8 Months Later
The Ramirez baby was born at 1:03:21 LST weighing in at four pounds, eight ounces, and measuring twenty-two inches long. Her parents named her Luna Hope, and she was the first human being born on another world.
Teague watched through the med bay’s observation window as Skyler handed the baby to the proud yet tired-looking mother while the smiling father looked on. Overall she was healthy. A little underweight, but that was to be expected, and Teague was pleased that there had been no complications in spite of everything they went through less than eight months earlier.
The Proteus substance was definitely a distributed intelligence just like Leneski said. When the missile blew, every one of the infected invaders fell over dead, the substance in their systems inert. Even so, Teague had ordered the immediate disposal of the bodies, both inside Luna 1 and the underground tunnel network Leneski had been using as a secret laboratory.
It was another two days before communication was restored with Earth. Steen didn’t like Teague’s decision, but he respected it, and they found enough evidence in the secret base’s computers to find and prosecute everyone involved with Project Proteus. Daedalus stock took a nosedive—seeing the CEO led out in handcuffs by the FBI will do that—and Steen was confident that everyone would face justice.
UN inspectors were sent to the Moon to search Leneski’s secret labyrinth but no active trace of the Proteus substance could be found. But the disclosure that extrasolar life had once existed on the Moon got everyone fired up about space travel again, which included living and working on the Moon. There was talk of more missions and more funding, and Teague took it all in, bemused at the realization that his old friend Leneski would be loving every second of it.
Leneski. Teague thought about him often. Had he been in full control of his faculties? Or had the Proteus substance had something to do with his mad plan to change the world? He hoped it was the latter, but he wasn’t so sure. They would never really know. All Teague could do was speculate, and that was incredibly frustrating.
But now the baby was finally here, and he could push such unpleasant thoughts from his mind, at least for a little while. He had declined an offer to hold the too-small child and instead watched from a distance, his lips frozen in a smile he couldn’t seem to get rid of no matter how hard he tried.
Romeo, who was still grieving over the death of Rick Casey, threw herself even more into her work as a way to cope and got word of the birth out quickly. Now there were communiques coming from all over Earth, as well as one from the group of scientists on Mars. Mike Leneski had been right about one thing. The Ramirez birth was the best thing to ever happen to this place. The people of Earth were not only paying attention again, but they had a personal, human symbol to latch onto. The first supply ship since things went pear-shaped brought baby formula and diapers.
The Ramirez family had several interviews lined up with Earth newsfeeds over the next few weeks, and Teague was getting requests for quotes on his slate hourly. He felt the weight of history as he watched the new family, and he was struck by something profound. In the midst of so much death, there was still life. Perhaps there was a lesson in that somewhere.
Teague stared at the child, who already displayed her mother’s dimples and her father’s jutting chin, and wondered at her future. Would she be able to handle being the symbol humanity needed her to be? It wasn’t fair to be saddled with so much responsibility at such a young age. Teague didn’t envy her. But he swore silently then and there to protect her as much as he could for as long as he could.
Because as the selfish Leneski had failed to realize, this was never about the here and now. It was about the future. It was always about the future.
A few weeks after the CME Teague found himself in a moonsuit, standing out near the site of the missile’s destruction with a few other Luna 1 personnel and a couple of UN dignitaries, each indistinguishable from the next in their padded suits and gold visors. They were commemorating Rick Casey’s memory by naming a small crater after him. Casey Crater was only about thirty feet in diameter and twenty feet deep, located near the unfinished surface maglev station. Rick would have found the fact that a hole in the ground had been named after him hilarious, and Teague wished like hell his friend was there so he could see his reaction.
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Teague left the med bay and returned to Command. He had a lot of work to catch up on and reasoned the new parents were best left alone for a while.
He met Skyler that evening for dinner, the third such outing once things had finally calmed down and gained some semblance of normalcy.
It was Skyler’s turn to pick, and she chose a quiet little vegan place tucked back away from the hustle and bustle of the station mall, which was busier than it had ever been. Luna 1 had gained dozens of new people in the form of UN observers, replacement technicians, and a curious new breed of explorer, the space tourist. As Teague watched them take pictures of themselves standing next to stenciled bulkheads and viewscreens running the Sea of Tranquility on continuous loop, he thought he would never get used to their presence.
He sat in a quiet corner sipping wine from a bottle General Steen had sent up. He saw Skyler as she walked in, wearing a green dress tight enough that it wouldn’t ride up in the one-sixth g. He smiled and waved her over.
“You look stunning,” Teague said, standing and pulling out her chair.
“Thank you,” she said as she sat down.
He poured her some wine and they sat there staring at each other, wondering what to do.
“This is weird, right?” Teague said, flashing a smile.
Skyler shook her head. “No. Not weird. Comfortable.”
“Well then,” said Teague, raising his glass. “Here’s to being comfortable.”
They clinked glasses, and Skyler took a testing sip. Finding it to her liking, she took another.
Recorded piano music played in the background, a slow jazz tune, while on the wall behind them was a thick window through which they could watch the Earth rise.
“I don’t think I’ll ever get used to that,” she said, watching over his shoulder.
“I hope we don’t,” said Teague.
“What happens now?”
Teague looked down at the digital menu on his slate. “Well, we’ll order. I’ll complain about it, and—“
“No. I mean with all this.” She extended her arms to take in the restaurant, the window, the Earthrise.
Teague shook his head. “I don’t know. Things are still bad. In flux. Earth is reeling from climate change. It’s too hot, it’s overcrowded. Countries are on the brink of falling apart. But for one brief moment, they’re looking up at the stars again, and I think that’s a good thing.”
They ordered their food from the interactive menu and drank their wine, enjoying the piano music.
“The Ramirezes are going to go home once little Luna is big enough,” said Skyler, breaking the silence. “I worry about her.”
“How so?” said Teague, setting his wine glass down. “Is she OK?”
“Yeah. It’s just she’s probably going to have to wear a powered exoskeleton, at least until she gets used to Earth-normal gravity. She’s also going to be at least a foot taller than other kids her age. Her bones will be thin. She’s the first of a new breed of human. There’s a lot we don’t know. Can’t know.”
Teague nodded. It would start happening more and more as mankind finally ventured out into space. Others would be born out here. Taller. Lighter. And unable to visit the planet on which their ancestors were born. But if they were to have any future out here, any future at all, it was unavoidable.
“Do you think we’ll be OK?” Skyler said. “I mean as a species.”
Teague nodded. “If you had asked me that question eight months ago, I probably would have said no. But now I’m not too sure. We’ve done a lot of damage to our planet. Damage that a large subset of the population is still in denial about. But I think if we can make a home in a place like the Moon, a place completely inimical to life, I think we can clean up the Earth.”
Skyler nodded. “I’ve been thinking about Mike a lot lately.”
“Me too.”
“Do you think he was right? The things he wanted to do didn’t sound too bad, at least on the surface.”
“I think,” said Teague, “that for us to change the world we must change ourselves first. And that change has to be our choice. Whatever the Proteus substance was, I think it wanted to replace and subsume us. Whatever came out of it wouldn’t be us anymore. Not in any way that counted.”
Skyler smiled grimly. “All this talk of space travel. They’re going to look for more of that sludge aren’t they?”
“I’m afraid so. And thanks to Mike and his lab, they know exactly what to look for. If there’s an ounce of that stuff anywhere else in the solar system, they’ll find it. Eventually. At least next time there will be some accountability and oversight.”
“Still, let’s hope we’re nowhere around when they do,” said Skyler.
Teague smiled. “I’ll drink to that.”
They clinked their glasses.