Alone on the Moon by Gerald Brennan

Author:Gerald Brennan [Brennan, Gerald]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Tortoise Books
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Alone on the Moon

“Eagle-2, Control. We’ve lost communications with the lunar lander. Over.”

I hear the words as I come up on one more earthrise: the routine that is anything but. It was bound to go wrong sooner or later. With me involved, it was bound to go wrong. “Control, Eagle-2. How long has it been? Over.”

An anxious breath. Then: “Eagle-2, just a few minutes. Over.”

I return to the scene in my mind: Alexei climbing over the rim of the crater, exploring the moon beyond. Once the rim eclipsed the Lunar Craft, it would cut off the transmission path from his suit antenna. “He must have stepped out of line-of-sight.”

The words travel their path. Then: “Eagle-2, not just him. The lander itself. We had some strange electrical readings. Trying to make sense of it. Over.”

The electrical system. Redundant batteries, redundant controllers. Everything tested and retested. And yet… “Have you tried him on the suit freq…”

“Eagle-2, wait one. Over.” Then: “There it is, back online!” Not quite cheers in the control room, but audible relief. “Eagle-1, Control. Radio check. Over.”

I am still not listening on the relay. Too much chatter? Or do I just like imagining the responses? In the wait I see Blondie calling back to Earth and getting no response. Then walking back to the crater rim so he can see the Lunar Craft and calling again: still no response. And perhaps the edge gives way. Or he negotiates the treacherous rim successfully—how rarely do accidents happen when we’re expecting them!—and then picks up too much speed bounding down the inside slope to get back to the silent lander. Unpredictable soil, a mis-planted footstep. A long slow tumble: gray moon and black sky in lazy succession. Does he feel fear, even for a moment? Surely. But he would never admit to it.

“Eagle-1, copy. Are you all right? Over.”

I fill this gap with: what? Hope, or anxious prophecy. My rational mind reminds me: nothing bad ever happens to Blondie. But something must have happened.

Control again, anxious: “Eagle-1, is there damage to the suit? Over.”

Did it really happen the way I predicted? A fall on the way back? It must have happened.

“Eagle-1, that is quite a relief. I’m glad they included that on the suit.”

During Mishin’s paranoid reign he’d imagined a cosmonaut falling flat on his back on the bulky life-support pack, and then being stuck on the moon like an overturned turtle. So they’d added a metal hoop to help the fallen cosmonaut roll over. Most of us had considered it unnecessary, a bit of mothering by engineers too anxious to ever fly themselves…

“Eagle-1, I’m sure that’s true, but it’s time to head back. Over.”

Leonov trying to negotiate for more time? After electrical issues and a fall?

“Eagle-1, we do understand. Please commence close-out. Over.”

More delay.

“Very well, Eagle-1.”

I have to know. “Control, Eagle-2. How did we lose communications? Over.”

A long lazy response. “Eagle-2, it was a mistake on our end. Over.”

A complete brush-off. Absolutely insufficient. My blood pulses. “Control, Eagle-2. What kind of mistake? Over.

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