My Most Recent Writeup for My Writing Group

As a side note, this was written with an 800-word limit, which I went a bit over. Every rewrite seemed to require a few more words, so I just stopped working on it before launching it into a novel of my own. I give you:

Footprints
By Me

(To the memory of author James P. Hogan (1941 – 2010), and his Gentle Giants, I give you “Finding Koriel”)

Footprints . . .
884-words

During the construction of Copernicus 3 in the flatland northeast of the crumbled central peak, two lone pioneers followed a surprisingly well-marked trail. Nearly 58 miles in diameter, Copernicus Crater is located in plain view from Earth, at Lunar-face west, latitude 9.6 degrees north by longitude 20.1 degrees west, just north of Mare Insularum and to the south of Mare Imbrium, about 160 miles north of Apollo sites 12 and 14.

The day/night terminator had crossed over the site the previous day, so the angle of sunlight stretched long, eerie shadows across the bleak landscape. Commander Torny Ryland swiveled her headlamps a bit downward to where the crumbled indentations made the footprints appear impossibly old, with the broken impressions displaying the exact same irradiated shading as their dark-gray surroundings. Following this ancient trail, she and Colonel John Samuels were very cautious to not step on or in any way disturb these historic imprints, at times calling for wide circuits where the path seemed to include places where their quarry may have stumbled or fallen, displacing a lot of regolith.

It had been more than a hundred years since Apollo and prior to Project Copernicus there had been only a total of 12 persons who had managed to set foot upon the rugged, unforgiving surface of the Earth’s single orbiter. The construction of Lunar survey bases had brought the number of Moon Walkers up to a whopping 369, with hundreds more expected, but none of these visitors had ever ventured into the area near to the north crater wall, and yet somehow two young explorers were now following a trail of boot prints.

“Copernicus-3,” Ryland called. “Copernicus. EVA-375.3-VENTURE-NW. Do you read?”

“EVA-375, Copernicus-3. Good copy. Go ahead.”

“Yes. Anomaly number two. Note; looks like we’ll be entering radio-dark for a short period.”

“Roger, EVA-375, good copy on that. Reason required.”

“I know. Tell Jorgensen … we have a cavern.”

“Ah, say again last, EVA-375. Cavern?”

“Affirmative, Britt. Cavern.” The commander shook her head at the sight. Without the presence of liquid, it was… “An impossible … lunar … cavern.”

“Um … be advised, you got Jorgensen’s geological juices goin’ here. He and Major Lind are in the process of suiting up to join with you. I’ll be here on radio. Copy?”

“Roger, Copernicus. Samuels and I will remain in signal surveying the outside of the cave while our … reinforcements motor out. We’ll keep our distance and keep you informed. We’ve covered approximately nine miles almost directly northwest and are near to the crater wall. Over.”

“Roger, EVA-375-ALPHA. Got your GPS ping and … EVA-375.BRAVO-VENTURE-NORTHWEST is in the lock.”

Ryland dropped to her knees. “Britt? Anomaly number three.”

“Go ahead, EVA-357-ALPHA.”

“Moment…” Ryland turned the item around with her thickly gloved fingers. “Britt.”

“Still here, EVA-375-ALPHA.”

“Yeah.” She leaned on her staff, getting back to her feet. “Copernicus, I’m holding what looks to be a tiny cube … box of some kind … in my hand. Few centimeters. Blue in color … red symmetrical pattern. Looks like it might open. Placing in … sample container 23-21. Okay, proceeding to Samuels’ location.”

“Breaking,” Colonel Samuels called. “Commander.”

“What’s up?”

“Dunno. Looks like we’ll need forensics.”

“Come again? Oh … my…”

Commander Ryland took a knee at the side of their fallen trekker. The red spacesuit was badly faded and lightly dusted, but the visor had been baked beyond iridescence to a solid pitch of shining black. She raised the victim’s hand revealing the brilliant color of the newly exposed material. She could see the material rend and feel the arm inside cracking, shattering, crumbling under the slight pressure.

“Copernicus. …EVA-375-ALPHA and anomaly number four.”

“Copy.”

“We got a body, Britt. Dead … pretty sure. Change of plan; we’ll be heading back. Reserve us a buggy and truck to play ambulance.”

“Roger, EVA-375-ALPHA. Wait.”

She stood and looked to her colleague. “John. This … is old.”

Samuels nodded his agreement. “Don’t recognize the suit or markings … but the body is likely very … pre-Apollo?”

Ryland looked to the cavern entrance. “Almost made it.”

“To what? No one inside seemed to care … if there ever was anyone inside. Lotta footprints, though.”

“Yeah. Maybe all from our friend?”

“EVA-375-ALPHA, Copernicus-3. Vehicles are reserved for morning venture.”

“Copy that. Have EVA-375-BRAVO abort. We’re heading back for reports and will return tomorrow with some proper digging tools … braces. Movin’ toward gibbous tomorrow, correct?”

“Affirmative. Brighter every day. We’ll have the sunlight for the next 13 days. This one oughta make ’em sit up downstairs. Um, you’re bringin’ in anomaly three?”

She gave the sample bag a light pat. “Affirmative, Copernicus. Little trinket to take a look at. Dunno what it is. I don’t think any of this is from home. More footprints around the cave entrance but no activity.”

“Should I request team-support.”

“Negative, Britt. We’ll see what Houston has to say but I think our team can handle an initial survey. I’d expect a sortie from Earth … one with real mining supplies, night-lighting … an archeologist.”

“Wilco and copy.”

“Is that a book? No, no, don’t touch it. Everything here’s fragile.” She watched Colonel Samuels get back to his feet. “First contact?”

“Oh-ho… Weird stuff, Torny.”

“Mm. Let’s head back.”
–