ANOMALY
by Tom Arbino © 2008
Acid stirred in the pit of Shirley’s stomach as she looked up at the moon. She shuddered upon seeing a dark spot in the lower right corner, a spot that wasn’t there three hours ago. Driving by the ocean, she glanced over at the waves as they rolled in. She was light-headed once the full effect of what she saw sunk in. She gripped the steering wheel tighter. The tide almost swept up onto the road, which sat better than a hundred feet up an embankment. Some water splashed onto the pavement and a few drops struck the windshield. Shirley swerved over into the other lane.
The engine moaned in her nitrogen car, which was the current model, 2018 version. The car, blue in color, had well rounded edges and a bubbled windshield and roof.
Another splash of water burst over the edge and a good portion flowed across her windshield. Shirley slowed down, waiting until she could see once again, drawing a deep breath and holding it. Glancing over at the water, she saw another wave coming at her. This swell rolled over the entire car, covering the roof and windshield, the vehicle hydroplaning with its tires off the pavement.
“Oh my God,” Shirley gasped while sending the brake to the floor. The tires made contact with the road once again. Shirley’s chest didn’t feeling any lighter, or pulse any slower. Looking up ahead, she could see the launch towers at Kennedy Space Center. She clicked the windshield wipers up a notch.
I have to get to work. I have to prove to them that I’m worthy of command, Shirley thought.
She gazed up at the launch towers, but her eye was drawn to the moon. That black spot remained. Shirley jolted, her heart raced, and her stomach flowed around in her chest. The cell phone on her wrist flashed and beeped. Shirley stared at it for a prolonged moment. She said, “Answer.”
“Where the hell are you?” An angry male voice said over the phone.
Shirley looked down at her stomach, seeing if it was puffing out. She said, “I’m almost there sir.”
“Almost there. We’re assembling the rockets now. Have you seen the moon?”
“Yes sir.”
“We must launch at once.”
“I’ll be there in ten minutes.’
“Get your ass in here now.”
“Yes sir. But what about the—“
The line went dead.
Forty minutes later, Shirley rushed to a briefing room deep inside of Kennedy Space Center. The room, possessing no windows, had a series of chairs around a table. The other three members of her crew sat scattered around the table. A flat screen TV took up most of the front wall.
Shirley sat down, trying not to make eye contact with Jason. Shirley Cuttler had long, curly brown hair and was athletic in appearance. While only thirty-one years old, she had been with NASA for six years. She had been to the space station three times and to the moon once, but she had never commanded before.
“If it isn’t our fearless leader,” Jason said.
“Not now Jason.” Shirley didn’t so much as turn to glance at him.
“Nice of you to be on time. The commander should always show up last, and late I might add.”
“The road almost washed out. It wasn’t my fault so why don’t you find somebody else to pick on?”
“So what’s got your panties in a bunch?”
“That’s sexual harassment.”
“Get off her back. We’re flying to the moon in a few hours and I’d like to get there in one piece,” Norm said.
“He’s right, let’s just stay focused on the goal. They’re slapping this rocket together. We have to work as a team to even have a slim chance of making it back alive,” Tim said.
“Just try to be—" Shirley began.
The door closed hard. Shirley cringed as her eyes honed in on those who had entered. She thought that the lights dimmed, but they took on a different hue, one that was dull and yellow. A pulsing sound echoed just loud enough for her to detect in the background, ringing out at several cycles per second. The air conditioner kicked in and Shirley merely sat there and listened to it. She knew that should’ve jolted.
George, the flight director, a bald and weathered man appearing close to sixty, stood in front of the flat screen TV. Two men in black suits and sunglasses, one typing on a blackberry, stood on either side of the room.
“What’s the deal with this mission? Is this rocket even going to hold together? They just slapped those stages in place,” Tim said.
“I need a flight plan. I need the procedures. I’m not even sure where we’re going.” Shirley picked at the side of her thumb with the nail of her index finger.
“Okay, just simmer down,” George said.
“But—" Tim began.
“I said that’s enough!” George cleared his throat and then looked at each of them with a beaming gaze.Following a long pause, he said, “We have a mission to accomplish so listen up and listen well.” George took a sip of his coffee. “There was a massive moonquake,” George cleared his throat, “which resulted in a crack in the surface of the moon.”
“Just how deep is this crack?” Jason asked. Jason Braddock just turned twenty-nine, had rust colored hair, was tall, had a square jaw, and broad shoulders. Shirley met him two years ago on a mission to the space station. During the mission, he came onto her and put his hand on her ass, receiving a smack across the face from Shirley.
“The only way that we can tell for sure is to send a mission,” George said.
“Just how big is this crack?” Norm wondered.
“We’re not sure. Some of our leading scientists think that a chunk of the moon could split off,” George said.
The men grumbled.
“This mission is top secret. It will be kept secret from the public. No one will ever know about it, not even your wives and children. It will be called Artemis 5. There will be no mention of it in the official records of the Constellation Program,” George said.
George lingered for a moment and then left, the two government goons trailing close behind him. Shirley gazed around the table and saw that everyone was looking at her. She said, “He’s not telling us everything.”
“They never do in situations like this,” Norm said.
“The whole moonquake thing is a lie,” Tim said. Tim Witte, the only African-American on the crew, was thirty-four years old and the father of three. He had a short Afro, a receding hairline, and a round face. He was of average height and muscular. Tim, an aeronautical engineer, was new to the program. Shirley just met him a few days ago.
“What makes you think so?” Shirley asked.
“It just doesn’t sit right with me,” Tim said.
“There’s nothing else that could’ve caused that. It had to be a moonquake,” Jason said.
“Or something done by an intelligent hand,” Tim said.
“Aliens? Wouldn’t they avoid detection?” Norm wondered. Norm Stevenson was forty-two, tall, slender, and had a burr haircut. Green eyes and a big nose highlighted his face. Shirley met Norm three years ago. He helped her hone her piloting skills
“Even if it isn’t aliens he’s right, they’re not telling us everything,” Shirley said.
“Are we going to get into conspiracy theories now? Please.” Jason waved his hand in front of his face.
“Aliens have been on the moon for a while,” Tim said.
“And what web site did you get this gospel from?” Jason posed.
“Jason must you always be a jerk?” Shirley replied.
Jason’s eyes shifted to the side and his head remained in place. He gazed into Shirley’s eyes without blinking, pausing for a moment before saying, “When did you get balls?”
“I can’t believe that you said that, but knowing you, yes I can. Let’s get one thing straight from the start. I’m in charge,” Shirley said.
“Yes ma'am.” Jason saluted her.
Shirley tapped her finger on the arm of her chair repeatedly.
“Like I was saying,” Tim raised his voice, “an intelligence made this happen.”
“So just tell us all what is causing it? After all, you’re in charge,” Jason said.
“If it was deep enough and narrow enough the sunlight wouldn’t be able to get down in there,” Tim said.
“This is supposedly a crack of several miles wide and double that long,” Norm said.
“Maybe something inside the moon has seeped up,” Tim said.
“Like what? Aliens?” Jason sassed.
“There’s nothing inside the moon to seep up,” Shirley said.
“You don’t know that,” Tim said.
“I think it’s just because it goes down several miles. The debris along the sides is blocking the sunlight from going all the way down there,” Norm said.
“I think this is all fascinating but we have a mission to accomplish,” Shirley said.
The crisp night air slithered off the ocean, creeping around pads 42A and B, pads that were officially empty. Darkness flowed in around these pads, its shadows intermingling with the floodlights, dimming them, making certain that no one outside of NASA saw them. The relatives of anyone who did witness them would receive a missing person’s report and nothing more.
The two rockets sat four miles apart, each being tended to by different crews. The Cargo Launch Vehicle had three stages, each painted a copper color, and the first stage had two SRBs (solid rocket boosters) attached to either side of it. The Lander, which sat atop of the earth departure stage, was protected beneath a white nose cone. The vehicle stood as tall as the Saturn V did.
Four miles away, the Crew Launch stood waiting for the astronauts. The rocket was a bit shorter than the Cargo Launch and much narrower. The first stage SRB was slim, which supported a fatter third stage. It was painted in a copper hue. The Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV) and Service Module sat atop the last stage. An Apollo era escape tower jutted out from atop the nose of the CEV.
Shirley trembled in her space suit as she stepped out of the van, her eyes honing in on that dark spot at the bottom of the moon. She drew a deep breath, holding it for longer than usual. The public was told that two satellites were being launched. If the rocket failed, the ocean would consume all traces of her and the mission that she was on, which even she knew only a portion.
Shirley got into the elevator with sweat beading upon her face. The perspiration mixed with the rubber in the suit, producing a rather pungent tang that she couldn’t escape. She started to puke, but forced it back before she could taste it. The rhythm of her breathing was swift and shallow and the small hairs on her arms stood up. Her stomach grumbled and its moan seemed rather loud to her in that space suit. Images of herself making love to Kurt flashed into her mind, lingering for longer than she liked. The elevator jiggled as it stopped. Shirley began to shout out, but she mashed her teeth down just as the first syllable left her lips, or so she hoped.
If they see me sweating they’ll think I can’t handle it and I’ll lose my command. They’ll never give me another one. Oh God I think they saw me, Shirley thought.
Six hours and twenty-seven minutes after the Cargo Launch achieved orbit, Shirley and the others were strapped into their couches and the hatch was sealed. They sat four abreast--Jason sitting at the far left in the CEV’s pilot’s seat. The area behind them had a storage area, galley, and toilet.
“Maybe we should scrub.” Jason threw a switch.
“What on Earth for?” Norm asked.
“I don’t think Shirley can handle it. I think we better tell them so they can come and get her out of here,” Jason said.
“Don’t you dare! I-I’m perfectly fine,” Shirley said.
“You were freaking out in the elevator. I saw you.”
“It’s just nerves. We’re going to the moon on such short notice. Only a cold blooded pig like you would have no feelings about it.”
“Okay we don’t need to get into name calling. We’ve got a mission to accomplish and God only knows what we’re going to find once we land in that crater,” Tim said.
“She’s unfit for command,” Jason said.
“And you’re unfit to be a human being so we’re even,” Shirley said.
“Let’s just focus on the countdown,” Norm said.
“I say we tell them,” Jason said.
“Tell them what?” Shirley rubbed the tip of her index finger around the fabric of her glove.
“Come on, you saw it too,” Jason said.
“I didn’t see anything. I’ve flown with Shirley before. She’ll do a fine job so just drop it already,” Norm said.
“Artemis 5 this is Houston. You’re go for launch T minus one minute and counting,” the voice said over Shirley’s headset.
Shirley turned to look at Jason, who sat next to her, looking at her from the corner of his eye. Before she could get all the way around, she saw Jason staring at her. The tremors tore through her body with such voracity that she knew that he had seen them.
“Artemis 5 this is Houston. Is everything okay up there?” a voice said over Shirley’s headset.
Shirley stared at Jason and thought, Why doesn’t he do it already? I know that little bastard just can’t wait to do it. I wish he would do something. God I don’t think I can take another second of this.
“Artemis 5 do you copy?” a voice said over Shirley’s headset.
Jason paused for a prolonged moment, and then said, “Houston this is Artemis 5.”
Shirley gasped and then panted in short and fast breaths.
Jason turned away from her, staring at the board in front of him. He said, “Everything’s fine Houston. We had a light bulb that faded out on us. It’s working fine now.”
“Let’s hope that this was your glitch for the mission,” a voice said over Shirley’s headset.
“Copy that Houston,” Jason said.
Shirley forced herself to breathe deeper, trying to pay attention to the computer screen before her. She thought, why did he do that? I don’t understand. He’s always been an arrogant self-righteous macho pig. What’s he doing? This doesn’t make sense. Is he setting me up for later?
“T minus thirty seconds and counting,” Houston said.
“Thirty seconds! I thought we still had several minutes left,” Shirley said.
“Relax and enjoy the ride honey,” Jason said.
“Don’t call me honey. You’re always--" Shirley said.
The SRB first stage ignited, catapulting the ship off the launch pad. Artemis 5 rolled over and pitched before lining up at the proper angle. Shirley rested her hand on her stomach as the images of monoliths and primitive men flashed into her mind. As she struggled to find a reason why, the ship pogoed—thrusting up and down like a pogo stick. Alarms sounded and several caution lights flashed.
“Throttle it down a little bit,” Shirley said.
“I can’t. It’s an SRB, remember?” Jason said.
“Change the--" Norm began.
The entire panel went black and the lights went out. Darkness came over Shirley’s eyes and then she bit down on her tongue just to feel it. Staring at the abort handle, she realized that turning it couldn’t ignite the escape tower without electricity.
Tightness curled through Shirley’s chest and then it spread out into her muscles. Just as she opened her mouth to scream, the panels lit up. The pogoing began to gradually taper off, it’s thunderous rattling being replaced by the sound of her own heart beating.
“I thought that we had it there for a minute,” Tim said.
“So did I, but it just wasn’t meant to be,” Norm said.
“You guys are a bunch of wimps,” Jason said.
“Just get us into orbit tough guy,” Shirley said.
“No problem,” Jason said.
The first stage SRB fell away and was replaced by a much smoother liquid stage. Shirley glanced out the window for the first time, her eyes honing in on the moon, her eyes bulging in their sockets. The dark spot was bigger, and its shape had acquired greater width. The spot moved and changed its length one way and then the other. The area was as black as coal and then faded through the gray scales. The shadow moved several miles to the left before drifting back again.
My mind must be playing tricks on me, Shirley thought. Or maybe it’s not.
Following the cut off of the third stage engine, the ship separated from it and positioned itself for a rendezvous with the Cargo Launch.
Shirley unstrapped herself from her couch, feeling excitement come to life in her stomach as she floated away. The smile on her face grew even wider. Shirley did a flip, running into Norm, and then continued to summersault continuously. Stopping, she had to hold onto a wall to remain in one place. It took her a few moments to tell the top of the capsule from the floor.
Shirley saw the others getting out of their space suits. She didn’t waste anytime in starting to remove hers.
“Listen up guys. Mission control wants to talk to us about something,” Tim said.
“About what?” Shirley looked at him with lips that hung apart a little bit.
“They didn’t say. Just get that suit off fast,” Tim said.
“It’s probably nothing,” Jason said.
“They wouldn’t want to talk to us all together if it was nothing,” Norm said.
“They can’t be scrubbing the mission. The black spot is still there. We’re going to the moon,” Shirley said.
Sometime later, Shirley and the others assembled near the storage lockers. Shirley
noticed that both of the cameras were moving, and no one aboard the ship was controlling them.
“Is everyone assembled?” George asked.
Shirley spied on one of the cameras from the corner of her eye, seeing it pivot down. She said, “We’re all here.”
“Fine. We want you to proceed with your mission. However there is a minor change that we want you to make,” George said.
“What change is that? The flight plan is already loaded into the computer,” Shirley said.
“We’re uploading the new one now.”
“So what does this involve?”
“We’re canceling the first two orbits and both photo recons.”
“But we need those photos to have a detailed view of the crater and to tell just what we’re dealing with,” Norm said.
“We want you to come in and land. That’s the flight plan and those are your orders,” George said.
“That doesn’t make any sense,” Norm said.
“Are you questioning your orders?” George spoke in a raised voice.
Norm gulped, and then said, “No sir.”
“The new flight plan has now been uploaded into your computer. Go over it carefully and follow it to the letter! Out,” George said.
“What was that all about?” Norm wondered.
“I don’t know. Let’s take a look at the flight plan,” Shirley said.
“They planned this from the start,” Tim said.
“I’ve never heard of anything like this happening,” Norm said.
“Will you relax? It’s just a minor change in the flight plan,” Jason said.
“Like hell it is,” Norm said.
“There’s something there that they don’t want us to see. Something that might make us think twice about landing,” Shirley said.
Several hours later, they docked with the Lander and then fired the Earth Departure Stage that was attached to it. Artemis 5 left earth’s gravitational pull. It headed on a free course for the moon. The Earth Departure Stage was jettisoned, leaving the CEV and Lander to fly alone to the moon.
The Lander stood over three stories tall and had the appearance of being incomplete. The top silver upper stage that held the crew stood in contrast to the oblong gold tanks that went around the bottom of the vehicle.
Shirley stared at the moon and the image of her grandmother’s freshly dug grave flashed into her mind. Shuddering, she recalled trying to peer down into the grave, seeing only darkness. She had dared not move another inch toward it.
What made me think of that? My first command may very well turn out to be my last. I’ve always wanted to go to the moon. I barely slept the first time. I even imagined what it would feel like to place my foot on lunar soil when I was a girl. Now I’d like to go back in, Shirley thought.
“What the hell’s going on here? That spot has gotten several miles bigger than when I measured it on earth,” Norm said.
“If it’s a spot at all,” Tim said.
“And just what the hell is that supposed to mean? Is this another one of your UFO stories?” Jason said.
“Just drop it Jason,” Shirley said.
“Well maybe I don’t want to drop it. I’m getting tired of his stories about aliens and conspiracies,” Jason said.
“Damn it Jason must you be a jerk at every turn,” Shirley said.
“I’m a jerk? I think you better go look in the mirror honey.”
“Don’t honey me. I’m not your honey.”
“Are you going to beat me up?”
“I have enough to worry about without your high school antics. I’m in charge.”
“In charge of what? You can’t handle it. So why don’t you go cook some food or clean something?”
Shirley sucked in her lips and then slapped Jason across the face.
“Okay, I think we’ve had our fun for today,” Norm said.
“Tell that to this Neanderthal,” Shirley said.
“Artemis 5 this is Houston,” a voice said over the PA.
“What do you want Houston?” Shirley snapped while continuing to stare at Jason.
“Is everything okay up there?” Houston asked.
“Everything is fine. What do you want Houston?” Norm asked.
Shirley turned away from Jason.
“We want you to take a look at the black spot in Tycho Crater. Tell us if you see any changes,” Houston said.
Tim cleared his throat, and then said, “We were just talking about that Houston. It appears to have gotten bigger, several miles bigger.”
“We want you to get out the binoculars and zoom in with the ship’s cameras. We want you to see if any dim shadows are moving about,” Houston said.
“Did you say dim shadows Houston?” Shirley asked in her everyday tone of voice.
“That’s affirmative Artemis 5,” Houston said.
And just what’s the story on these 'dim shadows'? Shirley wondered.
“We’re just checking,” Houston said.
“Checking for what?” Tim interrupted.
“Just take a look at it and tell us what you see,” Houston said.
“We’ll check it Houston.” Shirley went to get the binoculars.
“They suspect something,” Norm said.
“Yeah, something they aren’t telling us,” Tim said.
Shirley held up the binoculars and used the digital zoom to examine as much of Tycho Crater as possible. While trying to get a fix on it, the spot changed shape. She pulled away the binoculars. After rubbing her eyes, she took a look at it once again. She thought, it’s alive.
Three days later, the moon was coming up on Artemis 5 at a dizzying rate. Shirley and the others were strapped into their couches in the CEV. The strap that went around Shirley’s waist seemed rather tight, but she could only sit there and look at the earth. The moon, which was behind her, could be seen on a small monitor in front of her. She wanted to switch the monitor off, but her hand remained in place and her eyes fixed upon it.
The spot appeared much larger than she remembered it, and much blacker as well. It seemed to take up a third of the crater. Shirley thought, I have to land. If I don’t they’ll say that I can’t hack it because I’m a woman. I’d be lucky to be a mission specialist on a cargo run to the space station.
“Okay, here we go,” Jason said.
“The pressure gauge is reading too low. You’ll never be able to sustain the burn.” Shirley pushed a few buttons and then called up a graph on the monitor in front of her.
“The gauge isn’t working. I checked it three times. The computer says that it’s up to pressure,” Jason said without looking up from the console.
“He’s right. Look.” Norm changed the information on one of the small monitors on the console.
Shirley tried to take in all the information at once.
“Thirty seconds,” Jason said.
“You better be right about that pressure,” Tim said.
“I’m right. Look at the damn computer,” Jason said.
Shirley placed the tip of her tongue in between her front teeth and bit down on it. She stared at the gauge on the console. She thought, If that’s true we’re sunk. We’ll never make orbit. We’ll keep right on going forever.
“Okay, here we go. 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1,” Jason said.
The engine didn’t light.
Tightness wound its way through Shirley’s chest. She squeezed her abdominal muscles together in an effort to avoid pissing all over herself, having to clench them one notch tighter to ensure that she remained dry.
“Damn it the pressure gauge was right!” Norm snapped.
“We’re dead. We are dead.” Tim frantically typed on a keyboard.
“Norm get the Lander powered up. We’ll have to spin it around fast,” Shirley said.
Norm began unhooking his straps. He said, “We’ll never make it.”
“The computer has to be--" Jason began.
The engine lit and then stopped fast, jerking Shirley around in her couch.
“I told you it was up to pressure,” Jason said.
“Just shut up and light the damn thing,” Norm said.
Jason reset the firing codes using the keypad in front of him and then relit the
engine, which burned continuously.
Shirley typed on a keyboard while saying, “Did we make it? We slid way past the window.”
“I already took that into account. Don’t worry, I’m going to insert us into orbit no problem,” Jason said.
“And who screwed it up in the first place?” Shirley snapped.
“It wasn’t my fault,” Jason said.
“And you said there are no such things as aliens,” Tim said.
Close to an hour later, Shirley and the others donned their space suits and got aboard the Lander. The inside of the Lander, designed to support the crew, was rather spacious. The four couches sat abreast in the front of the ship. The rear area had a galley, storage lockers, a toilet, and a tube shower.
“Okay, let’s prepare to separate,” Norm said from the pilot’s seat.
“The CEV’s all set,” Jason said.
“Nothing fancy Norm. Just get us down there in one piece,” Shirley said.
“We have another minute left in the window. Anytime now will be fine,” Tim said.
“Let’s go see what’s going on down in this crater,” Norm separated the Lander from the CEV, using the thrusters to move the Lander away.
Shirley stared at the CEV, able to see inside the window, which stood dark and dead. Shivers rippled through her, for something deep within her told her to get back in there and leave lunar orbit fast. The CEV slipped away from her at a pretty good rate.
The CEV had a snub nosed appearance. The Service Module didn’t seem long enough, being disproportionate to its Apollo predecessor. Two Soyuz style solar panels jutted out from either side in the rear.
As Norm rolled around the long axis and got into position for the burn, Tycho Crate was visible in the window. Shirley’s eyes honed in on it and she was able to see the crack. She gasped and then said, “Oh my God.”
“We could put the Lander down inside that thing,” Tim said.
“It looks to me to be better than ten miles long,” Jason said.
“And two miles wide. I don’t see how a moonquake could’ve caused that,” Shirley said.
“Look north. Do you see it?” Norm asked.
“I don’t see anything,” Jason said.
“I do. The craters are full of soil that rolled over their lips as the result of massive shaking,” Tim said.
“There’s something going on here that they aren’t telling us,” Shirley said.
“There’s a lot going on here that they aren’t telling us,” Tim said.
“This could’ve been caused by an impact of some kind,” Shirley said.
“Then where’s the debris smart-ass?” Jason sassed.
“I don’t really appreciate your attitude,” Shirley said.
“My attitude,” Jason said.
“Listen up folks. We’re coming in for a landing and it’s going to get tricky. Let’s keep our heads in the game,” Norm said.
“The debris is all the dust that you see. It’s a little browner than moon dust,” Shirley said.
“I never thought about that,” Tim said.
“If something did hit there, then that crack could be far deeper than any of us thought,” Norm said.
Shirley had to take a deep breath when Norm set the Lander down. She held it for long that a moment but it didn’t still what went on inside of her. Looking out the window, her eyes honed in on the fracture, which was within two hundred yards of their landing zone. She tried to glance away, to check the monitors or the gauges, but she could not.
Shadows crept inside the crack and they changed shape and then turned darker in hue. The further down she looked, the blacker it got. The sunlight couldn’t get down in there and was able only to illuminate a few feet. Sunlight should be blasting down into the fracture from all angles, yet the crack, which was of considerable size, stood cast in shadows.
“Are you planning to do this sometime today or what?” Jason asked.
“Stow it Jason.” Shirley opened the hatch and then slid through it feet first.
“If you’re not going to command then why don’t you stay here? You should’ve stayed up in the CEV,” Jason said.
“I’ve had enough out of you. I’ve had enough out of you period,” Shirley said.
“Forget about him. Just focus on getting down on the surface,” Tim said.
“He’s going last,” Shirley said.
“All hail the chief,” Jason said.
Dizziness, coupled with swirling exhilaration that dominated her chest, caused Shirley to stop about halfway across the deck. She thought, Oh God I don’t want to do this, but I have to. If only that damn crack wasn’t there. Shirley took a deep breath as she felt around for the top rung of the ladder with her foot. She exhaled as she thought, The commander goes first, and I’m the commander. So here goes.
Shirley stepped down the ladder slowly, making steady progress. She continued until both of her feet were resting upon lunar soil. After taking a few steps away from the Lander, she began to look around.
The walls of the crater drew in her gaze and appeared much higher than the three miles that they were supposed to be. Examining them, she found no way that she could climb them even if she had to. She felt like a mouse in a shoebox, one that roamed from side to side only to find walls of equal height.
Norm switched on a powerful flashlight with a four inch diameter beam. He said, “So let’s go have a look.”
Her foot seemed to barely touch the surface when it sprang her up, floating her higher than she thought that it would. Exhilaration rushed through her chest. It subsided after the first few steps, but didn’t go away entirely. Shirley walked along side the other three. She said, “It doesn’t look like a piece of the moon is going to fall off.”
“You don’t know that. There could be damage several miles down that no one can see,” Norm said.
“This had to be one hell of a quake,’ Tim said.
Shirley’s stomach did flip-flops as she walked up a small mount of dirt and stopped. She thought, Oh my God it looks almost as big as the Grand Canyon. Maybe a piece of the moon really is going to break off.
Norm moved the light around, revealing jagged sides of the crack that went down for miles.
“That was pretty violent,” Jason said.
“It was damn violent. It was a bastard,” Norm said.
“Shine that down here!” Tim said in an excited tone of voice.
“Why, it’s more of the same. This shit goes on for miles,” Jason said.
“Not down here! Look at this!” Tim said.
Shirley watched the beam of light as it skimmed across the rough features until it came across something that was smooth. She said, “That looks almost natural.”
“It is natural. It’s a cave,” Tim said.
“It can’t be a cave. There was never any water on the moon,” Jason said.
“You can’t say that for sure,” Tim said.
“It looks like it goes down for miles,” Norm moved the light around.
“We’ll get the jetpacks and go down there,” Shirley said.
“Are you nuts?” Jason snapped.
“We have to check it out,” Tim said.
“If there’s another quake we could end up being sealed in there,” Jason snapped.
“There hasn’t been an aftershock since this happened,” Norm said.
“You can’t be serious?” Jason whined.
“That wasn’t a suggestion. That was an order,” Shirley said.
“Well Heil Hitler,” Jason said.
“Jason just shut up and get in your jetpack,” Shirley said.
Sometime later, Shirley returned to the Lander. When she found her unit, her inhalation stopped short. She drew a deep breath and holding it for a moment. Shirley backed into her jetpack.
The jetpack, one that the astronaut stood on, had an eighteen-inch tall platform that served as a fuel tank and host for the thrusters. Two bars rose in the back, fastening to the suit. Two arms with controls swung in on each side.
Shirley switched on the floodlight on the side of her helmet and then took flight, skimming over the surface. She thought, Oh God I think I’m going to puke. Don’t scream. Don’t scream. Oh God whatever you do don’t scream.
Tightness gripped Shirley’s chest, spreading into her belly as she led the others over the edge and began going down. The beam on her light seemed to illuminate less and the darkness was even blacker.
“Can’t you go any faster? We’re going to run out of fuel,” Jason said.
“Get off me Jason,” Shirley barked.
“Are you afraid or what? Do you want me to take the lead?”
“Shut up Jason. I’m in charge. I’ll decide how fast we go.”
“We could go twice as fast.”
“This isn’t getting us anywhere. Let’s just focus on what we’re doing,” Norm said.
“You weren’t in the backseat with her when she screwed up in that trainer,” Jason said.
“That was the result of wind shear you jerk,” Shirley said.
“Wind shear didn’t blow both of those tires out. You were holding back. You were afraid to go for it.”
“I wasn’t afraid to go for it,” Shirley gulped a deep breath. “I’m a good pilot. I’ve landed planes like that thousands of times.”
“Little Cessnas maybe.”
“I don’t have to prove myself to you. I don’t have to prove myself to anybody, let alone a two bit jerk like you,” Shirley shouted.
“The only reason you’re a pilot is because they wanted to promote women.”
“I went through the same shit you did. They were just as tough on me as they were on you.”
“If you say so.”
“Go to hell Jason.”
“Well I’m not going to run out of fuel.”
Jason sped past Shirley, taking the lead and rushing down into the cave. Shirley, swerving to get out of his way, felt her thrusters cut out. An alarm blared in both ears. She pressed the restart button as fast and as often as she could, but the lights were still flashing red. She went careening toward a wall and a presence came over her. Though she saw nothing, she couldn’t help but believing that someone was in the suit with her.
The thrusters roared with life, Shirley opening them up wide, sensing the acceleration plummet. She panted through her mouth while catching up with Norm and Tim.
Looking below, she saw that Jason’s light had stopped descending. The light moved forward beyond her line of sight. The small hairs on her arms stood up, Shirley wanting to turn the cooling system down. Her light skimmed along the wall to the right, which knocked it back, dulling the beam.
“Oh my God,” Shirley said as she touched down beside Norm.
“Where the hell did Jason go?” Norm asked in a nervous tone of voice.
“A moonquake sure as hell didn’t cause that,” Tim said.
Shirley stepped out of her jetpack, her knees buckling, the wind leaving her if only for a moment. She inhaled hard, and then said, “No human placed this here.”
Norm and Tim stepped out of their jetpacks and walked up to Shirley. She led them past Jason’s jetpack, moving closer to what lied before her. Shirley stood in an immense cavern, one that had a ceiling nearly twenty feet tall. The walls were jagged and had rough edges. Rocks, mounds, and cracks littered the walls and ceiling. The floor wasn’t much better. The cavern was wide and stretched farther than her light could shine.Shirley’s light glimmered upon the nine feet tall obelisk that stood before her. The structure sparkled, Shirley’s light reflecting all about the area in tiny dots of white light. The obelisk, having some sort of bizarre symbols carved in it, was torqoise in color. She thought, NASA is never going to let us show a picture of that. They’ll keep us quiet, anyway they have to.
“And you were riding me when I said that aliens were in the moon,” Tim said.
“You have a point,” Norm said in a breaking voice. “There’s no stone that sparkles like that on earth.”
“Not that color. Only a fine diamond would sparkle like that,” Shirley pointed out.
“Maybe that is a diamond,” Tim said.
“An alien diamond,” Norm said.
“Do those markings there look familiar?” Shirley asked.
“You mean the ones on the lower right?” Tim asked in a puzzled tone of voice.
“Yeah, they look like astrological symbols,” Norm said.
“That’s Jupiter and that’s Mars but I can’t make out the rest,” Shirley said.
“They probably--" Tim began.
A light flooded Shirley’s eyes, blinding her. She stepped aside in order to get out of its path. She wanted to scream out, but her mouth, which was wipe open, could only produce muffled gurgling sounds. While bracing herself for the collision, she struggled to see what it was. The light, which had been shining in her eyes, fell to the floor and then spun around the wall. The light came to a rest. Shirley, standing with her oxygen pack to the wall, witnessed Jason lying on the floor. She spat out, “I hope that son of a bitch ripped his suit.”
“Are you all right?” Norm walked over to him and began helping him up. “What were you running like that for?”
Jason panted through his mouth while getting back on his feet. He huffed, “There was something over there…I swear to God.”
“What was it?” Tim asked in a curious tone of voice.
“I don’t know,” Jason huffed.
“It serves you right for running off by yourself like a damn fool,” Shirley said.
“What else was--" Norm began.
The ground shook beneath Shirley’s feet, dust fell from the ceiling, and then a few rocks tumbled down. Shirley clung to the wall, hearing something strike her helmet hard. Her heart raced as she checked her pressure gauge. Before Shirley could say a word, the tremors stopped.
“Let’s get out of here,” Norm suggested.
“No, we can’t! There’s more structures up ahead,” Jason puffed.
“Then why did you run?” Tim asked.
“There was something there. I can’t describe it. But I think it was alive,” Jason stated.
“Was it a being?” Tim asked in an excited tone of voice.
“No, they didn’t have bodies,” Jason said.
“It was probably your own shadow,” Shirley said.
“It was no shadow. It was alive,” Jason said.
“Let’s go examine these structures,” Norm said.
“But you didn’t see that thing, or whatever it was,” Jason said.
Shirley took the lead and walked up to the obelisk. She said with a stiff upper lip, “Then why don’t you go back to the Lander and suck your thumb.”
“Slow down a little,” Tim said.
Shirley moved forward, shining her light from side to side the best she could, slowing as the walls grew further apart. The wall to her right took on a form the she had never seen before. It jutted up at a peculiar angle. After taking a few more steps, Shirley stopped.
Shirley’s light revealed rocks of considerable size, ones that sparkled, and ones that were made up of the same material as the obelisk. The stones, stacked in tiers on the jagged and protruding parts of the wall, weren’t attached to the slope.
“Somebody stacked those there,” Tim said.
“But why?” Norm wondered.
“If someone, or something, stacked those there then where are they now?” Shirley asked.
“Those are more than just a bunch of glittery rocks,” Tim said.
“Are you saying that these rocks are alive?” Norm asked in a stressed tone of voice.
“They--" Tim began.
The ground shook, stopping after only a few seconds, but not before some dust fell upon them.
“This is where I saw it. It was right over there.” Jason pointed.
Shirley jolted as she saw something glitter. She could hear the sound of her heart beating in each ear. The color of her skin was pale, she was clammy, and beaded with sweat. She thought, I have to get out of here. I don’t care what Jason says.
Shirley saw an alien being slide out of that stone, a being that had no body. The intelligence, appearing as a shadow, had a head with discernable eyes. The body blurred and changed—at one moment having what appeared to be arms and the next moment those limbs blurring into the rest of the body.
“They’re spirits,” Shirley said without consciously desiring to say anything.
“We should’ve left when we had the chance,” Norm said.
Several other beings slid out of the rocks, surrounding them. Shirley asked, “What are they doing?”
“They have us surrounded. That’s what they’re doing,” Tim said.
“We couldn’t even shoot them if we had a gun,” Jason said.
“What do you want to do?” Norm glanced at Shirley.
“We can’t run through them. We have to stay here for now,” Shirley said. Her eyes never left the spirits, eyes that became bigger with each passing moment. She shimmied upon noticing that their bodies were blacker in the center. The rest of the body, which was forever changing, ebbed and flowed from this dark center.
As Shirley was about to say something, Norm fell face forward onto the ground. Shirley gasped, and then thought, Oh my God he’s torn his suit.
Shirley toyed with the idea of moving forward, but when she saw one of the beings approach Norm, she held back. The spirit touched him on the shoulder, Norm squirming for a moment and then getting up on one knee. The spirit moved away. She blurted out; “It’s a woman.”
The spirit moved away from Norm, turning and staring into Shirley’s eyes. She thought in a perplexed tone of voice, How come I’m not afraid?
Peace and harmony flowed over Shirley as she stood there, watching the spirit come toward her. The being, coming to within arm’s length and stopping, slowly reached out its hand, touching Shirley over her heart. A warm, soothing image—one of herself as a little girl being held in her mother’s arms as a violent thunderstorm rolled overhead—was vivid in her mind.
Looking down at the being’s finger, she saw a yellow-orange area glowing over her heart.
“My name is Zuo,” the spirit said without moving its mouth.
Thoughts and the image of Zuo smiling seeped into Shirley’s mind. She smiled and then said aloud, “Hello, my name is Shirley.”
“Where did you come from? What galaxy was it?” Tim asked.
“We mean you no harm,” Zuo said.
“You have to tell us more than that. What about that obelisk?” Tim asked.
“Don’t push it,” Norm said.
One of the beings rushed forward. Shirley gasped as she took a step back, thus pulling away from Zuo’s touch. She sensed the approaching being to be forceful and male.
“You have to leave now,” the approaching being said.
“That’s the one that I met,” Jason said.
“But you haven’t told us anything,” Tim said.
“Return to your ship and lift off at once,” the being said while inching forward.
“Let’s go. Our mission here is done.” Shirley led them away.
Sometime later, Shirley and the others parked their jetpacks near the base of the Lander and climbed aboard. They strapped themselves in their couches while still in their space suits and began calling up the proper programs on the computer. While Norm busied himself with calculating the ascend angle, Shirley informed Houston of what had happened.
“So how much footage did you get?” George asked over the radio in a stressed tone of voice.
Shirley could hear someone else in Houston talking, but his voice wasn’t loud enough for her to make out. She said, “Each of our helmet cams recorded everything. Do you want me to upload it to you?”
“I want you to forget about it. Don’t even load it into the computer.”
“But surely you want to--"
“Forget about it!” George barked. “Delete every tape that you have. None of you are to speak a word about what you saw to anyone.”
“But we have proof of--" Tim said.
“In case I didn’t make myself clear the first time, that was a direct order.”
But sir--" Tim began.
“Do you copy that Mr. Witte?”
Tim gulped, and replied in a meek voice, “I copy.”
“What will we tell the public?” Jason said.
“Forget the public. They don’t know anything about your missions and they don’t need to know,”George spat out all at once in a neurotic tone.
“But sir the dark spot could be seen with the naked eye.”
“The moonquake story doesn’t explain a dark spot of that size,” Norm said.
“But the meteorite story does. You do as you’re told. Now get that Lander
powered up and get back here.”
Norm sighed and then said in a faint voice, “Yes sir.”
Shirley looked over at the crack and didn’t witness any of the beings there. The feel of her stomach pressing against her space suit seeped into the forefront of her awareness, seemingly for the first time. With each breath that she drew, she sensed her stomach pushing that space suit up, believing that it rose a little bit each time.
Leaning forward, she glanced at her belly. The Lander engines lit. Shirley gasped as her throat snapped shut, inhaling hard, trying to force air into her lungs. She puffed, “There was two minutes left in the countdown.”
“The tank was overpressurizing. If I would’ve let it go that long it would’ve blown,” Norm said.
“Somebody wanted it to blow,” Tim said.
“Houston didn’t upload anything.” Jason checked his computer. “There’s no way.”
“Not Houston, them,” Tim said.
“How’s the pressure?” Shirley snapped with a stiff upper lip.
“Its fine,” Norm glanced at the gauge. “If they wanted to kill us we’d already be dead. I think they just want to rush us off the moon.”
“They succeeded at that,” Jason said.
Several minutes later, the upper portion of the Lander reached suborbital altitude and docked with the CEV. Shirley and the others floated over to the CEV, planning to button it up, jettison the Lander, and then make the long burn for home.
Shirley strapped into her couch and then entered a series of numbers into a keypad. The CEV, with the upper portion of the Lander still attached, rolled right along its long axis, positioning the windows down toward the moon. Shirley gasped, “Oh my God.”
“We were nothing but a bunch of messenger boys,” Tim said.
“Let’s get out of here before those bastards come after us,” Jason said.
“NASA had to know about this,” Norm said.
“Hell yeah they knew about it. They knew about it for years,” Tim said.
“Those bastards,” Shirley said with a clenched fist. “They put our lives at risk for this.”
“They would’ve sacrificed us, all of us,” Tim said.
“I can’t wait to make this burn,” Jason said.
Shirley gazed down at Tycho Crater and didn’t see any dark spot. Not only was the entire crater filled with sunlight, but also the crack had been completely smoothed over. The American government didn’t send her there to investigate any crack. Shirley went to the moon to inform the indigenous beings living inside the moon that they needed to fix it. All the questions that Shirley had upon leaving earth’s atmosphere had been answered, every question except one. Would that same government now let her live?
Since obtaining his BA from the University of Cincinnati Tom has sold fiction to several professional magazines (such as Samsara, Demon Minds, Aphelion, Fantasy World Geographic, Whispering Spirits, Astounding Tales, Scars Publications, and High Adventures Online.)