Why?
As she was watching, the rover lurched into motion. It rolled straight towards her, slowly, and then stopped. She glanced at Chad, who stood watching her.
They’re signaling me, she decided. As she watched, a slender arm pivoted down, touching the lunar surface in a darker, hollowed-out area, as if it were pointing. After 10 seconds the arm rotated back up, and the rover retreated again.
Svetlana nodded. She moved closer and probed at the disturbed soil with the tongs, grasping and releasing, finding only loose dust.
He had the stone.
She turned to him and pointed at the handcart with the tongs, jerking her chin for him to clarify, looking hard into his eyes.
He smiled broadly, shrugged and stared back at her as he spoke.
“Houston, I’ve got a pretty good sampling of everything in this area. How about I head back to Bulldog and start setting up the flag for the Rooskie press event?” He emphasized and pronounced the word carefully; in America, Rooskie was a derogative, but when said with a rolled “R” and the right weight, it was the word for “Russian” in her language.
A frown flashed across her face. She’d heard it, amongst the incomprehensible English. Perfect.
“Copy, Chad, sounds good. On the way back we’d like you to check out that darker spot you saw. Our best guess is about thirty degrees left of Bulldog.”
“Will do, just tying down the samples now.”
Svetlana watched as he pulled the bungees across the bags and tools in the handcart, wondering what he had said. She’d clearly heard the Russian word, and he’d moved his head as he’d said it, to be sure she’d notice. What did he tell them? Can’t ask without giving myself away.
He looked directly at her, reached up and rotated his gold visor back down over his face. He turned, grabbed the handle of the cart and started walking away.
She glanced at Lunokhod, motionless, still pointed at her. She walked around it, looking closely so she would be able to describe its status to Moscow when she got back. Dusty, but all there. Still holding the tongs, she turned and hustled clumsily after the astronaut.
Behind her, unobserved, Lunokhod’s eight wheels began turning together. It picked up speed and followed them, like an oversized, lumbering pet chasing its master.
Or a wild animal tracking its prey.
“Houston, I’m keeping Bulldog at about one o’clock as I track back, but haven’t seen anything yet.” Chad was walking slowly; he didn’t want any of the samples he’d gathered to bounce past the bungees and out of his cart. Especially the bag with the rock.
“That heading sounds about right, Chad.” Kaz made a “V” with his hands, picturing what Chad was doing, remembering how long the traverse to Lunokhod had taken. “You should be coming up on it soon.”
Laura was next to him at the console. He’d asked her to come sit in the front room to make it easier to discuss whatever geology Chad ran into, especially with the TV camera down.
“Okay, Houston, I’m seeing something now.” Chad’s voice tailed off.
Laura had both hands up on the console, her fists clenched in anticipation. As the seconds ticked by, her fingers slowly extended, palms up, and she turned to Kaz impatiently, eyes questioning.
He nodded and asked, “What are you seeing, Chad?”
“Uh, it’s weird. Like a big sunken acne pockmark in the Moon. There’s a downslope all around, and then what looks like a rocky round edge to it. Inside that I’m just seeing black. I think it’s one of those holes the geologists were talking about.”
A smile of triumph spread across Laura’s face.
“Copy, Chad, that’s the first one of those anybody’s seen up close. Just hold position for a sec while we talk about it.”
He stood up and gestured for Laura to do the same, turning to the flight director console.
Gene spoke: “What risks are we facing here, GEOLOGY?”
Laura fumbled for her mic switch, but then spoke confidently. “FLIGHT, from Chad’s description, it sounds similar to the four holes we’ve got pictures of from lunar orbit. We hadn’t spotted this specific one, but best guess is it’s an old lava tube like we’ve studied in Hawaii, with a collapsed section where it’s thin on top. It likely has sloping sides, not sure how steep.”
Gene considered that. This could be one of the most important discoveries of the whole Apollo program. Access below the surface of the Moon, providing potential shelter from the temperature extremes and radiation on the exposed surface, might be a key to eventual lunar settlement. Also to understanding the geology of the Moon itself. But not enough to risk the crew. Especially with only one person outside. A trade-off, like everything in spaceflight. Purpose versus risk.