Please Don't Tell My Parents I Blew Up the Moon by Richard Roberts Page A
Authors: Richard Roberts
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hadn’t just made a fool of myself.
A few floating steps brought me to a T intersection. I stopped, and behind me Ray breathed, “We’re on the Moon.”
“That would explain the cold,” put in Claire, the one with bare legs.
I took another careful step to the corner, so they could join me looking down the side corridor. “I think we’re going farther out than that.”
At the end of the hallway, another light-edged doorway marked a portal into a huge metal chamber, all metal columns and windows looking out into the darkness. On our end of the portal, another low gravity warning had been painted on the floor. On the other side, the warning read, ‘CAUTION: ENTERING ARTIFICIAL GRAVITY ZONE.’
Wait. I was on the Moon. I was on the Moon! Why not look around?
Because, Penelope Akk, on the other side of that door is someplace so cool it makes the Moon look like a big ball of dead rock.
Cool metaphorically. My jumpsuit insulated me pretty well, but Claire rushed past me, skating on frictionless soles as easily as she did in regular gravity. She slid to a spinning halt on the other side of the doorway and let out a sigh of exaggerated relief at how warm it was over there.
I followed, but stepped really carefully over the edge. My foot got heavier on the other side, and I walked several paces past Claire just to enjoy having solid weight again. Earth normal? Hard to be sure.
What I was sure about was where this artificial gravity came from. In the center of the domed chamber, surrounded by wiring and high-tech looking boxes, floated a crystal the size and shape of a beach ball. Inside the glass, orange and red swirled, almost like fire, and a big black dot of a pupil stared across the room right at me.
That, girls and boys and me, was the Orb of the Heavens, the most powerful alien artifact mankind had ever encountered. Apparently, Spider had gotten it working. The Orb would be the source of both portals, the artificial gravity, probably all the electricity running this place, the heating, might be deflecting meteors right now… and much more besides.
Hey, superpower, you could make one of those, right?
OW. Right, right. I had a head full of biospaceship. At least the facemask hid my wince.
I wandered over to look through the windows. The dome had a lot of windows.
We were in
space
, and I had to see it.
I pressed my gloved hands up against the glass, and stared out. We were on a planet. No, the Moon. No, that couldn’t be right. Just what was it I was looking at?
A barren plain of grey dust stretched off into the distance. The horizon had a visible curve, but looked hazy. Misty. From around our dome, tunnels spread to other buildings and big pieces of lurching factory equipment, all frosted with ice. The alien scenery came complete with a frozen lake that spread around the outpost.
Above us, stars. So many stars. The sky wasn’t black, but painted with colors and glitter. A little shiny ball, or a really honking big star, caught my attention. The sun? No, not bright enough. Jupiter? Had to be. Spider would send us somewhere closer to Jupiter than Earth.
Or that other round thing that lit up suddenly could be Jupiter, but… no, that was moving.
My eyes darted around. Visibly moving stars. Spots of roving blackness that blocked stars out.
We were in the asteroid belt, which made this Ceres, the biggest asteroid. No other asteroid was big enough to pretend to be a planet. We were way past Mars. My knees felt weak, and I leaned harder against the glass, even though cold had begun to seep through my gloves. Oh, wow.
Some people do not appreciate a moment of semi-religious bliss. Behind me, Claire asked, “So, can you talk?”
Clonk
, like a muffled church bell. She was talking to the Orb of the Heavens. Vera had been sort of a Conquerer Orb, and talked with little chimes. So, that made sense.
“But you understand English?”
I didn’t look back, but it must have nodded or something, because Claire
A few floating steps brought me to a T intersection. I stopped, and behind me Ray breathed, “We’re on the Moon.”
“That would explain the cold,” put in Claire, the one with bare legs.
I took another careful step to the corner, so they could join me looking down the side corridor. “I think we’re going farther out than that.”
At the end of the hallway, another light-edged doorway marked a portal into a huge metal chamber, all metal columns and windows looking out into the darkness. On our end of the portal, another low gravity warning had been painted on the floor. On the other side, the warning read, ‘CAUTION: ENTERING ARTIFICIAL GRAVITY ZONE.’
Wait. I was on the Moon. I was on the Moon! Why not look around?
Because, Penelope Akk, on the other side of that door is someplace so cool it makes the Moon look like a big ball of dead rock.
Cool metaphorically. My jumpsuit insulated me pretty well, but Claire rushed past me, skating on frictionless soles as easily as she did in regular gravity. She slid to a spinning halt on the other side of the doorway and let out a sigh of exaggerated relief at how warm it was over there.
I followed, but stepped really carefully over the edge. My foot got heavier on the other side, and I walked several paces past Claire just to enjoy having solid weight again. Earth normal? Hard to be sure.
What I was sure about was where this artificial gravity came from. In the center of the domed chamber, surrounded by wiring and high-tech looking boxes, floated a crystal the size and shape of a beach ball. Inside the glass, orange and red swirled, almost like fire, and a big black dot of a pupil stared across the room right at me.
That, girls and boys and me, was the Orb of the Heavens, the most powerful alien artifact mankind had ever encountered. Apparently, Spider had gotten it working. The Orb would be the source of both portals, the artificial gravity, probably all the electricity running this place, the heating, might be deflecting meteors right now… and much more besides.
Hey, superpower, you could make one of those, right?
OW. Right, right. I had a head full of biospaceship. At least the facemask hid my wince.
I wandered over to look through the windows. The dome had a lot of windows.
We were in
space
, and I had to see it.
I pressed my gloved hands up against the glass, and stared out. We were on a planet. No, the Moon. No, that couldn’t be right. Just what was it I was looking at?
A barren plain of grey dust stretched off into the distance. The horizon had a visible curve, but looked hazy. Misty. From around our dome, tunnels spread to other buildings and big pieces of lurching factory equipment, all frosted with ice. The alien scenery came complete with a frozen lake that spread around the outpost.
Above us, stars. So many stars. The sky wasn’t black, but painted with colors and glitter. A little shiny ball, or a really honking big star, caught my attention. The sun? No, not bright enough. Jupiter? Had to be. Spider would send us somewhere closer to Jupiter than Earth.
Or that other round thing that lit up suddenly could be Jupiter, but… no, that was moving.
My eyes darted around. Visibly moving stars. Spots of roving blackness that blocked stars out.
We were in the asteroid belt, which made this Ceres, the biggest asteroid. No other asteroid was big enough to pretend to be a planet. We were way past Mars. My knees felt weak, and I leaned harder against the glass, even though cold had begun to seep through my gloves. Oh, wow.
Some people do not appreciate a moment of semi-religious bliss. Behind me, Claire asked, “So, can you talk?”
Clonk
, like a muffled church bell. She was talking to the Orb of the Heavens. Vera had been sort of a Conquerer Orb, and talked with little chimes. So, that made sense.
“But you understand English?”
I didn’t look back, but it must have nodded or something, because Claire
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