Chapter 7

Chapter 7:
A RESCUE MISSION

Alex’s head shot up. Turning left and then right, she scanned the moonscape as if expecting her grandfather to pop out from behind one of the boulders or a crater ridge. Was he still nearby? How long ago had he been there? And why hadn’t he returned to Earth?

Scattered across the crater, Alex’s classmates were busy choosing their rock samples. Periodically, excited shouts crackled over the headsets.

“This one’s orange!”

“I found one with a light purple streak.”

Alex watched as Sam struggled to lift a giant rock that was much too big to be carried back. Professor Callahan motioned that it needed to stay put.

Peeking down at the paper hidden in her gloved hands, Alex studied the handwriting on the note again. It had to be Grandpa’s. Did she dare open the note with others around?

The speaker in Alex’s headset crackled, and Professor Callahan’s voice came across the intercom. “O.K., everyone, let’s wrap it up. Take your samples and head back to the moon buggy.”

Alex shoved the note into her bag. Her curiosity would have to wait.

On the ride back to the colony, Alex gripped her bag tightly to her chest. She felt like she had stolen a secret treasure. She was eager to find out what Grandpa had to say, but she couldn’t share her emotions with anyone. As she contemplated what Grandpa might have written, she began to worry. If the note truly was from Grandpa, why was he still here on the moon? When she’d left him on Friday, he had been confident he could repair the Rock Jumper.

And what if it wasn’t really from Grandpa? Perhaps someone was trying to trick her into thinking her grandfather had left her a note. Could Emperor Devlesh’s spies have followed her and be using this as a trap?

Alex’s anxiety over the note increased as the day progressed. Whenever she thought she had a moment alone, she would reach for her bag to pull out the note, but as soon as she did so, someone would appear and she’d shove the note back into the depths of the bag. She would only read that note when she was sure no one was watching.
The opportunity finally came that evening. The girls had spent the early part of the evening cleaning their room for Madame Oberin’s Monday night inspection. Now Alex sat at the desk in her nearly spotless room, struggling to concentrate on a math problem involving complementary angles. Her mind continually wandered to the note that was burning a hole in her bag. On the other side of the room, Carrie sat on her bed with a portable console on her lap. She was reading through a portion of the history textbook.

“Ugh!” Carrie tapped the screen to close the history book. “I’m sick of ancient civilizations.” She tossed the portable console onto her desk. Then she let out a big yawn. “I’m getting ready for bed.” Carrie grabbed her pink-and-white pajamas (despite her curly, red hair, she insisted pink was her color) and headed toward the washroom.

Alex’s heart raced. This was it. She finally had a moment alone.

As soon as the door slid shut behind Carrie, Alex snatched up her bag. Her hands trembled as she pulled the note from the depths of the bag. It had been crushed and wrinkled over the course of the day from the shoving in and yanking out of books. She read the inscription on the outside fold one more time to convince herself it was real. Then she carefully unfolded the page and flattened it on the desk before her.

Alex took a deep breath and read:

Alex,
Repairs not going as planned. Need new oxygen tank and supplies. Meet me tonight outside the exit you used this afternoon. I’ll be waiting behind the large boulder that is shaped like a giant tortoise.
Grandpa

Leaning back in her chair, Alex let out a soft, “Wow.” Grandpa hadn’t made it off the moon after all. And he needed her help. Alex wondered how much oxygen he had left. She knew he had at least one spare tank in the Rock Jumper, but how much more? And what type of supplies would he need?

Alex checked her watch. It was nearly curfew time. Carrie would be back soon from the bathroom and would want to go to bed. Quickly, Alex shoved the note back into her bag along with her space helmet. She clipped her PTD onto her bag and practiced taking her spacesuit out of her closet without making too much noise.

The door to the room slid open.

“You’d better hurry if you want to use the washroom,” Carrie warned. “Madame Oberin is already making the rounds.”

“Thanks,” muttered Alex. She grabbed her pajamas and dashed out of the room. She’d have to make a good show of it and pretend she was going to sleep.

Fifteen minutes later, Alex was snug in her bed, but sleep was the furthest thing from her mind. She listened carefully to Carrie’s breathing. When it started to become slow and regular, Alex pushed back her sheets and slowly eased her head up off the pillow. The room was still. Alex swung a leg over the side of her bed and leaned up onto her elbow.

A snort erupted from Carrie’s side of the room, and there was a rustling movement in her bed. Alex threw herself back under the covers. She wasn’t going to take any chances. As she lay there, Alex wondered what would happen if she got caught sneaking around the colony at night. Would the General kick her out of the colony? What would happen to Grandpa then? She supposed that, if she got caught, she could confess that she was going to help her grandfather, but then what? Would the General kick her and Grandpa off the moon?

After twenty minutes of complete silence from Carrie’s bed, Alex decided it was now or never. Once again, she eased herself up on an elbow. The shades were pulled over the window that faced the playdium. Glimpses of fake moonlight peeked from around the shades. In the darkness, Alex peered toward Carrie, who remained motionless. Alex sat up on the edge of the bed. The mattress creaked a bit; Alex paused but Carrie continued to sleep. In one smooth movement, Alex stood up and held her breath. No sound came from the other bed.

Moving as swiftly and as quietly as she could, Alex picked up her bag and grabbed her spacesuit from her closet. When the door slid open, Alex peered out into the hallway. No sign of Madame Oberin. Alex tiptoed across the hallway and down to the girls’ washroom. As expected, it was empty. Alex made quick work of getting into her spacegear. Then she moved her PTD from her bag to a small pocket on her suit. For the time being, she would keep her helmet in her bag.

Back out in the hallway, Alex was relieved to see that no one was around. She hoped the rest of the colony was as quiet as the student dormitory. She hurried down the corridor, around the corner, and to the nearest elevator. The door slid open. Alex had yet to try out the voice commands on the elevator. She was so nervous that she worried it wouldn’t obey her. With a tremulous voice, Alex called out, “First floor.” The elevator door closed and began to move down.

When the door slid open on the first floor, Alex stepped out cautiously. Still no signs of life. The quiet corridor was completely empty. The bright daytime lights had been turned off, and a cool blue glow kept the hallway dimly lit. Alex hoped the General was as strict about curfew with the rest of the colony as Madame Oberin was with the orphans.

Alex debated whether to go left or right. The left would get her to the main hangar faster, but she didn’t know that hallway as well. The right would take a bit longer but was less likely to be occupied. This direction would take her through the school zone; surely no one would be there at this time. Deciding privacy was more important than speed, Alex turned toward the right.

Rounding the corner, Alex discovered that the hallway wasn’t as abandoned as she had expected. Light emanated from the open doorway to Ms. Pullman’s classroom. Alex drew closer. She couldn’t hear any voices from the room, only the faint whirring of a machine sweeping and buffing the floors. Should she try to sneak past the room or head in the other direction?

As she stood in the hallway debating, the whirring grew louder. Whoever was cleaning the floor was about to head out into the hallway. Alex looked around. There was nothing in the hallway to hide behind. She stepped in front of the door to Professor Callahan’s classroom, which slid open, and she ducked inside. She could hear the door to Ms. Pullman’s room closing moments before Professor Callahan’s door closed behind her.

The whirring sound kept growing louder. Clearly, the cleaning person was headed her way. Alex looked around for a place to hide. She opened the door to one of the cabinets that held Professor Callahan’s equipment. Too small for her to squeeze into with her space suit on, she decided. The room had many lab tables, each with a smooth black top and a built-in sink. Underneath the countertop was a set of drawers and cabinets for holding beakers, Bunsen burners, vials, and test tubes.

When she heard the door to Professor Callahan’s room slide open, Alex ducked behind Adam and Sam’s lab table. The whirring of the cleaning machine grew louder. Had she been purposely followed, or was this simply the next room to be cleaned? With her heart beating rapidly in her chest, Alex listened for the methodical noises of the cleaning machine as it swept back and forth across the front of the room.

Trying to figure out how she could make her escape, Alex crawled to the end of the row. She didn’t hear any footsteps over the whirring of the machine, the noise increasing until she felt like she would be swept up into its spinning brushes. Peering around the corner of a lab table, Alex watched a shadow form on the floor three rows ahead of her. The shadow was short and wide, with beveled edges at the top. Within moments, Alex saw a fat tub of a droid emerge from the row of lab tables, hit the wall, and then turn to come back down the next row. Beneath its stout body, a spinning set of brushes was going to town on the classroom floor. Alex ducked her head back. It was only an automated cleaning droid. Alex didn’t know much about these droids. Could it see her? If it could, would it care?

Alex decided not to take any chances. She waited until the cleaning droid was at the far end of the next row. Then before it could turn around and head back in her direction, she scooted along the aisle and out the open doorway.

In the hallway, Alex didn’t waste any time. She wanted to be out of the classroom area before that cleaning droid moved to the next room. She sped past Ms. Pullman’s classroom, then Mr. Trang’s room, and then through the primary grade area. At the end of the school zone, Alex peered around the next corner. No one was in sight. She passed by the dining hall and several businesses including the delivery services and Carol’s Colony Clothing. Then Alex stepped through one of the narrow hallways that led to the outer loop. From here, she didn’t have far to go to reach the hangar.
At this time of night, the hangar was nearly pitch black. A few emergency lights cast long, dark shadows around the rocket ships. Alex felt her way over to the storage area. Here she unhooked two OPA tanks and headed to the dustroom. This small space, Alex had learned that afternoon, served as an equalizer between the colony’s atmosphere and the lack of atmosphere outside. When Alex first met Marta, she had been in the American wing’s dustroom.

In the dustroom off the main hangar, Alex adjusted her tank and attached her space helmet. Leaving her bag in the dustroom and carrying the spare OPA tank, Alex swiped her PTD at the doorway and watched as the door to the moon’s surface slid open.
Nighttime made no difference in this part of the moon. The sun shone as always, yet the sky remained pitch black. Not even stars could be seen. Alex made a mental note to ask Professor Callahan why this was so.

Off to the right, Alex could see the large boulder shaped like a giant tortoise. It was big enough to hide Moon Buggy #3 behind it. Alex’s heart rate quickened again. What if this was a trap? Alex imagined Emperor Devlesh’s spies capturing her grandfather upon re-entry to Earth and torturing him into giving them Alex’s location. If they were able to get her grandfather to admit he had brought her to the moon, would they then try to lure her out of the colony, away from the General’s protection? Cautiously, Alex made a wide circle as she came around the edge of the boulder. She was prepared at any moment to drop the spare OPA tank and run for the entry portal if necessary.

A set of space boots stuck out from the edge of the boulder. The toes were pointed upward. Whoever was wearing them was either lying down or seated with his legs out flat in front of them. Alex crept closer. They looked like her grandfather’s boots. As she drew nearer, she could see a body seated on the lunar surface, its head and torso slumped against the side of the boulder.

Alex tapped the comm link button on her helmet. “Grandpa?” she inquired tentatively.

There was no response. Was she too close to the IMC for her comm link to work?

Creeping up to the body, Alex recognized her grandfather’s space suit. His head was drooping over his chest.

“Grandpa!” Alex hurried over as fast as she could, the moon’s low gravity causing her to bounce along. When she reached her grandfather, Alex dropped the OPA tank and pulled the old man’s helmet up. Through the face shield, Alex could see her grandfather’s eyes were closed, his face pale. “Grandpa, are you alright?” His head bobbed, but he didn’t respond. Alex leaned over his body and examined the gauge on his air tank. He was literally running on fumes. “Oh, my god, Grandpa!”

Alex swung the spare OPA tank over to the other side and pulled out the connection
hose. After disconnecting Grandpa’s old tank, she attached the hose to the OPA tank and switched it on. Within seconds, she heard her grandfather gasp. His eyes flew open and he looked around startled. He was taking in massive gulps of oxygen.

“It’s O.K., Grandpa, it’s O.K.,” Alex grabbed his arms. “You’re alright now. I hooked up a new oxygen tank.”

“Alex?”

“Yeah, Grandpa. It’s me. You’re fine. You were running low on air. I got you a new tank. It’s O.K. now.”

Grandpa’s strained muscles relaxed. “Alex,” he sighed. “I tried to stay awake, but . . .”

“Relax. You’ve got plenty of air now, and I’m here.” Alex settled into a sitting position beside Grandpa. She waited while he took a few calming breaths. “Can you tell me what happened? Why aren’t you back on Earth yet?”

Grandpa shook his head despondently. “It should have been an easy fix. Just straighten out the landing gear and repair the brake rocket that wouldn’t fire.”

“So what went wrong?”

Grandpa took a few more deep breaths. “Well, some of the joints I need to loosen are welded into place. Then I broke the one power wrench I had with me. When I got to the brake rocket, I tinkered around with it for hours. Then I realized the part I thought was broken wasn’t broken at all, and I needed a different part.” Grandpa shook his head slowly. He reached into a pocket in his spacesuit. “Do you think you could get your hands on these things for me?” He pulled out a small slip of paper.

“I tried to draw a picture of the last one for you.”

Alex glanced at the scribbled list. Where would she get things like a power wrench?

“I can try, but, Grandpa, what if I can’t?”

“You must. The more I think about it, the more I worry about your grandmother. Those hoverships were a bad omen. I need to get back to Earth as soon as possible.”

“Why don’t you come back to the colony with me? Then you could ask the General for these parts.”

Grandpa shook his head as Alex stood up. Over one edge of the boulder, she could see the entrance to the IMC. Alex froze. Standing in the open portal, Marta was scanning the moonscape. Alex ducked back behind the boulder before Marta looked in her direction.

“What is it?”

“I think I was followed when I left the colony.”

“By whom?”

“Marta, one of the droids.”

Grandpa thought for a moment. “Is there any way you can sneak back in?”

“I’ll have to wait until she goes back inside. Then I’ll enter through another portal.” Alex sat back against the boulder. She read through her grandfather’s supply list again. Some of the items sounded familiar, like the power wrench and various sizes of nuts and bolts. However, a couple items were not ones Alex had much experience with. “How soon do you need this stuff?”

“The sooner the better. Do you think you could meet me out here again two nights from now?”

Inside her space helmet, Alex bit her lip. She was sure she could look up these items on any of the colony’s computer consoles, but getting her hands on them would be another matter. “Where am I gonna find this stuff?”

“Search for a tool and supply room near the hangar. You’ll have to sneak in after work hours.”

“And if I can’t find all of it?”

“Bring me what you can on Wednesday night. Can you get me food, too? I don’t have much left.”

Alex nodded. “Food should be pretty easy. Do you need water, too? You’ll need it to keep the OPA tank running.”

“The water recycling system on the ship is still working. I should be fine.”

Alex took a deep breath and asked the question she had tried to get answered many times before. Perhaps the gravity of their current situation would change Grandpa’s mind and get him to talk. “Grandpa, what happened between you and the General?”

Grandpa sighed. When he spoke, his voice was weary. “Alex, I’ve told you before. We had a disagreement—the kind you never recover from. I can’t ask him to help me.”

“But you could have died out here!”

“That probably would have made the General happy,” replied Grandpa drily.

“Grandpa!”

“Oh, now, take it easy. The important thing is I’m still alive. You brought me the one thing I really needed.” Grandpa patted the OPA tank beside him. “So I’m doing just fine without the General’s help.”

“I don’t understand what the two of you could have fought about that was so awful.”

“Alex. We’ve been through this a hundred times. I’m not going to talk about the war with you. War is not a topic for children.”

“I’m not exactly a child anymore. I’m a teenager.”

“Oh, Alex.” Grandpa dropped his head into his hands. “I forgot how many days have passed since we left Earth.” He looked up at her. “I can’t believe your birthday’s passed already. Before the hoverships arrived, I had thought about how we were going to celebrate your thirteenth birthday. I was going to cook your favorite meal and take you for your first flying lesson. I guess my plans got sidetracked.”

Alex looked down at her hands. She hadn’t meant to make her grandpa feel guilty.

“That’s O.K., Grandpa.”

“No, it’s not. A girl should have a thirteenth birthday party. When this whole mess is over, I promise we’ll celebrate, and I’ll get you the best birthday present you’ve ever had. What do you want?”

“All I want is for you to find Grandma and to get me away from this place.” She jerked her head in the direction of the IMC.

“You got it.” He gestured behind the boulder. “Is your droid still out there?”
Alex eased herself up and peered over the edge of the boulder. The doorway to the dustroom near the hangar was closed. There was no sign of Marta. “The coast is clear. I’m going to enter through the next wing of the colony in case Marta is waiting around for me.”

Grandpa stood up beside her and peered over the boulder as well. The area appeared completely desolate.

After a quick good-bye and promises to return in two nights, Alex left her grandfather and headed across the fine-grained surface of the crater. She kept her eyes peeled for Marta. With the low gravity, Alex was able to bounce along easily, prepared to hop behind a boulder if anyone should appear.

However, no one did appear. When Alex reached the next portal, she pulled her PTD from her pocket and held it before the panel. The door slid open, and Alex stepped inside. Once the door had sealed behind her, Alex waited while the moon dust was pulled off her suit and the gravity power increased sixfold. Then she removed her helmet slowly, making sure the atmosphere in the dustroom was properly adjusted for oxygen before shutting off her OPA tank.

Just when Alex thought she was in the clear, she heard a voice come over a speaker.
“Alex Jones. I know you’ve been outside.”

Alex held her breath.

The voice continued, “And I have your bag.”