New Hope: Book 1
13

When Ellie started to regain consciousness, she knew something was off. The world was spinning, she couldn’t focus her eyesight on any one point, as if she was hungover. She felt weak, and although she didn’t know where she was, she knew she was no longer on New Hope. When she concentrated hard, she could see that she was in a small room, lying on her back.

“I’m alive,” she croaked. Her throat felt so dry! How long had she been lying here to have such a desert form in her mouth?

When Ellie tried to sit up, she realized instantly that her body was unnaturally light, as if she was never taken off the Moon. Impossible, thought Ellie. I’m sure I’m in an ordinary room, not a metal box of a landing pod. Besides, if I were in orbit, everything here would be floating.

Ellie got up and walked the room unsteadily. Then jumped up gently to test her suspicion.

“Ouch!” she yelled when she hit her head on the ceiling. This was certainly quite a shock to her as she expected to fall immediately to the ground instead of soaring up toward the ceiling. “Well then, there’s the answer to that question,” she sighed. “Where the hell am I? And who were those people who fired at us?” Ellie spontaneously touched the place where she was hit by the bullet. She expected to find a large wound but she was relieved to see only a small bump from an anesthetic injection. No serious or permanent injuries.

As she was thinking this, two soldiers in uniform walked into the room. Their uniforms bore the American flag, but the emblem of the military formation was foreign to Ellie.

“Aren’t you from the air forces, hm?” Asked Ellie, trying to defuse her nervousness. She always did this when she felt insecure. Chattiness usually soothes her nerves and calms her to a point that she could function normally. This time, however, it wasn’t helping.

One of the soldiers approached her and said:

“Doctor, please come with us. Your colleague from Europe is waiting for you in the conference room where you will both learn the answers to your questions. I am not authorized to give you any information except that you slept through 16 hours, much longer than your colleague, which is why I am greeting you in our installation, and not the director of this facility herself. She could not wait for you any longer and had to get back to her duties. You will get to meet her in a moment, so please follow us.”

The soldier turned around and walked out the door, leaving the other soldier inside, who motioned his head to indicate the door and made an inviting gesture for Ellie to leave the room first.

Ellie decided that it was probably best not to ask any questions since they’re to take her to where her questions will be answered. At least that’s what she’s been told.

The astronaut nodded and obediently followed the first of the military men. He was a lieutenant, and although Ellie also held a military rank given to her for the needs of the Moon mission, she suspected that her authority did not reach high enough for this installation. She decided to ignore this bit and remind the soldier walking in front of her through a brightly lit corridor that she is just an ordinary person who has found herself in unexpected and uncertain circumstances, but without any additional information, she would not go any further.

“Lieutenant, sir, I’d like to remind you that I am a member of the American space agency. I know you have orders to take me where you need to take me, but until you answer a few of my questions, this is where I stop! Before I trust you enough to follow you blindly around an unknown installation, I need to know a few things,” said Ellie in a commanding tone, and then added, “Please.”

“Doctor, I understand your approach to the new situation you are in, but please also understand mine,” said the lieutenant. “I have not been authorized to give you any more information at this stage; the director of this facility wanted to do so personally. I really cannot give you any more than that,” the soldier hesitated a moment, “I may have already said too much. Please, follow me. I promise, all your doubts will be dispelled very soon and you are not in any danger. You are safe,” he added, increasing his pace.

Ellie did not stop. On the contrary, she tried to keep up with the lieutenant, which caused her some trouble as she wasn’t used to running up in low-gravity conditions. On New Hope, which lay on the Moon practically toppled onto one side, there were only a few square feet of space to take steps. Not enough for running. Here, the corridor seemed to stretch for hundreds of feet in both directions. The soldier spoke English without an accent which, for Ellie, meant that she must be on some kind of American military installation.

“We’re on the Moon, right?” asked Ellie with increased awareness, though her question wasn’t addressed to any particular soldier, more to herself.

“You’ll learn everything in just a moment,” said the first soldier in hesitation, “the conference room is just around the corner.” The soldier turned right into a corridor. Ellie quickly followed but stopped in her tracks just as she turned the corner.

A vast room appeared before her with a transparent ceiling displaying a starry black night and a small blue planet watching them from above. Earth, of course. Ellie felt as if her legs were about to give way and her jaw would crash to the floor.

“Wow...” is all she managed to say. There was a kind of cascading type of patio with a view of the Moon’s surface. When Ellie approached the railing, she realized she was at the highest level of the installation, which was designed as a circle or oval, built many floors into the surface of Earth’s natural satellite. She leaned over slightly to look down at the floors below. There were at least a couple dozen meters between her and the bottom.

“This place must be enormous!” she said in awe and dismay at the same time.

The lieutenant at the front of this small column just smiled and said:

“You don’t know the half of it,” then he opened the door and gestured his hand to invite Ellie inside. “Everybody’s been waiting for you. Come in,” he added.

Ellie, who was still impressed by the vastness of the lobby, entered the small and quite ordinary conference room. In the center of the room, there was a large table surrounded by a dozen or so swivel chairs. There was a side table by one of the walls with snacks. Ellie felt a pang of hunger and realized she hadn’t eaten since the feral event aboard New Hope. It was a miracle she had the strength to move at all.

Few people were present in the room, including the soldiers escorting her, and one unfamiliar face. Ellie looked around again when she saw the familiar figure of Julius standing at the side of the room and talking quietly with some woman.

“Captain!” she shouted and approached her colleague joyfully.

“You’re here, Ellie! It’s so good to see you!” said Julius with a broad smile on his face. “They told me you’re still recovering, but I was assured that you’d be joining us soon. I’m so happy it’s true!” said Ellie’s older colleague. “This place is amazing, Ellie! Come, you must meet Dr. Cassandra Yeager, the director of this facility,” he nodded his head to indicate his interlocutor when the second pilot entered the room.

“It’s nice to meet you, Doctor,” said the woman, offering to shake Ellie’s hand. “Dr. Cassandra Yeager. I run this facility and manage the projects run here,” she introduced herself. “I hope you’ve been treated well? How do you like our installation thus far?” she asked with interest.

“Yes, thank you. I’m well now. I feel a little weak. I haven’t eaten since yesterday, but aside from that, I’m extremely interested to find out where I am and why I’m here in such... unfortunate circumstances?” asked Ellie diplomatically. “In terms of treatment, I can’t complain. Other than aiming guns and shooting me, that is,” she replied dryly and reproachfully.

“In that case, please, help yourself to the snacks,” Dr. Yeager gestured at the table, which the second pilot noticed as soon as she entered the room. “When you get your strengths back I’ll provide you both with the answers you’re waiting for,” said Dr. Yeager. It was high time to uncover all the important cards. “Of course, I’ve already apologized to Captain Cousteau for how our soldiers treated you, but we also owe you an apology,” she said. “I’m certain, though, when you hear everything I have to say, your judgment of our actions will cease to be so negative,” said Dr. Yeager raising her eyebrows in conviction.

Ellie considered the Director’s words for a moment and wondered. What could this woman possibly say to change my view of what happened to me?

However, she hadn’t the strength to fight her churning stomach and politely excused herself to head for the table with the snacks. It wouldn’t be a completely healthy dinner but every calorie counted now. I’d eat practically anything by now, so this will have to do, she thought to herself.

When Ellie left the snacks, indicating that she had satisfied her hunger enough, Dr. Yeager invited all those present to sit down.

“Captain Cousteau and Dr. Johnson. Thank you for coming and I welcome you, once again, to my facility,” she said. “I’m aware that the circumstances of your presence might not be ideal and we didn’t give you a choice in the matter, but I’d like to assure you that our intentions are good. As you know, we are on the Moon, in the secret base of the American space forces,” she said. “And yes, I know that this place doesn’t officially exist and very few people know anything about it. That’s why the existence of this large installation may seem unbelievable at first. But I’m sure this feeling will quickly pass.”

“First, I’d like to introduce to you lieutenant John Lassiter,” said Dr. Yeager indicating the soldier with whom Ellie spoke earlier. “The lieutenant is the head of our military contingent. He was also part of our expedition to New Hope,” she emphasized.

“So it was you who shot at me?” asked Julius, squinting slightly.

“I’m very sorry it had to be that way. My subordinate fired at you,” he replied. “I had orders to incapacitate Dr. Johnson,” he looked at Ellie, smiling. “I hope you will forgive me someday,” he said with a twinkle in his eye.

“We’ll see. I suspect a lot will depend on what we hear here,” replied Ellie. She should have felt angry at the lieutenant - he did aim and fire a gun at her, after all. But for some reason, she didn’t hold a grudge. Strange, she thought.

Dr. Yeager started speaking again.

“The installation we’re on started being built during the last official missions of the Apollo program, but its construction continues today. Currently, close to one thousand people live and work here. They are scientists, soldiers, doctors, and experts... in other fields,” she explained.

“I’m sure you’re wondering what this installation does, why it was created, and why its existence is top secret. Well, the answer to that is quite simple,” she smiled.

“There are extensive experiments taking place here, under different projects, which could potentially be too dangerous to conduct on Earth. Some of the projects we run concern advanced energy sources, developing weapons, expanding our understanding of physics and the like,” she continued. “These projects would ordinarily be classified as so-called “black projects”, and even if they were being done on Earth, only a small group of people would know about them, anyway.”

“Here we conduct... More exotic issues,” she explained, “and these exotic projects are the main reason for which it was decided in the 1970s to locate this installation on the Moon, not on our home planet.”

“May I ask, what are these projects?” asked Ellie, who couldn’t fight her growing curiosity.

“We’ll get to that part in a moment, Doctor. First, I’d like to present a historical overview. This will help me answer your question,” replied Dr. Yeager.

“I apologize,” said the second pilot shyly, “I didn’t want to interrupt.” Although she did feel she had the right to get her answer, considering everything she’s been through so far.

“As I was saying, the Apollo program was officially coming to a close in the seventies. The missions following the first landing on the Moon, or even the infamous Apollo 13, weren’t generating that much interest,” explained the doctor. “People on the planet had become accustomed to the more regular flights to the Moon, and with the decreasing political benefits for the governments at the time, the increasing dissatisfaction with the enormous costs of Moon exploration, accompanied by no tangible effects of these missions and experiments, it was decided to end the program,” she said.

“The last mission on the Moon under the official Apollo program was the seventeenth one. During that mission there was an event that caused the unofficial prolonging of a series of flights,” Dr. Yeager went on, building the suspense.

“Eugene Cernan, the commander of the last, third Moon walk, noticed something on the surface that drew his attention. When he approached the spot intriguing him, he found a spherical object, roughly the size of a basketball, on the ground,” added Dr. Yeager smiling.

Julius and Ellie took a deep breath at these words. Their faces started to show understanding.

“The sphere was made of some metallic material and it was certainly not the work of nature,” said Dr. Yeager.

“Commander Cernan informed his partner about the find but before he was able to reach Eugene, he had decided to touch the object and pick it up.”

Ellie recalled her terrifying experience with this type of object. Only for her, the orb hovered above the Moon’s surface and seemed to emanate energy. Dr. Yeager hadn’t said anything about that in her story.

“You said the orb lay there motionless? It wasn’t floating above the ground?” asked Julius, who had also noted the difference in the description.

“That’s correct, the sphere was inanimate, and commander Cernan did not mention anything about it emitting any light, images, or energy,” said Dr. Yeager.

“However, the commander reached for the sphere and touched it,” the doctor trailed off. “Then the orb rose a few feet above the ground and flew away with great speed,” she added. “This was 50 years ago and the orb has been seen many times since then. It always appeared near the astronauts on the surface of the Moon. As if waiting, perhaps looking for someone or something,” she said. “We’ve never been able to catch it or even come near it as close as the commander of Apollo 17 during the last official walk.

After the first contact with the mysterious object which, by the way, was recorded on microfilm, so we had proof of some advanced technology on the Moon, it was decided to build a permanent facility here. Our first objective, which is valid still today, was to catch this object and examine it,” said Dr. Yeager, marking the end of this story. “Something we had not been successful with, until today, Doctor,” said Yeager, looking at Johnson with a twinkle in her eye. “Thanks to you, the object is now in our lab. For the first time in almost 50 years. Thank you,” she added.

“You want to tell me I found the same object you’ve been chasing on the Moon for 50 years?” asked Ellie with disbelief. “The orb was hovering and wasn’t trying to get away at all. Why did it behave differently for me?” asked Ellie. “My experience in this scope is not at all similar to what you described,” said Dr. Johnson in disbelief and somewhat irritated.

“Ma’am, that’s what we don’t know. But taking into account what we heard in your radio message - yes, we were listening to your transmissions and our satellite also saw your entire experience with the orb - we decided we needed to act,” said Dr. Yeager. “We must explain what was different in your case, and why?”

“This orb was indeed interrupting you from contacting anyone on Earth. What’s more, the orb also disabled our normal operations. Although our observational satellite was located far enough from the globe’s surface to be able to send a strong signal to us via another device of our in orbit. Can you imagine? We are almost 4000 miles from your contact with the orb, yet the radio interferences reached us, as well. If not for the fact that our satellites use laser connections instead of radio, we wouldn’t have been able to see what we did,” said Dr. Yeager, clearly impressed.

She went on.

“Once the orb had done what it set out to do, and, I’m assuming, gave you the information it wanted to give and then fell to the ground, we saw that radio connectivity was restored. We didn’t want to risk losing this valuable artifact, and, in fact, the whole point of our installation’s existence. We decided it crucial to take over contact with New Hope and impersonate the missions control center,” she said bluntly.

“Say what?!” both astronauts cried out simultaneously. “Then who were we talking to? And what about the missions control center? Do they know we’re alive?” asked Ellie, disconcerted.

“You were talking to one of our people. Their task was to make you believe you had contacted Earth,” said the director. “I’m sorry for deceiving you but I decided it would make it easier later to mislead the real missions control center. When it comes to whether the control center knows about your survival, then no, I don’t know anything about that,” she replied. “What I’m about to tell you will shock you, but I deeply believe that the decision we made, one we had to make for the good of the project and potentially for the good of mankind, was the only right one,” said Yeager.

“If the missions control center wondered as to whether you survived the landing, as of today, those doubts have been extinguished,” she said in a serious tone now. “Today, I decided to destroy the wreckage of New Hope. We staged a rocket fuel tank failure...,” she added and sighed.

“Today, all the TV stations on Earth are officially giving the news of your heroic deaths during the scientific exploration of our Moon. I’m very sorry. And please have my deepest condolences,” she said gloomily.

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