Ghost Moon Part 4: A Song of Hope

Junkers are heroes of the future, traveling across galaxies in search of space trash to snare. Granny the Captain, Edward the First Mate (an Artificial Intelligence), and young Alex live on The Amber Cow, a junk ship designed to deal with any garbage that comes its way.

One day, the Cow’s sensors pick up a Junk Moon not far ahead. In the past, resource-hungry worlds mined moons for the ores they needed. When they’d dug out everything of use, they would fill the empty sections with trash, turning it into a Junk Moon. Then they would drive the moon to the edge of a Dead Zone — blank areas of space with few planets or stars, where nobody went.

The crew of the Cow change course to explore the Junk Moon. When they get within visual range, they can see an impact crater where an asteroid hit, knocking the moon out of the Dead Zone — and straight into the gravitational field of a star! There is little time left before the moon and all of its treasures are destroyed.

Docking on the moon, Alex, Granny and Edward start to explore. They all feel as if they’re being watched. They hope to restart the moon’s thrusters to gain more time before the star burns it up, but the power converter crystals are gone. “If I had the parts, I could repair them, but without the crystals, there’s no chance,” said Granny.

As it gets closer to the star, the moon begins to shake apart. Suddenly, the floor in front of them cracks open, and Granny and Edward disappear into a lower tunnel. Alex must head back into the maze of tunnels to find a way to them.

She searches desperately without success. Then, just as she hears Edward’s voice, it is cut off. Aliens appear, dragging Granny and Edward to safety. More rumbling is heard, and the aliens hurriedly bring them to the Great Cavern. There, they discover an entire city built out of the junk, filled with chameleon-like aliens whose language is song.

The crew tries to explain to the aliens the danger they are in, but they aren’t able to get the message across. And then Granny has an idea…

* * *

“Holograms,” said Granny.

“What?” said Alex, her mouth suddenly dry.

“This is no time to pretend,” snapped Granny. “I know you’ve been skiving off studying and playing around making holograms instead. I never got the hang of them myself, and they’re not in Edward’s programing — but you know how. Here!” She pulled a tablet out of her jacket and held it out to Alex.

“They need to know the danger they’re in. Show them.”

It seemed to Alex as if every eye in the moon was fixed on her.

“Quickly, Alex! We’re running out of time!” whispered Edward.

Alex’s mind was buzzing. There wasn’t time to program anything from scratch. She’d have to cannibalize ones she’d already made — adapt parts of them — put them together —

“Okay,” she said, taking the tablet. “I’ll try.”

Her hands began to move over the screen. The tall pair of Singers leaned forward, twittering softly. The crystals hanging from their frills chimed softly together.

Alex pulled up the coding for the hologram she’d been working on — the one of Treasure leaping from ball to ball — and removed the tiger. Then she quickly added in an image of a star and added texture to the balls so that they looked like pictures of a moon falling closer and closer to a fiery star.

The cavern filled with horrified shrilling, spreading out to the furthest edge of the crowd.

“You’re getting through to them, Alex!” said Edward.

“Now show them the engines pushing them to safety,” said Granny. “We don’t know if it’s true, but we’ve got to try.”

“Do they even know about the engines?” Alex asked Granny. “I mean, they’re the ones who trashed them.”

“We’ll find out,” said Granny. “Keep going.”

Alex coded frantically to add flaming thrusters and the moon moving away from the star. The result was rough and kept flickering, but there was no time to make it slicker.

At first, there was a humming from the aliens. Then musical questions-and-answers that flew about the cavern. And then...

Alex, Edward, and Granny were swept up in a crowd of Singers, all heading one way. Alex clutched the tablet to her chest.

Where are we going? Did it work?

It was only when they arrived in the engine room that they knew for sure the Singers had understood.

The tall Singers unclasped the crystals from their frills and set them carefully down on the floor in front of Granny.

“Thank you,” said Granny and bowed again — before leaping into action.

She picked up the first crystal and reinserted it into the bracket on the tip of the nearest thruster. She whipped out a number 3 wrench, screwed the housing into place, and moved on to the next one. Her hands were practically a blur, she was working so fast. Under Edward’s direction, Alex came along after her, tightening bolts, squirting oil, and lifting the cylinders back into their casings until every thruster was once again complete.

“We’ve done our best,” said Granny finally, straightening up, “but there’s no guarantee. The crystals may have micro cracks — they’re not meant to be bashed about — and the engines may not ever have been strong enough, even when they were new, to break the moon free. Alex, I need you to make a hologram showing the Singers leaving here, and going onto The Amber Cow. It may be all that's left. We may have to find them a new home, as a last resort.”

Alex stared at the tablet in her hands. How could she make a hologram of that in no time flat? And even if she could, would the Singers want to go? Tears of helplessness pricked at her eyes. If only there was something more they could do to save the aliens from losing their home — anything — anything at all — even if it was just to get out and push...

And that was when the idea hit her.

Granny was frantically doing a final check-over on the connections between the power sources and the thrusters, and so she didn’t notice at first that Alex hadn’t made a new hologram. Instead, to the hologram of the moon, with its engines shooting out flame full blast, she had added The Amber Cow, its stubby nose pressed against the moon’s surface.

“Alex?”

Trying hard to keep her voice from squeaking with excitement, Alex said, “If we don't think the thrusters will have enough power to break the moon free, what if The Amber Cow added the strength of her engines to the moon's engines? Do you think maybe, just maybe, that might be enough?”

Granny and Edward looked at each other.

“It might be,” said Edward, nodding.

The tall pair of Singers pointed repeatedly at the hologram and to the exit.

“Get out and push it is!” said Granny. “And not a second to lose!”

She gave the control panel a firm tap with a wrench and started flicking switches. There was a coughing, spitting sound and then the vibration of the engines reluctantly kicking in.

“Back to the Cow!”

The Singers showed them a shortcut to the loading bay, and Granny and Alex dragged Edward onto their ship. In the control room, they dumped Edward in front of the docking controls, and Granny took the helm.

“Cut us loose, Edward!” she cried.

With a screech, The Amber Cow backed away from the loading bay, and Granny swung her into position.

“Hang on, everybody!” she cried.

Alex and Edward grabbed hold of the safety straps.

Granny throttled the engines’ controls to maximum, and the Cow’s big, blunt nose pushed against the Singers’ moon at full strength.

There was a tremendous juddering and creaking from all over The Amber Cow and even worse noises from the moon — terrible shrieks and groans as if it were being fed into a crusher. Alex could tell that Edward was making frantic coffee machine screeches, even though she couldn’t hear him over the racket. Granny clutched their ship’s controls so hard her knuckles were white, as she kept the engines gunned to full, pushing against the star’s gravity… pushing… pushing....

Alex closed her eyes tight and held her breath.

The shaking and the clamor only grew worse.

Was their help too little, too late?

“Listen!” shouted Edward.

Alex opened her eyes. What did he mean? Listen? She was already listening! The entire universe seemed to be overflowing with nothing but noise and more noise.

Over the clatter and rattle of straining engines, she heard something else. Something soaring and beautiful and hopeful and strong — stronger than a star.

Alex grabbed Granny’s arm. “Granny!” she cried.

Granny eased back on The Amber Cow’s engines and listened, too.

“Is that...?” she asked, and Edward nodded.

It was the sound of the Singers singing.

It worked! Their moon was moving! It was pulling away from the lethal star and heading back towards the borders of the Dead Zone.

The Singers were going home.

* * *

Once the Cow’s reconstructor had mended his broken legs, Edward downloaded a program from the Omniweb and worked out a musical alphabet to translate the Singers’ language. In the time remaining before they lost contact with the Ghost Moon, he learned many things about them, including what the aliens believed lived in space outside the Dead Zone.

“They call it something like The Place Where No One Knows How to Sing,” Edward told Alex and Granny. “Which is why they were so surprised by me. As well as not having any singing, they think our space is full of monsters that suck the insides out of planets, and giant, screaming space dragons, and so many moons and stars that they’re always banging into each other, and everyone is a thief.”

“No wonder they hid from us when we arrived — they thought we were thieves and monsters!” said Alex.

Granny remembered the microwave ovens she’d wanted to take away.

“Did you explain we’re not really thieves?” she asked. “Or monsters? Did you explain we’re Junkers?”

“Yes.” Edward nodded. “And I’m pretty sure they said they are, too.”

But gradually, the connection between the Singers’ moon and The Amber Cow began to weaken. It was time to say goodbye.

“Tell them ‘good luck,’ Edward,” said Alex.

“And tell them not to forget to check that the sprocket spracket in Thruster 4 doesn’t overheat,” added Granny.

Edward sent their messages. Then, just as he was about to turn the speakers off, something really lovely happened. Even though they were almost out of range, Alex, Granny, and Edward heard music coming from the fast-disappearing moon. It was beautiful, and it was familiar.

“They’re singing my music. They’re all singing it,” whispered Edward.

After a while, the music slowly faded — the connection was lost — and only the background static of the universe came through the speakers.

Edward reached over and turned them off.

“Well, that’s the end of that adventure,” he said.

“Not quite,” said Granny.

“What do you mean?” said Alex.

“Follow me.”

So Alex, Edward and Treasure the tiger followed Granny to the door of Alex’s bedroom. They went inside.

“Open your closet,” said Granny.

Alex did so. She took one look at the Junior Junker jacket hanging inside, and grabbed Granny, then Edward, and then Treasure in one giant hug.

“It’s my Junior Junker jacket!” she cried. “Do you mean it? But… but I haven’t passed quantum field theory!”

“No, you haven’t,” said Granny, trying to look serious and then giving up. “But you’ve shown you already can do hologram programming under field conditions, which is the next level up. I am pretty sure that when I speak with the Qualification Regulators they will agree. Just as long as you pass the quantum field theory exam.”

“I will,” said Alex, her eyes shining. “I definitely will!”

“Congratulations, First Level Crew Mate Alex!” cried Granny and Edward. Treasure purred and rubbed her large head against Alex’s side. Alex quickly donned the jacket, pride swelling like a symphony in her chest.

The End.