Luna Mortis

Prologue: A very lucky break

Year: 2511

Location: In-route to Ladon Lunar Research Station

A very lucky break. Maybe lucky isn't the correct word for such drastic and fatal scenarios that I have evaded. Two weeks prior, I was a psychiatrist aboard the space station Titan, when they brought him to the medical wing. He was strapped to a gurney, sedated, but was thrashing about wildly in his medicated stupor. It was simply amazing to watch him fight the sedatives with such prowess. Dr. Edgars was in charge of this patient and he took great interest in him, as did we all. The Unitologists were muttering about him before he even came to us, that he was some sort of 'destroyer' as they put it. Others were saying that he could save us all with what was buried deep in his estrange mind. His name was Isaac Clarke. I was never apart of the group of doctors who were assigned to him but we could all hear him from Edgars' office. Screaming out a woman's name and constant rabble. When I had night shifts I could hear him running and crying in his padded room. A certain night, two nights before I left, and three before the incident, he was throwing his entire body against his door. I was sitting at my desk, all alone, listening to the constant thud and screech of the door. I contacted Edgars who came running and he just watched Isaac in torment through the door's window. The next morning, before I was relieved, Isaac was crying and upsetting the other patients who were unfortunate enough to be able to hear him. Edgars took him back to his office for another round of probing. With that came more screams and constant denials. I was contacted by my supervisor about an opportunity at the Ladon Lunar Research Station and I seized it immediately. It was on the far reaches of charted space, a crew of twenty, and I would be in charge of the medical wing. I don't know why I took the job so hurriedly, I barely thought before accepting. Maybe it was this feeling I had growing in my stomach or maybe I just couldn't stand the noise from Clarke any longer. Whatever the reason was, it was the best choice I ever made. I lived. When news of Titan reached me on the Mars Colony, I was dumbfounded and abhorred. The government was being very hushed about the details but the footage we saw of the station on fire and plunging into its self was incredible. The Unitologists on the other hand were preparing for some sort of awakening, chanting and talking of rapture. From what I heard, no one survived the incident, not even Isaac Clarke. So yeah, I guess it was a lucky break.

I leaned back in my chair, letting my aching back be pampered by the seats massaging action, when I noticed the man next to me. He was of average height with black hair and a scar at the base of his ear. A CEC badge was a shining medal on his uniform's shoulder. He was coming to the Lunar station, why? What on earth would bring CEC all the way out to Ladon? From what I heard, it was a barren, uninhabitable wasteland in space, completely devoid of all natural resources. The shuttle bounced as we approached the end of the shock-point travel. The shuttle that carried me towards the station was small and more of a cargo transport. I could see the two pilots in the cockpit, talking back and forth and watching videos on their rigs, as the autopilot was in command. "Barry Eckhardt," the man spoke to me, his hand outstretched and ready.

"Victor Stahl." I replied, shaking his hand, "What brings you out here?"

"Well, the company wants some samples of the moon. I know its probably a long shot, for something of value to be buried in that waste of galaxy, but can't beat the pay. Drop a lot of change for a surveyor to come all the way out here. You a doctor?"

"Yeah," I shifted in my seat, "psychiatrist."

"So they think we are going to need one of your head juggles out here?"

"There have been cases of breakdowns, being so far in space and living in small quarters. Its not uncommon."

"Well," he tapped his head with his knuckles, "no one's getting in here doc. Where were you before this?"

"I was on Titan Station, believe it or not."

"Did you see Clarke?"

"Yes...how did you know?"

The pilot yelled back to us, indicating our arrival at the station. Barry turned away from me and I mulled over his Clarke inquiry. I saw the station from out the window, a massive cylinder with a bulging middle of glass and steel. It created a shadow as we approached, cutting the sun in half and drawing us into its darkness. The middle, I assumed was the main floor, adorned in glass that was now covered with thick radiation shields.

Barry whistled, "See either end, Doc? M.G.D.s- Magnetic Gyro Displacers-essentially massive magnets that repeal gravity and keep it situated without draining any power. Amazing."

Ladon was below the station, a while and grey ball of rock, seeming massive, but only a speck in the blanket of stars around. The pilots spoke to the station and prepared for landing. I checked my luggage under the seat and turned back to Barry as I heard Isaac's screams echo in my head.

"What do you know about Clarke?" I asked him, almost accusingly.

"What do you mean, Doc?" He replied in a child like manner.

"Isaac Clarke. You wanted to know if I saw him...and I did. How do you know him?" I was concerned.

"I don't know what you're saying, Doc. Maybe you should have someone play around in that head of yours. Excuse me." Barry stood and walked to the restroom. I looked down at my hands. They were shaking.

II

We landed in the small hanger bay, barely enough room for the ship and the supplies scattered throughout the space. Barry didn't say another word to me, just kept quite in his seat, playing some game on his RIG. The pilots prodded us off the ship and left a second later. A man entered from the door at the end of the triangular shaped room. Barry and I stood still, our cargo in hand, as the man walked briskly towards us.

"Marcus Aner," He nodded to us both, "you must be the surveyor they've been talking about. And you, the good Doctor Stahl. Shame about Titan, I had a friend who worked in engineering. Follow me."

We traced the tall man's steps across the hanger. He had a strict walk, arms tied to his sides and back like a pole. His hair was thinning and most of it had crept away from the back of his skull, leaving a gleaming circle at his crown. We followed him into an elevator that shot up at alarming speed and came to a hydraulic hiss of a stop. Out of the elevator was a world of artificial bright light and sterile floors that molded into the walls.

"This is the main floor, the observatory as we call it. Its the only true floor, the one above and below are cramp engineering spaces for the M.G.D.s." Aner spoke with pride.

The floor was circular, moving around the hull of the station. Doors veered off on the sides that led to quarters, supply rooms, and a medical office. We followed him in the circle, as we approached a room with Barry's name on it. Aner sent Barry the door codes to his RIG and Barry vanished into the room in an electric hiss of the door. We kept moving in the white circle and it felt like we weren't moving at all, just replaying the background, like in the old cartoons of Earth.

"Mr. Aner?" I asked, "Where's everyone else? I read this was a crew of twenty, but I've only-"

"Five. With you two there are five on the station. The others are camped on the moon, miners and geologists. The other two are in the medical wing waiting for you, your new assistants. Mr. Eckhardt will bounce between her and Landon Surface Camp." He spoke quickly and fluently, almost in a memorized state.

We stopped at a door that was indistinguishable to the rest of them, all for the only color it seemed on this floor. A red Caduceus painted on the wall next to the door. My name was under the twin snakes, along with two others: Justine Moritz and Todd Graham. The door slid open and we entered into the medical wing.

III

I should use the term medical wing loosely. It was more of an office with a main room, two hallways that branched to an operating room and pharmaceutical station, and an office. My office. In the main room was a set of steel tables that held apparatuses and test tubes. A microscope was fitted to each table along with a series of glass specimens. A woman with blond hair sat behind a microscope, switching slides out, with a small man behind her. He was writing notes on his RIG, along with imports of pictures and videos. Aner introduced us, "Dr. Stahl, this is Justine Moritz and Todd Graham. They will be your assistants. Dr. Moritz is a microbiologist, studying and cataloging any specimen found on the rocks they bring."

"Pleasure to meet you, Dr. Stahl." Justine spoke in a soft voice, her lips enunciating every word with precision, "I read your thesis on Frakner's syndrome; very impressive."

"Thank you, Justine." I shook her hand as Todd moved forward, his own hand outstretched.

"And, Todd here," Aner placed a hand on the small man's shoulder, "is our Hematologist and Pathologist. He helped develop the Homologous Injection for CEC."

"I more of watched than created." Todd spoke in a high, mistakably female voice. "I've heard a lot about you Doctor. I'm very excited to work with you." A loud moan and the world became drenched in black.

"Don't worry, Dr. Stahl." Aner spoke through the blackness, "We've been having issues with the solar panels for a few days now." The lights returned with a thump of electricity moving through the station.

"Problems with the conduits, Aner?" Barry came stumbling in, blinded, as were we all, by the sudden illumination.

"It could be. I sent an engineer up the other day, Pascal I believe, and he brought up the same conclusion."

"So why hasn't it been fixed." I asked, butting myself into the conversation.

"Well, to be fair," Aner turned to me, "Pascal is more suited for mining equipment repair and maintenance. He told me it could be the conduits, maybe a burnt transformer, but he didn't know exactly. Even then, he said he might not be able to fix it."

"I can tell you right now it's a conduit. I might be a surveyor, but I've seen this before. If you don't mind, I'll take a look here?"

"By all means Mr. Eckhardt, have at it. I'm sure it can't get worse." Aner smirked as the lights cut out again, "Dr. Stahl, if you'd follow me I'd like to show you your office."

"Lead the way," I waved my hand and turned towards my new assistant, "nice to meet you both. I look forward to our work together."

They nodded to me and Todd gave me a smile that made me furrow my brow in confusion as Aner and I walked down the hall to my office.