Moonbase Crisis: Star Challengers Book 1 by Kevin J. Anderson, Rebecca Moesta, June Scobee Rodgers Page A
Ads: Link
have been over hours ago. But Major Fox has not yet returned from his meteorite retrieval mission with your friends, Dr. Wu is busy out in the astro bubble, and Dr. Romero is working with Cadet Park.” She let out a sigh. “If I go to the hab bubble for a rest, Cadet Wren, can I count on you to monitor communications?”
“No problem,” Dyl said. “I can handle the comm system if any messages come in.”
Ansari remained skeptical. “Only do what is absolutely necessary. In most cases an entire shift will go by without anything happening. The CMC on Earth only communicates with us once daily, and that’s usually just a formality. Major Fox will give you updates on his progress outside.” She paused for emphasis. “If you have any questions— any questions—or if you notice any unusual readings, come and get me immediately.”
She seemed to be having second thoughts, but Dyl reassured her. “Get some rest, Chief—you’re just a module away.”
After transmitting a message to Fox out in the rover, Ansari gave Dyl a last glance over her shoulder, and went to her quarters. Even in the low lunar gravity, the chief’s footsteps sounded tired.
That was how Donovan Dylan Wren found himself all alone in the Moonbase Control Center at the comm station. Commander Zota’s mysterious “classified message” to the moonbase must have impressed Chief Ansari enough for her to give Dyl a chance, and he didn’t want to let anyone down.
No problem, he reminded himself. The responsibility felt heavy, but Dyl knew he could always call for help if he needed it.
From movies and TV, Dyl was familiar with the bustling Mission Control of the old Apollo program, a gigantic room crowded with people, everyone working old-fashioned computers with stiff keyboards or using slide rules and chalkboards. Even at the Challenger Center, Mission Control had been a busy place with stations for communications, navigation, medical, data, and so on.
In his imagination, Dyl had always pictured the control center of a futuristic moonbase as crowded, with technicians and scientists at every console. Outside, in the vicinity of the base, there would be scientific experiments, geological samples being collected, exploration in progress. Teams would work on construction projects, excavations in the craters, or low-gravity factories creating rare and valuable materials to ship back to Earth.…
But Dyl was alone on duty, and the MCC was rather quiet. With the regular moonbase crew at one-third of capacity, he was glad that he and his friends could help complete some of the backlog of work. If the base produced less than expected, no matter how unrealistic the expectations, interest on Earth would shrink even further.
His comm station was quiet. Hourly computer-generated updates were transmitted to Collaborative Mission Control on Earth, but more often than not there was nothing to tell. The CMC people were professionals and did their work without incident. The moonbase had been operating without problems for many years.
At first, when Ansari gave Dyl this responsibility, he had felt very important, but at the end of his first hour alone, he was bored with sitting around and looking at an unchanging screen. When the time came, he toggled open a communication channel to the outside team. “Rover vehicle status, Major Fox? Over.”
“Status nominal,” came the British officers reply. “We have secured the meteorite and will be returning to base shortly.” Dyl dutifully entered the report. He checked in with the astro bubble and received a nominal status from the gruff and distracted Dr. Wu. Dyl went through his entire checklist and transmitted the report back to Earth.
“Everything’s just fine,” he said to the screen. “Not much going on here.”
He was surprised to see a message line appear, targeted at him specifically. Incoming Video: Private Message for Cadet Donovan Dylan Wren.
Dyl stared at it for a few moments. Their time here
“No problem,” Dyl said. “I can handle the comm system if any messages come in.”
Ansari remained skeptical. “Only do what is absolutely necessary. In most cases an entire shift will go by without anything happening. The CMC on Earth only communicates with us once daily, and that’s usually just a formality. Major Fox will give you updates on his progress outside.” She paused for emphasis. “If you have any questions— any questions—or if you notice any unusual readings, come and get me immediately.”
She seemed to be having second thoughts, but Dyl reassured her. “Get some rest, Chief—you’re just a module away.”
After transmitting a message to Fox out in the rover, Ansari gave Dyl a last glance over her shoulder, and went to her quarters. Even in the low lunar gravity, the chief’s footsteps sounded tired.
That was how Donovan Dylan Wren found himself all alone in the Moonbase Control Center at the comm station. Commander Zota’s mysterious “classified message” to the moonbase must have impressed Chief Ansari enough for her to give Dyl a chance, and he didn’t want to let anyone down.
No problem, he reminded himself. The responsibility felt heavy, but Dyl knew he could always call for help if he needed it.
From movies and TV, Dyl was familiar with the bustling Mission Control of the old Apollo program, a gigantic room crowded with people, everyone working old-fashioned computers with stiff keyboards or using slide rules and chalkboards. Even at the Challenger Center, Mission Control had been a busy place with stations for communications, navigation, medical, data, and so on.
In his imagination, Dyl had always pictured the control center of a futuristic moonbase as crowded, with technicians and scientists at every console. Outside, in the vicinity of the base, there would be scientific experiments, geological samples being collected, exploration in progress. Teams would work on construction projects, excavations in the craters, or low-gravity factories creating rare and valuable materials to ship back to Earth.…
But Dyl was alone on duty, and the MCC was rather quiet. With the regular moonbase crew at one-third of capacity, he was glad that he and his friends could help complete some of the backlog of work. If the base produced less than expected, no matter how unrealistic the expectations, interest on Earth would shrink even further.
His comm station was quiet. Hourly computer-generated updates were transmitted to Collaborative Mission Control on Earth, but more often than not there was nothing to tell. The CMC people were professionals and did their work without incident. The moonbase had been operating without problems for many years.
At first, when Ansari gave Dyl this responsibility, he had felt very important, but at the end of his first hour alone, he was bored with sitting around and looking at an unchanging screen. When the time came, he toggled open a communication channel to the outside team. “Rover vehicle status, Major Fox? Over.”
“Status nominal,” came the British officers reply. “We have secured the meteorite and will be returning to base shortly.” Dyl dutifully entered the report. He checked in with the astro bubble and received a nominal status from the gruff and distracted Dr. Wu. Dyl went through his entire checklist and transmitted the report back to Earth.
“Everything’s just fine,” he said to the screen. “Not much going on here.”
He was surprised to see a message line appear, targeted at him specifically. Incoming Video: Private Message for Cadet Donovan Dylan Wren.
Dyl stared at it for a few moments. Their time here
Similar Books
