Space Chronicles The Beginning

Chapter 3

Down they fell, driven headlong from the pitch of Heaven, down into the deep, and in the general fall, I also.

            - John Milton - Paradise Lost -

Marty squinted as he gazed out of the Humvee's passenger window. The Mojave Desert wasn't a very hospitable place. In fact, it could be downright nasty. Heat rippled air boiled from the rugged rock strewn landscape and long shimmering shadows flowed away from squat barrel cacti, banana yucca and ragged basalt rocks. Luckily, the sun was melting into the horizon, and sunset in the desert had the finality of a gunshot.

"I don't see why we have to practice out here," he said to Angie. "We certainly know how to work in these suits."

"You and I know, but our two volunteers don't."

He turned to offer them a placating smile. "Sorry, I forgot."

His eyes were first attracted to the woman. She was some sort of Indian with a first name of Uma. He couldn't pronounce her last name. She had jet-black hair pulled tight around her head and a dark complexioned face with large dark penetrating eyes. Her qualifications included a PhD in Geology and Astrophysics from Cal Tech.

The man was older than he, and that made him feel good. George Taylor's thinning gray hair attested to his age, but it was his deep blue eyes that hinted of his experience in something as complicated as Planetary Physics. Such a boring profession, but apparently NASA considered him an expert in how water on the moon was even possible.

In his opinion, they were either expendable or suicidal. He wasn’t sure which, but he knew that NASA wouldn’t risk any top astronauts for this crazy mission.

He turned back to Angie. “Oh well, we could all use some experience driving the moon buggy.”

 “The ATEV,” she said, correcting him.

 “Yeah, the All Terrain Excursion Vehicle. I know.” He paused to glance out at the rapid nightfall. “This is going to be a real trip doing this in the dark. We don’t have any idea what this crater looks like or how deep it is.”

 “Same situation we'll face on the moon.”

 “True, but I hope we don’t end up jumping down into quicksand or something.”

 “I’m sure that NASA wouldn’t have chosen a dangerous location for this test.”

 “No telling what Clarence would do to test us.”

She frowned at him, but it had no effect. He smiled, his usual response to criticism. She had no idea if he was just joking around or using flippancy as a defense mechanism. She was aware of the reputation he had as a prankster and a ladies man, but she didn’t care. She could handle any man, no matter how badly he behaved.

The entourage of vehicles came to a stop on a gentle rise near a rock-strewn cliff. They climbed out and assembled near a half-track transport. Technicians began to retrieve the ATEV from a truck while the astronauts got into their MMU suits.

The Manned Maneuvering Units were designed to literally fly around without the need for any separate machine. Strapped to an astronaut’s back, the unit was powered by solid fuel rockets that, unlike conventional solid rockets, could be started and stopped at will.

The ATEV looked like an overgrown dune buggy. It had large tractor wheels that could be individually controlled. Ideally suited for rough terrain, the vehicle was perfect for tooling around the desert or the moon.

Marty let Angie drive. She was the pilot and driving an ATEV was easy. The embedded computer control prevented a human driver from messing up.

Powerful Xenon lamps cut into the pitch-blackness of a moonless night, casting eerie shadows and reflecting from scary creature eyes.