"The Doctor says he's comming, but you got to pay him cash...".

...The situation between the Moon colonies and Mother Earth has finally come to violence.

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CHAPTER TWO
...All of us fell out in line abreast on the blue circles in front of the building. The officer called the roll. As each of us answered we were issued a claim check for two hundred kilos of water. I was relieved to see that I wouldn’t have to carry the water on board with me.
...“Here we go, troops! Platoon…Attention! Private Smith?”
“Yo,” Smitty replied.
“I appoint you Acting Corporal. Take your platoon to loading bay number four, and godspeed.”
...Smitty was, by far, the tallest and burliest of us. Which is probably why he got picked to be the “Acting Jack.” He pretty much looked like a Viking. Sometimes, size counts. He stepped out of line and faced us. “Okay, uh, we’re soldiers of the M.A.F. now…uh, platoon, right face and let’s take it in single file down to bay number four.” We right-faced and stepped off. We didn’t march in unison, but didn’t straggle either.
When we got to bay four, the ship was already loading. Smitty led us straight to the cargo master. One by one, he checked our paperwork and assigned each of us a seat according to our weight. I drew an aisle seat near the middle of the compartment. Not that it mattered –there were no windows. The warning light was already on, so I fastened my safety harness and got ready.
...I took the time to look around the compartment. There were no empty seats. My platoon was among the last people to get on board. Sitting to my left were Natasha and Revelle, two of my platoon mates. Up a few rows and across the aisle were Smitty and Alva. Lobianco, Artis and Leblanc were behind me.
...The cargo master came through one last time, making sure that people and bags were all secure. The launch warning light came on and the intercom announced, “Thirty seconds to launch… fifteen seconds… ten… nine… eight… seven… six… five… four… three…two…one! Launch!”
The ship rose into the air on its ground jets. At two thousand feet, the VanHelsing drive was engaged. At that moment, all of the hair on my body stood up for an instant as a wave of static electricity swept through the ship.
...“Wow, that felt weird!” remarked Revelle.
...“I think I came!” said Natasha, laughing. “Now that you mention it… I’ve got a hard-on!”
...“Let me see that,” said Revelle, and she smiled at me playfully with her big brown eyes. Revelle was cute. She wore her drab regulation uniform tight enough to reveal she had a hot body. She reached across Natasha and grabbed my crotch. “Oh shit, Gutz, it’s you and me later!” she squealed.
“Hell, let me see!” Natasha got a hold of my crotch too. She and Revelle were about the same age and height and both had black hair, but there was something more attractive about Natasha. She was of athletic build and tougher-looking than Revelle. She had an exotic look about her, sort of Oriental, and anthracite eyes. “Damn Gutz, you’re armed and dangerous!” she said, teasing me.
...“Ah, well…I, uh… Shit!” I started to turn red.
“Don’t be embarrassed, Gutz. Honey, you’re a woman’s plaything!” Laughing to her friend, Revelle gave me another squeeze and then let go. Natasha sadistically played with me until I was ready to come, then she quit.
Grunting my frustration, I pulled out my manual. Turning to the first page, I began to read.
A SHORT HISTORY OF EARTH’S SPACE COLONIES
...Until the year 2099, Earth had no practical space drive. Dependence on chemical rockets kept Earthkind inside the orbit of the moon. But, on what started off as an ordinary day in the spring of 2099, historian Art VanHelsing made a fantastic discovery that drastically altered the frontiers of space travel forever.
...While cleaning up in a sub-basement of the old Smithsonian Museum Complex in Washington, D.C., VanHelsing happened upon six dust-covered cardboard boxes in a corner. Somehow, they had been mislabeled as Indian Artifacts and stacked in a corner of the sub-basement, to be forgotten. The contents of these boxes were, in fact, the collected personal papers of Nicola Tesla, long believed to be lost. The old government of the United States of America wasted no time in taking advantage of this marvelous opportunity. Building on Tesla’s research, they quickly moved to construct the first operative spaceship, which left the Earth in May of 2101.
... Not long after, Moon Base Alpha was permanently established in 2105, and Mars was colonized in 2107. Before long, Sedonia City was thriving, as it still is today. Further colonies and bases were planned and set up throughout the solar system.
...Despite these fortunate developments beyond its borders, trouble was brewing on Earth. In the year 2120, the final terrorist act of our time was committed by members of the old Islamic religion. A biological weapon was set off near Baghdad. It contained something which was so virulent that it has come to be known simply as the X-Virus and the day of the event as X-Day. Within one week of the attack, seventy-five percent of the global population was dead. Of the twenty-five percent that survived, most were sterilized.
...Twenty billion people were wiped off the face of Planet Earth. All of the world’s governments simply collapsed. Survivors made their way to the old United Nations building in old New York City. There, a unified global government was formed. A call went out to the colonies to send help. Fortunately, the response was enthusiastic: colonists from across the solar system returned in droves to repopulate the planet. At the time of publication (2155), the population of the Earth has reached nearly sixteen million.
...Subsequent to these horrific events, all surviving members of the Islamic religion were eventually put to death. All two hundred and fifty of them. Furthermore, all organized religion has been officially banned. The X-Day Memorial in New York City displays the poignant phrase, as uttered by Earth Gov Secretary General Charley Hannon in his famous speech of April 2130: YOU MAY BELIEVE IN ANY GOD YOU WANT, BUT KEEP IT TO YOURSELF.
In conclusion, the colonies have shown themselves to be of vital significance to the prosperity of the Earth. Without her colonies, Earth would be a dead planet now.

...Next came the constitution and laws of the Moon Colonies. There was a lot of legalese, but I skimmed through it, just hitting the high points.
...Essentially, the Moon Colonies were a republican democracy. Citizenship was either through birth or six years of military service. Resident aliens had limited rights and could be deported at any time for any reasonable cause. Due to the ratio of five men to three women, monogamy was outlawed. Women were required to take a minimum of two husbands or lovers. Celibacy was allowed, but discouraged. Any female behavior that led to male violence would be dealt with severely, up to and including banishment from the Moon Colonies. The punishment for murder was a one-way walk across the Sea of Tranquility with a one-hour air tank. “I guess that beats hanging,” I thought to myself as I closed the book.
...The cargo master was coming down the aisle. “Okay, people, we have forty-eight hours to the moon. I have sleeping pills for whoever wants one.” When he came up to me, I didn’t hesitate. I took a pill and swallowed it.
...“Next stop, the moon,” I muttered. Pulling a blanket up over myself, I was soon asleep. I had some strange dreams.
**********
...It was hot as hell and we were sitting on a park bench slurping Popsicles. We had just finished climbing the only big, old tree Newark had to offer us kids.
“Hey Leona, I’m bored. Why don’t we go watch a movie? There’s that new Sedonia Rangers one down at the Star where they blow up all those Martian attack pods.”
...“Okay, but we just spent the only credits I had on these Popsicles.”
...“Aw, come on, it’s easy, I do it all the time. We just have to make sure we show up right when the people from the last show are leaving and then we can hide in the exit until the other ones start coming in.”
...“Well, if you’re sure we won’t get caught, but I have to be home by five. We’re going somewhere tonight.” She stood up and tossed her wrapper and stick in the trash can. “Last one to the bike is a rotten egg!” She took off before I could blink, but I caught up to her in no time, wrestling her to the ground just a few feet from the bike. “No…you…don’t!” She tried to squirm out of my grasp, but I reached up with one arm and touched the wheel, pushing her back. “Look who’s the rotten egg now,” I laughed. We both sat up.
...“Oooh! That’s not fair!” she protested, panting.
...“Hey, you’re the one who gave yourself a head start. You should know not to mess with me like that. You can’t even beat me when you cheat, so why do you try?”
...“I’ll show you, Tyson Parker Gutz. Let’s run around the fence. We’ll keep pretty much the same speed, but whoever quits first loses. So it’s not a race of who’s faster, but who can go the distance, like my dad says.”
...She had me there. Ten minutes later I was red in the face, out of breath, and she was barely even sweating. “Oh, look who’s the big shot now! Can’t even keep up with a girl!”
...“Yeah, yeah, you win, Leona.”
...“My dad makes me run with him whenever he’s home, because he says you have to have stamina for military training.”
...“You want to be in the military?” I asked.
...“Sure. It’s what Greenvilles do.” We took a drink of water from my canteen.
...“Well, let’s go. I think there’s a show at three-fifteen.” I turned to get the bike.
...Leona said, “Wait a minute, Tyson. Have you ever played Truth or Dare?” I shook my head. “Monica was talking about it at school. Well, I dare you to kiss me.”
...“What? Kiss you?” The concept seemed kind of gross to me.
...“Yeah, come on, I want to try.” She came close to me, grabbed on to my cheeks and pulled my face to hers. Surprisingly, it felt nice. But when she stuck her tongue in my mouth, I pulled back. “What are you doing?”
...She shrugged. “Monica says that’s the best part. Well, let’s go. I won’t make you ride this time, since you’re so tired from all that running,” she teased.
...I held on tight to her as we made our way to the theatre. She could be a bit of a reckless driver on a bicycle, especially when she was in a hurry. I noticed she smelled like honey, and that her blonde hair, now long, was soft against my face. Funny, I had never noticed anything like that before…
**********
...“Damn, Gutz, wake up! Sheesh, do you snore!” Revelle and Natasha were both pummeling me.
...“Crap, cut it out… Where the hell are we?”
...“We made it. We land on the moon in an hour,” replied Revelle. “By the way, who the heck is Leona?”
...“Uh, somebody I knew once…why?”
...“You mentioned her name in your sleep,” said Natasha.
...“Yeah, I knew her when I was a kid. We were friends. Best friends, even.” I paused. “She moved away on me, suddenly. I went over to play one day and she and her family were just gone. Never saw her again…” Natasha and Revelle looked sympathetic. I suddenly felt embarrassed for revealing so much of myself.
...“I’ll bet you loved her, huh?”
...“Gimme a break, Natasha, I don’t want to talk about it any more and I’m not going to!” The return of a childhood sadness suddenly weighed heavily on me.
...“Leave him alone, honey,” said Revelle. “His heart is busted.”
...All of a sudden, a warning gong started sounding and all of the warning lights were flashing. The intercom came on. “Ten minutes to lunar touchdown. Secure all bodies and loose objects.” An instant later the cargo master came through, making a visual inspection. After about five minutes, I felt a small impact in the seat of my pants. All warning lights shut off. A green sign came on that read LANDING SUCCESSFUL.
...“Now that was a frigging anti-climax,” I opined. “Now what?”
...Our instructions blared over the intercom. “Please remain in your seats until pressure has equalized. When the all-clear comes on, exit the ship by your row number. Welcome to the Moon Colonies.”
...I was already free of my seat harness. When the exit light came on, I stood up and waited patiently for my turn. Natasha whacked me in the butt and handed me my flight bag.
“Oh yeah, thanks,” I mumbled. When it finally got to be my turn to start down the aisle, I got whacked in the ass again. “Damn, you broads are pushy!” That last remark got me a whack on the back of my head.
...“Get going, Gutz!” They pushed me out into the aisle and I headed for the door. I walked out of the ship and down the ramp. At the foot of the ramp was a large rack marked OXY BOTTLES – TAKE ONE. I took one and hooked it to my suit. Suddenly came the realization that everything seemed very light. I was really on the moon! I took a little skip and hop and went around ten meters in the air. Sheepishly I looked around. I wasn’t the only person who had done that.
I bounced over to my platoon mates and asked Smitty, “Okay, fearless leader, now what?”
...“Uh, it looks like there is a troop carrier over yonder. It’s got ‘C-3-2’ on the side of it. I bet it’s for us. Form a line and let’s get over there.” It occurred to me that Smitty was getting into being a corporal.
...Momentarily we were in front of the troop carrier. By the driver’s side stood a very grizzled sargeant. “Hold up,” said Smitty. We stopped in line. Smitty tried on a salute. “Fourth Squad, Fourth Platoon reporting, sir!”
...“I see…and you are?”
...“I’m Acting Corporal Smith, sir!”
...“Damnation, boy! You call me sir one more time and I will bust you upside that big head of yours. I am an enlisted man same as you. You don’t salute me or call me sir ever again…you got that?”
...“Ah, uh, yes, Sargeant!”
...“Fall in, Corporal. Squad, ten-hut!” We straightened convulsively. “People, I am your platoon sargeant. My name is Butram Rodrock. If you don’t think I ain’t heard every joke there is about my name, you are wrong. On Saturday nights I hold sargeants’ drum call. At that time, if you feel froggy, go ahead and jump. However, no weapons; I don’t want to have to kill any of you. Our company commander is Captain James Cadbury, the X.O. is…”
...“X.O., Sargeant?”
...“Executive Officer, soldier. The X.O. is First Lieutenant Karen Whitehills. She likes to be called ‘Lieutenant K.W.’ Your platoon leader is Second Lieutenant Altus Johnson. We have a command sargeant major that actually runs everything around here. For your own good, do not, and I repeat, do not fuck with him. You will always address him as Sargeant Major Meehan. You will meet these people in due course. Alright, squad! Drop and give me fifty pushups.” When we hit the deck, Rodrock dropped with us. Fifty pushups in lunar gravity wasn’t too hard. “Okay, squad, get in the carrier. We have to go get your water.” We climbed into the back; Rodrock got behind the controls. He engaged the drive unit and the carrier took off with a jerk. We headed back to the spaceship we’d just debouched from, stopping at the cargo bay.
...All of the cargo was already off the ship and stacked in various piles. The cargo master was busily supervising the freight distribution from a small podium off to one side of the loading ramp. “Fall out in front of the carrier and get your claim checks out!” hollered Sargeant Rodrock. “Move it out!” We piled out and lined up. “Corporal Smitty?”
...“Here, Sargeant!”
...“Take your squad to the cargo master and present your claim checks. Draw your water and pile the car buoys in the carrier.”
...“Yes, Sargeant! Okay, squad, you heard the sarge, let’s go get our water.” He led us in file over to the cargo master. One at a time he collected our claim checks, then directed us to a large stack of water car buoys.
...I walked up to the stack and hefted a car buoy. “Whoa!” I hollered as I almost went over backwards. I was still thinking in Earth weight and I jerked up on the car buoy too hard. Recovering, I hauled my water over to the carrier and stacked it on board. Smitty was last. He put his water on board and lined up with the rest of us.
...“Get on the carrier, squad, let’s go!” Sargeant Rodrock was already in the driver’s seat. As soon as the hatch came down, he engaged the drive unit. With a jerk, the carrier started rolling. I took a good look around. We were in a large under-surface cavern. “I wonder how they made this?” I mused out loud.
...“Uh, probably used a thermo nuke,” replied Smitty. I figured Smitty was right, because just before the carrier entered one of the many tunnels, I could see that the walls of the cavern were fused. We rode along for several minutes in relative silence.
...“All right, troops, we’re home!” Sargeant Rodrock actually sounded happy. He brought the troop carrier to a stop at a sentry box and gate. The sign on the gate read RESTRICTED AREA.
...“Hey Sarge, what you got?” asked the sentry.
...“Got a load of water and raw meat,” replied Sargeant Rodrock. They shared a laugh together, then the sentry waved us through. The carrier debouched into another cavern. Even to the uninitiated, this place was obviously a military base.
...We came to a halt in front of a building marked REFIT AND SUPPLY. Rodrock jumped to the surface. “Squad, fall out behind the carrier.” We fell out and lined up. “Grab your water and follow me.” We each got a water car buoy, and then followed Rodrock.
...As I went inside the building, a supply corporal relieved me of my water. “Okay, everybody out of these piece-of-shit suits and throw them in that can over there.” Rodrock pointed at a large trash bin. We all did as ordered. “Damnation! I didn’t say to throw the oxy bottles in there. Squad, retrieve your damn oxy bottles and stack them in the oxy rack.” Rodrock was not happy.
...Smitty thought fast. “Gutz, get in there. Uh, throw them bottles to me and I’ll stack ‘em.” So, I took my naked ass into the trash bin. One by one, I tossed the oxy bottles to Smitty and he put them in the rack. I quickly climbed back out and rejoined my squad. Sargent Rodrock was mollified. The rapid correction of the screw-up put him back in a good humor.
...At the next station we drew duffle bags. At each station we were issued more stuff until our bags were full. Then we went into a room marked SUIT ISSUE, where we were met by a supply sargeant. “Welcome, you new troops! You are about to be issued the best and most expensive army combat pressure suit in the solar system. You will take damn good care of it, because if you don’t you might die. This suit does it all. It recycles your body waste. Your comm gear is all built in.”
...He cleared his throat and continued, “It has an emergency hood and is equipped with an oxygen re-breather. When you lock down the hard helmet, you’re safe to go outside in anything but a combat situation. It only comes in the one color, lunardust. Okay, questions?”
...Well, there were a lot of questions. Finally, though, we were all squared away and wearing our new suits. It took a while to find a suit that would fit Smitty. A soon as I got mine on, I took a huge piss. The suit worked fine.

To be continued.

….Today, I finally saw the Michael Jackson movie. I thought that I had missed it; it was only supposed to play for two weeks, but I found a theater that was still showing it. I rushed off to see it and I am glad that I did.
….I don’t consider myself to be an overly emotional person, but there were three places in the movie where I found myself weeping. What was I crying about? Our collective loss of a great talent? Maybe I was crying for my own lost youth, I don’t know. I do know that his last shows would have been his greatest. Thank God that somebody had the presence of mind to document the rehearsals. What ever you might think about M.J.’s personal life, on the stage he was the master and nobody could touch him.
...My uncle confessed to me last night that he had gone to see the movie. He told me that he now regretted ignoring M.J. while he was alive.

More pictures shot thru the car windows.

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