Star People

Side Story 16

Moon Shot Part 2

June 4^th, 15 AE, 1800 hours…

Lunar orbit above Free Land Lunar Colony #19…

“We are now beginning our descent towards the lunar surface.” Captain Hikes Varget announced as he and his comrade, Lieutenant Maxel Fiser, began riding the Lunar Module Wyvern down towards Armstrong-Aldrin Alley of Lunar Colony #19. Still in lunar orbit, Lieutenant Brigs Sandro watched from within the Command Module Voyager. On television sets and magical viewers all over Istaria, people watched in tensed silence as the Wyvern came closer and closer to the Moon’s surface. Despite seeing the technological marvels of Free Land’s lunar colonies, space stations and part of the Star Alliance Fleet, the crew of the Atlans Challenger would receive none of their assistance on this mission to set foot on the Moon.

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Landing Control Tower, Lunar Colony #19…

“Commander, they’re coming down a bit off-course from their planned landing zone.” One of the tower operators remarked as he and the rest of his co-workers observed the Wyvern approaching the lunar surface.

“As I recall, the original Eagle Lunar Module landed 4 miles off its intended landing zone.” Commander Victor Nyles commented. “And I can see that the Wyvern is burning through its fuel supplies at an alarming rate.”

“Should I engage the gravitational vector-assist?”

“Only on my order and only if the starnauts are in unavoidable danger. They still have about sixty seconds of fuel so… “

The crew of the Landing Control Tower held their breaths as the Wyvern continued its decent. Everyone on Istaria, aside from Free Land, who were watching and listening also, did the same.

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“Captain! We’ve got 45 seconds of fuel left in the main engine!” Maxel warned as he looked at the readout.

“Acknowledged! I have to bring her down slow enough so we’re not splattered all over the Moon!” Varget said as he coaxed the thrusters to push them in the right direction. Unlike flying an aircraft, piloting a ship in the vacuum of space was like being in constant free fall with nothing to push against. The idea of aerodynamics was virtually useless in this gravity-free and airless environment.

How the HELL do those Starfighter pilots fly in space?!

Unlike the Star Hawks and Byattas, the Wyvern had no G-force nullifiers or inertia-compensating devices. It also did not have the advanced maneuvering, vector-controlled thrusters. None of the starnauts had undergone the advanced space-training of the starfighter pilots.

A few seconds later, Varget activated the cutoff switch. The Wyvern’s main engine turned off just a few meters from the surface and let gravity take over. Since the Moon’s gravity was far less than that of Istaria’s (around one-sixth), the Lunar Module did not suffer any damage as it touched down. Moon dust scattered all over the place and inside the cabin of the module, the blue contact light came on. They had done it. They had made it to the Moon under their own power. Varget looked over to the fuel gauge and saw that they had around 29 seconds of fuel remaining and let off a sigh of relief as he spoke into the communicator.

“Mission Control, this is Captain Varget! The Wyvern has landed. I repeat, the Wyvern has landed!”

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All over Istaria, people began cheering after hearing Varget’s announcement. Even though it wasn’t big news for the citizens of the Star Alliance, they still applauded at the efforts of the Kingdom of Atlans. Under their own power, they had succeeded in going to the Moon and landing on it. Half of the journey was over.

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Hikes opened the hatch of the Lunar Module and began descending down the ladder towards the Moon’s surface. When he got to the final rung, he paused as he spoke into his headset microphone.

“Today, the Kingdom of Atlans and the world of Istaria has made its first journey to another heavenly body on its own. Though we are thankful to the Star Alliance for providing us the means to make this journey, we are also thankful to them in allowing us to make this journey on our own two feet. Speaking of which, I shall paraphrase a famous quote spoken by one of the early Terran astronauts in honor of this historic event… “

He moved his right foot off the rung and dropped it down.

“That’s one small step for man… and one giant leap for Istaria!”

He touched down and felt the ground sink slightly beneath him but was stable enough for him to put his left foot down as well. He stood firmly on the Moon’s surface with pride as he motioned for Lieutenant Maxel to join him. He then felt tap on his shoulder and turned around to see someone standing beside him.

Commander Nyles smiled at him as he held out a hand. “We appreciate the quote from Neil Armstrong. And since that small step, we have marched onward. I’m Commander Victor Nyles. Welcome to Lunar Colony #19.”

Dumbfounded for a moment, Varget immediately straightened up as shook the commander’s hand as his subordinate came down the ladder. Nyles then gestured for the two to follow him.

Both starnauts noted that Nyles was wearing a slim, but highly advanced spacesuit that made theirs look clumsy and bulky. They were also surprised at how easy it was to walk on the Moon’s surface. They weren’t taking normal steps but rather long strides. In just a few minutes, they came towards a structure that had transparent walls and was shaped like a corridor. Nyles punched in a code at a small keypad and a large door opened up, allowing them to enter. Once the door closed and hermetically sealed itself, the pressure and atmospheric controls began working and created a stable environment around them. The gravitational compensators also engaged, making the starnauts feel heavier. It felt as if they were back on the planet. A green light flashed on the ceiling, indicating that the process was complete.

At that point, Nyles entered a code on his wrist-mounted controls and the spacesuit he was wearing began to transform and retract off his body. To the amazement of the Atlans men, the technologically advanced spacesuit shrunk down to a thin backpack. The Colony Commanded smiled as he took off the backpack and hung it on a nearby rack. Now dressed in his usual uniform, he motioned for the starnauts towards a pair of lockers and shelves.

“There is a stable environment around us, gentlemen. You may deactivate your suit’s life-support systems and take off those helmets. I imagine that you also wish to get something to eat. After two days of freeze-dried and liquefied food, you probably would like to have some Instant Ration Packets, correct?”

At the mere mention of real food, the pair immediately shut down their suits’ life-support systems and took off their helmets.

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Fifteen minutes later…

“Oh yeah! Now that’s what I call food!” Maxel exclaimed as he devoured his second Instant Ration Packet, which was Chicken Pot Pie.

“Yes, it certainly is preferable to the rations we’ve eaten during our sojourn to this Colony.” Hikes admitted as he ate his meal of Beef Stew with Rice. “I’m only sorry that Lieutenant Sandro is not here with us to enjoy this meal.”

“Yes, I imagine that your comrade is eating his dinner in lunar orbit with the Command Module.” Nyles commented as he sat with the starnauts at a table in the Control Tower’s cafeteria. They were currently off-screen so anything that was said and done here would not be heard or recorded. “I am permitted to allow you to take some rations back with you. They will be specially-prepared to work in zero-gravity, so at least the trip back to Istaria will be more enjoyable.”

“Really? That’s awesome!” Maxel exclaimed, but then received a nudge from his superior to mind his manners. “I mean, that would be much appreciated.” He paused for moment to gather his thoughts and then inquired, “May I ask you a question?”

“You may speak freely.”

“Is it possible for us to hitch a ride on one of your ships back to the planet? I’m not at all looking forward to going back the same way we came here.”

“I’m afraid not.” Nyles shook his head. “We are under orders not to interfere with your Moon Mission. You came here under your own power, so you must collect your soil samples, perform whatever experiments you wish, and then return to the planet; again under your own power.”

“But, you have all this technology! Why can’t we have any of it?”

“Forgive my subordinate’s impertinence, but he does raise a valid point.” Hikes said. “We are grateful that the Star Alliance was able to give us the means to travel into space, but in comparison to what you possess, the rocket technology is primitive. Why don’t you give us things like those Star Cars or even one of your shuttlecraft?”

Victor took a deep breath before replying. “First of all, I mean no offense or insult whatsoever, when I say this. The Council of Prime Directors feels that the Kingdom of Atlans and most of Istaria’s populace is not ready for such advancements, intellectually and morally. The technology we possess holds great power and potential but also great responsibility. And even if you personally have no evil or selfish intentions, we cannot say the same for others. You only have to look at the ruins of Euracon to get my meaning.”

“Euracon?”

“Before the Planet Ravager devastated that country, its government made several attempts to steal our technology in order to further their goals of world conquest.”

“I remember those incidents.” A new voice spoke as a certain someone approached their table. All three men turned their heads to see Captain Mark Delan. “Those idiots even got onto the Missouri.”

“Mark!” Victor stood up immediately and shook his friend’s hand. “When did you come to Luna 19?”

“The Missouri docked at the port an hour ago. I just thought I’d come down and check on our visitors from Atlans.”

“Of course.” Victor then gestured to the two starnauts, who immediately recognized him. They stood up and saluted him, while introducing themselves.

“Captain Hikes Varget… formerly of Scarlet Squadron… overall commander of the Atlans Moon Mission!”

“Lieutenant Maxel Fiser… formerly of Silver Squadron… co-pilot of Lunar Lander Wyvern!”

“At ease.” Mark waved nonchalantly as he and the others sat down at the table. “I’m currently off-duty and this is just a social visit. As I said before, I just wanted to check on you. I hope that Luna 19’s hospitality is treating you well?”

“Yes, we are fine.” Hikes stated. “However, we were discussing with Commander Nyles about the reasons why Free Land will not give Atlans more advanced technology.”

“I trust that he mentioned the main reason why the Star Alliance isn’t giving you plasma converters and the like?”

“Yes, he did say that we were not morally ready for such advanced technology. He cited the former nation of Euracon and their attempts to steal your technology. Though I can understand your reluctance, I can assure you that we of the Kingdom of Atlans are not like them.”

“Gust.”

“I beg your pardon?”

“Give Us Superior Technology… G… U… S… T… Does that sound familiar to you now?”

Both Hikes and Maxel winced slightly as they knew what, or rather whom Mark was referring to.

Ever since Atlans had encountered Free Land, the Council had found the people to be overall friendly and easy to get along with. However, they had also proven to be very hungry for advanced technology, and several political groups had formed to press the government and Free Land to let their nation have more advanced devices and to be taught how they worked. The Council immediately noticed their impatience and reckless behavior. One group in particular, Give Us Superior Technology, nicknamed GUST, was deemed as extremist. They were very vocal about the situation, and even accused Free Land of selfishly hoarding the most advanced technology for themselves. Their motto was, Give us your most advanced technology! We as a superpower deserve it!

They had been staging protests almost every week and the group had been gaining strength in the Atlans capital. They were especially active during the Zedan war and when it was announced that the Kingdom would attempt a mission to the Moon. GUST again accused Free Land of purposely restraining Atlans’ technological development and saw the New World Technology Share Laws as the Star Alliance’s way to control other nations. They were especially angered when the Dwarf Nations were allowed to join the Star Alliance, while denying Atlans several times. To GUST, it was seen as favoritism and not because the dwarves had introduced practical teleportation technology. The fact that neither Free Land nor the Dwarf Nations would share the secrets to this new scientific wonder only fanned the flames.

“All right, I can see your point about GUST.” Captain Varget admitted. “However, you can’t judge an entire nation on the actions of a misguided few.”

“True.” Commander Nyles said. “However, it only takes the actions of a misguided few to cause a disaster with technology beyond their understanding and morality.”

“Especially if that misguided few is already in possession of technology that could potentially destroy the world.” Mark added.

“How could we destroy the world?” Varget inquired. “You’ve only given us better aircraft technology, infrastructure, consumer goods, nuclear fission reactors and now basic rocket… oh…” His voice trailed off as he began to comprehend Mark’s and Victor’s points.

“Now you’re starting to understand.”The Missouri’s captain said.

“What does he mean, Captain Varget?” Maxel asked.

“What he means is that the current technology we have for space travel and domestic use; can be repurposed to create a weapon of mass destruction. The nuclear reactors we have now. We are forbidden to create weapons-grade uranium. Imagine what would happen if we put a mass of weapons-grade uranium on a rocket.”

The Atlans lieutenant saw an image in his mind of a rocket being fired into space and then coming back down and exploding like a nuclear bomb on the other side of the planet.

“Oh wow… I never thought about it that way… I guess I can understand why Free Land doesn’t want to give us even more advanced tech if the stuff we have now is already dangerous enough to destroy the world.”

Mark and Victor nodded as the Control Tower Commander began relating the history of an era on Earth.

“More than two hundred years ago on our birth world, the Earth, we had just finished a conflict known as the Second World War. Nuclear fission was used as a weapon and two superpower nations emerged as the victors. They were the United States of America and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republic or USSR. Both had different ideals and eventually, both were armed with nuclear bombs.”

Mark continued the explanation. “In addition to nuclear bombs, each nation also gained rocket technology from the defeated Axis Powers. They were the enemy of the United States and USSR during the war. Twelve years after the war, the USSR used their rocket technology to launch the world’s first artificial satellite, Sputnik. Those were the same blueprints that we gave to you, in order for you to launch the Atlans Star. And just like you, the Americans and Soviets realized that they could use this newfound space technology as a way to launch nuclear weapons at each other.”

“This began a competition between the two superpowers as they tried to one-up each other in space-faring technology.” Victor said. “This was the so-called Space Race. It culminated in the Americans being able to land on the Earth’s Moon on July 20^th, 1969. However, as you figured out now, the Space Race had a much darker purpose.”

“It was a test-bed for nuclear weapons and deploying them on rockets.” Hikes surmised.

“Bingo.” Mark affirmed. “We called those ICBMs or Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles. And in addition to the Space Race, there was a conflict between the two superpowers called the Cold War. No open warfare was exchanged and thankfully, no nuclear weapons were used. That would have obliterated all life on the planet long before the Cryerians arrived. We called that MAD or Mutually Assured Destruction.”

“Even the leaders of both superpowers were not interested in space exploration, but rather how they could use space technology as a way to destroy the other side.” Mark’s friend stated. “The Cold War ended with the fall of the USSR. It took another fifty or so years before fusion technology was made practical and we abandoned nuclear fission. Almost a century after landing on our Moon, we finally continued our journeys into space by colonizing our Moon and the nearby planet of Mars. We first used the Warp Drive in order to cover the vast distances in our Solar System, but we later developed the more powerful Hyperspace Drive System. By the time we began exploring past our Solar System in the last quarter of this century… “

“I remember being told about this part of Free Land’s history.” Maxel commented. “That’s when the Cryterians attacked your planet and destroyed it.”

“Mankind was forced into space, allied itself with other victim races of the Cryterians, and eventually founded the Star Alliance. The rest you know.” Mark finished.

There was a long stretch of silence as the two starnauts contemplated the information that they had been given. When they had first volunteered for the mission to the Moon, they had thought that it would be a grand adventure and would bring them one step closer to becoming a member of the Star Alliance. Now that they had been told of the darker purpose behind space travel and the responsibility that went with advancing technology, they started to understand why Free Land was so hesitant in giving it to them.

“So the reason why you want us to go through the motions of early space travel…” Maxel began.

“… is because you want to show us the dangers and understand the implications of such technology.” Hikes finished. “You want us to avoid the threat that nearly destroyed you.”

“Again, I say bingo!” Reelan’s husband stated. “It’s already dangerous enough that you could destroy all life on the planet with the technology you have. Think of what would happen if we were to recklessly give you the plans to the Missouri’s Pulsar Guns or a Meson Reactor? Those by themselves would make an exploding nuclear bomb look like a firecracker.”

“I… can understand your point.” Hikes bowed his head slightly. Maxel did likewise.

Both Free Landers gave the disappointed starnauts smiles of encouragement as Mark said the following.

“Cheer up, gentlemen. It’s not like Free Land is denying you advanced technology outright. It’s just that you need to develop a bit more. The last thing we want is to have our friends destroy themselves with technology that they weren’t ready for. And it’s not like we will always deny you membership into the Star Alliance. You just need to try a little harder. I would suggest that when you get back to Istaria, talk to your government and scientific communities to see if you can come up with something that could improve yourselves. Who knows? You might just come up with something that Free Land could use. That is one of the key factors to Star Alliance Membership.”

“The dwarves were able to do it with the Teleportation Portal System. I don’t see why Atlans can’t come up with something.” Victor added.

“And when you do come up with something that will benefit yourselves and Free Land, then we would be more than happy to welcome you into the Star Alliance.”

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Lunar orbit, 2030 hours…

The Command Module Voyager…

“So did you get those Instant Ration Packets?” Sandro asked after the two other members of his crew re-entered the Command Module after docking with the Lunar Module.

“Oh yes, we got them.” Hikes said as he handed him one. “They’re specially modified to work in zero-gravity so they should be fine. Just squeeze the packet on the side.”

Sandro excitedly grabbed the packet, and squeezed the indicated section. Immediately, the entire packet expanded and the contents solidified into what appeared to be a large candy bar. He was puzzled as he opened the packet and held up the bar, which was about the size of jumbo bar of soap.

“Are you sure this is it?”

“Go ahead. Take a bite.”

Sandro closed his eyes as he bit into the bar. His eyes snapped open as the flavors hit his taste buds. He began to wolf down the bar.

“Whoa! Slow down Lieutenant!” Maxel warned. “I know it’s good, but there’s no hurry!”

Sandro didn’t care. He hadn’t eaten anything after the Lunar Module had landed and didn’t even try the freeze-dried and liquid rations. After spending more than two hours alone in the Command Capsule, he was famished. In less than two minutes, he ate the whole bar and even licked his fingers afterwards.

“Damn! That was good! It tasted just like a sirloin steak dinner! And right now… I feel full!”

“Yeah, I was surprised too when I tried one.” Maxel stated. “I don’t know how they did it, but they somehow reduced a whole meal into a food bar. No mess to clean up and it’s really easy to eat in space.”

“They gave us enough rations to tide us over until we make it back to Istaria.” Captain Varget stated as he finished transferring the rations, Moon soil samples and other essential equipment into the Command Module and closed the hatch. The Wyvern would be discarded once they began the return trip back to the planet.

“So they’re not going to give us a ride back to the planet, are they?” Sandro asked as he and his comrades settled into their stations and started the process for Trans-Istaria Injection.

“That’s a negative, Lieutenant.” Hikes stated. “However, they do have their reasons and I can understand them.”

“What reasons are those?”

“We’ve got about 2-3 days to get back home, so we’ll tell you on the way.”

At that point, the Lunar Module was jettisoned to drift off into the void as the Command Module began its journey home.

To be continued…