Star One: Tycho City Survival by Raymond L. Weil Page A

being
overheard.
    “Yes,” replied
Mase, recalling his earlier conversation with Isaac and Steffan. “It makes
sense if we’re going to try to survive here on the Moon. It will give us added
protection from any harmful radiation from the neutron star as well as
increased solar activity from our own sun. However, we might be able to achieve
the same thing if we expand the new cavern we have started to work on right
here at Tycho City. Steffan and Isaac are going to look at both options.”
    “What about
family members on Earth; can we bring some of them up? I have a younger sister
attending college at Stanford, and I know your brother Phillip was already
considering bringing his family to Tycho City. I suspect once everyone knows
what’s happening there will be numerous requests to bring their families and
close friends up to Tycho City.”
    “We can probably
bring some,” Mase replied startled at the suggestion and beginning to realize
how many people they might be talking about.
    Mase’s eyes
grew wide at the thought. In all of the discussions thus far, this was
something he hadn’t actually thought about yet. He realized now that it might
be necessary to build the new Tycho City much larger than the current one. This
would drastically affect plans that had been made earlier. He knew he was going
to have to speak to Isaac and Steffan before they made too many plans.
    Instead of
2,500 people, they might be talking about closer to 5,000 or even more. He also
realized there were a lot of people that might be essential to their survival
that were not even living on the Moon. That would be even more people they
would have to make room for. This might mean expanding the new cavern would be
the best option to accommodate such a large population. His thoughts were
interrupted as he saw Linda and another young woman walk into the restaurant. Mase
was surprised; he very seldom saw Linda away from the office.
    Linda looked
around. Spotting Mase and Anthony, she made a beeline for their table.
    “Hello,
Linda,” Mase said in a friendly voice, forcing a smile. He didn’t want to sound
distressed in front of Linda and the other young woman. “Who is your friend?”
    “Hi, this is Jolene;
she’s going to start working in the horticulture department.”
    “Want to join
us?” Anthony asked with a pleasant smile as he looked at Linda’s friend. Jolene
was an exceptionally good-looking young woman with dark black hair reaching
down to her shoulders.
    Linda looked
at Mase, wanting his approval. Normally she didn’t socialize with anyone she
worked with. She had actually come over to the table just to be polite, plus
Jolene had wanted to meet the commander.
    “Sure,” Mase
spoke up, gesturing toward two empty chairs at the table. “We just ordered, and
Anthony was starting to run out of things to say anyway.”
    The two girls
sat down and the four quickly became engrossed in talking about Tycho City. Mase found out that Jolene had just recently arrived from Star One, where she
had been working with Star One’s head horticulturist, Julie Gray.
    “Julie’s
absolutely brilliant,” exclaimed Jolene, excitedly. She couldn’t believe she
was actually sitting at a table with Tycho City’s commander. “She is setting
Star One up to be totally self-sufficient. It won’t be long before they’re
growing nearly all of their own food. Julie has already nearly made the station
self-sufficient in water and oxygen use. They’re currently recycling nearly ninety-six
percent of their water and producing nearly ninety-eight percent of their own oxygen.”
    Mase looked
over at Anthony with a knowing look. If this young woman had worked with Julie
Gray, she could be quite useful in their present situation. He would give Julie
a call in the morning to see just what she thought of Jolene. He was glad now
that Linda had brought the young woman over to meet him.
    “I have known
Jolene for years,” Linda added with a smile. She knew