We noticed also that as the planet rotated and cities fell into darkness, no lights came on.
We saw more dish antennas on the rooftops. “There doesn’t seem to be anything moving,” Gabe said. “The streets look empty.” So were the skies and the ocean, mountain roads and harbors and rivers. There was no sign of activity.
said Belle.
“Anything sending us a message?”
“Okay. If you see anything coming our way, let us know immediately.”
“What’s that?” asked Gabe.
She put it on the display. There was a dome and, connected by a tube, a small rectangular building. What was probably a launchpad lay off to one side. Three large dish antennas were located on the ground about three hundred meters away. There was nothing on the launchpad.
“Where do you want to go first, Gabe? Down and look at the cities, or check out the moonbase? Or maybe just clear out and head for home?”
“Why would we head for home?”
“I think we’ve answered the question we came here to resolve. Harding found an advanced civilization. Do you think we should stop and say hello?”
“Of course we should. Chase, they probably gave him an award. They were apparently excited to receive an offworld visitor.” He grinned. “Maybe we’ll get some recognition too.”
“I’m serious, Gabe.”
“So am I. But okay, you have a point. Let’s just be careful. Take a look at the moonbase before we do anything else. We’re less likely to run into an angry crowd there.” He was mocking me, though he was as concerned as I was.
“Belle,” I said, “are we getting any sign of activity from the moon?”
The sun was in the sky so, even if lights were on, we might be missing them. “All right,” I said. “Let’s go take a look. I’ve got the controls.”
We were about two hours out. I checked to make sure the ship’s blasters were functional. They were there primarily as a defense against asteroids. I’d never used them. An asteroid should never get close enough that it’s necessary to use blasters. If it happens, they told us at flight school, it’s a signal for the ship’s owner to get rid of the pilot.
Gabe stayed on the bridge with me. We drew closer without arousing any visible reaction either from the dome or from the planet.
Eventually we went into orbit around the moon. The sun and the planet floated in the sky amid a mass of stars. When we got to the back side of the moon, where neither the sun nor the world could be seen, the stars brightened. We sat quietly, not saying much. When the dome reappeared, we turned the scopes on it and went back to watching for a reaction. Anything: lights coming on, radio transmission, somebody opening one of three hatches and looking up at us. But we saw nothing. The power levels inside the dome didn’t change. The hatches never opened.
It was located on flat ground, close to a crater. “What do you think?” Gabe asked.
“If we’re going to go down, let’s do it on the next orbit.” Get it over with. We sat on the bridge for a while, looking down as the lunar surface passed underneath. Then finally we went down to the cargo bay and got into our pressure suits. We took our seats in the lander, put the helmets behind us, and depressurized the cargo bay. When we were ready to go, I told Belle.
she said.
“Good. If you see any activity on the planet, especially anything coming this way, let us know.”
I turned to Gabe. “You ready, boss?”
“I guess that makes this officially my decision, doesn’t it?”
“Oh yes.” We climbed into the lander and belted down.
Belle informed us that the dome was again visible.
“Any lights or anything?”
I fastened a link on my belt so Belle would be able to see whatever we did. Gabe and I were wishing each other luck when she came back.
“Make it happen, Belle. We’re ready to go.”
The launch doors opened; the cradle lifted the lander and moved us outside. I started the engine. she said.
She did a countdown for the final ten seconds while I activated the antigravs. Then she turned us loose. We began descending through the vacuum. Gabe was leaning forward, trying to watch the moonbase. I spent my time thinking about what I’d do if, at the last second, one of the doors opened. “It depends on whether they point something at us,” said Gabe.
“I didn’t realize I was thinking out loud.”
“I suspect we’ve both had the same issue on our minds.”
Moons look pretty much the same everywhere. Rocks, craters, ridges, flat gray terrain, and not much else. Finally we touched down. We were about a hundred meters from the dome. Close enough.
We got out of our seats, put on helmets, and checked the radios. Then we went over to the air lock and I opened the inner hatch. We both got in. I closed the door, depressurized, and Gabe opened the outer hatch. There was still no movement from the dome as we climbed down out of the lander. I left the outer hatch open in case we had to leave in a hurry.
We kept a close eye on the ground but there was no sign of footprints or of anything else.
Both the dome and the rectangular structure connected to it were gray, a somewhat darker tint than the surface. We chose the closest of the three dome hatches and walked toward it. It was probably four and a half meters high, suggesting that the occupants might be considerably taller than we were. It looked as if it had originally been white, but it was somewhat smeared and had become a dusty gray.
said Gabe. He was inclined in this kind of situation to check conditions in all directions. He’d been looking behind us.
That was all I needed. I jumped and turned around to see if we were being attacked. One of the antennas was moving. I stood with a dropped jaw and watched it swing toward the sun.
I can’t answer for Gabe, but I froze at that point. Nothing else was happening. The antenna stopped, remained still for two or three minutes, and then resumed its original position. said Gabe, We started again for the door. When we got close, he held out his left arm. he said.
I did. There was no knob or latch, but the frame housed a button, high over my head on the right. Were they right-handed too? Gabe went up to it and knocked. It was one of the bravest things I’d ever seen. If the door had opened I think I’d have jumped a meter. I pictured the two of us trying to run back to the lander in the pressure suits. “Gabe,” I said, “there’s a button.”
He made no move to use it.
“Okay.”
He knocked again. The thing was an air lock, of course, so it would take a minute or so before the door could be opened. But that would likely be preceded by activity inside. Which we would not be able to hear.