Outcasts of Gideon

Cutting In

Lieutenant Ulkos was recovering from the hard burn to Luna. Captain Burglind managed to wrangle both authorization and urgency from headquarters. The ship touched down on the surface of Luna on the eastern side of Mare Serenitatis. The Le Monnier crater was 2,000 kilometers from where Lieutenant Ulkos wanted to be. With Aynur Station under quarantine, he supposed that was the best he was going to get.

While they'd been under braking burn, he had access to system monitors. There he did all the advance research he could do. When the ship was close enough for him to see the moon, he narrowed his search to Sinus Iridium. Maps of the surface placed the bright light there in an old temple.

Little of his research helped him piece together what they saw on Luna. No observations from Earth or Mars had any further information. Stations on Luna were far less active, something understandable with the quarantine.

Now that they'd landed, he would have to find a means to resume his pursuit. Time was not on his side. The longer it took him, the more likely it was that the Patrol would alert the Damasos about his activities. On this side of the bubble, he wasn't sure how much that mattered. He was more certain now that he wouldn't be going back.

Captain Burglind came down to see him off. He roughly thanked her, then made his way into the facility.

This was not unlike many other human stations built on a moon like Luna. He might have confused it with Titan had there not been so much yellow and gold. People moved about the corridors and open spaces, busied with their work. At this point in the day, things were winding down. He hadn't been very aware of time, particularly since the stasis chamber. That didn't keep him from seeing everywhere that the day was receding.

He found himself in a group of people moving along a busy corridor. They traveled through the station as one. As they progressed, one or two would peel away. These were quickly replaced by others as the flow continued.

He finally arrived at a large terminal. If his study of the station was complete, this would be where he could jump on a public shuttle. He sought out system monitors. One listed arrivals and departures. He found the Aynur Station shuttles all blanked out. While hoping otherwise, he expected that. Quarantine was going to be an obstacle.

He spotted a sign advertising rentals. A moon like Luna would have any number of passenger and cargo hovers traversing its surface. They were also likely cutoff from Aynur Station, but it didn't hurt to check. As anticipated, nothing was permitted to approach Sinus Iridium. That left him with private rentals. He walked up to the closest of these.

The man behind the counter didn't seem happy to be interrupted. "What do you want?"

Lieutenant Ulkos smiled. This represented a gap in his plans. He knew better than to say where he wanted to go. "I need a rental."

"Yeah, that's what we do here. What do you want?"

"A private vehicle. I won't need much cargo space. Just room for a few people."

"Look, buddy, if you can't be specific."

"I need to travel quickly to one of the other stations."

The man stared at him, unmoved. He lifted his hand and twirled his fingers. "You haven't told me anything I didn't already know. Where are you going? When do you need it?"

"I'm sorry. I've never been to Luna."

"Something else I already knew."

The man's insolence surprised him. He was accustomed to people respecting his uniform. It was something he'd noticed in the walk through the station. The crowd was less friendly than he would have found on Titan. The uniform might have made the difference. He had no way of knowing, having traveled so little.