Elevation, page 2
Their superior on Earth, Major Sara Edmundsen had even given them a little lecture about it. “If you arrive during local work hours, they can quite legitimately demand that you look at their problem straight away. For the sake of a healthy working relationship, just have a little look, no matter how tired you are. Just to keep in their good books.”
So this was going to be one of those occasions.
They walked with Major Vika across the arrival hall of the settlement, a multi-storey space inside the main dome, which housed a couple of small shops, all of them with very little to do. A group of admin officers sat at a cafe, but it was clearly mid-shift, and the bulk of the base had a post to attend.
In most of these bases, there would be a smattering of parents with young children, but there were none of those.
They crossed the hall into a wing that housed admin offices as well as a small hospital, a uniform depot and something named “Distribution Centre” which was the busiest place Jonathan had seen.
The corridors were quite bare, although obviously someone had made recent efforts to improve the communal spaces with plants, some of them fake.
The research lab was a small but well appointed facility on the top floor of an otherwise unremarkable apartment block within the main dome of the base. Vika said that there were other domes, but that they were mostly for industrial and military purposes and that the main dome housed all the administrative work and residential sectors.
Three Research Officers were working in the lab, and they greeted Major Vika when he came in.
He announced, “These are Research Officers Lieutenant Bartell and Larsen of the Special Division. They will spend some time with us.”
More nods. No one commented or asked questions.
Vika took Jonathan and Gaby into an office off the main lab room and offered them a seat.
"Do you want tea?" he asked.
“We’re right thanks,” Gaby said.
Jonathan gathered that she felt as frazzled as he, and also really wanted to go to her accommodation so that they could freshen up. She didn't want to prolong this initial visit.
“I’ll show you the basics of the problem.” Vika bustled about with his computer, and after a while he brought a couple of satellite images to the screen.
“We’re dealing with this area here. These are some recent images from the surface around the base. As you can see, this area here is different from this area over here.” Vika pointed at areas in two different images.
Jonathan had to force his concentration, but it was quite obvious once he did see it. One of the surfaces was much smoother, with many small ridges, instead of bigger, deeper cracks.
“The sub-surface layer of Miranda contains a region of liquid water, which we call the danger zone.”
Jonathan nodded. It was well established that the types of organisms that could infect human bases lived in liquid water.
“The lack of large features indicates that the surface crust is thinner, which allows the bacteria that live under the ice to come to the surface. I’ve ordered this area on the western side of the base to be closed, because our sampling has detected bacteria, and they are spread around by trucks and vehicles moving across the ice."
"Yes," Jonathan said. "I have seen areas like this at Europa and Ganymede as well. These are areas where the surface crust is thin, and the organisms that live in the liquid layer can easily break through. This surface area is a weak point. What do you know about these organisms and the type of trouble they cause?”
“We have evidence that these microbes are invasive and spreading around the base. I have a long list of locations where the bacteria have been found. I have another list of cases of disease in the personnel of the base. I’ll send that to you so that you can look through it.”
“Thank you.”
"What is the general nature of their sickness?" Gaby asked.
“Mostly problems with the digestive tract. Some other conditions. You’ll find all those details in the files. I’m not a medical doctor, as you will appreciate. The patients had a range of symptoms, but the common factor was that they had all been working in that area, or had contact with equipment that had been in the area.”
“Thank you. I will look through it,” she said.
Jonathan was too tired to think clearly.
Major Vika told them about stacks of samples he and his team had collected. Jonathan asked if they would be collecting their own material, but Vika said it was probably not necessary, because “the less interference with the site, the better.”
"Look, is it all right if we start on this tomorrow? We've just arrived and we’re tired and hungry. I don't feel fresh enough to look at this with the attention it deserves.”
Major Vika let them go, although reluctantly, after giving them instructions on how to get to their accommodation.
The complex was in the same dome, near the perimeter, in close proximity of the curved surface of the transparent bubble.
From the gallery that ran outside the doors of the short-term stay apartments, you could see through the scratched cover of the dome to other parts of the settlement: concrete tunnels and a concrete bunker, a square and ugly thing without windows.
“Weapons research,” Gaby said in a low voice, when Jonathan stopped to look at it. “That’s what they do here. Most of the base is dedicated to it.”
“To fight imaginary alien invasions,” Jonathan said, in an equally low voice.
It was an opinion that non-military people, especially politicians, on Earth liked to put forward: that the Force pushed spending on defensive capability by hyping up the threat of alien invasion. There was an alien invasion, in the form of billions upon billions of microbes.
But he guessed they had to test weapons somewhere.
The room itself was nice, with modern furniture and soft lighting. A screen against the back wall gave the illusion of a window overlooking a landscape of jagged ice shards glittering in the airless environment outside.
"What a weird guy," Gaby said while sitting down on the bed and pulling off her shoes.
"You can say that again. Why do I get the feeling he doesn’t like to share things?”
“Or let us collect our own data.”
Jonathan sighed. “He may be right that it’s quicker and less risky for us to use his samples. I’ll have to look at the stuff he’s sent us. I’m sure there is a pressing reason why we needed to come here in a hurry, but he doesn’t seem to be terribly good at explaining.”
Gaby laughed. “You’re too kind. Some of these scientists are so wrapped up in their work that they get bogged in details and forget to explain the big picture.”
“Great. Another science-obsessed nerd.”
Gaby laughed and put her arms around Jonathan.
He hugged her and kissed the top of her head.
In the last few months they had to come so much closer together. They would work great as a team.
"Have you given any more thought to the question I asked?” she said.
"That would be about a wedding, right?"
"You would be right."
"I honestly can't think what we can do that will satisfy both our families. I'm not even sure I want to satisfy my family. I don't know that they deserve it."
"Oh yes they do. They’re your family."
"But I don't see, with our families being as separated as they are, how we can get them all into the same place and not put anyone out because it's too far or too expensive to travel.” In fact, he wasn't sure that he really wanted a wedding party. It sounded like a big bother to him.
He would much rather hold a small ceremony for some friends, but Gaby had pointed out that most of their friends were scattered around the place as well.
They had been talking about this for months, and recently the subject had resurfaced. Jonathan knew that something needed to be done about it. If they were legally partners, life would become easier, especially when navigating these old-fashioned backwaters.
"We could just elope," he said. To him that seemed most logical of solutions.
“We could, but I want to do something meaningful. You know, because people don't get married so often any more, and it's not really necessary for being each other's partner, although the military really likes it. We could just have a small ceremony, but in the old days they used to have these big parties and lots of people would come in that would be dancing and flowers and all that stuff."
"Now you're just being a romantic."
"I am a romantic," she said. “You don't even realise you’re one, too."
He knew she was right about that, and that was the reason that he hadn't pressed on with having just a small ceremony. He wanted to do something special as well, but he didn't care enough about his family to involve them, he knew that Gaby didn't really care enough about her family to involve them either, and they were out of ideas as to what to do instead.
Chapter Four
Jonathan and Gaby had a shower, changed into clean clothes and then went in search of something to eat.
That search was short. The receptionist at the accommodation—a man in base uniform, who also appeared to be responsible for ordering supplies—told them that the only place to get food after the end of shift was the canteen, and that their names had already been added to the list of inhabitants. What about the cafe, Jonathan asked.
Gaby always said that one way to look at what was happening in a settlement was to observe a group of people in a community setting. Very often that was the street or the restaurants or wherever people went to socialise and get their meals. A cafe would be so much better than a base canteen, but no, the receptionist said that the cafe was closed after the end of the day’s shift.
They didn’t serve substantial meals. He said something about needing approval to import non-standard food items, whatever that was supposed to mean.
This did not increase Jonathan’s confidence about the quality of the food.
The receptionist further informed them that there were eight hundred independent people without families on the base, the canteen seated one hundred and fifty, and everyone got timeslots for eating.
Jonathan and Gaby’s slot was coming up.
They knew the drill. This was the way it was organised in the military ships.
The canteen itself was a cheerless room with rows of tables and chairs and a serving area at the back. It looked like it was taken directly from a catalogue of cheap designs. Apart from the furniture, it was empty. In Jonathan’s experience, these places were usually full of photographs and mementos from the base, like a cabinet of awards that were internally given out for leisure events and noticeboards about people buying and selling and upcoming social events.
All those things were in the forecourt instead, which was a much more interesting place with tables and chairs and lots of plants, although many of them were artificial, and the ones that were not were growing at strange angles with the low gravity.
The noticeboards on the walls advertised items for sale and various types of services for hire. Gaby pointed out a notice about an upcoming outdoor art exhibition.
“Remember they were doing the same thing at Johnson? They had buggies drive people around the artworks.”
“Yeah, maybe we can actually get to see it this time.”
Because at Johnson, they had been too busy.
The canteen was still occupied by the previous shift, so Jonathan and Gaby waited outside, seated on the edge of a basin of a large planter box. A fountain dribbled in the middle of the arrangement, but even the water was behaving strangely, bubbling and creeping up the side of the basin.
A lot of people had gathered in the hall and were waiting, with more arriving all the time. Apparently it was very important to be on time in this place.
Most of the people stood in groups and were wearing military uniforms. Most of them were technical personnel. They talked and laughed loudly, and no one made any move to introduce themselves to Jonathan and Gaby, or to a group of other people who were clearly visitors to the base.
There were five of them, two women and three men, standing near the door, casting glances into the canteen. One man was older, but the others were all young. Several of them wore long flowing trousers and colourful shirts. Obviously not military.
"I wonder what those people are doing here," Gaby said.
That was a very good question. They seemed extremely out of place.
The group in the canteen was finished, and people started streaming out of the dining room.
They were all military people, most of them in uniform. Jonathan made a study of the patches on people’s chests to see which division they belonged to. These people were mostly wearing patches with name of the base on their chest, and some of them had other patches as well. All appeared to be from higher ranks. It seemed the dining shifts were tiered.
Young was one of the people coming out of the dining hall. He recognised Jonathan and Gaby, and greeted them.
"The menu is good today," he said.
Then they were allowed in, while the attendants were still wiping the tables.
Everyone seemed to have their own spots, and Jonathan and Gaby were left with a table in the corner, which was also shared by the group of five colourfully dressed visitors.
Jonathan and Gaby went to get their food, and drinks and sat down again.
One of the young men nodded a greeting at Jonathan.
"Are you also visitors?" Jonathan asked.
"Yes we are.”
“You don’t look military.”
The man laughed. “We’re not military. We are artists.”
"Artists?" Jonathan had to make an effort not to laugh. That was the last thing he expected.
“The ones doing the art exhibition,” Gaby said.
“Yes, are you coming to see it?” a purple-haired woman asked.
“If we have time.”
The young men introduced themselves as Mohammed and Christopher. Both had unruly dark beards. The women’s names were Violet and Celeste who had dyed their hair purple and blue, befitting their names. The older man’s name was Ari and he was easily the one most likely to be deemed “acceptable” by the Force, except perhaps for his goatee, even if most bases now allowed facial hair. But his hair was neatly clipped and his clothing would fit the military’s definition of “normal”.
“I’m guessing you’re part of the Brighten Up project?" Gaby asked them.
Jonathan could hit himself. Of course they were. It was a project that the upper command loved to point to as making an attempt to address mental health issues in their bases.
“Yes, we are,” Ari said. “Have you heard of it?”
“There were some projects at Johnson Base at the Moon when we were there a while ago,” Jonathan said. “Is your exhibition something like that?”
“Yes, we are installing sculptures and interactive works outside the base so that people can go and have a look at it and enjoy themselves and interact with the hostile environment. There will be sculptures, a light show set to a soundscape and a few exciting projects that you’ll have to experience for yourselves.”
“Sounds interesting. What is the focus of the exhibition?”
“Light. Because there is so little of it out here.”
“So are you using artificial light in the installations?” Gaby asked.
“No, the interesting part is that the ice is home to a number of fluorescent bacteria, so we’re using them in our installations.”
“I read something about those,” Gaby said. “Don’t they need special conditions?”
The woman Violet spoke up. “No. Most of them react to each other’s presence. So first we have to increase the growth rate of the bacteria inside the ice blocks we’re using. When the density is high enough they will produce light by themselves. Like sometimes the ocean on Earth can glow at night. Sorry, I find this interesting. I’m actually a biologist by training.”
“It is interesting,” Jonathan said. “I’m a biologist, too.”
She laughed. “Well, I guess at least you’re working in the field.”
“Somewhat. I help bases solve recycling and contamination issues. By the way, how did you manage to get the base command to let you go outside?”
A small frown crossed her face. “Our work is outside. There would be little point in letting us come if we couldn’t leave the base.” She met Jonathan’s eyes, her expression concerned. “Is there a problem with going outside?”
“No I was just asking. They seem to be very strict with their permits.”
But a bunch of artists, apparently, did not constitute a threat to the base… which made little sense at all, if the game was the prevention of contamination of the base.
“No, we never noticed any trouble, at least not with that.” The concerned tone did not leave her voice.
“But you had trouble with different things?”
She shrugged. ”We’re used to it. They invite us, but few people actually like us. They all come to look at our works, but they laugh at us. We’re intruders in these highly tech-focused bases, I get it. It's really hard to get anything done in this place. Everyone just blames us and goes like the commander said this and the commander said that. We need to apply for permission for almost everything. Because we’re here by direction of the upper command, they can’t refuse, but it just takes so long, and they make it clear that it wasn’t their choice to accept us. It’s especially bad in this base, but I’d just assumed it was because of Katie Walker."
“Who is that?” Jonathan asked.
“You haven’t heard of her?”
“No.” Jonathan wondered if he’d missed something vital. He had read up on the locality of the base, on the known micro-organisms that had been found under the ice crust of the moon, but had assumed the base personnel to be of the standard military variety.
“Katie was a member of the crew here. She had some unconventional ideas that ranged from interesting to completely off the charts. She was a very social person, had a large circle of friends and when base command objected to her ideas, she ran out to one of the outer domes, and started a cult. People were coming from all over. Eventually she needed to be removed from the base by force."
