MoonquakeMoonquakeBreakaway + 5 years
Moonbase Alpha’s location had been carefully chosen for its spatial relationship to Earth and for the stability of its foundation. The events of Breakaway had made the former irrelevant and the later problematical. The massive explosion at NDA 2, and the somewhat more controlled explosion during the efforts to avoid the protoplanet Tora, had literally shaken the moon to its core. Deep in the moon’s substrate, settling still occurred in response to the shifting gravity wells of the systems they passed through. While usually minor and barely appreciated by the Alphans, this was not always the case.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sandra was tired. Bone deep exhausted. Even Alan, whose usual exuberant energy level was indefatigable, was looking a bit ragged. And, thought Sandra in a muzzy haze, she thought she had been tired after that marathon forty-eight hours helping Maya and the others reprogram Main Computer when it had crashed.
“Your turn to get up,” Sandra elbowed Alan in the ribs.
“Right.” After a minute more, he heaved himself up and out and padded over to pick up a crying Danae.
“Little love, you have got to learn to sleep through the night. Your parents are just about…” he yawned and was so tired he lost his train of thought. However, Danae’s magic worked on Alan once again as it always did. Once she opened her incredibly green eyes and focused, if hazily, on Alan, he was mesmerized. Getting up two or three times a night didn’t really seem so bad. He performed the necessary care and plopped a clean, dry baby in Sandra’s arms for a midnight snack.
Practically, Alphan infants would have to learn to tolerate formula feedings eventually given their mothers’ vital work schedules. For now, though, it was felt that the all-important, even if temporary, antibodies passing to the infants in their mothers’ milk were crucial. Dr. Helena Russell and her colleagues worried about the children’s developing immune systems. There simply might not be enough challenges to help develop the needed range of protective antibodies in the ‘clean’ Alphan environment. They were even contemplating controlled exposures to common ‘cold’ viruses and the like to help challenge and prime the immature immune systems. Vaccinations, without a doubt, would be important. The adult Alphans still harbored pathogens that could devastate their pediatric population.
Looking down on his small family, he asked with a wry smile, “Sandra, love, don’t think I doubt you for a moment….. but, where did her green eyes come from?” A blue eyed father and a dark brown, almost black eyed mother did not seem a likely source to him.
“You mean, besides the same source as her silver hair? Well, my father had eyes as blue as yours and his mother, I am told, had green eyes. You are the one with the genetics background. You should be explaining her appearance to me!”
“Sorry. I always fell asleep when the Mendelian pea pods came up. I did ‘big picture’ theorizing. Anyhow, too much time in the starry deep, I suppose. Or, too close to NDA 2 when it blew,” he said more soberly. Alan climbed back into bed and pulled Sandra up against him, wrapping his arms around her. He closed his eyes, dozing, waiting for the return-to-crib duty.
“Have you thought more about helping Maya and Tony?” asked Sandra with a mixture of tentativeness and matter-of-factness. The manipulative alien Magus had somehow interfered with Tony’s and Maya’s ability to have a child together.
“They haven’t asked me yet.”
“Well, if they do, will you?”
There was a long pause as Alan thought of the rather grim genetic statistics that stood in the way of the Alphan’s long-term survival, his fingers lightly tracing Danae’s forehead while she nursed. “Would it bother you?”
“Truthfully, no. It would have a few years ago, or back on Earth, but we all have been through so much together, it really is like helping family. As far as our children are going to be concerned, our generation will be so inter-related as to make no difference. We will all be parents or aunties and uncles to them. And if something ever happens to us, it would be good to know that Danae can live with her half- sisters or –brothers,” Sandra said with extreme practicality.
Alan tightened his arms against the thought of losing Sandra, but he had to acknowledge her point. Life was better on Alpha, but still extremely tenuous. And, as Alan had once told Sandra, being a pilot wasn’t the safest posting on Alpha. And now, Sandra was a pilot, too. “It sounds like you have a master-plan in mind, love.”
“Just Helena, Maya and myself speaking.”
Danae finished and gave a milky burp. Once the infant was thoroughly asleep, Alan gently shifted Sandra and carefully picked up his daughter and returned her to the makeshift crib. Back in bed with Sandra tucked in front of him, Alan closed his eyes, but with thoughts still in a whirl. Finally, after Sandra’s breathing had almost become regular with sleep he had his answer.
“Yes.”
Sandra shifted slightly. “What?”
“Yes, I’ll help.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Pediatric nurse Frederick Alexander lifted the tiny newborn and inspected all her pieces and parts. Despite her unique coloring, she appeared to be a healthy, if small, two week old baby. “Well, Sandra and Alan, she is following her growth curve quite nicely. I could wish for another half kilo, but she was just a bit early, and despite her papa, you are very small, Sandra.”
“And squishable,” Alan could not resist adding. His toes were discretely squished, hard, under Sandra’s very pointed boot heel. Helena, standing at the door, suppressed a smile.
“Ah, yes.” Frederick felt that a deliberate ignoring was in order. “Consider introducing formula at some feedings. Dietary has created a formula that will compensate for some of the deficiencies in your diet, Sandra. And if things continue as they are, you may need to switch over entirely, very soon.” Not only were all the newborns showing borderline low levels of certain key vitamins and minerals, to Sandra’s growing concern, her ability to nurse Danae was becoming more and more problematical She just couldn’t seem to make enough milk to keep up with the growing infant. “Other than that, I’ll see her again next week.” Frederick smiled at the parents and nodded to his boss, then left to see his next small patient, Adam Collins.
“He’s good, but he needs to loosen up some,” Alan said rubbing the toe of one boot on the back of the other calf. He gave his daughter a caress and Sandra a peck on the check.
“He’s from upper society Boston, Alan; I don’t think he knows how,” laughed Helena as she moved closer to admire the silver-haired infant.
Sandra put her hand on Helena’s arm in an unobtrusive request to stay while Alan left to return to duty. Helena took Danae from Sandra and closed her eyes during an entirely non-medical snuggle. She had decided to leave the routine pediatric medicine to others, although she had reviewed common pediatric surgical techniques. She opened her eyes to see a solemn Sandra watching her.
“Maya says that you have been able to successfully fertilize her eggs, but that none has survived implantation.” Helena nodded. It made no physiologic sense given what else she had been able to deduce, but more relevant, only she and Ed Spencer along with Maya and Tony knew this. However, if Maya had told Sandra…. “I just about understand what Magus did to me and John, but I started with the knowledge base of decades of intense reproductive research done on Earth In Maya’s situation, well, although her physiology is remarkably like ours in many important ways, this is one of those areas of differences. It seems Maya’s body rejects only those ‘bits’ that are from Tony and prevents implantation.” Helena ran her hand through her hair, an outward sign of her extreme frustration at being unable to help her friends.
“But you think if an embryo could implant in her uterus, it would grow?” persisted Sandra.
“I believe so.”
Sandra’s expression seemed reflective. “What are the chances of a human carrying a half-Psychon embryo to term?”
“I ….. simply don’t know.” As she passed Danae back to her mother, Helena gave Sandra a shrewd look. “Should I look into it?”
“Perhaps.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Helena joined Sandra at lunch the next day. She had noticed Sandra’s and Alan’s dark circles at the well-baby check-up and had come up with a plan. “You look like you could use a good night’s sleep,” she said in commiseration, well familiar with endless sleepless nights from being on-call during her extensive training.
“Yes… in about another ten or eleven weeks, if we are lucky!”
“If you like, John and I could keep Danae tonight. Our quarters are set up for the new baby,” she gestured to her own expanding midsection. “We’re both off-duty tomorrow, so there would be no rush in the morning. I know for a fact your doctor hasn’t cleared you to return to full duty yet.” In fact, Sandra had not been cleared at all, but John had told her how Sandra frequently ‘dropped-in’ on the night shift to make sure her section ran smoothly. The occasional small moonquakes routinely disrupted remote sensors, and Sandra had the deftest touch in relocating the tracking locks.
Sandra looked hopeful. “I would not wish to intrude…”
“It will be no problem,” Helena gave Sandra a reassuring smile. “I have many nieces and nephews, but John certainly needs the practice. Bring Danae with you to Command Center at 1800 hours,” and Helena gave Sandra a look that told her little slipped past the CMO, “and I will meet you and John there. You and Alan might have some ‘quality’ time tonight.”
“Thank you, Helena. I imagine Alan will agree.” Especially with an incentive like that, she thought. It was good to have friends.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The door to their quarters closed behind them. Wonderful, uninterrupted silence. Without even looking, Alan reached out his hand and pulled Sandra into his arms. She felt very good there. Eyes closed, he rested his chin on her head. Alan would truly love to show her how much he cared in a very physical and tangible fashion, but was unsure if it was too soon yet. Sandra was to check with Helena, but he had forgotten to follow-up.
“How did John take to baby duty?”
“Quite well. And Helena looked delighted.”
Sandra leaned back against Alan’s arms to look up at him. She stood on her tiptoes and wrapped her hands around the back of his neck to pull him down to her. She kissed him quite thoroughly and with the urgency of twelve weeks of celibacy. Alan bent over a bit more and picked Sandra up off her feet.
“Are you sure, Sahn?” he asked, a hopeful expression on his face.
Sandra smiled at him and gave him another, exceedingly thorough kiss. “Yes. Why do think Helena offered to keep Danae tonight? Now, less talk, please.”
And even though they did fall soundly asleep rather earlier than they used to, there was still enough time for a very magical evening.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Eighteen days after delivery, Sandra was ready to return to her regular work. Being a mother was wonderful, but she missed the challenges her work provided. And it wasn’t as if she could not see Danae frequently throughout her shift, she reminded herself as she packed a day’s supplies in a small kit, slipping in the ‘lullaby’ CD from Tony. It worked remarkably well. Sandra and Danae took the travel tube inward toward Alpha’s hub from their ‘Outback’ quarters near the main Eagle bay. They were joined by Tony and Maya near the regular residential block.
“Good morning, Sahn,” Tony said with a pleasant expression on his handsome face as he held the door open for Maya.
“It will be good to have you back on duty,” added Maya coming over to see Danae.
“Thank you. I have to stop by the crèche,” Sandra replied lifting Danae’s carrier slightly by way of obvious explanation.
“May I join you?” asked Maya, more than willing to have an excuse to see the tiny babies which drew her so strongly. Sandra smiled and passed her the carrier. At the appropriate stop they all exited and headed to their various destinations.
The childcare crèche was currently situated between the Command and Medical Centers. Medical and nursing staff were always readily available to help the inexperienced caregivers. In case of emergency, one of the nurses was always delegated to report to the crèche. Alphans from all divisions signed up to help care for the slowly increasing number of infants. Under Frederick’s careful eye, they each had to pass basic care and pediatric first aid courses. It really would take the entire ‘village’ of Alpha to raise these children. Today, soon-to-be parents Bill and Annette Fraser had volunteered to watch Adam, Danae and two and a half week old Michael Cohen. Sandra was surprised to see the Commander also present; he wore a slightly sheepish smile on his face as he held Adam Collins.
Bill Fraser walked up and took Danae from Sandra. “And here she is, our future Chief Pilot!”
Sandra asked with a half-smile, “Have you already decided her future, Bill?”
“No, but what else will she be with Alan as her papa, you being a pilot, and being born in an Eagle?”
“Stop teasing, Bill,” scolded a pregnant Annette, coming to take the baby kit. “She can grow up to be anything. Maybe even a planet-based farmer,” she finished wistfully.
Sandra gave Danae a parting caress and then joined the Commander in reporting to the Command Center. Sandra was looking forward to her shift in the crèche in a few days; maybe she should suggest to the Commander that he join her. She looked at Maya to accompany them but was motioned on with a smile; Maya seemingly wanted to chat with Annette a few minutes longer. Sandra nodded her head in acknowledgement and turned to leave.
It had taken quite a while, especially after her Rethan experience, but she was now comfortable in John Koenig’s presence. Sandra knew that Koenig was an excellent commander and cared deeply for each person in his charge; he took any death or injury personally. That was undoubtedly why no one had ever seriously challenged his command. Still, his mercurial temperament could be a bit off-putting and she felt more relaxed if a third party were present.
As they headed down the corridor, Sandra felt a subtle spinning sensation, as if her balance were slightly off. She would have thought it was just herself except she saw the Commander reach out an arm to steady himself against the wall. They looked at each other. Koenig moved quickly to the commpost two meters away and entered the code for Command Center. Verdeschi’s face appeared. “Tony, what just happened?”
“Moonquake, John, a small one but a lot closer than any of the others. No damage, but Patrick Osgood is reporting slippage in some of the foundation rock under Alpha.”
“Enough to be a problem?”
“Unknown at this time. Geology and Engineering are working on it.”
“Alright, I want a meeting in Command Center in thirty minutes. Koenig out.” Turning to Sandra he said, “Looks like our day just became busy. Let’s go.” They had made it about a third of the way to Command Center when there was a distinct, brief swaying of the floor, the lights dimmed briefly, and then all hell broke loose.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In the main Eagle Bay under Pad 1, Alan and Miriam Fenster, the Eagle Maintenance Chief, watched one of the suspended Eagles sway ever so slightly in its overhead storage rack. There was the alarming absence of sound as the air recycling machinery fell silent, the lights dimmed briefly, and then all hell broke loose.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In the crèche, the adults exchanged concerned looks at the first subtle movement, but then had their hands full as each infant started to cry. A few moments later, the floor swayed and the lights dimmed briefly, and then all hell broke loose.
In the merest second that Maya would have had to change herself into something small and resilient to avoid being crushed under falling debris, as she had done in the OutLab, she unhesitantly threw herself over to the bassinet holding Danae. The overwhelming pain from her crushed legs caused her to pass out, but not before Danae was held safely within the cradle of her arms. The bassinet lay crushed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sandra knew that Koenig was shielding her from the worst of the chaos. Once movement stopped, she realized that the Commander was not moving on his own. It took a bit of effort to wriggle out from underneath, but then she saw the bloody laceration across his forehead and temple that explained his unconsciousness. After confirming he had a pulse and was breathing okay, she attempted to reach Medical Center without success. Her commlock did not work. She took off her mangled jacket and tore a strip off and bandaged Koenig’s bleeding head wound. Down the dimly, emergency lit corridor Sandra finally saw movement. Two people were making their way carefully. The woman wore the white sleeve of Medical, and the man she recognized as one of the two rescue team members Alan said had helped in the OutLab explosion. “You okay?” he asked.
“Yes,” then facing the nurse Sandra reported, “The Commander was knocked unconscious and has not yet woken,” she did not add, ‘saving me.’
“Who’s in the crèche?” the nurse asked.
“Bill and Annette Fraser, Maya and three infants.” Sandra kept her composure only with great effort.
“Miss Benes, the nurse and I will help the Commander and get to the babies. I stopped by Command Center first and it really looks like Mr. Verdeschi could use the reinforcements. As long as you are careful you can make it there safely.” With a long last look down the blocked hallway to the crèche, Sandra turned very reluctantly and made her way to Command Center.
Sandra was relieved to find that the damage just beyond the corridor where she had left the Commander wasn’t as extensive. She tried to reach Alan by commlock, but the tiny screen stayed dark. Sandra entered Command Center where the damage was moderate, evident in dimmed lights, overturned chairs and portable storage units, sparking computer panels, and a darkened Main Screen. Tony, Kate and Yasko, the latter two left over from the night watch, were trying to reestablish order. Tony looked up with relief on his disheveled face when he saw her enter.
“Sahn, good, you’re here. Communications are erratic. I reached Alan briefly in Bay 1. They all evacuated into Eagles when the place decompressed. Unless they find suits that fit, they’re safe but trapped until the launch pads are working or the place is repressurized. Helena reports Medical as shaken but functional.” He looked at the door plainly expecting the others. “Where are Maya and John?”
Sandra had reached her station and had started a diagnostic run. She had briefly closed her eyes against the deep wash of relief she felt when she knew Alan was safe and well, but now took a deep breath and turned to face Tony. “The Commander is unconscious, a nurse is with him. Maya is trapped in the crèche.”
Tony pivoted to look at Sandra, a stricken look on his face. “And?”
“I know nothing else…. I came here where my help is needed. Others are working to reach them.”
Tony could easily see that the decision to leave the area of the crèche had been very hard on Sandra. “Alright….” Tony said slowly, refocusing his priorities on getting Alpha up and running. “Yasko, finish checking structural integrity. Kate, we need those Computer relays fixed fast. Sandra, stay focused on the communications net. We’re sitting blind and deaf here.” He sat down and tried to link up with the exterior cameras to see a topside view. Tony looked up briefly and caught Sandra’s eye. He said softly, “Maya will do anything to help Danae and the others, you know.” Sandra nodded. They each tried to bury their emotions in the pressing work ahead of them.
A few minutes later, Sandra had made connections with the technical section. Patrick Osgood’s face came across her small monitor. “Everyone’s fine here, Sandra, but it’s a mess under Alpha.” Tony had walked over quickly and was leaning over behind Sandra. “It looks like one of the catacomb farms breached, Tony.”
“Damn.” Those farms were an important part of their food chain. “What’s the chance of another moonquake, Pat?”
“Uncertain. I’ll try to get more measurements and let you know. I’m hoping this big shift has settled some things for now. Osgood out.”
Yasko looked up from her station. “Confirm loss of pressure in catacomb farm 3, Eagle Bays 1 and 4, maintenance corridor 18 and in multiple travel tube tunnels. Seals are in place in all but the catacomb farm. Air is repressurizing slowly. No,” she corrected herself, looking back down when an alarm flashed, “Eagle Bay 1 is depressurizing… there is a sensor failure on the Eagle lift pad.” Yasko double-checked her readings, “the pad is coming down!”
Tony thought quickly. “He wouldn’t try it, would he?” Tony asked looking at Sandra with disbelief as she tried unsuccessfully to get through on the wide band Eagle channel.
“He might. He knows how badly we might need support topside,” Sandra answered, not looking up from her efforts to get through.
“What?” asked Yasko.
“It would be risky and a damned tight fit… but it could buy us a lot of information.” Tony stood starring at the Main Screen as if he could will it to work, running his hand through his hair.
Sandra looked at a puzzled Yasko. “Alan may be trying to launch an Eagle from the floor of the maintenance bay. There is little margin for error, but he has done something similar before,” Sandra explained recalling Alan’s tale of lifting off from the chlorine planet. Though said very factually, Sandra appeared worried, which did not reassure Yasko.
Just then, Kate shouted “Got it! The patch should hold for a while.” Lighting and computer access returned across much of Alpha. Sandra worked feverishly at her console and was able to reconnect more of the remaining comm net, though not yet the commlocks. With lights, a mostly functioning Computer and patchy interior communications, the serious work of assessing the health of Alpha could begin.
Sandra and Tony immersed themselves in their work, doing what they could and worried about what they couldn’t.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Medical Center so far counted 16 causalities, including the still groggy Commander, but no fatalities yet. Helena and her team worried about what might await them in the trapped pockets not yet reached.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Alan, do you think this is a good idea?” asked an apprehensive Miriam from the co-pilot’s seat of Eagle 1.
“Of course it isn’t. Here we go.” Alan engaged vertical thrusters and with deft touches on the lateral directional thrusters, oh-so-carefully danced the Eagle sideways over to the dropped launch pad. He centered the Eagle and then, with a quick prayer to the patron saint of fools and Eagle pilots, throttled up the strength of the vertical thrusters, keeping a dead steady hand on the controls, as the Eagle climbed out of Bay 1. An entirely nerve wrecking 20 seconds later, they were in clear space. What they saw was astounding.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Maya, here, let me take the baby,” Annette tried to gently remove the stunned infant from Maya’s tight hold. “Bill, can you get those beams off her legs?” Maya looked very shocky to Annette’s inexperienced eyes.
Bill tried but was unsuccessful. “Too heavy. I’ll have to find some leverage unless we can get her to help.”
“I don’t think so; she’s in too much pain.” Annette finally left Danae where she was, the infant and Maya seemed to need each other. She sat down on the floor next to Maya and gathered the other two bassinettes close to her. The other infants were fussy but physically fine. “I’m afraid, Bill.”
“I know, but it’ll be okay. I’m sure they are working on getting us out right now.” And after helping to make Maya as comfortable as possible, he searched for a lever.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
John Koenig was finally shaking off his dazed confusion. He fought his way to alertness. He couldn’t remember what was wrong, but he seemed to remember Helena? Alpha? was in trouble. Helena saw him sit up and quickly walked over. She put her hands on his shoulders and gently pushed him back down. “Lay back, John. You’re in Medical. You were hit in the head but only have a mild concussion.”
“What happened?” His concentration was focusing better and he could see the damage Medical Center had sustained as well as the beds filling up with, thankfully, moving bodies.
“A moonquake we think. Communication is patchy but life support is apparently intact.” Helena gave a sincere sigh of thanks for that. “We don’t know how bad it is yet.”
“Who’s in Command Center?”
“Tony and Sandra. We have had brief messages from each.”
John nodded his head, wincing at the pain and dizziness that motion caused. Sandra had apparently not been hurt. He remembered being in the hallway with her when Alpha started to shake itself apart. “And the children?”
Helena shrugged expressively, her neutral face not completely hiding the fear in her eyes. He reached out to touch her face in sympathy. Then, refocusing his thoughts on Alpha, John Koenig again sat up, gently pushing Helena aside, and swung his legs over the edge of the bed. Lord, his head hurt. He stood up, leaning a bit to the side, but now with completely focused attention started to walk to Command Center.
Helena sighed with resignation. He was needed in Command Center. They both knew that and she didn’t even bother to argue. She looked at the nearest security officer who had just helped an injured Alphan hobble in. “Etienne, please follow the Commander. When he passes out, bring him back.”
“Yes, doctor,” the purple sleeved Gallic man turned and moved out quickly to escort Alpha’s best hope of recovery through the chaos.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
What Alan and Miriam saw from Eagle 1 looked like a toy Alpha that had been taken apart by a clumsy child, or perhaps laid out but not yet put completely together. Alan recalled his many shuttle runs back in the early 1990’s helping to bring up the main ‘building blocks’ that had turned into the Main Mission tower, the first residential quarters and Manufacturing. They had laid out all the modular units which had then been assembled by teams in heavy work suits on the ground and teams of Eagles helping from above. What he and Miriam now witnessed reminded him of then.
Alan shook his head amazed. They really, really just might be able to recover from this! The retractable bulkheads that were usually never seen, but which Professor Bergman had insisted upon, had dropped into place across Alpha and had prevented explosive decompression in most cases. It would take an awful lot of work to reassemble all the pieces, and things may not be quite as tidy and pretty as before, but Alpha would function! Rapidly sobering, Alan allowed himself the next thought. Now that he knew his family had a home, he had to find out if he still had a family.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The crèche was lit only with dim emergency lights, the commlocks were dark and the door was completely jammed shut. Bill had been unable to find anything suitable to lever the beams off Maya’s legs. He had sat down next to Annette and the babies and had wrapped an arm around his wife for mutual comfort. Finally, Maya seemed to move with a purpose. She tried to sit up, but then gasped in pain as her trapped legs held her down. Danae started to cry when Maya inadvertently squeezed her. Maya looked down a bit surprised to realize what she was holding, but then calmed the scared infant. Annette looked quickly at Maya. “Be careful, you’re pinned down.”
Bill leaned over to Maya. “Can you help get these beams off?”
Maya took a second to process the request. “Yes.” She passed Danae to Annette and flogged her mind to think. There was a shower of light and in its place was a low, meter-long tubular creature with a metallic carapace and too many legs to count. Bill was taken by surprise. He had expected something large and strong, but when he saw that only about half of the creature’s legs seemed to move correctly it made sense. Bill reflexively grabbed at the shifting beam and held it just long enough for Maya to get clear. There was another shower of light and Maya was sitting next to Annette panting from exertion.
Very bright red blood oozed from the many deep cuts and abrasions that could be seen through the shredded pants legs. Danae started to fuss and Maya held out her arms to take her back. Focusing on Danae’s needs seemed to help her, a little, ignore the pain of her crushed legs. Bill noted the glazed look in Maya’s eyes and wondered if she would be able to help get them out of this mess. He sure would like to know what was happening on the other side of that door.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Within the next two hours, exterior scanners were finally on line and most sections across Alpha had reported in. The Commander had made it to Command Center followed in short order by Alibe and Dr. Ed Spencer. The latter two had between them been able to account for all but 31 Alphans. Unfortunately, many of those were still trapped behind bulkheads that were jammed shut due to displacement or in areas with dwindling oxygen reserves. Tony coordinated his security teams as well as the rescue teams to find and retrieve the scattered remnants of Alphans and either escort them to their work stations, if functioning, or to the undamaged recreation area. The crèche area remained inaccessible. In the absence of an available Eagle Ops officer, Koenig was coordinating the Eagle rescue efforts. Sandra had stepped over once to acknowledge a hale from Eagle 1 to Alan’s obvious relief. Koenig nodded understandingly, he had ‘found’ reasons to check in with Helena in Medical.
To help those isolated in sections physically cut off from Alpha, Reconnaissance had been able to successfully scramble eight more Eagles topside and all were helping in the rescue efforts. This occasionally involved physically winching up the separated airtight modular units and lowering them into Eagle work bays that could be enclosed and pressurized. A painstaking process.
Within another hour, Sandra and Yasko had the commlock net patched and everyone held their collective breath as Sandra tried to reach Maya and the others. She felt the Commander move behind her and rest a hand on her shoulder. She appreciated his support.
“Command Center to Maya, do you read?” There was a pause and then Sandra’s monitor showed a dim image of a woman, but it was Annette’s voice to Tony’s acute disappointment.
“Yes, Sandra. What’s happening? Are you close to getting us out?”
“Affirmative.” She took a breath and cast a glance at Tony. “Status report please.”
The view shifted and Bill’s silhouette came on line. “Everyone’s alive. The babies are hungry but unhurt.” Sandra breathed deeply with relief. “But we do need evacuation immediately. Maya’s legs were crushed and she’s in bad shape. She’s lost a lot of blood. “
Alibe was already alerting Medical when Tony bent over Sandra’s shoulder. “Can I speak with her?”
“No. She’s in some sort of trance. We can’t get her to talk or help us get out.”
Tony had stayed in Command Center because his duty and Alpha had required his presence here, now Koenig gave him a brief nod releasing him to go where Tony desperately needed to be. He whispered something to Sandra and then was off.
Koenig raised an eyebrow in question to Sandra, but she merely shook her head and held her peace.
The work of reviving Alpha continued.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Alan gratefully powered down Eagle 1 to standby mode. He was feeling every one of his almost forty years… but every Alphan trapped in a disconnected section had been rescued. His Eagle teams had moved the disconnected sections of Alpha to positions of safety and accessibility, but he allowed only himself and Johanson to handle the ‘live’ rescues. It took a practiced touch to move the sections gently and precisely while hanging underneath an Eagle. Of the dozens of pilots that had participated in Alpha’s initial construction, only sixteen had been on Alpha at Breakaway and only nine of those had survived the explosion at NDA 2. The attrition on pilots since then had been very high and only five of his fellow builders were still alive… and of those, only Johanson had made it to an Eagle after the ‘quake.
He pushed himself out of his seat and exchanged places with the relief team. As he sat in the boarding tube shuttle, he scrubbed his face with his hands and then unclipped his commlock from his belt. He pushed the button for his direct link with Sandra. “I’m down, Sahn. Where are you?”
“Command Center, please report here.” The screen abruptly went to standby mode. Alan blinked in surprise. That was an awfully curt message given everything. He at least expected her to have asked how he was doing, unless…. His imagination began to spin out scenarios to explain the neutral expression on Sandra’s face, each one worse than the last.
He bypassed their quarters and headed to Command Center. Given what he had seen from the Eagle, he didn’t trust any part of the tube system.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Almost immediately after Tony walked out, word came through to Command Center that the door to the crèche had finally given way; the wonderful sound of crying babies was heard in the background. The word that the last of the entrapped had been accounted for caused a weak cheer of relief from the embattled staff. As Koenig turned to Sandra to tell her to go, the lightheadedness he had been fighting since he had left Medical Center finally overtook him. He collapsed.
Etienne Giraurd darted forward and caught the unconscious Koenig just before he hit the ground. Sandra nodded at Alibe to summon help as she walked over to check on the Commander. She cocked an eyebrow at the attentive security man who she now recalled had been in the background since the Commander had shown up several hours before. “Dr. Russell told me to bring him back to Medical Center when this finally happened.”
Well, that explained that, thought Sandra. They all had their jobs to do.
When Helena arrived in surgical scrubs with a team, she thanked Etienne. “He lasted longer than I thought,” was her only comment as she ran a scanner over her husband’s prone form. “Sandra, the children are in Medical.” She stood and walked out but paused at the door when she realized that Sandra was not behind her.
“I need to stay here, Helena.”
Helena looked around and realized that Sandra was the most senior officer present excepting herself, and she was not in the chain of command. Helena nodded and left to go back to Medical Center.
Without realizing it, Sandra picked up the reins of command and continued to direct the rescue efforts. Her orders were followed and her judgment calls were not questioned. The massive effort proceeded.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tony knew from Osgood’s last report that the epicenter of the ‘quake had been deep below Alpha, and that the ‘fault line’ had caused the worse slippage here in this area. The corridors were no longer ‘square’ causing doors and bulkhead to jam. At least most had done so in the closed position which had saved lives. What an unholy mess, thought Tony.
As he hurried around the final corner, he was surprised to see the backs of a medical team walking away, carrying the babies by the sounds he heard. He looked for Maya, but only found Annette Fraser being helped out of the darkened room, followed by Bill. Finally, he saw a stretcher being passed out the door, a still form with auburn hair upon it. Tony’s heart plummeted.
Dr. Ben Vincent followed Maya. From what little he had seen of her legs, he wanted to get her to surgery immediately, but he was afraid to move her too roughly. If she awoke and didn’t know what was happening, she could shapechange out of fear. Ben all too clearly remembered the occasion when she had nearly destroyed Medical and one of the Eagle bays while in a delirium. He did not want to risk an exam until he had her under sedation in Medical, and the only sedative that they had determined to be safe in Maya had to be given carefully and, by preference, a hallway did not qualify. Just then he realized the solution to his dilemma had already rounded the corner. “Tony, it will be a lot faster if we can carry her to Medical Center,” Ben explained gesturing to the debris littered corridor.
Tony needed no other excuse. He gently gathered Maya in his arms and cradled her head against his chest. She looked so very pale. With Ben leading the way, they made good time. Maya roused at the painful motion, but the feeling of confusion passed when she sensed who was carrying her, the beginnings of a shapechange aborted. Ben’s foresight had been well placed.
Tony carried Maya into Medical and laid her down on a bed. He smoothed the tangled auburn hair from her face and smiled into Maya’s pain fogged eyes. “Are you sure you translated those wedding vows correctly? I bet they really said ‘to love, honor and rescue when trapped in disaster sites,’ right?” Maya was smiling just a little as she faded out, so he thought she had heard him. The medical team took over and wheeled her into surgery to better assess the full damage that had been done.
Tony smile faded and he was now almost distraught with confused anger. He looked at Annette Fraser who had already arrived in Medical. “Why didn’t she just change? I’ve seen her make quick changes to save herself before.”
Annette put her hand on Tony’s arm compassionately. “If she had, Tony, Danae would have been crushed to death.”
Tony now understood. He stood still and stared at the surgery’s door, numb and deathly afraid for Maya. He didn’t see Annette grimace and rub her lower back.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Alan had to make multiple detours to get to Command Center, one of which put him near Medical Center. As he neared, he heard a distressed cry recognizable anywhere. “Danae?” He bolted into Medical Center and had to stop short not to run into anyone. Alan vaguely registered that Medical Center was very full and busy. He turned to the back to follow Danae’s cries.
“Oh, good, you’re here.” The nurse said looking up just long enough to identify Alan. She had just finished bathing a very indignant Danae and was slipping her into clean clothes. “She’s fine, just scared and hungry. Maya, though…..” and there was a very concerned look on her face as she passed the baby and a bottle to Alan. The exhausted pilot took the infant automatically trying to process what he was being told. Before he could form a question, the nurse had hurried from the room to help with the next crises.
Alan looked down into Danae’s bright green eyes as she gave a hiccup of recognition and fell asleep. Holding the baby against his chest and slipping the bottle into a jacket pocket, he walked back to the main triage area where he now saw the still form of John Koenig lying on a stretcher with an old, bloody bandage on his head. Next to the Commander stood Tony with his front covered in the very bright red blood Alan had learned to associate with Maya. Alan felt the first stirrings of panic. Had something happened to Command Center since his last communication with them? Where was Sandra? A quick check did not find her here.
Unable to get a sensible answer from Tony, Alan quickly walked to Command Center and entered expecting the worst. What he did find was organized chaos, with Sandra the focus. He stayed in the background by the door and simply observed for a few moments. Sandra sat at her usual station and was calmly juggling requests from every direction and issuing commands covering all sections. Damn, but she was better than Paul Morrow. Finally, seeing a need, he stepped over to the Eagle Ops console and smoothly assumed direction of the Eagle missions.
When Sandra heard that wonderful Aussie accent from behind, she turned and saw what she had prayed for. Alan and Danae were safe. They shared a look of relief and then Alan motioned her to continue her command. The Benes-Carter clan settled in for another shift of helping Alpha come back to life.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Two days later, the catastrophic extent of the damage was slowly becoming known. Morale was low and mistakes due to fatigue were becoming common. There were just too few people to do everything that had to be done right now. After almost three straight shifts in Command Center, Helena relieved Sandra and Alan from duty. With Maya stable after extensive surgery on her legs, and with one night’s rest, Tony was able to effectively focus on command. Helena had preemptively sedated John to allow him time to recover. He might be angry when he awoke, but by then he would be in position to take charge and she will have collapsed in their quarters. She didn’t think he would yell at a pregnant woman, much.
Alan and Sandra made it back to their quarters in a haze of exhaustion. At some point Frederick Alexander had stopped by Command Center to pick up Danae and had assigned someone to look after her. Right now, she was better off with someone who could meet her needs. Sandra and Alan collapsed on the bed next to each other and slept solidly for fourteen hours.
Alan awoke to the sound of a shower running. Water? For a minute he couldn’t understand how they had water until he recalled that the ‘Outback’ quarters had been built with their own life support systems. He clambered out of bed and with a grin on his face and a glimmer of his old sense of mischief, joined Sandra in the shower. Her shriek of surprise when the cold air hit her made getting out of bed worth while.
As he dried off, Alan was embarrassed to realize that he had not thought to check on Danae. Wrapping the towel about his waist, he stepped over to the crib and realized why it was so quiet. He seemed to remember calling someone to fetch her from Command Center during that shift that lasted forever. “Sahn, we seem to have misplaced our daughter.”
“No, I found a string of messages on the commpost. Kevin has her right now.” Sandra’s voice was indistinct, still coming from the bathroom.
“Kevin? Pilot Kevin Taylor?” That surprised Alan as he continued to look
down into the empty crib.
“He was one of the first to sign up for crèche duty.” Sandra said as she walked
silently into the small nursery and wrapped her arms around Alan from behind,
running her hands up and down his bare torso. The sensation of her clean, bare
body behind his and her hands caressing his front was exhilarating, and very
arousing. Alan was glad Danae, for the moment at least, was not the focus
of Sandra’s attention, in fact, he was delighted that he was. When he
could stand it no longer, he pivoted with a suddenness that caused Sandra to
gasp in surprise as he scooped her up in his arms and kissed her almost roughly.
Then, with a wolfish smile on his face and a need to celebrate simply being
alive with the woman he loved, he carried her into the bedroom as the towel
lay forgotten next to the crib. There was time enough to just be together.
After an all too brief time, Alan lay on his back with Sandra stretched out partially on top of him, her hands still gently caressing him. He liked the feel of running his hand over the smooth skin on her back. “Sahn, don’t you need to, you know, nurse Danae?” He felt her sigh, it was a sad sound.
“No, I think we will just give her formula now.” The long stretches of not having a child at her breast these past few days had been the final cue for her body to stop making milk. She would miss that intimacy with her child.
Alan continued to rub Sandra’s back, sensing her sadness, if not truly understanding its cause. He was looking forward to more time with his ever-hungry daughter. But, that would be in the future, for now he let his mind range over all the work that needed to be done.
“Alan, we have a debt to Maya.”
“I know. Bill filled me in on what happened.”
“I have an idea….” But before she could continue, the commpost beeped and a string of requests popped up. Their respite was over for now.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Five days after the ‘quake, some semblance of normalcy was returning. Medical Center had been cleared of all but the worst injuries. Maya was back in her quarters and, of necessity, back on duty. John Koenig was once again in command. All the old plans for the initial construction of Alpha had been retrieved, both the electronic data downloaded to PDA’s and some of the original hardcopied plans with annotations for all the bulkheads in Professor Bergman’s spidery hand.
Everyone on Alpha, and especially those who had helped with the initial design and subsequent construction, was consulted for input. They planned to make some simple design changes as they rebuilt that would accommodate Alpha’s expanding population. Good news came from Patrick Osgood: Alpha’s foundation again appeared to be solid and stationary.
Morale was picking up.
Alan had adjusted the pilots’ flight schedule so that he could fly with each of the ‘new’ pilots to assess their competency to help in the upcoming rebuilding project. To his pleasant surprise and pride, Sandra would do just fine. She really had developed a knack for precision flying.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
On the seventh day after the moonquake, morale took one last blow.
As she stood waiting for the service to begin, Helena thought in dull amazement how Alpha had survived with most of its people intact. One mining tech had suffered a traumatic below the knee amputation when a bulkhead slammed down on him. The quick actions of a friend placing a tourniquet saved him from bleeding out. There were several cases of brief exposure to vacuum that were recovering nicely, and one case of oxygen deprivation brain injury that may or may not be permanent. It was too soon to know. Katie Chuang from dietary had gone into labor and had delivered a healthy near-term son, Matthew.
But there had been one death. Annette Fraser had gone into premature labor and had miscarried her 27 week gestation daughter, whom she and Bill christened Marie.
Helena had been devastated to watch such a beautiful little girl die. If they had been on Earth, every effort would have been made to save her. She had been on the very cusp of viability and even younger children had been saved, although with frequent long term developmental problems. However, even if they had had the required pediatric intensive care, the massive use of hard-to-replace supplies could have easily condemned a full-term fetus or newborn to death. Here, on Alpha, endless resources simply did not exist.
While Dr. Mathias and Betty McCandless, one of Sandra’s people who was an experienced pastoral counselor, did their best to comfort the Fraser’s, it was Alan’s stoic supportive presence standing behind her at the funeral which meant the most to Helena. He had foreseen in his doctoral thesis that such tough decisions would have to be made and upheld for the good of the community. Still, that didn’t help the pain she felt.
Only Sandra knew that Alan had sat up the entire night prior rocking a sleeping Danae. He had turned silently inward and had borne an overwhelming feeling of guilt.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Nine days after the moonquake, Commander John Koenig sat in his small office off Command Center and finished tallying the damage reports privately. Things were bad, there was no ignoring that, but hydroponics, the nuclear generators, life support, and, most importantly, the people had survived. The designers of Alpha had chosen well, both in supplies and people. The modular building units would be fixable, for the most part, and the most damaged could be repaired with parts from less vital areas. He considered further…. the idea for stairs and ramps to conveniently join areas now resting on different grades of foundation was a good one. Scans even seemed to indicate ‘new’ caverns that might be usable under and near Alpha.
The people originally chosen from many nations and many cultures had again pulled together. They were forging themselves into one identity; they were simply ‘Alphans.’ Koenig organized his thoughts and returned to Command Center to update Alpha on its status. He entered the battered room filled with some of his best people. He saw Alan standing behind Sandra who was cradling their tiny, sleeping daughter. Tony was hovering protectively behind a very pale Maya as she sat at her station, her crutches leaning against the console. Bill Fraser stood in the corner looking haggard but determined. The others present showed similar looks of resolution. Resting a hand briefly on Helena’s shoulder, he nodded to his people. As he pressed the button to open an Alpha-wide channel, Commander John Koenig thought with pride, we will make it.
MGK