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

Jolene was really excited
about meeting the commander. “We went to college together and have kept in
touch ever since.”
    “Who would
have ever thought we would be together on the Moon?” Jolene commented with a
grin. She was still taking everything in. Linda had promised her a complete
tour of Tycho City after they ate.
    Their food
arrived, and the four continued to talk during the meal. Mase was pleasantly
surprised at how easy he found it was to talk to the two young women. For a
while at least, he was able to take his mind off the danger from the neutron
star.
    After the meal,
Mase returned to his apartment to turn in. He wanted to get a decent night’s
sleep; there was a lot he would have to do the next day. Anthony had gone with
the two girls, commenting that he knew more about Tycho City than Linda did. He
claimed that he could show Jolene some of the more interesting sights. Linda
had grinned and winked knowingly at Mase. Mase sensed that she suspected that
Anthony might have developed an interest in her friend.
    -
    The next
morning, Mase had just finished talking to Julie Gray about Jolene when the com
unit on his desk began beeping, demanding his attention. “What’s going on?” he
asked as he picked up the phone.
    Isaac was on
the other end. “We just lost communications with the operations station on the massif.
We think it might have been a meteor strike.”
    Mase felt a
sudden chill go down his back. Due to the lack of an atmosphere on the Moon,
even small meteors could be dangerous. They didn’t burn up as they did when
they struck the Earth’s thick protective atmosphere. That’s why most of Tycho City was built deep underground.
    “Contact
Anthony and assemble a rescue team,” Mase quickly ordered. “I will be at the launching
platform shortly.”
    It took Mase
only a few minutes to make it to the shuttle-launching platform. He saw that
Isaac, Anthony, and half a dozen other men were already there. All the men,
except Anthony and Isaac, were wearing their bulky spacesuits minus the
helmets. There was no point in going on suit power and oxygen until they
reached the massif and were able to evaluate the situation. His own suit was
inside the shuttle as well as several spares.
    “Have you
heard anything else?” asked Mase, breathing heavily from rushing over to the
launching pad from his office.
    “No, nothing,”
Isaac replied with growing concern on his face. “We were in contact with them
earlier and then everything went silent. We know that some of the antennas are
still working from the telemetry we’re receiving. However, several of the high
gain antennas are silent.”
    Mase knew that
the high gain antennas were the ones closest to the operations building. That
was not a good sign. Those antennas were used primarily for communication with
Earth as well as Star One.
    “We did manage
to train one of our orbiting satellite cameras on the operations building, and
it looks as if it has suffered some damage,” Isaac added with worry in his
voice.
    “What type of
damage?” Mase asked now feeling deep concern for the men and women who were
assigned to that building. Normally there were eight people in the operations
building on the massif. He waited expectantly for Isaac’s answer.
    “It looks as
if part of the roof has caved in on the southern section of the building. If I
had to make a guess, I’d say it was a small meteor strike.”
    Mase gestured
for the men to start loading. Turning back to Isaac, “I will contact you as
soon as we know something. Have the medical staff standing by in case they’re
needed.”
    Moments later,
the shuttle was in flight heading toward the towering massif and the operations
building. Mase looked back at the men who were busy checking their equipment.
This was one of the larger shuttles specifically outfitted to carry out rescue
missions. Occasionally, a scientific mission would get into trouble out on the lunar
surface, and the shuttle would be used