Episode 2 – The Unexpected Discovery
Chapter 1
It was sunrise on the Earth's only natural satellite and the warm light was breaking through the artificial atmosphere on The Moon. The year was 2120, around thirty years after the Moon had been partially colonised by humans. There had been a number of scientific research bases on the surface since the mid twenty first century but with the Earth feeling the effects of global warming, additional funding was given in the 2080's to establish an artificial environment on the Moon. Now the surface was covered by large scale developments, all owned by the rich and powerful. Money still talked in the twenty second century and only the rich could afford to live on the Moon.
The residential section of the Moon was on the so called 'Light Side of The Moon', the side that usually faced Earth. There were still research bases on the Moon but they were as far away from the town and cities as possible. Unseen by the population of Earth and ignored by their neighbours, the scientific community on the Dark Side of The Moon almost had a culture of their own. Earth had seen a number of wars during the twenty first century, allowing the Dark Siders to almost becoming self governing. They sold their technology and inventions to whoever was willing to pay the most. They were the shady faces of scientific mercenaries in the twenty second century.
Floyd Section Gamma, FSEC as it was more commonly known, was one of the smaller institutions but with a reputation for innovative designs. From the outside the base looked small compared to some others. There was one large hangar, solid black in colour sitting in the middle of the complex. Connected to the hangar were six glass tubes that linked to the same number of small buildings. These buildings were three storeys high, a light silver in colour with a few round windows. Surrounding the complex was an invisible laser fence that was lethal to anyone who tried to pass through.
For the last few years, FSEC had been suspiciously quiet. The odd sale was made but on the whole, the complex had been in a state of lock down for the duration. What the public didn't know was that the population of FSEC had been dwindling prior to the lockdown. Only six people occupied the site now and all of them were focused on one major project but it had the potential to be the most lucrative one yet.
The central hangar had two sections, an inner square where their equipment was set up and an outer section where a number of operating stations were set up. The primary operating station had a large viewing screen and with a triangular desk set up in the middle. There was a small gap inside the triangle where the lead scientist was frantically typing away on the various computers that were set up. Will Lancaster was a small man in his early forties with greying dark hair. He reached on top of his head and pulled down a pair of thick framed glasses. He was a world renown scientist who had been something of a teenage wunderkind, making his first million before he turned sixteen. Prior to joining FSEC he was a lecturer at Oxford University. Will fiddled nervously with his glasses before placing them on his face and continued to type away. He was wearing the standard uniform of FSEC, a loose fitting orange boiler suit but he had customised his uniform with a white lab coat.
The door opened and a tall female woman stepped inside. The room was a mess with wires, circuit boards and leftover food littering the floor. Her face scrunched up as the smell from the room hit the back of her throat. The odour of rotting food was almost overwhelming and it took the blonde a couple of seconds to regain her composure. Her hair was tied back in a tight bun and her strong looking jaw clenched at the state of the room, "I hope you plan on cleaning this up William", she growled. Her English was perfect but there was a hint of an Eastern European accent.
The scientist briefly looked up at the woman but quickly turned his attention back to his work, "We're on the verge of the biggest scientific breakthrough of all time and you're worried about a little bit of mess", he replied with a thick Welsh accent, "you need to sort out your priorities Olga".
Olga Kurychenko was the second in command at FSEC. A woman of few words, she wasn't afraid to speak her mind and the chief scientist was usually on the receiving end of her sharp tongue. She was a former soldier who was the most recent recruit to the staff of FSEC. Her cold attitude created rumours that she used emotional suppressors, something that was illegal for anyone outside the military. As this was a special day for FSEC so she reigned in her usual acidic retort and grumbled, "Just make sure this is working properly". Will gave the woman a small, mocking salute and continued to focus on his work. Olga muttered something under her breath and turned sharply on her heel, stomping out of the room as loudly as she could.
Will's lab was in the south east section of the building. Oleg moved past the east operating room and towards the east tunnel. The building was solid metal and every corridor looked the same, a dull grey colour with fluorescent lighting. The only identifying features were the occasion sign reminding them which side of the square hangar they were in. FSEC's second in command reached an airlock and used her keycard to access the east tunnel. Once inside she could go in two different directions, to her right was the door that led to one of the outer building on the base. She chose to head left and buzzed herself through the door, this way led to the inner section of the hangar.
Inside the main hangar was a raised platform and standing on the platform was a glass floor marked with two large circles. Surrounding the platform were several metal pillars that were supporting a similar looking glass structure directly above the one on the floor. Several cables were running in all directions and were plugged in the main electricity generators.
Standing around the platform were a short woman with chin length brown hair and a burly looking man with a shaved head. The man greeted Olga with a curt nod but the woman didn't seem too bothered by the appearance of the bases second in command, "Van Der Merwe, Brinkley", she greeted the man and woman in turn, "everything operational?"
"The electricity feed is running", Katherine Brinkley replied with a breezy English voice, "as long as Will does his job then we'll be ready to go in five minutes". Katherine was the secondary scientist on this project, offering support to Will wherever possible. She was the polar opposite to Will in terms of personality, she preferred to play things by the book whereas he was more of a mad scientist type. She was actually one of Will's former students at Oxford and had joined FSEC in conjunction with her ex-professor and another student.
The other person was a Moon native by the name of Michel Van Der Merwe. His family were amongst the first to move to the Moon in the late twenty first century. He stood well over six feet tall and was powerfully built. In the heyday of FSEC he was the bases security officer but with only five other occupants, the role looked a little redundant, "You're the one making this journey Kat, not him", Michel reminded the scientist, speaking with his usual gravelly tone, "if he doesn't do his job, you'll end up looking like a tin of spaghetti".
"Try not to remind me Mick", Kat groaned. She turned her head slightly and called out in a loud voice, "It's bad enough I lost that bet with our resident grease monkey".
"Not my fault your poker face is terrible", a voice called out from somewhere in the hangar. Moments later someone rappelled down from the upper structure and landed next to Kat with a heavy thump, "Consider yourself lucky it wasn't strip poker", the man added with a cheeky smile. Townsend Prescott was a native of the United States of Camerica, an amalgamation of the former USA and Canada that was created after the Second Civil War of 2065. He was the youngest of the crew at just twenty two and he long black hair was kept in place with a grease stained bandana. Like Kat he was a former student of Will Lancaster's.
"Just tell me you haven't pulled out something vital", Kat said with a pleading voice.
"Relax mon chere", Townsend smiled, "every nut and bolt on that thing has been checked and double checked, nothing can go wrong".
"Please don't say that spanner boy", Olga grunted, "are you trying to curse this mission".
"Alright that's enough everyone", the voice of FSEC's commanding officer called out. Unlike the others, he was dressed in an orange pressure suit with a helmet tucked underneath his arm. He had dark skin, a scruffy looking beard and his curly afro style hair was kept in place with a red beret.
"Sorry Colonel Pink", Townsend apologised, "it won't happen again".
Colonel Orson Pink gave the boy a small glare before waving him away, "Kat you should get dressed into your pressure suit, the experiment will begin in ten minutes". The young scientist nodded and quickly moved towards the north operating room to get changed, "Everyone else, assume your positions".
Michel and Townsend departed towards the south east room where Will was stationed but Olga stayed behind for a moment. Orson and Olga were unlikely friends, built on respect rather than true friendship. They were occasional lovers but there was never a suggestion there would be anything more between the pair. Even during the intimate moments, the blonde haired woman retained her cool exterior. Today though, Olga had a serious look on her face as she gently touched his face, "Come back safe Pinky", she whispered.
For a moment Orson thought he could see a look of concern on her face but that very quickly disappeared. "Don't plan on doing anything different", he smiled in response and he kissed her gently on the lips. As they broke apart, Kat reappeared dressed in her pressure suit. She looked a little embarrassed to have ruined the moment, opting to tip toe around them and make her way over to the platform. Olga grunted in annoyance and quickly retreated, leaving Orson alone with the scientist, "You have the worst timing in the world", he said to her in annoyance.
"Sorry Colonel", she apologised meekly, "won't happen again".
Orson sighed, "Try to relax Kat, this whole thing could go wrong if we're tense". It was a nice attempt to calm the young woman's nerve but it didn't seem to be having much effect.
In the south east control room, everyone else gathered at the glass viewing window to watch the experiment unfold. From his control position, Will activated a digital clock in the room which showed the current time of 7:23AM. "Alright we're ready to go", the lead scientist announced and pushed up on a lever on his control panel. "Connecting to the vortex", he stated, "vortex established".
"Set the timer for one minute", Orson called out through the radio in his helmet.
"Confirmed Colonel, time vortex set for one minute", Will answered and checked the time, it was now 7:24AM. The lights in the room began to dim as all power was diverted to the structure on the platform, "10 seconds", Will said and began a silent countdown in his head. Everyone held their breath as exactly 10 seconds later, Colonel Pink and Kat Brinkley disappeared in a flash of light.
"Did it work?" Olga asked the lead scientist. She looked out into the hangar but there was no sign of her colleagues. The atmosphere felt highly charged with electricity and the blonde could almost feel it pressing against her chest.
Will tapped away on his system before answering, "Looks like it", he smiled, "I'm happy to confirm that on this day at exactly 7:25AM, Orson Pink and Katherine Brinkley became humanity's first recorded time travellers.
"Let's wait until they come back before popping the champagne corks", Townsend tempered the mood slightly, much to the annoyance of the other FSEC member's.
The quartet nervously looked at the clock and waited for a minute to pass. At exactly 7:26AM there was another flash and the two time travellers reappeared on the platform. They swayed around on the platform before slowly sinking to their knees, "Computer security override, authorisation code Kurychenko Delta 326", Olga called out. The electricity to the inner hangar was cut, leaving just emergency lighting and the glass security screen instantly descended.
The quartet hopped through the gap and sprinted to the platform where Orson and Kat had reappeared. They were relieved to see that the pair were slowly removing their helmets. They looked a little sweaty and pale but otherwise they appeared to be in good shape, "Boss, are you alright", Michel called out.
"Nothing a stiff drink won't cure", Orson smiled.
"We should get you checked out anyway", Olga stated, "can't be too careful".
"It worked though right?" Kat asked hopefully.
Will nodded, "I'm looking at the world's first time travellers", the pair smiled weakly as Michel and Olga helped them down from the platform.
"Townsend check out the rig, make sure that everything survived the jump", Orson ordered. The young engineer nodded as the other five left him alone inside the inner hangar.
"Great, leave me alone in the dark hangar", Townsend grumbled. He grabbed a torch and began to inspect the platform but nothing appeared to be out of place. He would have to return once power had been restored to do a full check. He was about to leave when he heard something from the other side of the hangar. He wasn't sure but it sounded like radio static, "Hello", he called out, "anyone there".
There was no response and he shrugged it off, putting it down to the long hours he had put in the night before. He moved towards the east entrance when he heard the noise again, this time though he spun around and shone his light towards the sound, "Kat, you scared me", he grasped his chest. The person in front of him looked like Kat but it wasn't reacting like her. Her facial expression was blank and she was moving in a very slow, almost deliberate manner. Townsend watched as her mouth opened and a brief burst of static echoed throughout the hangar. Kat's body flickered like a static interruption, "Kat?" Townsend whispered but the thing in front of him wasn't Katherine Brinkley.
Townsend could feel his heart beginning to beat faster inside his chest. Whatever this creature was it didn't look friendly. He turned around and ran towards the east entrance but in the dark, he had gotten disorientated and he slammed into the wall. He bounced away and held his nose, only to bump into Colonel Pink, or more accurately, passed right through his body. The image of Orson Pink snarled and screeched loudly with a high pitched whine. Townsend screamed in terror but moments later, he was silenced permanently. The creature touched his body and his skin began to darken before his body crumbled into dust. The creatures masquerading as Orson and Kat cried out loudly as their bodies flickered between solid and a static image.
A/N – First attempt at some original monsters and some original cannon fodder...I mean guest stars to the story. Obviously you'll recognise Orson Pink from the episode "Listen" but with a slightly modified backstory that shall be revealed later. Next time the hero of our story shows her face...