Waste of Space

  Dad came over to me and put an arm around my shoulders. “Come on,” he said. “I think our work here is done.”

  “I do too,” Mom said, and we started for the door.

  “Wait!” Nina yelled after us. “Where are you going?”

  Dad said, “You forced my son to help solve this crime, and he solved it. It’s your job to deal with the aftermath.”

  Nina shifted her gaze from us to the shouting Sjobergs. She didn’t look happy to have them all in her office.

  “Don’t worry,” Chang told Nina. “Viktor and I will be happy to help you take care of these idiots.” He cracked his knuckles and smiled, like he was hoping Nina might ask him to knock some heads together.

  My parents and I stepped out onto the catwalk and shut the door behind us.

  Most of the other Moonies were gathered in the staging area below us. Since we could all clearly hear the Sjobergs arguing through the thin walls, it seemed that everyone else had a very good idea what had happened in Nina’s office.

  Meanwhile, Kira and Violet were right outside the door. Violet had chocolate ice cream smeared around her face. Daphne stood nearby, looking a bit embarrassed. Obviously, they had all been eavesdropping.

  “Is it true?” Violet asked. “Lars poisoned himself   ?”

  “Looks that way,” Dad replied.

  “Why would he do that?” Violet asked.

  “He was trying to manipulate NASA into getting him off the moon faster,” Dad explained. “And to frame Chang for doing it.”

  “It’s a shame he didn’t get the dose wrong and off himself for good,” Dr. Janke said, and a lot of the other Moonies echoed agreement.

  “We’ll be free of the Sjobergs soon enough,” Mom told the crowd. The she turned her attention to me. “You still have a few hours of your birthday left, Dash. Is there anything special you’d like to do?”

  “Yeah,” I said. After my exceptionally long day, there was only one thing I could think of. “More than anything else in the whole world, I want to go to sleep.”

  Excerpt from The Official NASA Procedures for Contact with Intelligent Extraterrestrial Life © National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Department of Extraterrestrial Affairs, 2029 (Classification Level AAA)

  CONTACT BEYOND EARTH

  As humanity begins to expand our frontiers, colonizing our moon and Mars and traveling to planets even farther out in our solar system, the possibility exists that our first contact with IEL may not occur on our own planet. (Of course, there is also the potential for encountering nonintelligent life on other celestial objects—e.g., bacteria and viruses beneath the crust of Mars—but while that would no doubt be an incredible event, it does not require the cautionary procedures laid out in this manual.) Should you encounter IEL while not on earth, DEXA should be contacted immediately. Obviously, many of the steps laid out here will not be feasible beyond earth, but DEXA can still be extremely helpful in facilitating contact between our species—and perhaps directing the IEL to earth, where further, more practical communication between our species can take place.

  20

  THE GIFT

  Lunar day 253

  T minus 3 hours to evacuation

  I slept better than I ever had in my previous 252 nights on the moon.

  Maybe it was because I was exhausted from the extremely long day and all the time on the lunar surface and the fact that Lily Sjoberg had tried to kill me. Or maybe, after eight months, I was finally getting the hang of lunar sleep, just in time to leave. Whatever the case, I was out cold until my parents shook me awake at seven a.m.

  “Sorry to do this,” Mom whispered, “But we have a lot to do today.”

  And we did. There was still a lot of prep for evacuation, which was more complicated than expected because of the emergency evac we’d done the day before. Our space suits, which were still piled by the air lock, all had to be reorganized, cleaned, and examined for damage. There were many more experiments left to break down in the science pod, and there was still equipment to pack. Plus we were shorthanded, due to the Sjoberg situation. In addition to the evacuation, Nina now had her hands full dealing with Lars and Lily, her two newest criminals.

  While I had been asleep, NASA had floated the idea of having the Sjobergs sent down on the rockets that day instead of my family, so they could be jailed immediately back on earth, but it was ultimately decided that leaving children in a potentially dangerous moon base (one that had already suffered a life-threatening oxygen leak) while sending criminals to safety would make NASA look bad. Besides, it wasn’t as though the Sjobergs would end up in jail immediately anyhow; they had more than enough money to post bail back on earth. For the time being, the best punishment seemed to be to keep them at MBA for as long as possible.

  Meanwhile, NASA public relations was freaking out that they now had to handle an emergency evacuation and Lily’s attempt to murder me. Unlike the Dr. Holtz murder, there was no way to sweep this one under the carpet. Then, Dr. Holtz’s death had been proclaimed an unfortunate accident, and Garth Grisan, a little-known government employee, had been quietly tried and convicted by a secret tribunal. In contrast, the Sjobergs were world-famous, and any attempt to bring them to justice was going to be big news.

  Therefore, what would have otherwise been a chaotic and tense preparation for evacuation was now an extremely chaotic and tense preparation for evacuation.

  To my surprise, I found myself feeling a little sad about leaving.

  The whole time I’d been at MBA, I had never found much to like about it. But now I realized there were things I would miss: the view through the skylight in the greenhouse, the marathon games of holographic Risk I’d played with Kira, helping Violet do low-gravity gymnastics when Nina wasn’t watching, and having conversations in the mess hall with some of the smartest humans alive. (True, these were often about how repulsive the food was, but I’d learned some fascinating cutting-edge science as well.) I found myself taking any spare moments to wander into the science pod or the gymnasium, just to spend a few last minutes there.

  Zan found me in the greenhouse.

  Although I’d helped uproot most of the plants, Dr. Goldstein had repotted a few to bring back with us, so she could examine them more closely on earth and study how low gravity had affected them. It wasn’t much, but it was still a nice little oasis in the midst of the bustling base.

  “Hello, Dashiell,” Zan said. Although she was smiling and her bright blue eyes were radiant, I got the feeling that she was very sad.

  “Is something wrong?” I asked.

  “Do you have time to talk?”

  I looked through the glass of the greenhouse into the rest of the base, watching my fellow Moonies bustle about. I had probably wasted too much time hanging out in there already, but I desperately wanted to speak to Zan. “Sure,” I said. “A little.” Then, because I wanted privacy, I had no choice but to exit the greenhouse and cross the hall into the bathroom.

  Thankfully, there wasn’t anyone else in there. I slipped into the middle stall and sat down on the space toilet.

  I wasn’t going to miss those things one bit.

  “I’m happy to see that you are all right after yesterday,” Zan said.

  “Thanks.” It seemed that, since the fate of humanity might be on the line, I should do my best to defend us. “Zan, you need to realize that, even though people have tried to kill me up here twice, that’s not really normal. It’s a factor of being up here on the moon, I guess. Space madness or something. All of us living up here in this little confined space with nowhere else to go.”

  “I suspected as much.”

  “Back on earth, most kids my age have never had even one attempt on their life. In fact, lots of people never have anyone try to kill them.”

  “I know that. But I am actually pleased to have witnessed what I did yesterday.”

  I suddenly understood why Zan had seemed so sad. “You’re not going to help humanity, are you?”

&n
bsp; Zan blinked, surprised. “I’m afraid you have things backward. What I saw yesterday convinced me to give you what you need.”

  I sat up, so thrown by this that I couldn’t quite make sense of it. “But you saw Lily trying to kill me.”

  “Yes. However, I am aware that the Sjobergs are not normal humans. And in your moment of need, I saw something else more important than Lily’s behavior. Cesar Marquez came to your aid. And Violet’s. To protect you from Lily.”

  “And that surprised you?”

  “I have always gotten the impression from you that Cesar didn’t like you very much.”

  “Right.”

  “And yet, when he saw you were in trouble, he came to your rescue without any hesitation. Even though that meant he could have ended up in danger too. And others were also rushing to help; Cesar simply got there first. That doesn’t strike you as extraordinary?”

  “Well . . . no,” I admitted. “I mean, I would have done it for Cesar—or anyone else.”

  “Even the Sjobergs?”

  “If I saw one of them was in danger, yes, I would help them.” I wasn’t saying it merely to make myself sound good. I really meant it.

  It seemed that Zan could tell. She smiled warmly. “In the galaxy, that behavior is far more unusual than you realize. Of course species will protect members of their own families, and when a community is at risk from a threat, we will come together to defend it, but it is rare to see a species that is willing to protect random members so readily.”

  “So . . . ,” I said, still trying to comprehend what was going on, “you weren’t horrified when you appeared to me on the moon yesterday?”

  “Not at all. In fact, I was amazed. I know that I have spoken to you many times about the flaws of humanity. It is possible that I have spoken to you far too rarely about the positive aspects.”

  “Well, you’ve mentioned music and art. And love.”

  “Yes, love. I am still fascinated by how strong the emotional bonds can be between humans. And yet, yesterday showed me that there barely has to be any bond between humans for one to save another.”

  “Actually, there doesn’t have to be any bond at all,” I said. “My parents have both rescued drowning tourists off the beach in Hawaii. They didn’t know those people. They had never met until right then.”

  “It’s fascinating,” Zan said. “Your species can be so terrible and brutal to one another, and yet be so loving and kind. I wonder if those two impulses are connected in some way. There is no darkness without light.”

  “So you’re going to save us?”

  “I can’t promise that. But I will do my best. If you can avoid wiping yourselves out, you might just be able to that teach the rest of us something.”

  I immediately felt as though an enormous weight had been lifted off me. The stress of having to answer for all of humanity gave way to an incredible feeling of joy. This, combined with the knowledge that I would soon be leaving MBA, was almost overwhelming. I had to fight the urge to leap to my feet and start dancing, if only because I didn’t want anyone to find me doing that in the bathroom.

  And yet I still felt sadness emanating from Zan.

  “This is all good, right?” I asked.

  “Of course it is.”

  “Then why aren’t you happy about it?”

  “Because, after this, I will never be able to see you again.”

  And just like that, I didn’t feel so happy anymore. “Why not?”

  “Some time ago, I told you that there were many of my kind who didn’t want me to be in contact with you.”

  “And that you were taking a big risk to talk to me.”

  “Yes. Well, giving this information to you is even riskier. And if you and I remain in contact, they will know I gave it to you.”

  “And they’d punish you for it?”

  “Yes.”

  “How?”

  “That’s not important—”

  “Yes, it is!”

  “It’s not. There’s nothing you could do about it, one way or the other. But you can help protect me in the first place. Once I give this to you, you can’t share it with anyone for at least two of your years. You’ll have to keep it a secret. I know that won’t be easy, but it’s absolutely necessary. I need that time to cover my tracks and conceal any evidence of contact between us.”

  “I don’t understand. . . .”

  “Perhaps you will someday. But I don’t have the time to explain it now.”

  Outside the stall, the door to the bathroom opened. I heard my father’s voice. “Dashiell? Are you in here?”

  “Yes!” I called out.

  “We’re getting close to time,” Dad said.

  “I know,” I replied. “I’m just trying to take care of business before we have to get on the rocket. That zero-g toilet’s even worse than this one.”

  “Good point,” Dad said. “It’s gonna be two days to the next decent restroom.” Then he entered the stall next to me.

  I tried to return my attention to Zan and ignore the fact that my father was using the toilet close by, even though I could hear him attaching the various hoses to his body parts.

  It occurred to me that I should probably really be using the toilet myself, rather than just sitting on it, because the zero-g toilets really were more awful than the low-g ones.

  But things with Zan were even more pressing. I couldn’t believe this was going to be the last time I ever saw her. I had always imagined she would be able to visit me on earth. After all, in galactic terms it wasn’t any farther away from her planet than the moon. I had looked forward to showing her my favorite places, having thousands of other conversations with her, and perhaps even learning how to control traveling with my thoughts the way she did. Or maybe, one day, getting to reveal her existence to the world.

  But that wasn’t going to happen. Now I had mere minutes left with her, if that, and we were stuck in the MBA bathroom, of all places. With my father doing his business in the next stall.

  I felt myself beginning to cry. “I don’t want you to go,” I told Zan, only using my thoughts.

  “I don’t want to go either.”

  “Isn’t there some way we can at least meet a few more times? You can’t visit me on earth before giving me this information?”

  “I wish I could, but I have taken enough risks as it is. Even being with you now is dangerous for me.”

  “It’s not fair.”

  “I know. I’m sorry you have to feel this way. To be honest, these emotions you have—your joy, your love, this sadness—they are very different from what we experience. We care for each other, but in a way that is much less powerful. I had never felt anything like it until I connected with you.”

  “Even though you connected with Dr. Holtz first?”

  “Yes. His relationship with me was more . . . scientific. Whereas you have, well . . . you have love for me . . . and I have love for you in return.”

  “You do?”

  “I do. And it is an absolutely wonderful thing. You humans should cherish this feeling. I am so thrilled that I have been able to experience it with you. It is as though you have given me the most amazing gift in the universe. Even if it means that I have to feel this terrible sadness, too.”

  Zan’s image flickered, though in a different way than I’d seen before. It appeared as though she was losing control of it. The form wavered, and I caught extremely brief flashes of her true self.

  “Zan? What’s wrong? Are you in danger now?”

  “No . . . I . . . I think I’m crying.”

  “Crying?” I repeated. I had never heard Zan mention doing this before. And from what I had seen, her actual form didn’t seem to have eyes, let alone tear ducts.

  “I’m not doing it the way that you do it, but I’m experiencing a physical manifestation of sadness. This has never happened to me before.”

  “I’m sorry,” I said.

  “Don’t be. Please. It is worth the other feelings I have experien
ced through you.”

  In the stall next to me, Dad finished his business and hiked up his pants. “Dash, you almost done in there?” he asked.

  “I just need another minute or so,” I said.

  “All right,” Dad said. “But don’t take too much longer. We need you out there.” I heard him leave the bathroom and close the door.

  “I think the time has come for me to finish our business as well,” Zan said.

  “No!” I cried.

  “Yes. I need to go, and all that will come of delaying this is more sadness.” Zan took a moment to compose herself. Her avatar reformed, appearing as bright and vivid as usual. “Now then, I need you to relax and open your mind to me.”

  “All right,” I said, and then I did my best to do as Zan had asked.

  Suddenly my head was full of information. I had no idea how Zan had done it, but it felt as though I had instantly memorized an encyclopedia. For a few moments I was overwhelmed. It was like when you get a brain freeze from eating ice cream too quickly, only in this case I had learned too much too fast. It left me reeling. I almost fell off the space toilet.

  “Are you okay?” Zan asked.

  I steadied myself and focused. There was a jumble of numbers in my head, but when I concentrated, I began to see connections between all of them. I didn’t understand it, but I recognized that there was an order to the chaos and that, somehow, I had it all memorized.

  “I’ve got it,” I said.

  Zan seemed relieved. In a sense she had shifted the burden of this information to me. But her sadness also deepened, and now I understood why.

  “Don’t go,” I said.

  “I have to,” she replied.

  Nina Stack suddenly came over the MBA intercom system. “Attention all lunarnauts,” she began—as if, perhaps, there might be someone else to speak to at MBA. “It is T minus fifteen minutes to touchdown for the rockets. All travelers on the first wave, please report to the staging area immediately.” She had even less emotion in her voice than the base computer.