Commander. "Do prospects still exist for discovering a 
new Tiranium source on the moon? " 
   "I don't believe so, Sir", answered the geologist. "You 
know the theory. . ." 
   Yes, John Koenig knew the theory concerning the 
Tiramum occurrances on the moon. Tiranium was a fissile, 
radioactive item, which had not been known on Earth. 
Most likely because, due to its relatively short radioactive 
half-life, it had long ago disintegrated over the course of 
billions of years. The discovery of Tiranium on the Moon, 
which had coalesced at the same time as the Earth, had 
therefore caused great astonishment. The most logical 
assertion was the speculation that the Tiranium found on 
the Moon had come from meteor impacts. Additionally, 
circumstances showed that it had been completely 
localized to very specific places. And now it was beginning 
to look as if there were no more places left for new 
discoveries. 
   The Commander forcefully instructed the geologist to 
continue looking nevertheless. Copeland acknowledged the 
instruction, then his face disappeared off the monitor. 
   Tony Verdeschi, the security head and deputy commander, 
had followed along with the short dialog with the 
geologist. He twisted his face into a joyless grin. 
   "Well, then, cheers!" he said and set a small flask to 
his mouth, which he had retrieved from a pocket in his 
pair of overalls. 
	With squinty eyes John Koenig looked on. "Enjoying 
yourself, Mr. Verdeschi", he snarled with a hard voice. 
"Nobody permitted you to drink alcohol while on duty!" 
   Verdeschi set the bottle aside and made an astonished 
facial expression.

19