Read Moonbase Crisis: Star Challengers Book 1 Online
Authors: Rebecca Moesta,Kevin J. Anderson,June Scobee Rodgers
Twenty-Three
The darkness inside the thick-walled bunker pulled them down like a black hole. Popping, crackling sounds came from inside the moonbase above them. JJ shuddered.
Please let it not be fire.
Evidence of the alien attack still shook the ground, and JJ could only pray that everyone at the base was safe.
Then utter, eerie silence fell on the other side of the hatch. The lights flickered with some last gasp of reserve power, and in the brief flash JJ saw the frightened faces of her companions before the chamber fell dark once more.
“They must’ve fried the last of the solar collectors,” King said. “The powers gone.”
“Batteries should still have energy for emergency lights,” JJ pointed out.
“I don’t like this,” Song-Ye said.
“No argument here,” Dyl said. “In the movies, this is where we would either all wake up and it’s just a dream, or we’d go out one at a time and get killed by some freakish monster.”
Inside the pitch-dark bunker, they were just disembodied voices. JJ wondered if the sudden silence outside meant that all of the moonbase modules had been breached. Sound couldn’t travel without air. JJ spent long minutes desperately trying to think of any reassuring thing to say to her friends.
Finally they heard movement, the sounds of someone at the door. JJ drew a quick breath. “At least someone survived! We’re here!”
“What if it’s the aliens? What if they took over the base?” Dyl asked.
The controls moved, and JJ heard a door unseal with a
whoosh
of escaping air. But instead of the ceiling hatch, a door swung open directly in front of them.
Rather than a tentacled extraterrestrial creature, they saw the completely unexpected form of Commander Zota, framed in bright light. Behind him were familiar walls, chairs, carpeted floors—the Challenger Center!
“Greetings, and welcome back, cadets,” Zota said in his deep voice. “You had quite a mission.”
The kids let out a burst of cheers and sighs of relief. Song-Ye was the first to launch herself through the doorway into the world she now appreciated so much more. She looked all around in disbelief, her face streaked with tears. “We’re back on Earth!”
King stepped out beside the Korean girl. “How—how did you do that, sir?”
“We have so much explaining to do,” said Song-Ye. “We’ve been gone for weeks. There’s bound to be an uproar.”
Zota pressed his palms together. “Ah, do not worry. Remember, I have time-travel technology. I sent you into the future, but was able to bring you back only a few hours after you left. No one knows you were gone.”
Song-Ye stared at him, trying to absorb his words.
“We can’t possibly have done all that in just a few hours,” JJ said.
Zota gave her a cryptic smile, “It depends on how one measures time.”
King responded with a low whistle. “That was unbelievable, sir.”
“But real,” Dyl said, then leaned against a wall to steady himself. “We’re definitely back home. I … feel so heavy. Looks like I’ll need my crutches again.”
JJ felt it too and turned to help her brother. From the clumsy way Dyl moved, it was quite plain that they were back in heavy Earth gravity.
A squeak came from Song-Ye’s jumpsuit pocket, and she reached in to produce a squirming ball of fur. They all stared at Newton.
Zota said, “Young lady, you brought a hamster back … from the future?”
She looked defiantly at the commander. “I had to save him. He was my responsibility.” She held the furry creature close to her face, and Newton wriggled his nose.
Commander Zota’s expression was thoughtful. “I see you learned a great deal.”
“Newton is living proof that we were really there,” King said. “And he’s safe.”
“But … but the moonbase is under attack!” JJ blurted. “We have to help Chief Ansari and the others! What can we do for them?”
“Send us back,” Dyl said immediately, surprising his sister. “Only make sure we’re better prepared.”
“There will be plenty of time for all that. You are in your own time now. None of those events will occur for a century yet.” Zota welcomed them back into the small briefing room in the Challenger Center where they had started their adventure.
JJ looked toward the door they had just come through.
The familiar mockup with benches inside looked entirely unlike the moonbase storm shelter.
Yes, they were home.
“Everything you witnessed on Moonbase Magellan happened in my past,” Zota said. “Come, let me show you.” Sitting at his desk computer, he punched buttons and called up files to display a sequence of images that sent a chill through JJ. “In my time, the attack on Moonbase Magellan was the first outright aggression of the alien invaders, the
Kylarn.
The assault on the base came as a complete surprise. No one knew about the Kylarn base on the far side of the Moon. Nobody suspected.”
Zota played greatly disturbing distress calls for them: Chief Ansari’s familiar voice declaring an emergency, asking for help, though Earth hadn’t the slightest capability of sending a rescue. The moonbase transmissions cut off.
“These are the highest resolution telescope images we obtained from the orbiting space station complex.” The images were blurry and grainy, but they showed the crater that was so familiar to them now. Where the solar-power arrays and habitation modules had once been, the surface was freshly cratered, with debris strewn around it. The moonbase was gone.
“I’m going to be sick,” Dyl said.
JJ’s throat was painfully tight. “So the people we met at the moonbase … they all died?”
Zota blanked his screen. “Not necessarily. That happened in
my
past, but it doesn’t have to be
your
future … if you prepare.”
JJ looked up, a glimmer of hope replacing her dismay. “What do you mean? Do we change something? I mean, will we—
did
we?”
“Of course,” Dyl said. “Just by being there, we
must
have created a time paradox.”
“You changed the possibilities,” Zota explained. “You made your time count. Because the
Halley
caught a glimpse of the secret Kylarn base, which you encouraged moonbase personnel to investigate, the aliens were forced to react sooner than they otherwise would have. And because you helped fix the
Halley,
the moonbase crew had a chance. If they did survive the initial attack, they might have made it to the adjacent crater and the lander. They may have gotten aboard, taken off, and made their way back to Earth via the space station. Because of you, maybe it won’t be such a disaster.”
He looked at them all with an expression of great seriousness and hope. Unconsciously, he again touched the prominent scar on his cheek, and JJ decided that when the time was right, she would ask him exactly how he’d gotten it. “You may have helped those people on Moonbase Magellan, cadets, but the Kylarn threat is still coming. In my future, the human race is entirely unprepared to face the aliens. That is where you can help.”
“If it’s that far in the future, what can we do now?” King asked.
“Whether or not you’re aware of it, the invasion will begin in your lifetime,” Zota said, shocking them.
JJ pursed her lips, considering his statement. “All right, this is a lot to absorb. We have a million questions, and you’ve got a lot of explaining to do, Commander.”
“Yes, I do. And now, I think you are ready to hear it.”
Song-Ye pulled her cell phone from her jumpsuit pocket and dialed. After a moment, she said, “Winston? Can you pick me up a bit later? I think I’m going to be a while yet.”
***
Twenty-Four
“By now I’m sure you have no doubts that I truly am from the future,” said Zota. “I came back in time for this reason: to find you and train you. But there is much more to the story.”
“I’ll bet.” Dyl fished a notecard and pencil out of his pocket. “Okay, I’m ready.”
Zota gave him a serious look. “What you saw on Moonbase Magellan was only the beginning, the smallest hint of the terror and havoc that the alien invasion will inflict on Earth. I already told you that in my time, all around the world, students avoided studying the sciences that might have prepared them to solve the problems humanity would face. And we weren’t ready when the true disaster struck.”
“So you don’t
just
want us to be interested in science,” JJ said. “You have an ulterior motive.”
“Yes, I’ve come back in time to train you to save the human race. Is that an ulterior motive? My future needs you—and your entire generation—to learn science. Devote yourselves to problem-solving and technological advancement.”
Dyl nodded, taking notes. “So we should study math, physics, chemistry—”
“Engineering, geology,” JJ said, continuing the list.
“Medicine, biochem, computer science,” Song-Ye put in.
“Astronomy, of course.” King grinned. “But what about stuff like psychology and political science? They aren’t the same kind of science, but … ”
“Ah,” Zota said. “You make an important point. An understanding of such things is quite useful, especially since we need innovators and leaders.”
JJ grimaced. “True. Kind of saw some bad leadership firsthand—like the head of the CMC. We
can’t
let Earth’s space programs fall apart or get swept under a rug like that.”
A spark came into Zota’s eyes. “If you can keep the space program from faltering due to lack of interest, it might literally make all the difference in the world.
“You see, in my time that hope had already failed. Humanity exploited the discoveries of their parents without making new discoveries for their children. So when the Kylarn arrived and performed their first quiet surveillance missions, they saw us as inferior. They spied on Earth for many decades, just to be sure, watching us grow weaker and softer. Sadly, we humans did as much damage to ourselves through lack of initiative as the Kylarn inflicted on us. The Kylarn spied on Earth for decades, watching us grow softer. Eventually, they decided that we were practically defenseless, and a single powerful blow would stun humanity into surrender.”
“Is that what happened?” Song-Ye asked, still stroking Newton.
Zota straightened. “My future is a bleak one, but what happens in my time will not necessarily happen in yours. I pray that it will not—” a flash of pain crossed his face, “—else my entire mission has failed.”
King was defiant. “I don’t plan to hand Earth over to a bunch of aliens. We saw what those …
things
did to the moonbase.”
Zota’s eyes flashed with a glint of approval. “In my future, humanity is already crushed, enslaved. On the Moon you saw the first Kylarn outpost that they established to prepare the way for their main invasion fleet. However, they first came to Earth much earlier. Not long from now—in
your
lifetimes—the first alien scout ships will arrive. They will survey Earth and make their assessment.”
Zota let out a long sigh, turning his gaze away. “In my time, no one paid attention anymore to space with all its mysteries—and dangers. We were distracted by stories and games.”
Dyl blinked in surprise. “But movies and books and games are what inspired my imagination—made me want to see what’s really out there.”
“Ah. Perhaps that is how it should be,” Zota said. “Our imaginations should inspire us to see and experience more, not distract us from the wonder of discovery. In my time, we convinced ourselves that there was nothing worth looking at beyond our own planet. Once Moonbase Magellan was destroyed, we gave up entirely. No wonder the Kylarn saw us as easy targets.
“So the alien scouts reported home, and the invasion fleet came. All that remained of Earth’s space program was one space station complex in orbit. Earth could not possibly stand against invaders. Our elected leaders were not visionaries, but professional showmen who knew how to win elections. The few scientists had been turned into administrators. When the Kylarn attacked, we
tried
to defend ourselves, but it didn’t last long. Caught sleeping, we lost not just the first battle, but the whole war.”
“Then someone’s got to do better than that,” JJ said. “But how did you get
here,
Commander Zota—to our present? If there really are no problem-solvers in your time, who invented the time-travel technology that brought you here?”
A rueful smile quirked his lips. “The Kylarn. I stole it.”
They stared at Zota in shock. King and Dyl chuckled.
“That’s certainly a solution,” Song-Ye remarked. “But not very encouraging.”
“I researched and studied our past in an attempt to learn why Earth was so easily defeated. For years I planned, and then I stole a time-travel device from the Kylarn. Would it not be ironic if their own time-travel technology became the key to their defeat?”
“I’m a big fan of irony,” Dyl said.
“Me too, sir,” King said.
“But what’s to stop them from using it against us?” Dyl asked.
“Nothing, I’m afraid. I escaped and came back here to find likely candidates, to start a movement with you and many others like you, to save the future. It’s a one-way trip for me. The technology does not allow travel within one’s own lifetime. Also, through my interactions with you, I have already changed my future and can never return. But my memories of that future hold only pain, since I lost everything I had there.”
Zota turned away, and JJ felt a deep sadness coming from him.
“Starting with you, with the Star Challengers, I want to prepare the human race to face the threat coming from the stars. To make others like you realize the importance of science and the space program. Soon, I hope to have a whole generation to work with.”
“What made you choose us?” Song-Ye asked. “The four of us in particular?”
“Not that we don’t think it’s awesome,” Dyl added hastily. “Because we definitely do.”
“You each have incredible potential,” Zota said. “I cannot explain my instinct, but you Star Challengers will make a great difference in the world. I know it, I can see it. And you will change the people around you. The future is
your choice,
each of you. I believe that what you learn and what you pass on to others will save the world someday.”
JJ gulped. That was a lot to expect from them. “What’s next, then?”
“You’ve only just started your mission,” Zota went on. “There is so much more for you to learn—from your schools, from me and from the future. I would like to give you an assignment. Now that you have had a glimpse of the future, choose three things that you believe you should know, and learn everything you can about those things for the next month. When you have done that, I invite you to continue what we began today. Will you return for another of my special simulations?”
“No problem,” Dyl said.
Zota raised an eyebrow. “Remember, you will all be in real danger. Are you brave enough to accept my challenge?”
“I’m in,” JJ said.
“Sure, why not?” Song-Ye said. “I’m just starting to get the hang of this teamwork thing.”
Dyl pretended to speak into a voice recorder. “Cadet’s log: four teenage humans with vast potential are about to embark on a great adventure.”
“Can’t break up the team,” King said. “And that’s what we are, no doubt about it—the Star Challengers.”
“Someone
has to change the future,” JJ summarized. “It might as well be us. We’ll be back, Commander Zota. All of us.”
***