April 3: The Middle of Nowhere (29 page)

The Meridian road on one side was to be double wide for when there was heavy traffic up and down the beanstalk.

Heather suddenly was aware Happy Lewis was leaning over her shoulder checking the board out.

"If they can keep up even half that pace they should have our entire boundary marked off in two shifts."

"They have to stop and put survey markers in by LPS and stop for a lunch break. Working the perimeter near the hills they will slow down from just following a straight line," she reminded him.

"Weeeee!" Julie, riding with Johnson, called out as they roller-coastered over a knoll, oblivious to the open mic.

Happy raised an eyebrow, but made no comment. "Yes, but if they don't have a breakdown I still think they will make it. One twelve hour shift for each quadrant and then they can start marking out lots," Happy suggested.

"I'm scheduling one rover to start doing lots. We only have four lots paid for cash. Then there are nine to lay out that are land contract and six that are employee pay. Problem is everyone picked a different lot on the subdivision map. The lots on the perimeter will be full size
plus
whatever irregular shape extends toward the hills, so everybody seemed to want one of those like it was a free bonus, even you I noticed."

"Yes, but not just for the little wedge of land that runs to the bottom of the hills behind it. Happy looked a little uneasy suddenly. "You don't have a live mic do you ?" he asked. That wasn't like him at all to be secretive.

"No," she assured him and checked to make sure it was true. "I cut off the feed when you came in. Not for privacy but because I didn't want the chatter distracting them."

"Good," he relaxed. "I wanted an edge unit because you didn't seem interested in staking out any rights past the plain. I'd very much like to own a nice hill, mountain, whatever you want to call it looking down over the settlement."

"Whatever for?" Heather wondered. "It will be much more expensive to do anything with it. There are other flat lands outside this area that you can claim if you want. Nobody has any permanent installations in Mare Vaporum. You could claim the whole thing." 

"It's like California," Happy explained. "The plains were all settled and the mountains were regarded as pretty worthless. Of course before they had cars to climb a hill every time you needed to go home would be slow and pretty rough on your horses too. But later, when the flatlands were all filled up, you could have privacy and a grand view by perching a house on top of one of those worthless hills looking down on the valley. Then it became pricy real estate. That's why I intend to claim the hills out past my ranch. And that way I don't have to worry about anybody perched up there snooping on me either."

Heather sighed. "The high ground always gives you the military advantage too, doesn't it?"

"Always has," Happy agreed.

"Well, that's one more task to do. I have to claim all the summits looking down on our land. How were you planning on doing it? Some of those hills I don't know if you could run a rover around the base of them or not. It gets pretty rugged in between."

"I had in mind just putting a cairn on the very top with a reflector like you are using to mark the boundaries and an insulated can with a copy of the claim and a map."

"Is that legal? Is it enough?"

"Hey, we're our own community here. If we say it's enough, it's enough."

"In that case we can claim the whole thing and tell Armstrong they have to start paying rent," she said with an evil grin.

"You're the Lady with the cannon," he admitted. "But even if you got away with it history might judge you harshly for claiming areas already used by someone. I personally would much rather see you claim a big chunk of Antarctica where nobody is using it. Even if you get an OK from the Home electorate to associate this settlement with them they are not a member of the UN and certainly not a signatory to the treaty that prohibits all exploitation and settlement on that continent."

Heather looked at him in astonishment. Her suggestion was humor – hyperbole, but he seemed dead serious about his crazy idea.

"Let's get this land deal squared away before we think about that," she asked. "Remind me about the other later, Okay?"

"Sure and after you have a rover free in about a week, I'd do a route study on the computer and start laying out a road toward Armstrong," he suggested. "If it is the best route and if you get it in first, you can make it a turnpike."

"A what?"

"A toll road. You set up a commerce gate with a wireless sensor and charge whoever wants to use your road to go to Armstrong. If they don't want to pay to use it let them fly or explore their own route. I'd claim a couple hundred meters back from each side so people don't build right up on top of you and make it impossible to widen it when you need to. I'm sure some of those eight lane expressways in California started as cow paths, years ago."

"I think that's all the ideas I can absorb today," Heather admitted. "Let's just talk about this Mare and what to do the next couple days," she pleaded.

"OK, just brainstorming," he explained. "You should hear Jeff and I when we get into it.

"Oh, I have," she assured him. "You just don't notice anything or anyone around you when you get into the gear-head stuff with him."

* * *

The third day saw the perimeter of their properties marked with a plowed line and optic and radar reflectors on a stick every hundred meters or so. The two rover shelters were finished to the point they could be pressurized if the entry port was bolted in place and if they'd owned that much air yet. There was a man lock on each but it would be a long time before they could afford a lock that would pass a rover through and allow the full volume to stay pressurized. Right now none of the other lunar bases owned a air lock big enough to pass a vehicle. But Happy and Jeff had plans for one. They were firing ceramic mix in place as they produced new batches to armor the shelters after which they would be deeply covered in broken rock and lastly loose soil.

Happy had plowed over several simple metal arches for alternate shelters and decoys if someone should decide to contest their claim and threaten them. They were open without any closure, much less pressure, or even a deeply formed floor inside. Just cleaned bedrock and gravel on the low spots. They would be needed soon anyway just to store incoming supplies and materials out of the sun.

Happy and Jeff were assembling an experimental air plant that would process oxygen and any other gaseous elements present from regolith. The process was energy intensive because all the volatiles were strongly bound in the soil. But they had solar energy to spare and the recovered hydrogen and helium3 from the solar wind would probably be sufficient to keep them on the positive side of the ledger for a long time. It was portable because it would have to be moved to fresh feed stock as the material from public areas was processed. Eventually they would need to mount it on its own rover to cruise outside their development on virgin ground. Most of their oxygen would be cracked back out of the carbon dioxide, but they had to make up losses and create an inventory for new construction.

"I think I'm done here," Katia concluded. There were no major defects in the rovers to address. "I'll call for my ride home if you are satisfied."

"More than satisfied," Heather assured her. "I appreciate the extra effort and won't forget it. I owe both you and Demetrius a favor personally beyond what we paid your administration for the rovers."

"Good, because news back home in Russia is depressing. This gives me some hope that we don't have to end up back there in that mess."

"We all feel the same way about the USNA. Here, feel free to use this station and we'll break and have some lunch after you call for a pick-up." Heather indicated the com board beside where she was working. They had three set up already in this moon hut.

Chapter 19

"That's odd," Katia said in a strange voice. The screen showed: The address you are seeking does not respond. It is withdrawn from service or not working. Please check your address and report the time and failure mode to the primary server.

"Let me call Home and see if they can connect," Heather offered. She tapped a few keys and her mom appeared wiping her hands on a towel.

"Hi mom? Would you try an address for us in New Kirov and see if you can get through? The rover mechanic who has been working for us wants to call home and we have a failure. Here's the address to paste" - she nodded to Katia, who leaned over and tapped the numerical address in for her. They watched her transpose it and lean back obviously waiting.

"Honey, I get a..." The screen blanked and cut her off, then it displayed the same no service message, except it said no relay service. That meant the trouble was in the lunar com satellites, but there should be more than one over the horizon at any one time so that made no sense. They were much more reliable than that...unless they were just turned off.

A sudden dread grabbed her gut and she snatched up the mic to call Jeff and Happy on the local radio.

"Jeff, Happy - this is an emergency. Drop whatever you are doing and proceed to the
Happy Lewis
and lift her. I want you
running
now while I finish instructing you. Don't stop to put anything away or talk to anyone. I'll take care of any explanations and putting things away.
Move it!"
she said in a command voice Katia was shocked she had within her.

"I'm in sight. Estimate ninety seconds to being in the lock," Happy reported, sprinting for his namesake vessel.

"Don't pump down. Spill the air and leave it ready for Jeff," she instructed.

"All hands," she said, switching to global broadcast on very low power local com, "take shelter away from the landing area and administrative huts line of sight. Rover drivers - take your units to shelter if it is in sight or head across the mare taking evasive action for incoming fire." She threw a panoramic view of the central area on the big screen with the
Happy Lewis
in sight like a toy in a diorama.

"Go live on rover defenses?"  Julie's voice asked.

"Negative. No emissions. Let the
Happy Lewis
handle it."

"I see Happy," Jeff huffed with the cadence of his running. "I'll be in the lock as soon as it is open."

"Happy, go forward to the command seat and lift on belly thrusters and accelerate a few kilometers away before you allow Jeff to leave the lock to join you."

"Roger that," was all the reply she got.

"What is going on?" Katia demanded.

"I just have a very bad feeling," Heather explained. "I can't think of any friendly explanation for shutting satellite com down. And if somebody has been watching us and decided to
do
something about our little venture they are not going to find our assets sitting where they were fifteen minutes ago."

"Go-go-go," she willed the scooter aloud.

"In," Jeff called.

No sooner had he said it than the ship lifted still horizontal and the main drive kicked in before it was a meter off the pad. It did not disappear like a missile launch, which would have smashed Jeff to the back of the lock, but it took off at a moderate one G and then after a pause to allow Jeff to brace himself in the coffin lock feet-down Happy announced.  "Ramping up through three G, Jeff. Bringing weapons board up passive Heather. Not radiating yet."

The ship was a dot in the black sky and then she saw it jink hard on a new course. It was far enough away now somebody could nuke the landing pads and it was safely clear.

"Targeting radar coming over the horizon," Happy calmly reported like he saw that every day. "Going ballistic. Jeff, get your butt up here on the double."

"The emitting ship is going to make a very low pass on you, Heather," Happy informed her. "If it is releasing weapons they could be separated already."

"Kill him, Happy," Heather ordered.

Katia looked at her horrified. "You don't
know...
" she started.

"Crap... I can't see them by eyeball but there was a flash that must be weapon separation and burn," Happy confirmed. "Belt up boy," they heard him tell Jeff.

"Secure to maneuver," Happy announced. "Jeff, you take the controls and I have the board. Bring her east about twenty degrees and accelerate at four G for the horizon and we'll cross her tail over the far side of Mare Vaporum and I'll hail her to surrender or be destroyed."

"Dear God I can't believe you are doing this," Katia said.

"Still no visual contact and we are past closest approach. Bringing up targeting radar and lidar – okay, I have contact," Happy informed them, his voice changing under the heavy acceleration. "I doubt if they can shoot over their shoulder at us. They will still have about six hundred meters a second on us when we cross their path. Computer says they are on a great circle line that goes through Armstrong. Their targeting radar is also on a USNA frequency. We will hail them on the emergency channel."

On the big screen there was a small flare of yellow light in the sky from the opposite direction the
Happy Lewis
had left and then nothing for ten long seconds. Then the entire half of the landing field where the scooter had been sitting erupted in a fountain of stone dust and grit filled with small flashes. It wasn't even but sprang away from the surface opposite the direction from where the flare had flashed.

"Cluster munition impact on our landing site Happy," Heather informed him. While she was still saying it the moon hut shook with a rumble that made her coffee cup walk a hands breadth across the com console surface. Katia didn't look scared - just horrified.

"USNA spacecraft. This is the Armed Merchant
Happy Lewis
," they heard on com, "you have ten seconds to acknowledge and surrender or you will be destroyed. Starting
now,"
Happy informed him.

Heather and Katia looked at the clock counting off the seconds in the corner of the screen. At about eight seconds Happy said, "Target maneuvering, attempting jamming, my missiles away," he told Heather. "Idiot," he added barely audible.