The Apocalypse Contract

CHAPTER 48 - SYDNEY

Samantha stared at the holographic image of the solar system hovering over the Wonderland's control console. "So you're sure they can't detect our ship before it reaches Earth?"

"Yeah, I'm sure," Sydney answered. "I've plotted a course that keeps the Moon between us and the planet. They would have to be insanely lucky and have just the right satellite pointed in exactly the right direction to catch a glimpse of us." She tapped at the console and forced the holographic view to zoom in on the Earth and Moon so her friends could see what she meant.

"Yeah, and we're not going straight to the Earth anyway," Mel explained, "we've got a layover on the moon first."

"That would be the alien base we discussed?" Roger asked.

"Yes, exactly," Mel confirmed. "According to the flight logs from the original Island of Crows, it started out from the dark side of the moon, not Earth."

Peter entered the console room with a tray of tea, cookies, fruit, and cheese. "The Dark Side of the Moon? I love that album!"

Samantha snatched a chunk of cheese and an apple slice. "They are talking about the actual moon, ya doof."

"I know that... but I still love that album. Anyway, there is no actual dark side of the moon."

Mel plucked a banana nut cluster from the tray. "If you insist on being pedantic, I just might cut you off from the castle's pantry."

Sydney resisted the urge to weigh in on stellar semantics or Peter's taste in classic rock. She took a cup of mint infused black tea and returned to focusing a sensor sweep at the moon. "According to Mel's data, there should be a base somewhere on the far side of the Moon, by which I mean the side farther away from Earth."

"OK, Then what?" Peter asked. "We swoop in and get captured again? I still say we should go directly to Earth, land on the White House lawn and tell the government everything."

"We may still do that," Sydney affirmed, "but I want to know the lay of the land first. Don't worry, we're going to play it safe. I've repurposed a couple of maintenance bots as drones that we can operate from a safe difference. I've even armed them with a few tricks we picked up from the Nandan worm. I just need to find where to send them." She switched from passive to active sensors and began building a detailed topographic map of the lunar surface.

Mel came and peeked over her shoulder. "That's the annoying thing about secret alien bases... they can be so darn hard to find. Here, let me try something."

Sydney stepped aside. Mel tapped at the console for a half a minute, then stood back.

"There, that should do it," she announced when finished. "I've added a bit of a spiral to our final approach so we can scan the surface from multiple angles. That will improve the detail."

Now there was nothing to do but wait, so they dragged cushions and chairs in from Sydney's apartment. The moon gradually grew larger and more detailed over the console. The tea and snacks dwindled. Samantha volunteered to fetch more. "Space travel really is pretty boring," she commented as she collected the empty tray and teapot.

Sydney thought about it. "Yeah, pretty much. I mean, when you're not being shot at, or hacked into, or trying to not blow up... it's mostly just a lot of sitting around waiting to get somewhere."

They brought in a coffee table and played board games.

It was another ninety minutes before their search bore fruit. A blinking red dot appeared on the image of the Moon hanging over the console. "There we are." Sydney zoomed in on that portion of the lunar surface. "It's a cave of some kind, tucked up along the inside edge of a crater where it's really hard to see. Something inside is reflecting our scan a lot more than regular old moon rock."