“Where are we going?”
“Keep walking.”
Teague turned toward Leneski, who still had his pistol trained on him. They were alone. The silver-colored goon accompanying Leneski had remained behind in the command blister.
“You’ll see,” said Leneski with a grin. “You want to ruin the surprise? Did you sneak a peek at your presents before Christmas morning? Jesus, Harry. You’re sucking all the fun out of this for me.”
Leneski jabbed Teague in the ribs with his pistol, goading him to keep going. They had gone from smooth, titanium-sheathed corridor to rough-hewn lunar rock.
“What is this place?”
“Looks like an old exploratory shaft that goes nowhere, doesn’t it?” said Leneski. “Only looks can be deceiving. Step around that bend there.”
Teague did as instructed, finding a round metal cylinder blocking the other end of the tunnel. “Looks like some sort of transport.”
“Ding, ding, ding,” said Leneski. “There’s a working maglev system down here. It connects all those wonderful dead passion projects strewn across the surface of the Moon like garbage. Neat, huh?”
“We’re on emergency power,” said Teague. “How does it work?”
“Luna 1 is on emergency power. This thing is powered by buried batteries. Did you know the original design was for a rail gun system? Can you believe it? Someone couldn’t wait to get up here and start shooting targets back on Earth. It’s amazing. Ask for money to cure cancer and they stare at you blankly. Request funding to blow stuff up and they can’t throw money at you fast enough. Now get in.”
The cylinder irised open at Teague’s approach, and he carefully stepped inside, looking around for a weapon or some implement he could use as one. Leneski pretended not to notice as he followed Teague inside the small cylinder. “Fasten your seatbelt. This thing moves pretty fast.”
Crash couches took up both sides of the cylinder, and there was additional padding along the curved ceiling. Teague sat on the left-hand couch and snapped himself in, while Leneski took the seat across from him. Through the forward viewscreen, lights came up in the tunnel in front of the cylinder, illuminating the magnetic rails the cylinder would use to accelerate.
“Where are we going?” Teague asked again.
“You’ll see.” Leneski fixed him with an evil grin.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
“You won’t get away with this,” Teague said. “Whatever this is.”
Leneski laughed. “Harry, old buddy, I pretty much am. I no longer have the element of secrecy, thanks to our capable yet nosy security chief, but I am most definitely getting away with this. But before I do, I want to show you something amazing.”
As if in response to his words, the cylinder vibrated as the powerful electromagnets spaced all around it kicked on. A second later the cylinder rushed forward up the tunnel, the scene before them becoming a blur of gray lunar rock and blue metal.
“What the hell have you done, Mike?” Teague asked, his voice pleading. He wanted to ask about Jasleen but was afraid to. If she was unable to find General Steen’s care package…
Leneski chuckled. “Something wonderful. You’ll see.”
Teague focused on the shifting blur ahead of them, still feeling Leneski’s weapon aimed at him. They were moving too fast for him to unbuckle and rush the scientist. He’d be flattened against the rear of the cylinder for his trouble. At any rate, Teague didn’t think he was in any immediate danger. Leneski was a braggart and a talker. He wanted to show him what he did. Best to let him do that. It might buy Teague some time to figure a way out of this. He hoped.
Twenty minutes later the cylinder began to slow, moving around a narrow bend that led to what looked like a finished station. Smooth, cream-colored tiles and wide, bright LED strips greeted them as the cylinder came to a stop.
“Here we are,” Leneski singsonged, unstrapping himself from the crash couch with one hand while wiggling his gun at Teague with the other. “Come on. Destiny awaits.”
“You always did have a penchant for the dramatic,” Teague said as he undid his restraints.
Leneski shrugged. “A prophet is always unappreciated in his own time. Let’s go.”
Teague stood and started for the front of the cylinder. The screen darkened as the front wall opened out into the mag-lev station. Teague had never seen anything on the Moon this nice, this finished. This structure had obviously been built by some hedge fund billionaire for space tourists.
“I’m impressed, Mike. You managed to keep this to yourself.”
“Some wonders are best held in reserve. Now if you’ll just follow those stairs there.”
Teague took the short flight of ceramic and metal steps up to the central platform. Leneski followed right behind and motioned to a door marked storage with his gun. Leneski entered and found a small room lined with lockers. He knew what was inside.
“We going for a Moonwalk?”
“Shut up and put one on.”
Teague selected a bulky suit and climbed into it, noticing with grim foreboding that Leneski wasn’t also putting on a suit, and he was afraid he knew why. He snapped his helmet into place and tongued the external mic. “Now what?”
Leneski stepped aside, moving the gun back and forth, motioning at the door. Leneski moved past him and through the door once more.
“Turn left,” Leneski ordered.
They moved through immaculate, polished station and into an area that was still unfinished. Dusty scaffolding and an old welding rig sat idle, and there were no more lighting strips illuminating their path. A large, manually operated pressure door was set into the wall of another shaft. “Go ahead,” said Leneski, his suit radio making his voice sound deeper than it was. “Open it.”
Teague stepped up to the door and gripped the hatch wheel with his gloved hands and twisted. There was a screech of metal as the door opened outward. Without being told to, Teague stepped inside.