MOON BASE

MOON BASE In all the years, of political budget-cutting, no one had stopped to realize just where the cuts would lead, and how much damage which a "leaner, meaner" economy would have, upon competition, both national and international. Prior to the decades, of budget cuts, consolidations, and just plain "corporate raiding", there had been hundreds, of smaller companies, all competing for the federal contracts. When Washington made the "fateful" choice, to reduce, or eliminate, funding, in support of industry, with the idea being that increased productivity, and ambition, through private funding, would lead to more innovation. Un-fortunately, the effect received was the opposite of what had been sought. Most competition was closed out, "merged", or just plain "swallowed up", by more aggressive competitiors. As a result, of this "leaner, meaner" private enterprise, the cost, of space components only INCREASED, since the former competition no longer existed. The most aggressive competitors knew they had Washington "over a barrel", and could force the feds to pay their price due to the fact that the new competitors were the "only game in town". Although the public would circulate petitions, to order Congress to not just design for space, but to design SAFELY, for space, the profit based companies responded to this by saying "No Problem". When updated bids were received, on space contracts, the price, per module, skyrocketted from $15 million, per module, for standard design, to a design estimate of $5 trillion, per module, for "safe" design. This left Congress to make the ugly decision, to remain with just "standard" design. To cover themselves, Congress would only say "We HOPE it will be enough". Soon after this decision was made, however, three, of the newest modules, on the International Space Station, buckled, due to "unknown" stresses. When ship-board computers warned of "un-inhabitable" status, on other modules, crews were shuttled, to the station, to investigate. The repair crews would be left to report, to Washington D.C., that the modules structural and safety, systems, and supports, had been shaved so thin that the crew was surprised that the modules hadn't buckled, on, or after, assembly. As for the reason for the buckling, it was ruled as the "freeze"\"thaw" cycle, caused by exposure to the sun. When repair patches failed to hold the modules together, the affected modules were jettisoned. While this was going on, in space, a massive, P.R. campaign was well underway, as the company highlighted the $25 million cost, of each module. The company would say that it could only do so much, with just $25 million. The public watched, on live television, as $25 million, in parts, was turned into space junk. This lead to a call, for increased safety, and would lead Congress to approve $50 million, for the next module. (It was hoped that this would translate into better construction). When the new module reached the I.S.S., in one piece, the station crew took no chances, with installation. The crew treated the module like a newborn baby, or like delicate china. Every, possible, precaution was taken, for a safe link up. What the station crew could not believe was how the vibrations, from their assembly tools, caused what one astronaut called "module collapse, similar to that of an empty can". While Washington D.C. rushed to investigate, the firm issued a press release, stating "We can only be expected to do so much, even with $50 million". In response, a crusading journalist would enlist a hacker, and the two penetrated the company's accounting files. The journalist would, then, publish an article, which described, item by item, how "much" the company had spent on sub-components. What made the company totally irate, though, was an entry, of $20 million, for an executive yacht, and $25 million, in "renovations", to a company executives estate. Although the company outright denied that either purchase was funded, with module money, when the company was served a court order, to account for spending, the company tried to cover itself, by divesting, thereby leaving the purchaser to re-pay the fed the $45 million. Congress asked to try financing the module, again, using private contractors, but public opinion polls showed that the public no-longer trusted the feds, in regards to the space station. This lead the White House to an original idea. Since the Moon had yet to be "stained", by profiteering, the president asked for just $100 million, for a shelter, to be placed on the moon. The president even suggested calling it "Camp Luna", after "Camp David", here on Earth. In an operation called "Camping Trip", the shelter would be delivered to the lunar surface, by a series of four rockets, with the crew riding a fifth rocket to the moon. The original plan was for the team to land near a crater, whose shadow would provide some protection from the dangers, of some radiation, meteors and so on, for the team, as the crew constructed the shelter. That WAS the original plan, anyway. As the rockets closed, on the lunar surface, however, something caused the guidance computers to shutdown, for over two minutes. After this, the computers re-booted as though nothing had happened. The problem, the crew noticed was that, somehow, during the shut-down, or the re-boot, the computers had re-computed the target landing zone, and was preparing to land on a plain, within a mile of a crescent overhang. It didn't seem to matter how many times the crew tried to re-boot the computers, the adjusted target remained the main target. When the crew tried to switch to manual control, the crafts systems failed to respond. The crew were just relieved that the actual landing went much better than expected. The normal jolt, of landing craft, would feel like nothing more than a bump. When the crew began un-packing the shelter, though, they ran into a problem, as they tried to set the foundation. The crew was surprised when their drills would not penetrate more than about a foot, of the lunar soil. When a crew-man brought out a shovel, and began to dig, it wasn't long before the shovel impacted a hard surface. Just as the crew were about to examine the surface, another crew-man came forward and began pointing to the nearby overhang, while saying "You better take a look at this". When the other crew-members looked on, towards the ridge, the combined, first, thought must have been "We must be imagining this". This is because, under the overhang, mostly covered, in lunar dust, was what appearred to be a group, of native American buildings, such as the cliff-dwelling Anasazi had used, thousands of years ago. When the mission commander decided to check out the alleged "buildings" (to make sure they were not just natural formations), the crew would assemble the two-seater lunar rover (To date, no one had, ever, explained why a rover never had more than two seats). The commander would, then, take the co-pilot with them, as they investigated the "illusion". When the two reached the "illusion", the buildings appearred to be even more Indian than before. Ofcourse, by appearances, the two were prepared to find the same mud- brick construction used on Earth, long ago. Had the co-pilot not bumped into a wall section, the report would have read "Natural formation, somewhat similar to Anasazi buildings, on Earth." After the co-pilot bumped the wall, though, the two astronauts noticed that a thick layer, of lunar dust, fell free of the building, exposing what appearred to be a machined, metal, wall. As the astronauts brushed away more lunar dust, NASA would find that it had a problem, which no one wanted to deal with. The problem only started with the touch-down being hundreds of miles off-course. Now, NASA had the extra problems, of soil, too hard to drill through, and, now, the rover team was sending back images which left mission control speechless. With the rovers camera on "Live Feed", the pilots cleared dust away from patches of walls, of multiple buildings, only to discover symbols, not in English, Russian, etc. Mission Control would be stumped, for hours, by the symbols, but only until a Native American intern saw some feed, and laughed at a monitor, as she said "Take a look. Anasazi writing, in outer space. How hokey can sci-fi get?" Three hours later, a tribal elder, who had made a deep study, of the Anasazi language, sat before a computer terminal, silently translating the words, on the feed, from the moon. Eventually, he rose, and asked "Is this a joke?". When asked "What do you mean? What does it say?", the elder read "Airlock for weapons storage". When asked about another set, of symbols, the elder laughed as he said "Main Administration". The elder then warned the staff "My people will not be pleased to learn that our noble heritage has been slandered, like this". When asked "What slander?", the elder said "I know you white men have been ridiculing the Anasazi, for centuries, claiming our Indian brothers were so-called "ancient astronauts", and, probably from another world. I, however, will take no part, in furthering your slander". On the live, moon, feed, a helmetted face would ask "What slander?". The elder looked at the screen, and the face asked "If you will just tell us how to enter these buildings, I promise we will trouble you, no further". When the elder asked "Do you read Anasazi?", the helmet said "No, but we can guess" To this, the elder said "Fools! My grand-son said the same thing, just before mixing two chemicals, and blowing himself to meet our ancesters. My daughter lives with the loss, everyday". When helmet asked "Then, what do we do?", the elder suggested "Return home, and leave the dead to rest in peace". When helmet called out "Asshole", the elder said something which no one, at Mission Control understood. He, then, said "A deal, then". When helmet said "Name it", the elder said "I have three students, good students, studying the Anasazi Tribe, under my tutelage. If you agree to leave Indian matters to the Indians, then my students will assist you". Even before helmet said "Agreed", Mission Control said "Done". Within twenty-four hours, "Camp Luna" crew had the shelter more-or-less built, with the corners held in place by boulders. During those same twenty-four hours, the elder kept his promise, and delivered the Anasazi students. To ensure their security, and safe arrival, the Secret Service had "gathered" the students, under a cover story, that someone wanted the students dead, after an "amazing find" the students had made. Once gathered, the students would be taken to an Air Force hangar, where they would be placed aboard a drab-looking, cargo, plane, which would be awaiting their arrival, with engines idling. Since every American knows what Air Force cargo planes look like, the plane needed no secrecy, to lift off, in total anonymity. No one paid any attention to the plane, not in the air, nor when it touched down, at Cape Canaveral. After all, most Florida residents are military retired, so, to them, it was just another cargo plane. Once at the cape, and inside the Kennedy Space Center, the students were in for a let-down. When the elder had spoken of needing "translators", the students had hoped this meant "code-breakers". They had hoped for something similar to cold war espionage, secrets, and so forth. The center staff noticed the students enthusiasm wain when the students realized that the job was just translating "standard" Anasazi into "standard" English. What concerned the students, though, were the references, such as "generators", "life support", and so on. For the students, though, even the key pad access codes were "no-brainers". Simple, mathematical, combinations. When the moon crew was back in space suits, and drove back to the "ruins", space com watched, live, as not only did the key pads still work, but that the "Jaws of Life" were not needed, to force the door, as the airlock door slid open, on its own. Although the air lock seemed large enough for as many as ten people, the pilot ordered that, as a precaution, only two at a time, should enter. The others would just stand back, away from the door, and listened. When the pilot shone his light around the space, the most he found was another key pad, and what looked like instructions, "painted" on the wall surface. When the students told the pilot what the chart said, the pilot entered the code, and was surprised when the outer door closed before the inner door opened. The pilot heard mission control say "You were in an airlock, what did you expect?" Once the door was closed, radio reception was reduced by 25%, it took the students longer to tell the pilot what to look for. The pilot though, was most relieved when his crew confirmed his own "feeling" about this place. Each of the astronauts felt that they were on the set, of a classic, science fiction, feature. With the students voices fading, on the radio, the pilot glimpsed into a side "chamber", then told the co-pilot "This looks similar to what either Life Support, or Engineering, does, on those science fiction shows does, doesn't it" Ofcourse, the pilot was quick to caution "Be careful. You know what happens, in the movies, when someone touches the wrong thing. Remember, this is life. No re-takes". When the crews own engineer entered the space, and agreed "This IS Engineering", the pilot asked "Should we try?" The engineers mistake was to say "As old as this place is? I would say minimal, to no danger." Still, the crew watched, CLOSELY, as she, cautiously, touched the "Start Up" switch. To the crews dis-belief, overhead "lights" came on, then dusty panels came to life. After the pilot verified that the co-pilot was, indeed, recording all which was happening, the pilot instructed the co-pilot to step outside of the airlock, and attempt to send any video collected, so far, to Earth. Five minutes later, the co-pilot returned to the group and, using a rectagular piece of hard material, he wrote some symbols, which he showed to the team, saying "We are to look for this". When the engineer asked "What is that?", the co-pilot said "The indians say it means Life Support". As the crew worked its way forward, they noticed that more, of the sections came to light, and, soon, there was no-longer any need for space-suit lights. In fact, the only reason why it took so long, to find the Life Support section was because the crew found several doors, with writing which was SIMILAR to the symbols, written on the surface of what the co-pilot carried. What concerned the crew most was that, when they entered the Life Support section, the crew found the section to be just as clean and sterile, as if the former owners had just stepped out, for coffee. To the engineers surprise, the atmosphere cycling system controls were remarkably similar to N.A.S.A. own systems (OR, should it be that our systems were similar to theirs?). Once the engineer activated the air cycling system, all of their suit monitors came to life, showing an increasingly oxygen-rich atmosphere. The pilot, though, showed due caution, in un-doing only his own helmet then taking a breath, and said "Its breathable. Its air". A short distance further on, the crew found what appearred to be a communications center. Creepy thing was, it looked just as clean as Life Support had been. The only difference was that, here, there was also a flashing light. After checking for traps, the engineer pressed the button, and mission control could be heard, from hidden speakers, calling out to the team. With no obvious microphones in sight, the engineer called out, to the air "Hello, Houston, do you hear me?" When command responded "Thank god. We thought the worst, when we lost your transmission. What is your status?" The pilot replied "We're in some sort of science complex. Oddly enough, power, life support, and communications, all seem to be operational. Just dont ask me how". With a few hours more searching, the crew found the mess hall, and also what seemed to be an armoury. No clue, about weapons except that the armoury seemed full of devices which seemed straight out of science fiction television. A further inspection, of the complex, provided the answer for why the crew had been unable to bolt down Camp Luna, on the surface. It would seem that science fiction would turn out to be less "fiction", than science (atleast as far as the moon went). According to some maps the crew found, it would seem that some, previous, group had hallowed out more than a quarter of the moons sub-surface, and built a gigantic, underground, complex, which was safe from radiation. This is why Camp Luna could not be anchored. The team had been trying to anchor the shelter to the roof of this place. The engineer also found the reason why the computers, on the lander, had "glitched". It would seem that this "base" was not as "dead" as people had thought. In fact, it would be found that most of the systems were, simply, in "Stand By" mode. The main computer stayed just enough "awake" to listen for a code. A command code which, ironically, turned out to be identical to the teams landing beacon. While most of the crew were trying to understand how the indians (a supposedly primitive people), had built such a place, there remained the question of "Could it be true? Could the Anasazi have been aliens?" After the team realized that Camp Luna could not be assembled, at this location, the team brought most of its supplies into the "base", and the co-pilot went searching, and found what might have been a hangar bay, of sorts. This was decided by the fact that the co-pilot found the huge airlock doors, as well as those oh-so-cool looking rovers. The co-pilot realized that, un-like "our" rovers, which are just four tires, mounted to a chassis, with two seats bolted on, these rovers appearred more tractor-like, and had enclosed cockpits. He realized that he was looking at a cross between a tank, and a pick-up truck. He doubted it had any speed, though, since it sat on tractor treads. When the co-pilot stepped up to a rover, wondering how the aliens entered, without any door handles, he was surprised when he heard a release, of compressed gas, then part of the shell slid back, giving him entry to a cockpit which basically, resembled a pick-up trucks interior. In fact, the only real differences were the extra buttons, and screens. When the co-pilot belted himself into the drivers seat, to experience the feeling, he was just a bit surprised when the shell slid back into place, and sealed with the same hiss. Then, to the co-pilots surprise, a screen came to life, with a word he didn't recognize, and something else, flashing, underneath. When the engineer came on the line, asking "what are you doing?", the co-pilot said "Just checking things out". By the time the pilot came on the line, joining the engineer in saying "Abort", the co-pilot responded "I dont know how. Besides, this stuff's been here for who knows how long. If it were evil, it would have destroyed us, before now". The co-pilot then ignored the cautions, and demands, over the radio, as the vehicle actually lifted OFF its tracks, which then folded into the crafts underbelly. As this was going on, he watched as the bay doors slid open. At this point, the co-pilot realized that he was riding on a cushion of some kind, and this was why he put the thing into what he hoped was "forward" gear, and put his foot on what he hoped was the accelerator. Seconds later, he zoomed out of the docking bay, at what seemed to be about 80 m.p.h.. This is when he realized that, whatever was powering this thing was, still going strong, even after god-knows-how-long. When the crew realized the man was joy-riding, they stopped sending abort orders, and replaced these with a request for information. As long as the man was out, in a general area, why not have him check on reports of water being scanned, by probe craft. Everyone had high hopes, for finding water, but only until the man reported more distressing news. His instruments verified what the base plans showed. The water Earth had been detecting was not from sub-surface lakes, or streams. The water had been seeping out, of the bases underground storage vats, for many years. When asked to measure the leakage, the man activated what he THOUGHT was a laser level/ruler. Moments after he thought that he was locking onto two points, for a ruler measure, the rover lurched, a bit, as the first, of two, laser beams shot forward, one at each of his selected targets. The co-pilot was, momentarily, thrilled, when he said "Hot damn, let those damn Ruskies try THAT!". This is when the engineer came onto the line, reminding the co-pilot that the Russians were, now, our allies. When the co-pilot recovered himself, he suggested "Enough excitement for one day. Permission to come home, before I destroy the moon". Back at the base, though, the co-pilot made a point of showing the rest of the team how much better this rover was, than their own was. As the man indicated, this rover had seating, for SIX people, inside an enclosed cockpit. Between that, and an cushioned ride, similar to shock absorbers, how could life, in space, be better? It would, soon, turn out to be a good idea that the team had moved their supplies out of the lander, and into the ancient base, when the Hubble telescope discovered a meteor "shower" headed for Earth, at incredible velocity. Once the rocks were "spotted", the I.S.S. TRIED to thrust itself out of the target area, but the rocks were just moving too fast. Ofcourse, this was bad news, for the lunar orbiter, as well, since it, too, was in the path of the storm. Worse, the orbiter was the lunar teams only ride home. Since the orbiter was so much smaller than the I.S.S., though, it could change its course, more rapidly, and move more freely. Still, the news wasn't good. Just a couple of solid strikes, on the docking ring and the hatch was reduced to scrap iron. Even if the LEM could launch, it would be un-able to dock with the orbiter. During the "shower", mission control had to cut its work-force in half, with one group remaining focused on the I.S.S., while the second group went into "emergency session", preparing a new flight to the moon. Cap com also understood why the orbiter pilot was silent, for so long, after being ORDERED to break lunar orbit, and come home, minus their crew. Although cap com knew that the pilot was no coward, and that he wouldn't have come home, except under ORDERS, the staff knew that the media would label the man a coward, for not staying in lunar orbit. During the "shower", while the lunar capsule was playing "Dodge Ball", with the rocks, the I.S.S. was taking one helluva beating. The moon, and Earth, watched this, via remote camera's. Meteors smashed into the station, causing damage which no one thought the station could survive. The view, from the moon, was even worse than the view, from Earth, since the moon has no atmosphere, and the camera angles are crystal clear, as boulders smashed, not just into the I.S.S. hull, but into its thrusters, as well. The lunar team watched, helplessly, as the meteors smashed the I.S.S. main thrusters to bits, with several explosions caused by ruptured fuel containers. By the time the meteor "shower" was passed, the I.S.S. looked less like a work-of-art space station, and more like a "mechanics special", on a used car lot. Less than 5% of the station remained habitable, after the strike, and NASA was, already, preparing a rescue mission. In the meantime station personnel were instructed to "patch what you can". On the moon, after a severe "dressing down", the co-pilot went looking for another of what was labelled, on the bases read outs, as a "storage room". This one, however, was larger, atleast on the map, than the one which had contained the rovers. When the co-pilot entered the space, what he saw was every kids science fiction dream come true. It was a cavernous hangar, and the co-pilot could see ships, the designs of which would "wow!" even the staff at the famous Skunkworks, in reverence. Some of the craft were small, two-seater, while others were large enough to, easily, be cargo haulers. A couple of days after the "shower", the co-pilot was considering taking one of the ships up, to the I.S.S., when the station crew was overheard calling Earth, reporting that its air supply was, nearly gone. A few hours later, though, a cargo flight was orbiting the station, which now found itself covered with patches. In fact, when pictures were sent to Earth, someone sent the station a return photo, labelled "My First Clunker", with the photo side-by-side with a picture of the station. The problem, with the stations repair patches was that they were never meant to hold the station together. As a result, it was not long before the stations emergency alarms activated, saying the station was in critical danger. On the ground, NASA was debating which crew to consider "expendable". The moon crew, with its alien base, or the crew, at the crumbling space station. On the moon, the co-pilot knew that, if he told his commander of his plans, the argument would have gone on, even as the space station crumbled into nothing. This is why the co-pilot told the crew nothing of his plan. The co-pilot walked into the bay, entered what he thought was a cargo ship, and HOPED it operated the same as the lunar rover did. When he strapped into the pilots chair, he was trying to think of HOW to program the ships computer to fly to the I.S.S. when a target grid came on-line, on a screen, and he HOPED the lettering meant "target locked into guidance", and not "target locked, for firing". When the co-pilot launched the ship into space, both the commander, and the engineer, logged in reprimands, on the mans dis-obedience, while HOPING that the "hot-shot" succeeded in helping the I.S.S. crew. For the I.S.S., and NASA, though, the presence, of an alien ship, on the space stations doorstep, was more than a little dis-concerting. Even if it was flown by a human. Thankfully, the ship was rigged with a generic docking collar, so all the station crew had to do was make an airlock accessable. Sure, the in-experienced pilot did ding the station a bit, but what was one to expect when using alien tech? With supplies, equipment, and personnel, rushed aboard the ship, the co-pilot eased the ship away from the crumbling station, and set a return course, for moon base. When the I.S.S. commander asked the reason, the co-pilot said he wasn't sure about landing alien tech, on U.S. soil. He was concerned that even the U.S. Air Force might attack. After a safe and sound, landing, on moon base, the camp Luna crew made their way to their LEM, to begin the countdown to take-off. Only one problem. Somehow, the batteries had been drained. The LEM was "dead" where it sat. No power for take-off. The engineer said it was just as well, since the LEM was not designed for re-entry. Without the command module, they were stuck on the moon. That is, until the co-pilot suggested "If we could contact mission control, and warn off the Air Force, I think I can fly that cargo ship right to the landing strip". The commander was thinking about the space shuttle, when he mentioned "We will only get one chance". The co-pilot doubted this, as he knew that the cargo ship had its own power source, just as the rover seemed to. As a result, the commander would inform mission control that the combined crews, of "Operation Cast-A-Way" were on their way home, and PLEASE, dont shoot at us. What amazed the pilots was not only how easily the ship performed in space, but how smooth the ride was, even through the atmosphere. The pilots would inform the ground that the ship drove like a small private, jet. During the descent, the students reviewed the visuals, of the ships flight panels, to find the landing gear. As the ship smoothly flew to the ground, the best the students could come up with was the reverse of the launch process. Sure, the ship had struts, but these were what it used, to sit in the moon base bay. How was the ship to land on these? The answer came 20 feet above the landing site, when the computer terminated horizontal thrust, leveled the craft out, then set the machine, neet as a pin, on the runway. To say that the landing left people speechless would be an understatement. No one had seen an actual alien ship land, in a public space, before. The very existance, of the ship, however, caused much alarm, in many sectors, even beyond the military. Suddenly, America had, in its grasp, what could only be defined as alien tech. The problem was that the very nature, of the tech, posed some very serious problems, for those assigned to research the ship. For one thing, none of the construction materials came close to resembling Earth materials. Whatever the ship was made of was so alien that the computers only spit out "Unknown" messages, again and again. After five days, of using every cutting device, known to man, a welding crew gave up, when they couldn't make a dent in the ships hull. Whatever that hull material was, it could, probably, resist the heat of the sun. As for its engine, and power source, both were beyond human understanding. Not dangerous, but well beyond us. When the moon base team was ready to return to the moon, and study the alien base, they ran into a snag, with the ships navigational computers. For some reason, the navigational computers were not accepting incoming data. When the co-pilot suggested taking the ship back to the moon, and was told "We dont know if its safe", the man retorted "So, its safe enough to fly to Earth, but not safe enough to fly back to the moon?" Three days, of debate, later, and, while the human ship was, still, being fixed, on the launch-pad, the supplies were being loaded into the alien ship, for its return to the moon. With more specially trained people, and over six months worth of supplies, on-board, the ship would make remarkable time, back to the docking bay. Just a few hours. While, on Earth, the International Space Station was being "written off", due to repair cost estimates rising into the trillions of dollars, while replacement costs were rising into the hundreds of trillions, atleast, for the moon, there was better news. It would seem that some of the "specialists", whom the co-pilot had shuttled up, from Earth, had made some real progress in understanding the moon bases computers At the very least, the specialists were able to un-lock the passwords, to the memory archives. This would allow moon base personnel to gain a glimpse into the lives, and purpose, of the Anasazi, and, MAYBE, find an answer as to why the tribe seemed to "disappear", overnight. According to moon base computer records, "Earth" was a research outpost, while the moon was a combination supply depot, and administration center. It seems that those we called "Anasazi" were, in fact, scouts, sent by their home race, to observe life, both on Earth, and another, nearby, planet, by the name of Mars. According to base records, Mars, in the past, not only had an atmosphere, but was, culturally developed. Due to Mars already being populated, by intelligent beings, the Anasazi decided to be discreet, setting up only a small, observation, post, on the red planet. The record went on to "speak" of yet another planet, somewhere between the moon, and Mars. A planet whose races began waging campaigns of conquest against one another. Bloody battles, over such things as religion, and planetary resources. From their moon base, the Anasazi observed the escalating battles, as the opposing factions turned to newer, and deadlier, weapons, with which to attack one another. The Anasazi became terribly concerned when the planets opposing races each developed atomic bombs, but the call, to evacuate the area did not come until each, of the opposition groups, developed a weapon even worse than nuclear. Each of the races rushed to be the first to develop the new weapon, which was so powerful that it could, conceivably, destroy the entire planet. When the Anasazi realized the implications, of such weapons, this is when the Anasazi decided to evacuate their numbers, from the solar system. Thankfully, home world would send starships, and cargo ships, to assist the evacuation. Still, many would be sad to leave Earth, moon, and even Mars. (Only a small group would remain behind, to monitor, and record, how any battles turned out.) As was feared, though, when each of the races rushed to TEST their weapon, the stresses, on the planets crustal plates, was just far more than the surface could withstand. The resulting detonations not only caused the planet, itself, to explode, its shock-waves were so incredibly powerful that it ripped the atmosphere right off the Martian surface. In another direction, the same shock waves struck Uranus hard enough to turn the planet on its side. No one is certain of how the moon survived the detonation, being just a lump, of dead rock, in space, but it, somehow, bore the worst of the impact, while protecting a large portion of the Earths surface. As the "logs" concluded, the Anasazi departed the solar system, intentionally leaving moon base behind, as a "test" for "intelligent" life. If life found its way back to the moon, from Earth, a signal beacon would alert home-world. Shortly after the logs were concluded, sensors and scanners detected the lunar approach of a powered object. Whatever it was, it was, definitely, not of human design. Also, its flight path came not from Earth, but from outside the solar system. What concerned the team, most, was not only when the craft settled into lunar orbit, but when the best computers placed its design advancement at between thousands, and hundreds of thousands, of years beyond our current capabilities. It was, also not encouraging that the crafts power source registered as the same as that, which the moon base operated on, only far more powerful. The entire moon base crew then froze, in fright, when a light shimmered into existance, in a hallway, before the crew-men, then the light took on the most bizzarre form any crew member had ever seen. Standing before the Earth-people was a being, in the solid, muscular, stature, height, and facial appearance of an American Indian. The only difference was that the man was wearing a flight suit. When the man told the moon base staff "I come in response to the beacon. It was activated when you accessed the base computers. I have been assigned to transport a group, of volunteers to the current world of my people. There, you will learn more about us". When the expedition leader asked the man how far the volunteers would be going, the "indian" would only say "Not far. You will be able to return to the moon within one solar day". For the next six hours, the moon crew argued over which personnel would be most qualified to send on the "mission". The main problem, with this selection, was that EVERYONE was qualified. This is why the crew resorted to drawing lots. When the volunteer "team" joined the indian, on his ship, the astro-physicist, soon, realized that he recognized none of the ships "controls" (If controls is what they were). During the trip, although the speed, of the ship, SHOULD have crushed the team flat, they were amazed to feel almost NO inertial stress. Upon arrival, at their destination, the explorers found what they never expected. Although the indians ship was advanced beyond belief, the explorers found themselves on a planet, rich in beauty, and full of plant and animal life. The natural beauty was beyond comprehension. The indian lead the team down a path, and into a tall building, made of (crystal?). Inside was a wide, tall, lobby and, at the end oposite the entry, there was a set of tall, double, doors. When the indian opened these doors, and gestured the team inside, the team found themselves facing another group, of tribal elders. These elders, though, sat at a conference table, with a tall, stained-glass, window, behind them. What baffled the team, though, was how the elders were dressed, in traditional, indian, dress. There was nothing "high-tech", about them. When the elders saw how baffled the team was, the councils "medicine man" said "Let me explain what you see. We are not as we appear. What you see is for your benefit. You see, we abandoned the physical body, many years in the past. At this time, we have re-taken human form so that you may be at ease." When one of the team came forward, saying "I am an astro-physicist, so I am trained for anything you can show me" When the council cautioned against this, and the fool said "Bring it on", the council, politely, said "Very well". A moment later, the remainder of the team watched as the fool covered his eyes, and screamed at something only he seemed to be able to see. To the remainder of the team, the elders, of the council, never changed appearance. When another team member asked where the people had gone to, for thousands of years, after leaving the Earth, an elder said "After we departed what you call Earth, we decided to leave a test behind. A test designed to show us when you had matured enough, for peaceful interractions. That test was what you call Moon Base. In time, we came to understand that we could move about, from place to place, by thinking about it. Soon, we were able to move, from planet to planet, in the same manner. Although our people no-longer needed ships, to carry us from place to place, we retained our fleets due to the fact that we, often, traded with tribes, which could not travel as we did. This is yet another reason why this warrior was sent, with a ship, to bring you to us. Although the warrior could have made the trip, without the ship, this would have been impossible for you" When the team asked to see what the indians had achieved, the council elder said "You are not ready. You are still too young a race. In time, and when you are ready, you will join us." the elder said, then added "provided you do not destroy yourselves, first". With these sobering thoughts in mind, the team would return to the ship, for return transit to the moon. The fool would be levitated back to the ship, and placed in storage, since his mind was closed down to all outside stimuli. The rest of the team would wonder what the man had seen, but they recalled the elders warning. "We are not as we appear. Our appearance is for your benefit". What had the man seen, which turned him into a "vegetable"? Upon return to the moon, the man was transferred from storage to a cargo ship, to be taken to Earth, for care. The last anyone knew of him, the man was locked away, and totally un-responsive. With the aid of the human indian, students, the warrior/pilot assisted the humans with making Moon Base fully operational. Before he departed, though, he was found gazing upon Mars, and observers would suggest that he was weeping. Whether he was sad that the planet had died, or whether he had lost someone, on the red planet, it was impossible to tell. All the team could see was that the man was grief-stricken, as if remembering a Mars which was, once, alive, with life. In the years following the warrior-pilots departure, the U.N. would vote to have the world bank approve funds, for a replacement International Space Station. There would, however, be a severe condition placed upon project funding. ALL funds were to go directly for two sources, and nowhere else. 1) Material, with which to construct the station 2) Paying the work-force, which constructed the parts and assembled the station Ofcourse, corporate management cried "FOUL!", most loudly, when they learned that no money could be used for any other reason. The worst corporations even refused to take part in the construction. As a result, the first 75 modules, and five million photovoltaics (solar panels), would be stamped with European manufacturers seals. With corporate profiteering side-lined, modules might, still, cost $10-$25 million, but quality and safety, skyrocketted. Eventually, N.A.S.A. would convince the corporations to return to the space program, after the space station out-grew the output, of four, oxygen-generation, stations. Thanks to Earth's Bio-Domes 1 & 2, it was easy to design a set of green-houses, full of oxygen-generating plants. At about this same time, the U.N. called a halt, to construction, after the 80th module, as the station was growing so large that Earth's magnetic field was noticing the stations presence. Having planned for such a possibility, the E.S.A. had designed the new station, with powerful rocket thrusters. Sure, the station would, never move, with the grace of a ballet dancer, however, with the new thrusters, the station could move much like an aircraft carrier. In order to compensate for the ever-increasing size, of the station, (Now, 1/16th the size of the moon), the I.S.S. would be moved to an orbit exactly opposite the moon, in orbit. From that time forward, Earth would have no less than two satellites. One, natural, One man-made. Over the next ten years, Earth companies would study the alien cargo ships and, in time, we would learn how to replicate the ships, including the power source, leading to a new age of Single-Stage-To-Orbit vehicles. These advancements would allow the I.S.S. to become large enough to qualify as a planet. Ofcourse, as life continued to branch into space, the need, for life support, would become the most massive part of mission-critical status, of station operations. In fact, gardening would come to rank just below executive station command, in importance. This would happen even as a bold engineer would design the first "exo-planet". An ever-expanding ball, whose layer after layer would be used as greenhouses. In time, this would become Earth's third moon, as the "race" to expand the station, kept pace with the race to provide life support. The I.S.S. would be declared "complete" after the final sections, consisting of a manufacturing center, a processing center, and no less than five ship launch pads, were added. It would be another fifty years before life support would, fully, catch up with station demands. By this time though, man would have begun moving on, in search of new worlds to colonize, even as we drained the Earth dry. When the decision was made, that man would leave Earth, period, it was at a time when moon base had ceased its function, as a research center, and had become a maintenance center, for equipment awaiting repairs. The base, ofcourse, would have been expanded, by human hands, using newly developed materials, similar to the original materials. Beyond moon base, though, the concern was that the space agency only wanted to build another space station. Another orbital habitat. This is when a group, calling itself "The Journey" began rallying support for the construction of a planetoid, similar to the Star Wars Death Star. No one took the group seriously, until "The Journey" secured enough funding, to build a very small base, at the edge of the Kyper Belt. Like moon base, this base would be built underground, however, once people realized that "The Journey" was serious, construction funds began flowing in. It would be slow-going, at first, since the construction crews needed to work on both building the assembly base, AND start the "foundation", of the planetoid. The original, sphere, design was only to be about 2-5 miles in diameter. If successful, then more spheres, in larger sizes, could be constructed, later. Even with Earth's population under severe check, under internationall law, man was, still, draining its resources, and the push for space was urgent. After several meetings, with the design staff, and wealthy backers, the original plan, for the station/ship, would be expanded, first to two hundred miles, then to two THOUSAND miles. The promise was that, when this ship left, another ship would start construction. Upon its launch, the personnel, on the assembly meteor, looked on, in amazement, as the "ship" moved, slowly, away. There was even a celebration, prior to launch, of the station/ship, with a showing of the original "Star Wars". For days, thereafter, though, the station/ship could still be seen, as it grew smaller, as it left the solar system. It would be a full week before the ship vanished from sight. While "The Journey" continued building these sphere's, the U.N. did approve another space station. This one, to orbit Mars. The goal was to learn if Mars could be "terra-formed". Back on Earth, though, another, religious, war was brewing. This time, it would be between those who wanted to take their futures to the stars, versus those who felt that "The LORD will provide". The United Nations would "strike a compromise", between the "devoted", and the "non-believers". The compromise was that, as man branched out, into space, the land, left on Earth, would become the property of the "devoted". For some reason, though, the "devoted" never thought that the rest of humanity would leave them behind, all alone. The United Nations even "packed up", and, after its advisors confirmed that the "devoted" had been educated in the basic skills, for survival, even the advisors joined the U.N., in departing the planet. Since the "devoted" had resisted the offers, to teach the use, of sub-space radio, which the rest, of the fleet used, routinely, by the time the S.O.S. calls were received, by the outgoing ship, via carrier wave radio, the ships captain would remind the General Assembly that the message was over two years old. Whatever the reason, for the call, for help, it was about eighteen months too late, for the ship to take any action. When the station/ship met up, with other station/ships, which had, by that time, received the call, as well, the captains had to remind their staffs that the message was, already, multiple years old. Besides, the message was less than cryptic: "S.O.S. Send help immediately. Urgent" Even if the station/ships did respond, what good would it do, to arrive, years late? When the suggestion was made, to send just a couple, of the new fighter craft, back to the planet, this begged the question of "What if it is a trap?" Lose two good fighters, over a distress call? Besides, the "devoted" had been given plenty of chances, and choices. The "devoted" had made the decision to stay on Earth. They had decided their fate. No one could be blamed if the "devoted" did not survive. Epilogue: In the 1,000 years, since Earth has been evacuated, there have been many suggestions made, about re-visiting the old planet. Many of these suggestions would be made, based upon faint messages, calling out, and asking "Is anyone out there?" Without the threats, of useless wars, hanging over the peoples heads, several colonies would have perfected warp drive, and began negotiating "non-aggression" treaties, with other colonies. When, at the 1,000 year mark, the messages changed from "Is anyone out there?", and to "Can anyone hear me?" the human alliance would decide that it was, probably, safe to send a recon team, just to look into the situation. When the recon unit reached Earth, a few hours after departure, from the new home world, the unit was not surprised to find not a sign of intelligent, human, life. In fact, all that was left, on Earth, was plant, and animal, life, and some sort of primate. In a cave, lit with what looked like ceremonial candles, the recon team found a sort-of journal, wherein someone had written that, during the "final days", the "devoted" had, allegedy, turned on one another. Maybe for food, or mating. Who knew? The journal said that the message, which brought the explorers back to Earth, was a final warning, about the dangers of radical-ism. No one was to know that the writer had used the transmitter, or that there were only the "ghosts", left, to "guard" the secrets. The planet was going "back to the ancestors". What the team could not read, clearly, was the final passage. Was it: "God be with you"?