

## Moon Trip

## Moon Trip

#### By

####

#### Phillip N. Hancock, Sr.

Text copyright @ 2016 Phillip N. Hancock, Sr.

All Rights Reserved

ASIN: 9781370470754

Smashwords Edition License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your enjoyment only, then please return to Smashwords.com or your favorite retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

## Dedication:

This book is dedicated to those men and women who put their lives at risk in space research and space travel, and to those, earth-bound, who can only hold their breath as they watch, wishing they could be with them.

## Moon Trip

## Preface:

I missed a lot of things during NASA's Space Shuttle days. I left parties early, skipped out on meetings at work, was barely present at some birthday celebrations and almost missed the birth of one of my own children, all due to a launch of one of those Space Shuttles. How I enjoyed those shuttle days and, to me, the day they announced the final voyages of those magnificent birds was one of the saddest days ever. Now it is true, those days of NASA's shuttle programs are history, but I sometimes wonder. What if, shortly before the close of that program there was an anomaly sighting causing that program to be extended in an altered version. The following is a fictional dreamer's idea of a possible scenario and the action NASA took to investigate that anomaly.
Table of Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Dedication

Preface

Before You Go

# Chapter 1

## The UGGLY

0223 Hrs., UGGLY Control Center, Phoenix, Arizona.

The UGGLY (Universe Galactic Ground Lens Yawl). This high earth orbit telescope is called a Yawl because the (Main Mast) Solar Collector is located up near the bow and a Secondary (Mizzenmast) Solar Collector is located aft. When viewed from the side this telescope, with its solar collectors deployed, resembles a small sailing vessel and its mirrored water reflected image. This particular telescope is only used for viewing the planets and moons in our own Galaxy. Written in Astro Weekly, Issue # 17, Nov 2006, Professor Tasky Simel, EECB, MB, PhD in Astronomy, and CIS was the author.

Jim read the first few lines and then laid the magazine on the console. Jim Watson had completed the normal midnight routine at the center. The daily reports were copied, filed, and sent out to the appropriate agencies. He had just poured his second cup of coffee on this his third mid shift. The steam from the hot brew, momentarily, fogged his photo gray eye glasses. Removing them he grabbed one of the 90-deluxe 3-ply tissue, that were automatically replaced, from the oblong hole in the center of the cardboard Skilcraft box. This brown box was designed after the Kleenex Facial Tissue dispenser boxes found in homes all across America. These particular boxes, however, are generic in color, twice as big and do not have the floral or decorative patterns that are present on the household tissue dispenser boxes.

As Jim cleaned his glasses he absentmindedly read the outside of the tissue dispenser box. NSN 7920-00-965-1709 90-deluxe 3-ply tissue approx. 15.25" X 16.75". The Skilcraft Logo then Skilcraft Quality Blind-Made Products. Along the bottom edge a Logo for Saving Trees was followed by "Product and Packaging are made from 100% Recycled Materials". Jim picked up the brown rectangle shape box and turned it to read the end and other side. As he rotated the box it reminded him of the UGGLY Telescope, in orbit, rotating as it was re-aligned to view a different quadrant of our universe. As the box rotated he, without thinking about it, lined the length of the box with the Moon, which was now visible in the east window of the lab. As he sighted down the box and watched the moon, a thought came to his scientifically organized mind. He wonder if the moon had been studied thoroughly enough through the lens of the UGGLY Telescope. He looked at the current schedule for use of the UGGLY, ah ha!, nothing was listed for this weekend. Not only was the UGGLY free this weekend, the moon was in the early stages of libration. The Libration Zone should be unusually visible due to UGGLY's orbit and its distance out from the earth. The actually viewing angle of the large telescope will be monumentally increase and quite a bit more than the normal 50% of the surface of the moon should be viewable, maybe as much as another 20%..

Jim had admired and daydreamed about the moon for as long as he could remember. It held such fascination for him. Daydreaming about it had even cost him a small loss in Grade Point Average while in school. Now looking down the length of this cardboard box gave him the idea that maybe turning the UGGLY Telescope at the moon might bring in details that no one had ever seen before. Sliding the keyboard out from under the control desk while turning pages in the operational manual, Jim's mind was racing with triangular numbers that would rotate the UGGLY around to point toward the back of the moon. He was sure that the side facing the earth had been examined to the minutest detail and all that could be learned had been learned and written a dozen times. Although the UGGLY is not equipped with Infra Red Censoring, he was sure that a close up view of the back provided from its space location would not require any additional lighting, sunlight reflecting off the earth should be sufficient.

Checking and rechecking the alignment co-ordinations listed in the book, Jim typed in the directions for the re-alignment of the huge apparatus. Watching the alignment monitor as the scope swung into its new direction, Jim could see the edge of the silver crescent as the new moon slid past the alignment camera that was located on the UGGLY's surrounding structure. The dead non-reflecting rear of the moon slid in front of the camera and, until the camera adjusted from the brightness of the reflected sunlight to the darken backside, nothing was visible. The monitor was blank and dark. Jim turned his back, walked over to the supervisor's console. He sat down and perused the hourly log from the day and swing shift again while he waited for the equipment to adjust to its new target.

As the lens of the alignment camera open to allow more light in, the picture started to take on some definition and the rough terrain of the large satellite started to take shape. Jim heard the video recording device automatically start recording as it always did, taping any view that was observed through the lens of this expensive equipment. A quick glance assured him of the proper operation of this device. Space also fascinated Jim and he could watch it for hours on end without being aware of any activity surrounding him, however, his occupation required his attention sometimes so he concentrated on the logged information.

A change in the lighting intensity from the moon made the alignment camera picture, bloom and distort. The small camera lens was fully open due to the area being dark and the bright lights caused the lens to partially close. The brightness only lasted for a short length of time and the lens opened again rapidly when the bright lights disappeared. The view was again as it was before, the dark side of the moon's terrain appeared dull and gray, but visible through the camera.

Jim looking the other way and didn't know what had happened. The change in brightness from the monitor reflected off the lab's equipment and surprised him. Any change from the monitor was unusual and unexpected and would usually mean a problem with the monitor. Jim however did not look at the monitor until the light stopped reflecting off the equipment. He now stared at the view on the monitor. The view was steady and the scene was clean and clear and no problems were indicated. Jim watched the picture of the moon for a short time and came to the conclusion that maybe it wasn't the monitor. The recording device was still going. Actually both were still going. The recording device was two in one with a redundant recording to prevent accidental loss in case the first failed. Jim left the primary recorder running but stopped, removed and replaced the secondary tape with a clean cassette restarting the recording machine. He then placed the used tape in the playback machine and rewound it to see what had been captured by the lens of the UGGLY Telescope. If it wasn't the monitor, what could it be? Using the remote control, he manipulated the video recording device and prepared to run the playback of this recent event. When the rewind of the video tape was complete, the machine automatically stopped. With only a momentary pause, Jim push the play button on the remote control and watched the monitor as it showed the view of the moon crawl through the lens of the UGGLY. The rotation of the UGGLY just seemed to be slower and take longer to covered the moon's landscape on playback. It was a mind thing and did not take any longer than it did when he watched the alignment camera before. The movement stopped and the self focusing apparatus completed its task. The moon seemed to leap out of the monitor as the picture became clear and minute details became visible. The reflection of the sun off the earth gave sufficient light to the backside of the moon giving some of the larger object shadows. The middle of the large slightly domed protrusion on the backside of the moon was centered in the monitor. Nothing moved and the picture was bland and unexciting. Dull grey was the color of everything.

Suddenly, in the solid center a small light appeared and expanded until the surface area was gone and a bright, lighted, mosaic pattern was visible. The unbelievable view caused Jim a momentary feeling of confusion and hesitation due to the unexpected appearance of this apparent anomaly. It was as if he could look down through an opening into the hollow interior of the moon. Just as suddenly the lighted view shrunk to a pin hole and then was gone. The dull gray solid mass of the moon's surface was back again. "What the Hell?" Jim swore out loud as the view changed. He quickly rewound the tape and played it again. He could not believe his eyes, even after the fourth or fifth playing.

"For an opening to appear that big, even from the magnification of the UGGLY, it has to be quite an opening," Jim spoke out loud as if trying to convince himself of what he had seen.

Jim made sure that there was no transmission of the view to any agencies outside of the lab. He then shut down all automatic timed communication equipment that kept the rest of the scientific world informed of what was seen through the UGGLY Telescope. Jim checked the "On Call Board", picked up the secure phone and pushed the button that automatically dialed the cellular pager labeled "B". A moment later three beeps were heard and he punched the labs secure phone number into the hand held instrument. His hands shook and he almost dropped the phone as he hung it up. He had heard the series of beeps that told him the number had been transmitted to the pager. Jim took his cup back to the kitchen for a refill. He assumed this was going to be a very long night and a nap was going to be out of the question. "Why me?" He mumbled as he returned to the center and saw the lighted call indicator on the secure phone. "UGGLY Control, this is Jim," Jim said as he spoke into the telephone. He could hear, through the receiver, someone in the background was complaining about the time and interruption of their sleep.

"Just a moment, Jim." The voice was now turned away from the phone and the comments were evidently directed at the complainer. "Look, you knew when I took this job that sometimes calls like this would come in. I'll take it in the other room so your precious sleep won't be disturbed. Hang this phone up when I get back on, ok?" There was a grumble of what sounded like, ok, and in a few seconds the click of another instrument was heard. "Ok, I got it." Was spoken into the instrument and a replacing of the other phone was evident. The female voice, the voice of Colleen James, came back on in a more alert and friendly manner. "Jim, this is Colleen, is there a problem or situation with the telescope?"

"There is no problem with the telescope, it seems to be working fine. There, however, has been an unusual observation. I think you had better take a look at the tape. I don't want to prejudice your view or give some outside listener any information, so I'll just wait your arrival here." Jim held the receiver to his ear as he heard Colleen's assurance that she would respond as soon as possible. Jim, then as casually as possible, hung up the phone and stared at the cradle as the line indicator button winked out. He couldn't understand why Colleen's old man always gave her such a hard time. He also didn't understand why a beautiful and smart woman like Colleen could be married to a bastard like Joe. He had met Joe on several occasions and had really tried to like him. Joe was certainly a nice enough person until it came to the way he treated Colleen. He always put her down and belittled her in every situation. Jim felt that Joe had very little self-confidence and Joe knew he was about one third as intelligent as his wife. This seemed to infuriate him and made him attack her at every level. He would then laugh and say he was just kidding, but each episode left Jim with the feeling that he was not.

Jim rechecked the lab to insure all was secure and then he carefully logged the time of the rotation of UGGLY and the time of the occurrence. He couldn't put down in the log what he had seen, because he didn't know. By the time he had finished these procedures his coffee had gotten cold. He went to the kitchen and dumped the dark cold liquid into the sink and poured another cup from the pot that sat on the warmer. He then dumped the remainder of the pot into the same sink and proceeded to make a fresh pot for himself and Colleen. He rinsed out the sink and then while drying his hands returned to the control center to wait for his friend and colleague.

It was almost forty minutes before Colleen arrived but to Jim it seemed forever. He had begun to pace back and forth in front of the control center console. He kept an eye on the UGGLY Monitor Screen for any re-occurrence or for anything else unusual. There were no phone calls and no interruption what-so-ever. This in itself made it seem much longer than it was. In the security monitors that covered the secure parking area, Jim saw lights from her car as she arrived. He watched as she parked and he watched her as she entered the building. The control center was located on the third floor and a view of the elevator lobby was on one of the monitors also. He saw her enter and he saw her exit the elevators. He saw her as she used her electronic pass card to enter the center. He came around the console as she entered and greeted her. "I'm glad you're here, I need someone to verify what I have seen." Jim then led Colleen over to the playback monitor located on the end of the console. "While you look at this, I'll get you a fresh cup of coffee." Jim then left the center and headed for the kitchen.

Colleen had no idea what she was about to see so she could not prepare herself in advance. This was Jim's idea. He wanted this view to hit her as hard as it had hit him. Colleen was still thinking about her husband's lack of understanding of her position here at the center. She had been with this group about five years and had climbed to a level of serious responsibility that paralleled her dedication. She shared the on call duties with four others from the center. They, like her, were very dedicated and held jobs that required unlimited background checks and high security ratings. They were all Top Secret or better. They had all been briefed time and time again on the procedures to use when other than normal situations arose.

Colleen pushed the eject button and the tape was extracted from the front of the machine. She pulled it completely out and saw that it was rewound to the very beginning. She placed it back into the receiving slot and gently pushed it in. The motor drive of the machine pulled the tape in as it placed and wrapped the tape around the rotating magnetic playback head. Once the tape was in place the machine stopped and waited for a selection by the operator. Colleen pushed the play button and watched the monitor. A few lines of static and then the monitor showed movement as the UGGLY swung across the moon from the brightly lit sliver of the sun's reflected light into the dark back side of the moon. Once completely into the dark area the movement stopped and the view of the moon again clarified and jumped out of the monitor with unbelievable definition of the rough terrain that was the Lunar surface. She searched the screen for some anomaly and was completely unprepared when the opening occurred and the mosaic light pattern was exposed in the center of the view. "Holy Shit!" She exclaimed as her breath caught in her throat. "Jesus Christ, that can't be real!" The scene didn't last long and too soon, with the closing, returned to what was expected. She continued to watch a moment longer until the view was gone and she was now watching the monitor showing nothing as the unused portion of the recording tape continued to play.

Jim touched her on the arm and she jumped. She was so wrapped up in the viewing she did not realize he had returned from the kitchen. "Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you. Here take a sip of this, two sugars and a spoon of non-dairy creamer, is that right? Uh oh, be careful it is very hot, but it is fresh." Jim handed her the cup with the handle out toward her. She took it in a mechanical response without thinking and mumbled a thank you. He could tell her mind was racing with the thought of what she had just seen. She took a sip and followed it immediately with another. She then placed the cup on the console, pushed the stop button, heard the machine stop, then she pushed the rewind button and waited for the machine to finish its rewind procedure. Once again the machine stopped and she pushed the play button. She now knew what to look for and waited for the view to stabilize and watched the center of the viewing area for the action.

"What the hell is that, it's beautiful? Are we having a delusion of some sort or some type of mass hysteria?" Colleen hit the pause button and then pushed the slow motion and zoom buttons on the remote to get a larger and longer view. "I see it but I'm having trouble believing it." She let her fingers trace the light pattern on the screen of the monitor. "It's not a natural phenomenon, this pattern was engineered by someone or something. What caused that opening in the presumably solid mass of the moon's backside?" She ran her finger around the circular opening that led to the view of the lighted pattern. As they watched, the opening slowly closed. It reminded her of the light lens of a camera as it spiraled down to disappear and look like a solid mass of rock and dust again. Colleen picked up the Control Center Personnel Phone Book and started turning pages. She stopped and slid her finger down the page until she reached the name she was looking for. Sliding across to the number adjacent to it, she picked up the phone and dialed the number and waited while it rang for the third time. A sleepy male voice answered as the fourth ring started.

"Whitfield." The voice said and a muffled cough was also heard through the ear piece.

"Colleen here, you are needed at the center." There were no other comments from either party. She heard the phone being replaced on the holder and then a dial tone. She hung up her end knowing that things were underway and soon a team would be on its way to investigate the event. "Well Jim, you've really done it this time. I can't leave you alone for a minute." Jim could tell she was riding a wave crest and having the time of her life. She rewound the tape and played it again in slow motion. She pressed the still button at several locations and selected print on the remote control. Jim could hear the HP Color Laser Jet Printer as it prepared to print the view. Both he and Colleen walked over to the printer and watched as the ink cartridge passed back and forth across the paper and the first edge of the picture became visible.

Roger Whitfield wasn't the first to arrive, however, he wasn't the last either. Mills had to drive forty five minutes just to reach the city limits then, it was at least, another fifteen minutes across town to the center. By the time he entered everyone was seated at the conference table and trying their best to look receptive and wide awake. None of the new arrivals had viewed the tape, not even Roger, and in fact, they still did not know what incident had prompted their being called out so early. "Could I have your attention, please. Since Mills has made his appearance, I'm sure everyone else is here. Uh, that's not a negative Sam, I just know you have the longest drive in." Sam Mills nodded and smiled to assure the boss that he understood. Roger continued with his comments. "Earlier this morning Jim, here, evidently came upon an unexpected sight. Colleen was called out and after viewing the tape called me. I don't know what to expect and I haven't discussed it with her. She requested that we view it together without any preliminaries so we can form our own opinion and not have any preconceived ideas. I'll now turn it over to her, Colleen."

As her name was spoken she rose and went to the end of the table opposite her boss. "I'm going to give each of you a couple of still prints of the video you are about to see. Please don't open these until after you view the video at least once. I'm not going to give you a preview of what you will see, oh hell, just watch the screen." Colleen pushed a button on the remote control she held. The room darkened and the ceiling mounted screen dropped down into place. The Three Tube Sony Front Projection Unit lit and the UGGLY Control Center Logo appeared on the screen for just a moment. The logo went away and the edge of the moon slid into view and the bright, lighted portion slowly crawled across the screen. The dark side of the moon replaced the silver sliver and the rotation on the screen stopped. Everyone knew they were looking at the dark backside of the moon and some took their eyes off the screen and glanced at the boss to see his reaction to the view. These unfortunate few missed the beginning frames of the opening. The brightness of the picture and the uncontrolled exclamations from the others, pulled their heads back around and they, in concert with all the rest, let their mouths fall open as the view unfolded before them. Roger rose from his seat as he watched the brightly lit mosaic patterns that were displayed. Colleen stopped the projection when the lunar opening closed and rewound the tape. "I'll run it again, this time in slow motion." She again pushed the play button and then hit the slow motion button and observed the people at the table as they watched the screen. Their reaction was the same as hers had been.

When the tape ended Colleen push the stop button. Most of those at the table turned toward the other end of the table to see what the boss was doing. Colleen was the only one that had seen Roger leave just before the tape ended. She was sure that he was already on the phone to whoever the next person up the chain of command was. The comments from around the table were similar to the comments made by herself when she had first seen the tape. As those that were seated around the table talked, they rose and started back toward the UGGLY Monitor that was still pointed at the moon. They would now start a record's search to see if that particular location had previously been studied in detail.

"If you are not a Phil Mickelson with an invitation for the weekend at a coastal setting, say like Pebble Beach, you better have something very important on your mind!" A sleepy but loud voice emitted from the ear piece of the secure instrument. "Well, is this Phil?"

"No it's not Bob, it's Roger, Roger Whitfield. Sorry to bother you at home this early in the morning." Roger paused and waited for his boss's reply.

After a few seconds to collect himself, Bob replied trying to lighten the seriousness of Roger's comments. "Well now, I can tell this isn't about a golf date, so I guess it has something to do with old UGGLY and an unusual space observation and, since you never call me at home, I'll assume this is quite unusual. So, say no more, I'll come right over and see it for myself."

"Thanks Bob, see you here." Roger said as he hung up the phone. He stood with his hand still on the instrument deep in thought. He knew that his life and the life of his staff would never be the same. They had made many small discoveries since the launch of the telescope. Those, however, paled in comparison with the current sighting.

# Chapter 2

## Mission Change

A month later, 1000 Hrs Launch Control, Cape Canaveral, Florida

"Scrapped, what the hell do you mean, scrapped?" Paul Wilhelm said as he turned to face, the Launch Director, Jerry Collins. "Is this some ones idea of pull the astronaut's leg or something?"

Jerry held up his hand to ward off Paul's comments. "It comes from the very top, Paul, I mean the very top."

"The President, you mean the president did this. My very first trip and the president canceled it. Why the hell should the president care about this trip, he hasn't been involved in any of the other recent trips. I thought he was one of our more ardent supporters. And, hey Jerry, this trip is fully funded by an outside agency, I mean fully funded." Paul cast his hands about like a man caught in a hornet nest as he verbally assaulted the director. This was very unusual for Paul, as he was always in complete control. His calm exterior, even in times of great stress, had earned him the nickname of Deep Water, DW for short.

The outburst surprised the director although he did realize Paul's desire to go that had shown in his commitment and preparation for this mission. "Calm down DW, I didn't say you would not go on the next shuttle, I said your current mission was scrapped. There, however, is a new mission now assigned to your crew. This one is considered an emergency of sorts. Your launch date has been moved up a few weeks and your workload has been redefined and increased. You will get your new orders and mission directions in short order. What you need to do now is let your crew know about the change." Jerry opened his very old floppy and very personal brown brief case. He extracted a vanilla colored envelope that had a red border that ran around the edge about an inch in thickness. On both sides, across the middle of the envelope, there was a three inch wide red banner that had TOP SECRET written in white two inch letters. A release form was attached and Jerry handed Paul a pen so he could sign for the package. "Open this when you get back to your office and take the action that's required." Jerry said as Paul accepted the pen and with his attention to detail signed his name and precisely dotted the I in Wilhelm. "I'll be in touch soon, unless you come up with some questions that require my immediate attention. If you do, call me, we will get together and get them ironed out.

Paul stared at the package and then watched as Jerry turned and walked back down the corridor of Launch Central toward the Control Center. His mind was in high gear and multiple situations were popping up but none seem to carry enough weight to revamp his current NASA mission. However, just like that, his first mission was trashed and he was waiting for the, proverbial, other shoe to drop. Well just maybe, he had the other shoe in his hand and would drop it himself. Paul slowly turned the package over twice and, with some hesitation, started back toward his office.

Whenever events took a drastic turn, such as this, Paul's thoughts returned to his youth and his early dreams. Paul's parents had come to the USA thirty-three years ago from Deutchland (Germany). Paul's two kids were first generation Americans. Paul was born in Oberstafenbach, Deutchland, a small town about twenty three miles from Ramstein AFB, near Ramstein, Germany. Every day he watched the aircraft from the airbase as they flew patterns overhead on their way to and from the airfield. At that time his only dream and ambition was to be one of those pilots, to be in control of the fastest and most advance aircraft in the world. He and his teachers found out very early that he had an unusual aptitude and appetite for math. He understood the basic of algebra and calculus at a very young age. His language and economics suffered to the extent of almost failing but his math was so far in advance of his peers that the teachers escalated him through the lower grades. They were not surprised when in the upper grades his writing and understanding of world affairs, including economics, had suddenly caught up with and surpassed his classmates.

Paul's dad, Wolfgang, worked for the Air Force in one of the aircraft hangers on the base. He was in the Aircraft Structural Shop and was an assistant to Master Sergeant Charles Bills. His job was to operate the huge nuclear machine that X-rayed the aircraft wings and fuselage. They looked for internal fatigue and cracks hidden underneath the exterior aircraft skin. Wolfgang had been working there for four years when Sergeant Bills retired and went back to the states. Two months later Wolfgang received a letter from the, then, retired Mr. Charles Bills. The letter simply said, "Hey Wolf, if you will come to the states, I have a job for you. I'll also be your immigration Sponsor and I have also rented a house for you. You'll be living here in Florida near the Cape where they launch the space ships. Let me know as soon as possible, this job won't be open very long. Your friend, Don't Call Me Chuck, Mr. Charles Bills."

It took Wolfgang almost all night to make up his mind that he would change his life completely. He would go from knowing where he was and how he stood to being the outsider, the interloper, the one with a Green Card. He had heard so many tales, from the airman at Ramstein, about the legal and illegal alien in the US, that he couldn't separate the two. In his mind, he pictured any person with a green card stood out and could be seen from miles away. They would somehow glow a light green and would even be visible at night. He would be the first to be picked up by the police and he would spend most of his nights in lineups or digging up paper work to prove he was in the US legally. Even with these misgivings, he did an incredible sales job on his wife and family. Paul was sold on the idea immediately. He so wanted to fly the American planes, he would have gone by himself, and even entered illegally, if flying was in the future.

Wolfgang arrived in Florida in early June, he brought his misgivings with him and felt ill at ease when meeting his and Charles new boss, Juan Carlos. It wasn't until the end of that first interview that his fears and concerns were alleviated and finally put to rest. After talking with the boss for almost an hour about his position, his wages, and the boss's expectation, he realized that any concerns about his actual job were gone. This job was very similar to the position he held back at Ramstein Air Base and he was tops in that field. As the interview ended, His boss wished him well and said, "See you at work. Oh, and by the way I want you to see something. I have treasured and kept this for years. It is a reminder of what a person can do in this country." He then showed Wolfgang a glass framed 8 x 10 memento that adorned the center of the wall behind his desk. All of his other awards surrounded this one. In the center of the frame surrounded by matting, with a circle of small American Flags, was a Green Card with Juan Carlo's name on it. Wolf's new boss had gone through the same fears and obstacles that Wolf was now encountering. This little shared insight gave him such a lift that he practically danced out of the office, gave the secretary a deep bow and floated out the door. Charles walked behind Wolf and had to control himself to keep from joining in the dance. He was particularly pleased with himself and extremely happy for his friend. They would again work side by side but now as equals.

After arriving in Florida, Paul no longer dreamed about flying the American Airplanes. In Paul's mind, flying them now was a given. His new goal was now further away and much harder to achieve. He now looked to the stars or at least to the vacuum of space. He could not and would not rest until he was the commander of a space going vehicle. That, of course, had been achieved. He had come such a long way and now these changes had come up. He was at a loss to explain to himself, what in this world could have happen, why at this late date, what could have gone wrong? It would be many days before he found out that the reasons were not in this world.

Paul read and reread the documents in the envelope. The orders did not spell out or even mention what had caused the mission change. Most of the information was concerned with mission briefings, location and time for training and restrictions on information release. His thoughts back to the present, he had a most difficult task. He must tell his crew about the change. He had to tell them without an explanation for the change. He did have the fact that they had been moved up with another mission and their training had been changed and increased in intensity. Paul wondered what could be more important than the completion and stocking of the Space Station Freedom. This stocking had been the priority for a number of years. God, he thought, there must have been a really unusual break through or event to replace his mission to the space station.

When Paul walked into the crew lounge, he saw his crew at a table in the far corner. Major Karl Sweet had their full attention as he relayed a recent event to the other members of the crew. "This place was a real dump, the original Greasy Spoon. They had a bottle of Tarn-X placed beside the eating utensils, just as a joke. There weren't no silver in them forks or spoons, and the little note taped to the side of the container said, 'If you find two pieces of silverware that matches, your meal is free'." Karl gestured with both hands as he spoke. "I stood there, in front of the cash register, for a moment then noticed, the "wait to be seated sign" had a red circle around it and a red line through the middle." Matt quietly mouthed "don't wait to be seated." as Karl continued. "I found an empty table by the wall and sat down. I could see this big old nasty short order cook through the doorless doorway that led into the kitchen. He had a big beer belly, a very hairy chest and wore one of those dirty white tank top/muscle man under shirts. He was standing by the stove and he had one of those big stainless steel kettles sitting over a high flame. He would stir the contents of the pot then scratch his hairy chest with his fingernails. Stir the soup, scratch his hairy chest, then taste the contents and stir the contents again." Karl slowly shook his head as if confused. "I watched him do this over and over, trying to figure out what he was doing. Then it came to me."

"What came to you?" Kari asked, trying to get Sweet to finish his tale.

"Oh, that chef was just making soup-de-jure from scratch." Karl said with a smug gleam in his eyes.

"You are sick, Sweet, just plain sick." Kari said as the others were laughing and pounding the table.

After the crew quieted down, Paul got their attention and passed on the new information. "The reason I called you together today is to let you know that our current mission has been scrapped." It got very quiet, the crew's jocularity ended, they quickly looked around at each other and then back at Paul as he continued. "We still have a mission and, not only is it a new mission, it has been moved up a few weeks. Our time is less and our task will be harder. I don't have a clue as to what we will be doing and I don't know when we will be told, either. We just have to take this, as we always have, with a grain of salt and continue."

"Could we have a little vinegar on our salt, please. I for one hope this new mission is more exciting than our previous was going to be and, personally, I'm glad they moved it up. We were, after all, just postmen delivering the mail and there are no vicious dogs, in space, to be concerned about," Karl Sweet said with an air of defiance. It would be his third trip into space and, like so many other things, repetition does gets boring.

"That comes from Mr. Sugar himself. He's been in space so many times he has re-entry withdrawals every four months. If he doesn't get a fix real soon he'll lose his girlish charm." Matt Jenson said as he gave a semi high five to Sweet.

"Right on Doormatt, my man." Sweet replied.

"If he is going to lose his, ah, girlish charm, what would I be losing?" Kari Lipkens spoke in her imitation of a valley girl. "For sure, I can't afford to lose anything, for sure, for sure." She shook her blonde hair and pouted her lips as if she were distraught.

"Locks girl, you couldn't lose enough to change your charms. What do you think about this new secret mission and this early blast off? I bet you gonna breaks some hearts when they hear you are leaving sooner than expected." Karl Sweet knew that Kari had no steady boy friend but she was never without a date. She was smart, athletic, and a excellent partner in any undertaking. She was called Curly Locks or Locks because her hair always formed into locks when she worked out or did any rigorous chore. Even though she took pains to straighten her hair on occasion, it would only last for about a half a day. One good workout and she would be locks again.

"I usually don't tell anyone until I get back. Most of them think I'm just out with someone else and they leave a message on my machine." She said this tongue in cheek as she blew on her painted nails.

Samuel Washington had watched and listened in silence. He was in the middle of a bitter divorce and a date had been set for court. Now it would have to be changed or delayed. Cost was a factor and any delay would escalate the price. Moving it up would mean selling the house at a loss to divide between him and his spouse. She wouldn't listen about any delay and she would try to get it done before he left. This meant dumping his house on the market at a ridiculous price to sell quickly. Sometimes he hated NASA and its erratic schedule and its failure to care about its crew's own personal timetable.

"Actually I like the idea of leaving earlier than planned. I have spent a lot of time in this program and I was thinking that perhaps I would never get a chance to make another mission. Now to leave even earlier and on some as yet unidentified mission, I am pumped." Kari curled her right arm to flex her biceps and pulled down quickly in a pump action as she continued with a quick. "Yes!"

"What's up, Yule? You've been very quite and not exactly here with us today. Can you let us in on your thoughts or are they too private?" Paul said as the rest of the crew turned toward Samuel.

"Aw, it's this God dammed divorce." Samuel Washington replied.

"I been meaning to ask you about that. What happen? You guys seemed to be two peas in a pod and then all of a sudden, bam?" Locks asked in sincerity.

"Well there were many things. She found out being the wife of an astronaut was glamorous at first but then that sort of faded for her but not for me. She didn't like being just the wife. Its not all her fault, I have my little idiosyncrasy that makes things difficult sometimes." He replied, knowing what ever he said was like saying it to a lawyer, to her questions.

"Hell, we all have those, but there must have been the straw that broke the camels back?" Kari said as she wished him to continue.

"The only thing I can think is when I used that email joke I had received. I used it in real life." He said shaking his head.

"Ok, now you have us, what email?" Locks countered.

"Well I was in the kitchen, fly swatter in hand, and she asked. (What are you doing?) Dumb right?" Yule said as he looked from one to the other then continued. "Killing flies, I said and she said (Did you kill any?). I said, yep, three males and two females."

"Wait a minutes, you can tell the sex of house flies? How?" Kari asked.

"Sure, same as I told her. The three males were in the family room. Two were on a beer can and one was on the TV remote. The two females, I killed, were out in the kitchen and both were on the phone."

"Crap, I knew it, I just knew it." Is all Kari could think of to say.

"A couple days later a young man stopped me as he said, Mr. Washington, Mr. Samuel Washington? I said, yes. He said I thought that was you, you're the astronaut aren't you? I said yes and he stuck a blue folded paper item in my chest and said considered your self served. We had a court date set and, now with this change in blast off time, I'm afraid Gina will move the date up and I'll probably loose quite a bit on our house. I'm sure the court will require immediate disposal of all property for a quick settlement. As a matter of fact, I'm sure Gina and her lawyer will insist on it. However, I am, as always, ready for that ride into the black void." He also pumped his arm as Kari had done.

"I still have to get this info to Jungleman. Anyone know for sure when George will be back in town. His one week vacation will not be up till Tuesday. I was thinking he might be back on Sunday evening hoping for a few days of rest before returning to duty. I know that's the way I would do it." Paul said as he slowly took in his crew. "If anyone sees him before I do, and if he has any questions, have him come by and talk to me. I don't care if you tell him what I told you, its not classified. As soon as I get some new info I will contact each of you or call another meeting. Disregard any rumors you might hear and wait for the real word from me." Paul cautioned as he dismissed the crew and said goodnight. "Tomorrow is our first day in training for this new mission. Get a good night's rest and I'll see you first thing tomorrow."

Paul now headed home to bring his wife, Jill, up to date on these new developments. She would not be too happy about this early date but she would be pleased that he was still going to get to go. There is always a chance that something would happen and screw up his chance to fulfill a lifelong dream. If that happened, it would disappoint his wife as much as it would him. She too had the dream of him going into space and becoming a worldwide celebrity. She was already famous, but this would escalate her status and give her fame from another direction. As a News Anchor Person for a major network, she was sometimes caught between her search for news and the classified info her husband dealt with. Paul was one person that did not bring his work home with him. It was strictly left at the office. She didn't ask and she didn't take notes when they talked. She simply found him as a regular person and not a news source. The only time she had ever ask him any question about details of his work was when he had been selected to command his first mission to space. She had him on her show and was allowed to ask anything that she considered news worthy. She treated him like any other guest and prodded, pried and coerced him in every way she could to try to get some unknown information that might be of value to her audience. He took it all in stride and answered what he could. After the interview, things went back to normal and it was not even mention that evening, and hasn't really been mentioned since. It's almost like it didn't happen and the person she interviewed was not the husband she lived with. Paul seemed to feel the same way and dealt with it as she had. They had joked about it some time later in a third person sort of way. His wife might say, "I had the most interesting person on my show the other day" and Paul would say, "You should have been with me when I was interview by this most incredible News Anchor Person. She was just the best at getting information out of me." Jill would come back with, "This person I had was very closed mouth and let nothing slip. I don't think we learned a thing new. He did confirm some rumors and express his delight in being in the astronaut field, but we already knew that."

# Chapter 3

##

## Telling the World

Two months since the observation by UGGLY, 0915 EST. Goddard Space Center, Houston, TX.

"I know, I know, it's been, what, 33 years since we last visited the Moon. Now, for reasons, well, I cannot release to the public right now, we are going back." The clamor from the Reporters, gathered at this NASA press conference, made actual questions impossible to understand. Claude Rainwater held up both hands in an attempt to silence the standing crowd. He first spoke softly into the microphones, mounted on the podium, without results. He then raised his voice to auditorium level causing some of the closer speaker to squeal with a high pitch feedback. This feedback noise was enough to startle the reporters into a somewhat medium uproar. "Please, please gentlemen and ladies take, squeeeaaalll, your seats." He paused and waited as they quieted down. "I only have this morning set aside for your questions, so, don't waste it with this unproductive ruckus. I'll answer any questions you have that do not quest for secret, or, information that is considered too sensitive."

Reporter's hands shot up, like volunteers in kindergarten class when treats were offered, trying to get his attention. Claude taking his time tried his best to point out the reporter that first raised her hand with a question. "That's better." Claude said as the noise died down and he pointed at Katherine Wise. Katy to her friends, she was a Journalist with the Washington Chronicle. "Let's start with you, Katy?"

Standing, with her stenographer's pad in her right hand and pointing her pencil's eraser at Claude, she asked. "Katherine Wise, Washington Chronicle, how long has this been in the works?" Katy again took her seat and prepared to write Claude's reply with her left hand. Holding her pencil upside down, as so many left-handed people do, she began writing before Claude could form his answer. What she wrote was the small usual and unusual reactions that they, Claude and the other NASA reps, went through while their answer was concocted and read into the microphone. From their reactions, the forth coming statement would be filled with half truths and maybe even some half baked flat out lies. Katy wondered who they were protecting or, if not who, what they were covering up.

"All I can tell you, at this time, is that we at NASA are in the very early phases of this project, plans are just being put together for the first stage. We decided to bring you in right at the beginning. We do not want a public up rising later in the project that might jeopardizes its completion. I can tell you that we, in the White House and at NASA, feel that this is probably the most significant voyage that we have ever undertaken." Pointing at another reporter, Claude said, "Pete, isn't it?"

The young man stood. "Right, Peter Williams, Sun Herald. Did you decide on this project due to some recent findings or event, or simply because you have finished the Space Station and really don't have a job anymore?" This caused a rumble through the crowd and a scowl from Claude. Holding up his hand Peter proceeded to qualify his question. "I ask this because I heard that Pan Am, American Airlines, and Europe Airbus have reached an agreement and underbid your shuttle program on travel to and from the Space Station." Peter remained standing with somewhat of a smirk on his not so handsome face. He was sure he had aced everyone else out on the possible replacement of NASA's Shuttle news.

Turning around for just a moment and looking at the other NASA reps, Claude smiled, and then while holding on quite tight to the podium, his fingers turning a pale white, he gave his reply to the eager waiting ears. "That is quite a loaded question, Mr. Williams, and I feel it is riddled with a lot of hidden undercurrents but, I will give you an answer. My reply might not represent NASA or the White House but, frankly, I will tell you this, our trip back to the moon has absolutely nothing to do with the travel to and from the Space Station". As you can guess, this did not stop the questions, it seemed to ignite them and they again were in a shouting match with each other.

Claude spent another hour with the news media before calling it quits. After he had left the podium and returned to the Control Center, he quietly went straight to his office and sat down. He removed his glasses spent a few minutes with some concentrated eye massage. He took the, moisture coated, pitcher that his secretary had left on his desk, and poured the iced liquid into a glass tumbler. The tinkling of the ice as it hit the side of the glass was cooling and relaxing. He took the container of water and held it against his forehead until the gathering moisture started to run into his eyes. Setting the glass down, he pulled open the top drawer on the right side of his desk. He removed a bottle of mild pain killers, unscrewed the cap and dumped two into his hand. He popped them into his mouth and chased them down with a mouth full from the glass of ice water.

After completing this ritual, he picked up the red phone and waited for his boss to pick up the other end. The silence on the line ended with a simple "Yes?".

"I handled it as you asked. I don't think it will hold the media off very long. The questions they asked were too close to the mark. I'm sure glad you set the limits of the information boundaries. Without those limits I don't know if I could have dealt with them not given them anything to build on. They only gained one piece of information and that is the return to the Moon. I guess, all in all, that is quite a scoop." Claude paused and waited to see if there were any further instructions.

"Thank you Claude, I'll be in touch." The line went dead and silence replaced the previous, slightly noticeable, electronic background noise.

"Well, that went great. I don't want to be over burden with too much information." Claude said out loud to the empty office. It wasn't the first time he had met the media without even knowing why things had changed, why there was a new mission or why a mission was canceled. As a matter of fact, this was beginning to be the norm rather than the unusual. But you know, he thought, it sure would be nice to know why we are, all of a sudden, going back to the moon.

*******

0915 EST Hanger 10, Cape Canaveral, Florida.

"Whose idea of a Joke is this? We can't turn Discovery around in two months. Come on, Rick, is this your idea? You're always pulling something like this, so go ahead and admit it." Steve Peterson pointed accusingly and watched as Rick Smith smiled and shook his head and mouthed a negative answer.

"Not me." He silently mouthed.

"If it wasn't you, then this means that someone in the headshed has shed their head." He now had to except it for real. "Well shit, OK, listen up people, we have an impossible task. We have got to turn our baby, OV-103, here around and get it ready for another trip. Not only that, I have here some unusual changes and additions to the structure and to the bay of the ship. Pick them up from your work order bins and lets get started." He could see the questions forming in their minds. "Please, questions will have to wait, Thank you." Steve, like Claude, also headed back to his office for, hopefully, a few quiet moments. Then he must take on the task of trying to decipher these new orders, get these changes completed in record time and insure that quality control is met, or surpassed, in all endeavors.

Similar situations were repeated in three other hangers. They too must turn their vehicles around for an unscheduled early launch. Their Hanger Chiefs had little or no info on why the rush and why the changes. They only had their instructions and they must motivate their people to get it done. A quick phone call from Hanger Chief to Hanger Chief did little to answer any questions, it only raised their curiosity to a new level. Amongst them selves they decided, questions to each other were a waste of time and that any results gained would be less than satisfactory. Since the modification to the Shuttles were Classified, no mention was made or comparisons ventured. They would have misunderstood the reason all shuttle were having the same modification and additions. They probably would have jump to the conclusion that a structural problem had been encountered and steps were being taken to correct it, which of course was not the reason.

********

0915 EST, Recycle Belly Tank Farm, Simca, PA

"Do we have five reconditioned Centerline Belly Tanks for the Shuttles?" Cal Collins asked as he read the, Overnight Postal Order, request form. "I know we have four. Did we receive the last one that was recovered from the Atlantic Ocean?" Cal saw Bob nodding his head. "What kind of shape is it in?"

"Not sure. As you know, it was down there being used as a underwater habitat for EVA practices by some of our astronauts. It was there for several months. We have it on the Inspection Stand but we haven't pulled the lid to look inside." Gesturing with his left hand Bob continued. "The exterior is in great shape as far as we have checked. Of course, no x-rays have been taken and all the seals have to be replaced, that is, if the pictures are good." Bob paused for a moment and then asked. "Why do we need five? We only have three operational shuttles." He remained standing as he awaited the answer.

"That's ok as long as we have a fifth one, one of the other four is still in for minor refitting and repairs. And to answer your question, I don't know why they need five but, since we have all five on hand, we can fill their request, even with the little or no time they gave us." Cal said as he shook the request form above his head, sat back down and reached for the phone. He hit the speed dial button and heard the number tones as they were automatically dialed. He heard the rings as they went through. After two and a half rings the phone was picked up and he heard the familiar voice.

"Go ahead." it said.

"We'll have those five tanks ready in plenty of time." Cal replied.

"Thanks." Those were the only words spoken, then a click and the return of the dial tone. Cal had never met the familiar voice. Whoever he is, he knew he was a man of few words. Cal normally talked to him once or twice a year. The normal order was for one tank. "What the heck could have come up to require five? Hell," He thought. "As Bob had said, NASA only has three operational shuttles. Why are we sending up extra tanks? Are we going to refuel a squadron, so they can do some kind of close order drill or space stunt?" His asking himself questions was a normal routine. However, Cal didn't know how close he was. If he had even one small piece of evidence from the UGGLY lab he wouldn't be asking himself any questions. He could put two and two together and get five. He also didn't know that a brand new shuttle was rolling off the production line in short order.

Similar request had hit all NASA Sub Contractors at or about the same time. Most of the question each asked were similar, however, no provable conclusions could be reached by anyone. The ball, however, was in their court and they had decided to run with it. They had proven themselves in the years past and they saw no reason why they could not continue with their spotless accommodating record. They also knew they would find out, sometime in the future, what happened and why they now had to go at a breakneck pace to provide their own special apparatus.

The separate crews were, at present, setting up rotating shift schedules, so work could be continued around the clock. This was the only way that the set deadlines could be realized. In any case, some additional personnel would have to be hired. Individuals would have to make personal plans with spouses and childcare centers to relieve them of their household responsibilities during these unusual work hours. Whatever NASA's reasons or goals were, whatever the demands on the people connected with them is, an individual's life must still continue. This was understood by all, from boss to worker, and allowances would be made. Those people, who would be required to work the second and third shifts, were headed to the locker rooms to change clothes, pick up their uneaten lunch and head for home. They would try to use this short period of time to prepare for the late shifts and make necessary arrangement according to their personal needs. Workers assigned to the day shift were already at their task. Checking over the revisions and additions to the already multi tasked rework of components, computers were brought on line and new calculations and restrictions were being input to make the necessary upgrades. All the shops wondered if their particular work orders had anything to do with or prompted by the news reports of NASA planning on going back to the moon.

******

Chantyville, VA. ten days later, 1300 Hrs

"I don't know how we can put this thing into operation. It was built as a test vehicle and not expected to be launched or flown into outer space. Sure it passed all the Taxi Test, Captive-Inactive Flights, Captive-Active Flights and Free Flights with, shall I say, flying colors." Ben Knoles still held the telephone loosely, even though, he was particular animated and excited. "But Christ, Jim, it was sitting at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D C. since November 1985. Then it was transferred to Chantyville, VA for the last few years. Tons of visitors have walked on it, climbed through it, twisted all it's knobs and did who knows what to it. You know those stanchions with ropes and do not enter signs do not keep everyone out and some people just can't read or they refuse to believe that the posted signs meant them."

Ben listened for a while before he said anything. He did, however, nod his head at some of the comments, and there were many, made by the individual on the other end of the Phone. He agreed with him in all except the conclusion that the Shuttle Enterprise could be retrofitted and made air and space worthy.

"Yes, I know how many Star Trek fans there are and I realize how fitting it would be for the Enterprise to undertake this prestigious mission, however, can it be done in the time allowed? It's going to cost mega bucks and require many man hours before it can even be decided if it is feasible." Ben knew he was probably repeating questions and problems that had already been addressed, but he couldn't help himself. He just wanted to make sure that this is what they, NASA, wanted to do. Even though he thought it, he didn't ask why they needed five shuttles. What could require five shuttles to accomplish that four couldn't do and why was this time frame so important?

The conversation ended, however, as Ben knew it would. It was to be done and that was the end of it. He would start the procedure to reacquire the shuttle and then get it ready to go piggyback on a Boeing 747 taking it back to an active hanger. There it would be prepared for structural testing and possible retrofitting for a trip into outer space.

# Chapter 4

## Recruiting

San Francisco, CA

It was a sprinkling rain at Candle Stick Park, recently changed back to the original name by the San Francisco fans. The game was on TV and the San Francisco 49'ers were hosting the Houston Texans in a, division leader deciding regular season game. Pete Dobson, last year's Heisman Trophy winner, throwing for the 49er's, was playing this his sixth game as an NFL quarterback. His third pass was just picked off by Darrel Reggs and ran back 60 yards for a touchdown. This was to be his last game of the season, although he did not know it, simply because Pete had a Doctorate in Space Technology and Physics. His country would ask him for help in conjunction with the incident as seen through UGGLY.

Sacramento, CA

One week had passed since the World Series final game was decided. It ended in the bottom of the ninth with the score 0 to 1. Chris Sams, Sliding Sam, was attempting a "pitch out" to put the current batter on base so he could pitch to the Dakota relief pitcher, southpaw rookie, Jerry Pitts. Sam's mathematical mind had calculated the probability of accomplishing his intentions and he knew the results to three decimal points. As calculated the pitch out was successful, the bases were loaded and now Jerry Pitts would take his uncomfortable turn at the plate. Jerry had batted six times this season and was 0 and six or batting absolute zero. Knowing how unsure and nervous the young batter was, Chris took his good old sweet time. He shook off a couple of pitches suggested by the catcher, stepped back from the rubber and dusted his hands with resin. Jerry looked at the umpire, as if begging for some assistance. The umpire just shrugged and got back in position as Chris stepped back on the rubber. Chris then took the first sign offered by the catcher and went into his windup. The pitch Chris threw was his famous slider, however it failed to slide and went wild sailing over the catcher's head bouncing off the wire screen some 10 yards in back of the umpire. The runner at third crossed the plate while the crowd stood in awed silence. The Sacramento Parabolics had allowed the winning run to score from third on a simple pitcher's error. Their first time in the playoffs and the first time in the World Series had ended on a wild pitch. If it hadn't have been for NASA's phone call later that night, Chris might have gone into a yearlong depression of self doubt and solitary guilt over his mistake.

NASA's phone call and Chris's other life had resurfaced to lift him out of his self condemnation. Readily he accepted the request from the space agency. His bags were packed and he was waiting for the bellboy and his final bill. He was headed to the Cape to assist in whatever mission NASA had planned in any way he could.

Pete and Chris were not the only individuals called or recalled by NASA to assist in this phenomenon, however, they were the best known. Many other personnel who's job at NASA, had been eliminated or where manpower cut backs had forced them to change jobs, were asked to return to their previous positions. The task that NASA was looking at was unprecedented and enormous. It would take every qualified person they could find, if they were to accomplish their new mission in the time frame the involved governments had laid out for them.

The Youngest and most unusual recruitment sought by NASA was Bobbi Larson. Bobbi was a high school junior in the IB (International Baccalaureate) Program at Mira Loma High School in Sacramento, CA. Her skewed way of looking at things and her ability to put them down on paper had attracted a lot of attention from sources unbeknownst to her. One of her papers on, "Interstellar Communication", "Problem Avoidance", had given the NASA Engineers the idea for the design of the Five Shuttle Array. In fact, the complete design and layout was almost detailed out entirely, down to the nth degree. She did not refer to the shuttles as such, but the way she described the scenario made it easy to substitute those ships into the layout. Using the outdated shuttles will save numerous dollars and prevented re-inventing the wheel, so to speak. With so much attention and waste prevention and economic impact, the use of a soon to be scrapped vehicle had already won many points for NASA from environmentalist involved in the project and believe me there are quite a few.

To say Bobbi Larson was shocked when approached by NASA Officials is an understatement. Called into the principal's office in the first place, had left its marks in her demeanor and so her ability to absorb and understand the situation was momentarily blocked. It goes without mentioning that when you are sent to the Principal's Office, you presume you are in trouble and need some type of ready defense. It doesn't matter that you are the best and brightest student in the school. The principal's office still held the most, in lieu of better words, absolute terror of any place in school. Your bedroom closet at midnight, when you were five, was never as frightening as "THE PRINCIPAL'S OFFICE" to a teenager. She had heard that a trip here and then a trip out the door was a small step for mankind in the annuals of high school life. What would her mom and dad say and what would happen to her college plans. Her idea of her future did not allow black marks of any kind.

When the principle introduced the NASA Officials and they displayed their IDs and Bobbi reluctantly accepted one but mistook them for FBI, her face paled. She tried to think of what had she done to bring on the wrath of the federal government? The thought of her being kicked out of high school was gone. Her mind shot back to the movie "War Games" and the trouble Mathew Broadwick had gotten into by hacking into the computer of the government. True, she was a whiz at the computer and could make it sing in more ways than her teachers could understand, but she could not recall any hacking she had done. It all had to be accidental and unintentional on her part. Her mind raced so that the comments of the officials were initially lost as she stood with a blank stare at their IDs.

Clyde Mason, the principle, took Bobbi's hand and led her to a chair and said, "Bobbi, here, please sit and try to relax. You are not in any trouble and these folks actually need your help."

"The FBI needs my help?" Bobbi said as she took her eyes from the ID she held and looked up at the principle.

"FBI? No they are from the National Space Agency, you know NASA." Principle Mason said as he pointed toward the officials and the ID she still held.

Bobbi's head came up as color rushed back into her face. She raised her hand and held the IDs up for a closer look and her lips moved as she read the red colored "N.A.S.A." stamped across the middle of the laminated ID card. "NASA, you are from NASA?" Bobbi whispered to her self as she shook her head in amazement at what she was seeing. Her thoughts raced "Interstellar Communication, you're here about interstellar communication aren't you?" "Problem Avoidance!" she blurted as she nodded her head and smiled.

Bobbi's transfer to Florida met with very little resistance. Although the actual reason for the trip to the moon was not known, the fact that one of their students would be involved raised their status as a learning facility. Bobbi was still in the IB program only this time with a one on one teacher. It was home schooling at its best, done while she was at work. She had her own office and she had the layout of the shuttles and NASA's total communication system. She did not do the nuts and bolts of the system but she did lay out the way things should go and the way the shuttles should be linked together radio wise.

It was a kick for some of the old timers, those 35 or 40 years old, to venture by her office with a quick question or comment about her latest design changes. They were professionals and respected her advanced knowledge of the techniques of communication.

Facilities that had been closed or consolidated with other similar factions were now being reopened and brought up to date. The availability and the speed of the new computers were now only limited by the ability and the competence of the programmers. They were purchased and made available to anyone involved. Once the programs were designed and stored the output was incredibly fast. The amount of storage space on a single hard disc, the mega bytes of ram available and the speed of the new processors and internal busses left no bottlenecks in the small PC's. The, smaller than a book, size and the disc capacity of the new lap tops allowed the work to travel with the technicians where ever they had to go. The new programs, Microsoft had developed and the small hand held satellite units, kept all the engineers connected and up to date with their office and provided the absolute latest information. This would prevent personnel and any two technicians reworking someone elves problems, just to come to the same conclusions. Problems and their solutions would be immediately available to anyone who needed it. In most of the cubicles, engineers were bent over drawing tables, staring at computer screens or speaking softly on hands free communication devices. Individual celebrity status was forgotten, however, teamwork would be the mainstay of this enormous endeavor. As everyone knew, the alteration of any kind could cause unforeseen problems. In a space going vehicle unforeseen problems were, in any case, unacceptable.

These PCs kept the hangers that housed the shuttles up to date and progress was amazing. The time tables would be met and launches that are scheduled should now be realized.

# Chapter 5

## Designing

"Look at the size of this thing. It's hard to imagine five of these together, tail to tail and wing to wing. It'll look like some type of Christmas tree ornament, well, except for its size." Jim Wilford said as he drew lines to measure the diameter of the Five Shuttle Array. "This thing is going to be awesome. Do you think it should rotate slowly to create gravity as it travels through space toward the moon? We will have to have some way of getting from the shuttles to the array without having to don space suits." Jim said continuing to sketch.

"Rotate? I am not sure if it should rotate, let me think on that. I do know, we will need some type of docking portal that leads from the shuttles into the passageways that connects all of the orbiters while they are part of the Array. Any added hatches will be required to seal from the passageways or from the bays of the shuttles." Saul Bachman replied, as he pointed at the sketch with the sharp end of the # 2 pencil, something he always carried with him. "I can't wait to see this thing put together on one of the Cad programs. I can then rotate it, go inside, look at it from a distance, remove one ship or remove them all to see how the array will look when no ships are present. Well, I'll let you get back to your drawing. Let me know when you have a Cad slide presentation ready."

Saul returned to his desk and the calculation that were waiting. As he returned to work a few of his thoughts were softly spoken out loud, "Weight, main array rocket engine size, type of fuel required, amount of fuel and velocity projection, amount of fuel for stopping and distance required. God, there are so many questions and all the answers must be correct. There is no room for oops." Saul slowly shook his head as he punched some figures into his calculator, looked at the results and jotted them down on the notepad lying on the desk. Although he was mainly concerned with the building of the Array, these and all the other requirements would have to be addressed at sometime during most of the Array design stages. He puts those, other requirements, away and left them for the engineers who were or would be assigned to them.

Should it rotate? With the array rotating for gravity, balance would be one of the most important factors. Use of items like food, fuel, water and etc. would have to be regulated and rotated to keep the ship balanced during the trip. There would also have to be some type of movable weights, that automatically moved around the perimeter of the array, these would offset personnel movements and supply draw down during the flight. These weights could be moved and placed by using a device that simulated an automotive automatic tire balancer. A minor lost of balance would be relayed to the computer and the weights would be moved around the perimeter of the array and stopped where the additional ballast was needed. Simple to explain, difficult to put into reality. Of course every bit of weight that would be used had to be lifted into space on one of the numerous shuttle trips. Maybe moving water from tank to tank would be a better way to balance the array. That way, extra dead weight would not be needed and shuttle trips could be used for more important items. Saul now thought maybe there was a way to double the use of any and all the items aboard the ship to keep it balanced. Even empty containers would be regulated and accounted for and their storage would have to be precisely placed.

Saul continued his thinking as he calculated with the weights, thrust, speed and cargo. He thought the Array will need two types of holding apparatus to lock the shuttles in place. He thought one will be an actual mechanical lock with a sliding collar and retractable pin design. The other should be magnetic. When the shuttles are ready for release the mechanical pin will be retracted and the magnetic lock will hold until release is ready. All shuttle should be release at the same time and done while still rotating. This will spread them out automatically into an ever increasing star pattern. This pattern will then be used to surround the moon with shuttles and prevent the loss of communication while the actual Lunar Landers are on the back side away from the earth's view of the lunar surface. I can just see them as they approach the orbit of the moon. They will be miles apart but always in touch due to their position and each will follow the same orbit around the moon. It will be awesome and efficient to no end. The spin of the array will cast the shuttles out and keep them moving around as they approach orbit. A final burn will set each in orbit, all in the same direction. All the flight planners have to do is make sure the orbit intersect the location of the area that is to be investigated. Would that work? I have to talk to some of the orbital engineers to see what the best scenario would be.

"Look at this Jim." Lupe Martinez said as he held up a small paper model of what he thought the Array Control Module should look like. It was like a geometric dome with one row of windows circling the top half. "See, it has 360 degree vision. With it like this, you can see where you are going, where you been, and see what or if you are still carrying your payload." He slowly rotated the model with the windows parallel to the ground.

"I think we can use that idea. We will need quite a lot of space for the array pilot and shuttle crews." Jim said as he tapped his pencil on his clipboard. Jim pointed with the eraser of the pencil at Lupe's model as he continued. "Work up some ways to attach it to the array and we'll present it at the next staff briefing." Jim then watched as Lupe headed back to his cubicle, flying the control model like a paper airplane, swooping up and down as he went. Jim had thought of a suggestion but he figured that Lupe would see it also when he started looking at ways to attach the model to the array. He would keep the suggestion to himself and allow Lupe the space needed to see it for himself.

"We don't have the time to design and test new rocket engines for the array. We have to use what has been tested and used before. The problem we face is getting these engines into orbit using the space shuttles as carrier. Maybe, If we could get the fuel for the shuttle engines into orbit, somehow get the belly tanks up there and then refill them, we could use all the shuttles main engines to power the array to and from the moon." Saul paced as he talked to his staff. This was just to be a brain storming session to see what would float to the surface. "Any fresh idea's, anyone?" Saul twirled his # 2 pencil as he surveyed the room for any responses. He acknowledged each person as they added their comments and inputs. After all ideas were vented and recorded, Saul turned the floor over to Lupe who displayed his round model of the control pod. The suggestions that Jim had thought of were now included in this, Lupe's most recent product. There were now two separate sections of windows. One faced the front upper portion of the control module and spanned approximately one quarter of the circumference of the geometric sphere. This would be where the pilot and Array crew controlled the massive vessel. Another row of windows, about the same span, faced to the rear of the pod. This span was the same width as the one in front. One small row facing aft and one row facing forward seemed adequate.

"I changed the design I had shown you earlier, Jim. I realized that there was actually no reason why the Array should be turning. The little gravity induced into the shuttle bays is not worth the problems that would be incurred. I think all the personnel should realize that they are in space and we should keep it simple and deal with those problems, believe me, those are enough," Jim added his agreement and the rest of the staff was complimentary about the design. They all could see how easy it would be, the transfer to and from the assembly in space could be rapidly accomplished. They also knew that similar geometric dome parts were already designed. They were, at present, being used in the existing space station. The personnel, needed to assemble this in space, were already trained and, in fact, in place. This change in application would not be very difficult. The space station had six different size domes located through out the assembly so, there is a good chance that a dome in the appropriate size was already manufactured and just waiting to be altered for this new purpose.

Shortly after the meeting, Saul's Secretary placed the, typed up, ideas on his desk. Although Saul had total recall, these notes would be necessary and all staff members will get a copy. The suggestions were so in line with each other that the decision to go one route over another was not an issue. Most comments were an extension of the prior one or attacked a different subject altogether. The use of contradictions was not present in any of the notes or attitudes of the staff. The acceptance of the other person's ability had made his team the most responsive and most respected engineering team that had ever worked for NASA. As good as they were, Saul knew that this would probably be their ultimate test and the peak of their accomplishments. It would be a tough row to hoe, but the accolades would for out weight the price tag and labor involved.

"Do we have enough trained personnel with EVA experience to assemble this in space?" Pete Dobson asked as he looked at the suggested array design on the computer and the small model that had been passed around the office.

"No, at present we do not, however, we will have by the time this is accomplished. Remember, we did not have any, until the first person did an EVA and then we only had one with any experience after that first space walk. The things we learned from then till now have enable us to simulate an EVA without actually completing the real thing," Saul assured Pete as he pointed out some of the suggested modification of the shuttles. "See how each shuttle will be sealed and become an intricate part of the complete design. Access to and from the shuttles, while a part of the Array, need not require any type of protected gear or space suits when this design is complete. Shuttle bays will be pressurized. While the array is in route to its destination, work or assembly of any type can be accomplished as if the crew was in earth's atmosphere. If you look inside the array itself you will see access tubes connecting each shuttle to a central modules and passageways that give you a route to the main pod. This pod will contain a briefing room, main cafeteria, exercise gym and the Array Control Room. Oh, and just in back of the main pod will be a jogging track. It will now be the only part of the array that can rotate. This track will give the jogger gravity and a sense of control over his environment."

"Sounds like a lot of work and maybe a very boring trip to where ever. The jogging track sounds like a good idea, however, not everyone is a jogger. What about those who just like to be entertained during their free time? Will there be any free time?" Pete asked as he held the small model and simulated its rotation in his hand.

"They should and if I have my way, the exercise gym will have a combination of equipment to, hopefully, fill almost anyone's desires. Stair climbers, stationary bikes, BowFlex type lift equipment and such. I also hope to have an area for some type of no gravity team competition, like shuttle crew against shuttle crew. Maybe we can develop a sport or, hey, maybe you can develop a sport that they could use. Well, it is just a thought, but if you are not completely buried with other task, you could think about this as a significant part of the mission. Our personnel's wellbeing is a prerequisite to any type of long voyage. Free time is not really free if your environment overtly binds you to what you can or cannot do," Saul said as he prepared to leave.

"I'll give it some thought and I think your suggestion about a type of team sport is well-founded and would truly be fun to participate in. I know you have other fish to fry, so let me mull this over and see what I can come up with in my spare time," Pete said as he shook Saul's hand and said goodbye.

# Chapter 6

## Communications

As explained in Bobbi Larson's High School Thesis, constant communication would be a requirement if an anomaly were discovered in space. Waiting for a communication satellite or orbiter to orbit any planet or even earth could prevent an necessary observation and lead one to use false data thereby giving one some undesired results. Losing communication during one of these unusual and, no doubt stressful times, is not only unacceptable, it is preventable.

Communication with an orbiting satellite is unlike the communication loss during re-entry of the space shuttle. How much that short blackout affects the people at mission control, and the astronauts themselves, has to be documented and some personnel may even require counseling to relieve posttraumatic stress. This particular blackout still exist, and solving this particular problem, without changing the method of re-entry, is still beyond the ability of NASA.

Bobbi also wrote about the moon landings and the constant communication with the astronauts that were isolated on the surface. This simple voice lifeline, I am sure, prevented many individual problems that we, on the moon's surface and on earth, never had to deal with. This non-interrupted communication was only possible because the landings were on the side of the moon that faced the earth. What if the landings were on the backside of the moon. Communication with anyone on the backside would only be possible through an orbiting ship, and only during the time the orbiter was in line of sight with the Lander and in line of sight with the earth. This period of time would be very short because line of sight communication would be, most of the time, prevented by the natural curvature of the moon itself.

The one and only known way to prevent these blackouts is to place multiple communication buoys (satellites) in space, in an orbit around the moon. These buoys could be linked together providing constant contact with anyone on the moon surface back to the control center on earth. We of course do have those types of satellites, however we do not as yet have the vehicle to transport them and set then in place around the moon but we do have the shuttles. The shuttles already have this communication capability. The shuttles also have the ability to control and insert themselves into orbit where ever they are needed. Getting them to the moon is another problem, however, that problem is currently being solved in another area of NASA.

Bobbi's Thesis covers the altitude, spacing and orbit location for a successful and secure communication contact with anyone anywhere on the surface of the moon. It was as if she had foreseen the current incident and had worked out a scenario that would fit. The only thing NASA had to do was take the info she provided and run with it.

Why a five shuttle array? According to Bobbi's calculations it would take six equally space vehicles, orbiting the moon, to insure no interruption or communication blackouts. In order to fill this bill five shuttles and one other vehicle, the main Array, would be required. Spaced correctly in orbit around the moon they would alleviate communication loss due to line of sight. The altitude of the shuttle's orbit would allow a significant increase in the range of communication. As one shuttle would began to leave line of sight with a moon base transmitter the next shuttle would already be visible and in contact with it. This constant pinwheel of orbiting contacts would be linked together and also linked to earth base. The shuttle behind the moon would be in line of sight contact with the next shuttle in orbit and the previous and these would be in line of sight with the next shuttle who would be in line of sight with the next. This would continue until the orbiting circle of communication is complete and one or two of the shuttles would always be in line of sight with the earth. Any shuttle would be in line of sight contact with at least two of the other orbiting shuttles at all times forward and backward.

NASA at the Cape was flying high, so to speak. There are two things that really gets KSC going and those two are, a launch that has been scheduled in the near future and the arrival of a new orbiter. How high were they flying now? They had both of these things on their plate. Not only that, there were multiple launches that would have to be dealt with. This of course included the recovery, retrofit and launch again of each of the shuttles. Most of the launches would be made to transport supplies and construction material for the building of the 5 Shuttle Array. The final launches would complete the Array's construction. Each of the shuttles would then become an intricate part of this Array, mounted around the stern and connected electrically.

OV-106 was just a bit sleeker because they modified and curved the forward fuselage windows and a few other minor changes. The bay doors were extended and would open wider allowing more useable space and easier loading and extraction of cargo. The thermal protection material, however was the current (AFRSI) Advanced Flexible Reusable Surface Insulation. This batting is between two layers of white fabric sewn together to form a quilted blanket. This quilting reduced the weight, cost and fabrication time over the previous LRSI tiles. This fabric is used where temperatures stayed below 1200 degrees F. Why reinvent the wheel when the wheel worked as expected.

The leading edges and places where the temperature exceeded 2300 degrees F. still used the Reinforced Carbon-Carbon (RCC) Tiles for insulation and thermal protection but now with a different adhesive. The bottom and places where the RCC was not used now used a black high-temperature reusable surface insulation tile (HRSI). Things like, around the forward fuselage windows, and most places where RCC is not used that lead into the AFRSI blankets. It was kind of a buffer between the extreme high temperatures and the lower ones seen on reentry. The area where the new docking port had been installed was surrounded and covered by RCC primarily for insurance making this area a little over protected due to not being tested in space. This protection was done on all the orbiters when this port was installed and all those area wherever it was needed used the new adhesive.

The hanger assigned to the new OV-106 had previously housed Challenger. These personnel had suffered a loss that had been almost unprecedented in the annual of space travel. The only other incident that compared was the loss of Columbia. Those that were employed during that loss were ecstatic about the arrival of OV-106. Those that weren't employed at that time had also caught the fever. The hanger was pristinely spit and polished in expectation of the arrival of their new baby. All the hanger's personnel were present and accounted for, out on the apron, when the carrier Boeing 747 landed. They all stood in anticipation while they monitored the removal, a time consuming major operation, of the orbiter from off the top of the large aircraft. They walked beside the orbiter as the tug towed it from the apron into the lair that they had prepared for it. They all stood in awe until the large hanger doors were finally closed and the orbiter became theirs officially. They then turned to their task that would make this one special. Their task was to prep this guy for the trips into the black void and back a couple times and then send her to the Array for a trip to the moon and back.

Every time the personnel talked about this shuttle they used the complete name, OV-106. They tried many times to assign a permanent name but nothing they tried seemed right. Challenger II was quickly discarded because it brought back to many memories and might tag this vehicle with bad luck. The other names they tried did not have enough depth or sound majestic enough for the adventurer this vessel will be. Here are a few they considered. Resurrection, Phoenix, Venture, Prestige, Revelation, Virtues, Virtue, Prosperity, Guardian and Absolute. They discarded Resurrection and Phoenix right away because it made them remember the destruction of Challenger. Phoenix rising out of the fire, the fire could be the flaming debris of Challenger's final launch and Resurrection was like bringing back to life that previously destroyed vehicle and its crew. This vessel was new and its name should be new, at least to the shuttle fleet. When its name is mention in the future, the thought should only be about it and its accomplishments, not some previous unfortunate disaster.

After many tries they gave up and left it as it is. No one wanted just any old name and no one wanted a name that might later come back to haunt them with its insignificance. When it flew, it would be this hanger and its personnel that flew with it. If it excelled, they excelled and if it failed, well their job was to make sure that it didn't fail, at least not on their account. This would be their testimony to the world that this hanger and this vessel were among the best. This would be true even if it didn't yet have a name.

# Chapter 7

## Enterprise

Traffic had been stopped and the area was cordoned off. Hatches had been closed and access inside was no longer allowed. The wall of the  Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center museum, next to the shuttle, had been removed and the road leading into this particular bay had been reconstructed to allow extraction. The tug for the shuttle's tow to the flight line had been airlifted in and had now been attached. The path to the airstrip had been mapped out and traffic was stopped for a moment at each interchange during the short trip. The path is not a direct line as the height and width of the shuttle predetermines the requirements necessary for a safe passage through the side streets of Chantilly, Virginia. Pilot cars with flashing yellow lights and large wide load signs precede and follow the shuttle as it meanders on its short earth bound mission.

The brief trip was completed and the Enterprise was safely moored at the airstrip. This small jaunt through town is to be the first leg of a journey that will hopefully take this vessel to the moon and back. This proud ship, that had represented our endeavors in space to millions of visitors but had never even taken a voyage out of earth's atmosphere, will now debark on the task it was originally created for, a mission into space. But first, there has to be a trip to Florida and refurbishment.

Several weeks ago one of NASA's aircraft, a C-5A Galaxy, had arrived with the erector set type steelworks and hoist. This equipment is used to lift and place the orbiter onto a modified Boeing 747. This large aircraft is used to transport the shuttle to the Kennedy Space Center (KSC). Hoisting the orbiter up into the framework went without any snares. The Enterprise now hung almost a sixty feet above the tarmac in its temporary cradle. The short wait for the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft had begun and that arrival is due in short order.

The Boeing 747 was cleared for a straight in approach and the ship's landing light was picked up by the naked eye when it was more than 10 miles out. It was quite on approach and seemed to slowly float in with a touchdown light as a feather. The twenty-five tons that had been stripped and removed, during modification to be the carrier, made its unloaded flight seem effortless. A small puff of blue smoke appeared as the main landing gear wheels contacted the porous concave tarmac of the runway. The nose gear followed shortly and the sound of the engines increased as they were used to assist in slowing the large vehicle. The taxiway that led straight to the orbiter's location was taken and the three-story ship turned and rolled toward the man with the signal batons. Holding the batons high above his head he pointed the two-lighted wands at the approaching vessel and pulled the wands back above and past the noise suppressors fitted tightly to his head. These repeated motions were as if he had some invisible strings attached to the ship that he now used to pulled the aircraft into the planned position. He brought the aircraft slowly forward then moved the batons up over his head and across each other making an X. The nose of the large vehicle dipped as it stopped. The puppeteer had completed his performance and the strings now fell limp and his puppet sat as if it were now lifeless.

The mobile, pickup mounted, steps were quickly driven up to the aircraft and hydraulically settled softly to the ground. As soon as the steps were extended and secured flush on both sides of the front exit, the door of the 747 was opened and folded back out of the way. The whine of the large jet engines decreased slowly and soon became silent as they were shut down ceasing their internal rotation. One of the crew members appeared at the top of the steps, stopped, turned and said something to someone inside the aircraft then made his way down the narrow steps. He climbed inside a small airport van now waiting near the bottom of the mobile staircase. This van had arrived unnoticed by the vehicle directing puppeteer. The other members of the flight crew, seeming too small in number for such a huge craft, soon followed. Now loaded the waiting van departed taking the crew to their quarters for their overnight stay. The aircraft now sat as if it were looking at the suspended orbiter trying to decide how to approach it.

The yellow diesel powered tug approached from under the left wing of the aircraft and made its way to the front of the enormous craft. It passed to the left of the nose gear and went a short way in front and then stopped, squared itself with the line of the aircraft, then backed up slowly. The man, now with the signal batons put away, guided the tug back and secured the tug to the nose gear in preparation for the tow necessary to place the carrier under the suspended orbiter.

The tug pulled the 747 in and through the steelworks until the nose of the aircraft extended out the far side and the wings came in near the framework on each side. The aircraft now sat directly below and in line with the hanging orbiter. Now in place, the 747 was parked and the wheels were chocked to prevent movement while loading the shuttle.

The loading, taking several hours, went without a hitch except the hitches that were used to secure the two aircraft together. As twilight approached lights throughout and around the orbiter came on maintaining the visibility that had been present during the daytime. Work continued as if there was no change in the way things were illuminated. When the loading was complete the large tug, still attached, slowly backed the loaded vehicle out of the hoisting hardware and back onto the taxiway. When clear, of the now empty framework, the tug pulled the heavy vessel around and positioned it facing down the taxiway that lead to the main runway. The steps were again put in place and the wait for dawn and the return of the crew began. Looking back at the steelworks the lights winked out as each section of the framework was vacated of personnel. When all the lights had been extinguished the massive structure was still visible, however, now it looked like latticework against the dark night sky a towering, not so solid wall, high and wide seemingly without depth.

The dawn brought the expected activity. The crew returned, boarded, and prepared the superstructure aircraft for flight. The flying characteristics of the loaded vehicle changed a small amount with the addition of the orbiter. This change had been input into the carrier's computer and allowances for the control systems differences were present.

The tower cleared the plane for departure and the engine power was pushed to maximum. Take off roll was a little longer and rotation speed was a little higher due to the additional weight and change in airflow over and around the two vehicles that would now be flying as one. The power of the four jet turbines pushed the aircraft to rotation speed and the tandem vehicles started their climb to transport velocity and elevation. The vehicle reached 10,000 feet altitude and would maintain this throughout the trip. The two connected aircraft were kept aloft solely by the brute force of the four engines on the 747. Fuel consumption had increased considerably and some of the deflected wind buffeted the rear stabilizer as it flowed unevenly around the orbiter and struck the horizontal fin. This noise and minor vibration was heard and felt even up in the cockpit of the lengthy vessel. This however was the norm.

Touchdown at KSC was uneventful and as smooth as ever. This scenario had been repeated numerous times and had become a routine. This particular episode, however, was a little different to the people in Hanger 39B. They were ecstatic as they waited anxiously for this particular arrival. They had been chosen as the hanger that would take in the Enterprise and make it space worthy.

The Hanger Chief, Darrel Smoltz, was a Star Trek and Star Trek the Next Generation product. Captain James T Kirk and Jean-Luc Picard were respected family members in the way Darrel treated them. At home in his office he had the complete video series of Star Trek the Next Generation all 87 volumes in a bookcase next to a Sharp's 32" LCD flat widescreen TV and a Sony DVD/Video player. Ten limited edition plates hung in a decorative pattern on one wall. Each plate was numbered and represented a specific episode of the TV series that spanned numerous years of his young life. I am sure that this attachment in many ways determined the future and the job he now held.

Darrel now sat in the third floor corner office of Hanger 39B and looked out on the taxiway that lead from the main runway into this hanger. He watched and waited for the first view of the tug and Enterprise as it approached. He knew that the unloading of the shuttle from the carrier was completed and arrival was eminent. He was kept up to date of this progress as it occurred.

The tug appeared from around the nearby building and the rear stabilizer of the orbiter came into view over this single story structure. As both vehicles emerged into full view and turned on this final taxiway leading to his hanger, Darrel picked up the PA mike and alerted his people.

"Our future approaches, please open the doors and welcome the arrival of the Enterprise." The sound echoed throughout the interior of the large new home of the Enterprise. As the hanger doors split and recessed into each side of the hanger a huge cry went up from the people as they stood, cheered and applauded this monumental arrival. To be chosen for this honor was almost more than they could stand. It would have been even more unbelievable if Darrel had not known that this hanger and his people were the best NASA had to offer. No longer would visiting children and adults, foreign and domestic, tramp around point and stare at this marvelous historical vehicle. Now maintenance workers with white coveralls, hairnets and booties would be the only thing scurrying in and around the Enterprise. They would probe, test, remove, replace and bring up to date all aspects of this vessel. Darrel and his crew would insure the survivability and topnotch performance of this mainstay of the shuttle inventory as it fulfills its new mission and then, maybe, actually go where no man has gone before.

# Chapter 8

## Backyard Stargazers

For the past 6 years, Chris and his dad, Jacob Cummings, had spent at least two four hour sessions a week on their deck, in the back yard. These four-hour sessions were scheduled and met as if they were a paying position in some elite company. The thirteen inch, motor driven, computer controlled, automatic tracking, reflector telescope was the center of these sessions. Half hour intervals were set as the trade off period. Chris would search for a half hour then be relieved by his dad, who would then search for a half hour before it became Chris's turn again. Each session would deal with a different minute quadrant of space, that is unless the previous session had produced some peculiar anomaly that had to be followed up on. This had happen about twelve times out of the six years they had spent at this endeavor. All 12 of those anomalies were unusual but only one of them was a true first discovery. Chris and his dad had found a small, previously undetected, asteroid that was, in turn, named after them. The asteroid was short lived in that it ended up as a flaming mass as it crashed into Io, one of Jupiter's moons. They, however, did track it for twenty-two days, eleven hours, fifteen minutes and six seconds. After reporting it to the world, the ChrisJake Asteroid was tracked and viewed by several million-backyard astronomers. All of whom were saddened at its predicted and premature, however, spectacular demise.

Living in the desert, forty miles from a city of any size, the sky was an infinite ocean of objects clear enough for viewing, and there were no city lights to impair that view. Shooting stars, small meteorites, were constantly visible burning a small streak into the night sky while impacting the earth atmosphere and disintegrating before reaching landfall. The moon was so huge when it started its climb into the night sky that you could almost reach out and touch its craters and endless mountain ranges. Orange as a pumpkin, colored and enlarged by the atmosphere, it rose slowly out of the horizon in the east. The many nights watching this spectacular rise, Chris dreamed of being a part of a moon mission, not so much going there, but just being a part of it in some way.

Jacob Cummings was an astronomer and spent most of his time with his other telescope, a 63" reflector at the top of Kendrick's Peak just to the north of Flagstaff. He flew his small Cessna 172 back and forth between Flagstaff and his own private little home based paved airstrip. This little strip was located about 50 yards off his front porch outside the small village of Hyder, AZ. This small township can be found near Painted Rock Dam in the desert just below the Gila Bend Mountains.

The 63" large reflector was used to study certain areas of distance star system and an independent search of the sky was not allowed. This is why the viewing from his home was so important and why it was uninterrupted and upheld to such a rigid schedule. Jacob and his son, Chris, could search to their hearts content, any area, planet, or quadrant they wished and for as long as they wished.

Tonight's quadrant selected for viewing was well charted and the viewing degrees were set into the automatic tracking telescope computer. "Dad, what's this red X on the chart? Why the 10:14 PM penciled below it?" Chris said as he pointed out the small red X that was centered in the quadrant of space they were to look at tonight.

"That is the UGGLY, you know one of our large space telescopes. It will be in the area we plan to be viewing at 10:14 PM tonight. Maybe we can get a good look at it." Jake replied as he held up his hand with his thumb and forefinger on his right hand in the shape of a circle. He put the circle against his eye and peered through it as if looking through a telescope to see another telescope.

"That is an excellent Idea, dad. We use our very expensive telescope to view another even more expensive telescope. I think we are about to make a breakthrough in science and astronomy," Chris said as he started to laugh.

"Ok, Ok, so it's a dumb idea, but it will still be in our viewing area and maybe we can see it's alignment and find out what they are presently studying." Chris emphasized this with his hands, thumbs together forming a picture frame that he swept across the dark sky.

"I take it back, dad. Maybe your idea isn't so dumb. I have been wondering what they have been studying. They have not released any current pictures or info from there in sometime. It is as if they had made some top secret discovery and can't let the public know about it. Last week's pictures in Astro Weekly were reprints from earlier last year. No one but a avid watcher would have noticed," Chris said as he thumbed through the most recent magazine and turned it to show his dad what he was talking about.

The first half-hour viewings were routine, logging the area with a concentrated search, inch by inch, of the small quadrant for any anomalies or unusual activities. After his first turn at the scope, Chris not losing any interest in the normal routine, had actually started looking forward to the viewing of the UGGLY. As his dad used the telescope, Chris waited patiently knowing his next turn at the control would be in the small area that the UGGLY would pass through.

Jake finished his shift and Chris reset the computer to the new area. He spotted it first using the spotting scope mounted on the side of the main scope. He quickly put the space bound apparatus's co-ordinance into the computer and set the system on stable/follow to maintain the view of the large scope.

It did look like a small Yawl, Chris thought, as he fine tuned his small telescope and zoomed in. He watched on the computer screen as the distant object grew in size. He realized as soon as he saw it that it was not pointed at any of the planets in our universe. The only thing in the direction it was pointed was the moon. It couldn't be the moon that held some unknown secret. The moon had been charted, minutely examined, discussed and cussed forever. What could they be looking at?

Chris watched the UGGLY as it set in the black void of space. When the moon finally rose, Jake had no doubt that the UGGLY had to be pointing at the dark back side of the moon, our nearest heavenly neighbor.

During the remainder of their four-hour session, the UGGLY and its alignment, was rehashed over and over without any real believable conclusions. Chris and his dad decided that they would call the UGGLY center and simply ask why the cessation of news and pictures and why the instrument was looking at the back-side of the moon. They had no idea what action this would precipitate or how involved they would become in NASA's new mission.

No unusual or unknown space anomalies presented themselves that night. Early the next morning, after Jake filed his flight plan with Phoenix Air Control and said goodbye to his wife Jan and his son Chris, he did the walk around of his small aircraft with an external pre-flight check. Removing the small pin type device from the pentode tube he finished the external check and then climbed aboard the little Cessna and continued his pre-flight checks. He dialed in the Barometer to the current settings, pumped the throttle a couple of times then left it pushed in part way for starting. Jake then slid open his side window and leaned out and shouted contact, a routine all private pilots still followed.

Once the engine caught he applied the brakes, located at the top of each rudder pedal. He then ran up the engine and checked the dual magnetos for proper operation, turning the selector to the left and then to the right, one off and then the other then placed the selector back on both, the middle position. He checked his radio for the proper frequency and checked to see that the flaps were in the full up position. He turned the wheel and checked out both side windows for the proper operation of the ailerons. He stepped on each rudder pedal as he looked out the back to insure the rudder operated smoothly without any restrictions.

While looking out back he pulled the control yoke back and pushed it forward to check the horizontal stabilizer for proper flex up and down. Once this was complete, he looked both ways in the sky to insure there were no unexpected arriving or leaving aircraft. This was necessary due to this was an uncontrolled airstrip that had no assigned radio frequency or manned tower. He checked the windsock for the wind direction and headed to the end of the runway that would allow takeoff into the wind. When he reached that end of the runway he stepped on the right rudder and swung the plane around and faced down the strip. To check for proper engine operation, he pushed the throttle against the firewall while holding the tops of the rudder pedals in again to apply the brakes. He could feel the power of the small engine as it pulled the air through and pushed it by the windscreen. He let the brakes off and steered the small craft down the runway by stepping on the right or left rudder in the direction he wished to go.

When the airspeed indicator reached rotation speed he gently pulled back on the wheel and yoke. The small craft gently lifted off the ground while still tracking down the small airstrip. He held the aircraft at 80 knots by adjusting the rate of climb and leaving the throttle pushed to the firewall. At 1500 feet he turned the airplane around, leveled off and flew over the house, waggling the wings in a final farewell. Chris and his mom both waved as he flew the length of the field and then again adjusted his climb rate so his speed settle back to 80 knots.

He had also noted the apparent wind velocity and heading before takeoff. He now set his compass point to allow for that wind speed and direction. He would check it every half-hour with the acoustic beacons from two different sources. Where they cross would tell him where he actually was. They did have new equipment that would tap into the global position locator, used to pinpoint requesters, and tell them within 1" their exact location if desired. Jake had felt that the expense to purchase this item was not justified, as long as he had the capability to use his compass, he could go where he wanted without any problems.

When Jacob arrived at work, he talked to his cohorts about the viewing of the previous night. All were curious about Jacob's findings the prior evening, and all were interested in doing a follow up to try to reach some acceptable conclusions. Although they too had noticed that no new articles or pictures had been published in last few months, they had not furthered any thoughts about the reasons. That evening, during their breaks, they checked the web site for a listing of UGGLY's current schedule. First time since it went into operation that no schedule was given. The web page said that the site was temporarily shut down for extended maintenance.

Completing his four-day shift at the center, Jacob climbed on board his plane and headed home. He was anxious to follow up with the UGGLY center, hoping to find out why it was not in use as it should have been. Thinking maybe it was due to some kind of aiming control, a computer glitch or maybe just a communication problem. Neither of them could ever have considered the reaction the government would have from just a phone call from a curious private citizen.

In short order NASA employed Chris and Jacob. Chris had a private tutor for the completion of high school and after class, worked part time in flight plans scheduling orbits, arrivals and departures of shuttles. Jacob on the other hand was hired to shuttle astronauts and other NASA employees by plane to different distant locations. Both were given Top Secret Clearances and put on notice that anything they saw or thought was off limits to outsiders. This included the viewing of UGGLY and any summation they may have made from their viewing.

# Chapter 9

## Paul's Crew and the Simulator

"You are now officially up to date with the rest of us. So, Jungleman, what do you think, do you have any questions?" Paul asked George as they waited their turn in the simulator.

"No, well not yet anyway. I am still trying to absorb the fact that some as yet unknown occurrence has topped our re-supply mission to the space station. That mission has to be flown and if not by us then by who?" Paul knew that George was just thinking out loud and no reply was required.

"Hey Paul, is your crew ready?" Larry Mathew asked as he assisted a crewman out of the simulator. "Good job, you guys. Same time tomorrow evening and we will try to tweak that roll and upward move, it was just a bit uneven when you leveled off. Remember, there is very little room for any adjustment when you are already that close to docking."

"How did they do?" Paul asked as he watched the previous crew vacate the area.

"Fine, they did just fine. A few more evenings in my baby here and they can thread a needle with the nose of the orbiter's external tank," Larry said as he extended his hand out and did a simulated role and twist with his index finger and forearm. "Excellent commander and crew, very easy to work with and they make me look like a genius," He said and he smiled. "You guys ready?"

"Just let me at that stick, I'll show you a threading move that will make the hair stand up on your whole body," Curt George said as he climbed into the simulator.

Paul followed Curt through the door and seated himself in the commander's seat next to Curt. Samuel Washington followed and took his place in the Navigator chair. Kari Lipkens climbed in and stepped over Washington taking her place as the flight engineer. Five people would be responsible for this and most flights of the obiter and as usual Matt Jensen brought up the rear. "Make room for the welcome mat. Excuse me Locks, Yule. Sorry, I was almost late," He said as he climbed in passing in front of Kari and Samuel.

This simulator was designed to look and feel no different than actually being on board the shuttle and seating, space and flight controls, were as the name indicated, simulated in every detail.

Strapping in and checking control positions was now automatic, however, Curt did not rely on automatic. Someone had gone to a lot of trouble to write and print a detailed checklist that each pilot used in preparation for a launch. No matter how many times he did this he did it step by step using the list, however, this time he was interrupted before he could get started on that list.

"Curt, what we are going to do this evening is a little different. We will start as if we had already launched and are now preparing to dock with the waiting vessel. Go to your check list and look for docking procedures, I think it is about half way back and it will be docking with the Main Array." Larry's voice came over the earphones and was piped to all five seats. All five looked at each other and shrugged their shoulders as this information was relayed, the "Whatever" was thought but not voiced.

"Roger that." Curt replied and he started flipping the pages that were key ringed together so they could be flipped one after the other. Main Array Docking was indeed about half way through the stack. Paul and the rest of the crew had followed suit and were all skimming the printed information. As each step was read out loud by Curt, the affected crewmember took the action that was indicated repeating the step to insure complete understanding. Line by line of written instructions were echoed and switches and dials were placed to the indicated position by each crew member. Dials lit up and meters started showing relative status as the orbiter simulator came to life.

Of course Curt was the first to recognize the changes and the new items that had been added to the checklist. Change was constant and expected and always seemed to simplify operation and control of the orbiters, however, these actually had nothing to do with control. These were new and dealt with the docking with another vehicle and not the space station. Questions were inevitable but would have to wait until the actual application demanded answers and, when and if needed, he was sure that clarifications would be provided. Maybe this was a part of the mission that was Top Secret, leaving very little known by the public or the crews that would fly these missions.

The checklist complete and mission underway, Curt was given instructions to use the visual aid camera outside the shuttle's bay and the computer guidance system for locking the bay, both fore and aft to the designated target. He did as he was told and even though it was awkward he had no trouble putting the obiter, in this simulation, just where it needed to go. The switches were thrown and the indicator lights came on showing docking was successful. The crew, as instructed, switched the vacuum pump to on and sealed the small access hatch to the port on the docked vehicle. The crew repeated the operation four more times until their instructor was completely satisfied that the first couple of attempts were not flukes, they were in fact skill and learned maneuvers. Paul had known for many months that his pilot and crew were more capable than most. Four hours after they entered the simulator, Samuel climbed out follow by Kari and the other two members. Bending and stretching were just another part of the scenario that followed a turn in both the actual orbiter and this tank. Quarters were cramped and their needed mobility was limited leaving the participants with some muscle tightness. This was easily overcome by the activity they were involved in now as they waited for their score cards from Larry. This and the other parts of the training, for the upcoming mission, would be done again and again as the preparation's progressed toward the finally, the actual not simulate real mission, sometime in the very near future.

"Climb aboard guys, we are under way again," Paul said as they approached the simulator for the second day of practice. "Hey Larry, what are you serving today?"

"Today's scenario will entail the operation used in docking with the space station in the normal way. We will start with the shuttle just after it has dropped the large external fuel tank. Remember you must use the RCS engines to move away from the curl of that released tank," Larry said as he steered Paul's crew to the simulator they will use this morning. As before all climb aboard and took their assigned seats. Before Larry closed the door he continued. "Do well in this one and you may have a new job come deployment time, Paul you will be today's pilot. Try to relax and just get used to the controls and the response of this one. This doesn't mean you will be taking Jungleman's job, it just that the Co-pilot and Shuttle Commander both have to take turns at the wheel."

Another four hours slipped by and the crew again crawled out and repeated the actions that followed each episode. "Response of this one seems to be quite a bit slower than the other shuttle simulator." Paul stated as he pointed at the simulator that they had just vacated.

"That is true, the engineers designed it just a little different. All the shuttles reactions vary and this one has the characteristics of the vehicle it represents. If all goes as planned you will never have to use the things you learned today, however if for some reason you had to fly one of the other shuttles this lesson could be very valuable." Larry spoke as he pointed at the two simulators. Indicating one and then the other. "Slower getting it up to speed and slower getting it back down again. Remember, even in space more mass means more fuel and slower response. As you know the older shuttles used some different material which made them much heavier."

"Kirk never had that problem with the Star Ship Enterprise," Curt said and he high fived Samuel.

"Right on Jungleman," Samuel Washington said, "Warp 6, engage." Then he made a circle around Kari, arms spread in simulated flight, as she smiled at his antics.

"Both of you are warped, if you ask me." Kari uttered more to herself than to others although everyone heard her. All, including Curt and Yule who nodded in agreement with her annotation. It wasn't the first time that this camaraderie was expressed and understood to be just what it was. A true team, at work, at play and their cooperation and motivation were in accord. Their antics and comments were intended to lighten loads, relieving a lot of pressure from tasks that were at times intense and extremely stressful.

Across the KSC complex, space engineers were busy at their assignment. No, these guys never left the ground, however, when talking about their job the assumption was that they too were astronauts. The, my job question was answered with, oh, I work at NASA, I am a space engineer. Actually, their job consisted of deciding how many desks and personnel can be placed in a certain number of square feet of space to insure not leaving those workers so crowded that it could impact on their job performance. Don't take their job too lightly. They also helped design the space station and they are at present designing a lay out for the main pod of the Five Shuttle Array. This of course is a monumental task and zero tolerances are allowed in all facets of this design.

These guys have access to information on what is presently available and already in space and what has to be lifted into space in order to accomplish the task at hand. They have been given the square footage, floor plan and stations required for the cockpit of the colossal vehicle. These designing requirements and manufacturing of stations and chairs must be met before those shuttles lift off delivering said items to the construction site, located in space. Returned to the store because the size was wrong, was not an option.

# Chapter 10

## Recurrence

"No chance of a viewing earlier today, the moon is all the way over on the other side of the earth. Moonrise won't be for another two hours. Thanks, you guys, we will take it from here. Hey did you make coffee? Ok, I know you always do. See you tomorrow, have a good night," Jim said as he waved to the day shift as they left the UGGLY Control Center.

Swing shift was the best shift of any around the clock type work. Read the day log and check the equipment for proper operation were really the only task required of this shift. The day shift had the bosses around to occupy their time and the mid shift did all the logging and daily reports that were filed for future reference. Sure, swing shift did their log entries but the mid shift did the final log closeout and filing of all records for each day. This shortened task list gave swing shift the opportunity to look around and see things that may have been missed by the far too busy day shift and mid shift alike.

This latest observance did occur on mid shift and was reported when it occurred. However, time to reflect had been delayed until a time when things were quite and that time was on the next swing shift. The control center, on swing and mid shift, was clear of most upper management, however, the discovery by UGGLY had resulted in a small increase of personnel on each shift. One supervisor and two UGGLY control center operators now filled these night shifts.

"There it goes again, just like clockwork. Too bad it doesn't coincide with any clocks that we use. I think you could say it moves to the beat of a different drummer." Jim Watson's comments were the only thoughts expressed out loud after viewing the latest recorded incident. Colleen kept her perceptions to herself, however, her thoughts were along the same line.

"Ok, so we can't set our watches by it, but it must have a rhythm and if it does we can clock it," Joe James said as he looked at the log that recorded times of observation, then holding them up in Colleen direction, he continued. "The times of these observance are all over the map and seem to have no logic. I know, I know we are missing some due to the tilt of the Moon. We can only see this particular area when the Moon's libration moves or tilts the moon exposing more of the far side of the Moon's surface to the UGGLY. The timing, having a view of the far side, is why Jim pointed the telescope in that direction and happened to catch that first known occurrence. Without viewing that particular area constantly, which we can't do with the UGGLY, this log will never be accurate. What we need is someone, using the little info we do have, that can mathematically look or interpret a logical pattern. Then, if it seems to have a pattern, we can watch and see if the opening that we next view fits his prediction. If it does we might just be ahead of the game." Joe then, with a slight smile, tossed the log back on the console.

Some adjustments had been made to the focus of UGGLY and the magnification was increased by a power of ten. Small objects had been enlarged although some of the clarity had been loss in the exchange. The intentions were to do a detailed study of the surrounding area whenever that area was visible to the large space apparatus. To increase the time that viewing was possible, the UGGLY's rockets were fired and a new orbit was established much further out from the earth than originally planned. The new orbit left the vehicle no longer visible to the naked eye as its altitude was over 500 miles out. It was inclined to the equator at about 29 degrees and still considered in low earth orbit. The speed was increased but the location of the elliptical orbits was still about the same with a circular completion taking about one hour and forty minutes. That new orbit did lengthen viewing time, although only by a few hours, so the surrounding area was now being studied. This still left far too much time when the area was not being monitored. Mathematical prediction might be the only answer left that would insure being on the moon when an opening occurred.

Joe was a baseball fan and knew the background of the members of his favorite team. He knew their strengths on the field and off the field. He followed their personal life as close as he followed their stats during playing season. When players were traded or retired he knew where they went and who was acquired to replace them. This information gave him an advantage that he didn't realize, at the time he gathered it. As he perused the incident log at the UGGLY center and thought about predicting occurrence, one name came to mind and it made him smile.

Joe was a season ticket holder for the Parabolics and made every game when possible. This was the only sports team that he had actually watched play. While growing up he was just a nerd and only dealt with space and science. He had no time to waste and spent all his spare time studying space and the nearby planets. At age forty-seven, on his way to a conference in San Francisco, weather condition forced his transportation to land at Sacramento International. A local NASA engineer retrieved him from the terminal and transported him downtown until arrangements could be made to complete his trip to the bay.

This particular day was a team building day and the scheduled outing was to attend, the recently scaled up, Raley's Field and a baseball game of the newly formed Parabolics in their rookie season. The whole office would go and now, that included Joe. To make a long story short, Joe absolutely fell in love with this team and became a lifelong fan of baseball. He now tried to catch up on all those games he missed during youth by scheduling conferences in a region that coincided with his team's visit to that area. The thing he regretted most was the youthful collecting of autographs and memorabilia from his favorite team and players. He at his age would not crowd in with a bunch of adolescents pushing, shoving and begging for attention. Receiving some type of signed paraphernalia to frame or mount was infantile and he would have no part of it. So in essence he had nothing to show that he was even a fan or a fan of what team. He would now hopefully eliminate that oversight.

"Good morning, I am Joe James from the UGGLY Center," Joe said, setting the box he carried down on the floor, he then stuck his hand out as he approached the man behind the desk.

"You must not be a resident, or you have a good makeup person, cause you don't look that bad," Chris Sams said as he took Joe's hand. "You are from the center that controls one of the space bound telescopes, right?"

"You don't know how many times I heard that one, but yes, you are correct, ah, about the telescope, I mean. I was wondering if you knew that we were mainly responsible for your working for NASA?" Joe asked as he completed the handshake and dropped his hand to his side.

"You're responsible? How could you be responsible? I thought they were, you know someone in NASA. Well you may be, as of yet, I really don't know why I was called and requested here. Could you enlighten me?" Chris stood with his hand still extended as if waiting for another handshake. Joe's comments had caught his attention and he waited anxiously for an explanation. "Sit, sit, you gonna fill me in, correct?" Chris then dropped his hand.

"I talked to your boss and he told me to show you the big picture," Joe laughed at this and said as he took a chair. "That is one of the things I never got to do. I never saw the big picture and I never met they. Now you have the opportunity to do both." Joe cleared his throat as he began.

It took almost an hour for Joe to detail the sighting and the progress that had been made since. Chris listened and absorbed the info waiting now for the part that would involve him. With the mention of log entries, having no pattern and only varied times available for the viewing of the area, Chris had a thought.

Chris held up his hand and Joe paused. "You need a pattern? You need someone to take the spotty info you have and give you a logical pattern. Hey, I'm your man. Math, that's why I am here! I'll be damned. All this time I thought it had something to do with my being a pro baseball player. Well, back to the drawing board, literally," Chris said as he clasp his hands together and rubbed them as if trying to decide which slice of pizza to take on his turn. "Oh, oh man wait a minute, this is it! This is the reason we are headed back to the moon. I knew there had to be a major reason that, all of a sudden, we decided to return to the moon. Your sighting has left NASA almost breathless, just like Jerry Lee Lewis said in his song some years ago." Chris bounced to his feet almost knocking his chair over, then, he paced back and forth realizing the possible implication of the big picture. "You want people there and you want them on site when something will occur that doesn't have a logical pattern? Of course you do. What would be the point of going when the place was closed and nothing was happening? Only I would do that. When I go shopping, I just seem to go at the wrong time. The shop is closed once a year on this particular day, they are closed for lunch for the next two hours or for some other reason I can't shop there." Chris turned toward Joe and pointing a finger gently at him continued. "You know, once a neighbor of mine told me about a Italian restaurant that was owned and managed by a classmate and friend of his from high school. It was located in Mt. Shasta City, California. Tony's was the name. I couldn't wait for the next car trip to Seattle for a chance to stop in and have dinner and say hi and let the owner know that his friend and I were neighbors. I left Sacramento on time and on schedule so that I would arrive in Mt. Shasta City for a nice evening meal at Tony's. I got a parking place up close and walked up to the door. The sign on the door showed the operation schedule for the restaurant." Chris stopped pacing and regained his chair, rolling it back up to the desk, and flopped down with a sigh. "The restaurant was open every day of the week except Wednesday. I was there and, as usual for me, it was Wednesday. So I can really understand your wanting to be there when there is an occurrence." Chris was super excited leaning forward in his chair as he simply said, "Wow, you chose me to do this, thank you."

"You are welcome and you are correct, we need a logical pattern. If you can take this info I am giving you and calculate a time sequence, that we can confirm by tying it to the next possible viewing, you will have aided NASA immeasurably," Joe said as he emptied the cardboard container and sat the files on Chris's desk. "I'm sure you are aware that these files are top secret and the information contained herein is extremely sensitive. That's why I need a signature here on this form so I can release the files to you." Chris signed the form and dated it. "Chris, could you also sign this other thing too?"

"What is this other thing?" Chris asked as he turned the blank paper over and revealed his promotional baseball picture. He was wearing the Sacramento Parabolics's team uniform with his number nine below the team name. "You're a fan of our team, huh?"

"Season ticket holder and you should know, this team is the only team and your games are the only professional sporting events I have ever attended. I'll tell you that story someday and you will then understand my impertinence in asking for your autograph." Joe, just a little embarrassed, reddened as he explained without fully explaining.

"I look forward to that story another time," Chris said as he briskly signed his name to the portrait and added # 9 at the end. "Thanks Joe, for the opportunity to assist in this endeavor that NASA has undertaken."

Joe shook hands with Chris again and thanked him for his signing the team portrait and his help with the situation at NASA. "This is real spotty and all over the map, so to speak, so if you have any questions, please call me. My number is on this card and on the files in many places." Joe handed Chris his business card and continued. "Any time, day or night, you have questions, just call," Joe said and turned to leave, stopped, then turned around. "By the way, did you ever get to that restaurant?"

"You know, I did and I did get there for more than one reason. My neighbor and I laughed about that scenario, recalling it many times." Chris smiled, shook his head slowly and continued. "My neighbor called his friend and told him what happened. About two weeks later, after my return from Seattle, I received a package in the mail. It was from Mt. Shasta City. Inside was a baseball cap, a T-shirt, with Tony's logo, and a note from that restaurant manager. The note was an apology for being closed when I visited and a free dinner if I would come back and try them again, 'any day but Wednesday', it read."

"Good story," Joe said as he laughingly waved then continued out the door. "See you soon." And he was gone.

Chris opened one of the files, anxious to begin.

# Chapter 11

## Paul and Crew Awareness

"Hey Locks, open one for me too," Paul said as he came out on the patio. "Anticipation sure makes you thirsty. Wow that's cold, thanks, and hey, while I'm up, can I get something for anyone?" He asked as he surveyed the crew lounging on the patio that was in back of, but still attached to, NASA's Control Center. "Seriously, there are some snacks inside and I will be glad to fetch them, anyone?"

The crew all declined snacks and Paul took one of the straight back patio chairs and turned it around and straddled it facing the crew and the back of the building. "Any questions about the old stuff before I start with some new stuff?" Paul asked and waited a few moments, then when no one responded he began again. "Ok, the rumors are true, hell, there was even a press conference to the fact. We, well maybe not us particularly, but NASA and the world will be going back to the moon." There was a few questions forming amongst the crew but Paul held up his hand. "And, and we and our fellow astronauts will be responsible for lifting the necessary hardware into orbit to put together a vessel that will return to the moon."

"Will NASA be using the original moon Lander again for this trip?" Karl Sweet asked and glanced around at the other members of the crew who were all smiling and shaking their head, almost in unison. "What? Whaaat? I'm just curious and feel that we should eliminate any ideas we might have. I know those old vessel and outdated procedures have no place in modern space travel, however, it's the only thing we have used for that particular purpose."

Paul, holding up both hands now watched as attention was again focused on him. "Guys, there are no bad questions and even minute opinionated ideas should be brought to the surface and dealt with as best we can. In answer to Sugar's question, I am sure that in this undertaking we will use the most modern equipment and ideas available. Those old vessels were state of the art at that time but as you stated they are old vessels and old ideas. I am sure you will find that this NASA will pull a rabbit out of the preverbal hat for this trip. If NASA has decided to return to the moon, for whatever reason, they cannot do it willy-nilly. The future of space travel would be compromised and indelible harm could result if this trip were not met with our absolute best efforts."

"Will we get the opportunity to go to the moon or has the crew already been chosen for that honor?" Kari asked.

"Good question. Now don't take this for granted, however, I have the feeling that the crew headed to the moon has not been chosen. It's not something that was actually said at the briefing, it is just the way things were said. Hey, let me ask you this. What crew is good enough and crazy enough to throw caution to the wind and undertake a mission that could be only one way?" Paul asked as he pointed at each of his crewmembers with an around the patio swing of his arm.

"They already have my John Hancock on the dotted line. NASA knows that I will go to the lengths of the earth, well uh, I guess that saying doesn't hold much meaning in this situation does it?" Sweet said as he looked down, shook his head and quietly laughed.

"John Hancock? They told me to put my John Smith on that line." Yule bantered.

"It was John Henry for me." Matt added.

"Jane Doe is what I signed." Kari loudly whispered as she looked from one to the other of her friends. This crew she trained with and trusted were more family than she had ever known.

"Damn!" Paul replied, snapping his fingers as if he had missed something. "I used my real alias. Hey, hey I was new to the states back then and didn't know any better.

"Oh Man, they got you for the long haul," Sweet said.

"Right on Sugar." Matt now shaking his head, bumped fist with Sweet. "They can send the boss here anywhere they want him to go, even to the moon."

"Just like Jackie Gleason used to say on the Honeymooners, One of these days Alias, Pow, to the moon," Samuel, who liked old TV sitcoms, especially The Honeymooners and The Dick Van Dyke Show, said and smiled as he thought about the exchange of Alias for Alice.

The crew had heard the reference to this particular show many times and in unisons they all did, "Pow, to the moon" swinging there beer in an uppercut motion ending with a clink of their bottles as they said cheers to each other.

"Well anyway, whoever they choose, we will fully support them. Our score cards at the simulator show us at the absolute top of the class. We as a team are ready to take that next step. Hopefully that step will be into the black void of space that surrounds the moon," Paul offered.

The rest of this impromptu get together was filled with the usual levity. Burgers were cooked and monitored by whoever was near the grille. Condiments were fetched from inside and made available. The one beer was finished and the empty bottles put aside. Soft drinks were opened and these accompanied the intake of food. During this rigorous training period minimal alcohol was allowed and this crew stuck to the letter of the law. After eating and wishing everyone a good evening, one by one, each left for their living quarters insuring themselves sufficient rest for the task that lay ahead.

Paul too was headed for bed when he had a thought. He was thinking he should make sure that his team was actually on top at the simulators. He knew that Larry was having dinner with his family at the base officers club, Larry had brought that up before leaving the simulator. Paul was not the one to interfere with someone out with his or her family, however, this was extremely important to him and his crew. Changing directions, Paul went toward the club and hopefully a quick word with Larry.

Friday evening at the club was crowded and there was standing room only. Paul entered and made his way through to the dining area. Families from the Center occupied most of the tables and all the tables were in use. Paul felt a little out of place being by himself and having already eaten at the impromptu bar-be-cue, in back of the control center. His mission now was to locate Larry's table and get his attention without causing a major disturbance.

"How many in your party, sir? The hostess, smilingly, said as she started retrieving some menus off the front podium. Paul noticed that her nametag read Theresa as she waited for his reply.

"Uh, no, I mean I am not eating. I am trying to locate one of your guest who is suppose to be here with his family," Paul said shaking his head. "Is it ok if I just take a quick look around to see if they are here or not?"

"No problem, take your time or maybe I can help, who are you looking for?" Theresa asked as she placed the menus back on the podium.

"Larry, ah, Larry Matthews, one of NASA's personnel. He's should be here with his family," Paul added.

"I know Mr. Matthews and I seated him a few minutes ago, come on I will show you where. He and his family are just super and I am sure they won't mind a minor interruption, it is minor isn't it," she said as she started making her way between the tables and through the dining area.

"I promise, I just need a moment for a few questions," Paul said as he followed her.

"You're Astronaut Paul Wilhelm aren't you?" Theresa said as she glanced back at Paul as he avoided a waiter on her way with some ones dinner. The large tray, the young girl carried, blocked her view to one side and she did not see Paul. "Good move." Theresa added and smiled.

"Just Paul is fine, but yes that is me and you are, Theresa?" He asked.

"Terri, to my friends." Her comeback was followed by a smile that was so genuine it lit up her face and made her eyes sparkle. "There they are in that corner, Mr. Matthew's back is too us. Good luck"

"Thanks Terri, good luck to you too." A slight wave was added as she left.

"Excuse me, Larry, could I have a moment?" Paul said as he approached the table causing Larry to turn and rise.

"Oh hey Paul, I didn't expect to see you here, would you care to join us for dinner?" Larry asked as he shook Paul's hand. "Oh and Paul, this is my wife Karen and my boys Sean and Jack. Honey, let me introduce Astronaut Paul Wilhelm, the Commander of the Shuttle Atlantis."

"Larry, you didn't tell me how handsome Paul was when you talked about him. Hi Paul, it is great to finally meet you. You and your crew seem to be number one on Larry's list of personnel," Karen said as she offered her hand to Paul.

"Nice to meet you Karen, Sean and Jack. I feel I already know you guys, I see your pictures every day and Larry has a big mouth and he's very proud of you. He keeps us up to date on family happenings." Taking Karen's hand as he spoke and then he high fived the two boys. "Are you two going to join NASA?" Paul asked the boys.

"I, well we both are very interested in space and NASA. We hope that there will be jobs for us when we get, just a little bit, older," Sean said as he spoke indicating both of them. At 12 years of age, he usually spoke for himself and his younger brother.

"If you are anything like your dad, NASA will be falling all over itself to get you on board as soon as possible. Larry, I only need a moment if possible. Karen, it was very nice to finally meet you and again I apologize for this interruption, if I can borrow Larry for just a moment," Paul said taking Karen's hand again.

"It's ok Paul, I know your work is extremely difficult and things come up that require answers, Larry is yours, and it was very nice to meet you also. Say goodbye boys," Karen said as she released Paul's hand. The boys both waved goodbye as Paul left the table, "Oh, and Paul, tell Jill I said hi and she should give me a call for lunch soon."

"I will, she will love that," Paul said then turned and left with Larry.

"What's up Paul?" Larry asked as they exited the club.

"I told the crew that we were number one at the simulator, but then I got to thinking that, maybe just maybe, you say that to all the crews that come through. However, if you don't, then I would like to know if you have any info about the crew that will pilot and perform the mission to the moon. If we are number one at the simulator, will we be the first choice for that position?" Paul asked.

"No, as a matter of fact, I find it extremely important to tell each crew exactly where they stand at all facets of their training. You and your guys are the top crew on the orbiter simulator, unfortunately or fortunately, a new simulator will be used for the pilot and crew of the vehicle that will go to the moon. No one, as of yet, has seen or operated that one. I am told that a lot of this new simulator is made up of holograms to emulate the size of the proposed craft. All crews will be put through that one also. It will be kind of a night school. All crews will spend four hours in the obiter simulator during the day and two hours in the new one at night," Larry said in answer to Paul's questions.

"Is it here yet?" Paul asked as his thoughts raced with this new info.

"It is being put together as we speak," Larry said. "Paul, I have to get back. I hope this info helps you. Any other questions?"

"No, no and thanks, hey Larry, sorry for the interruption and apologize to your wife and family again for me," Paul said as he shook Larry's hand and said goodnight. Larry then headed back into the club and dinner with his wife. Paul stood for a few moments letting the new info sink in before heading home to hopefully get some sleep. He knew that this was going to be difficult and his mind would simply run wild with unbridled thoughts of this new simulator.

# Chapter 12

## The black Void

They sat, strapped in, looking straight up at the cloudless sky. Countdown had gone without a hitch up until one minute and twenty-three seconds before launch. A thirty-minute hold had then been placed due to a leaking valve on the launch pad itself. The orbiter, Atlantis, and attached apparatus were not in any way at fault or in danger; however, NASA required all aspects of the launch to be one hundred percent with zero errors. The valve was isolated and now physically removed from the system, leaving the pad and orbiter free of faults, this allowed the countdown to continue. Most systems are redundant and using the backup eliminates a faulty component in a system when a problems arose and this assemblage met that criteria.

The earphones crackled and an open circuit sound was heard throughout the shuttle itself. "Launch countdown is starting again. The problem has been isolated and removed from use." The metallic voice of the center reported and the crew on board received this information with smiles. About a minute and a half later the vibration of engine ignition was felt throughout the vehicle. The entire vessel tilted a fraction with the thrust of the shuttle's three main engines at one hundred percent. The solid rocket booster motors ignited as countdown hit zero. The release of the lockdown bolts caused a small increase in gravity to the passengers as the vehicle began its climb into the atmosphere. The pull of gravity was gentle at first then it increased until it reached and remained at three gees, holding the crew glued to their individual couches. This pull remained steady and was sustained by the power of the solid rocket boosters and the throttling of the main engines of the orbiter itself.

Orbit speed was reached and the solid rocket booster's fuel was almost expended. They were then jettisoned and fell away, they had become just dead weight and no longer needed on this voyage. The, 6 to 1, liquid oxygen to liquid hydrogen mixture continued to burn providing 375,000 pounds of thrust from the orbiter's three main engines. These three engines, throttled at 100 percent, gained orbit speed and pushed the vehicle into the weightless environment of space. Main engine cutoff was accomplished followed by the release of the large external tank. Released at the edge of the atmosphere, it would followed the path of the solid rocket boosters and fall, slowed by the newly added drag chute, back to earth where it would be recovered and made ready for reuse if undamaged beyond repair. The selected primary reaction control system engines (RCS), of the 38 on board, had fired during separation. They moved the obiter away from the external tank to ensure orbiter clearance from the arc of the rotating untethered mass. The two boosters would also be recovered and reused after the internal, external, structural and component inspections of each had been completed.

The engine's cutoff was sudden, even though planned. The silence that followed was almost overpowering and totally complete. The lack of vibration and noise would have been more noticeable if the loss of gravity and windowed view had not entered into the picture. The sensation, due to loss of gravity, really got your attention when power was removed. Add the view of the earth in the distance and you get as much as you can absorb at one time. Humbling and awe inspiring, this weightless feeling and panoramic view would make any man seem small in comparison.

Paul felt the tingling and tickling of his stomach as the loss of gravity took its toll on him for the first time. The view outside was pitch black overall with the blue white round ball, that was the earth, filling a quarter of the shuttle's window. Europe was just coming into view with the night over most of Europe also approaching. Even though the stay in space would only be for a few days, nightfall would happen many times during their stay. Their mission on this trip, the first of many voyages, will consist of simply emptying their shuttle bay and getting their butts back to the center as soon as possible.

The OMS engines were fired and the Atlantis was put into proper orbit. Two small burns were necessary for alignment with the waiting station. The orbiter did a RPM (Rotational Pitch Maneuver) circling the space station before any docking procedures were attempted. This gave the crew a look at the station and afforded the station a look at the status of the orbiter.

The approaching, docking and transferring the equipment to the space station was much easier than it had been in the simulator. During this actual procedure, Larry Matthews didn't add any of his unforeseen and unexpected problems or situations. The orbiter's manipulating arm was flawless in its operation. Placement of the sixty-five thousand pounds of components and modules, as they were removed, went without a hitch, that is with exception to the hitches used to adhere the equipment to the space station. Those were a given however this cargo load and attachment to the station was at the most temporary.

Paul stepped into the black void of nothing only once. A short walk to insure stability of transferred equipment. What he found, while going between the open shuttle bay and the exterior of the space station was, a person with agoraphobia could not survive in the arena of space. The openness, below, above and on all sides of him, caused a noticeable feeling of anxiety even though he did not suffer this most troublesome fear. The vastness of space that one perceives is nothing, when compared to the actual experience of letting go of that last handhold and floating into an empty weightless environment. Surrounded by an airless void is similar to the training Paul received underwater, however, even water has some mass and this is where the similarity disappeared. You couldn't just swim to the next handhold, you had to have some type of propellant to push you in the direction you wished to go. Manipulating the suit controls, Paul finished the space walk and returned to the shuttle. The first walk was complete and he looked forward, with anticipation, to the next. According to his mission schedule, there would be many more in the weeks to come.

For some of the crew, this trip was simply a repeat of the other times they had left earth's gravity and the sensation it caused was lessened but still awe inspiring. All wished that the stay could be longer but the mission was the mission and not a vacation or sightseeing tour. Day four arrived with the crew all back in their respected seats, strapped in and looking forward to the speed decreasing burn that would drop their speed about two to three hundred miles per hour for reentry.

"Atlantis, weather at the cape is clear and they are awaiting your touchdown," Flight at Houston Control said and continued, "Make your craft ready for reentry."

"Roger control," Paul said then he turned the ship over and rotated it until it was facing away from the direction of travel. Ignition was activated and some pressure was exerted on the crew. All felt the first returns of gravity, although this was artificial, it left the anticipation of what was to come. Their speed decreased and Paul turned the ship back around and set the attitude for proper reentry.

"Control this is Atlantis, our breaking burn is complete and our attitude has been set. We will be in contact shortly after completing the atmosphere burn." Paul spoke with complete control even though this would be his first time to go through this black out that occurred as the orbiter slowed down due to the friction of the earth's surrounding layer.

The flames that were present around the ship obstructed visibility as the atmosphere burned off some of the shuttle's speed. The presents of air passing around the shuttle exerted resistance and the vibration of reentry was felt throughout the ship. These few minutes were always nerve racking even for those seasoned veterans of space. The tether of communication, even if it was only electric, taken away was noticeable and the stress could almost be measured in its intensity.

"Atlantis, Houston Control," Flight said as he keyed his mike and spoke after waiting through approximately three minutes of radio silence. He let a moment pass then he keyed the mike and spoke again. "Atlantis, this is Houston Control." At each keying a little more emphasis was placed on his words. "Come in Atlantis, this is Houston Control." Flight released the key as he avoided looking around or looking at anyone in particular. Al Biggs, this mission's Flight, maintained a calm demeanor even though his mind raced back to the fatal reentry of Columbia. Columbia never got the chance to return or reply to Houston's request for a comeback in communication. The other thing he remembered was the video. He had seen it later. The trail of burning debris, leaving a smoky residual track in the clear western sky, left a permanent mark in Al's memory. "Come in Atlantis, Houston Control calling."

"Houston, this is Atlantis," Paul's voice, partially broken by static, echoed through the control center as cheers went up from those sitting at their consoles. Everyone returned to their computer screens and began to monitor read outs as they again appeared. Communications had been reestablished and information on equipment and personnel aboard the shuttle was updating.

"We read you Atlantis, welcome back." Although he tried, elation could not be prevented from entering his voice as he spoke. Al did not attempt to hide his smile as he looked around the center. "Great job guys, now let's finish up this recovery and show this crew how good we are." He heard a couple of agreeing comments, however, most of the personnel were already intensely involved in their particular portion of the mission. No one in the center actually needed prompting to do their jobs. Flight's comment was rhetorical and required no reply from anyone. He used it to remind himself that the blackout wait had ended and all was now ok.

All that was left was the glide to KSC and touchdown. As he thought of this, he recalled his first solo landing during pilot training. Knuckles white, his left hand gripping the wheel so hard that it might bend as he made the first pass over the runway. Feet on the rudders like they were some type of solid stumps and not bendable legs he pushed too hard on one causing the plane to slide around rather than turn as usual coming up a little short in his landing pattern. Manipulating the throttle with the other hand that also held the microphone should have been enough. Now he had to steer away from the runway so his next turn would have sufficient distance for a normal final. Add to this, watch your elevation, throttle your engine to landing RPMs, lower your flaps in steps to increase handling at slower speed, maintain the altitude through the pattern, maintain your yaw and roll, key the mike and talk to the tower, let go of the key so you can receive a reply, make your final turn, line up with the runway, compensate for wind, keep your landing speed up, keep your nose up, ignore the stall horn on touchdown, change from flying with the stick to guiding with your feet on the rudders, steer down the runway, start braking the aircraft, turn onto the right taxiway requested by the tower, park and tie down the now silent vessel. Like Al thought, the only thing left was to glide to KSC and land.

There are no task in these missions that are easy or ordinary and all require many hours of training to accomplish and, believe it or not, the glide pattern of the shuttle is almost like steering a thrown rock after it has left your hand. Not a lot of glide or control involved and in just a few moments after entering the earth's atmosphere the shuttle will touchdown. There is no aborting the landing and going around. You have one shot and your job, as the pilot with the assistance of computer control, is to make sure that it touches down at the desired location.

# Chapter 13

## Endeavors return to space

Endeavour rose like the phoenix rises from the flames. The plume of smoke and fire was visible for miles. The noise blanketed the area with its intensity and the vibration made ripples in the small puddles left by the recent rain. Paul, recently back from space, had parked his car on the way to the center. He watched as he recalled his first launch and, being there himself, placed a lot of emphasis on the task ahead for this pilot and crew.

Aboard the Endeavour, routine was the word of the day. There were no holds placed on the countdown and there were no alarms that buzzed or blinked for attention following blastoff. Insertion into orbit followed the selected path as if the vessel was on rails and the crew rode as if they were at a large amusement park. They made no adjustments to the shuttle in its reach for the airlessness of space. Their tasks started after the pull of gravity had lost its hold on them. Their job on this trip was similar to the task completed by Atlantis on the last mission. The only exception was the additional passengers sent along on this venture. These four individuals would be left in space to start the assembly of the array that would take an entourage of astronauts to the moon. The space station had made arrangements to house these individuals. Along with the hardware and module on board, water and food supplies occupied a large portion of the cargo that filled the shuttle's bay.

The lessons learned from the years of experience of space travel made the unloading of the shuttle also routine. The four passengers made their way from the shuttle to the space station with few problems. Their stay in space would be considerable and NASA had gone to considerable lengths to insure their comfort during occupation of the station. Although nothing personal had been included in their quarters, familiar surroundings were provided in the layout of the living module. Their training on earth included staying in an area the same size and makeup that they now occupied in space. This is what made it familiar.

Transferring the supplies was a bit more tedious this time. The food and water required individual package handling to shift the location from the shuttle to a storage place inside the space station. Anchoring the new module, after removal from the orbiter's bay, was easy but it required a walk in space for one of the crew. It is amazing when you think about it, a small 170 pound man pulling and moving a large module around as if it were a small two-wheeled golf cart. The advantages of weightlessness on large objects could not be more apparent. No need for that large crane they used to load the module or for that tug used to tow the trailer it was placed on for travel to the shuttle. Just one man in a space suit could move and arrange the module, placing it as directed by NASA.

Inside their small newly attached module, the new arrivals took a good look at their familiar surrounding and checked their sleeping nets. Mattresses and the normal earthbound bedding were not required. Netting was used to prevent floating around the module while sleeping. Space suit hangers were present at one end of the module. Space was limited and allowed only two individuals to get in or out of their suits at a time. The remaining two would simply wait until the first two had removed their space suits, stored them away and climbed into their individual nets before following suit or repeating the first two's actions. First thing on their agenda was 5 hours of rest before beginning the array assembly. Four people were just the first of many required to fulfill this enormous task. Four more would follow on the next shuttle and four more would follow those on shuttles and times yet unscheduled. Each shuttle would carry a module to be used as living area for their 4 passengers. They were originally designed to add on to the space station to increase its usability. They had now been modified slightly and would be used as part of the massive five ship's array. The plan now is to use them to go to and return from the moon, then add them to the space station as originally planned and designed.

Six hours later four suited figures exited the space station and began what NASA hoped would only take six months to construct. Opening the capsule that Atlantis had delivered, they began by removing chromium girders from the inside of the module and attaching them to the outside. They worked their way around the ends until both ends had a circle of girders extending away in opposite directions in line with the module itself. An according type collapsing tube was then attached to the entrance ports, one located on each end of the module, and now it floated between the girders that surrounded them. When extended the tubes would span the length of the girders providing a breathable pathway from one module to the next. These pathways were difficult to pass through when crawling during test on earth, however, they were a breeze to transverse when floating in space. In transit they were collapsed, so the tubes took up very little space on the shuttle.

The four assemblymen returned to the entrance of the space station then turned for a distant look at the progress they had made in the three and a half hours they had spent outside. It didn't look like much but considering where they were and what they were doing, they were amazed at the progress. They then, one by one entered the space station. Food and rest were now the mission for the next few hours.

The crew of the Endeavour was still at work unloading and stocking supplies. These four, now resting, passengers could have helped but it was imperative that they concentrate their efforts solely on the array. Many hours will be required and the time limit that NASA has set is obtainable but it is unyielding. That is why work was started on construction as soon as the crew had rested after arriving in space. The unloading of the shuttle will take almost three days and that is three days these engineers will spend in building the vessel that will go to the moon. They will continue long after the Endeavour has left and returned to the earth for reloading.

Four days later the crew was prepping the Endeavour for its return to earth. All supplies had been transferred and stored in the station. The bay of the shuttle was now empty. The temporary seats, used by the passengers, had been removed and transferred for later use in the array. There would be many more seats brought up the same way.

A toast was offered by those remaining on the station to those headed back to earth. Four days is not long and as usual the crew would have liked to stay longer, NASA was aware of this and maintained complete control on all aspects including no delays on the shuttles return. One thing the crew knew was, they would be back in space in short order with another load of supplies. This made it much easier to say a temporary goodbye.

The space bound crew watched from inside the station as the shuttle was released and moved away from their location. Once sufficient distance had been achieved, the shuttle rotated and the OMS engines were fired and the shuttle fell swiftly away and was soon to distance to isolate it from amongst the stars that sprinkled the panorama. The actual beginning of the reentry burn was visible in the distance, spectacular in its descent. Clear of the hazard posed, when the shuttle was leaving, the crew could now return to the construction of the array. Their mission was to use up the parts they have on hand and be ready for the next shipment of supplies and hardware due to arrive in the very near future.

Aboard the Endeavour, things were a little different. The pilot, unaccustomed to this scenario, was a little concerned. This was his first reentry and even though he had trained numerous hours in the simulator, this time it was real and not simulated. Those pesky little problems that Larry had thrown in the mix, while in training in the simulator, he had handled. This time if a pesky little problem arose it would be real and there would be no, "Ok, let's try that one again," coming from Larry Matthews. This pilot knew the orbiter as well as anyone and had more than enough confidence in himself to handle anything. Knowing this would hopefully get him through his first real test.

The communication was gone and fire surrounded the plummeting ship. They had entered the descent as he had been taught. The attitude of the small vessel was right on plane and his speed was right on the mark. He told himself, everything would be alright and this flaming missal ripping through the atmosphere was a normal occurrence. His spirits were lifted a little by one of the crew members, who had made this trip twice before, when he said out loud. "Shake and Bake, baby, I like my shuttle well done!" Apparently everything was normal and just relaxing was the only avenue to take. Larry had stressed that over and over during training.

He did relax but not as much as when he heard, "Endeavour, Houston Center here."

"Houston, this is Endeavour, good to hear your voice," The pilot said without a trace of the anxiety he had felt showing in his voice. The sudden appearance of two chase planes also gave a boost to the spirits of the pilot. Florida and the target runway had been far away when they entered the atmosphere but now it was visible in the distance. Their speed was still over five hundred knots, but that was bleeding off very fast. It should be no problem to get down just below two hundred for touchdown. Normal range of 184 to 196 knots was the target range of speed for all shuttles when landing. Not a large window but obtainable, no less. Computer controlled and monitored by the pilot, the orbiter Endeavour settled onto the runway. A short roll later the large drag chute was deployed and braking began. The pilot assisted this by applying the shuttles brakes and after a normal roll out the shuttle stopped. Crews and maintenance personnel flooded the area as the orbiter from space stood majestically, the center of attention.

# Chapter 14

## Discovery (OV-103)

The hold on launch of Discovery has been continued for another day. The alteration that had been added to this shuttle had failed two of its test. Since the shuttle can only be on the launch pad for 24 hours, it was removed. The shuttle is at present, back in the hanger, undergoing a series of exams that should isolate the problem. The first of two alterations installed a docking portal on the bottom of the shuttle bay out through the black high-temperature reusable surface insulation tiles. While in flight this portal is retracted internally and covered by an undetectable, sliding, tile covered panel. When activated, the panel slid out of the way, the portal extends and can be used as any stationary portal is used.

The second alteration had the shuttle bay doors closed, sealed and pressurized. Pressurization would allow the bay to be used as living quarters when empty of cargo.

What had failed during the test were two of the new sensors. One sensor indicated that the sliding panel, that covered the portal on the bottom, had not closed when initiated. The other sensor that failed indicated a pressurized shuttle bay and prevented the opening of the bay doors. The bay was not pressurized at the time. This would prevent cargo unloading until the problem was located or the sensor was disabled.

The four-man crew in space had completed the connection of all on hand hardware. The length of the new adaptation was now three modules long connected by two tubes. Three of the crew had moved their sleeping quarters into the newly constructed array. They now had three twenty foot long areas of living space each twelve feet in diameter. Needless to say, they spread out. Suiting up was now a breeze. Travel from one module to the next was fun and required nothing but normal attire. Life was taking on a routine that fit the environment. Sleep was easier, meals were simpler and most of the time the crew enjoyed them together. Each member could retire, and have privacy, in their own luxury module. This arrangement was only temporary. As soon as other construction engineers started arriving they again would share areas. They now turned their attention to dismantling one of the modules that had previously been an intricate part of the space station. This was an activity actually scheduled for a later mission. However, due to the hold placed on Discovery, NASA moved that activity up and had this crew start on it. It was slow going but some progress was made that would save time later. Some of the required tools would not arrive until the next shuttle. This hampered the removal of some connections leaving the module partially disconnected.

The countdown at KSC has restarted and Discovery has been moved into launch position. Crews have boarded and passengers have their snack tables and seat backs in the upright position. All anxiously waiting for that ten, nine, eight count that ends at zero. Followed by the most exhilarating ten minutes ever possible. A feeling and a view that few would experience followed this unbelievable ride.

Insertion into orbit was flawless. Docking was a little more tedious but handled well by the experienced crew. The four new passengers transferred themselves and their personal belonging to the living areas they would occupy for the next few months. The flight crew, through flying for the time being, became laborers in a moving company. Their task now was the same as the flight before them, unloading the shuttle and transferring the cargo, stowing it in the space station or array as indicated by NASA.

Having the shuttle docked by the new portal enabled the crew to work in regular attire. The bulky space suits were removed and stored for a time. Working from the pressurized shuttle bay, items small enough for the portal were floated through to the station and stored. Larger item would be removed later when the bay was de-pressurized and the bay doors opened. As with most work, making a game out of it relieves some of the tedium involved. Pushing those small containers through the portal with the idea of seeing how far they would travel without contact with module sides was one of the impromptu contests that the crew attempted. Winner gets the first work break and first use of the heating equipment used for individual meal preparation. Believe me this was a prize worthy of special effort by any crewmember. Its kind of like getting the bathroom first in the morning when staying over at grandmothers during the Thanksgiving holidays. Being in second place is not something people dream about except in nightmares where the beast is in first place.

Having rested for the last 5 hours, the engineers are up, dressed and ready for an excursion into the vast emptiness of space. Their task, this first day, is to finish removing the module that had been partially disconnected by the first engineers. Having the proper tools and schematics, the completion was a piece of cake, however time consuming. By the time this task was finished another day had gone by.

The Remote Manipulator System (RMS) had been used to its maximum. The electromechanical arm maneuvered the orbiter's large payload to the desired location then released it for final positioning by the engineers. The chromium girders were in place and the connecting of the two additional modules was underway. The module that was disconnected from the space station required some alteration before it could be attached to the waiting array. A series of connecting bolts had to be templated in place and welded around the perimeter of the capsule on both ends. The light of the arc welder flashed and reflected off the surrounding surfaces but the dark void of space soaked up the majority as a sponge soaks up water. The latest arrival of the modules had the attaching bolts already in place ready for securing and in short orders those bolts had been secured and the module was now attached.

Some of the welding were completed and the module had been transferred to its intended location as part of the array. From the flight crews advantage, aboard the departing orbiter, the array was now four modules long even though the fourth was not yet attached. This attachment would not be completed until long after Discovery had touched down.

The eight engineers had returned to their newly assigned living quarters. It had been a long day of intense labor. There were many more difficult days to follow but for now the crew had set its site on food and rest to replenish their strength. They did take a few moments to watch the deployment of Discovery as it made its burn to return to earth. They were in awe of how fast the shuttle moved away during the firing of the OMS engines. Even though it seemed that the shuttle's speed had increased as it moved away from the space station, in actuality its orbit speed had decreased by two to three hundred knots. The momentum of the orbiting space station is what moved and distanced itself from the decelerating shuttle. The start of Discovery's atmosphere intrusion was visible in the distance as the space station's path took it away and over the horizon above the Atlantic Ocean.

As usual, in the flight control center the atmosphere was guarded. The silence of reentry had everyone closely monitoring tale-tale indications of the progress of the returning craft. Flight paced behind his console with his hand touching the ear piece that connected him with the radio frequency of the de-orbiting vessel. Noise, indicating the line was receptive, is the only thing he was hearing at the time. It should only be a few minutes more before contact could be made. Flight checked the large digital clock located right below the large LCD monitors. He then keyed his mike, "Discovery, this is Houston." The key was then released and Flight waited.

Flight studied the floor and tuned all his attention on the ear piece and the silence that permeated the center. "Discovery, this is Houston Center." He repeated and waited again.

"I got something, I got something." The Life Signs monitor piped as he pointed at his monitor.

"Houston, Discovery here." Was followed by cheers from every corner of the control center. This was normal and probably would always be this way.

"Welcome home Discovery, it's good to hear your voice." Everyone in the center had returned to their individual task of preparation for the recovery of Discovery.

Again, the thermal protection system that absorbs the high temperatures of reentry protected the vehicle and its crew as they made their way back to earth. The friction of the atmosphere and angle of the glide pattern slowed the vehicle to its landing speed just below 200 knots. The un-powered orbiters then lands like an ordinary aircraft, except for the no abort or go around situation. This landing was like most of the others and no complications were encountered.

This shuttle, like all the other operational ones, was on a short turn around schedule. In just a few weeks Discovery and crew would launch for another rendezvous with the station and array. A few missions after that it will become part of the array, part of a vehicle that is bound for the moon.

# Chapter 15

## Additions to the Crews

All the operational shuttles have made multiple trips. The Enterprise had fitted in and did its share of lifts into space. The retrofit on Enterprise had taken a little more time and effort than first estimated but the results were well worth it. The launch of the refurbished Enterprise had captured the attention of almost every nation. The TV ratings were off the charts and attracted the majority of the world's audience. The launch happened in the early evening and preempted the highly rated "World Idol" TV show that was watched by close to a billion worldwide viewers.

The reason the launch was so popular was due to the publicity that preceded it. There were many interviews with the crew and engineers scheduled for this particular ride. Maybe some individuals were surprised at the attire worn by the crew during these press conferences but most people expected it and simply cheered as the crew stepped on the set. Star Trek right down to the lapel pins communicators and hand held simulated phasers. Tight pull over polo shirts of red with gold trim and black pants flared and bloused in calf high black boots. There was one addition that wasn't in any of the Star Trek movies or TV series. It was the Array patch worn on the right sleeve of their shirts.

In any case, they were majestic and maybe, just maybe there was one engineer that was Scottish and one doctor called Bones, who knows. The interviews were about the upcoming mission and did not emphasize or even mention Star Trek in any way. The only reference was at closing when those that could gave the split finger salute did so and all said "Live long and prosper," as they departed.

These simple additions added more viewers at each and every conference that was televised. By the time the launch was due, the whole world was watching and cheering at every minute of the countdown. Local highways were lined with vehicles whose passengers, now out in folding lawn chairs, littered the roadside facing the launch facility in the distance. Any beach that presented a clear view across the bay was also filled with on lookers. Their radios and portable TVs tuned to the proper channels, they had the Bar-B-Q going, patiently awaiting blast off.

It was spectacular, made even more so because of the presence of the enormous audience. The plume of fire protruding from the solid rocket boosters suddenly accented the late evening. The billowing smoke rolled and folded into itself as it was pushed away from the launch pad. The white orbiter, clinging to the massive external fuel tank, rode and preceded the fiery tale of the two slender attached projectiles as they pushed the vehicle into space. It was unearthly quiet for the first few moments as the Enterprise cleared the launch pad towers. Cheers and applause were heard at first as the lift off began but were soon overwhelmed as the unbelievable roar of the engines made its way violently across to the audience. The power and energy expelled caused the noise not only to be heard, it was also felt, a deep throbbing inside all viewers. As the vehicle ascended its noise level lessened permitting the cheers and applause that had continued to be heard. Not only was that applause of appreciation heard, it had greatly increase in volume. The viewers had experience something, something awe inspiring, and those in attendance were now comrades with those other viewers. This might be the last time these orbiter shuttles would be launched and being a part, even just being one of the audience, meant so much to these viewers. This caused conversations to last longer than normal and there were no strangers amongst those gathered. It took a long time for those who had witnessed this event to start packing up and reloading their vehicles. Hours later, Cars, trucks and RV lights slowly came on and the road began to fill, as these visitors would make a slow ride home or back to hotel and motels. They had all got their money's worth in the view they had witnessed as the Enterprise once again ventured into space and would boldly go where few have gone before.

Those multiple Shuttle trips to the space station were now complete. These final launches were, in essence, one way trips for the shuttles and crew, they would not return for some time. Once in space, they would now be attached to the array for that unprecedented voyage to the moon and back. The construction engineers that had assembled the huge array had all returned to earth. They caught the shuttles on their last trip back to set up these final launches. All their tools and personal items were also returned to earth during these trips. They, like the remainder of the world, became spectators and would simply watch as the next part of the plan unfolds. The only difference would be if some problem arises with the array's design itself, if that happens they again would be participants. They, of course, would never forget that they were a part of and, in some respects, responsible for what was about to come to life.

No longer shuttling engineers during the final launches, did not relieve the shuttles of some additions to their crews. The previous trips of the shuttles transported full fuel tanks, food and water to the array. These last trips would carry needed personnel from earth to space. These new crewmembers would accomplish other task, task that the commanders and regular crews were not trained on.

The new additions included, but were not limited to, astronomers, a mathematician, metallurgist and material interpreters, language and writing interpreters, and several real computer geeks. These passengers were spread out and placed in different shuttles for the ride to the array. It was almost impossible to try to second guess what had been seen and what would be found after landing on the moon. These men and their special skills were the world's best guess as to what we needed to try and understand this incident and its location. The view from the UGGLY had hit the world leaders hard, the way it had come from such an unexpected source. Although they were still reeling after many months, they had stepped up and put up the material, funds and personnel to accomplish this mission. The crews and specialist were made up of personnel from numerous countries. They all had one common motivation. This incident was not on their little world. However, it was an occurrence that would, they were sure, affect their little world. Nothing brought people together better than having a common goal or enemy. This could be one or both, not enough was yet known to decide into which category it fit.

Inside the bay of each shuttle that makes its final lift into space is a small craft. These small vessel are designed to transport two specialists from its home in a shuttle's bay to and from the moon's surface. The idea and design were taken from the movie "Aliens" and each craft has one main engine, smaller but copied from the shuttle's main engines. They two were designed for almost 8 hours of operation and could be restarted at least 50 times during their life span. The fuel mixture was the same 6-to-1 ratio as the shuttle's main engines so no surprises should be encountered with its operation. Of course the vehicle had never been tested on the moon so there could still be surprises with that scenario.

The durable tracks, that is the landing gear, were spooled over small drive cogs made of titanium with a special coating on the surface that would allow maximum frictionless movement of the tracks. There were two sets of tracks on each side of the small vessel. These had been tested on many surfaces and found to be appropriate for this particular vessel. How they worked on the moon surface should not be a surprise. The tracks were motor driven and power by rechargeable batteries. The recharging was done by solar panels located on top of the little Landers. The tracks were not made to transverse over boulders or climb difficult terrain. They were made to move the ship around on unpaved surfaces that might be sand or dirt. For distance travel and difficult terrain, the rocket engines with their directional flues will handled that.

These little ships had been designed and built some time ago and now they have a mission. They were engineered and built so they would fit in the bay of the shuttle. Why were they made in the first place? No one could have known about this current incident during their construction, so there must have been an ulterior motive. The original purpose was to use them in case an asteroid ventured to close to the path of the earth. The orbiter could take them into space and then they could launch and propel themselves to the invader and hopefully somehow prevent its contact with earth. That was the idea, however, now they would be used for a different purpose. The case now is not preventing or protection, it is exploration and maybe even discovery. Only time will tell.

Amongst the passengers were five Lander pilots and five Lander co-pilots. They all had dual task in the upcoming mission. Their first job was to get to the surface of the moon inside the little Lander crafts. Their second jobs were the reason they got the first jobs. Their individual skill in their everyday profession was why they were picked and trained to pilot and explore the incident that the UGGLY had observed on the moon. They were not astronauts per say, however as soon as this mission starts, they will be. They had all worked hard to learn how to use the space suits. They had struggled with the underwater task that all had to go through before venturing into space. Although no EVAs were in their mission schedule, you cannot wait until there is a problem in space to train on this skill. After all, everyone knows that space travel was not the safest way to travel, however at present, it was the only way to get where they were going.

As Paul and his crew had done, they all had signed on the dotted line. These scholarly individuals lineage was as varied as their professions were. From the unscathed scientific mind of a Russian genius to a linguist of dead languages that hails from Mexico, the gambit ran. Both tops in their particular professions as were all the individuals in-between. They got the job and now they would be on their way to do the job they got.

# Chapter 16

##

## Completing the Array

One by one the five shuttles are launched into orbit. Three different launch pad were used with one day in-between each launch. The pads that were used first were routed back to hangers to retrieve the other two shuttles and set them up for launch. In took just over ten days and all five shuttles had been launched.

The bon voyage parties were many and poignant with a gambit of emotions running the full spectrum. The guest quarters at KSC resembled the UN during session. Multiple nations were in attendance represented by family members of the crews and engineers scheduled for this mission. Some of the tributes and farewells were public where most were in attendance, but sometimes there were very private family only affairs. This was not a 7 to 30 day mission that only went as far as the space station. The array was now stocked with fuel, activities, water and food for an extended stay of as long as a full year. The actual plan was for a much shorter duration but, as you know, contingency had to be made for the unexpected. Better safe than sorry. The friends and relatives celebrated as if the trip would last for the maximum number of days that supplies would allow. The catastrophe that was barely avoided on Apollo 13 had taught NASA an unprecedented lesson about preparation and planning. If the engineers at NASA could help it, this voyage would not travel a similar or equivalent path.

Paul and crew were the third ship to arrive at the anticipative now complete array. The previous two ships had already been birthed becoming just another part of the large moon bound vessel. The first design of an array had the orbiters turned with the shuttle bay doors inside the array. It was found that this was feasible but unnecessary and would require additional points of contact on the tops of the shuttle. The design engineers decided, why re-invent the wheel, use the mounting system that was already on all shuttles. These had been used and tested every time a piggyback ride was given to an orbiter. That is the reason the vertical stabilizers of those previous two shuttles were the first things seen by Paul and crew. They were attached on opposite sides of the array making the rear of it seem very wide. This orbiter would now become just another part of the larger ship. All five ships would be mounted around the rear of the array and connected to the Main Array Control Center (MAC) by an umbilical cord that would plug into a receptacle on each. These new receptacles were added so that the shuttle engines and controls were now a part of and controlled by the Array. The second most obvious part of the Array, the MAC, is on the opposite end and will house the Array's pilot and crew. The rear area of this pod contains a gym in its center. All personnel, to maintain muscle mass and prevent muscle atrophy in legs, arms and back will use this area. Around the gym is a track that can be used for jogging or walking. The track will rotate and give the user about 2/3 gravity as it slowly spins around.

When one uses this track it will look like you are running inside a giant barrel. If you look straight up you will see the exercise equipment attached to steel girders between you and the top of the rotating barrel. When someone wishes to use the equipment they would simply float out from the pod to the selected apparatus. A ladder is provided for those who would like to use the track or one could just push off and float down to the track. The track's surface was the same as most tracks using a rubberized polyurethane composite and it was very user friendly, so a floating contact would not be disastrous.

Paul had seen the designs and been schooled on the entire vessel so he knew the layout and function of every part of the array. Studying the pictures, blueprints and models of the array was very informant, however, seeing it in space and realizing the actual size was another thing altogether. As they slowly approached, the massive vessel seemed to grow and expand continually. Lack of anything around to give you an idea of how close you are leaves a visual approach out of the question. The array filled the windows of the shuttle and made one think you were much closer than you actually were. Proximity alerts had been set but were still silent. Radar gave the actual distance but the visual made you doubt their validity.

"Prepare the belly port for docking," Paul said as Curt George used the RCS engines to adjust the orbiter's attitude to match the birth that waited in the near distance. Samuel Washington activated the controls that would expose the docking port and turn on the sensors and cameras on both the orbiter and the birthing port of the array.

"Twenty Five meters," Curt said as he gently moved the control stick for another minor angle correction. A minor gravitational tug was felt as the engines responded. The orbiter was slightly moved and the correction brought the orbiter into the required alignment. The docking port slowly filled the monitor and four sensors located around the two ports started flashing almost simultaneously. "Five meters." Curt spoke nonchalantly as Atlantis closed in on the array and he made what he hoped was the last correction to its attitude. "Docking eminent in five, four, three, two, one. Contact." The sensors had become four lights instead of eight and upon contact stopped flashing and became four steady beams. A moment of silence and then, "Way to go Jungleman, super ride," Kari said as she high fived Curt. "Bad flight my man, baaaad." Yule exclaimed as he went through his docking checklist and set toggle switches to lock Atlantis to the array. Everyone actually breathed a little better or in some cases breathed at all once the docking was complete and Atlantis was now a part of the array.

In short order a space walker approached the front of the shuttle Atlantis. Paul toggled the switch that opened the umbilical cord receptacle and watched as the EVA crewman slipped in the plug that connected the shuttle's control wiring to the Array. Paul lifted the cover over the remote or local control switch. With a simple flip to the remote position, the electronic control of Atlantis would be transferred to MAC inside the Array. Paul, after conferring with MAC, threw that switch. As soon as Atlantis was secure the crew made its way to the shuttle bay and then through the port into the modules that led to the control pod. As they made their way through toward the MAC, they shook hands with the crews that had already arrived. These personnel were performing task in modules along the way.

Sweet was the first to exit the modules and float through the gym area. He did a slow tumble as he went through while surveying the area. He then entered the MAC briefing area that was located below the command deck. The briefing room was quite large and had room for the thirty travelers to get together for meetings. There was no conference table or chairs for sitting during briefings. There were some eyehooks located around the area so one could clip onto them and stay floating while remaining in just one area. These were used to keep everyone in place while meetings were in session.

The new crewmembers were having some difficulty due their first time experiencing weightlessness. One of them entered the area so fast that if Kari hadn't grabbed his boot as he went by, he would have crashed into the other end of the room. Finally everyone was stationary and quietly waiting for the MAC commander.

Anthony Petrochellie, Commander of Discovery, came in from above and floated down and over to where Paul was floating. "Welcome aboard Commander, the ship is ready for your inspection." He then saluted.

"My inspection? That should be left up to the Array Commander." Paul replied as he slowly shook his head.

"It is, sir. NASA has chosen you and gave me the duty to inform you when you arrived. They had to wait until your vessel made the trip successfully before it became official. Here you are and, tag, you are it," Tony said as he tapped Paul on the shoulder. "Congratulations, you earned this. Your excellent work on the simulator and the way your crew gets things done left NASA no choice in choosing." After shaking Paul's hand Tony turned to Curt George and said, "Congratulations Jungleman, you are now space craft commander of Atlantis." He then shook Curt's hand.

The crew all together converged on Paul and gave him a group hug along with their congratulation and the sudden rush made them all tumble together around the area. Felicitation was also given to Curt for his promotion. As the crew released Paul and begun to talk amongst themselves, he left with Tony and made his way up into the MAC. The control center was lit by the glow from the monitors that were strung around the center. The color was blue/green and didn't fully illuminate all areas. Several crewmen occupied a few stations, busy monitoring the status of the Array. They all acknowledged Paul as he made his way through. Command was not new to Paul but this was astronomical and the vast areas that this entailed were a little overwhelming. Sure he had trained and evidently made enough right decisions to convince NASA that he was the man for the job, but now this was real. He had convinced NASA, but the real question was had he convinced himself?

The last two days were filled. Paul had made a tour of all areas and met all the crewmembers. His crew, or now it was Curt's crew, had settled in and transferred their personal items to their new living quarters. They had received a tour of the Array and then they received their individual list of task that must be completed before the Array was ready for its trip. They were busy with these tasks when the next shuttle arrived. Paul, however, was in command and in contact with Endeavour as it left Earth's atmosphere and made its way to the waiting Array. He stayed at the center until the docking and transfer of control was complete. He then made his way through the ship and met the crew as they entered the first module after exiting Endeavour. A briefing, similar to the one Paul had experienced when he first arrived, was held and the pilot of Endeavour was promoted to Spacecraft Commander. All of the old commanders were now a part of the MAC. This would be the case for all orbiters. These previous commanders would run the mission or show from the MAC and Paul would be in charge of all of them.

All work on board the array had ceased and the crewmembers had all gathered around monitors located throughout the ship. This cessation of work was scheduled and gave the space bound personnel a chance to join with the world as they both watched the final shuttle launch. The Enterprise sat on the launch pad in full daylight. Its brilliant white skin seemed to glow and made it hard to look at without sunglasses. The roadways and streets were again lined with vehicles of visitors from all 50 states, and a great many from out of country, all with one purpose. They wished to be a part of the viewing audience and they wanted to see this final launch live. As far as the world was concerned this was the only game in town and they were not going to miss it.

It was spectacular with no holds barring its launch. The Enterprise rose in the sunlight and slowly rotated over on its back as the onlookers cheered and applauded. They craned their heads back and watched as it dwindled from view. The separation of the solid rocket boosters was visible to the naked eye, however, most of the audience had brought binoculars, or their own tripod mounted telescopes, to increase viewing time. Next stop for the Enterprise and crew was the Array in space.

The crew watched as the final ship arrived and the Enterprise was right on schedule. The EVAs were started to connect this final craft and make it just another part of the array. All the other shuttles had already undergone most of these connections so maximum attention could be spent on this new arrival. Umbilical control cords first and then, after Paul had greeted this crew as they made their way on board the array, fuel connections were made to all shuttles. These connections would provide fuel to each shuttle to replenish its on board tanks, since most of the fuel had been used for reaching orbit and docking. The shuttles must all be self-sufficient in order to establish individual orbits around the moon.

# Chapter 17

## First Burn

"Roger Houston, we are 30 minutes from ignition." Paul spoke confidently into the mike that extended from the headset he wore. "All systems are a go, Flight, and all on board are secure for first burn." He then released the mike key and waited for Houston's response.

"Ten four MAC, we here at control are ready for the show." Followed the open mike sound that signaled the keying of a distance microphone. "We read all systems as go. Could you have all stations verify?" The voice was recognizable but carried with it an almost whisper of echo.

"Roger Houston, will do." Paul replied. "Go ahead with your pole." Paul released the mike and turned slightly as he spoke to the crew. "Answer up to Houston's query." He instructed his personnel.

"CapCom?" Flight asked.

"Go Flight," The Com commander replied.

"Nav?" Flight continued.

"Nav is a go Flight," The navigator replied.

Houston continued through the systems one by one until all had replied with a go. A small lapse of time followed the verification of each station. Once all stations had responded, there was an additional delay that made one think they were no longer connected. Then the mike was keyed again and a new voice was heard throughout the ship. "MAC, ah, Paul, the entire Earth is watching and wishing you, all of you, the best. The leaders of the world have come together as one for this voyage you are undertaking. You will be receiving your orders and explanation for this trip shortly after you push off. There will be questions and you will get answers, well, the answers we have, anyway. The other questions are what we hope you and this fine crew will answer for us, once your mission is accomplished. God speed and good luck." The key was released and silence was heard through the ship.

"Thank you, Mr. President. It is an honor for us to be trusted with this voyage and I am sure we won't let you down. Please tell those leaders that we know we are in essence representing the world and will act in that accord." Paul released the key and looked around the center. All gave a nod of agreement to his comments.

Time had run out. The historic count from ten down to zero and ignition had been done. The Array now under full power was making its last orbit that would slingshot it around the earth and then out toward the moon. The Arrays main engines were at one hundred percent matching the hundred percent that was also produced by three engines on each of the five shuttles. Eighteen rocket engines firing as one moved the array from orbit speed to mission speed in short order. Once mission speed was reached all engines fell silent and the array left earth behind as it reached for the moon.

With engine cutoff all gravity was again removed and all passengers were in a state of free fall. The roar of the engine and the vibration produce by the burn were now history. Silent running would be the norm unless a course correction was required. If no course correction was necessary, no change would be made until braking was essential to place the vehicles in orbit around the moon. A check of the situation showed all facets as expected. Paul instructed the ship's power console to prepare for solar panel extension. Once again in free fall, the ship was stationary as far as exterior equipment was concerned. The panels slid out and the ship took on the appearance of having giant sails deployed. The light sensors rotated the collectors until maximum power was being absorbed from the 386 billion billion mega watts of energy that nuclear fusion produced on the sun. These, energy collecting, sails would probably stay deployed until the vessel was approaching the moon and deceleration was eminent. Once orbit around the moon had been obtained, they would again be deployed.

"Orders are coming in," CapCom said to no one in particular.

"As scheduled," Tony said as he floated over to the CapCom's console.

Paul punched the incoming message up on his console monitor while CapCom printed out a hard copy. He silently read the info about the sighting by UGGLY. The actual video was attached and Paul keyed that up and ran the footage that had been taped.

"Attention on board!" Paul said into the ship's intercom. "Please watch your monitors and I will run a video of a recent sighting by the telescope called the UGGLY. What you will see is the reason we are here. After the viewing I will read our orders." Paul released the key and selected the toggles that would tie all ship's monitors together. He then ran the video.

The video ran to its completion and then Paul had it run again so those who, for whatever reason, missed it or needed a second viewing to try to understand it. The video included the sighting in slow motion for better understanding.

Paul waited for a few minutes after the completion of the video, then he read the orders. "You will travel to the moon and establish a 6 ship orbit spaced equally around the moon. This orbit will be established so that one or more ships will always be around on the backside of the moon and the others will always be in line of sight with the earth. This configuration will allow constant and unchangeable communication with earth at all times." Paul paused for a moment and took the straw from the small bag of water. He watched it partially collapse as he drew in a drink of water then he continued with the orders. "The small vessels on board each shuttle will be deployed and all five will rendezvous in the area of the sighting as laid out on the maps that are attached. The ten specialist that you have on board will pilot these small crafts to investigate and determine, if possible, what it is we have witnessed from the UGGLY." With this Paul stopped for another moment and then continued. "It is signed by NASA who in this case is representing the, our home world, the Earth.

A lengthy discussion ensued following the reading of the orders. This was expected and Paul let the discussion run for a while and then he asked. "Anyone that feels they have a valid question, please put them in writing and I will relay them to Houston for answers. In the meantime please continue normal activity. Sorry, maybe normal activity isn't the best choice of words with our present undertaking. How about ships activity." Paul laughed as he thought about this and their current flight.

It didn't take too long for things to quiet down and return to what was considered normal. When it had, Paul relinquished the MAC to Tony and he and Curt headed for the exercise gym. He could not wait to try the jogging track. Curt, however, was looking forward to the Bowflex. This Bowflex was one piece of equipment that uses isometric type strengthening. As you could guess, free weights would be useless in space.

Upon entering the gym area, Paul shoved off and floated down to the surface of the track. He grabbed a handhold and squatted with both feet on the resilient surface. "Ok, Jungleman, start the track, I'm ready," He said as he looked up at Curt.

"Roger that, here goes." Curt pushed the start button and the track slowly came up to speed.

Paul was suddenly feeling gravity return as the track rotated gaining speed. He released the hand-hold and stood as he went up and around above and then down and below Curt. When he got below Curt again he started running with the rotation of the track. This jogging caused him to move rapidly around and around. It was like a wheel in the Guinea Pig's cage. The little rodent would run at the bottom and the wheel would spend round and round. The difference being that gravity on the pig always pulled downward and the pig caused the rotation. Paul slowed his speed as he went up the side of the track. He then stopped jogging and stood simply riding the track around. Then he turned and started jogging against the rotation. Paul found that when reaching jogging speed that made him stop moving around with the track, he started losing gravity and bounced away from the track in free fall. He grabbed onto one of the girders that held the stationary exercise equipment and stopped his errant travel through the gym area. He ended up almost face to face with Curt.

"Hi there sailor," Curt said as he smiled at the somewhat embarrassed commander, "Buy a lonely soldier a drink?"

"Can we keep this a secret? I'll owe you one," Paul said.

"Sure you bet, boss. I'll just keep it and I am sure you will tell all about it before I do." Curt would not tell, and Paul knew it. Paul however would tell and warn the crew about this. That was a given and his responsibility as commander to protect his people. This situation was in the operator's manual under the Warning of Dangerous Operation chapter. The normal operating chapters also told about the use with the track stationary. Once you started moving around the track, bouncing along, then moving a little faster, then running, you could create your own gravity as you ran around and around up and over the gym area while still on the track. The faster you ran the more gravity you would experience.

As requested Pete Dobson had designed a game that the crews would try in competition with each other. It was, as expected, similar to the Harry Potter game of Quidditch. The quest was for the small super ball that would bounce around the dome area after it was pneumatically shot into the field of play. The field of play happened to be the inside of a sphere. Once the teams had entered, the entrances closed and were just part of the playing field. There were five people on each team. Two were considered forwards and two were defense with one seeker on each team. Only the two assigned as seekers could catch the ball. The rest of your team had the task of preventing the other teams seeker from catching that little elusive orb. The forwards on each team could also score goals using a ball the size of a number 4 soccer ball. There were two round ports one on each of the opposite walls. The score for a ball going into one of the ports would reward the team who scored with one point. The goal ports were assigned one to each team. The defenders had to prevent the other teams forwards from putting that ball in their goal port. The only reason for scoring was just in case no one caught the little super ball while it was still moving. The rule was the ball had to still be moving or a catch would not count. However if a catch was made, with the ball still in motion, the match would go to the team whose seeker caught it and the goals scored by both teams would be moot.

It seemed like matches were played constantly, and all had loads of fun, but there were no clear champions. Then again, the viewers who watched from behind the glass viewing area had most of the fun. The crashes and tumbling that went on during a match kept the watchers in stitches.

Running silent was the name of the game for the array having only one small course correction that broke that silence. The gym also got a lot of use during the approximately 30 hours of flight before reaching the orbit insertion point for the moon. Once that point was reached all passengers found their seats. The shuttle crews returned to their respected vehicles and the additional travelers, pilot and co-pilot of the Landers, each followed those crews. Power and fuel lines were jettisoned and withdrawn into the array. The solar panels were retracted and stored. The only remaining ties for the shuttles were the actual piggyback mounting bolts. The remote/local switch was returned to the local position. The newly promoted craft commanders took to their new roles by first assigning new task to the crew. In this particular situation the ship commanders would also be the pilot and there had to be some task relief for these pilots. On the approach the MAC was fully staffed with all stations up and running at maximum.

Shuttle crews did a full system check. The shuttle bay was still pressurized but that would change in preparation for the launch that would occur after the moon orbit was reached. The small craft occupants were now space suited except for their helmets. These would be donned before they went into the shuttle bay to board the small landing vessels.

# Chapter 18

## Moon Orbit

"We're free and clear." Curt spoke into the mike as Atlantis drifted away from the array.

"Roger Atlantis, you are go for orbit insertion. We are ready and expecting your burn." Mac replied and as he spoke Atlantis engines fired and the orbiter moved away from the array. "Good luck and follow the co-ordinance set by NASA. You are an irreplaceable spoke in the communication wheel around the moon."

"Roger MAC, will do. Good luck to you too." Curt then turned his full attention to other things, such as the shuttle controls and interring lunar orbit.

Paul knew that Curt was aware of this and would follow NASA's guides in this monumental voyage. Paul had said the same statement to the two previous ships that had left the array and established orbit around the moon. Two more to go and then the array itself would enter orbit as the sixth spoke. That is when the excitement will really start. Launch of the landing crafts is schedule for the next earth day. Once all vessels were in place in orbit, all crews would rest for the five hours before launch.

"Secure for braking and make ready for orbit." Paul broadcast this throughout the ship and then turned to the Array Pilot. "Tony, brings us around and set up for our run in."

"Ten four commander." A few moves of the control stick and the array began to swing around. The moon swept across the front windshield and fled beyond sight. Once in positions Tony said, "Ready for burn, sir."

"Roger that." Paul keyed the ship's intercom. "Firing rockets for braking at my command. Five, four, three, two, one, fire." He instantly felt the pressure that pushed him back into his flight couch. The pressure only lasted less than a minute and then the rockets were cut and weightlessness was again felt throughout the ship. The array entered final orbit as designed by NASA, matching and following the five shuttle's path. Apocynthion, the point of maximum orbital altitude above the moon as measured from the radius of the planned lunar landing site is now 63.9 miles. Pericynthion, the point of minimum orbital altitude above the moon as measured from the radius of the planned lunar landing site, of 59.0 miles. When Paul was satisfied with the orbit, communication was established with all five vessels even though three of them were out of sight on the other side of the moon.

"Houston, this is MAC. Orbits have been established and communication is valid with all ships." Paul release the key and waited the few seconds that it took for radio waves to reach the earth and the time it took for the reply to return.

"We read you loud and clear." Came back from Houston. "MAC would you please have all orbiters report in."

"Roger that, Houston." Paul replied. "Orbiters please report in, in order of orbit insertion, if you will." Paul released the key and waited for the ship by ship response.

"OV-106, No name yet, reads you loud and clear, Houston." Came the first reply almost immediately.

"Discovery's on, read you five by Houston. Good to hear you."

"Atlantis transmitting, roger that Houston."

"Endeavour here, Houston. Standing by"

"Live long and prosper." Followed by silence and the wait for Houston's replication.

"I'm sure that last one was Enterprise, if so, the com link is fine and we read you all loud and clear. Oh, and No Name Yet, your hanger is working on that problem and they should have some results to share for your approval real soon. Get some rest now for we have a busy day tomorrow. I just want to pass along that we think all of you are doing a great job, keep in touch, Houston out."

The com was now silent and it was quiet throughout the Array. Paul felt that it was probably the same in all the shuttles. All crewmembers had been schooled on how to make themselves rest even under strenuous conditions such as these. Schooling was one thing, this was another. Surprisingly most did actually get to sleep for a good portion of the rest period. Those that didn't sleep did rest and would feel somewhat refreshed after the five hours allocated for that purpose. Paul took time for a few laps in the gym before he retired to get some needed rest. Tony was at the controls and would be there until Paul returned. He noticed right away that the gym was now empty. Since he was by himself he started the track rotating as he entered. Then he floated out to the ladder that would take him down to the track. The ladder spun with the rotation of the track and the trick was to catch it and get you feet on one of the rungs and climb down. It was much easier than it sounds and soon Paul was on his way down the ladder.

Running took some of the stress away and soon his thoughts had returned to his youth. Summer and soccer in Germany was like ice cream and cake, inseparable. He ran like the wind and his feet were educated. The ball seemed to lead him in a direction that kept it out of the other teams way. He mimicked his earlier moves as he ran and simulated having a game ball at his feet. He faked one way, did a crossover with his feet and moved the other way. He did a spin, without actually changing direction, he was still going the same way as before. The spin only took a moment's hesitation. It was smooth and deceptive enough to make one think he was again taking a different route. He continued the routine for fifteen minutes and then hit the shower. Another fifteen found him in his netting with eyes closed. He slept for three hours before he became aware again. He felt rested and ready for almost anything. He knew that with this mission that covered a lot of ground.

The quiet period had ended with a gradual increase in activity. First this console was up and manned and then the next was up and some indicators on both were asking for attention. The orbit was solid and communication was secure to all vessels and the link to Houston was only different by the transmit time taken for the distance. The two-man crew, for the Landers located in each shuttle's bay, were busy suiting up. Constant checks by each on the other insured suit integrity. Once suited, one at a time, they entered the airlock for entrance into the shuttle bay. After both had entered they followed a checklist and did a preflight check of the Landers. The physical tie downs were removed and now only electronic latches held the Landers in place and the release of those were controlled by the shuttle pilots themselves. They would not be activated until the bay doors were fully open and launch was eminent. The same routine was echoed in all shuttles. Even though the planned launches would not be at the same time, they would all be ready at the same time. The second Lander would not be launched until the first had successfully touched down on the lunar surface and an A-ok was received by the array. The third, fourth and fifth would follow that same pattern. They, in turn, would launch when the previous had reported that they were safely on the surface of the moon.

Earth light shown on the backside of the moon visibility was good so mapping of the terrain was constant. In a few hours the sun would rise lighting the backside and visibility would be greatly enhanced. In the meantime the landing site was being studied in detail and telescopic views were transmitted back to earth for further study by earth bound personnel whose expertise were solely on Luna's surfaces and its terrain.

Crews on the Array were busy with tidying up. EVAs were underway to insure the MAC that the Array had made this trip unscathed and would be ready to receive the five shuttles again when this mission was complete. Umbilical cords and fuel connections were examined for any defects due to the jettison during earlier release of the orbiters. The crews scrutinized all the shuttles mounting bolts and connectors while they were on the current EVA. The view, while outside, was unbelievably spectacular. Catching a panoramic view of the earth and the moon as they came over the array cause ones heart to almost stop and breathing became labored. It required more than a momentary pause for the space suited individuals. View from inside the Array was somewhat limited due to views out of the view ports only. The crewmembers outside, however, had 360 degrees of viewing, horizontal and vertical. The array was moving around the moon away from the earth and it was about to set behind the moon. It would again rise shortly as the array made its way around in its close orbit. Once the earth dropped from sight and set behind the moon the scrutiny of the Array was continued by the space suited individuals.

"MAC this is Lunar One." The voice of Chris Sams came over the headsets of the crew manning the Main Array Control Center.

"Roger Lunar One, read you loud and clear. What's on your mind, as if we didn't know?" Paul said and with his keypad he brought up Chris Sams's personal body readings. Heart rate, breathing and pulse were just a little above normal and this was as expected. As a matter of fact, this experience was so far removed from Chris's current life, the readings were at the low end of expectations.

"Paul, so far it's been one of the most unbelievably exciting trips I ever been on. I mean, from the call to NASA to the trip to space and now to actually land on the moon, wow!" Chris paused for a moment as he gathered his thoughts. "I happened to be good at math and someone somehow assume that math might be a factor in this sighting by the UGGLY and our investigation on the moon. Well here I am about to find out and as you know, not only did they make me a part of the team, they asked me to be in charge. In charge, me, what is even stranger, I accepted. I have logged many hours since that happen and now I am about to put that schooling to the test."

"It has been our pleasure to have you with us Chris, and I am sure you are the man for the job." Paul replied.

"Just called to let you know we are ready for go," Chris said.

"Roger that Lunar One, Standby." Paul's steady voice relayed confidence to the crewmembers as they prepared to make this unprecedented journey. "Six has your control."

"Ten four MAC, standing by," Lunar One replied and the com was again silent.

# Chapter 19

## Lander Touchdown

Chris watched out the small ports of Lunar One as the shuttle bay doors opened. It had become unearthly silent once depressurization was complete and the vacuum pumps, that recovered the breathable air from the bay, were switched off. The doors were fully folded back, sweeping more than ninety degrees, ending alongside the curve of the shuttle's almost touching the shuttle's wings. The view out the port was now filled with nothing but the surface of the moon. The shuttle flew with its belly facing toward the stars and this left Chris and his teammate upside down with reference to the landing site and the surface of the moon.

"Lunar One, 106 here." Chris was momentarily caught off guard because his attention had been on the silence and their exposure to this panoramic view.

"Go ahead six, Lunar One is listening." Chris couldn't think of any other reply and gently shook his head as he thought he sounded lame.

"Landing site and trajectory are approaching, your release is eminent and on my count. Five, four, three, two, one and release," The OV-106 Commander said and the toggle switch was thrown retracting the hold down locks that secured the small Lander.

Lunar One was gently pushed out of the bay by a pneumatic cylinder that was activated upon successful withdrawal of all hold down locks. Chris watched as the shuttle receded and fell away from the Lander and their little vessel slowly left the bay where it had rested during its long journey.

"Lunar One is free and clear, monitoring the distance from the shuttle." Chris reported.

"Roger that One, your control is now MAC. We enjoyed your stay with us and our best wishes go with you on your upcoming venture and we look forward to your return in the near future. Six out," OV-106 said as it released control of Lunar One to MAC.

"Thanks six, MAC this Lunar One and we are ready for your directions." Chris had regained his composure and sounded confident and alert.

"Roger Lunar One, we have you and your telemetry is right on. We are ready for your descent in 30 seconds. Please rotate your ship to landing attitude." MAC control instructed.

"Coming around per instructions MAC. Awaiting your call on descent." As Chris spoke he routinely check instruments and monitors for any abnormality. All systems were in the green and the monitors displayed status quo. The small vessel turned with ease and now had the moon and landing site in the correct prospective. Thirty seconds seems very long when waiting for something this different.

"On my count Lunar One, a 10 second burn to start your descent. Five, four, three, two, one and fire." The small vessel's engines came to life slowing the Lander down to create a controlled descent followed MAC's word fire. Engine cutoff, ten seconds later, seemed to vacuum the noise out of everything and the small vessel started its landing arc toward the surface of the moon. Small movements of the control stick caused the RCS engines to fire and maintain the correct path to the selected landing site. Chris had spent many hours to this endeavor. He had made multiple take offs and landings at several test facilities in the deserts of Nevada. This landing would take a lot less engine power, however, the controls used would be the same.

"Looking good Lunar One, telemetry is right on target. Touchdown in three minutes, your speed is optimum. How is the Lander handling?" Paul asked as he watched his monitor for info on the small crafts descent.

"Response is instant and much easier to control than when we were on earth. So far things are progressing as expected. Stability is not a problem and the landing should be a piece of cake. Get those other lunar Landers ready to launch, I'll be on the surface momentarily." Chris replied.

Paul watched the life systems monitors as Chris made his descent. It seemed that he was right on top of things and he had only a minimal rise in pulse or heartbeat. Before joining baseball and the Sacramento Parabolics, Chris Sams was a combat pilot with the US Navy. He was carrier qualified and had flown numerous missions during desert storm. They knowing that math was only one of his many careers gave NASA the idea that he was the man for the job.

Chris pulled back gently on the control stick. The Lander slowed and the nose came up slightly. Dust started rising from the surface as the RCS engines rotated so they were facing slightly forward and downward. Once forward motion had ceased Chris push the stick gently forward and the craft slowly lowered and the tracks rotated as the Lander moved forward a few feet before coming to a standstill. Chris switched the RCS engines to off and the vibration also ceased. The two sat and watch as the dust and debris slowly settled back to the surface. The ride was over and one leg of the two-way journey was completed. Silence crowded in and permeated the small craft.

"Lunar One, say your status." The earphones seemed extremely loud due to the aforementioned quiet that had suddenly surrounded Chris.

"Sorry MAC, Lunar One safely touched down and stationary at first base. Awaiting future arrivals. And, hey everyone, the moon landing, it's a piece of cake." Chris released the key and pumped his arm as he silently said "Yes!"

They did a few housekeeping chores but remained inside the Lander. They monitored the communication between MAC and the other Landers. They watched in silence as each Lander approached and made its dusty touchdown in the distance. It was not unlike the old drive in movies. Where Chris being the first to arrive would watch the other cars come in, park, then all sit and wait for the movie to begin. This is where the similarity ended and the real world, ah moon, began. Not only that, the snack bar was several thousand miles away and Chris and his, nine man multi talented crew, were the main characters and this was now their show.

"Lunar One, MAC here." Paul's voice came over loud and clear even though his vehicle was on the other side of the moon.

"Lunar One, go ahead MAC." Chris responded without delay for he had been anticipating this summons.

"It's your move, Chris. We will be monitoring your com, so if you have something or need something all you have to do is ask. Again we wish you the best of luck," Paul said and then prepared for a long wait. The small Landers were stocked with everything the project managers could think of that might be of use to a man on the moon.

"Ten four MAC, moving now." Chris replied and then continued. "Lander crews, disembark and check your local area for anything out of the ordinary." Ordinary, there is nothing here that is ordinary, Chris was thinking. "Ok, I have your positions located so you can extinguish your exterior lights. We are surrounding the area in question and as you know we are not sure what is going on here. I have calculated that an occurrence is eminent, if whatever this is follows its previous protocol. I must remind everyone to be extremely careful until we can find out what we are dealing with." Chris's mike was now activated by his voice, this left his hands free for whatever activity might arise. Being voice activated, the first word was sometimes clipped and possibly misunderstood, so each statement was preceded by some audible sound or word. "Now, don't go across toward the other Landers, left or right of your position is ok but stay in your local area until you are sure it is clear."

Pete Dobson had rode silently, monitoring screens and watching. His job from the shuttle bay to the landing was simple. He was the back up, he was the co-pilot, the other member of the Lunar One Lander. If everything was normal he would be only a passenger and, in this case, he was. He was also a very good friend of Chris Sams. Being a professional football player gave him equal status with Chris. This also gave him a ready rapport with Chris, both being professional ball players, even if the games were different. While he too would be investigating the area with the others, his main task was their well being. He was the doc, shrink and social worker during this mission. He was to listen for any changes in timbre in the voices and any unusual action that might signify extreme stress from a crewmember. This combined with the life monitors on board MAC could deter unwelcome circumstances. The only thing he noticed at this particular time was an elevated sense of excitement and wonder. It was easy to notice because he felt it too. Not too many hours ago he was in his own bed on earth and now look at him.

After rechecking suit and helmet status, they depressurized the small vehicle, saving the breathable air, then exited the vehicle. Chris went to the left of his position and Pete went to the right. Chris shuffled along assisted by the low gravity, kind of a hop skip motion. A small amount of dust was kicked up as he moved away from the Lander. All seemed normal as he proceeded slowly. Maintaining a constant vigilance, he surveyed the local area within a hundred yards of the small craft. Pete did the same on the other side of Lunar One. The other personnel were following the same procedures at each of their landing areas. As Chris neared a hundred yards from the little ship he could see one of the other crewmembers approaching him. The sites were approximately two hundred yards apart in a circle around the area as seen by UGGLY. The diameter of this area was almost three hundred and twenty yards across.

Neither had noted any abnormalities in their search of the area they had covered. Chris waved, turned and made his way back to his ship. Shortly after his return, Pete approached from the other way.

"Nothing, not one thing to indicate that this area was any different than the rest of the moon," Pete said as he shook his head. This wasn't visible to Chris due to the reflection on Pete's darkened helmet shield. "Maybe there is something out there across this open area between the Landers." He pointed out toward the flat barren plain that lay unassumingly in the distance.

"Gentlemen please, if you have completed your area investigation, board your vehicles again and standby." Chris was doing some mental calculation as he and Pete boarded Lunar One. The time table for an occurrence is swiftly closing in according to his clock. "Give me a A-Ok when you have finished boarding." He then waited for the sequence of reports.

"Lunar Two, on board and standing by." Came the first reply.

"Three, ten four here."

"Four, roger One."

"Five is A-Ok standing by."

"Roger that, One is all set also and standing by. MAC are you on this side where you have visibility?" Chris asked."

"Coming up on the horizon as we speak," Paul said in reply. "We have turned the array and shuttles so we have full view, by whoever is in your area, and all are standing by for the show."

# Chapter 20

## First Showing

"It's happening, it's happening, I can see a small opening or something out in the distance."

"What is that?"

"Oh Man, look at that, I don't believe this."

The chatter was coming from different Landers as it began.

"Hold tight guys and let this play out. And please, radio silence unless you have a situation." Chris quickly requested.

They were blown away by the grandeur, not by a force of any kind. The size of the opening as it spiraled out dwarfed the small audience and their little vessels. Its opening came within ten yards of Lunar One's position as it spanned the flat plain. This approaching wave of movement caused Chris and Pete to want to move their ship backwards just a little. The sweeping motion was not fast just constant till it was apparently fully opened. The view inside was limited by the angle and only a portion of the interior could be seen. What was seen was a mosaic pattern that had a glow suggesting its own power source. A similar view from all areas left the idea that this glow could not have been reflective and the power source to open such a massive area indicates some depth to that source. The area remained open for no more than a couple of minutes and then at the same rate closed again. Nothing visibly happened while it was open but a gentle pushing on their ship was felt by the crews during that short period. The push had ended shortly before the area closed. As the area started to close, Chris and Pete exited the Lander and stood in awe. It was very silent and there was no chatter on the radios. The event had taken the breath and speech away from everyone for a moment, and then the silence was broken.

"Lunar One, this is MAC," Paul said shortly after the area closed. He had previously viewed the tape from UGGLY and had an idea of what to expect but this was, oh man, it was so different. NASA had assigned the location of each lander but in Paul's opinion the crewmembers were to darn close to that gaping abyss while he was several miles away feeling helpless. The array was in a perfect position when the opening occurred and the view of the inside was almost straight down and it was spectacular. Suddenly there was a slight shutter to the array as it passed over the area and it took Paul's attention away from the view. This minor vibration was noticeable only for a moment and then gone. By the time Paul completed checking out monitors and array read outs the view had changed. He turned back to look at the surface again and all he saw was the surface, the area was closed and the array was now moving toward the horizon and away from that location.

"MAC, this is Lunar One, go ahead." Chris's voice was a welcomed sound in his earphones.

"Glad I had those balcony tickets for that one. Most impressive show I have ever seen. Are you guys ok?" Paul's voice had quite a tremor and anyone could tell he was a bit excited.

"Everything is fine here, MAC. Ring side seats left us a little bit unnerved due to the size of the opening and how close it came to our location but we are fine." Chris's voice held that same timbre but this was expected.

"Ok Chris, glad to hear it, I mean that you are ok. We have a little time on our hands now as we wait for some directions from the guys back home. Suggest your crew take a break and maybe have some lunch." Paul suggested.

Both Chris and Paul had discussed what the next step should be, but the final decision would come from NASA. Both thought that they had to move forward. They had to find out about an area that could spiral open like that. They also had to find out what its function was, if possible. Well anyway, as far as they were concerned, those should be the next steps.

Paul knew that the high definition, digital, video cameras, with their telephoto lens, had taken and transmitted some amazing video and stills of the action. From Paul's viewpoint it looked like they were staring into a large ball that was open on the one end. The inside walls curved away from the opening then curved back in to an area at the very bottom that seemed flat for hundreds of meters across. This area was well lighted with bright yellow lines or tubes running across, dissecting corner to corner. A large X or cross hair pattern could be seen directly in the center of this flat area. Around the middle of the cross hairs was a small circle that glowed with a different sort of green color. This circle seemed to pulse or blink while the area was fully opened. The pulsation stopped shortly before the closing. Its meaning escaped Paul but he was sure it had some logic too it.

It was almost an hour later before any word came from NASA. From inside their small Landers the crew had eaten lunch and refilled their individual air tanks. Each small vessel had enough air supply for many hours of exploration. There was no hurry and they knew that waiting would be one of the hardest parts of their mission.

"MAC control this is Houston." Although Chris and his crew heard the call by Houston, they waited for MAC to answer.

"Go ahead Houston, MAC here." Houston's signal had a somewhat hollow tone to it but Paul's voice could have been in the small Lander with them. He sounded very close.

Seconds ticked off and then, "Roger MAC, it looks like we have a go to explore the area that opens. According to Chris's calculations we have several hours before another episode. Have your Lander crew, make that, one of your Lander crew advance into or onto the area that opens. See if they can pick up the edge or beginning of the opening while it is closed." Houston knew that the message they had just given was not pristinely clear so they added, "Any questions?"

"No questions, I'll just insure we have the correct orders." Paul hesitated and then continued. "Clearance for one Lander crew to advance to the edge of the now closed opening, if the edge can be found and that same crew is authorized to move onto the area that had previously opened. Please confirm Houston."

Silence as the messages traveled to the earth and back again to the moon. "Those orders are confirmed, MAC. Please insure, which ever crew is selected, they go no further than half way across the selected area. All other crews are to standby to give assistance if needed. Houston out."

"Roger Houston will do." Paul then continued, however this time to the men waiting on the surface of the moon. "Chris, did you copy Houston's orders?"

"Loud and clear, we are ready to proceed. You want to choose are would you like me to draw straws for the lucky crew?" Chris asked.

"Your choice Chris. Good luck and proceed with caution. We will be monitoring." Paul had now given the reins to Chris and would let him run with it. Chris had decided that since he and Pete were first on the scene, now it should be someone else who gets this new honor. The choice really was simple and one by one each would get a turn at being first. Lunar Two would be the crew selected.

"Lunar Two, One here," Chris said with sincerity.

"Two here, go ahead One," Sergey Petrovich answered immediately.

"Sergey, you have been chosen. You and Garcia will get the honors of the first investigation. Get out there and make us proud." Chris then settled back in his couch and would monitor their progress.

"Jews can depend on our persons. Ve vill take it to the limits, piece of pie, no perspiration." Sergey's humor was sometimes loss on the uneducated, however Chris recognized it for what it was.

Sergey was from Cluge, Romania, which is a large city in a country that is no longer part of Russia. However he had gone from the high school in his hometown to a university that is located in Moscow. His scholastic grades or ranking in high school were tops in all of Romania. His country actually paid for his college in Moscow and his attending Harvard for his Scientific Doctorate. He loved his country and would always be their favorite son no matter what happened or where he was. He got this job because he was the best and his country was part of the alliance that sponsored this mission. However, he would have been here, and it didn't matter if his country were part of the mission funders or not, that is how good he is.

Garcia was from Mexico City, Mexico, the fourth child of a well to do plantation owner. He had a doctorate in both Linguistics and History. He was versed in early Aztec writings, hieroglyphics, and many other so called dead languages. He would try to decipher any writings that might be found or maybe just achieve some general understanding of a control that might not be labeled in a recognizable language. That will be for later, his task for right now has been laid out by NASA and he and Sergey will do their best.

Garcia and Sergey advanced slowly taking time to inspect every crevice and turn over every pebble in search of any inconsistency. It turned out it wasn't necessary. The edge of the opening was apparent and easy to spot. Sergey stopped and kneeled down. He ran his gloved hand over the surface and saw the debris pushed aside as he swept his hand. When he reached the area that opened there was no debris. It was smooth and resembled the feeling of sweeping his hand across a glass surface. Although smooth to the touch the surface of the opening look like the soil surrounding the area. Sergey shined his hand held halogen light at the smooth surface. The reflection from that surface was the same as it was on the regular surface of the moon. There was no apparent reflection and no way to tell the difference between the areas except for the touch. This meant you had to be on the surface and at the edge of the opening or you could not distinguish any difference. The chance view, by the UGGLY, was never more apparent than it was to the men now on the moon's surface.

"Lunar One, Lunar Two," Sergey said as he stood and looked out across toward where Lunar One was waiting. He could not see them but he faced that way anyway.

"One here, go ahead Two," Pete said, Chris was busy with a minor valve problem and motioned for Pete to take it.

"We have located, what we are sure is, the outer edge of the area that opens." Sergey paused and then continued. "It is smooth as glass but looks just like its surrounding. Although it is that smooth, it does not reflect as glass would." Sergey paused again and knelt down on the smooth surface. He removed a small metal tool from his utility belt and rapped sharply on the surface. There was no reaction and of course no sound was heard. It felt like he was hitting a solid rock and the small tool rebounded and vibrated in his hand.

"Anything else to report, Sergey?" Pete wished he was out there with Sergey as he investigated the area.

"After hitting it with a small tool, I find it to be as hard and resilient as a rock. That's all we have so far. We are going to continue out toward the center. I'll report back on any findings, Sergey out." Sergey and Garcia spread apart about 3 meters and started out across the smooth retractable area. Strangely the surface was smooth but not slippery and the footing was good as they proceeded.

"Roger that, One out," Pete replied and as he signed off. He looked at Chris who was just finishing the repair on the small air valve that had malfunctioned. Sitting in the small vessel, again pressurized with helmets off, it was easy to communicate without the use of the radio. "Not much yet except we know the retractable area is different, even if it doesn't look any different. Boy, I wish I was out there with them, it's hard to sit while your team is at bat." Pete turned back and starred out across the open area looking for any sign of the two wanders.

"Funny you should say that. As a major league pitcher, that was the hardest for me. All the way up from little league, up until the majors, I had always batted. I get to the majors and I have to sit while my team is on offense. The DH always went to bat for me," Chris said as he thought back on his baseball career.

"You were and are a great pitcher, I know cause, I was one of your fans, and the coach was correct to hold you to pitching only. You have an unbelievable slider that fools most batters and they all chase it as it falls away from the plate. I even saw one batter chase that pitch and then try to hold up when he realized what pitch he was after. He ended up on his ass as the umpire called strike three. I laughed my butt off. Is that why you are called Sliding Sam?" Pete asked as he continued to stare out on the open area.

"That is what most of the announcers have said but that is not the case." Chris laughed as he remembered the incident that earned him that moniker. "Not many people know the real reason I got that name. I was a real hotshot rookie. At practice one day I took a turn at bat, even though I was there as a pitcher only. I hit a sharp line drive between the first and second baseman that rolled all the way to the wall. I rounded first and was stretching it into a double when I realized the ball was going to get to second about the same time I would. Well just like in little league and high school I was determined not to get thrown out." Chris put his hands out mimicking a diving slide to the base as he continued. "I dove into second sliding on my stomach inside of the bag grabbing it as I went by. Hey, I was safe from the tag but not from the coach." Chris shook his head and smiled, he could do that now but not then. "That coach laid into me. He let me know how much his team had paid for my pitching arm and here I was trying to destroy their property. His comments as he finished the barrage on my stupidity was, well "Sliding Sam", the only sliding you will have in the future is in the pitch you throw, now hit the shower and I want to see you in my office after practice. Everyone on the team started calling me Sliding Sam from then on and it stuck."

"I would have never known, but I do know that most nicknames are gained by some small incident that, at the time they happen, usually aren't very memorable," Pete stated as he and Chris stared out at the area that opens.

# Chapter 21

## Into the opening

Sergey and Garcia finished an uneventful trip to where they considered the center of the area might be. There was no indication that it was the center because it was no different than the rest of the smooth surface. However, when they made a 360 degree turn and looked out, this particular spot was a little higher and they could now see all five small vessels that were arranged around the suspected area. Their ship, Lunar Two, looked to be the same distance away as all the others, at better than a hundred and seventy meters removed. This meant the area was slightly domed but the degree was not significant enough to draw attention to it. As requested by NASA they went no further than half way across. With no new information or findings they made their way back to their vehicle before making their report.

Giving their negative comments to Chris meant that they were also telling Paul, the Array crew and NASA, who was monitoring all transmissions. Chris repeated their findings to Paul who in turn repeated the same to NASA. Now NASA had the same report three times but protocol demanded this in case there was an interruption in communication systems and the actual "I read you and copy your info." insured reception. A standby order followed each message delivered and so all were standing by. Sergey and Garcia were busy refilling individual air tanks and grabbing a snack inside their little cocoon.

They waited for what seemed to be an unusual length of time. All figured that the next step would be the most hazardous of this mission. It was simple, someone had to go in when the next opening happened. That crew and their little ship would most likely be cannon fodder and their safety would definitely be in question. Again the wait was the hardest.

"MAC this is Houston control." Came over the headsets of all listeners.

"MAC is on, go ahead Houston." Paul was ready even though the reply came a lot quicker than he expected.

"We have been kicking around ideas and suggestions on what our next step should be. We all agreed on only one thing and that is, we need inputs from you and your crews located down on the moon's surface. We thought that your view and ideas, being up front and personally involved, might have more value than our take from here in the bleachers." NASA in other words needed help from the lower echelon.

"Hope we can help, give us a few to get our bearings together and we will give you our opinions." Paul knew that any discussion with his men on the surface would be available and monitored by NASA and it would also be recorded for prosperity. This of course made no difference and all of these forthcoming suggestions and inputs would be freely and openly considered.

"Ok, Array crew and Lander crews lets have it. What should our next move be? Let's start with you Chris, you and Pete." Paul did not have to wait for Lunar One's input because it came immediately.

"It's simple, we go in with one of the Landers when the area opens again. The only questions we have are, do we take a Lander out to the middle and wait for the opening or do we remain where we are until the opening occurs and then head out and down in? I do suggest we get the next response from Lunar three, if one of us goes in, they will have the honors." Chris finished and waited for Lunar Three to put in their two cents.

"We are ready to go in, can't wait to get a look at the engineering of this anomaly. Frank says he's also ready for a go out in the middle or from where we sit, makes no difference," Jim Wilford said from the pilot's chair of Lunar Three. He, being an engineer of the Array itself, could not wait to get inside and see how an area this large can open and close with such precision. Frank however, was curious to find out what kind of power source could be inside that could handle such a massive area and what fuel was used to power it. After all, this was the reason he was on board and he looked forward to this opportunity to investigate.

"Anyone else have an idea?" Chris asked and waited for a reply.

"We agree with Three, just wish it was us going in, Four out," Lunar Four said.

"Looks like we are all on the same page, God speed, Five out." Lunar Five added.

"We got your back Three, Lunar Two out." Lunar Two finished the role call with their vote for a go inside.

"Paul, it looks like it's a "Forward Ho" from here on the moon. The surface has not given up any useable info so, we got to go in there in person." Chris's relay was for Paul and also for NASA.

"Roger that, One. We here on the Array feel the same way. We have come too far to not go in, that is if we can." Paul's reply was as expected.

The info was again relayed to NASA and they agreed that going in was the only avenue that made any sense. The go ahead was not long in coming and the entrance was to be made after the opening had been completed. There were still a few hours left if Chris's calculations predicting another opening was on the mark as it had been so far. Lunar Three went through a checklist the same as they had before leaving the shuttle on the way to the surface. They had to insure all items were tucked away and secure. You know, return to your seats, all seat backs in the upright position, snack tray tables put away and seat belts fastened for takeoff. The only thing left was lift off and then drop off into the chasm. Jim and Frank donned their helmets and went on individual tank air supply in case of unexpected turbulence or a breach in cabin pressurization.

Zero hour came. Jim cranked up his IPOD, he had always worn under his helmet, letting the Boogie Woogie Piano Roll. A song written by Clarence (Pine Top) Smith in 1928 and recorded by Tommy Dorsey in 1938, launching Dorsey into one of the major bands in that era. It was re-recorded for his IPOD but still held that piano in the foreground. Almost in sync with the music the area started to open, Jim hit the ignition and lifted the small vessel about three or four feet above the surface. Slowly moving forward as the sweep of the opening came toward them. As soon as the opening was completed Jim push the stick forward and the Lander went over the edge and hovered for a moment before it slowly sank in toward the floor or bottom that was several tens of meters away. All the other vessel occupants watched as the small vehicle was swallowed up by the gaping chasm. Again all felt the push on their vessel as they had before and Lunar Three rose back up into sight momentarily with that push. When the push ended Lunar Three again descended and was soon out of sight to the crews surrounding the opening.

"Lunar Three, say your status." Chris spoke a few minutes after Three was loss from site. He used his public speaking skills to maintain a calm voice although he was somewhat excited.

"Lunar Three here, status is, ah, ah, we are fine, ascending as predicted, we're now about halfway down as far as we can tell. The area is enormous and the lighting is, well its unusual is what it is. The lighting is not too bright and not too dark and very easy on the eyes. Whoa, something tugged on the ship. That lighted pattern below us has gotten brighter and we are, wait, wait a minute, we're being pulled toward the center of the flat area. Something is guiding and pulling us. Okay, oh boy, controls are not functioning but we seem to be in a controlled situation, it's just not of our making. Our vessel is level and lowering slowly. I've cut ignition so we are not under our own power but nothing changed we are continuing our descent as before. I hate to use the term but, a tractor beam has us in its grip, shades of Star Trek." Jim's sounded excited but controlled. Chris was thinking that Jim was having the time of his life. Paul on board the Array was watching Jim's life monitoring read outs on the screen and could only see some small elevation in pulse and heartbeat. He too thought that Jim was having a great time.

"Touchdown, we have stopped descending and the touchdown was as soft as a babies butt. Something out there is still well within calibration," Jim said and then he laughed. "That was exciting. Request permission to exit the Lander and take a look locally."

"Roger that Three, keep your mike open as you go," Chris took it on himself to give that permission.

Jim and Frank exited the Lander slowly. Insuring firm flooring they stepped out one at a time. The surface they stood on was flat and black except for the lighted strips or tubes that ran through it just under the surface. It was smooth but again not slippery when they tested it by walking around the ship. The size of the flat area was deceptive and much larger than at first thought. They had entered close to the one edge of the opening, but the tractor beam or whatever it was, pulled them to what looked like the absolute center. The sides or walls of the inside were many meters away and not much detail could be made out from where they had landed. They did, however, have a full view of the inside both outward and upward.

"Lunar Three, It's awfully quiet down there," Chris said and the sudden interruption made Frank stand back up. He had been down on one knee running his hand over one of the area with lighted tubes inside.

"Roger One, actually the grandeur and spaciousness has left us a little loss for words. All is A-Ok and we are just having a look around the ship," Jim replied.

"Copy Three, things have changed a little up here and I have some good news and some not so good news," Chris retorted as if setting up a joke.

"Give us the good news first." Jim requested.

"The good news is that the opening is still open and did not close as it had before. If you take a look up you can see this." Chris told them.

"Oh, that is good news and so it is," Jim said as he leaned back in order to look up. "What is the bad news?" He continued.

"You gonna get company," As Chris said this, Lunar Four cleared the edge and started his slow descent.

"Jim boarded his vessel and, using the tractor gears and battery power, he moved the small ship off the center toward one of the far walls. When he had traveled about fifteen meters Jim stopped and turned the vehicle around. Looking back at the center he could see that the lighting on the floor changed and the center X and circle had now begun to pulse. Frank walked clear of the area and stood by Lunar Three. Leaning back on the front of Three he watched as Four continued its descent. As with Three at about halfway down Four started moving toward the center of the area. He saw that four had cut its engines and he knew that the last part of the descent would be controlled by some internal guiding system.

"Man oh man, it's beautiful. Unbelievable in its size and the degree of control exhibited by some unknown source, well I am amazed. We are on a magic carpet ride to a castle that's far far away." Everyone of course heard Four's comments and they could also hear the amazement in his voice.

"MAC, This is Lunar One." Chris had waited a few moments trying to puts his thoughts together before he spoke.

"Go ahead Lunar One." Paul was thinking that he knew what Chris was about to say.

"Whatever this is, I think that it is now aware that we are here. It is treating us with kid gloves or it is treating us as it was programmed to respond to any interloper. Aware however, is the best answer I can come up with." Chris left it at that, knowing that everyone was listening.

One by one the Landers enter the opening and joined Lunar Three. They actually spread out in the same pattern that they had held on the surface. There was one gap in the five spoke surrounding. Chris and Pete remained on top and monitored the mission. When all four ships had landed safely they spread out and headed for the walls in opposite directions. Their goal again was to find some type of manual control or information that would help them understand what they had found.

It was about one hour later that the opening closed and all communication with the Landers inside the area was loss.

# Chapter 22

## Peek-A-Boo I See You

It had been two hours now and still no communication with the Landers inside the strange facility. There was a constant radio repeat trying to contact the missing crews. Paul and Chris were at their wit's end with concern for the adventurers. Chris launched his small vessel and flew over the center of the area very close to the surface. He did three flybys without any success. He then with permission flew his little ship out to the center and set it down on the surface of the retractable area. Nothing happened even though they sat there in their small vessel for almost a quarter of an hour. Chris then flew back to his original location continuing to try to raise Lunar Three on the com. "Hey MAC, any suggestion from you or the boys back home?"

"As you heard, the boys back home and I don't know what else we can do but wait until the next calculated opening. Every Lander is prepared for multiple hours of individual operation. They all have scrubbers on board that will clean up and reuse the available air so that should not be a problem. Food stocks are plentiful and as long as there are no injuries, they all should be fine." Paul paused and then continued. "You and Pete just sit tight and we will wait it out with you. MAC out."

The scheduled opening was still hours away when all of a sudden Chris felt a push on his little vessel. He popped his head up and starred across the domed area and realized that the area was opening again. As soon as there was room, Lunar Five rose slowly out of the small opening. The small vessel turned and headed straight for Chris and his ship. "Peek-A-Boo, I see you." came Lunar Five's voice over the headset. "Did you miss us?"

"We sure did, good to see you. Is everything okay, are the other crews okay?" Chris asked worriedly.

"Hey, they are all fine and having a great time looking around and investigating things. We didn't realize we were cut off for some time, heck, we hadn't even notice that the area had closed. Our heads were onto other things." Lunar Five's pilot paused and then continued. "We thought the radio silence was to give us some time to investigate the area. We had very little to report and didn't feel the urge to contact you just to tell you we have learned nothing."

"Did something happen, what I mean is, why did you pop up now?" Chris was curious and felt that there had been an event of some kind.

"Well for some reason, one of us noticed that the area was closed. We then tried to contact you to find out what you were thinking and why you didn't notify us. That is when we found out that we had no communication outside the area." Lunar Five slowed his approach, turned his ship and let it slowly settle beside Lunar One. "Hang on One and I will show you something we found, I've got it with me."

Chris and Pete disembarked as soon as the dust settled and then they waited for the Lunar Five's crew to exit their vessel. Jack Shaw the pilot was the first out. He actually shook hands with Chris and Pete and said, "Good to see you guys, even when you're decked out in your space suits." His smile was broad and he seemed to be on top of the world instead of on top of the moon. "Here, look at this little apparatus if you will?" He then handed Chris a small, H shaped square, almost clear and glass like, with lighted item on both sides.

"What is this? Chris asked as he turned the item over and over checking both sides which seemed to be identical in apparent layout.

"We've found out that this is a remote control and it controls, for one thing." He paused as he pointed in the direction he had just come from. "That, that out there, the whole thing. Open and close as you wish with this small lighted yellow spot." Chris thought for a moment that Jack was going to dance or do the moon walk as he said, "Oh yeah, oh yeah, a remote control!"

"We of course don't have an idea of how it works or if it controls anything else," Jack said as he watched Chris who was still turning the item over and around trying to see if anything on it made sense. "Now that we have this control, why don't you guys come down inside with us or if you want we can stay here while you take a tour inside. Yeah, hey yeah, we stay here. That would make more sense. You two go and we stay up here."

"That's a good idea, I want someone on top here to maintain contact with MAC and NASA. That last episode would have been unthinkable if all the Landers were inside and zero contact was available, at least they had us this time." Chris was putting his thinking into words even though he was sure MAC and NASA were thinking the same thing. "MAC, this is Lunar One."

"Go ahead One, we are all ears." Tony had the com at this time while Paul took a break. Paul had not left his station until Lunar Five popped back up and reported all Okay. Tony had previously taken a break at Paul's request because Paul wanted his crew to be fresh and alert. Tony had eaten and did a couple laps around the rotating track in the gym followed by a cold shower. The shower was just off the track and rotated with the track when it was in motion. With the gravity the spin created, a normal shower could be taken and the water actually flowed down to the drain instead of forming globules as is normal in zero gravity. Tony was refreshed and that's why he was on the com.

"Chris here, Pete, I and Lunar One are going to take a tour inside the facility while Lunar Five remains here on top. We have at our disposal some type of remote control that, for one thing, will open and close the area. If possible, we will leave the area open to allow communication, however if that doesn't work, try not to be alarmed. Lunar Five made it in and out so I have to assume we will too. Lunar One out." Chris looked to Pete for agreement and Pete was nodding his head off, no comment necessary, just anxious to get inside.

Lift off of Lunar One raised a small amount of dust leaving Lunar Five in a small cloud. Pushing the stick forward the small vessel moved out onto the entrance to the facility. Chris placed his finger on the yellow lighted spot of the small remote and watched as the area enlarged its opening. A second touch and the opening stopped and stayed at its new setting. Chris smiled and thought that this was far too simple and he wondered what other surprises would be uncovered inside the facility.

Chris, not actually going inside before, had monitored and in essence gone inside with the other Landers and their crews. Due to this he was not as awed as the others and maybe just a little more open to his surroundings. This is what possibly made him the first to notice the pulse when he entered the opening. It was as if he had passed through a layer of air or an electronic beam of sorts. Whatever it was, it covered the open area and, to get inside, you had to pass through it. Nothing was noticeable on any monitors so maybe it wasn't electronic, as we know it. Chris then went through a minute check of all systems as Pete took control of the ship for the descent. Transferring the controls was not necessary because as before the descent was suddenly controlled by the facility. Pete cut the engines and sat back for the ride.

Chris, while going through all systems, noticed the readings that indicated the environment surrounding the small vessel was not as expected. This particular device was used while inside the shuttle bay so those in the Landers could tell when the bay was pressurized. His thinking at first was that the small device was not active and still held the readings from when it was last used on board the Enterprise. He glanced at Pete and saw that Pete was watching and, even though he was confined to his space suit, he shrugged his shoulders. Chris went through the steps that would re-activate that particular system and then found that he received the same readings.

They allowed the facility to control and land the small vessel. As soon as they touched down, the area they landed on went back to normal lighting and the pulsing at the center stopped. To Chris this indicated that the descent and landing was apparently finished. Assuming this, Chris was on the radio to Lunar Five. "Five this is One."

"Go ahead One," Five responded immediately.

"When you decided to exit this place was there anything unusual you had to do?" Chris then waited for his answer.

"Negatory One, I just hit the ignition and lifted off. There was no reaction from the facility that prevented my ascent." There was a question in Jack's voice.

"Roger that Five, we are going to exit again, I have to check something and didn't want to surprise you." Pete relinquished control of Lunar One and Chris powered her up and lifted off. While Chris flew the ship, Pete watched the monitoring screen for any signs of change. The read out at present was almost unbelievable and that's why there was doubt, making this small errand necessary. The readings were 78% Nitrogen, 21% Oxygen with some water vapor and a trace of carbon dioxide temperature was at 72 degrees Fahrenheit. Just the same as earth, well except that it did not have the amount of carbon dioxide or argon and the various other components that are present in this the 21st century.

"Reading holding steady so far." Pete informed Chris.

"Keep an eye on it and let me know the minute it changes or let me know if it doesn't change when we exit." Chris requested and continued his slow ascension. The opening, only partially opened, looked very small when their ship was sitting down on the floor of the facility. As they approached the exit the opening seemed to be increasing in size but this was not the case. The facility was so large that anything that far away would appear small.

"Holding steady, holding steady, whoa, there it went to zero atmosphere and the temperature dropped to –300 degrees F. Looks like it is working just fine now," Pete said as he pointed at the readout.

"Well that is interesting, we are going back in now. See you later Lunar Five," Chris said as he reduced the power and let the small vessel go back down past the opening.

As soon as they passed through and were inside, the readings went back to earth standards. Chris was now sure that someone somewhere had expected them and their chemistry makeup.

He cut the engines and let the facility control the landing again. "All Landers crews please respond to our area for a few moments, Five hold your position." Chris added as an afterthought, he was sure that Five would not leave his position but it was necessary to make the order explicit. Pete and Chris exited the vehicle as the suited crews approached from every direction. It was tough to be called away from the investigation they were so intensely involved in but Chris thought this would make their work much easier.

"What I need is a, hold on a minute, maybe this will make what I am going to tell you clearer." Chris then reached up with both hands and unlocked his helmet. He gave it a small twist to the left and lifted it off his head. "There, that is better." He looked around and saw that Pete had done the same thing standing there with a silly grin on his face. All the other crews were, well to put it simply, they were too stunned to move. However, that did not last long before other helmets started coming off and deep breaths were being taken all around.

"How did you know?" Jack asked as he was one of the first to remove his helmet.

"Due to your exploration I was already aware of the awe inspiring surroundings inside. This gave me an opportunity to investigate atmosphere instead of admiring the sunset so to speak. I noticed a layer or something that all had to go through to get down here and I was wondering what that layer was. I went through all the systems and noticed that the environment monitor still read the same as the pressurized shuttle bay. We thought that maybe it had malfunctioned but as you can see it was a good reading. We went back out the exit and the readings changed showing the atmospheric pressures and temperatures that are present on the moon. Then when we came back in there it was again, earth standard atmosphere. Hope this extra freedom helps with your investigations." There were too many comments about how much this would aid them in each of their quest and well, suffice it to say all were pleased.

"MAC Lunar One," Chris said.

"Roger One, what was that all about? What did you find out that no one else had realized and hey, does someone down there have asthma or something? There was a lot of noise that sounded like, well, was the whole crew trying to breathe at the same time?" Paul, who was now back at the com, asked.

"What did I find out? Well, I only found out that this facility has an earth type environment and we have all removed our helmets and will shortly also remove our suits. Everything seems to be just fine." Chris added knowing what a stir this would cause on the Array and at NASA. He couldn't keep the smugness out of his voice and knew it could be read all the way back to earth. He thought these are just the first of so many discoveries that might be made during their mission, and the presence of an earth type environment had just extended their stay here indefinitely.

# Chapter 23

## The Unplanned Departure

It had taken several days but all felt that they did have control of the opening and closing at the top of the facility. Lunar Five had now joined the other crews inside. Each of the specialists were busy in their field of expertise. Some of the characters that were located on the wall near what seem like consoles were thought to be similar to some of the early writing found on earth. Chris was pretty sure that some of the writing indicated the use of prime number sequences. If this was true then maybe the writings could be deciphered by a combination of science and math. A language designed by scientist and written methodically using prime numbers as the basic. If it were true then Chris was one of the best we had on the math side and Franco Garcia was very good at Linguistic and History. If it was similar or had any basic that could be equated to early writings, they really had a chance of understanding some of it. They needed only one more part to give them the best shot at success. That would be their resident scientist, Sergey Petrovich, he is so painstakingly detailed that some type of results was almost a sure thing. Whatever the results may be they, the three of them, had their orders and those orders were simple, decipher.

Seuni Takao, Co-pilot of Lunar Five and Electronic Engineer, had been given the small remote control. Her task would be to try to find out what other parts of the facility it would control. This task was just a bit hairy and a certain degree of caution must be taken with any activation of the unknown. Seuni had concluded that the remote operated on the same principle as the touch screen on the computers and no actual buttons were move or pushed during use. The small remote was shaped in a square H pattern. It had 12 different lighted areas that one would assume controlled 12 individual items or systems. Each lighted area or button was of a different color. The yellow one we knew controlled the opening at the top. The yellow button was on the top right hand side, no matter which side of the remote you looked at. Turn it over and the layout is still the same, not reversed as one would expect. Right below the yellow was a green button or green lighted area. Seuni had placed her thumb on that one and some type of alarm was set off. She quickly removed her thumb from the button and the alarm silenced.

"Anyone see any changes anywhere when the alarm went off." Seuni's voice went out over the com to reach everyone in the facility, even those located all the way over on the other side.

Negative replies were heard most but there was one who thought he noticed a lighting change when the alarm sounded. It was Ishmel Mohamed, Pilot of Lunar Four, who was checking some environment reading of the facility at and around Lunar Four, itself. He was the only one located anywhere near the landing area. "Sueni, Lunar Four here. I could swear that the lighting changed around here somehow. It was momentary and then things went back to normal when the alarm was silenced," he reported. "Hey, now that I think about it, it was the refection off the screen of my monitor that my eyes picked up. Could you do it again and I will do a 360 and try to determine what changes."

"Roger that Four. All hands standby for a test," Seuni said as she placed her thumb back over the small green area. The alarm sounded, actually it was a kind of chime, not annoying but attention getting. This time she did not remove her thumb keeping it there until the alarm quit on its own.

"Hey Seuni, it's the landing area. It increased in lighting and then went completely dark. Maybe that actually controls the lighting at the landing area," Ishmel said as he started walking toward the middle of the landing area. "Yep, it's all dark here now, can't even find the center of the area."

"Copy that, Four." Seuni paused and then continued. "Lunar One, this is Seuni here." That was as if she needed to say who she was, the only female down on the surface, however not the only one near the moon. Kari Lipkens was up there flying around in orbit on board the shuttle Atlantis monitoring the progress and keeping communication open.

Chris finished the notation he was making before he lost that train of thought and then responded. "Lunar One on, go ahead Seuni."

"I need to take a Lander up to check out the landing area and test the remote control." Sueni's thoughts were already in flight mode. She was mentally mapping out the route that would best check out the remote with reference to the landing area.

"Roger that Seuni, you have approval for your test." Chris's authorization was just a rubber stamp, Chris used so that everyone would be inform of the imminent lift off of one of the Landers. These individuals that he was supervising were far and removed from the standard everyday professional. They actually needed no supervision, however efforts must be coordinated simply to avoid duplication and to provide progress information to MAC and NASA.

Lift off of Lunar Four was routine as was the trip up and out of the facility. Just to cover all bases, Seuni took the small ship away from the opening and made sure she cleared the absolute edge of the area when it is fully opened. Once she had accomplished this she returned to the opening and started descending into the facility. As the small vessel drifted down and down there was no tractor beam present. Seuni guided the Lander beyond the landing area and set it down close to one of the curved walls. The crews watched this realizing that she had somehow turned off the tractor beam that had grabbed their vessels when they had previously entered the facility. Seuni now knew that the green area of the remote control had something to do with the landing area and the tractor beam.

Seuni turned the tractor beam and landing area systems back on, as they were when the first crew arrived. She made a note of the green buttons function as she had about the yellow. Only thing to do now is, on to the next test. There were four larger lighted areas in the middle of the small unit. She thought the white area of the control seemed interesting and she decided this would be her next concern. However, this time she would make all crews aware of her intentions and have them monitor their particular areas for any deviation from the so far norm.

"Your attention please, this is Seuni." She again used the radio to broadcast her message to all parties. "I will be activating another button on the remote in fifteen seconds and as usual I have no info to go on, so, I need your attention. Please check your areas for any changes and if an alarm sounds continue to scan your area until the alarm is silent. Thanks in advance." Seuni backed away from the wall a few steps so she had a better view of a larger portion of the area. The seconds drug by but at last her wait time was up and she place her thumb over the white sensor located in the middle on the lower right side of the small unit. As she had done before she held her thumb there even though the alarm this time was a little louder and more annoying. The flash of light was unexpected and was seen from every corner of the facility, even though there were no corners. The area the flash had come from was isolated and Seuni quickly headed that way. There was a 3-D type monitor that was now active with a animated drawing of an object that seemed somehow familiar to Seuni. In the center of the drawing was something that was surrounded by a blinking star pattern that simulated a flashing light. The star was pulsating with a small chime echoing the pulses.

On the floor in front of the screen was a lighted circle that had lighted tubes that crossed in the center similar to the ones at the landing zone. These tubes were slowly losing their light and were soon dark and undetectable. Seuni thought that they were more than likely the results of the sensor that she had activated. Her questions, what was that flash of light and what purpose did it serve? Her next thought raised an alarm and she started to feel very concerned. "Lunar One, this is Seuni."

Chris sensed something in her voice that cleared all other thoughts from his mind. "Chris here, what's up Seuni?"

"I am in the area where the flash occurred and I need to know if anyone else was working in this area. Do you see where I am standing?" Seuni then waved her arms above her head as she faced out from the wall.

"I see you now, hang on let me check my notes. I made a simple drawing of the floor area and noted where each person was going to be working. I used my ship as the reference and let me get into position and take a look, don't want to just arbitrarily guess." Chris comments came as he moved back to his ship to get his bearings. "Ok, now let's see, Jack should be somewhere more to the left."

"Right over here, boss," Jack said and waved his hands in the air so Chris could see where he was.

"Ok I see you Jack. Well in your area I have, Pete. Pete should be around there somewhere." Chris waited a few moments and then called for him. "Pete, could you check in?" Chris's headset was filled with silence, one of the loudest noises ever heard. "Pete, this is Chris, please check in." Chris continued calling as he moon leaped his way across to where Seuni was standing. Stopping in front of the 3-D monitor, he gazed at the display. "Hey I recognize that, it looks like Stonehenge or it is a completed version of Stonehenge. What is this picture trying to tell us? Pete Dobson, this is Chris, Lunar One calling." Chris turned around and waved his hands in the air. "Lander Crews come over here, drop whatever you are doing and respond to my position." This time Chris was not asking, it was stated as an order. "MAC, Chris here."

"We read you Chris, say your status." Paul had been monitoring all transmission and knew something was up.

"Pete Dobson has not checked in after many radio request. I don't want to be an alarmist but better safe than sorry, my dad always said." Chris now waited for some response.

"What preceded the realization that Pete wasn't around to answer your radio request?" Paul asked after a few moments.

"A test of the remote control we found in the facility. As directed each lighted sensor is being activated and tested to see if we can figure out its intended purpose." Chris gave Seuni a reassuring glance as if to say, this is our problem not just yours.

"MAC, we had a brilliant flash of light and an area where Pete was suppose to be sort of came to life. I mean it lit up and turned on a 3-D type monitor," Chris interjected.

"Is the monitor displaying anything?" Paul asked.

"Well, this might sound a little crazy but, the picture is definitely animated and closely resembles the Stonehenge in England," Chris said this rather sheepishly.

"Say again the resemblance," Paul said.

"Stonehenge in England, it resembles the Stonehenge as some drawings have indicated, that is if it were rebuilt to original specs," Chris said with more emphasis.

"Roger that, Stonehenge, in England," Paul said "Standby One, we will get back to you soon. MAC out."

"While we are waiting for some response from the head shed, let's make a check of this area for anything out of the ordinary. I know, I know it's all out of the ordinary, just check please." Chris was not handling this very well and he knew it. Things were going so great, he thought. Pete, Pete, where are you?

# Chapter 24

## The Arrival and Rescue

It was very dark and cold. The wind blew across his body that was for some reason unclothed. Large objects of undefined shapes surrounded him. His head ached and his eyes did not focus, as they should. Alarms went off in his head when he tried to rise. He fell back and laid there trying to recall something that was just out of reach in his thoughts. He opened his eyes and stared up at the night sky. Stars twinkled and the moon was a silver crescent with the points pointing up as they always do. Why do they always point up and why do I know they always do? His thoughts were random and unusual and as far as he could tell had no bases. The small crescent provided little light and visibility was poor. He turned his head and stared at the dark monoliths that seemed to have imprisoned him in their midst. He then took toll of his body, making sure all the parts were there. This was important but he didn't know why. That task done he curled his body and turned onto his right side and tried to relax, that was the least he could do. Closing his eyes, sleep rushed in and relieved him of all thought and he slept the sleep of the near dead unaware of his surroundings.

Houston had received all the info it could gather from both MAC and the Lunar crews. That info led them to believe that somehow the facility on the moon had something to do with the unusual large rock formation known as Stonehenge. Although this was highly unlikely, they could not afford to take chances on missing something with the time and effort already put into this mission. After all, checking out something that is located only about one hundred miles from London and very close to one major airport in Amesbury Wilshire, should actually be a piece of cake, so to speak.

It was actually easier than everyone figured. One of the many reasons for this is, Great Britain was deeply involved in the mission to the moon. Once word reached them of the possible connection to Stonehenge, they were more than happy to check it out, for whatever the reason. The air terminal at Amesbury was contacted, a crew was selected and shortly afterwards a helicopter rescue crew, with very little information, was airborne. They made a westward turn toward the Stonehenge located only a few miles to the west in southern England. Flying time no more than ten minutes.

"Ironmonger to control tower," The chopper pilot said as he left the airport area.

"Go ahead Ironmonger, say your request." The tower sent back.

"What is our sequence when we reach target?" The pilot replied.

"Not sure. First do a fly by with your torches on high for maximum visibility. It's a very dark night out and I dare say you'll need lots of candle power," the tower responded. "If you have no sighting from the flybys, then you best pick a spot, set the whirley down and send your crew out to look the area over."

"Can do tower, what are we looking for." The pilot requested.

"Anything, anything unusual is my best assumption. Ah, report anything out of the ordinary if there is anything. This mission is just a look see and may not bear any fruit." The tower also had very little info but the tower knew that someone from London was on his way to oversee, if there were any findings.

From the air in daylight the Stonehenge looks like two large circles, one inside the other. The shadows relay information that lets the viewer know that these circles are 3-Dimentional and are very tall. The height comes from the size of the tall, thick, solid stones. Their indefinable shapes and actual missing stones makes it all seem in disrepair because the circles are no longer fully complete. The origin of these stones is unknown, so needless to say, they are still being studied and investigated in this our modern times.

Flying around at night with a large high power light attached to the bottom of the helicopter made the area unbelievably eerie. The shadows of the large support stones and their horizontal loads were elongated and moved the opposite way that the chopper was moving. This made it almost impossible to pick up anything unusual while there was any movement of their vehicle. Hovering was not much better since most areas were in shadow from the size of the stones. The pilots only option was to set down and do a physical search of the area.

"Amesbury tower, Ironmonger here." The pilot transmitted as he turned the small chopper around and moved several meters away from the stone monoliths to insure a safe landing.

"Amesbury, go ahead Ironmonger," Came back from the control tower.

"Flybys are negative. Going to set the whirley down and do a finite look see. Standby and I'll buzz you up proper when we finish or find something." The pilot talked as he maneuvered into position and held, hovering, waiting for approval.

"Request approved, we wait your contact," The tower simply said.

The helicopter rocked slightly as it touched ground, first the front of the skids and then the rear. There was a small slide forward as the skids took the full weight of the vehicle and then it settled firmly down. The whine of the engine almost immediately decreases and soon died away completely. The blades slowly came to a complete stop. The pilot exited and soon had one of the four blades anchored. This was done for safety reasons, as these blades are sharp and could be deadly. Anchoring prevented the wind from causing involuntary movement of the assembly. Once this task was complete the crew exited and remained by the vehicle as the pilot spoke.

"I don't know what we are looking for but, from all I have gathered, you will recognize it when you see it. So each, take a torch, spread out and we will go through the middle from one end to the other. Keep in voice contact as we go and report anything that doesn't fit the area." It was a large area for the five of them to cover but they could make several passes if needed. Those extra passes were not needed.

The young female EMT, that happened to be in the middle of the group of searchers, saw him first. She thought it was a large pig lying there on the ground as she saw the curled back of the naked human. Whatever it was it seemed to be in the exact center of Stonehenge itself. She slowed her pace so as not to frighten what she thought was an animal, she didn't want to cause it to do something rash.

"I've got something here." She softly called out to the pilot on her left.

"Hold your torch on it steady now, ah, yes I see it. Everyone hold your position until we check this out." The pilot was only ten meters away and was at her side in no time. His quiet approach and her attention being thirty meters ahead caused her to start when he spoke in a whisper right beside her.

"What do you think it is? Sorry, thought you saw me coming," He said in apology.

"It's like a large pig, you know, all white and all," She replied.

"Excuse me a moment." He raised his hand held radio to his lips. "Amesbury tower, Ironmonger here," He softly spoke into it, using the same frequency as the chopper's radio.

"Amesbury tower, go ahead Ironmonger, did you find something?" The tower quickly asked.

"Well we are not absolutely sure but it is something unusual anyway. Looks like a large animal asleep on the ground, possibly a pig, about thirty meters ahead in our search path. I'd say it's in the, well almost the exact center of the Stonehenge." Looking around judging distances as he spoke. "We have our torches directly on it and have so far seen no movement, catching a wink I suppose, if not worse." The pilot reported.

"Standby Ironmonger." The tower requested. The controller then dialed the cell phone number that he had been given. Waited a few moments for the ring to go through and then it was answered right away by someone who knew who was calling.

"Go ahead Amesbury, you have something to report," The voice on the phone said.

"Not sure yet, I do have a question. Are we looking for some type of animal and, if so, our crew thinks they may have found something?" The controller asked.

"An animal, are they sure, what kind of animal?" The unknown individual asked.

"The crew says it might be a large pig, I say, catching a wink or two," The controller summarized.

"Tell you crews to stay their position, say again, do not approach the object, stay their position. Do you copy Amesbury," The voice with considerable authority stated. "We are five minutes from touchdown at Stonehenge now and I will assume control once we land."

"Loud and clear, do not approach, stay their position. I will relay your request to the whirly's crew." The controller quickly changed modes of communication and relayed the latest to the pilot and crew at Stonehenge. They assured him that they copied and would hold fast, wait for the inbound vehicle and get from them any new orders. The Amesbury tower controller was happy to release control of this operation to someone who hopefully knew more about it than he did.

The new arrival did know more and was very concerned about what might be found. An animal, he thought, it couldn't be an animal. The lights must be playing tricks on the pilot and crew. I don't know what to expect now, this will throw a different light on this operation if it is just an animal.

"Over here," The pilot said as he turned his light back toward the approaching personnel.

"Good you haven't approached yet. Let's have a close up look," The new arrival said as he raised a pair of binoculars up to his eyes and adjusted the focus. He stared for a few moments while everyone waited anxiously. "Everyone stay back, uh, who's your med-tech?"

"I am sir," The young female said shyly.

"Good, good, grab your med kit and come with me. Ok, you have it with you," He said as she held up her medical kit so he could see it. He took her arm and hustled her away toward the prone being.

"Oh my goodness, it's, it's a, a man," She said, when she got close enough to see it wasn't a pig. "Wow, from the back, curled like that it didn't look like a man." She made no mention of thinking he was a pig or that he was completely nude, although she did say. "He looks cold."

One of the followers with the new arrivals handed her a blanket and she bent down and started covering up the sleeping individual. Evidently the touch of another human caused the sleeper to stir and a small groan escaped his lips. She automatically reverted to the trained Independent Medical Technician that she had so long trained to be. No longer shy or awkward, she took vitals and comforted her patient. She noted his stats and spoke to the new comers.

"His vitals are a little out of line but not critically so. He needs to be transported to a hospital immediately, a good hospital. I am concerned about his exposure to this environment and the low temperatures he has experienced," She said this as she looked at the man who she assumed was the leader. "Our heli is equipped and I suggest a hard board stretcher, just to be on the safe side and incase he has some physical injuries that we are not aware of."

"Get your team over here and take those steps that you suggested. We will follow you to London and a hospital there, a good hospital," He said this as he turned and headed back toward his ride. He had a photo of Pete Dobson, that NASA had faxed, and there was no doubt who the nude male was. Pete Dobson, for some unknown reason, was no longer on the surface of the moon. These two deductions were easy. How he came to be in the middle of Stonehenge in southern England was a different question entirely and not an easy one to answer. The best he could do was relay the info he now had back to the boys at NASA, let them put their collective heads together and figure this one out.

"Pete Dobson woke to the sound of life stat monitors quietly beeping, a soft bed and subdued lighting. He realized he was in a hospital and he knew who he was. He of course didn't understand why or how he got to a hospital. Last memory he had was checking out what appeared to be one of the many systems in the Facility. For some unknown reason it had started to power up. Rings of light started falling down on him, one after the other, faster and faster, then he was here in this bed. His thoughts raced over the probabilities. The mission was over and all were home. He had fallen asleep and this was a dream. He was not in a hospital but back on the Array. Any of these are possible. The truth he never imagined nor could anyone else. He only knew one thing for sure, for some reason he felt safe and with this he fell back to sleep.

A world conference was called and the location for this conference was a little out of the ordinary. The local hotels, bread and breakfast room, family and friends places were booked and very little were left for any other visitors to this area. The Stonehenge was closed to all visitors except for maintenance personnel and the people that would actually attend the conference to be held there. The media had smelled a rat and was on hand but not allowed anywhere near the Stonehenge. They had invaded the town of Amesbury and were generally making a pest of themselves with the residents. Until the invasion, the residents were unaware of anything unusual. They now, however, were quite interested but had nothing to go on. They, the residents, got more info from the media than the media got from them. This left lots of rumors and very little known facts.

The conference lasted for seven days and the info released to the media was the fact that the conference lasted seven days. The twenty-two countries that attended agreed on only one thing. That one thing was the actual reason for the conference. Stonehenge would now be repaired. Using the animated video found at the Facility on the moon and the best guesses of our most esteem scientist, we humans would rebuild it. The attendees of the conference left in such a way, suggesting the offer of tidbits of info, as to drag the media with them. This was done to preclude any reason for them to stay now that the conference had ended. In the end the media would gain little but the suggestion of info.

The contracts were let and the construction was begun. The grounds were x-rayed and some seismograph equipment was used to map out the areas where stones were missing. The supports, where the missing stones should have been, were still in place but covered with earth leaving them unseen from above. During search for supports some of the fallen stones were also discovered and recovered, these were easy to put back in place. This caused a search of the surrounding area for more of the missing stones. The result of this search was negative and they were still missing many pieces. In order to simulate the original stones, each of the originals were x-rayed to insure that they were just stones and to emulate their interior, if they were not. They were just stones, however, the makeup and their properties were not found in stones in this area. Those replacements had to be manufactured at a distant quarry and transported to the Stonehenge for insertion into the mix.

# Chapter 25

## The First Test

It had been seven long days. The waiting was the hardest and wait was what they were doing. Jack had taken Lunar Five up to the Array and restocked some additional food and water. This was necessary because of their extended stay in the Facility. Everyone was aware of what had happened to Pete and that made the use of the remote tentative at best. Some of the normal investigation proceeded, however, when Seuni wanted to try an unknown sensor on the remote, everything else ceased until she was sure of what resulted. She had stayed away from the larger sensors in the middle of the control and concentrated on the small outlining ones. She labeled them as she proceeded and found that the perimeter sensors were no more than light switches to some degree. They might turn off a pump, light or motor having no real effect on the individuals in the Facility. Well, that is except for the pink sensor located on the left top of the small remote. That particular one turned off the air re-circulation system and it did not take long for the residents to notice a change in odor and freshness of the environment. As soon as Seuni placed her finger again on the pink sensor the air almost immediately became fresh again. The alarm that came with that one did resemble a spring breeze gently rustling the leaves of some huge oak tree at the edge of a meadow. I guess the engineers who made this place had a sense of humor or were they just realist?

One of the most interesting of all the sensors was actually two combined. The orange and the blue located lower right. Two buttons, with the blue being at the bottom right. The orange sensor turned on a large monitor, similar to the large LCD or Plasma Screen monitors that became available during the early part of the 21st century. Just somewhat similar, this particular one would dwarf those in size and unbelievable clarity. It could be seen from anywhere inside the Facility. With each touch of the orange sensor the live video would show a different angle or a view from a different camera. There was Sergey, bigger than life, climbing out of his Lunar Lander. It was like some multi camera surveillance system. One of the camera views had to be from somewhere up on the surface and it faced out across the area that opens. No one understood why it was not seen while that area surrounding the large opening was scrutinized, however the proof is in the pudding. Seuni found that holding the sensor for a few seconds would turn the large monitor off. However, for whatever reason, she left it on with a view of the surface. With the monitor showing the surface, everyone had a view of Jack and Lunar Five as they exited the Facility and again when they returned.

It was sometime later that Seuni used the blue sensor for the first time. As was ordered, all other investigations ceased and all personnel moved away from the walls of the Facility. She stood beside Chris and looked back toward the large monitor. Some of the other personnel had simply returned to their small vessel during this prelude in their investigation. All were not watching when she activated the blue sensor.

The large monitor's view of the surface faded and some of the writing that were now familiar, but still not completely deciphered, floated across the screen. This was followed by an animated split view of what looked like a small section of the Facility and the Stonehenge again. Some strange type of animal moved into the small section of the Facility. Rings of light dropped down over it and it disappeared in a flash of light. A similar flash of light came from the center of the Stonehenge and then a replicate of that same animal raced out past the large stones and was gone. It was very quite in the Facility and those that were engaged in other task realized the silence and turned their view to the large monitor. Most were in time to see what looked like something humanoid walk into the ring of lights and with a bright flash of light appear inside the center of the Stonehenge. Seuni, being the scientist and electronic expert she was, had seen the small white blinking square that resembled the sensor on the remote that had sent Pete to England. She made a note of it.

Everyone watched as the monitor displayed what could only be instruction in the use of the remote itself. What really got everyone's attention was a reverse in the sequence of the flash of that bright light. The humanoid being entered the center of the Stonehenge replica and, in a flash of light disappeared, reappearing at the Facility. Again at the bottom right on the screen was a small red blinking square that could have been the larger sensor located next to the white one in the center of the remote. Seuni made a note of that also.

The next two simulations were in essence the same as the red and white sensors, however they were purple and gray. The only difference seemed to be the size of the object that were flashed out and in. These animated objects seemed to be much larger and the flash of light seemed longer in duration. The object resembled a vessel of some type with humanoids on board during the transportation. When it reappeared at the Stonehenge, it paused for a moment and then floated away through the surrounding structure. Seuni noted the purple and gray square and added comments about the difference in size of the items sent and received.

This is where the wait started and the time stretched from hours into days. Seuni had made notes on all the sensors except the last two on the left. She had tried them but there was nothing to indicate that they actually had a function. The playback on the monitors did not deal with the small buttons around the edge and that left it up to Seuni to find out what they did.

Reconstruction went faster than expected due to around the clock shifts and sufficient personnel. The Stonehenge had taken on a new look and its completion was assured. The time frame set was met and shortened. It would look like the drawings at the Facility but looking wasn't everything. NASA and the world leaders were very anxious to see if it worked like the drawings at the Facility.

Again waiting was the hardest part, this time it was NASA who was doing the waiting. In the meantime the thoughts were on what object and what sequence do they use to test this thing and see if it works. Works without the stress and injuries that Pete was subjected to. Whatever the sequence, it would have to be one step at a time. Starting with inanimate objects and working their way up to humans. Their thinking was that somewhere in the mix they would have to start using something alive. When the one scientist said it out loud the choice was easy.

"Ya, dis exanimate objects is just good, but, but before vee send up da persons, vee must use something petite and living as da, you know, da Guinea Pig." So in the end that is what they finally decided to use, guinea pigs.

The rebuilding of the Stonehenge was complete. The contractors had removed all of their equipment and left the area and gone back to their normal jobs and home. To reduce the attraction for uninvited guest, only a small group of scientist were on site to do the first test. In contact with Seuni at the Facility they coordinated their efforts. Seuni placed a lunch box, filled with food stuff, on the area where Pete had been standing when he left. The crews at the Facility gathered around her as she activated the white sensor. All watched as the lighted rings fell. Half of an hour later some still had bright spots in their eyes from the brilliants of the flash when the transport occurred.

There was no noise, just the brilliant flash of light in the center of Stonehenge. The scientist all walked into the center and paused to stare at the small box that Seuni had sent. They picked it up, opened it and each took an item out. Each opened their items, smelled them, touched them and one even took a bite although no one had suggested doing this. His only comment later was, "Ya, it is good, taste like chicken." The food items had lost none of their smell or taste and were as they had been packaged with no distortions. After the one scientist had no ill effect from the bite he took, some of the others took a bite from the other items.

All the items were placed back into the lunch box, even the items with bites taken. The box was again placed in the center of Stonehenge and Seuni was notified that all personnel were clear of the area. This would be the first test of the red sensor.

Seuni placed her finger on the red sensor and held it there. The alarm sounded as it had before and the area lighted up. The only difference she noted was that the rings of light rose from the floor and melted away as they reached the height from which they had previously fallen. A bright flash of light left the lunch box sitting in the middle of the area. Seuni walked to that area and retrieved the box. She opened it and immediately started to laugh. Chris and the other crews gathered around. "They took bites out of the things I sent to show that they were safe and loss nothing in transport." She showed the open box around to everyone. They all seemed very pleased.

Chris noticed that a single tear had slowly escaped from Seuni's eyes. He patted her on the back as he said, "Great job Takao, great job."

The first guinea pig arrived with a fan fare from the crew in the Facility. The applause was noisy and frightened the little animal. It began to run amuck and Frank Corder soon ran it down and passed it around so that all could see that it was in one piece and safe. Frank then took it back to the transport area and placed it in the center. Seuni activated the sensor and the little guy flashed out of sight. The same little guest traveler made three more trips safely. Two other little animals then joined him and they were transported together. They too arrived safely at the Facility. Seuni fed them all and then sent them back.

The group at the Stonehenge wanted to send the little pigs back and forth one more time. Just to be sure that multiple transport of a living being would not leave some residual effect. They had given the go ahead and the transport was underway when a stray dog went into the center to investigate the small group of little animals. It too was transported, surprising everyone at the facility that had expected to see the three little guinea pigs only. Although the dog was shy it was accustom to getting food bits from strangers and in turn responded to the offer of food. Getting fed meant getting petted, and this the dog was also accustom too that.

The scientist could not have been more apologetic. Failure to secure a test area was an inexcusable breach in scientific procedure and all of them were guilty. This failure was quickly remedied by a chain link fence that was quickly constructed and now surrounded the Stonehenge.

Seuni's next test failed. The rings of light fell over the little group of guinea pigs as before. There was a bright flash of light and then the light rings started going up and a second bright flash of light occurred. The little pigs were still in the Facility, or they were back in the Facility.

"Streaks of light came from the center and out to the chain link fence. The fence glowed, sparkled and then the fence post were ripped from the ground. The entire fence was airborne moving up and away from Stonehenge like a large round, lighted halo. Those sparkles were cutting the fence to pieces as it expanded, moving in all directions out and away from the center. All that is left is little half links that look like boomerangs lying scatter on all sides some distance away from the outside perimeter of the circle of large stones." The speaker paused and then continued. "We were not harmed by the streaks of light but maybe, just maybe the chain link fence is not a good idea."

It was therefore conceded that a chain link fence was not the answer to securing the area. The next test that Seuni attempted went without a flaw. This taught her two things. First, transport is not possible it the reception area has a problem. Second thing she learned is that there was a reason for the use of stones and not metals to surround the center. Maybe the reason Pete was transported had something to do with living tissue. The reason he lost his clothes in transport may have been due the disrepair of the Stonehenge itself.

Several more tests were run before the orangutan arrived at the Facility. The little guy had many tricks and made several trips without any glitches or mishaps. The orangutan showed no ill effects from the multiple trips he had experienced. The next step was of course a human subject. Almost on cue, Pete Dobson showed up at the Stonehenge. The doctors had pronounced him sound and ready to return to duty. His duty was on the moon. He caution the group not to announce his imminent arrival at the Facility. He wanted it to be a surprise.

We are sending a larger animal now, is all the group told Seuni as they ask her to activate the system. Pete's arrival caused a stir that took on a party atmosphere as everyone wanted to hug him and let him know, just let him know how much he meant to everyone.

"Great to have you back," Chris said later as the two of them were distant from the others.

"Not as great as it is to be back. I am thinking I may be a little nuts. Here I was home and safe and I choose to come back up here to be with a bunch of heroes," Pete smiled as he said this, shaking his head slightly as he spoke. "What was I thinking."

"I am sure you were thinking that you didn't get to finish the mission you were assigned." He smiled as he paused a moment and then continued, "After all, you're one of the heroes too."

# Chapter 26

## Sports in Space

As mentioned before, waiting was the hardest. Being just a communication buoy was an unusual task for the shuttle crews. Listening and sometimes watching the Lander crew on the surface of the moon was amazing and enjoyed by all involved personnel. Not being a part of those and only having the task of watching or listening, leaves a normally active person a little bit on the bored side. Necessity is the Mother of invention and invention was the name of the game on the shuttles. The two ping pong paddles, a ping pong ball and two bicycle helmets snuck aboard by Kari helped fill the void for the crew of Atlantis. The huge empty cargo bay of the shuttle was a perfect place for a game of one on one.

The game, they called it "Gnip Gnop" pronounced ga-nip and ga-nop. Two players, each with a ping pong paddle squared off in a contest of speed, floating and calculating angles. The server hits the ping pong ball in any direction he wishes and the opponent has to chase the ball and hit it before it contacts a wall on the opponent's side of the bay. Weightless kickoffs, floating the entire length of the bay and collisions with walls and opponent, who seemed to always be in the way, was an expected part of this contest. One tried to stay in their own end of the bay and play defense only, however, an errant kickoff will sometimes send you tumbling to places that either leave you stopped in the middle or invading your opponent's end of the bay. Stuck in the middle, with no way to get back to the sides, gives your opponent a huge advantage. This is also true if you end up deep in their territory and they chance to hit the ball toward your end.

Locks was a demon when it came to physical ability and endurance. She was clever and fast in responding to the perceived angle of the ball before it came off the wall. Somehow she managed to contact the walls, with her feet and hands, coming away in the direction that the ball would travel before it actually bounced. Sometimes this would leave Sweet or Curt floating there and wondering, how the heck did she do that? Needless to say, when the contests were over she carried the crown, at least for the time being.

Playing the card game "Wizard" with the other three players, Kari usually did not score well. She could have a Joker or a Jester and she never seemed to play them at the right time to insure she got the tricks she bid. On the other hand, so to speak, Sweet seemed to attract the cards he needed and played them as if he knew what the other players had. That particular crown was his and it didn't take long for the other crew members to feint busy when cards were suggested.

Curt was the trivia champ. He knew more trivial, useless information than any person the crew had ever met. He was sometimes worse than Cliff Claven, one of the local frequents at the bar on "Cheers", the TV series. The only difference was that Jungleman's information was factual and not made up. Curt even made it on Jeopardy once and became a three-day champ. This is where the similarity to Cliff Claven paled. On one of the days, Curt was ahead of the other two contestants by three times their score, the same as Cliff was on Cheers. He, however, did not bet it all on the Final Jeopardy Question and then not know the answer. He would have been on longer but duty called and he returned to the Cape as requested by NASA. That is why he was the last to get informed of the scrapping of their previous mission and assignment to the earlier one. Curt didn't tell anyone about his Jeopardy experience until they were sitting up here with little to do. Matt asked how his vacation was and he replied too short and then he followed with the explanation. He really felt bad, not for himself, but the charity he was playing for had been shorted of the substantial funds he might have won for them. They did get a considerable amount but he was sure it could have been much more.

Not to be outdone, Matt had his own specialty. He knew more lines from more movies than the crew could think of. You say the line and he would tell you the movie and the character who said it. More often than not he would tell you the year the movie was made and the actor that said the line that you had repeated. He would also, couldn't help himself, correct any of the lines you might have misspoke. Fun, to say the least, but sometimes irritating, especially if it happened to be your favorite movie. The one you had watched numerous times and you were sure of how the lines went.

"Give him to Mongo, good idea, he'll make little sheriff meatballs out of him," Sweet said.

"The movie was "Blazing Saddles", Mongo was played by Alex Karras. Burton Gilliam (Lyle) first suggested giving him, Cleavon Little (Bart), to Mongo, but Slim Pickens (Mr. Taggard) followed with the "he'll make little sheriff meatballs out of him," Matt said, "Made in 1974."

"You are actually weird, you know that, weird?" Sweet said.

"Stop rhyming and I mean it. Anyone want a peanut." Jungleman put in.

"Princess Bride" was the movie, 1987. Wallace Shawn (Vizzini) asked him to stop and Andre the Giant (Fezzik), a seven-foot tall professional wrestler, was the one doing the rhyming." Doormat paused then asked. "Do you want the rest of the info from the movie?"

"No man, I am quite sure you could give us letter and verse of what was said from, "Have fun storming the castle." To "My name is Intigo Montoya, you killed my father, prepare to die." Curt said as he recalled several lines that he had enjoyed as he had watched that movie.

These and other games were mixed with the daily chores that came with maintaining orbit, insuring continuous communication and monitoring visually the Facility area. Each orbiter crew had their own different and sometimes personal games that they played.

Atlantis was surprised once by a visit from Chris and Pete. The short visit was to re-supply them with food and water from the MAC. As Jack in Lunar Five had done, each Lander had made a rendezvous with the Array and restocked with enough supplies for the Facility and the orbiting shuttles. Each Lander had then made a trip up to their particular shuttle and transferred necessary items to re-supply them. These visits were made before Pete had taken his unscheduled sabbatical.

The shuttles were not the only place that the crews attempted some types of sports. Chris, a major league pitcher, had to have some way of keeping his arm loose. So he brought a ball, a baseball of course. The moon having one sixth the gravity of earth had to be a pitcher's paradise. Even with the atmosphere inside the facility, Chris could throw a baseball here 300 yards without a proper warm up. Just for fun he had Franco Garcia, who was a high school catcher, move away about 360 feet, which is almost six times the major league distance of pitcher to catcher. He and Chris then played pitcher and catcher to the amusement of the other personnel.

Chris found out that pitching on the moon could ruin your ability to pitch back home. If you threw the ball with the same release you used on earth, the ball would sail over the catchers head long before it was pulled down by the lesser gravity of the moon. He found that in order to hit the target, he had to release the ball much later in his throw leaving very little arc in its travel. Chris's slider would slide for days in the atmosphere of the Facility. However, If he had thrown a slider on the surface of the moon it would not curve or slide due to no atmosphere.

Seuni, not to be outdone, had slipped a Frisbee amongst her personals and all were amazed at the length and accuracy one could achieve with its toss. Standing on one side of the facility a throw could be made to the other wall some three hundred yards away as easy as pie. The other thing that made the Frisbee so much fun was how high you could jump to catch it.

And speaking of jumping, Sergey's tried his tumbling routine. This had been mastered while he was a member of the college gymnastic team. At this location it had to be toned way down until he got acclimated to the almost dizzying heights he could obtain. Using a two step approach and slow round off to a back hand springer then a punch to do a couple of back tucks caused him go much higher than he had planned. He found out really fast that he had to use a spotter to assist with the landings. Even with one sixth the gravity, a fall from the elevation he achieved, could cause a severe sprain, bruise or a more serious injury. Occasionally he would try to teach a few of the crew members, the brave ones, how to do standing back tucks in this low gravity. There were a few takers.

These small breaks in the investigative routine of the Facility were scheduled and used to refresh bodies and mind that were, most of the time, stumped with some of the particulars they were working on. When the remote caused the disappearance of Pete, wait was then the normal routine. These sporting activity gave the crews a sabbatical, a small respite from concern about the status of their crewmate during his electronic voyage to earth and back.

# Chapter 27

##

## OV-106 Gets a Name

OV-106 did get its name. The crew back at 106's hanger came up with it. They ran a contest. Anyone wishing to enter a name would place it, correctly spelled, in the selection box that had been prepared. Since the winning choice's contributor would receive the honor of having his/her name accompany this selection, where ever it went, all entries were signed by their proprietor. This box was left in place for two months. This was done so that all personnel would have a chance to enter their choice of a name. This included those personnel that were out on vacation, assigned temporary duty at another location and anyone out due to illness.

When those two months were up the box was opened and the names were placed on a status board for all to view and contemplate. Some of the entries were put in as jokes and they were discarded right away. The one that suggested "Patrick" as a name and signed by Sponge Bob was tossed. The other entry that proposed "Marge" for a candidate and was signed by Homer Simpson was also thrown out. Although there is a Homer Simpson assigned to the hanger, he swore he did not put that name in. The signature wasn't his as it turned out. There were many choices that were proposed and the choice of just one was going to be arduous at best.

The discussions in lunch rooms, restrooms and even while completing tedious task always seemed to turn to the selection of a name for their prodigy. Two of the names, that appeared, on the board were discussed and dismissed before, however, they somehow found their way back up for selection. They would also get another chance at being chosen. Some of the supervisors had their pet name already picked out. They did not try to influence others by any means, well they did mention that they had a favorite but never revealed what their choice would be. This gave all workers the chance to make up their own minds.

The status board looked something like this:

Here are your choices as candidates

1. Resurrection

2. Phoenix

3. Venture

4. Prestige

5. Revelation

6. Virtues

7. Virtue

8. Prosperity

9. Guardian

10. Absolute

11. Courage

12. Transition

Please vote for only two

The voting box again was left up for a short period and then the counting was done to see the most popular name. Once the tabulation was completed, two of the choices were tied for the lead. These two would have a runoff and hopefully there would be a clear winner. The two candidates noted the reasons they entered their selection in the first place and their individual note accompanied their suggested name now shown on the status board.

John Winters had entered the name of Prestige and he simply wrote: "This final addition to the orbiter fleet was more advanced and more modern and should be viewed as the cream of the crop. It is more prominent and should be held with more distinction than all the rest."

Mary Ann Parish placed the name Courage up for selection for the following reasons:" All the other shuttles have such majestic names and are representative of things, actions and fictional entities. I had hoped that this orbiter would represent the men and women themselves. They put their lives on the line daily by accomplishing extraordinary assignments. Their intestinal fortitude is the only reason we can even consider these orbiter missions. That, my friends, is Courage."

The vote was not unanimous but it was so severely one-sided that everyone agreed that Courage was really the only choice. It was made official by NASA as they told the Pilot and Crew of OV-106 the name selection.

"OV-106, this is Houston," Flight said and waited during the transition delay.

"106 here, Houston." Diego Santos replied after a few moments.

"Hey Diego, is your crew all on?" Flight asked.

"Standby Houston, let me check. Nav is taking a break so hang on." Santos requested and Flight waited.

"Houston, 106 here. All of us are on now." Diego's comments were received after about five minutes.

"Hi, ah hello, oh, this is Mary Ann Parish." She hesitantly spoke and then questionably looked at Flight wondering if she was being heard by the OV-106's crew. Flight gave her a thumbs up as they waited.

"Hello Mary Ann Parish, this is OV-106. What can we do for you today?" Diego asked and you could tell by his voice that he was smiling.

"Do for me? Oh no, no, you and your crew are doing for me every minute you are where you are. I, well, I came here to give you and your crew something." Mary Ann replied and then waited to see if Diego understood.

"Ok, you got our attention now, what have you got for us?" Diego comments came a few moments later.

"We, all of us at OV-106's hanger have agreed on a name for your vessel. We hope you will like and accept it in the manner in which it was selected. I get to tell you what it is because I actually submitted the name for consideration by our personnel." Mary Ann paused and then continued, "all the other shuttles have such majestic names, however, they are only representative of things, actions and fictional entities. I had hoped that this orbiter would represent the men and women themselves. You put your lives on the line daily by accomplishing extraordinary assignments. Your intestinal fortitude is the only reason we can even consider these orbiter missions in the first place. That, my friends, is why I, well we, chose the name "Courage" for this shuttle."A momentary pause and she continued. "I always thought of you guys and girls as the stately Lion in the Wizard of Oz. In search of something that he already had an abundance of."

"Courage, hmmm, Courage? I like it, what about the rest of you? Thumbs up, hey it is unanimous, we like it. Houston, this is Courage. Hey, I like it," Diego said and comments were heard from the rest of the crews all positive.

"Hey Courage, Atlantis here, We like it too," Curt said.

Soon all orbiters had chimed in and agreed that the name was a winner.

"Oh good, I could only hope that you would like it. I came here to hopefully make your day and now you have actually made mine. God bless you, all of you. We admire your undertakings and your accomplishments." Mary Ann Parish was crying by the time that she had finished speaking.

"Courage, this is Flight at Houston," Flight said as he relieved Mary Ann of her headset. "We congratulate you, the name fits.

# Chapter 28

## The Last Two Buttons

The monitor was on when Seuni placed her finger over the cyan button this time. This had not been the case before. Immediately the monitor changed and a new video began. Similar writing appeared and ran across the screen followed by an animated sequence of events. The transportation of large animals that looked like dinosaurs were put into the transport and ended up at the Stonehenge. Many different types were used. There were multiple writings that ran across the screen again and then the scene was of a large asteroid plummeting toward and hitting the earth with an enormous impact. The cloud of dust that rose and permeated the atmosphere had to cause what we would call a nuclear winter. Everything must have died. Was this the answer to the extinction of the dinosaurs that had kept scientist guessing these many years?

The next views were of the same type scenario. The exception being, the asteroid did not hit the earth. A pulse, the best description they had, came from the moon and pushed the asteroid away causing it to miss the earth. That pulse, is that what causes the opening or is it the opening that allows the pulse that all had felt?

The exit closed for unknown reasons and Chris was sure communication would be loss. However this was not the case. Something has changed. Chris had noticed a dimming of the lighting over the last few minutes and had become curious about the change. Now with the top closed, the lights had gone back to their original brilliance. Maybe the top was some type of solar panel and an entrance. This would make sense, a solar panel that large could soak up loads of energy. With the proper type of storage capacity it could provide an endless supply of power. With the technology we have discovered so far I am sure that the builders covered that particular problem with some zeal.

Chris was thinking, why is the communication still available now, with the top closed, when it wasn't before. It has to be something to do with the remote control. The only button left that isn't tagged is the magenta one on the lower left. We tried to make that one work but had no results, well none that we could see. Maybe all this time it was doing what it was suppose to do we just didn't know it and couldn't see it.

"Hey MAC, the top is closed and we are communicating, we need a test," Chris said.

"Roger that Lunar One, go ahead with you test," Paul replied.

"Would you give me a slow count to one hundred while I do the test?" Chris asked.

"Roger that, one, two........." Paul started the count.

"Hey Seuni, go ahead and hit the magenta sensor while Paul is counting." Chris had turned to Seuni as he spoke and pointed at the sensor he had indicated she activate. The count was interrupted at thirteen and did not resume until she again placed her finger on the magenta sensor.

"...thirty-two, thirty-three." Paul still continued to count.

Seuni turned the communication on and off several times until she and Chris were satisfied.

"Paul, thanks for the count." Chris interrupted. "We have solved the communication problem."

Chris decided that another test was necessary. "We need another test, Paul."

"Great I am going to let Tony do the counting this time. Let me know when you are ready for him to start.

"Hold up on the count. That's not what we need this time. We need to have you shut down the communication between you and all the shuttles for five minutes," Chris said and waited for the reply.

"Copy your request. You understand that this would also interrupt our connection with NASA and the earth?" Paul asked seeming a little anxious.

"Roger that, and Paul, NASA should keep their end open to this frequency so they will know when we come back on." Chris spoke as confidently as he could, trying to alleviate any apprehension that Paul or NASA might have.

"Standby Chris. NASA, this is MAC calling." Paul knew they were monitoring but he needed their go ahead before he cut the communication to them on purpose.

"We copy you MAC and we are aware of your request Lunar One. We approve and will be monitoring on this frequency. Just call us when you finish your test. NASA out," Flight said to MAC and Lunar One.

Five minutes later the com was down between MAC, the shuttles and Lunar One inside the Facility.

"MAC, this is Lunar One." Chris spoke into his mike. He then paused for a few seconds and then he repeated his request. "MAC, this is Lunar One." He again paused before repeating his request. "MAC this is Lunar One." Then he paused again.

"Lunar One, this is Houston. Have you finished your test already?" Flight said and this caused Chris to smile and again he shook his head, just a little bit, in disbelief.

In testing the communication they found out that communication no longer required the circle of satellites surrounding the moon to talk from the Facility directly to earth. Even from the backside of the moon, the signal was exceptionally clear. This allowed the Array to gather up the shuttles and prepare for the voyage home. Paul knew that as soon as he could get on the ground on earth he was making a trip to the Stonehenge and then, by way of the transporter, to the Facility.

A few hours later, that small group of scientist who did the test at Stonehenge, were transported to the Facility. They were absolutely giddy with excitement and wonder. It did not take long for everyone to feel secure with this transportation method. Many more individuals came and went over the next few months. Necessary supplies were delivered to Stonehenge and transported to the Facility. The original Lander crews made individual trips back to earth for extended stays to visit friends and take care of personal matters that had become delinquent in their absence. As salmon return to their place of birth, the Lander crews returned to the moon in search of more mysteries.

True to his word Paul soon arrived at the Facility, he was followed by his original crew. Locks was there, Yule, Doormat, Jungleman and Sweet, who chose to bring up the rear. The talk that followed was about the returned trip of the Array and the status of those vessels. Paul told the sequence and let everyone know that the Array was now just another part of the expanded space station, the one it had used several parts from. That station was now a lot more complex and provided significant advantages that was not present before. Discovery, Atlantis, Endeavour, Enterprise and Courage had all made safe landings and were now retired. They would each be shipped to different locations around the world for viewing by the waiting public.

Paul looking at the Facility and the moon's surface around the opening and couldn't help but wonder. Would it be long before we see hotels springing up on the moon all around the edge of this large surface opening. Would there be fast food places filling the small gaps that separates the larger buildings, their neon lights flashing giving a strange glow to the gray soil that surrounded them. Would the constant flow of visitors, decked out in designer space garb that glows in the night with an assortment of brilliant colors seem cartoonish. Would there be a barrage of vehicles entering and exiting the Facility. Some of them strangely looking like Hummer Limos with small belted tracks and multiple glass portholes for the VIP to peer through. One could only imagine the future. The Moon Trip from earth was now as routine as taking the Tube to get around when one was in London.

Seuni found that touching the cyan sensor over and over would take you to different video clips. Not everything in the Facility was covered on video but a great majority was.

The deciphering of the language was not making much progress. It was an incredibly tough nut to crack. The lack of repeated characters was a real blow to the code breakers they were now using in conjunction with the dead language guys. We call it a car, an automobile, a horseless carriage, a motor car, and engine driven vehicle and if the size changes we might call it a truck. What would the people who built this place call it?

The tractor beam turned out to be a load of fun. It not only would guide and control your descent, it would lift your vehicle right out of the Facility and set you on the edge of the opening. You didn't even have to fire up your rockets and that was a very good thing. Not only that, if you carried just the right amount of metal mass in your arms or on your body, you could be lifted out of the Facility and left standing on the edge of the opening. This was found out by accident and thank goodness Franco Garcia had his space suit on when it happened to him. There were a few anxious moments, however after Franco returned safely to the floor of the Facility the laughing began. Franco started it.

"Did you see my face when it lifted me up? I was scared to death man, that thing just grabbed me and I was gone," Franco said and tears from the laughter were spilling down his face. Pete had collapsed into Lunar One to try and hide some of his almost girlish laughter.

"At least you could see what was happening," Pete said though his giggles. "I saw your face and you are right, you were scared to death." He paused and then continued. "I wish someone had seen my face when I woke up in that hospital. I tell you I did not know anything and now that is a real hoot. And another thing, can you just picture me lying out there curled up in the middle of Stonehenge, naked as a jay bird. This young female EMT thought I was a pig. I wish I could have oinked at her." This got everyone going again.

The laughing continued for awhile as the crew members pictured Pete oinking at the young EMT female. Chris was relieved to see Pete talking about his ordeal. He had not mention it since he was back and Chris was afraid that this silence was not good for him. Things just might be ok now. There was tons to do and lots of mysteries to solve. Some would never be solved but that was the nature of exploration and a Moon Trip.

# Chapter 29

## Build it and they will come

It was slow to begin with but the flood of entrepreneurs taking advantage of the ease of travel to the moon soon overwhelmed those with control of the Facility.

New innovative construction equipment was on every drawing board in the civilized world. The planet earth, since the eighteen century, had become almost solely dependent on gasoline or diesel engine driven equipment. These internal combustion engines were of no use on the moon due the requirement of an oxygen rich environment for that combustion. Battery powered equipment with solar charging capability was now the driving industry.

Those eco friendly car manufacturers of electric vehicles had a head start on moon bound equipment but the production gap was rapidly closed by the engineers of Caterpillar, John Deere and the other heavy equipment conglomerates.

It only took about two years for those companies, now involved, to get up to speed with some rudimentary equipment that could be used for construction on the surface of the moon. Adding a quantity of ballast, usually lead, to the hollow tubes and shafts of those moon bound vehicles gave them increased gravity, gravity needed for pushing boulders and dirt around during use.

The one-sixth gravity on the moon allowed those un-ballasted vehicle little traction when pushing obstacles around. A five thousand pound vehicle on earth would only weight in at about 850 pounds on the moon reducing traction by that much. It doesn't seem like much but when your vehicle should weigh twelve tons, on the moon that vehicle would come in at two tons, now that is considerable.

It was no big deal for equipment to have additional weight due to the ease of travel. These vehicles were sent by an alien transport system rather than having rockets fight gravity while lifting them into space. The Facility had the same response to heavy or light equipment and no change could be detected during transport operations no matter the weight or the powering sources of moon bound vehicles.

Bidding for lunar construction jobs was a formable nightmare for the hastily formed CALF Office (Construction Above the Lunar Facility). A multinational collection of engineers laden with the task of investigating bidding companies to determine their capability for starting and completing projects approved for the moon surface.

The use of CALF, this particular Acronym, was suggested by a young girl. Her mom would read her nursery rhymes at bedtime, one in particular. Hey Diddle, Diddle, the cat and the fiddle, the cow jumped over the moon. The young lady thought that if the cow jumped over the moon, maybe she left a CALF up there. Well, so the story goes, true or not true, that particular nursery rhyme, with accompanying art work, was prominently displayed in all CALF offices.

The CALF office also had the task of issuing certificate of approval for all businesses that applied for satellite location around the rim above the Facility. Starbucks, McDonalds, KFC, Taco Bell, Subway were some of the fast food, too many to list all, applicants who requested a space on the rim.

Day's End, The Hilton, Holiday Inn and Motel 6, who promised to keep a light on for travelers, were a few of the US applicants who wanted to build and operate lunar living quarters for current construction personnel and temporary lodging quarters for the moon's occupants and weary travelers of the future.

While the earth bound office of CALF handled the flood of paperwork, a core of CALF engineers was on the surface of the moon trying to determine the overall layout of the upcoming city scheduled to circle the rim of the Facility. They studied the Facility and how it furnished breathable air and how that source of air could be used upon the surface rim. That breathable air would be used for the structures and the inhabitance once that construction was completed.

Actually, building anything on the moon ran a gambit of problems. Personnel on the Luna surface were kept to a minimum due the need of provisions that maintained life. Although transferring items to the moon was easy as pie, the outer wear for a worker in an airless environment was still clumsy, awkward and impossible to keep clean. From the 21st century wars, against terrorism in Afghanistan and Iraq, many lessons were learned and put into effect on the surface of the Moon.

The unmanned air drone operations during the latter part of the war, was a real eye opener. Personnel no longer had to be in harm's way while providing protection for operations going on thousands of miles away. With satellite communication, and a decent computer, control of an airborne drone was a given. Tracking bad guys, monitoring troop movements and delivering ordinance was as easy as playing a video game. The only real difference of any significance was the inability to reset or cancel the game and go back and do it over. The results you obtained on the first run were permanent and any fatalities gained or lost were also permanent.

However, now that bulldozer operator no longer set astride that tract driven apparatus, that front end loader did not have a roll bar cage to protect the operator and that lifting crane did not sport any windows for the operator to peer out of. Those operators now sat in an air conditioned office located near the NASA Houston Control Center just outside Houston, TX in the good old USA. All controls were now digital and the views were better than being there in person due the High Definition Cameras and the life like quality of the monitors now in use. Operators said they could almost feel the texture of the soil and the track vibrations from those electrically power vehicles as they moved dirt and pushed boulders around thousands of miles away.

Early construction of the city was hampered by the need for a material that was flexible, resilient, transparent and easily welded. No such material was available during the first year of preparation so only the foundation was readied.

Forensic investigation of one of the panels that made up the walls inside the Facility led to the development of transparent aluminum. Not exactly the same as the material used in the building of the Facility but strong and flexible enough for use on the moon. The seams when super heated appeared to meld and cause a smooth undetectable joint. These joints, in a sheet, were invisible and maintained the flexibility of the smaller original sheet. Corners and divider walls, once welded, gave the appearance of factory molding, seamless and transparent. It was the perfect material in almost every aspect. The addition of a photosensitive agent, added to the transparent aluminum exterior walls, protecting the occupants from sunrise to sunset. The harmful rays of the sun were absorbed and reflected away by the added agent.

Many designs were considered on the layout of Rim City. Some of the suggestions were easily discarded due the difficulty of construction and maintenance. The suggestion for the train, or tram, which ran the circle of the city was quickly accepted however the location of that tram was more difficult. One suggestion had the tram running on top of the structure so a view of the Facility and the Moon surface was available to all travelers while they circled the city.

At first this looked and sounded like a great idea. During the completion of drawings, it was found that access to the tram from the merchants, three stories below, would be almost a nightmare. Escalators or stairs, too numerous to mention, would take up quality space on an already business crowded environment. Placing the tram in the center allowed easy access down one flight or up one flight to visit all shops.

Having the tram inside also gave rise to another business. It was a new business, a business that charged for a ride outside. One could walk and take pictures while visiting on the actual surface of the moon. They got a good look at the Facility as those astronauts had first seen it, from above on the rim. Without exception, it was a ride every visitor took on their own during their stay on the moon. No one would want to go back to earth without doing so. Visitors had to be able to tell friends how they had walked on the surface of the moon and show pictures of that special unmatched outing. It was like a badge of honor shared and talked about endlessly. Photos taken where the Eagle had landed in 1969, with visitors touching the memorial plaque, were prominently displayed in homes of vacationers as soon as they returned to earth. No recent visitor to the moon now back home and having a Bar-B-Q would be complete without a tour inside their house to view these celestial pictorial displays.

Rim City slowly grew encircling the opening around the entrance to the Facility. The occupancy of the moon ballooned as businesses were finished and shops were opened for use. The Tram began first with minimal trips in a continuous circle with stops only near recently opened shops.

With the continued opening of new fast foods places and other shopping venues a second and then a third Tram was added to cut lag time between trains. Each Tram was approximately one third of the way around the city from the other two and even with uneven stops, this distance was supervised and maintained.

The growth above the Facility continued year after year until full scale operation was achieved and all available space was occupied. This completion was measured and a limit on the number of permanent personnel was established and maintained. The only variation in the number of personnel present on the moon was in the number of vacationers and temporary travelers, there for a short stay only, however, the number of those was also limited.

Twenty four seven three sixty five Rim City operated. The protecting walls kept Rim City lighting on an even keel so day and night were actually eliminated, it was similar to Las Vegas another city that never slept. The shops made it look like any mall in any town USA but the view outside was unworldly beautiful. From special observation locations, horizon to horizon the stars filled the sky with a clarity previously unmatched. The viewing of Earthrise was breathtaking in its splendor. You didn't need a watch to calculate when it would happen you just had to watch these viewing areas. When they filled to capacity you knew that the old earth was about to show itself and intrude on the horizon.

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