David Golemon - Legacy

“No, we’ll wait for the all clear.”

“I believe a commander should be in the lead of his troops at all times,” Tram said. “Meaning no disrespect, of course.”

Jack smiled as he watched the last of the SAS men and Polish soldiers disappear into the blackness of the doorway.

“None taken, Private,” he said. “Believe me, I think the same thing. My military philosophy isn’t that different from your own.”

“Then we shall wait,” Tram said cradling the American-made M-14.

“You know, when this is over, I want that weapon back. You’re too damn good with it.”

Sarah allowed the Green Beret sergeant to ease over the small rise before her. The column of Americans kept silent, not allowing any talking that could lead to a transmission alerting someone unfriendly. As the sergeant peeked over the top of the small ridge only five hundred feet from the crater, he quickly ducked back down and removed the M-39 from his shoulder. He made sure the kinetic energy round was charged and held a hand up to Sarah and the others, indicating they should wait where they were. He crawled back up the small incline and looked over the side once more. He ducked back and waved Sarah up the slope. When she arrived the sergeant slid back down, careful not to snag his white environment suit on a stone. The bulletproof vest on the front and back of his torso made moving that much more difficult. He pointed at his wrist, eying Sarah through the clear visor. He was indicating that she should switch frequencies to suit-to-suit mode. She punched the small LED terminal on her wrist.

“What’s up?” she asked.

“We have seven people down there. They look like they’re just sitting around. I see at least five expended oxygen bottles and hoses for refilling the environmental tanks on their backs. I think they’re ESA, but I can’t be sure.”

“Our briefing said their suits are white and blue.”

“Yes, but maybe the Chinese knew that and changed from red to what the ESA was wearing?”

Sarah bit her lower lip and shook her head inside her helmet. “We have to draw the line somewhere. I mean, that’s too damn devious. The Chinese haven’t done anything yet to warrant that kind of thinking.” Sarah looked at the sergeant. “No, I say we make contact. They may be desperate for help. And we have plenty of air on our sleds.” She looked back down the slope at the four large sleds filled with extra bottles of oxygen.

“You’re the boss,” the sergeant said, nodding.

Sarah eased herself up, switching her COM system to the open frequency used by all nations during spaceflight. She stood momentarily on the top of the ridge and looked down at the seven people below, who seemed to be sitting and resting. She saw two of them move, so they were alive.

“Do you require assistance?” Sarah called from the ridge top.

All seven heads turned at once. They were looking in all directions and a few weapons were raised as most tried to get to their feet.

“Easy, easy. Lieutenant McIntire, U.S. Army. Are you ESA?”

The men below started laughing and patting each other on the backs when they finally spied Sarah and the sergeant looking down on them.

“ Oui. Captain Philippe Jarneux. I have six men and we are very low on O. Are you carrying extra?”

“Yes, we have plenty.” Sarah bounded easily down the slope. Not wanting to fall and embarrass herself in front of the French, she slid part of the way. She was surrounded by the ESA astronauts as her men came over the ridge with the sleds of supplies. She was being pounded on the back by some very grateful ESA men when Mendenhall stepped up to her.

“I see you’ve made some new friends,” he said as he watched Sarah be the hero. Then, before he knew it, he was being pounded on the pack holding his oxygen. “Hey, hey,” he cried, as he was hit so hard he felt his feet lift from the lunar surface. As he watched, the entire U.S. team was being congratulated. The scene was a good one. They had just gained a partner in the exploration of the crater.

Sarah pointed out the four sleds and the containers of oxygen lying on them. Every one of the seven ESA astronauts was down to two hours of O in their tanks.

Sarah stepped away and tried to reach Altair.

“ Altair 1, this is Lewis and Clark, do you copy, over,” she said, as she checked to make sure she was still on the open frequency.

All she heard was static. She was joined once more by Mendenhall, who looked at his own frequency setting and then at Sarah, with worry on his face.

The French air force captain stepped up and listened in as Sarah tried again.

“ Altair 1, this is Lewis and Clark, do you copy, over?” Sarah said, trying to keep any worry out of her voice. Upon exiting the Altair, their communications had been crystal clear. Now there was nothing but static.

“If I didn’t know better, this sounds like the jamming we ran into in Iraq in the first few days of the war,” Green Beret Sergeant Martinez said as he tapped his own radio display on his wrist.

“Lieutenant, you were right about the Chinese not being devious enough, but this is more in their line of operation,” the sergeant said as he broke away from the smiling and happy ESA men.

Sarah, Mendenhall, and the French commander turned toward the sergeant as they saw him looking up and back at the place where the Americans had just been.

“Oh, shit,” Sarah said as she saw a sight that froze her blood.

“Well, I guess the Moon’s becoming a very crowded place,” Will said. He slowly brought up his weapon, but knew if he made it look too obvious the twelve trained guns would make short work of them.

Lining the top of the ridge were twelve red-clad Chinese soldiers and they had very lethal weapons. They were aimed at the sixteen ESA and NASA personnel, who had just lost their enthusiasm about joining forces.

“This could get real ugly,” Sarah said as she raised her hands into the air, the group now surrounded by soldiers of the People’s Republic of China.

The Moon was indeed becoming a very crowded place.

Collins and eighty-five men remaining of the Columbus team waited for any indication of trouble. Jack was standing silently fifteen feet from the double doors. Every few minutes he would see movement in the darkness beyond, but it was nothing more than fleeting glimpses of the men. Because of his order, which he had given on a hunch that really made no sense, Collins knew information making its way back to him could take a while. His hunch may be right, or it may be just paranoia, but they hadn’t heard or felt any of the mysterious vibrations since the order not to use the radios or anything else electronic. He also knew that the German SS had left this place without emptying it of its technological riches for a reason, and all of this at a time when their armed forces could have used the miracle weapons that were obviously buried in the second gallery.

Jack turned when he felt someone step up behind him and saw the faint lighting from above shining off the glasses of Niles Compton. Collins turned back to the doorway in front of him.

“I wish you would stay back until I get the all clear from Mr. Everett and Sebastian.”

“I need to be here, Jack. I-”

“Just when are you going to tell me what the hell is going on, Niles?” Jack turned and faced the director.

Niles took a deep breath and looked around him at the young faces of the soldiers. There were Poles, U.S. Marines, Japanese, Australians, and others who were no more than babies. He felt responsible for bringing them to this awful hole in the ground.