May's Moon by S. Y. Palmer

Author:S. Y. Palmer
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: John Hunt Publishing
Published: 2019-07-23T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirteen

Locating the second site was easier. It was in the centre of a semicircle of mounds and Buddy spott ed the pink tinge immediately. ‘My turn to dig, Mike.’

From the first spadefuls, Michael pulled out several hand-sized pieces of XO3 and the sample bag was soon bulging.

‘I reckon we’ve got more than one bag full there,’ said Buddy, puffing as he spoke. ‘Maybe we can make do with fewer bags?’

Michael felt like Buddy sounded. They both took regular sips of water now, only talking when they had to.

It’d only been two hours since they’d left Vader but Michael felt like he’d done a major work out in the gym. Everything ached and his hands felt like someone was rubbing a wire brush across them.

‘I’m with you,’ said Buddy, when Michael suggested a quick break. They couldn’t sit down in their spacesuits but they managed to lean against the Speeder and stay still for a few minutes.

Michael surveyed the Asia-sized landscape. The moon had never appeared like this in his head because he’d always imagined it from the earth. From there, it was small, smooth and almost round, with white, grey and black swirls. Up here it was a different place. For a start, the ground, hills and craters all contrasted brilliantly with the darkness of space. It didn’t look real at all and he could see why some people had been suspicious of those first images of the moon landing. Also, the ground was far more uneven and cratered on this side than he’d ever imagined. Right this second he knew the moon less than ever before; a stranger rather than the friend he’d expected.

‘Are you good to go again, Mike?’ said Buddy, trying to stretch in his spacesuit, but looking like he was doing some sort of weird dad-dance.

Michael blew out a long, slow breath and blinked several times to try and clear his eyes. He’d struggled to sleep the night before and was paying for it now.

‘Yeah. Let’s get another few shovels of soil here and then head off to the final site. That’s where the flyby saw the largest density of water-rich samples.’

As they bounced and were shaken like sauce bottles, the final site came into view. It had a different landscape altogether. It was situated at the base of a rock cliff, shaped like the crest of a mammoth wave. The rock curled over them as if it had been frozen instantaneously by dry ice.

‘That is so totally awesome,’ said Buddy, bending as far as his suit would allow to look at the underside.

‘Not if it falls on you, though,’ said Michael, pulling the equipment out of the trailer for the last time.

‘It’s probably been like that for millions of years. Look, there are no bits of debris on the floor and it’s pretty much intact. Guess that’s what happens when you don’t have weather coming through.’

‘We’re trying to find these patches of ground,’ said Michael, showing Buddy their map. ‘It looks like they’re right

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