The Feminist Queendom Charlie’s War 65

© Beverly Taff

List of Characters.

Charlie Sage Maths and electronics genius.
Shirley Sage Charlies elderly mother
Chloe Charlie’s one time early school friend.
Josephine Flint Surgeon and associate of Chloe’s.
Mrs Jane Anston Director of Anston Aerospace.
Ronnie Garage mechanic at top of lane
Pauline Garage owner, Ronnie’s sister.
Briony Pauline’s teenaged daughter.
Billy Pauline’s middle son.
Abigail (Abby) Pauline’s youngest daughter.
‘Poppy’ Charlie’s little micro-runabout.
‘Doris’ The armoured mobile home.
‘Lady’ Chloe’s Sports Car.
Dawn Charlie’s armoured spaceship.
Colonel Wilson Vindictive misanthropist doctor.
Margaret Thomas ‘Failed’ police security guard.
Sally. 1st Oz Special forces trooper
Jacky 2nd Oz Special forces trooper.
Juliet Charlie’s Mal engineering assistant.
Laura The second mate of the Second Dawn
Kate (Katherine Bergson) The Australian defence minister.
Lieutenant Engadine Asi Charlie’s second prisoner.

Chapter 65

Lieutenant Engadine Asi or Engie for short, sat enthralled in the command seat of Dawn 1 as the little ship streaked towards the moon. To add to her delight, the companion ship Dawn 2 was travelling alongside not one kilometre away and also bound for the moon.

‘A pleasure shared, is a pleasure doubled.’ She mused as she opened the coms to Dawn 2.

The two crews of course knew each other thoroughly and there was little formality in their conversations. It was friends, chatting to friends,

“Hi Julie, I can make out Shackleton crater now but can’t ascertain a good landing spot.”

“Well you have to determine where you’ll land and locate the solar panels so we know where to locate Moon-base one.”

Engie knew this and she was expanding the image of the crater to get a better look when Charlie emerged from the cabin with his space suit sans’ helmet.

“Your turn to don your suit, what’s the crater rim looking like?”

“It’s hard to make out anywhere suitable yet. We’re on course, speed two hundred kilo-knots. Dawn two is on our port bow and there’s the big yellow thing.”

She pointed towards the approaching moon and Charlie grinned. He could see that Dawn 1 was exactly on course for Shackleton crater. As Engie removed to the cabin to don her spacesuit, Charlie spoke to his friend Juliet who was commanding the Dawn 2.

“Hi Julie. Can you see a suitable spot with that bigger screen of yours?”

Virtually every piece of equipment on Dawn 2 was a larger, more advance and better version than Dawn 1’s, for the larger ship had been built by professional ship builders. By comparison, Dawn one was crude and her only advantaged over Dawn 2 was her armour plated, super-strong hull.

Juliet replied by giving the lunar latitude and longitude co-ordinates and Charlie transposed them to Dawn 1’s smaller screen.

“Will you be loitering while we choose the spot? No point in landing then re-locating.”

“Well Laura wants to get some Landing practice in so we’ll enter the crater and do a couple of practice landings, once you’re landed on the rim. I’m reducing speed now, how about you?”

“Like-wise. We’ll stick together.”

Charlie corrected his speed to match that of the decelerating Dawn 2 and soon they were loitering twenty metres above the rim of the crater.

“I think your right Julie, this looks as good as anywhere. I’ll touchdown as soon as Engie is dressed.”

Engie emerged right on time from the cabin and gave a twirl as Charlie turned to look.

“Does my bum look big in this?” She joked.

“You’ll do,” Charlie opined, “d’ you want to do the landing? That place by the ovoid rock looks nice and flat.”

Engie waddled over to the command seat that Charlie had vacated and eased herself into it. Charlie relocated to the co-pilot seat and soon they had touched down satisfactorily.

“Nice one Engie, now to work.” Charlie congratulated her as he switched to talk to Dawn 2.

“We’re down safely, You’d better go and find yourselves a suitable spot in the crater.”

“On our way,” Laura replied. “my boss is making me practice.”

“Quite right too,” Charlie replied, “we’ll be down as soon as the solar panels are arrayed.”
Charlie and Engie watched Dawn 2 disappear below the rim of the crater even as they secured their helmets. Next they opened the clamshells then evacuated the cockpit of air before releasing the airtight door to the cargo hold. At this early stage, air was exceptionally precious even though Dawn 2 had huge, compressed reserves in her cavernous hold.

Once in the cargo hold, they immediately set about erecting the solar panels in the shade of their ship to avoid overheating and within four hours, they had the frames aligned preparatory to mounting the panels.

After six hours they were exhausted, but they were able to look down on their efforts with satisfaction. All the mounting frames were firmly set into the rock and half the panels were mounted. Before retiring into Dawn 1 the pair took a moon walk further afield.

“There’s room enough for a hundred arrays,” Engie estimated.

“And we’ll need it all by the time the whole base is built. Come on, I’m getting warm, these suits are good but even so.”

Once back aboard Dawn 1, Engie had more practice as She eased their little ship over the rim of the crater and down past the inner wall to land next to Dawn 2. Already they noted that Juliet and Laura had erected several sections of the moon-base. Once aboard Dawn 2 with it’s much more commodious accommodation, they sat around the table and ate while discussing problems. Julie explained.

“The little digger is using battery power faster than we expected. We’re going to have to speed up the solar panels and get power into the crater earlier than planned.”

“Okay then,” Charlie nodded, “we can all four concentrate on the panels next shift and hopefully have electricity down here by hour twenty.”

For convenience, time was measured in counted hours since touchdown because there was no ‘night and day’ at the lunar south pole. The solar panel plan was unanimously agreed and the four retired to bed.

The following day, the plan worked and by hour twenty-four, the cable feed from the panels on the rim to the floor of the crater was alive. They immediately plugged in the battery-operated digger.

“I’m famished!” Charlie declared. “Food I think.”

There was no argument as four exhausted spacers trudged into Dawn 2 grateful for the respite.

“One sixth gravity or not!” Engie declared. “I’m shattered, hungry and I need a wee!”

“Told you it wasn’t going to be a picnic.” Charlie grinned as he took out some pre-prepared meals. “What are you eating?”

They each declared their preferences and soon the cabin was silent except for the click of plastic cutlery on plastic plates.

ooo000ooo

With a routine established, the following eighty hours saw the first phase of Moonbase Alpha erected and charged with air. This was the final task for the four and they left the site as they would like to find it, tidy.

“Well; bye, bye Moonbase; see you next time,” Engie bode as she settled in the command seat of Dawn 1. “So; is it the asteroid belt now and loads of filthy lucre?” She asked Charlie with a wide grin splitting her face.

“Got it in one,” Charlie replied as he spoke to Juliet and Laura in Dawn 2.

“Just stick with us guys and we’ll be there within forty hours.”

“Can’t wait,” Laura enthused, “I’ve never travelled at millions of miles per hour.”

“You’ve the sun to thank for that,” Charlie replied, “his gravity is infinitely greater than earths.”

“Yes; but how do your engines exploit it, how do they concentrate it into such a powerful force.” Engie asked.

“My secret Engie,” Charlie replied, “and I keep it up here; -(he tapped his temple)- no paper, no digitals, no recordings; just memory. This way, nobody can weaponise the science.”

“You weaponised it when you took Angie and my jets out.”

“I seem to remember that you both fired missiles at me; as did your two male companions. Anyway, I used a ploughshare not a gun or a sword. Biblically, your religious friends could not call a ploughshare a weapon. How does it go? – ‘and their swords shall be beat into ploughshares!’

“Oh very ingenious!” Engie snorted,” semantic, bloody polemics if ever I heard it!”

“Tell that to the lawyers who swear under all sorts of religious oaths and god knows what else. It’s there in their books, quite literally.”

“For someone who supposedly never went to school after thirteen you’re a slippery cove.”

“And then some,” Charlie chuckled, “remember I’ve been hiding intellectually under metaphorical rocks over half my life. Isn’t that were creepie-crawly, anti-feministas lie?”

“I’d never call you creepy Charlie. God knows you’re out there in spades. Hey up! Laura’s hailing us.”

Engie answered the call as Charlie went to make tea and when he returned Engie was checking the chart.

“Where exactly is it, this quarry of yours?”
For an answer, Charlie just wrote down the co-ordinates and Engie plotted them.

“It’s not far from the dwarf planet Ceres.”

“Happen,” Charlie concurred.

“Can I go and have a look at it?”

“What? Ceres?”

“Yes,”

“Why?” Charlie wondered.

“It’s a very unusual dwarf planet. There’s even volcanic activity on it and it’s only a thousand klics diameter. I’m surprised you didn’t know that. Scientists have been hypothesising about it for decades.”

“Not me darling,” Charlie confessed. “I’ve been too busy looking for minerals, - and wealth.”

“You sound like a philistine; don’t you have any academic interests?”

Charlie gave her an old look; a very old look. “Try gravity,” he almost whispered.

Engie crumpled as she realised what a stupid thing she had said.

“Sorry boss. I just wasn’t thinking. I’ve always been fascinated by the planets. I just didn’t connect. Sorry.”

“No offence taken,” Charlie allowed. “Sometimes it’s difficult to see the wood for the trees.”

“Or in this case, the trees for the wood; -the gravity that is. It’s just so fundamental, I just didn’t realise.” Engie confessed like some religious penitent. “Sorry again.”

“Oh, don’t take on so, and yes; we’ll pay your favourite dwarf a visit. You never know, now you’ve mentioned brine volcanoes, there might actually be something worthwhile there.”

As Charlie retreated to the bedroom Engie could hear him singing softly to himself.

‘Money, money, money! It’s a rich man’s game!’

Relieved that Charlie had not taken umbrage, she returned to her sheep.

The voyage was routing for nearly two days until the pair of ships reached the asteroid belt. Once they had likened their course and speed to the orbiting rocks, Charlie explained.

“We’ll steer Dawn 1 into the rock-field and gently enlarge the entrance void by slowly shouldering the rocks aside until Dawn 2 can feel her way into the void I’ve previously quarried out. Once we’re relatively stationary amidst the rocks we simply spacewalk amongst them and tow the rocks aboard. On Dawn 1 we’ll winch the rocks aboard through the rear clamshell doors. On Dawn 2 we simply open the cargo hatches and gently manoeuvre the rocks into each hold.”

As he explained, he handed each of them a testing device that resembled a Geiger counter.

“These gadgets will help identify the rocks and also tell you what quality they are. I had them made at Woomera to help us save time prospecting.

This area is rich in high grade ores and sometimes actual nuggets of the Palladian metals. If you find any, - and you probably will. Keep them separate and place them in hold number one. They are more valuable than gold nuggets.
Finally. Put theses thick mittens on over your gloves. Some of the rocks are sharp. And try to avoid rubbing up against the rocks. Your space suits, as you know, are tough but some of these crystalline rocks are as sharp as glass.”

Armed with Charlie’s equipment, advice and their own common sense, the spacers ventured out into the rock field. After ninety-six hours of sleep and work they settled back to consider their cargo.”

“A pretty penny I dare say,” Charlie opined.

“A bloody fortune! I’d say.” Juliet squawked.

“And then some.” Laura finished as Engie emerged from the hold and started to close the hatches.

“Back to earth then?” Juliet suggested.

“Uuhm, Engie and I are going to stop briefly by the dwarf planet Ceres.” Charlie revealed.

“Something interesting?” Juliet inquired.

“Just evidence there might be vulcanism, which conventional science refutes based on the smallness of the planet.” Engie explained.

“What sort of vulcanism?” Laura wondered. “It’s far too small to have a hot, metallic core.”

“They’re talking cold vulcanism, possibly recent or even still active. Maybe brine geysers or small volcanoes. I just to want to see and confirm for the astronomers. Possibly collect some samples.”

“Well we’ll stay by you just off-world” Juliet offered, but you’ll have to walk alone on the surface, or Charlie can stay by you down there. I’m not sure if Dawn 2 could withstand a powerful geyser strike. Dawn 1 of course, is a bloody tank.”
Engie turned hopefully towards Charlie.

“Okay then. You can you touch down briefly to let me gather some samples and then straight back aboard. Tell me, is there any sort of warning when a brine geyser erupts?”

“I’ve no idea!” Charlie openly confessed. “You’re at the threshold of science here Lieutenant. It’s entirely your choice.”

ooo000ooo