Luke Marusiak - Lifeboat Moon

Doug didn’t have a definite plan for the back doors, he just wanted them there for when he got back. It wasn’t a plan, it was an idea. He wanted to strike and annihilate the greatest human achievement the moment it hit its celebratory high. And then the gamma ray burst hit. All his disgust at the messiness of life on Mother Earth was forgotten, replaced by an overwhelming sense of loss.

When he secretly copied the director’s post gamma ray burst plan and saw the culling strategy, he knew what he had to do. The fact the director and ArmCon rank ordered the crew into a caste system of utility and secretly planned to use the least useful as fertilizer settled it. Suffering humanity, always of questionable value anyway, should be totally and utterly extinguished.

The pod crash into the director’s quarters was the first step. Doug didn’t plan on destroying Moon Base Armstrong all at once; the pod crash was meant to be a fatal blow that only manifested after a period of chaos. Chaos was his friend, the disorganizing principle that destroyed hope and let hackers like him run wild. The next pod crash had to be a killing blow to Japan Station.

“This is Major Martelli,” the intercom sounded. “All those on the first cave crew should get packed. We’ll move the first group in seventy-two hours.”

Doug grimaced. He hadn’t figured on Mark Martelli. He hadn’t figured on the pod crash uncovering caves. He hadn’t figured on Moon Base Armstrong and Japan Station crews uniting. And he certainly didn’t figure on being watched around the clock with no plans for another pod descent. They’re on to me , he realized.

Sally and Chuck entered the hangar. “Shift change,” Sally announced. “Let’s start the pass down.”

“Time is spinning by fast,” Doug commented.

“In a good way,” Sally said. “Jim, can you come with me to look at the electrical cables in the Manufacturing Pod? Jerry said we need to start removing the high power cables for relocation to the caves. We should have enough power for lighting installed soon.”

“Sounds good,” Jim said. “Tina also mentioned we should position a ton of mulch from the Agriculture Pod into the hangar. That way they can move it into the cave when their work team comes on shift.”

“I saw that plan.” Sally turned to Doug. “We may be a bit longer than an hour. You got this pass down?”

“Sure, go ahead.” Doug’s eyes narrowed as for the fifth time in a row he was left alone with Chuck during the pass down. They’re definitely on to me.

“What futile accomplishments did the crew do today?” Chuck asked.

Doug wondered if he could use his knowledge to turn the tables. Of all the spy stories he loved to read, the ones he loved best were of the double agents — those who pretended to spy for one side while secretly working for the enemy all along. He wondered if he could use Chuck as that double agent. If Chuck cooperated willingly — or even unwilling now that he thought about it — he could still initiate the final destruction.

“The solar array and cave crews made great progress on my shift,” Doug said. “They plan to start occupying the cave in seventy-two hours.”

“I heard the pompous major on the intercom,” Chuck said. “Do you really think we have a chance in our asinine partnership with Japan Station?”

Doug shrugged. “Maybe. Hope springs eternal.”

“Really?”

Doug forced a laugh. “The military types like Mark and Sally as well as Director Hayashi and Captain Kaneko from Japan Station have to project a ‘never say die’ attitude. It’s hardwired into them.”

“Don’t you think it’s ridiculous?”

“Of course, but I have to admit that they’re making progress. I didn’t think the cave was a viable replacement for two moon bases. I didn’t think we could or even should get along with Japan Station. I didn’t think we’d find all that water. Maybe, just maybe, we do have a chance.”

Chuck’s face showed unmasked surprise. “I never thought you’d turn into an optimist.”

“Like I said, hope springs eternal.” He turned to Chuck. “But they’re making a mistake with the control systems in the caves.”

“What mistake? They’re installing the most basic reliable code with moon produced controllers. The idea is to wean ourselves from earth based technology as soon as possible.”

“The controllers are too simple. Layered controls with fuzzy logic artificial intelligence is the safest way to go.”

“That didn’t help us here,” Chuck said. “The recurring leaks and the pod crash were full blown emergencies the control system codes didn’t help.”

“Not true. The speed of the alarms, the iris seal on Habitation Tube One, and the isolation of Art’s quarters all were possible due to our control software.”

“There’s alarms in the cave.” Chuck snorted. “We really ought to come up with a better name for that cave.”

Doug chuckled. “First, there’s no central place for the alarms and there’s no base-wide communications in the cave. We’re already losing track of teams with our spotty communications. Second, didn’t you hear that Major Martelli is hosting a contest for the naming of our new cave base?”

“Doug, I can only process one thing at a time. Are you sure there’s not a central alarm station?”

“Positive. The moon produced controllers are standalone unnetworked units — like the old air-gap computers on earth. They provide for local warnings but no central alarms. Unless everyone pulls shift at each spot, there’s vulnerability all over the cave habitations.”

“How would you fix that?”

“With a networked central controller. We have plenty of extra computer network hardware here. The local controllers have short range Bluetooth communications. With a couple repeaters and a small central controller we could solve this problem.”

“That sounds good. Did you tell Mark about this?”

“Major Martelli is too focused on his relationships.”

“Relationships?”

Doug gave Chuck a quirky grin. “Yeah, the major is immersed in his relationship with Sally Ride Henderson. Didn’t you know that?”

Chuck started. “Yeah, I did.”

Doug wondered if that were a lie. “Major Martelli realizes he’s out of his league. He’s focused on handing control of our crew over to Japan Station’s Director Hayashi.”

“I don’t believe that.”

“Believe it. That’s the reason for the rush to consolidate everyone in the cave.”

“That and the vulnerability of Moon Base Armstrong and Japan Station.”

“Trust me, the cave is more vulnerable and, once we move a critical mass of equipment out of Moon Base Armstrong, we’ll be sitting ducks… unless we have some good central controllers installed over there.”

“What are you thinking?”

“I think you could help Moon Base Armstrong and Mark by helping get one of my controllers in the cave.”

“How would I manage that?”

“Tina’s agriculture controllers.”

“The agriculture controllers? I thought they’re just carbon dioxide and soil sensors with automated water delivery.”

“They are but they’re the perfect place to hide one of my boxes. We can steer control of everything here without anyone being the wiser. They’re hauling the farm environment controllers over with the shit-smelling piles of mulch. If you could get my advanced Bluetooth central controller into one of those boxes, we’ll be able to secure the cave.”

“I can’t figure you.”

“What?”

“One moment you talk like all is lost and now you’re trying to save the cave from their mistakes.”

“I talk about all being lost because Major Martelli is clueless. You know that as well as I do.”