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Chapter 10 Clavius Base

 

Clavius, two hundred and forty kilometres across, is the second largest crater that can be seen from Earth. Here, Man was building his first permanent base on the Moon. In an emergency, it could produce everything it needed to support life. Solid chemicals and gases could be produced by processing local rocks. In a great hothouse, under lamps at night and sunlight by day, thousands of small plants grew to provide oxygen and food. The scientists could turn these, and other material grown in water, into very good copies of bread and meat and vegetables.

The hundreds of men and women who worked on the Base were all highly-trained scientists and technicians, carefully chosen before they had left Earth. Though living on the Moon was physically easier than in the early days, it was still psychologically difficult. It did have its attractions, though. One of them was the low gravity, which produced a general feeling of happiness. However, this had its dangers. It was simple enough to travel in a straight line. The problem came when you tried to turn a corner, because your body continued in the same direction. It took time, and a few small accidents, for newcomers to get used to this, and more experienced Base workers tried to stay away from them until they had.

The mountains that had seemed so large just before landing had mysteriously disappeared, hidden below the Moon's steeply curving horizon. Around the ship was a flat grey area, brightly lit by earthlight.

A number of service vehicles were now rolling up to the Aries-IB, moving on enormous tyres. But Floyd was watching a small bus that was bringing the people who wanted to meet him. There were a number of bangs as it connected to the ship, then the sound of air moving as pressure was equalized. The inside door of the airlock opened, and the welcoming party arrived.

It was led by Ralph Halvorsen, the Base Commander. With him was his Chief Scientist, Dr Roy Michaels, and a group of scientists and managers. They seemed happy to see him, ready to unload some of their worries.

' Very pleased to have you with us, Dr Floyd,' said Halvorsen. ' Did you have a good trip ?'

' Excellent,' Floyd answered. ' No problems, and the crew looked after me very well.'

The conversation continued as the bus moved away from the ship and into an entrance passage. A large door opened, then closed behind them. This happened again, and a third time. When the last door had closed, they were back in atmosphere again. The people Floyd saw were wearing normal clothes.

After a short walk they arrived in an office area. Floyd was happy to be surrounded by computers and telephones again after his time in space.

Halvorsen led Floyd towards a door labelled BASE COMMANDER, but before he could show him inside his office, there was an interruption. The door opened, and a small figure ran out.

' Daddy! You've been outside! And you promised to take me!'

'Well, Diana,' said Halvorsen, 'I only said I'd take you if I could. But I've been very busy meeting Dr Floyd. Shake hands with him — he's just come from Earth.'



The little girl — Floyd decided that she was about eight — held out a hand. Her face was slightly familiar. Then, with a shock, he understood why.

' I don't believe it!' he said.' When I was here last, she was just a baby!'

'She had her fourth birthday last week,' Halvorsen answered proudly.' Children grow fast in low gravity. But they don't age so quickly — they'll live longer than we do.'

Floyd stared at the confident little lady, noting that she was thinner as well as taller than an Earth child.' It's nice to meet you again, Diana,' he said. Then sudden curiosity made him ask, ' Would you like to go to Earth ?'

Her eyes widened in surprise, then she shook her head,

' It's a nasty place — you hurt yourself when you fall down. And there are too many people.'

So here, Floyd told himself, is one of the first of the Spaceborn. There would be more of them in the future. The time was fast approaching when Earth, like all mothers, would say goodbye to her children.

Halvorsen managed to persuade his daughter to leave him in peace, and the two men went into the office. It was only five metres square, but it had the same furniture as a Base Commander's office on Earth.There were signed photographs of important politicians — including one of the President of the United States — on one wall, and pictures of famous astronauts on another.

Floyd sat back in a comfortable leather chair and accepted a glass of wine, made in the Base laboratory.

' How's it going, Ralph ?' he said. The wine was quite good.

' Not too bad,' Halvorsen said. ' However, there is one thing you should know before you meet the others. My people are angry because they can't communicate with Earth. They think their families will be worried that they've died of this "illness".'

'I'm sorry about that,’ said Floyd,’ but no one could think of a better story, and it's worked. I met Moisewitch at the Space Station, and even he believed it.'

' Well, that should make the police happy.'

'Not too happy - he'd heard of TMA-1. He didn't know what it was, but the name has got out. We need to find out what the thing is, and quickly.'

 

Chapter 11 Anomaly

 

Halvorsen led Floyd into a room that could hold a hundred people easily. With a white screen on the end wall, and its rows of seats, it looked like a conference centre. However, the notices and pictures on the walls showed that it was also the centre of local cultural life.

About forty or fifty people were waiting for Floyd, and everyone stood up politely as he entered. Floyd sat down in the front row, while the Commander stood up on the platform and looked around his audience.

' Ladies and gentlemen,' Halvorsen began,' I needn't tell you that this is a very important occasion. We are delighted to have Dr Heywood Floyd with us. He has just completed a special flight from Earth to be here.'

Some of the audience clapped. Floyd stood up for a moment, said a word of thanks and sat down again.

' Dr Michaels,' said Halvorsen, and walked back to his seat.

The Chief Scientist stood up and moved to the platform. As he did so, the lights were turned off and a photograph of the Moon appeared on the screen. At its centre was the white ring of a large crater.

'Tycho,' said Michaels, although everybody there knew its name. 'During the last year we have been checking the magnetism of the whole region. This was completed last month, and this is the result that started all the trouble.'

Another picture flashed on the screen. It was a map with many lines going across it. Generally, these were spaced quite far apart, but in one corner they came close together and formed a series of smaller and smaller circles. It was quite obvious that there was something strange here. In large letters across the bottom of the map were the words: TYCHO MAGNETIC ANOMALY -ONE (TMA-i). Stamped on the top right of the map was another word: SECRET.

'At first we thought it was just a large magnetic rock, but this would be very unusual for the area. So we decided to have a look.

' There was nothing on the surface, just the usual flat ground under a thin layer of moon-dust. So we started to dig, and we dug for two weeks — with the result you know.'

The darkened room became suddenly quiet as the picture on the screen changed. Though everyone had seen it many times, they all leaned forwards, hoping to find new details. On Earth and Moon, less than a hundred people had been allowed to see this photograph.

It showed a man in a bright yellow spacesuit, standing at the bottom of a large hole, and holding a stick marked off in tenths of a metre. Next to him was a piece of black material, standing about three metres high and a metre and a half wide.

'TMA-1,' Dr Michaels said, quietly. 'It looks new, doesn't it? However, we've now been able to date it positively, from what we know of the local rocks.

' In fact it's about three million years old. You are looking at the first proof of intelligent life beyond the Earth.'

 


Date: 2015-12-18; view: 435


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