Jack McDevitt - The Moonfall

Forty meters.

"A little tight at the rear, Tony. Take it forward a touch. That's it. Not too much." Even through the suit he felt the heat from the motors.

Thruster clusters adjusted their angle and fired. The Micro centered itself. "That's good. Bring it in."

A gout of flame arrowed through the overhead doors.

"Passengers, ready up," he said. "The bird is almost down."

Treads and main engine nozzle cleared the roof and the fire licked the launchpad. Now the undercarriage, and finally the sphere itself bellied in. Its weight settled onto the treads, compressing them.

Clouds of steam formed and began to dissipate.

Through the lighted windows he could see movement on the flight deck. The Micro cut power and Bigfoot came out from behind the shield. He pointed the remote at a sensor on the far wall and squeezed. The pad rotated the vehicle until its main airlock lined up with a marker on the deck. Then he pushed a different button. A Fleming tube, considerably shorter than the ones used at L1, unfolded from the Bay Four gate, and like a caterpillar trundled across the bay and connected with the airlock.

Meantime, the ship's cargo hatch opened and Saber, in a p-suit, popped out. Bigfoot laid the remote on the deck. "Refuel first," he said.

"Okay." Saber moved quickly out to help with the umbilicals, while he got the latches up for the fuel receivers. With no wasted motions, they connected both lines and hit the switches.

Now, while Bigfoot went after the other umbilicals, Saber retrieved the remote and checked the readings. She had a green light, which meant a good connection. She aimed the instrument again at the sensor and opened the door that would permit the passengers to enter the Fleming tube. On his radio, Bigfoot heard Morley's broadcast as they scrambled into the passageway: "Bruce, as you can see, the door's open at last and we're moving down the ramp."

Saber connected the electrical line while Bigfoot got the others. They hit the switches, and electricity, oxygen, and water began to flow. Next they threw the plastic bags into the airlock. When that was done, Bigfoot returned to the umbilicals. Flow was steady and normal. His gaze drifted to the clock-twenty after-and back to the gauges, where numbers flicked past.

At ten twenty-three, oxygen and water topped off and Saber disconnected the lines and threw them clear. They couldn't do much about recharging, of course, in the short time they had. Usually the operation needed close to an hour and a quarter. But they'd take what they could get.

The critical area was fuel. Tanks were now about forty percent full.

Tony reported the passengers were through the ship's airlock and filing into the cabin.

Saber spoke to Caparatti on the radio: "Bigfoot, when we're done, we'll go in through the cargo hatch. I want to try to get to the flight deck if I can. You seal the hatch behind us."

"Okay," he said.

Morley was still doing his broadcast, using the low-key voice that was supposed to suggest great drama: "You're watching Bigfoot Caparatti on your screen now. And yes, if you're a football fan, that's the same Bigfoot who once played for the Green Bay Packers."

Once is exactly correct, you dumb son of a bitch. Did you really have to bring that up?

Saber was watching the recharge. "How we doing?" Bigfoot asked.

"Okay. We'll have enough to power the systems. How's the fuel?"

"About halfway."

Tony came back on: "Everybody's in and the hatch is secure. You can disconnect the tube."

Saber aimed the remote. The walkway came loose and began to retract.

Bigfoot's entire world narrowed down to the two fuel counters and the clock. He let the numbers slip out of focus. Saber's eyes were dark pinpoints behind her visor.

The narrow patch of black sky visible through the entry doors had acquired a haze. He found himself torn between terror and an inclination to dismiss the entire affair as hysteria. Earlier, when he'd made the decision to stay, he'd gotten patched through to his mother, who'd cried and prayed on the phone; and an old friend with whom he'd played college football, who'd told him he was a damned fool but that he was proud to have known Bigfoot. It was said in the past tense.

"Can we get moving?" asked Tony.

"Almost done," said Bigfoot.

At ten twenty-six, the liquid oxygen tank reached full and the pump shut off. Bigfoot disconnected, and threw the umbilical aside. Saber decided she had enough power, and broke her line loose and dropped it.

"Get inside," Bigfoot said. "I'll be with you in a minute."

"Why don't we call it a tankful and clear out?"

Yeah. What the hell.

She started for the cargo hatch while Bigfoot shut down, jerked the umbilical out of the fuel receptacle, capped it, and closed and secured the latch. He lobbed the line as far as he could, which in lunar gravity was a substantial distance. Then he was right behind Saber, dashing for the open hatch while she told Tony that refueling was complete. They'd cut it a little short in the interests of time, she said, but he shouldn't start the engine yet. She was scrambling into the cargo deck airlock and simultaneously extending a hand to Bigfoot. "We're inside," she told Tony. "Go!" Bigfoot stabbed at the control panel and the outer hatch swung shut. Oxygen poured into the chamber. The engine lit and the bus trembled.

The inner hatch opened. Saber popped through and dashed across the hold, removing her helmet as she went. She was quite agile in low-g footwork and she left Bigfoot far behind.

She swung up the ladder and erupted into the passenger cabin, still carrying her helmet. The Micro began to rise.

Bigfoot meantime had closed and sealed the airlock. Then he tried to follow Saber into the passenger cabin, but the bus was moving quickly now and his weight was increasing. He struggled halfway up the ladder, realized he couldn't make it, and concluded his sole mission was to close the hatch between decks. He caught a last glimpse of Saber moving monkey-style up toward the cockpit as he pulled the hatch shut and secured it. Then he retreated back down the ladder.

They were on their way. Moonbase Spaceport. 10:24 P.M.

Viewers around the world watched the scene in Bay Four through Keith Morley's camera as Saber flung her umbilical away and dashed for the open hatch. Then Bigfoot appeared in the picture, moving with deliberation through the light gravity, throwing himself up and into the airlock. Saber helped drag him inside. And the hatch closed.

Morley was still speaking in a voice-over, describing the passengers' coolness, admitting his own tensions. Later, many viewers would wonder how he'd managed not to get on the nerves of the others, especially during that final countdown, whispering in his coolly dramatic tone, "six minutes to impact, five minutes," and so on.

Occasionally the image switched to the comet, captured by a range of instruments on the ground and in space. Several had been placed at ground zero at Mare Muscoviense, where they looked directly up at the oncoming monster. In the lower right corner, a clock ticked off the remaining time.

News media estimates indicated that 3.6 billion people saw the first wisp of smoke from the main engine just before it roared into life. That number made it the third most watched telecast ever, behind Super Bowls LXX and LXXII.

The blast from the main engine blanked the screens. But Morley plowed smoothly ahead: "I see we've lost our picture. Bruce, from this point on we're going to have to rely on audio…"

Transglobal went to a split screen, matching a live image of the comet with a photo of Keith Morley in a tropical shirt and a Panama hat, taken during the Rio conference in January.

"We're clear of the terminal, picking up speed. You can hear the roar of the engine." (Pause.) "I should tell you, by the way, that we've switched over to internal relay so we won't lose the audio signal no matter what happens at Moonbase.