His Throne

12 - Circles

We drove on the Moon for hours and we couldn't find the Moonbase Olympus anywhere.  I know.  It's hard to look for it without the antenna.  I felt bored but good thing I have my cellphone with me.  I played some games as I waited patiently with the group.

"Where's the base?" Jennifer complained, "It should be somewhere."

"I don't know." James shrugged while driving, "It has to be here but I forgot where it is."  He turns to Hicpa.  "Hicpa.  Turn on the GPS to Moonbase Olympus, please."

"GPS is now activated." Hicpa replied, "Moonbase Olympus is fifty miles away."

This made Taichi gasp.  "What?  Which direction should we go?"

"Head northeast." Hicpa showed.

"Got it." James agreed and turns the vehicle to northeast.

It is such a long time as we travel this direction but I don't see the Moonbase yet.  Again, I feel bored and I stared at the stars for twenty minutes.

"Recalculating." Hicpa commented, "In five hundred feet, head straight north."

"What?" James gasped, "Okay?  If you say so."

The android is telling him the different direction?  Did we just go the wrong way?  I have no idea.  James continues to drive the rover across the lunar soil landscape and Hicpa announced.

"At three... dred fee-e-t, turn left...  crater."

"What?" James glanced, "Hicpa?  Are you okay?  You sound like you're not functioning properly."

I turn to Tha.  "Tha?  Can you tell us where Moonbase Olympus is, please?"

Tha calculated.  "Moonbase Olympus is thirty miles away from us."

James knocks Hicpa and the android spoke again.  "Head east."

"Yeah.  Much better." James nodded and then he turns the rover to the east.  This is so confusing for me.

First aliens and now computers malfunctioning?  What kind of madness is this?  Now it is Tha's turn to lead the way.  I don't what is going on with Hicpa but at least he is back to normal, thank God.  We are almost there; just twenty miles to go.  This is such a road trip on the Moon and it seems a little exciting for me.  It seems like a whole bunch of minutes have passed but I did see the building from a distance.

"We're here." James cheered, "Finally back to base."

He drove the rover into the vehicle parking garage and parked it in the spot.  We then hop off as I turn to Tha.

"Alright, Tha.  Let's get you all cleaned up."

When we're inside the building, we took off our helmets and walked through the hallway and found a room known as the locker room.

And yes, it does have lockers, a bathroom and a shower section in here.  Good thing both Tha and Hicpa are waterproof, like a robot that can go underwater like a submarine or even a diver.  Jennifer turns on the shower head and water pours onto Tha.  We scrubbed her with soap combined with water both.  Just a bath for an android.  I smiled as I scrub the creature's blood off of her.  Later, she is now spotless and Jennifer turned off the shower head.

"Thank you." Tha agreed, "I really appreciate you cleaning me.  Mess level: zero percent."

"No problem." I smiled.

Everything is just okay when we exit the locker room and people walked past us.  I don't know what the creature was but it seemed to be an astronaut just like us.  It really scared me.  The memory about it is glued onto my mind which makes me wonder; who or what is that guy?  Where did it come from?  Why was it here?  People are afraid of what they think which but they'll get over it someday.  I stood there as my group turns to me.

"Hey, Alexa?  Are you coming?" Taichi asked.

I turn to the locker room and then back at them.  I thought of something in my head that has to be a reason which I don't understand.

"Yes.  I'm coming."

I followed my group through the base to the factory section.

Inside, there are space vehicles, space parts and workers creating them.  Taichi walked up to one of the workers and asked.

"Excuse me, Mr. Becker.  Can you fix the vehicle for us?"

The man turned around.  He has a mustache, a soul patch and he has hair only on the top of his head and trimmed off on the sides and back.

"Yes?  Is there something wrong with it?"

"Our vehicle's antenna is completely busted." Martin explained, "It was just badly damaged when we were going for a ride on the Moon."

Mr. Becker nodded.  "Show it to me so I can see what's wrong."

James ran out of the room through the garage-like door and we waited.  I sighed and looked at the man.  He has a nametag that read "G. Becker."

"Well, it's nice to meet you again, Gary."

"Yep.  Good to see you too, Alexa." Mr. Becker laughed.

I met him before.  He is just a nice person and he is much older than me.  James came back with the rover and parked it in front of Mr. Becker.  He is shocked when he saw the broken antenna on that thing.

"It looks like it needs a part replacement.  Give me a moment, please."

He grabs his tools from the tool cabinet and screws the antenna off the vehicle.  While he's working on the vehicle, Tha puts her hand on my shoulder.

"Don't you worry, Alexa.  You will still be alright.  We are always here to protect you."

"Yeah.  I know you do." I nodded, "You're always here for me.  Whenever I get scared, you always do that.  You always do.  And, I'm glad.  You're the best friend I've ever had."

I closed my eyes for a little bit and a memory about my mother building Tha is a gift for me.

"Alright.  New antenna for your vehicle."  Mr. Becker is finished and the new antenna is different from the old one.

"Thank you so much, sir." Martin smiled as he shook Mr. Becker's hand.  "Hey, can we stay at your place?"

"Sure, you can." Mr. Becker laughed.

The group begin to follow Mr. Becker except me.  I stood there as Jennifer turns to me.

"Are you coming or not?"

I joined the group and we followed Mr. Becker through the hallway, up the stairs and straight to his cabin.

The Moonbase's cabin has a seat with an attached table, a kitchenette, a bathroom with a washing machine and dryer and a four-guest bedroom.

"What a nice place you got here, huh?" I smiled.