The Moon Platoon. Jeramey Kraatz
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that woman out for a tour.”
“Yesterday,” Pinky said. “You were scheduled to take her out yesterday. And don’t think I didn’t see that you went on a short joyride instead of out to the see the old Moon landing site like you were supposed to.”
“Not short enough,” Elijah said, glancing over his shoulder. “If I had to listen to her talk about her burgeoning singing career any more, I’d have walked out of the Space Runner without a helmet on. Speaking of which, will you make sure she and her handlers are on the transport back to Earth with the last of the guests and seasonal staff in an hour?”
“Impressive tech,” Jasmine said from Benny’s left. He hadn’t even realised she’d come up beside him. The water in the fountain must have covered the noise of her footsteps.
“Yeah,” he said. “Impressive, angry tech.”
“At least the EW-SCABers got a few pics with her,” Elijah continued.
“Please don’t call them that,” Pinky said. “It sounds so disgusting.”
“What? I think it’s funny.”
“I don’t know why I even bother making schedules if you’re just going to ignore them.” Pinky sighed.
Elijah smiled at her. “You’re being dramatic.”
“No. Not yet, but I’m about to be. There’s something else. Take a look at the readings we’ve got from the deep space probes. I found some anomalies that at first we thought were solar winds but now … well, I’m not sure what they are.”
Elijah tapped once on a slim band wrapped around his right wrist, and a series of graphs appeared in front of him. They were made of light, but he swiped through them as if they were tangible.
“How is he doing that?” Benny whispered.
“Must be some kind of motion sensor,” Jasmine surmised.
With each swipe, Elijah’s eyebrows drew closer and closer together until finally they were almost touching. Benny watched the graphs pass by, but they might as well have been in a foreign language to him.
“You’re sure there hasn’t been an equipment malfunction?” Elijah asked. “These readings don’t make any sense.”
“All probes are functioning normally. I’ve triple-checked everything,” Pinky said.
“What is that?” Jasmine asked. She put one foot up on the side of the fountain to lean forward and get a closer look at the projections, knocking a few rocks into the water as she did so.
Elijah glanced over his shoulder and did a double take, pushing the charts out of the way with one wave of his hand.
“Jasmine Wu,” he said. He nodded to her necklace. “You got my gift. I’m glad.”
She froze, staring up at him.
“Y-you know who I am?” she stammered.
“Your suggested changes to our manufacturing process for hyperdrive engines increased productivity by three percent,” he said. “Of course I know who you are.”
“Technically it was a little less than three percent,” she murmured.
Elijah didn’t smile, exactly – it was more of a look of approval, Benny thought.
Drue was suddenly pushing past Jasmine and extending his hand to Elijah.
“Mr West. It’s an honour. You may remember meeting me last year. I just wanted you to know that—”
“I know who you are, though not because we’ve apparently met,” he said. Then he turned away from Drue and nodded to Pinky. “Prepare a report for me on these charts. I’ll review them before dinner.”
“Elijah,” she said, “there are guests waiting for you. The charts. Where are you—”
“They can wait, Pinky. Right now I’ve got a date with an American classic.”
And then he was heading towards big frosted-glass doors that led into the garage, Pinky and the McGuyvers trailing after him. Now, it was easy for Benny to see why he’d thought the building glowed from space: the exterior was covered in the same highly reflective metal as the Space Runners.
Benny looked at Drue, who was standing perfectly still, his hand held out even though Elijah was gone. Finally he let it drop, and his face softened a little. Benny saw something flash in his eyes. When he spoke again, he sounded friendlier. “So, Jazz, you really helped him overhaul his manufacturing?”
“It was nothing,” Jasmine said as she shoved her necklace inside her space suit, avoiding looking any of them in the eyes.
“Really? Because it sounded pretty impressive.”
“It was just a matter of having a specific outcome in mind and looking at all the possible ways I could get to it.”
“Wait,” Drue said. “Are you the person who suggested that they recycle the fission coolant to be used as secondary radiation shielding?”
Jasmine blinked, finally looking at him. “That’s right.”
“I’m glad they managed to find some people as smart as I am.” Drue grinned. “So, listen, next time you talk to Elijah, put in a good word for me, OK, Jazz? Tell him I’ve got a ton of great ideas.”
Jasmine just stared back at him.
Hot Dog raised an eyebrow, leaning towards Benny. “You spent the entire flight from Earth with him?”
Benny shrugged. “He was asleep most the time.”
By this time, the kids had all realised that Elijah was in the courtyard, and everyone was following him in a massive swarm, keeping a few metres of distance, as if they were afraid to get too close. He paused in front of the entrance to the garage, turning to the rest of the kids gathered behind him. Standing before Elijah in their matching space suits, Benny thought they looked kind of like a miniature army, ready to follow their beloved commander.
“Hello,” Elijah said with a bulletproof smile. “Welcome to the future.” His voice boomed through the courtyard, pumping out of hidden speakers. “I hope you’re all ready for an exciting life up here on the Moon.” And then his expression changed, for a moment looking somehow sad. “This year’s scholarship winners represent the most impressive applicants I’ve ever had the pleasure of welcoming to the Taj. I have such high hopes for all of you.”
He held out a hand, and the big man in coveralls gave him back his black driving gloves. Then Elijah turned and walked through the garage doors.
Drue, Hot Dog and Jasmine immediately turned their attention back to the custom Space Runner. Benny’s mind was still buzzing over the hologram technology he’d just seen. He’d known the Taj was full of electronic wonders, but to see them up close and in action was something he couldn’t have prepared himself for. He wondered what kind of holograms he might be able to design if he had access to that sort of tech. The insane pranks he could pull. Intangible zombies rising out of the football field to attack opposing teams. Holographic monsters waiting under his brothers’ bed. The stuff he had at home – the ramshackle machines and electronics that made up their caravan – might as well have been prehistoric in comparison.
Who needed spiders?
He tried to make a mental list of everything that had happened so far as he looked at the sky. Hundreds of thousands of miles away was Earth. His family. The Moon was sure to have all kinds of new experiences waiting for him, but part of the excitement was knowing he’d get to tell his brothers all about them when he got home. After all, they were the main reason he was up here in the first place – apart from the obvious excitement of going to the Moon. Their minds would be blown by the Space Runner trip alone, and he hadn’t even set foot inside the resort.
As he stared at the planet above him,