Jeramey Kraatz - The Dark Side of the Moon

“Right. But each time he tried to convince them that an extraterrestrial threat was out there some official would call Elijah, who assured them that nothing was out of the ordinary. He, uh …” Trevone paused for a moment. “He told everyone that being on the Moon had caused Dr Bale to lose his mind.”

“Yikes,” Hot Dog said.

“The messages Dr Bale sent to Elijah around this time were … intense ,” Pinky said. “So much so that at my recommendation we beefed up security around the Taj. And you wouldn’t believe how much money Elijah spent keeping the man’s comments out of the media.” She shook her head. “I didn’t exist as an AI back then. I was just a human, and I trusted Elijah. I mean, Dr Bale did sound crazy, and he was definitely angry.” She took a deep breath. “Neither of them acted like they should have. And while I don’t love the idea of reaching out to someone potentially unstable, it’s true: he could be helpful.”

“Hopefully,” Trevone continued. “In the end, he came back to the Moon along with a few research assistants who were convinced he was telling the truth. As far as we know, they’ve been living on the dark side ever since. He’s masking his presence somehow, but we find evidence of old campsites every so often.”

“Maybe he’s using some of that alien tech to hide,” Drue said. “Maybe he knows more about these ETs.”

“Eesh,” Hot Dog said. “A few days on the dark side is one thing, but how can someone live out there for years? It doesn’t even seem possible.”

Trevone shrugged. “The man’s a genius. Or so I’m told. I’ve never met him.”

“I have,” Pinky said. “Or, at least, the real me has. And, yes, he is incredibly intelligent. Apart from Elijah, he’s likely to be the only person on Earth capable of surviving out there for so long.”

“But what’s he been doing?” Benny asked, more to himself than the rest of the room.

“That’s the trillion-dollar question,” Trevone said.

“Whatever it is,” Jasmine cut in, “he’s in danger. Scouts from that alien mother ship broke rank in the middle of the asteroid fight. We lost track of them, but they were headed in the general direction of the Moon. If they wanted to hide out, the dark side would be the perfect place.”

“Do we really need his help?” Hot Dog asked. “I mean, we’ve kind of been doing pretty good on our own.”

Benny thought about this for a moment, memories of the last few days flashing through his head – the asteroids, the mother ship, Commander Tull. Finally, he nodded. “We need all the help we can get. We just have to figure out where he is.”

“We could fly out to the dark side to try to spot him visually,” Trevone said. “But I have the feeling he’s the kind of person who finds you, not the other way round.”

Benny nodded. The idea was maybe a little dangerous, sure, but at least it meant they would be doing something .

“OK,” he said. “Then let’s head out.”

“What, now?” Trevone asked.

“Yeah, now. We can’t just sit around here talking all day or waiting to find a way to get in touch with Earth. We have to act, so why not start by finding this guy?”

“Because you’re not in charge,” a voice bellowed from the hallway.

Benny recognised it immediately. When the EW-SCAB winners had been split into four groups on the first day, Benny had ended up one of the Mustangs. The voice belonged to their leader, Ricardo Rocha, the “Beast from Brazil”. Benny spun round to find him standing in the doorway. Behind him were the other remaining members of Elijah’s Pit Crew – Sahar, and Kira and Kai Miyamura.

Ricardo held up a HoloTek as he glared at Benny. “I’m guessing this message came from you? How dare you think you have the right to give orders around here! You don’t get to decide what happens now, or who can come and go as they please. As the oldest member of the Pit Crew, the Taj is under my command.”

“In the event of Elijah’s absence, the chief operating officer would be Max Étoile, general manager and head of guest relations,” Pinky said. “He left, though. And since we don’t have any contact with Earth, the control of the Taj is actually sort of up in the air.” She raised an eyebrow. “Technically, I’m the senior staff member.”

Ricardo’s boots were heavy on the floor as he took a few big steps into the room. “I was his number two, Pinky, and you know it.” The fingers of his free hand curled into a tight fist at his side. “I’m the one in charge, and I say we’re going to find Elijah. Every resource we have will be put to that task.” He pointed at Benny. “That includes you, Pinky, and your friends here. No matter what it takes, we’ll get him back.”

“Ricardo,” Trevone said, standing, “you know things are more complicated than that.”

“No,” Ricardo said. “They aren’t.”

“We don’t even know if Elijah’s still alive.”

“He may have survived the blast,” Kai said. “You know him.”

“If he did, he’s probably waiting for us to come and save him,” Kira added.

“Look, I’m just as concerned as the rest of you,” Trevone said, “but—”

“Are you?” Ricardo interrupted, glaring at the other Pit Crew member. “Because, without your help, would they have taken the Space Runners out in the first place? No. Elijah would still be here.”

“Don’t you put that on me.” Trevone’s voice was softer now. Benny thought he saw one of his hands shake. “It was Elijah’s decision to join the fight in the end. That was his call. That’s why we went up there.”

“Also, we saved the world,” Hot Dog said, raising her hand. “Let’s not forget that part.”

“What does that matter?” Ricardo asked, turning his furious gaze to her.

“So you were fine with Earth getting demolished and letting everyone die except us. Great. Good to know.” She shook her head. “I wonder when all of you stopped thinking for yourselves and just started repeating whatever Elijah told you.”