Jasleen finished her story and took a sip of coffee from the bulb Teague had given her. The dollop of brandy the commander had added to it did little to help calm her jangly nerves.

“I understand if you don’t believe me,” she said after a long moment of silence. “I wouldn’t believe me either. But I know what I saw.”

“No one’s doubting you,” Teague said. “Morrison’s death is proof enough.” He glanced at Dr. Cole, signaling with a nod that it was her turn to speak.

“I examined his body,” she said. “And whatever happened, he didn’t die changing a battery. There’s a puncture wound in him a sixth of an inch wide and six inches deep, and it went straight into his heart.”

“Is that what killed him?” Jasleen asked. She hoped he hadn’t suffocated, which is what it had looked like to her.

“He went pretty quick,” Dr. Cole said, her eyes far away. She sounded as if she was holding something back, and Jasleen didn’t press.

“And you say you killed this—whatever it was?” asked Teague.

Jasleen nodded. “Shot it right in the head.”

Teague nodded. “Good. We can go and get it, find out what this thing is.”

“Are you crazy?” said Dr. Cole. “There could be more of them out there.”

“All the more reason to find out what we’re dealing with.”

Jasleen watched their back and forth. If this were any other conversation, it might be amusing. She knew they had once been married, and their interactions reminded her of the passionate debates between herself and Mara. It was like a part of them was still married, even though they had separated physically and on paper. Like their souls were still entwined. "I can send a small security team. A couple of my best men."

Teague shook his head slowly. “No. I don’t want to cause a panic. Who else knows about this?”

Cole shrugged. “Word has already spread that Morrison died, but I haven’t publicized the cause.”

“Good. Keep it that way for as long as you can.” Teague gritted his teeth. “I can’t believe I’m doing this, but we’ve got to keep a lid on this thing as long as we can. At least until we figure out what the hell is going on. Chief Badawi, can you show me where you killed the Moon monster?”

Jasleen drained her coffee bulb. “Of course, Commander.”

“Good. Let’s go for a walk.”

* * *

An hour later they were suited up, armed, and standing at the far end of the solar array, staring down at the spot where Morrison had died. The strange figure Jasleen had killed was gone.

“It was right here,” she said, panic rising in her voice. “See? Here’s where I dragged Morrison away.”

“This area looks like it’s been raked,” Teague said, pointing to a patch of gray regolith. “No footprints. A bare footprint would stand out on the Moon.”

“So either he got up after a gunshot wound to the head and walked away—“ Jasleen began.

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

“Or someone cleaned up the mess,” Teague finished.

Jasleen clenched her fists. Anger rose up in her, replacing the shock and remorse that had previously held prominence. “What the hell, Commander?”

“I wish I knew.”

Teague walked around the row of arrays. He hadn’t been on the Moon’s surface since his arrival. In fact, his last exterior excursion had been a spacewalk aboard the ISS over five years ago, and his last Moonwalk probably before Jasleen was born. The suit he wore now was a little different. Lighter and more advanced. It was ribbed with numerous boron-10 nanotubes to shield against radiation, which made it stiffer than he was used to. The gray unyielding landscape was almost peaceful, but now it held a sinister cast. He eyed every rock outcropping, every shadow with suspicion. But what really caught his attention was the bootprints.

They started near the edge of the solar array. There were hundreds of bootprints here, as well as rover tracks and drag marks. But this set hadn’t been trodden over by new activity and led down a low hill away from the array and beyond the outer edge of Luna 1.

“Chief,” he said. “Take a look at this.”

Jasleen joined him at the top of the rise. “What is it, Commander?”

“What do you make of these tracks?” he pointed.

“They lead away from the base,” she said in a matter-of-fact tone. "And they're fresh. Near as one can tell on the Moon anyway."

“And you’re sure this is the absolute edge of Luna 1,” Teague said.

“Yes. There should be no reason for anyone to venture out that far.”

“Care to take a walk?”

Teague led the away, moving carefully down the low hill, his boots kicking up dust that hung in the air longer than his mind told him it should. Some of it clung to their suits until they appeared to be covered in a thin layer of ash. Teague was reminded of footage from the devastation following the eruption of the Yellowstone supervolcano, people covered head to toe in soot; homes and vehicles for thousands of miles turned into gray sculptures.

They were slow and careful. Despite the lesser gravity, neither of them wanted to fall. They lost the trail when they reached the bottom, but picked it up again as the terrain flattened, the bootprints following a set of shallow rover tracks.

“This is probably from an early survey team,” Jasleen said, pointing to the rover tracks. “And there’s no way to tell how fresh these prints are. They could have been made yesterday or ten years ago.”

“Then what do you call that?” Teague said, pointing. A couple of yards ahead was an airlock door, jutting from the Moon’s surface like an aberration. The only markings were the remains of a scratched and faded logo, a Vitruvian Man with stylized wings jutting from its back.

“You know what this is?” Teague asked, frowning at the door.

“Not a clue, Commander. Though I can tell you for certain it isn’t part of Luna. Could be some earlier installation. An earlier iteration of Luna 1, maybe, or it could be part of some private venture that got scuttled and abandoned. The EU planned an international village near here. Some initial infrastructure was built before they ran out of public support or money. Or both.”

“Powered?” Teague mused. “With an air supply?”

“Maybe,” said Jasleen, her hand already on the pistol at her belt. “Whatever it is, there was a man running around naked in vacuum, who killed someone under my protection. And someone came behind and cleaned up after it. That pisses me off. This shit does not fucking happen on my watch.”

Teague inspected the airlock door, wiping away a thin layer of moon dust with his glove. The airlock’s diskey was illuminated, oversized buttons glowing a dull orange. There was definitely power feeding to it. He punched in his command override, but the door refused to cycle open.

Jasleen tried her own override as well, but the airlock didn’t budge.

“OK,” said Teague. “Here’s the plan. We’re going to keep this secret airlock between us. And we’re going to fudge the details of Morrison’s death.”

Jasleen felt a frisson of fresh anger. “Sir?”

Teague held up both hands in a placating gesture. “I know how you feel, and I don’t like it any more than you do. This is the same kind of shit my predecessor got shipped home for doing, but I don’t see how we have much of a choice. Before Donovan was killed he told me not to trust anyone. Whatever this is, he died because of it. Something big and dark and dangerous is going on here, and until we find out who’s in on it, we need to keep this quiet. Is that understood?”

Jasleen tamped down her rage. She knew the commander was right, even if she didn’t like it. “Yes, sir.”

“Good. Now let’s get the hell out of here.”