New Hope: Book 1
12

Julius moved and immediately felt a blunt pain from his previously broken arm. Pain. I’m alive, he thought. Then asked himself: “I’m alive? How?” What happened?” he muttered quietly, disoriented. The Captain tried to open his eyes but he was blinded by a bright light. After several attempts to open first one, and then the other, his eyesight started to get used to the brightness that flooded the room he was in.

Julius looked around and saw that he was in a simple, yet neatly furnished one-person room. Although it resembled more of a cell. There was only the bed he was on and a small bedside table with a little clock showing the time: it was just after midday.

It’s been 12 hours since the rescue mission, he thought. “Yeah right, rescue mission!” he said through clenched teeth when he remembered how their saviors started shooting at them. The fact that the weapons they used were loaded with strong sedatives and not live ammunition did not change much.

“Ellie!” Julius suddenly became aware that he’s alone in the cell, and Ellie’s nowhere to be seen.

“Hello!” yelled the Captain. “Anyone there?!” His voice was groggy and croaky. “Hello... Where am I? What’s going on? Where’s the other astronaut?!” continued Julius. His throat had dried up over the last 12 hours, so at first, the sounds he made were wheezy and hoarse. It took some time for him to get out enough volume to reach anyone on the other side of the door.

He yelled for the next several minutes trying to get through the door, which was shut and had no handle. But when he heard the sound of the door unlocking, his instinct was to jump back. The memory of the rescue crew arriving with guns was all too fresh.

The door opened and a petite woman dressed in a doctor’s coat entered, accompanied by an armed soldier.

“How are you feeling today, Captain Cousteau?” she asked without answering any of Julius’ other questions. The woman didn’t even look at the prisoner. She stared at her tablet, probably a hospital record or some test results. Julius had realized a while before that there’s a needle mark on his arm, so his blood was probably taken. Or something else was injected. The thought sent chills down his spine. Julius sensed a note of concern in the woman’s voice, some authentic interest in him, so he thought that maybe she was a doctor and actually cared about his well-being. We’ll see, he thought to himself.

“My broken arm hurts, I was shot and kidnapped. How do you think I feel?!” said Julius in fury, gazing back and forth from the doctor to the man with the rifle. Julius wondered if he could incapacitate the soldier before he fired the weapon, but he quickly decided that he had little chance of getting out of such an encounter alive. His broken arm was also a problem, and his military training had become foggy throughout the years spent in the space program, and not on an actual battlefield.

“We’re sorry we had to use that method of bringing you here, but the nature of our... business left us no choice. We couldn’t risk any delays or problems,” the doctor explained.

“Here, meaning where? And where is Ellie? Is she alive?” asked Julius.

“Don’t worry, your colleague is fine. She’s recovering in the room next door. Ms. Johnson got the same dose of anesthetic as you, but she is half your weight. The effects of the agent are wearing off at a slower pace. She should wake soon and join you,” she explained.

Julius was soothed by the information that Ellie was next door and that she was safe and sound.

“Who are you?” asked Julius.

“I’m Cassandra Yeager. I’m a doctor and the director of this installation.”

“What are we doing here? And what business do you conduct that you shoot people instead of rescuing them, and then take them somewhere without their consent?” asked Julius. “Where are we?”

“On the Moon. We are at a top-secret base of American space forces,” she said in a calm and composed manner.

“Where?” Julius was in disbelief.

“A top-secret military installation on the Moon,” she explained again.

“Americans don’t have bases on the Moon! Nobody does!” replied Julius in a high-pitched voice. “How is it possible for any military installations to exist here if our mission was the first in decades for anyone to set foot on the Moon?”

“I assure you, Mr. Cousteau, you’re wrong. This installation has been serving America, and pretty much all of humanity, for over 40 years. You see, the Apollo 17 mission wasn’t the last under the American Moon-landing program. Although, it was the last one known to the public. After the official end to the Apollo program, explorations of the satellite we’re currently on continued full-speed ahead,” she said. “After the Apollo missions, regular flights to the Moon began, and the Americans built this installation to be able to conduct various, um, experiments and studies in peace,” she added mysteriously.

“How is it possible that nobody knew about it? A base on the Moon? It sounds absurd! We’re only just now getting close to achieving the technology that would allow the permanent presence of people on the Moon,” said Julius in awe. “You want to tell me that Americans began exploring Earth’s satellite 40 years ago? How?” he added.

“Exactly right. The US military doesn’t divulge all its scientific discoveries to the public. I can say we’ve got a few cards up our sleeve when it comes to technology novelties,” she explained smiling.

“I don’t believe you,” said Julius.

“Doesn’t matter. You’ll get to see a few things for yourself soon, sir. They will change your mind,” she said with a twinkle in her eye.

Julius noticed that the soldier with the long weapon gave a little smirk.

“What is happening here?” he questioned. “How is all this possible? And why, if you wanted to take us to your secret installation, couldn’t you have done so officially, by inviting us onboard the other craft?” asked the captain, intrigued.

“We couldn’t risk anything going wrong. As you well know, sir, piloting a spaceship is not an easy task. And piloting a spaceship with passengers who would, sooner or later, realize they’re not heading toward the orbit and to Earth, but in a different direction - that’s even harder.” she explained. “Besides, we didn’t want you to know exactly which direction we’re going in,” she added with a smile. “There’s a reason for keeping this complex a secret. Even most of our employees don’t know its exact location. They are brought here in windowless landing pods and then transported back to Earth in a similar way. Not that such flights take place very frequently. Most of our staff live here permanently.”

“You want to tell me that you were among those three astronauts who boarded New Hope?” asked the captain, somehow enlightened all of a sudden.

“Yes. We did say that there’d be a doctor on board. I had to check your condition myself and if transporting you to the installation was even an option. We knew from you that your arm was broken. However, we were more concerned about the stories of Dr. Johnson’s hallucinations,” she said. “I had to examine her personally and check if she wasn’t a risk. You must understand, a telepathic connection with an ages-old piece of technology is one of those undesired events that catch our attention when it comes to keeping this installation safe. We must be sure that nobody here has any serious disorders which would encourage them to open the airlock without wearing a suit.”

“But you started shooting at us practically right away. Not even a word was exchanged with us!” said Julius resentfully.

“Once again, sir, we are very sorry, but the whole situation was as it was, and we really couldn’t take any risks. There’s too much at stake should anyone find out about this installation,” said Dr. Cassandra. “The procedures for this are clear, and it may be of little consolation to you, but know that we’d treat the US President in the same way if he was the one aboard New Hope.”

“Yes, that’s true, it’s not much of a consolation,” growled Julius.

The doctor took another look at the Captain, who was trying to digest all the information he was given, and he was clearly having trouble with it. The woman stood upright and added:

“Mr. Cousteau, I want you to know that you’re not a prisoner here. As soon as your colleague wakes up, I will make sure you can see each other,” said Dr. Cassandra calmly. “In the meantime, we’ll take you to a better, more accommodating quarter - with a view. You can see for yourself that I was telling the truth about where you are. After that, in a joint meeting in the conference room, I’ll be able to answer any further questions and explain why you’re here,” she said. “Once you learn this, I think you might forgive us the unpleasant methods we used to introduce ourselves. Someone will come to get you shortly and take you to a more suitable and accommodating room,” concluded Dr. Cassandra. Then, she turned around and nodded at the soldier standing by the door. Dr. Yeager left the room first, followed by the armed soldier, who glanced at Captain Cousteau one more time and gave a nod.

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