked it. He then pulled with all his might, but it would not budge.

  "I need some help, here," he called out. Larry and Bob hurried to help. Stanley turned and walked away, back down the hall from which they had just come.

  Several minutes of pulling did not budge the handle. In a moment, Stanley returned, carrying a length of pipe. "You people haven't a brain among you. What you require is leverage. Stand back." He slid the pipe through the handle. "Now, all of you pull up at this end." Stanley stood aside as the others pulled. Slowly, the handle rose, and soon the door was unlocked and opened.

  Hugh rushed in. This room contained a retractable antenna. The ceiling was the hull of the dome itself, at a sixty degree angle to the floor and three meters over his head. Hugh withdrew a hand crank from a small door below o
ne of the control panels. He inserted the crank into a hole to the right of the panel and turned it. A hatch above them started to open.

  With the hatch opened, the way out was a tantalizing three meters above them.

  "Plan on flying out of here, do you, Sergeant?" Stanley asked.

  "Nope. The average person can jump fifty-one centimeters straight up, in the Moon's one-sixth gravity that translates into three meters, more or less. I can jump sixty-six centimeters straight up on Earth. That means here I can jump—"

  "Over three meters, I get it. I'm so impressed."

  "Thanks, Doctor," Hugh replied, "and please, don't miss an opportunity to be sarcastic. That's always so helpful."

  The two men stood looking at one another for a moment before Stanley asked, "Then what?"

  Hugh noted Stanley's impatience, and the way he needed to know everything before the others. After a moment, Hugh answered, "I'll jump up and pull myself through. Once on top, I'll lower this length of cable and we'll pull everyone up."

  With that, Hugh leapt upward, grabbed the edge of the aperture, and pulled himself through the opening. He turned and lowered the cable.

  Larry hopped up and grabbed the cable that hung only thirty centimeters above him, and Hugh pulled him up and over the edge.

  Bob then jumped for the cable, he missed his first try.

  "The lady is next," Hugh said.

  "No, it's my turn." Stanley stepped forward. "I'll not be left to die here. You pull me up next, or Martha and I will both stay behind."

  Hugh and Larry exchanged a disgusted glance. "Okay, Doctor," Hugh acquiesced, “but before you jump, you might want to pick up your chivalry. You dropped it on the floor."

  Hugh lowered the cable. It hadn't occurred to him to leave Stanley behind, but now it seemed like a damn good idea. He was going to have to find a way to take that gun away from him, and the sooner the better. Stanley jumped, grabbed the cable, and Hugh hauled him up.

  Hugh next pulled Martha to safety, stood, and helped her to her feet.

  Chapter 16

  The view from atop the dome was unimpressive, Hugh thought. Other than the illuminated portion of the dome upon which they stood, all else was darkness. It came as a surprise when he heard Mary's voice. "Hey, we can see your lights! Look to your right!"

  There, off in the distance, they could see the lights of the rest of their party. The lights were so bright they had to shield their eyes. Martha was happy to reply. "Mary? I can see you guys over there."

  "I need everybody to focus," Hugh said, "we're not clear yet. Getting off this dome is going to be tricky. Damage your suit and you're dead. Injure yourself and you're dead. Be extra careful. I'll go first. That is, unless you'd like that honor, Dr. Whitmore?"

  "Don't patronize me. Get on with it."

  Hugh walked around the dome as far down as he could and still have his boots maintain traction with the hull of the dome. The sides of the rock formation they sat upon were crumbling rapidly.

  "Hugh!" Mary's voice was anxious. "The gap where the bridge is separating has widened."

  "How bad is it?"

  "At least four-and-a-half meters across, now."

  "What do you intend that we do, Sergeant?" Stanley asked.

  "We're going to have to slide down the opposite side from the others."

  "If—when—that bridge falls," Larry said, "we'll be separated from the others by at least a couple of kilometers."

  Hugh nodded. "There's no time to consider anything else. I'll go first. Over here," he moved everyone to the side facing away from the others.

  As Hugh crouched to start his descent, Martha touched his arm. "Please be careful," she whispered. Hugh shot the others a glance and nodded. He then noted a lone figure standing some meters off at the top of the dome. "Bob," Hugh said, "you all right?"

  "I dislike heights," Bob said softly.

  "Come on, Bob," Hugh said, wondering if there was anything this guy wasn't afraid of. "I promise you, you'll dislike falling even more."

  Hugh started inching down the dome. When he felt gravity was taking over, he sat down and slid the rest of the way. His impact at the bottom was not as bad as he had anticipated, more like landing after a good jump. Over his COMde, he sent instructions back to the others and told them to aim for his light.

  Once they'd all arrived at the bottom of the dome, Hugh turned to them and said, "Move straight up the slope that way. We have to move away from this bridge immediately."

  He had just started waving the others forward when the bridge began to shake with an increasing intensity.

  "Move faster!" Hugh enjoined, and they all started to bound toward what looked like safety at the other side. As they approached the entrance to another, smaller, bread bubble, Stanley dropped his pack and made a frantic effort to reach firm ground. And of course was the first to safety.

  Larry snatched up Stanley's abandoned pack as he came to it, increasing his own burden. "Laa-ree, just leave it!" Hugh shouted. Larry did not respond, but continued to bound with one pack in his arms and two on his back.

  All five were now finding it extremely difficult to maintain their footing and direction of travel on top of the smooth, stone surface as it shook and jerked.

  Martha fell and began to roll toward the edge. It was Bob who went to her aid. He rushed to her and grabbed her right boot. "Someone help!" he cried. Hugh was instantly on the scene. He grabbed Martha, and with seemingly super human strength, pulled her to safety, nearly tossing her to the ledge beyond the bridge. Then, with Bob in tow, he got them both to safety.

  Larry was all but crawling toward the others with the additional pack still clutched in his right arm. Behind him, a two-meter-wide crack in the stone was reaching for him like the talon of a hungry beast. Hugh knew instantly he wasn't going to make it. He rushed back out to aid him and was within arm's distance when the vibrations stopped. Hugh grabbed Larry and pulled him up onto the level surface at the entrance to the bubble-like chamber. They both stood looking back at the dome. Hugh could see Larry breathing heavily.

  "You could have been killed for little bit of food and water, you know."

  Larry laid his hand on Hugh's shoulder. "Ole buddy, I'm afraid I'm gonna die for the want of it."

  Hugh just nodded and said, "Just be more careful. I can't afford to lose an ally."

  As they headed back to join the others, Hugh switched back to Springfield. "You all still there?"

  "Yes, Hugh, we are here," Balaji responded. "We've been monitoring you on Winchester. I take it everyone is all right?"

  "Yeah, we're fine. But we're separated from you. I want you all to walk in that same direction we were moving. Stay in sight of our lights and be mindful of the edge of the chasm. There is bound to be another place we can cross up ahead."

  "Okay, Hugh."

  But they remained divided. On one side of the huge, bottomless pit, Hugh led Larry, Martha, Bob, and Stanley. On the other, Mary, Joe, and Balaji walked in the same direction. They maintained voice and visual contact. Their lamps were easy to see through the darkness for a considerable distance.

  After an hour of walking, Stanley chimed in. "Well, Sergeant, so far you've lost us our oxygenated shelter, managed to separate us and lost us more than half the food and water we had when safe inside the shelter. And I think it's safe to say you have no idea where we are or where we are going. Is this the training our tax dollars pay for?"

  Joe was quick to respond. "You know what, Stan? You really need to shut up. Your precious shelter is a damned sealed-up death trap and you know it. Perhaps it has escaped your attention, but we've been steadily walking uphill. Correct me if I'm wrong, but up is the direction we wish to go, isn’t it?"

  "And for the record, everyone," said Larry, "Stan threw his pack of food down while running across the bridge back there."

  "I dropped it. It was an accident."

  "Doctor," Martha said, "I witnessed your crossing, and you're a liar."

  "What goo
d are food and water to us now, Martha, I ask you that?"

  Hugh, in the lead, stopped and turned around. "All right that's enough," he said raising his voice. "First, I want you all to know I'm a big boy and Dr. Whitmore's little snips do not affect me. Second, we have got to stop arguing among ourselves. We are, at this very moment, in a survival situation. How we got here, and whose fault it is, are all meaningless questions now. I can assure you all of one thing: if we don't work together as a team, we will not survive. It's that simple." He turned and looked directly at Stanley. "If you think I'm wrong, and everything I've done has been wrong, fine. When we return to JILL, report me to my superiors and have me court marshaled, or strike out on your own, or pull out that weapon and blow my head off. But Doctor, you need to start being part of the solution instead of part of the problem. Now, let's go."

  Just then, a shock rippled beneath their feet with a violent vibration that slowly faded. Bob turned to glance behind them. "Look!" he shouted.

  In the direction of the dome, all that could be seen was a huge brown cloud of dust, swirling in and out of the cone of light projected by their lamps.

  "I think that was the dome," Mary said.

  "Yes, it's gone," Martha observed, as the dust cleared.

  A heartbeat passed and Hugh ordered, "Let's move."

  As the path grew steeper, Hugh noticed the others in the party beginning to tire.

  "Hugh," Balaji pleaded, "we need to rest."

  "I'm sorry. Let's take a break. Balaji, you still have everyone over there?"

  "Yes, we're all here."

  Everyone sat, some lay on the ground as best as possible with the environmental pack and cargo packs on their backs. Hugh walked about, looking into each person's eyes. When he got to Stanley, who was some distance away from the group, he looked up at Hugh, held up his hands, and spread his fingers, paused, then made fists, and opened his hands again. Hugh knew what he wanted. He was indicating frequency 55:55, a separate channel so they could speak without being heard by everyone. Hugh changed over, and took a knee next to Stanley "What is it Doctor?"

  "I didn't want to say anything in front of the others, but have you noticed the distance between our two groups is widening?"