To the Moon and Back

7. Let's go out for a ride!

"It's a beautiful evening, we should go out for a drive", Hua Cheng said with a playful smile.

The Moon Station operated by Wenchang time, and it was still lunchtime – unless Hua Cheng meant outside, but it'd still be night for a while: nights or days there lasted 27.3 Earth days, the time the Moon took to rotate around its own axis. Xie Lian was in the middle of a stock check at the larder, so he didn't pay attention.

"Gege, I'm talking to you", Hua Cheng said.

"Oh? You actually mean you want to go out? Why?", he asked. He was a moon veteran, so unless he had some maintenance to do at the solar panels – which he rarely did himself, why did the station have bots for – he couldn't be bothered. Running the spacesuit checks...

"Why not? Like I said, it's a beautiful night".

"Well, it is night, meaning it's all dark outside and there's nothing to see. You know the Moon's surface isn't pearly white like you see from the Earth, right?"

"No need to be mean", Hua Cheng said, trying to sound hurt but Xie Lian knew he wasn't. "Besides driving from Tianhe to the station, I haven't been on the Moon's surface. It's a scientific curiosity! Plus you got a SUV, why not going for a cool off-road drive?"

"Off-road drive? So much for scientific curiosity", Xie Lian laughed off, "Alright, but like I said, it's dark, why not going when it's 'day'? Then you'll be able to see the off-road".

"No, it has to be night", he replied, "C'mon Gege let's go. I'll get snacks. When you finish your stuff we can do the suit checks and go, yeah?"

Xie Lian smiled at this "newbie fancy", and agreed, "Alright. The SUV is solar energy powered anyway, and it's good to put it to use once in a while".

Hua Cheng rubbed his hands in delight, and Xie Lian pffted a laugh.

He kept hearing Hua Cheng walking up and down in the kitchen, and couldn't help but think back to his first Moon mission: how exciting it was to go out, even if just for routine checks on the panels, or some silly maintenance it wasn't worth sending the bots for.

One hour later, when Xie Lian finished his work, they changed into The Agency red jumpsuits, then slid into spacesuits. Xie Lian run a quick outside environment check, in case there was some solar storm or meteor shower. All was well – Hua Cheng had probably done it too.

He was up to something, Xie Lian could tell: during the spacesuits tests he caught him smiling to himself when he thought Xie Lian wasn't looking. But he evaded all questions, so Xie Lian just shrugged, deciding to go with the flow.

They went out to the SUV, which was really impressive: bulky, with a round anti-rollover design and huge six wheels. It was pressurised, air-locked and spacious, it even had basic cooking and bathroom facilities! Its first models run by hydrogen fuel cell, but this one was totally solar energy powered.

They climbed on and Hua Cheng took the driver seat – they did plenty of simulator practice on the astronautics graduate program – and, opening the main gates, slowly drove off, descending on the Sea of Tranquillity. Just like Xie Lian said, it was pitch dark.

"Silly idea", he commented shaking his head, "How can you do off-road driving now, San Lang?"

"I'm switching to self-driving. I uploaded some coordinates early on", he then pulled a lever, and leaned back, crossing his arms behind his head leisurely. He had a spacesuit on but no helmet, his handsome face, with overgrown hair bathed in the SUV's blue inner lights.

"Just relax, we get there when we get there", he added, smiling smugly.

The SUV's self-driving was indeed smooth, its traction control system helping to limit wheelspin on slippery surfaces, or clawing its way up steep hills or over jagged rocks.

"Yeah whatever, I'm just keeping an eye so you don't get in trouble", Xie Lian replied with a smile.

"You're a good Gege", he said, pffting a laugh, then, as if to make conversation, added, "You know I have 6 months off after this mission. I'm planning on going to some remote beach just to relax. Swim at the sea, go fishing. See the Moonrise...", and he laughed again.

Xie Lian nodded and said, "Sounds nice".

"How about you?", he asked, "Gege. Don't tell me you're staying at Wenchang base".

Xie Lian shrugged, "I know it's weird, but I was kind of raised there. Wenchang is home".

"Oh? What do you mean?", Hua Cheng asked – no matter what, it couldn't beat a remote beach.

Xie Lian started, "My parents met while they were both working there, so I used to hang around Wenchang since I can remember. 'Going to the Moon' was the talk at home and of course I always expected to join the program one day. Then my parents died, in a plane crash".

"I was 17. Mei Nianqing, the training coordinator, was friends with my parents, so he kind of kept an eye on me. He thought it'd be bad if I went off to uni somewhere, cutting ties with everything I knew, just after my parents' death. He got me a special permission from The Agency CEO, Jun Wu, and I joined the graduate program".

"Well that's it really", he shrugged, "I graduated and got assigned for my first Moon mission, at 21".

"21, younger than when everyone else is just starting training", Hua Cheng pointed out. Xie Lian had just told him something highly personal, and certainly didn't want Hua Cheng to feel sorry for him, so he tried to focus on the positive, "Gege you're really amazing!", he said with a smile.

Xie Lian was amazing, but at the price of never having had a life, basically.

The SUV slowed down and stopped, and they heard a beep: they arrived at their destination.

"C'mon, put your helmet on, lock it... we're going for a moonwalk", he poked Xie Lian, who pffted a laugh and did just as he said.

They stepped out, and everything was as dark as ever. Xie Lian couldn't contain his curiosity anymore and asked, "Alright San Lang just tell me already: why we're here?"

"Why?", Hua Cheng's triumphant voice replied, "Look!", and he pointed up, high on the black sky, what you could call the Moon's "moon": the Earth!

Was it fun, then angsty? 😶

Let me know in the comments, and don't forget to vote!