Luna by Rick Chesler Read Free Book Online Page A

catastrophic.
    “200 feet. Thirty seconds.”
    “And…” Dallas burned the last of the descent engine’s fuel to slow their fall. Caitlin watched in horror as she saw the grayish soil rush up at her, swirls of lunar dust displaced by the engine’s thrust.
    “Contact!” Dallas said as they hit the ground.
    Caitlin’s head was pitched forward in a whiplash motion, but not all the way into the console in front of her. It reminded her of the time as a teenager when she plowed her Jetta into a car stopped at a light, at about twenty miles per hour. It was a hard landing, but blessedly short of a full-on crash.
    Dallas shut down the engine and other flight systems.
    “Lunar Module to Mission Control: we have touchdown.”
    The moon dust dissipated around their craft while excited cheers burst through the comm loops. They both had their first look out the window. They had landed on somewhat uneven ground, the LEM canted slightly to one side, but it was a lot better than coming down on the side of a crater or on top of a mountain, where they could roll all the way down.
    Caitlin leaned over and gave Dallas a hug. “Thank you.”
    “Don’t thank me just yet,” Dallas said, looking at their lunar position display. “Let’s see where we are first.”
    “I’ll handle that, you take a break.” Caitlin consulted the display and compared it to their stored landing point.
    She frowned. “We’re a mile away from our designated touchdown coordinates, and unfortunately that puts us closer than we should be to Black Sky’s landing site.” The rival space outfits had an agreement with one another—a formal, signed agreement—to share the large optimal landing site, but at a minimum distance away from each other at all times. This landing mishap put them much closer to Black Sky’s territory than they should be according to that agreement. “Blake’s not going to be happy,” Caitlin summed up.
    Dallas pursed his lips, concentrating. “Let’s see, what could we say? Solar winds blew us off course?” They both laughed, blowing off some steam, until they each felt a hand on their shoulders.
    “Excellent job! A tad bumpy, but here we are! Are we free to move about the cabin?” Blake Garner grinned at the astronauts, not yet aware of what had transpired.
    Dallas turned around. “You bet,” he managed. He was too exhausted to attempt an explanation just yet.
    Blake walked from the control alcove, once again under the influence of gravity, back to the passengers. He raised his arms in a sweeping motion toward the two windows on either side of the LEM.
    “Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the moon! Shall we step outside?”

 
     
     
    10 | One Small Step
     
     
    Once James had donned his spacesuit and triple-checked the oxygen gauge, he stared hard at the door to the lunar module, suddenly overcome by trepidation. Maybe he’d simply watched too many science fiction movies as a teenager, but gazing out the window, the moon looked about as inviting as a swimming pool filled with razor blades under a rubbing-alcohol rain.
    There’s no air out there.
    But then, there was no air when he and his wife Deana went scuba diving off the coast of Grand Cayman on the vacation they took to celebrate their 25th anniversary. Was this really all that much different than that?
    Yes, James. Yes, it is. This isn’t the azure Caribbean with white sand beaches under coconut palms a short swim away. It’s the goddamn moon. A gray world where no life can exist at all.
    At least that was the expert opinion of every known scientist on Earth. But Blake seemed to have been hinting otherwise. And why else would he have an exobiologist along, such an expensive seat to fill for someone not already on Blake’s payroll? He supposed it could be simply to confirm that there is indeed no life on the moon.
    The thought that no one really knew much about whatever was up here—out there— scared the hell out of him, too. The comm channels crackled