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Chapter 14

Though the sun had hardly changed position, the Earth above us had rotated almost a half turn and our muscles were starting to complain even with the reduced gravity of the Moon. My stomach rumbled from time to time since I'd avoided trying to use the liquid garbage from the eating tubes in my space suit.

Eventually the van was crammed full of bots. The little gophers filled in the spaces between the larger bots and the "spiders" were stored end wise with all their legs folded. Added to this were the four cylindrical lab bots lashed to each side of the van with four more strapped to the top, along with a case of "brains" for the units back at what had become our home base.

It'll never fly, I thought, though I knew better. Lifting off was not going to be a problem. Taking the full crew of humans was. And I knew that no one would take seriously my suggestion of strapping Jake to the hood of the van.

We finally all got scrunched into our seats. Little gophers were fitted in all around each of us. I felt like a mother Saint Bernard. "You know, this is pretty dangerous," I warned. "One impact and they'll never sort the meat from the metal."

"Don't worry," Nikki said. "The computers will handle the whole thing."

As I tried my best to forget how often my lab computers froze during calculations, we lifted off on yet another terror express journey. Once I got the van over the rim of the crater, the computer locked onto our home beacon and we whisked over the jagged mountain range at almost as great a speed as we'd traveled with before.

"You know, we could program a bot to fly this route and free us up to work at the base," Nikki said.

"I don't know... What if something broke down. There we'd be without a way to travel to repair it. It's a long walk back to the Earth."

"Yeah, you're probably right. But once we get to manufacturing the rods, we'd be able to do something like that. Use some of the gear back in the warehouse."

"We could even build a bot/computer vehicle that could be used just for such tasks."

"Like the rocket expresses on Earth," Jake said from behind a pile of bots in the back.

"Don't remind me of the automated rockets on Earth," Nikki said, " I'm still bitter."

"Getting fired was the best thing that ever happened to you," I said. "Just think, you wouldn't be with us if you hadn't gotten canned. Instead, of riding in a flying junk yard, you'd be sitting at home enjoying yourself."

"Not being in an itchy, sweat-filled suit wouldn't be without its finer points," Nikki said. "But I'm glad I'm here with--"

At that point, the computer failed and we dropped like a rock.

It was only a few moments before the second computer kicked in but I think we all thought we'd had it. Our downward drop was checked with what felt like a quick kick in the seat of the pants. Bots jostled and pushed against us and felt as if they were just this side of crushing us.

I fought to control my bladder, quit screaming in terror, and calmly yelled, "What the hell happened?"

"Computer failed." Nikki fiddled a moment with the computer that was now off-line. "Luckily the backup worked. Program's gone. Must have got hit by a gamma ray."

I checked my wrist radiation display to be sure I wasn't being fried like the computer program had been. Still a healthy green. "Jake, you OK?" I asked.

"Banged my nose. Otherwise all right."

"I'm going to transfer the program back from computer two to one so we'll have a backup in case that happens again," Nikki said.

"Is that safe to do?" I asked. "What if--"

"Hold on," Nikki said.

I gritted my teeth and got ready to take over.

"There," she said.

"That was kind of a letdown, no sparks, explosions, or falling from the sky," I said.

"Keep up the letdowns," Jake said.

"What caused the computer failure? Gamma ray?" I asked.

"Probably. It doesn't happen often with the new memories but can--rarely--take place. Or the computer might have a more serious problem. I'm having it check itself out now... And... No problems. Must have been a stray gamma ray."

I eyed a sharp, jagged peak below us and had no trouble imagining my frail body impaled on it.

We reached our base without further mishap. We were all worn out so we called it a day and left the van to be unloaded the next day.

The next month proved very eventful in that we got the bots organized and succeeded in getting both the mine and hydroponics dome operational. We even managed to assemble the base's solar furnace without crisping any of us.

After Jake had created wire-drawing dies, we soon had bots making wire and armature-wrapping programs for the gophers. Shortly after that, we had several large generators ready and waiting to give us all the power we could possibly need--once we got the new rods manufactured to power the generators.

The tough part was making those first rods since we were short of power. We spent a lot of time during the long lunar nights using minimal power, trying to conserve. But once we'd gotten those first rods made and mounted to the generators, things got pretty easy. Soon the bots were programmed to continue mining, smelting, and making rods. Ah, the joys of automation.

Three months after we'd reached the Moon, we had a huge stockpile of rods and were ready to return to Earth with the second step of our plan: To let people know that energy could now be virtually free, and also to convince the Earth government to abandon old forms of power generation. The first would be easy. Everyone likes the word "Free." The second part was going to be tricky since someone--maybe even everyone in power--was already out to keep my discovery a secret. But perhaps naively, we figured that we would offer an ultimatum: Integrate the rods into society or we would release the technology covertly in such a way as to topple the corporations controlling the government.

Though things went well on a mechanical level during those three months, the same couldn't be said about things on a personal level. Though none of us admitted it aloud, I think we were all anxious to get back to Earth. An automated plant isn't too exciting once it starts going and the Moon, while it has the desolate beauty of a desert, doesn't have the color, warmth, or safety of Earth.

And I was depressed. Nikki was not unfriendly to me; just not overly friendly. Two men with one well-built woman in a small confined area just doesn't work out to a balanced equation. Another month and I suspect Jake and I would have been at each other's throats. Or maybe Nikki would simply have shot us both to put us out of her misery.

It was time to return to Earth.

Back | Next
Contents
Framed

Back | Next
Contents

Chapter 14

Though the sun had hardly changed position, the Earth above us had rotated almost a half turn and our muscles were starting to complain even with the reduced gravity of the Moon. My stomach rumbled from time to time since I'd avoided trying to use the liquid garbage from the eating tubes in my space suit.

Eventually the van was crammed full of bots. The little gophers filled in the spaces between the larger bots and the "spiders" were stored end wise with all their legs folded. Added to this were the four cylindrical lab bots lashed to each side of the van with four more strapped to the top, along with a case of "brains" for the units back at what had become our home base.

It'll never fly, I thought, though I knew better. Lifting off was not going to be a problem. Taking the full crew of humans was. And I knew that no one would take seriously my suggestion of strapping Jake to the hood of the van.

We finally all got scrunched into our seats. Little gophers were fitted in all around each of us. I felt like a mother Saint Bernard. "You know, this is pretty dangerous," I warned. "One impact and they'll never sort the meat from the metal."

"Don't worry," Nikki said. "The computers will handle the whole thing."

As I tried my best to forget how often my lab computers froze during calculations, we lifted off on yet another terror express journey. Once I got the van over the rim of the crater, the computer locked onto our home beacon and we whisked over the jagged mountain range at almost as great a speed as we'd traveled with before.

"You know, we could program a bot to fly this route and free us up to work at the base," Nikki said.

"I don't know... What if something broke down. There we'd be without a way to travel to repair it. It's a long walk back to the Earth."

"Yeah, you're probably right. But once we get to manufacturing the rods, we'd be able to do something like that. Use some of the gear back in the warehouse."

"We could even build a bot/computer vehicle that could be used just for such tasks."

"Like the rocket expresses on Earth," Jake said from behind a pile of bots in the back.

"Don't remind me of the automated rockets on Earth," Nikki said, " I'm still bitter."

"Getting fired was the best thing that ever happened to you," I said. "Just think, you wouldn't be with us if you hadn't gotten canned. Instead, of riding in a flying junk yard, you'd be sitting at home enjoying yourself."

"Not being in an itchy, sweat-filled suit wouldn't be without its finer points," Nikki said. "But I'm glad I'm here with--"

At that point, the computer failed and we dropped like a rock.

It was only a few moments before the second computer kicked in but I think we all thought we'd had it. Our downward drop was checked with what felt like a quick kick in the seat of the pants. Bots jostled and pushed against us and felt as if they were just this side of crushing us.

I fought to control my bladder, quit screaming in terror, and calmly yelled, "What the hell happened?"

"Computer failed." Nikki fiddled a moment with the computer that was now off-line. "Luckily the backup worked. Program's gone. Must have got hit by a gamma ray."

I checked my wrist radiation display to be sure I wasn't being fried like the computer program had been. Still a healthy green. "Jake, you OK?" I asked.

"Banged my nose. Otherwise all right."

"I'm going to transfer the program back from computer two to one so we'll have a backup in case that happens again," Nikki said.

"Is that safe to do?" I asked. "What if--"

"Hold on," Nikki said.

I gritted my teeth and got ready to take over.

"There," she said.

"That was kind of a letdown, no sparks, explosions, or falling from the sky," I said.

"Keep up the letdowns," Jake said.

"What caused the computer failure? Gamma ray?" I asked.

"Probably. It doesn't happen often with the new memories but can--rarely--take place. Or the computer might have a more serious problem. I'm having it check itself out now... And... No problems. Must have been a stray gamma ray."

I eyed a sharp, jagged peak below us and had no trouble imagining my frail body impaled on it.

We reached our base without further mishap. We were all worn out so we called it a day and left the van to be unloaded the next day.

The next month proved very eventful in that we got the bots organized and succeeded in getting both the mine and hydroponics dome operational. We even managed to assemble the base's solar furnace without crisping any of us.

After Jake had created wire-drawing dies, we soon had bots making wire and armature-wrapping programs for the gophers. Shortly after that, we had several large generators ready and waiting to give us all the power we could possibly need--once we got the new rods manufactured to power the generators.

The tough part was making those first rods since we were short of power. We spent a lot of time during the long lunar nights using minimal power, trying to conserve. But once we'd gotten those first rods made and mounted to the generators, things got pretty easy. Soon the bots were programmed to continue mining, smelting, and making rods. Ah, the joys of automation.

Three months after we'd reached the Moon, we had a huge stockpile of rods and were ready to return to Earth with the second step of our plan: To let people know that energy could now be virtually free, and also to convince the Earth government to abandon old forms of power generation. The first would be easy. Everyone likes the word "Free." The second part was going to be tricky since someone--maybe even everyone in power--was already out to keep my discovery a secret. But perhaps naively, we figured that we would offer an ultimatum: Integrate the rods into society or we would release the technology covertly in such a way as to topple the corporations controlling the government.

Though things went well on a mechanical level during those three months, the same couldn't be said about things on a personal level. Though none of us admitted it aloud, I think we were all anxious to get back to Earth. An automated plant isn't too exciting once it starts going and the Moon, while it has the desolate beauty of a desert, doesn't have the color, warmth, or safety of Earth.

And I was depressed. Nikki was not unfriendly to me; just not overly friendly. Two men with one well-built woman in a small confined area just doesn't work out to a balanced equation. Another month and I suspect Jake and I would have been at each other's throats. Or maybe Nikki would simply have shot us both to put us out of her misery.

It was time to return to Earth.

Back | Next
Contents
Framed