2083: “Moonglow.v2” by John A. Almack
Intro: In the latter half of the 21st century, humanity began the colonization of space. First with the Deep Space Gateway space-station placed in orbit at the L-4 Lagrange Point. And now with a permanent manned mining outpost on the rim of Shackleton Crater, at the lunar South-Pole. Opposite the Chinese’s North-Pole outpost.
Cloaked in perpetual
darkness, the Shackleton crater floor preserves a useful bounty of water ice
and rare minerals, along with even more precious helium-3 which is badly needed
to supply Earth’s nuclear fusion reactors.
This scenario concerns the fate of one such international relief mining crew. This is their 3rd 6-month deployment bringing more parts to expand the base, rotating cycles with another crew. Currently on leave prior to their next launch in 2 weeks, they get a surprise call to report to Houston Mission Control for an impromptu meeting.
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(Mike) Jack Cortez (Mission Flight Commander) of NASA,
had the most flight experience of any of
the mining teams. 20 years ago, he served a tour aboard the Deep Space
Gateway station now abandoned. This will be his 4th flight
to the Shackleton moonbase. And chance to meet Dr. Nora Weaver, a member of the team at the now silent
moonbase. Years ago, he and Nora had a brief but torrid love affair. |
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(Julian) Captain George Stafford (Flight
Engineer) nods to
his new crew. Little do they know of his past work for the British Secret
Intelligence Service. The Science Officer at Moonbase Shackleton, Dr. Nora
Weaver, recently made some peculiar inquiries that caught the attention of
people higher-up who suspect possible espionage by the Chinese. Which
explains his last-minute assignment and him secretly armed with a hold-out
pistol. |
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(Leslie) Erika Hofmann (German Mission Specialist) of the
multinational mining company H-3 Corporation silently scoffed
at H-3’s decision to send Martel in the first place. “You sent a scientist to
do an engineer’s job. No wonder the harvester is still stuck in the crater.” |
11 June: Jack and Erika fidgeted in their chairs, “Where the hell are Walter (Reed) and Dr. Pavlenko?” Erika surveyed the stranger sitting across from her and began a conversation, interrupted by Director Murphy of Houston Mission Control stepping to the podium, “Yesterday, we lost contact with the Shackleton moonbase. A low-level pass by our observation satellite revealed the pressure domes undamaged and still with power. However, both harvesters sit motionless despite the occasional appearance of a single suited member outside the domes. While hoping this only a temporary technical malfunction, we’ve decided to accelerate your launch. If you haven’t introduced yourselves, this is Captain Stafford who replaces your own Capt Reed undergoing an emergency appendectomy. As for your Science Officer, Dr. Pavlenko, he’s stuck in Russia. You’ll have to convince Dr. Nova Weaver to remain at the moonbase once you get it operational. You will launch in 2 days. Unless you have any questions…”
Erika flooded him with questions, “Has there been any solar activity?
Were their transmission garbled?” Jack and George chimed in with their own
questions. Director Murphy referenced their laptops, “It’s all in the mission
brief folder. To summarize: 9 days ago, one of the harvesters became stuck in
the crater. Mr. Martel has been unable to fix it and thus the mining output cut
in half. Dr. Weaver began noting building stress among the crew, but Commander
Ivanenkov attributed all to the pressure to get back on schedule. There were no
solar flares, clear comms, but Ivan’s reports became less frequent and now
we’ve lost all communication. That’s why your cargo includes a spare comm laser and harvester motor we think
you’ll need.” George kept his composure knowing there was more to the story.
13 June: The relief mining crew climbed aboard the Altair II rocket and blasted off. During their 3-day journey to the moon they ran landing simulations and reviewed procedures with their newest crewmember. And reviewed what they knew of the current Shackleton mining operation:
16 June: With lunar orbit established, they crawled into the Altair landing stage to begin their descent to the surface, leaving the Orion module orbiting in space.
With the lander butt-first to the moon, they
began their auto-pilot final approach directly over Shackleton Crater. The
blinking lights of the defunct communication tower came into view as the
onboard computer announced, “On glidepath, on altitude, S1 fuel commit.”
Suddenly their radio crackled to life with a French voice, “Altair inbound, Abort landing and return to
orbit. I say again, ABORT!” George recognized the terror in the
voice as Erika distracted Commander Cortez with abort options. Jack’s Split-second decision, “Fuel commit. Rene,
we’ll see you on the surface.”
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“Engine shutdown
complete.” As George began to open the
hatch, their short-range headset radio came to life, “I warned you not to land.
I must destroy his means to escape.” Erika peered out the porthole and saw the
Mooncat rover appear around the moonbase berm, on a beeline path to their
lander. Jack tried to reach the base on the radio, “Nora, are you there? What’s
going on?!” Silence except for a hot mic. Jack suddenly realized they were
sitting on a fuel-bomb. Too late to restart the engines, he gave the “BAILOUT”
command. [Mental countdown-10]
George grabbed his duffle-bag of gear (‘Luck’ it included the spare comm laser)
and began to climb down the exterior steps. [9] Erika was next, first tossing her bag out the
hatch then climbing out to jump the 25 feet to the lunar surface. ‘Luck’ that
her bag missed George still on the steps, [8] then thought on her part to angle away from him
on her jump. Landing on her feet.
As Commander, Jack was
the last to leave his ship. [7]
And used the time to plead with the inbound Rene, “Standdown you fool! This is
the only means of escape for all of us. We’ve come to help.” Rene’s hot mic
only revealed his heavy breathing while repeating, “Fools.” [6] Erika was already on
the ground and jumping/springing across the landscape. With the rover at her 12
o’clock, she ran to the 3 o’clock. [5] George stood at the base of the rocket guarding the steps to
prevent Rene’s entry if his plan was to commandeer the ship. But upon listening
to Jack’s pleas and Rene’s hot mic, he quickly realized the madman was intent
on a kamikaze attack. [4]
George took off running AT the rover, [INT] hoping to put that mass between him
and the coming explosion of rocket fuel.
George saw the ‘coyote’
headed his way and ran to intercept. “Gotcha!” He and Jack frantically searched
for the holes as Jack’s air gauge needle dropped. Erika arrived with her patch
kit and began repairs of the 2 holes they found. “Slow your breathing as we
still have a distance to walk to the moonbase.” Erika had them switch to a
private radio channel to continue discussion. George suggested, “I think it
best to keep the backup comm laser secret from those at the base.”
Erika was just about to
step around the moonbase berm when Jack pulled her back. “What’s that platform
added to the harvester in from of the entryway?” It looked like a video camera
and broomstick mounted on a swivel platform. Erika guessed some kind of weapon.
Minutes of indecision ticked against Jack’s dwindling air supply. Try to sneak
in? “They can’t get us all.” How much time would it take to go around the solar
field to get to the alternate entry at the Engineering Dome? “They know we
landed and are probably waiting.” “Yeah, but they may not know we survived the
blast.” Jack checked his armband oxygen gage and realized they were wasting valuable
time and air. Especially with the adrenaline rush and faster breathing.
They opted for a frontal
approach, each moving in a random path. And the video camera remained
stationary. They gathered at the Command entry and found the door locked.
Peering thru the door-porthole, they could see Ivan, head slumped, sitting at
the command console. “He looks drunk!” Change of plans. Erika stayed and tried
to gain access thru the external panel while the others walked around to the
alternate entry. Success. Erika activated depressurization of the entry
threshold chamber. Which woke Ivan at the console. “Rene? I thought you killed
self! Who there?! Show your eyes! No, take helmet off and show eyes!”
At first Erika only saw
his lips moving till she switched back to the base radio channel. Now hearing
him, she stepped into the chamber, re-pressurized, then took off her helmet and
pressed her face against the inner porthole, “Satisfied?” The ‘click’ of the
inner door told her Ivan cleared her in. Meanwhile, Jack and George found the
rear entry unlocked about the same time Erika radioed for them to change back
to the base channel. They too heard Ivan’s commands which put them on edge as
they cautiously entered the Engineering Dome. They found Ivan’s moonshine still
which prompted the thought, “Maybe some kind of contagion or alcohol poisoning?”
They continued along the connecting passage to then enter the Command Dome
where Ivan spun in his seat upon hearing their approach. He quickly grabbed a
stapler to threaten them, “Stop. Show eyes first else I keel you!” They humored
the man and complied.
Ivan took another long
swig. “Vybachte, I
thought you the Glow. It kill half my crew. Come, sit, drink. Now it keel you
too. Drink? No? More for me.” All
rationale gone. “Thud.” Ivan passed out with his head on the table. Erika
remembered the entry chamber, “I saw 2 suits, Ivan’s and Dr. Weavers.” Jack
became anxious, “SALI, where is Dr. Weaver?” The calm computerized voice answered,
“You will find her in the Laboratory Dome.” Jack and George headed in that
direction, leaving Erika. “Move over Ivan.” Erika pushed Ivan out of the chair,
causing a louder “Thud” as his head hit the floor, to then sit and begin
searching the database for the commander’s logs.
Jack and George entered
the Laboratory, “Nora? You in here?” Same setup as expected, although there was
a chunk of rock on the table. “That must be the meteorite Rene found.” Jack
stepped into the isolation room hoping to catch Nora in deep analysis. Instead,
a sheet covered a lifeless body on the exam table. Pulling the sheet back,
[Sanity check] he wept per recognition of Nora. George focused on her eyes
while they both looked for wounds or marks. Her body dry, ashen colored, and
atrophied without obvious wounds. “SALI, why didn’t you say she was dead?! What
happened? She’s dried out almost like a turkey. Something sucked the moisture
out of her. Please summarize her autopsy records.”
Erika exited the current
computer screen display of the harvester video feed and its ‘Fire’ button to
open up the command logs as she read over her open mic, “Logs. We know about
the meteorite and the unpalatable food. What the…why didn’t Ivan report this?!
Jack, you need to take a seat. Sorry sir. 6 days ago, Nora was in the
greenhouse. Major Thompson just happened to catch a command video feed of her
struggling. He thought her choking. He rushed in to smell ozone, finding her
dead while a glow,
ebb of pulsating colors, hovered over her body that then floated out through a
skylight. Yet video recording didn’t capture any glow or
fog. She’s dead Jack. I’m so sorry. Anyway, Ivan sent Frank and Rene to chase
after ‘the glow’, into the crater. Except the mooncat video recorded Frank’s
horrific death.” Erika kicked the snoring form on the floor beside her, “Damn
it Ivan, how did you track it? Too afraid to tell Houston as it might soil your
career. You say you might know it’s weaknesses and how to kill it. Wake up you
drunk fool and tell US.”
George used the
opportunity to have Jack sit on another exam table to perform robotic surgery
on his moonscape wounds. “Stop fidgeting!” Jack was anxious to get answers out
of Ivan. As the robot treated Jack’s wounds, George examined the chunk of
meteorite, “A stony–iron
meteorite, pallasite
matrix, highly malleable, almost plastic, and noticeably warm to the touch. Has
a smooth, spherical cavity only a few inches across hollowed out of one side.
Did something escape?” They all exchanged ideas, “A floating glow. Maybe we can
trap it. Like use a vacuum cleaner to suck it up and deposit in a container. Or
trap it in the depressurization chamber.” “I doubt any of that would work.
Remember, the thing escaped from an air-tight skylight.”
Erich chimed in over
comm from the Command Dome, “SALI’s records show Ivan purposefully disconnected
the laser from the comm tower to construct a laser turret atop the harvester.
He and Rene have been taking shifts anxiously patrolling the moonbase perimeter
or standing watch in the COC, defending the outpost against ‘a predatory alien
presence’.”
They gathered as a force, looming over Ivan with a pot of coffee, when they heard a noise outside the Command Dome entryway. They turned to look and saw Frank banging to get in. Except this Frank was helmetless and with glowing yellow eyes! [Sanity check! George failed (96), made his INT having to roll 1d8=1]“SALI, lock all doors and entry ways! If it keeps banging, it will break in and deplete our oxygen.” Jack slid into the Command chair, pulled up the harvester video display, and swung the mount to line-up the laser-rifle on Frank. “ZZIIT” They saw a hole in Frank’s back just before he/it swung toward the harvester. “Did I hurt it or just piss it off?!” George announced, “I saw its eyes flare! You did something.” But Erika was distracted by the sound of hissing, “I think you might have burned a hole in the entry door! It burned right thru Frank and the door. Air is escaping.”
Jack stayed on target and took another shot…once it was clear of the dome as a background. “ZZIIT” Another solid hit. The body immediately collapsed. It didn’t show on screen, but Erika looking out the porthole, saw an ebbing glow rise from the body and depart. They froze as they watched and listened. The slow hiss of air, then the ‘groan’ of Ivan waking up, “What you shot at? Frank?” Jack answered, “We dealt with that meat-puppet.” Ivan continued, “Did you hurt it? I think my laser only hurt it. Let us fill our glasses and toast that we steel live. Vodka for all!” George was already fuming, “Listen asshole! How did you track it before? Neutrino Detector?” Jack reasoned, “It must need physical form for some purpose.” Erika added, “Someone needs to go out there and scan the thing to verify it dead or gone. I’ve got to get a patch to fix the airlock.”
They took the moonshine away from Ivan and tied him up, “First things
first.” George took control of the laser-rifle as helmeted Jack and Erika entered
the airlock with the detector. Erika stayed in the decompression chamber to
patch the leak from the inside as Jack moved to the lifeless body and scanned
it. “Nothing. Only residual ozone detected.” Back inside, they tried to bribe
Ivan, “Vodka for information. How can we kill it? EMP or magnets? Would a taser
work? Yeah, just what I thought; don’t know till we try. OK, what’s our plan of
action?” At least Ivan was happy they untied him and gave him a small cup of
vodka. He rubbed his side, “Why my ribs hurt?”
Plan of Attack: “OK, Ivan said either EMP or magnets might
kill the thing. We could use the 3d printer to fabricate multiple tasers. We
could surround it like the ‘Ghostbusters’ and hit it from 3 sides.” [SALI
assisted] Erika perked up, “Magnets! Of course. The lab has an MRI machine.” Ivan
squealed in panic, “You not let that thing inside! It keel us all.” Erika’s
eyebrows crunched as she thought about it more, “OK, I know this is
far-fetched, but what if we put the MRI on the harvester and drove it to the
crater where maybe the thing hides?” George wondered, “OK, but what would we
use as bait?” Ivan fidgeting in his chair, waiting for them all to look at him.
Instead, Jack spoke up, “I’m sure Nora would be willing to offer herself if she
were alive.”
Erika entered the lab and took measurements of the MRI. She then
programmed the 3d printer to fabricate its harvester mount. “It’s going to take
2-3 hours. What can we do in the meantime?”
Comm Check: Erika sat at the command center manning the gun and steering the harvester Jack and George rode on as they lumbered toward the tower with the spare laser. They both climbed. Erika monitored George’s helmet camera to instruct how to install the comm laser. Meanwhile, Jack held onto the Neutrino-Detector case hoping the meters didn’t flare. [Spot-hard] He scanned the horizon not remembering the ‘glow’ invisible. But he did see movement around the moonbase. He radioed, “Erika, where’s Ivan?” Erika was so glued to the monitors, she didn’t hear the faint hiss on an airlock as Ivan suited up and exited the alternate airlock. “SALI, where’s Ivan?!” “Commander Ivanenkov has left the building and is walking toward the Demeter rocket.” “SALI, lock down the rocket.” “Ms. Hofmann, the rocket is already locked down by Major Frank Thompson.”
Slap
of the forehead realization the Demeter rocket was an emergency escape option:
pressurized capsule with enough oxygen to get at least halfway to Earth for 3. More
intended to get back to the orbiting Orion module. George heard it all as he radioed, “Ivan, if you can hear me, turn around.
The rocket is locked down. You’re just exposing yourself to the creature.” Jack
and George were already back at the moonbase and inside waiting at the airlock
with the detector in hand. Erika took pleasure in saying, “Step to the window
and show us your eyes.” Ivan was tied up again and marched past his moonshine
still in the Engineering dome.
Password Please: George pondered, “Frank always prided himself as a ‘Space Cowboy’. SALI, enter that as the password override.” Didn’t work. Maybe he had it written down somewhere. George searched Frank’s bunk area while Erika kept a watch on Ivan as Jack suited up. With the detector in hand, Jack exited to then check Frank’s body outside in the moon dirt. He retrieved Frank’s wallet from a breast pocket.
He found a family photo
and a folded picture, “It’s his 6-year-old daughter Daisy’s drawing of dad in a
rocketship, leaving a daisy flower behind.” Erika pondered, “It says she’s 6.
Maybe the password is her birth year. SALI, enter 2077 as the password
override.” Didn’t work. George radioed, “Remember they were acting stressed.
Probably not thinking that clear. Try something simple as her name, Daisy.” “Lockdown
removed.”
CLIMAX: After taking measurements on the MRI, Erika programmed the 3D-printer to fabricate a mount for the harvester. It was a stressful hour wait for the printer to complete its order. They rehearsed their plan again, “Erika will install the mount in the harvester’s bucket, running wiring into the cab. We’ll carry the MRI out to then hook it to the mount. Jack will carry Nora’s body that we’ll duct-tape to the MRI table. Jack will pilot/steer the harvester into the crater, George will use the laser-rifle video hooked up to the neutrino-detector to monitor for the creatures’ presence. Erika will standby to activate the MRI per command. We all must help monitor the detector. Once it begins to chirp, look for Nora’s eyes to glow. Then hit that damn switch!”
They say a plan is only good till first contact. The detector began to
chirp. Everyone stared at Nora’s eyes, “Damn it. I can’t see them from this
angle!” [Spot-hard] George saw a yellow hue reflection on the MRI arm, “Now,
NOW! There’s the yellow glow!” The MRI clanged and thunked into action. Nora’s
body spasmed. “It’s working!” Nora’s body twitched for minutes. Erika looked at
the harvester gauges, “Shit! Look at the battery gauge! It’s dropping fast. The
MRI is drawing too much power. We might have 30 minutes' worth of juice. Now
what?!”
“Set a 25 delay on the rocket. That’ll give us time to get there and
strap in with a few minutes to spare.” Erika realized the gauge was declining
faster than expected, “20 minutes if even that!” “SALI, reset the delay for 20
minutes.” They helmeted up and exited the alternate airway. And fast walked
toward the rocket to maintain their balance and avoid falling and any delay.
[Sanity check- Ivan 93] Ivan took off on a jumping bound towards the rocket,
leaving the others behind. “That asshole already tried to take off without us
once. He’ll do it again. Stop him!”
Jack and Erika began to give chase. George stopped, search his hip bag,
and leveled his hold-out pistol. Is there sound in space? “POW” He missed. He
fired again. Although the bullet didn’t penetrate Ivan’s suit [5 points armor],
it did knock him off balance. Ivan tumbled into the moon dirt. Erika closed and
stood over him, leering. And kicked him. Hard. Everyone raced past the prone
Ivan and climbed the ladder. And strapped in. Seconds to brace before the
rocket motors kicked into action.
They rocketed toward space. “Shit! We never called Houston.” They
realized their outbound path would be close to their orbiting Orion module.
“Use the Orion as a relay station to broadcast. Houston control, Altair 2. Do
you copy? The moonbase has been compromised by an alien lifeforce. The prior
crew killed. We escaped on the Demeter rocket. Please have medical standing by
upon our earth re-entry.”
Realizing the Demeter rocket only had enough oxygen for a flight to the now abandoned Deep Space Gateway station, Erika gave everyone tranquilizer shots to slow their heart rates and put
them in a temporary coma to conserve their oxygen for a longer flight back to Earth.
EPILOGUE: The Houston radio operator cupped his hands
over his earmuffs, “Director Murphy, you need to hear this.” They spent nearly
48 hours deliberating. Their decision determined when another low-level
pass by the observation satellite detected a suited form walking outside the
Shackleton moonbase. “They said the entire crew had been killed. Who could that
be?!”
It took 63 hours for the nuclear-tipped missile to detonate on the
Shackleton moonbase. But it only took 22 hours for the 2nd missile
to impact the inbound Demeter rocket.
72-hour mark: “Director Murphy, you need to see this.” The observation satellite revealed
the same suited form continuing to walk the moon. Heading north. Toward the
Chinese station at the North-Pole. “Shouldn’t we warn them?”
GM NOTES: The scenario's main antagonist is a dangerous alien lifeform, simply called "The Glow" by the moonbase crew, but more properly known as a Colour Out of Space. This immature amorphous entity is best described as a sentient being made of cold plasma, though its very existence violates certain physical laws and it is antithetical to life as we comprehend it. The thing can squeeze into tight spaces and pass straight through glass windows or other translucent materials without damaging them.
The alien absorbs part of the essence of its victims, thereby learning some of what they know. It understands a cargo rocket could transport it to Earth, for instance, but not how to pilot a spacecraft. It therefore needs a body to operate rocket controls. The Colour desperately wants to go there, so that it may feed, grow and possibly reproduce before departing for the void of space. In its present, larval stage, the creature is too weak to escape even the moon's gravity well on its own.
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Link to the 1st play of this scenario: https://rigglew4.blogspot.com/2020/06/2083-moonglow-by-john-almack.html
Link to the 3rd play of this scenario: https://wjr5oakley.blogspot.com/2022/08/2083-moonglowv3part-1.html
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