Solar Umbrella (Book 1)

Chapter 15: Luna One

ALL THE FIRST timers looked a little funny as they adjusted to the 1/6th Earth gravity entering the hotel. They laughed at each other as they made their way down the tunnel. Parker noticed what looked like a heavy blast door embedded on either side of the tunnel. A smart idea in case of an emergency like a fire or depressurization on the ship. The tunnel was very utilitarian—concrete walls, tiny windows up high, industrial lighting. Compared to the luxury of the waiting room in Colorado or even the ship itself, this was a dump. All that changed when the group left the tunnel at the far end. Parker remembered reading about a tunnel in Egypt. They built a dark tunnel that you would walk through on your way to the pyramid. At the time, the pyramid was capped with gold to reflect the sun. The idea was to have the contrast between light and dark be so obvious that it showed you the power of the gods of the area. Parker wondered if that was the idea here or the tunnel was, you know, just a tunnel. In any case, the result was similar.

The hotel itself was centralized around the lobby, with rooms and features spiraling from it at various degrees like the spokes of a bike tire. The tunnel from the ship came out at degree zero. As he approached the end of the tunnel, he saw a huge fountain in the middle of the lobby. The effect in low gravity was mesmerising—the water shot into the air and then floated back down into the reservoir. The area around the fountain was as green as anywhere he'd ever been. Vines and trees climbed the four stories. Parker had been told they grew hydroponically with very little imported soil in the whole hotel—the plants had been engineered specifically for use here. Parker had asked about any edible plants or fruit, but they produced very little. The idea was to capture carbon and help to limit the need for expensive carbon scrubbing, not to produce food for harvest. The combination of plant life and water droplets made Parker feel like he was in the rainforest rather than the lifeless surface of the moon. The halls and tunnels were mainly dug down into the surface with artificial, but gentle lighting. Much of the walls were unadorned moon rock with cut-outs filled with relics from SpaceOne—an original NASA rover, a cosmonaut's helmet, the American flag that had been at a landing site and other items both modern and historical.

"This place must have cost a fortune to build!" Kate whispered into Parker's ear. "Even to maintain. I never imagined it would be this big from what I've seen and read. Look how many halls lead off the lobby!"

Parker took a look around. "Uh Kate, did you know that there's a fucking pool here?" He pointed to a sign at 180 degrees with a little wave icon.

"Of course I did," Kate laughed. "I saw it on one of those entertainment shows. They had a bunch of celebrities up for the opening of the pool like a month ago. It's new!"

"Okay, that's a must do," Parker smiled. He noticed the others talking to one another, pointing out things and felt a general positive buzz. It had been a hectic trip up, but their excitement had taken over and they were back to being teenagers on a trip with friends. There was no need to check in like you would do on Earth—the fact they were here was enough, but there was a required "moon meal" that each guest had to attend as their first stop.

They made their way down a hallway to a large dining room at the behest of a hotel worker. Parker quickly realized that the point of the meal wasn't to eat, but rather to have a chance to get all the new guests together to learn the rules and regulations before setting off on their own adventures. The hotel was pretty foolproof with an overabundance of staff. The few airlocks had permanent staffing and the guests were all informed that every square inch of the hotel was covered by security cameras—the only exceptions being their actual rooms and any communal bathrooms. The hotel had only a single excursion, but it was a pretty awesome one. You could prebook a time to head to an airlock, suit up and head out to the surface. Much of the advertising back on Earth featured two people in spacesuits sitting on lawn chairs clinking glasses. It was a must-have photo for just about every guest. Parker thought it was cheesy as hell. He was going to do it though, no question.