Chapter Three
Elisabeth looked down at her watch. It was 6 A.M. and she was on Moonbase Alpha in a travel tube. The flight from Earth had been fairly uneventful. She had easily slept through the night as if she'd made the journey in space a million times. The tube arrived at its destination. She stepped out and was greeted by a handsome tall blonde man wearing an Alphan uniform with an orange sleeve.
Alan Carter stepped forward and said in an Australian accent, "You must be Miss. Elisabeth Baker." He extended his hand and smiled.
Elisabeth shook his hand. "Yes I am."
"We've all been eager to meet such a beloved teacher. If they had teachers like you when I was in school…well…I would have been a better student and quite possibly a serious contender to be teacher's pet." He tried to look her over without appearing to do so. He mentally reviewed his notes on her. 'There's no way she is forty eight years old,' he thought. She looked to be in her twenties.
"Thank you, I still can't believe I'm here." Elisabeth said excitedly as she looked around her.
"It's still early, have you had breakfast yet? Of course you haven't." he said as he watched one of the shuttle staff take her bag down the hallway. Elisabeth looked back at the retreating young man and looked her question, "Don't worry about that. He'll deliver it to your room. This way please Miss. Baker."
"Elisabeth please, Mr.…"
"I'm sorry; you must think I'm terribly rude. My name is Captain Alan Carter. But you can call me Alan. You're going to love it here Miss. Ba.., sorry Elisabeth. You'll be an honorary Alphan before you know it." Alan said as he led Elisabeth toward the cafeteria.
"She's where?" the Brigadier screamed into the receiver as he rose from his leather chair. 'How could a day go so terribly wrong so early,' he thought as he slammed his coffee mug to the desk on the verge of breaking it.
"I'm sorry Sir. By the time I found out where she'd disappeared to, it was too late. There was no way I could get a shuttle on its way to the Moon to turn around. Her students all wrote letters to the Commander on Moonbase Alpha and arranged for her to be a visiting teacher on the Moon. There was nothing I could do. I'm sorry Sir but…" Harry stammered. She'd gotten away on his watch and there was going to be hell to pay, of that he was sure.
"I don't…I don't even know what to say to you right now Sullivan. We have watched over her for twenty four years without incident and in one afternoon she's not only out of our control, but she's literally off the planet!" the Brigadier yelled, his voice getting louder with each breath he took. He looked out the window of his den and shook his head.
"Sir if you have any way to contact the Doctor…" Harry tried.
"The space time telegraph he left with me years ago either no longer works or his end no longer works. Either way, I have no way to contact him." The Brigadier sighed heavily and sat down. "Kate has her work cut out for her now. How long will she be gone?" the Brigadier asked trying desperately hard to put everything in perspective. This would only be a short trip after all; they would treat her with kid gloves up there. What could go wrong?
"She's scheduled to be there for five days." he answered. He could literally hear the Brigadier attempting to calm down. 'That's something anyway,' he thought.
"I'll inform Kate of the particulars. Go home Sullivan. There's nothing more you can do there." the Brigadier said as he hung up the phone without waiting for a reply.
"Once again Sir, I'm…" Harry began as he heard the phone click in his ear. He pressed the end button and pushed in the antenna on his cell phone. Till Sarah returned, things were going to be very uncomfortable at Unit. It was only because he'd left his coat at the college that he had returned to the college and heard the news. The staff that were working that particular Saturday were all talking about Elisabeth Baker's trip and Harry had overheard. If he hadn't gone back he wouldn't have known before Monday. He speculated that perhaps that may have been better for all those concerned. Harry sighed and gathered his belongings and left for the car park.
He climbed in behind the wheel and removed his phone from his pocket once again. He dialed Benton's number.
"Hello?" Benton said as he looked out the window with a piece of toast in his hand. Sarah should be passing his house any time now; she usually went to the library and market on Saturday mornings.
"We need to go get a drink." Harry said into the phone.
"Harry, I don't know if it has escaped your attention but it's seven in the morning." Benton smirked as he said it.
"I'm aware of what time it is!" Harry snapped.
"All right, all right, so you've had a bad night. We can talk about it, just a little later. I have to make sure Sarah, sorry 'Elisabeth' makes the checkpoint on her way to the library and store this morning. Then we can…"
"That's why I need a drink now!" Harry literally spat into the phone. "She's not going to be making her checkpoint this morning."
"She's not…I mean, she's not…" Benton couldn't bring himself to say the words.
"She's alive, as far as I know anyway."
"What do you mean as far as you know anyway? Where is she?" Benton asked, now he was raising his voice.
"She's on the Moon." Harry replied, the anger beginning to fade from his voice.
"How in the hell could she be on the Moon?" Benton yelled into the phone. How could she have gotten so far away from them? Then he asked incredulously as his mind raced, "She's on Moonbase Alpha?"
"Yes, she's on Moonbase Alpha." Harry replied quietly. "Can we please meet for that drink? And call Yates, he should hear this too."
"Sure Harry, I'll call him. Where are you?" Benton asked his old friend.
"I'm in the college car park."
"Come here, it's not as if she'll catch the three of us talking together is it? Besides, here we can have all the privacy we need. It's Saturday, so if you want to tie one on you can stay the night. I'll call Yates. Come on over Harry." He knew beyond a doubt this would be one of those self-deprecating weekends, might as well do it at home.
"Thanks Benton. See you soon." Harry said as he hit the end button and pushed the antenna down. He placed his hands on the wheel and tried to erase the sound of disappointment and anger he'd heard in the Brigadier's voice. He looked up at the sky and said, "If anyone's listening up there, please, please watch over Sarah Jane." He started his car and pulled out of the lot.
Benton began to call Yates when he hesitated and hung the phone by his side. He looked up and said aloud to God or anyone who might be listening, "Please take care of Sarah, please." He raised the phone again and dialed Mike Yate's number. It was going to be a long weekend and until Sarah Jane returned home, it was going to be a very stressful time for everyone involved.
September 13, 1999
Elisabeth was being shown around the Medical Center by Dr. Helena Russell, Alpha's Chief Medical Officer. Helena Russell's blonde hair swayed from side to side as she turned showing Elisabeth all she could. Though anyone that truly knew her could see she was preoccupied and serious questions were on a constant tickertape going through her mind. 'Why weren't the astronauts getting better? She knew it was radiation sickness regardless of what all the tests said,' she thought. Realizing that she needed to get back to the present, she turned to Elisabeth and said, "Elisabeth we are so glad you could come to the Moon. I read some of the glowing recommendation by your students and I must say I'm impressed." Helena steered them away from the Intensive Care section. She frowned as she looked toward the door and ran her hand through her short blonde hair. Behind it were two of the Meta Probe astronauts. Helena's mind once again returned to her previous train of thought, she was convinced they were poisoned by radiation…somehow.
"Is something wrong?" Elisabeth asked. She could see the change come over the doctor as she looked toward one of the room's doors. "Is there anything I can do to help?"
"I wish you could. I'm not even sure I can. It's just a troubling medical case." Helena tried to get the astronauts' illness and the sudden deaths of the others out of her head, if only briefly. "Commander Koenig would like to meet you." Helena said as she walked Elisabeth out of the Medical Center and down the hallway to the travel tube. After they entered the tube Helena asked, "Have you been to Main Mission yet?"
"No, I haven't. I think I've been to just about every other section on Moonbase Alpha but I haven't been there yet. This is all just so exciting." Elisabeth bubbled as she adjusted the Alphan uniform she'd been supplied with. Unlike the other uniforms, hers didn't have a colored sleeve indicating the section she belonged to on Moonbase Alpha.
"Main Mission is the heart of Moonbase Alpha. Everything is controlled through Main Mission." They exited the tube and made the short trip to the large door leading to the vast two story room that was Main Mission.
Elisabeth and Helena stood at the top of a short flight of stairs and looked around. "This is enormous! I can't wait to tell all my students. They're going to love hearing about all of this." Elisabeth swept her arms to encompass the room.
"I imagine they will." Helena smiled. Helena pointed to the left and said, "That is Main Computer and the gentleman that is standing next to it is David Kano. He is in charge of the computer."
When he heard his name, David Kano looked over at the two women and waved. He then turned and went back to running computer diagnostics on his beloved computer. 'Something wasn't right. The readings from the Moon's scanners couldn't be right,' he thought, a frown covering his face.
"At the center of that console is Paul Morrow. He's our Main Controller. Next to him is Sandra Benes, she's our data analyst. Standing on the other side of Paul is Tanya Alexander. She's our base operations officer. Looking over that readout is Victor Bergman. He's Alpha's chief scientific adviser." The group looked up and smiled at the two women. Any other time they would have personally welcomed the visitor. But not now, something was wrong and they all felt as if they were fighting against the clock to find the answer.
The two women descended the stairs and crossed to a large open doorway. Climbing the few stairs, they were greeted by Commander John Koenig as he came out of his office. He was tall and had dark hair. He was an imposing figure whose face was softened by his warm smile. "So this is the wonderful teacher I've been reading about." he said kindly. He wished he had more time to devote to this woman but he didn't. He met Helena's eyes and hoped he conveyed this unspoken message. "I trust everyone has been showing you around."
"Yes, everyone has been wonderful to me. I can't thank you enough Commander for this opportunity." Elisabeth replied.
"I feel terrible that I won't be able to spend any time with you Miss. Baker."
"Please call me Elisabeth."
"Thank you. Elisabeth we're in the middle of some diagnostics right now and unfortunately they need my undivided attention." John Koenig stated apologetically.
"It's no problem at all Commander Koenig. I completely understand. Thank you for fitting me in and thank you for choosing me to come here. My students are going to be blown away when I get back."
It was then that the ground lifted slightly from under their feet. Commander Koenig reached out and grabbed Helena's and Elisabeth's arms to steady them. John and Helena's eyes met and Helena gave him an almost imperceptible nod. Alarms were beginning to go off all over the base. "Elisabeth I think it would be a good idea for you to go to your quarters." Helena said as she directed Elisabeth toward the door.
"Of course." Elisabeth said as she accompanied Helena. Elisabeth looked back one more time at the view screen. On it hung the Earth like a beautiful jewel in space. Little did she know that this would be the last time she would see the Earth, possibly for a long, long time.