Moon Relics, Page 2

should be shown as a pulsing white dot. Now move around until it appears in the cross hairs.”

  “Right, I’ve got it, now what?” said Jack excitedly. “Okay, now we’ll move apart about fifty feet and get it centred on our screens.” instructed Dave. “Ah, I get the idea, triangulation, is that right?” said Jack as it dawned on him. “Yup, you’re dead right. Now walk forwards slowly keeping the white dot in the cross hairs, and we should meet up right on the spot.” replied Dave. The beeping became more frequent as they got closer and a red warning light was flashing on the screens. Dave almost shouted “Jack, stop right there! The radiation level is getting too high! Back away until the warning light goes off.” “I don’t know how the survey team missed that, they must have had their bloody eyes shut! Heads will roll!” grumbled Dave.

  As they headed back to the buggy Jack asked “What happens now?” “Well, we’ve got the location pinpointed accurately enough; our suit cameras have been recording everything since we started out from the base. I’ll get the survey team to haul their asses back down here to do a proper job this time, hopefully. ” Dave said, smiling grimly.

  The Survey

  After Dave Osbourne had given them all a good dressing down, he gave his instructions to Vince Walker the team leader, with a warning of the high radiation level in the area. The group of three then trundled off in the electric buggy loaded with gear. The journey was pretty boring for them, as they’d all seen the lunar landscape many times before and the novelty had worn off long ago. Having gone as far as they could go in the buggy they unloaded the equipment; some of which, would have weighed over a hundred pounds on Earth, and carried it with ease. The first two of the team squeezed through the gap in the rocks and then the last one passed the equipment through to the others. The location was eventually identified in the distance and they made their way towards it.

  The meter on the Geiger counter started climbing rapidly and Vince gave orders to stop, shouting and waving to the others, “This is quite close enough, we’ll stop here.” They stopped abruptly and placed the equipment on the ground. A small high-tech robotic vehicle, bristling with numerous mechanical appendages was programmed and directed to the target area. After travelling only thirty feet it headed into shadow and the on-board radiation detector sent back reports of a deadly level of radiation. The headlights of the robot had already switched on automatically and a camera panned as it moved forward, searching for something that might explain the excessive radiation.

  Vince was glued to the video monitor as the robot vehicle moved on. The monitor screen suddenly went blank, just after the radiation level had reached the red line! They all watched as the vehicle erupted into a ball of sparks, and then froze, completely motionless.

  Vince thought about sending another robot in, but decided against it as the robots cost thousands and they’d create like hell about it. He said finally, “We’ve got plenty of film footage to show Dave, we’ll wrap up and get back to base; we’ve done our job!”

  You’re Being Watched!

  The two alien beings de-activated their invisibility cloaks to conserve power, as they watched the three figures walk back through the gap in the rocks towards their buggy. “They must have found our key pad, it is not where we left it.” moaned Rezka. “At least the radiation keeps them away from our transmat portal. We will wait until their return.” replied Zelron.

  “What makes you think they’ll be back?” asked Rezka. “They are curious. They will keep looking until they find something.” answered Zelron. “Zelron, we could follow them and enter their camp unseen; retrieve the key pad and transmat back to our world. Our people must be wondering why we haven’t returned yet, for we have been gone for more than seven xlars!” “Let us hurry then Rezka, we have no time to waste. They can’t have got far though, they move so very slowly.” “We could catch up with them easily!” said Rezka smiling.

  Just before the buggy moved off Vince felt it lurch. He put it down to the equipment shifting in the hold and never gave it another thought. The team arrived back at base and the buggy was parked nearby. Vince said “Leave the gear on board, we might need it again soon. Let’s get inside and get these damned suits off.”

  Dave went mad when he was told about the robot vehicle burning out, muttering something about the monthly budget, and said sarcastically, “Okay, let’s have a look at the cartoon!” He plugged the video cartridge into the viewer and watched the footage.” A few seconds before the video came to an end something flashed on the screen. Vince reversed the playback and froze the image. A disc measuring approximately six feet in diameter and covered in a blue crystalline substance was lying flat on the ground, shown in a pin sharp image.

  Infiltration

  Rezka and Zelron climbed out of the back of the buggy and made their way to the airlock, switching on their invisibility cloaks as they went. “Our power packs are getting low Rezka, we won’t be able to stay invisible for much longer. We must find the key pad very quickly and get back to the portal before we are seen.” said Zelron worriedly.

  Susan Worthing looked around as she heard the airlock cycling but saw nobody leaving it. She swore under her breath and muttered “I’d better alert maintenance about that straight away!” The alien intruders froze for a moment, forgetting their invisibility and then continued into the complex. Several people felt the slightest of draughts as Rezka and Zelron searched the domes and corridors for their transmat key pad. They finally came to the very last dome that it could possibly be in.

  “If it’s not in here we have failed.” said Rezka as they walked into the workshop. The key pad lay almost hidden behind a tray. “There it is!” exclaimed Zelron, almost shouting with glee. Just at that precise moment Dave Osbourne was walking past the workshop and heard the noise. He had a quick look inside thinking it might be Jack. Seeing nobody, he left shaking his head and saying quietly, “Damn, I’m hearing things now! Maybe this place is starting to get to me!”

  Rezka quickly picked up the key pad and said to Zelron “We must go now, our power packs are almost out. I will leave the data card as we don’t really need it.” Laughing, Zelron said “It will give them something to study, and puzzle about.” They carefully made their way back to the airlock where one of the maintenance crew was checking it for faults. The airlock electronics seemed to check out alright so he pressed the cycling button to give it a final test.

  There was a gentle hiss as the compartment air pressure was equalised and the internal door swung open. Rezka and his companion saw their opportunity and managed to get inside before the door closed again. The maintenance engineer caught a brief glimpse of the key pad, apparently floating in the air unaided, and fainted.

  While they were waiting for the outer door to open, Zelron’s power pack began to fade and he started to become visible. As he flickered into view they finally managed to make their escape and started on the six mile journey back to where the transmat device was hidden.

  The Artefact is missing!

  The maintenance engineer awoke on a bed in the medical centre babbling about things floating around in the air. Dave was notified and came in to try and calm him down. All he got from the engineer was “A grey box went through the airlock. We’ve got a ghost!” Dave rushed down to the workshop with one thing on his mind. He couldn’t find the artefact anywhere, after nearly tearing the place apart “Damn, the box has gone!” he blurted.

  He suited up, waited for the airlock to open while cursing at the time it was taking and jumped in the electric buggy, flooring it to the maximum speed. The electric motor whined and the balloon tyres spat moon rubble as he sped off. The buggy leaned and wobbled as he swerved to miss obstacles, in total disregard for his own safety. Almost reaching the end of the six mile trip, he thought he saw something in the distance; what looked like two figures running at great speed towards the gap in the rocks. Every now and again one of them would disappear and reappear. He brought the buggy to a halt, climbed out, and followed the running
aliens, who kept glancing back at him. “I’ve got a damned good idea where they’re going!” Dave gasped, trying to keep up with them.

  Rezka pressed a symbol on the key pad to shut down the nuclear radiation shield, saying to Zelron “Quickly, get on the transmat, he has almost reached us.” The crystalline surface pulsed with undulating light patterns as they stood on its surface. Escape was now just a matter of initiating the transmat by pressing four symbols. Zelron wondered why Rezka was taking so long with the key pad, and said, panicking “Why have we not left yet? What is wrong?” Rezka replied ashamedly “I have forgotten the sequence, if I press the wrong symbols we could end up anywhere!”

  Dave stood watching them and wondering what was going on when Rezka walked off the transmat towards him and showed him the key pad; pointing at the symbols and shaking his head. Surprisingly, Dave didn’t panic, he just stared at the alien and the key pad he was holding. It suddenly dawned on him what was wrong and dashed back to the buggy, hopped in and drove like a madman.

  Emergency Situation

  He reached the base in a record ten minutes, driving recklessly, went through the airlock and headed to the