Lunar day 217
Midmorning
Zan showed up in the middle of math class.
School at MBA took place in the rec room, but since there were nine kids in several different grades, the logistics were complicated. We were usually lumped into three groups: the high school kids (Cesar and the Sjobergs), the middle schoolers (me, Kira, and Roddy), and the elementary schoolers (Violet, Inez, and Kamoze). All our classes were taught over ComLinks from earth. The high schoolers and middle schoolers normally jacked in to individual tablets with headphones for our classes, while the elementary schoolers gathered around the large SlimScreen together. This was because the little kids couldn’t manage their own equipment or even keep their headphones on for more than five minutes. It wasn’t a great system, because the little kids usually made a lot of noise, which could be distracting—and they easily got distracted themselves. The high school kids were supposed to wrangle them, but they never did. In fact, the Sjobergs barely ever showed up at all, which explained why both of them were about as smart as stalks of celery. (They were absent that day as well.) So it usually fell to Kira and me to deal with the little ones.
That morning, the elementary schoolers were being more distracting than usual. They were learning about dinosaurs, and all three were eagerly trying to prove that they could make the loudest velociraptor noises.
Of course, I was distracted by the Nina situation as well. Questions kept tumbling through my mind as I tried to work: Where could Nina be? There was no evidence that she’d left the base, but she certainly didn’t seem to be anywhere inside it either. Only, how could she have left without a space suit? And what could have possibly motivated her to leave?
Meanwhile, there were still the Sjobergs to think about. What had they been doing in the offices when Roddy saw them? Why had the family been so quiet that morning? Were they connected to Nina’s disappearance? And if so, why?
My last conversation with Zan was also disturbing me. I desperately wanted to know what kind of danger the earth was in. So I was excited to see her—even though she nearly scared the pants off me when she showed up. One second, I was doing word problems. The next, she was sitting beside me.
One of the most unnerving things about having an alien beam herself into my brain was how abruptly she could appear. Zan usually tried to make this easier on me by projecting an image of herself walking into the room like a normal person, but sometimes she forgot—or simply couldn’t make it work. At those times, her sudden presence could be startling, kind of like when you were crossing what you thought was an empty street and then realized there was a truck bearing down on you.
I did my best not to overreact. I managed to only jump in my seat a bit.
Roddy looked my way, but I acted like I was stretching. Roddy bought it and returned his attention to his work. Or rather, pretending to work. He was secretly reading a graphic novel instead of doing his math problems. Since our math teacher, Dr. Levinson, was back on earth, it was hard for him to keep tabs on all of us.
I did my best to pretend I was doing my math as well while speaking to Zan inside my head. “Where have you been?” I asked. “I really need to talk to you.”
“I am sorry I couldn’t get back to you sooner. Some things came up.”
What could possibly have been more important than the future of earth? I thought. If I’d been talking to a human, I would have kept it to myself, not wanting to antagonize her, but since Zan could read my thoughts, it was as though I’d said it anyhow. Yet another unnerving thing about communicating directly from your brain.
“It would be very hard for you to understand,” Zan said, which was her standard answer to almost any question I asked about her planet.
“Can you tell me about the danger earth is in, then?”
“Earth is not in danger.”
“But you said it was. . . .”
“No. I said it was important for us to be in contact with one another. You made an assumption that earth was in danger. I am sorry if there was any miscommunication on my part. As you know, I sometimes have trouble with your language. It is quite difficult to master.”
I stared at Zan. Once again I had the sense she wasn’t being completely honest. As I gazed into her crystal-blue eyes, though, I began to feel okay about that. And then I found myself wondering if Zan was calming me herself, somehow manipulating my brain. I had the very faint sensation of something working on my mind that wasn’t me.
“Dashiell, why aren’t you doing your work?”
I looked up, startled, to find Dr. Levinson staring at me on the SlimScreen. When he wasn’t teaching us math, Dr. Levinson was a rocket scientist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.
“Sorry,” I said. “I’m finding it hard to concentrate today. With Nina being missing and all.”
Chang had told his superiors at NASA about Nina’s disappearance. They were doing their best to keep the story secret, even from other divisions, so that the public didn’t find out, but Chang had insisted upon letting our teachers know. He thought all us kids—especially the little ones—might need some additional emotional support dealing with the crisis.
Dr. Levinson tried to give me some right then. “I understand,” he said supportively. “An event like this can be quite unsettling.”
Roddy perked up at this. “I’m having trouble concentrating too! Maybe we should cancel class for today.”
“Rodrigo,” Dr. Levinson said sternly. “Please tell me you’re not trying to use a crisis situation for something as petty as getting out of math class.”
“No, I would never do that!” Roddy replied, even though that was exactly what he’d been doing.
Of course, that was exactly what I was doing too. But I was better at selling it than Roddy. “I just thought of something Nina said to me last night that might be important,” I told Dr. Levinson. “Can I go tell Chang and my father?”
“All right,” Dr. Levinson said. “But come right back.”
“I will. Thank you.” I got up and headed for the door.
Zan followed me. Or at least she projected an image of herself following me into my brain. “What’s going on with Nina?” she asked curiously.
“She’s not in the moon base anymore,” I said in my mind.
Zan gave me a doubtful look. “That’s not possible.”
“That’s what everyone keeps saying. But she’s still gone.”
I passed Violet and her class on the way out. The kids had grown tired of dinosaur noises and were now making other animal noises instead. Violet was proudly demonstrating how loudly she could imitate an elephant. Her teacher, Miss Driscoll, was on the big SlimScreen, desperately trying to get them all to calm down and pay attention. It was only fifteen minutes into her lesson, and she already looked like she needed a nap.
I headed for my family’s residence, figuring no one would be there. On the way, I quickly explained what had happened to Nina, doing my best to keep the words inside my head. Zan listened intently the whole time.
When we got to my residence, I unlocked the door and led Zan inside. It didn’t take long to make sure no one was there. I could see the entire room from the doorway, though I still checked the sleep pods, just to be safe.
Zan sat on an InflatiCube. It didn’t make an embarrassing noise beneath her, because she wasn’t really there. I was too amped up to sit. Instead I paced.
Zan said, “Your species has an extremely limited temperature range in which it can survive. Plus, you need oxygen. Moon Base Alpha is the only place on the lunar surface that meets those needs, correct?”
“Yes.” In the privacy of my family’s residence, I felt comfortable enough to speak my words, rather than only thinking them. It was a huge relief.
“Then Nina must still be here,” Zan concluded.
“She’s not. We’ve looked everywhere.”
“There must be someplace you’ve missed.”
“There isn’t. MBA isn’t that big and we’ve been here four months. Trust me, we know this place inside and out.”
“Logic says that must not be true.”
I started to argue about this, then thought of something. “Hey. You could help us find Nina!”
Zan looked at me curiously. “How so?”
“You could project yourself into her mind the same way you do with me and then just ask her where she is.”
Zan frowned. “I’m afraid it’s not that simple.”
“What do you mean? You do it with me all the time.”
“Yes, but I can’t do it with anyone. First, as you know, my appearing to you is a significant event. My species has known about yours for nearly a hundred of your years and you are only the second person with whom we have made contact. We do not take this selection lightly.”
“I get that, but Nina’s life might be in danger. . . .”
“Millions of humans’ lives are in danger every day. I can’t help them all.”
“This is different.”
“No, it’s not. I am not authorized to alter the fate of any human being. It would be wrong to do so.”
“You altered the fate of Dr. Holtz,” I pointed out.
Zan recoiled from me, like I’d offended her. “Garth Grisan was the one who killed Ronald, not me,” she snapped.
“I know,” I said. “But he still did it because of you.”
Zan calmed down and sighed sadly. “I suppose you’re right. If I had never made contact with Ronald, he would still be alive. Which is exactly why we are now keeping our contact a secret. But even if I wanted to contact Nina, there is a good chance it wouldn’t work. I can’t appear to just anyone. Only those with minds open to it.”
I stopped pacing, intrigued. “What do you mean?”
“It’s hard to explain. As you know, every human is different. For example, some are far more open to new ideas and experiences than others. In a way, I can sense those who are the most agreeable to contact. With you and Dr. Holtz, I immediately knew it would work. With others, I am not sure. And with most, I know it won’t. It’s as though there is a shell around their minds.”
If there was anyone I could imagine with a shell around her mind, it was Nina. “So, you couldn’t even try?”
“It takes a great deal of effort for me to even appear to you. I would hate to expend so much energy for no reason.”
I suddenly had another idea. “If you can sense our minds, then can you at least sense Nina’s right now? You wouldn’t have to appear to her. But you could still figure out where she is, right?”
Zan didn’t answer me for a bit. She seemed to be considering her options. “I don’t know.”
“Well, could you give it a shot? Please? I think she’s in danger.”
Zan sighed. “If it means that much to you.”
“It does.”
“It won’t be easy. And I can’t promise anything.”
“Whatever you could do would be great. Anything at all.”
Zan stood, her eyes locked on mine. And then I felt her leave my mind. For a few moments, her body was still there, but her eyes were vacant, as though her own mind was somewhere else. Then the image of her flickered and disappeared.
I started pacing again, unsure what to do. I hadn’t expected Zan to completely vanish, and now I wasn’t sure when she’d be back.
The SlimScreen in the room chimed, indicating a message over the public address system. “Attention, all MBA residents,” the base computer announced. “The unmanned rocket is en route to deliver Supply Capsule Twelve. Capsule Drop will commence at the Moon Base Beta drop zone in one hour.”
So much had been going on, I had forgotten a drop was scheduled for that day. Although the delivery of a supply capsule wasn’t nearly as momentous as the arrival of a new crew of Moonies, it was still a break from our usual routine. And any break from our dull routine in space was like a holiday back on earth.
NASA was gearing up for construction of Moon Base Beta, which would be significantly larger and far more impressive than Moon Base Alpha (or so they claimed). MBA would serve as the base for some of the construction personnel, but because the MBB site was a mile away, an operations pod had already been erected there so people wouldn’t have to commute. Meanwhile, capsules filled with construction equipment and supplies were arriving every week. Each of these was quite large, holding as much stuff as a moving van.
The delivery rocket wasn’t even going to land on the moon. That would have been a waste of fuel. Instead, Supply Capsule 12 was going to be dropped from a few miles up while the rocket returned to earth. The capsule would then guide itself down to the site, using retro rockets to slow its descent. Since there were no humans in the capsule, the rocket delivering it was a drone. The entire flight was automated.
I paced around my room for another minute, then decided I couldn’t wait for Zan any longer. I had to get back to school. Dr. Levinson would be wondering where I was.
As I was heading for the door, Zan suddenly reappeared in front of me. Her image wasn’t perfect, though. I could see through her. I got the sense that whatever she had done to find Nina had taken a lot out of her.
“Did you find her?” I asked.
“Sort of.”
“Where is she?”
Zan frowned. “It doesn’t work like that. I only know where you are because you let me into your mind. I can only see things because you’re seeing them. I couldn’t get into Nina’s mind. I could only sense she was there. And that there was darkness around her.”
“You mean, she’s somewhere that’s dark?”
“Maybe. Or maybe it only felt dark because of how she felt.”
“So she’s still alive?”
“Yes, but you were right. She’s in great danger. Her vital signs were extremely weak. I don’t think she has much time left.”
“Do you know how much?”
Zan shook her head sadly. “I can’t be sure, but . . . I suspect that if you don’t find Nina in the next few hours, she will die.”