A Drink Of Starlight

A bright white screen lights up a dark hotel room in the middle of the night. The man in front of the screen is typing in rapid fire succession as he works on an email to The University. He’s slender, of average height at five feet ten inches, hair cut neatly into a fade long on the top combed over to the right. He has bags under his eyes, proof of his insomnia. Despite the late hours he’s still dressed in his jeans and a collared lavender dress shirt. Weary from a long day of travel he couldn’t find the energy to change.

… And in the morning, we will meet with our contact and get briefed on the site. I will provide details further as soon as I can, Regards Owen Code. With the email finished Owen closes the laptop, running his fingers over the sticker of an axolotl he had placed there, must have been, two years now. Man, time sure does fly. He thinks to himself as he pushed an edge that was coming off back down. Paige had given him that sticker during their first expedition together.

Ah Mexico, that was a fun one, hard to believe that was all the way back in 2043.

Owen stands and stretches, wondering how long he had been sitting in that wooden chair and rubs his lower back. He steps over to one of the beds in his two-bed room and grabs his duffel bag. From it he pulls out a pair of gym shorts and a t-shirt.

Time for a shower, I’m beat. He pulls out his toiletries bag and makes his way to the bath.

As Owen makes his way down the hall of the hotel to the shared bath, he hears a gruff voice echoing from behind.

“Hey Owen! Looks like we had the same Idea.”

Although he already knew by the sound of the voice, Owen turned to see Brett, standing six foot three, long blonde hair tied into a pony tail that fell between his shoulders, piercing light blue eyes and a buff athletic type build strolling down the hall with his own toiletry bag in hand and a towel draped over his shoulder.

“I guess so, something about airports and trains just always make me feel dirty”

“I don’t think I’ve ever met an archeologist that minds being dirty quite as much as you” Brett quipped.

“I guess I find the living dirtier than the dead,” Owen retorted. “Did you get settled into your room alright?”

“Oh yeah, got a pretty nice view too.” Brett chuckled.

“What of” Owen raised his eyebrow in clear skepticism, Brett had a facetious attitude most of the time.

“The backside of the hotel restaurant” Brett snorted and clapped Owen on the shoulder. “By the way I got us some wheels for tomorrow. Local three letter agency hooked me up.” Brett was the security and transportation guy of the crew, he joined about 6 months back and fit in perfectly.

The crew worked for a government agency that went by the moniker ‘The University’. The agency specialized in archeological finds that were initially too sensitive to the public. Owen had been scouted while he was enlisted in the Air Force. You might ask yourself “Wait, does the Air Force really have archeologists?” And the answer to that question would simply be no, it doesn’t. Owen was a Cryptologic Language Analyst specializing in several Chinese dialects and was using his tuition assistance to get a degree in archeology while he did his six-year contract.

The University dispatched teams, usually consisting of four-man crews, across the world in the event a farmer digs up a strange artifact or a spelunker finds themselves in a cave that might not be as naturally occurring as they had believed it to be. Owen’s crew consisted of himself, Paige Quinn the biologist and tech whiz, Brett Luger the navigator/security specialist and Cam Sakurai the geologist.

Brett was an Army Ranger. Worked primarily as a navigator for whatever mission he was assigned to.

“What were you able to land us?”

“Land Cruiser, reliable as hell and should fit us and our luggage comfortably.”

“Good, the meeting spot with the contact starts right in front of the hotel, we can set up camp there until we get more details on where exactly we’re going. Our equipment should arrive on site by the time we get there.” Owen was relieved that Brett had already gotten transportation set up. That meant they could get right to business. But for now, they needed the relaxation.

As the two entered the bath they were met by Cam who appeared to be finishing up shaving.

“Oh, hey guys.” He never looked away from the mirror.

“Cam! My man.” Brett hailed as boisterous as always.

Cam is of average height, has black hair that was long on the top and faded to skin on the sides and was deceptively fit although appearing to be slim. His background as a geologist in the Army Corps of Engineers. Apparently while deployed in Iraq he found some interesting artifacts that caught the attention of The University. Owen has known him for years; they were in the same class of beginners at The University. This was Cam’s second mission on Team Code after he finally gave in to Owen’s requests to join him.

“Brett, when are you going to pay me for that bet we had?” Cam looked over his shoulder through the mirror.

“Oh, but you owe me, I got us our ride, no time is too late for me.” Brett scoffed and walked over to one of the shower stalls.

“Seriously? How!? I thought I had you this time.” Cam laughs as he pulls a twenty-dollar bill out of his wallet and puts it on the counter.

“I have my ways of negotiating, I’m a likable guy!” Brett pats himself on the back as he disrobes.

Owen strolls over to the sink next to Cam and pulls out his toothbrush.

“What have you been up to?” Owen asks Cam as he scrapes some black toothpaste onto the bristles.

“Got us some good stuff to grill for dinner tomorrow tonight.” Cam was also the team cook, not because he was assigned that job, but because he enjoyed cooking as a pastime.

“Get anything good?” Owen asked.

“Did you get any beer?” Brett yelled from the shower.

“Well, I got some prime rib and seasoning rub that I already have it marinating in, gonna grill that and some brussels sprouts. And yes of course I got beer.”

Alright! Now we’re talkin’.” Brett elates.

“Wow and to think all I’ve done since we got to the hotel is send an email to Jettison.” Owen marveled at his teams’ expeditious procurement of supplies.

“Ah, but it is all made possible by your coordination Owen, don’t be so hard on yourself.” Cam reassured.

After his shower, Owen bids farewell to the guys and heads back to his room. Upon opening the door he’s surprised to find Paige sitting on the foot of one of the beds, scrolling through her phone.

“How am I surprised you managed to get into my room?” Owen kicked off his sandals and walked over.

“You’d be surprised with what one can get with just a last name and pure charisma,” She said while flipping her hair, “TU got us some hacked sim cards, still being pretty vague on where exactly we’re going and why we need to leave from a Space Force base, but they say these will work where-ever we end up, here I already put yours into your phone.” She stands and pushes Owen’s phone into his hand.

Paige Quinn is a short slim woman with ever changing hair colors, at the moment, black with a purple strip at each side of the front. She was a Navy Microbiologist. As for the tech, she just likes to tinker and eventually got good enough that The University couldn’t ignore her skill sets.

“Yeah I’ve been racking my brain about the Space Force base thing too.”

“Owen, do you think it’s real this time? Could this really be extraterrestrial?”

“Hard to know. The government can be a bit too hush hush about this stuff sometimes.”

“Something about this job feels different. Usually we get sent to a cave in a desert or jungle of some sort, Owen a military base?”

“That does make me curious too, all we can do is wait for the brief tomorrow though.”

“It’s been how long now that we’ve been trekking the world together in search of visitors from the heavens?” Paige asks as she plops onto the bed.

“Twelve years of dragging you around trying to find evidence that I’m sure The University already has.” Owen quipped and laid down next to her.

“Shut up! You know you probably would have died at least five times had I not been there to save your ass. Remember that time in Egypt when you about stepped on a viper because you had your nose in a book?” Paige said as she smacked Owen on the arm.

“That ‘book’ was a quick translation guide because someone got us lost looking for food” Owen retorted laughing.

“Yeah, well that’s part of the adventure right, adds to the excitement of the story.”

“You could say almost getting dropped by a snake has the same effect.” Owen said proudly.

“If you say so, all that I was getting at is that I make your job more entertaining.”

“That is true, I couldn’t think of anybody better to traverse the word with.”

“Don’t let Brett hear you saying that he might get in his feels about it.”

Owen chuckled at the thought of Brett pouting, “I can sure imagine what the look on his face would be.”

Paige pulls a glass bottle containing a clear liquid from her bag on the desk, “care for a drink?” she asks as she’s already pulling two glasses out of the same bag.

“What’s the poison and what’s the occasion?”

“Well it’s your favorite of course, a fine gin I found distilled locally. As for the occasion, excitement for what’s to come, I love starting new jobs.”

“Alright, here’s to the wonders yet to be uncovered,” Owen clinks his glass against Paige’s and the both take a drink.

Paige grabs the tv remote and pushes the power button, the console flashes to life and the previous occupant’s volume setting pierces and subdues the low rumble of the air conditioning unit set under the window.

“Oh hell yeah I love ads tailored to the locals?” She asks as she lays back on the second queen bed in the room, clicking through the channels.

“Me too, gets ya immersed in the culture a little more,” Owen said just as Paige lands on a channel featuring an older cartoon, “Why is it always some old ass cartoon with you?”

“What was that? I can’t hear you over my childhood returning.”

“Touché, touché,” Owen concedes as Paige giggles at some slapstick animation.

Before they knew it the bottle was empty and both Owen and Paige were two shades to the wind. At some point Owen looked over and saw that she had fallen asleep on top of the covers while a new episode of the same cartoon remained playing in the background. He shuffled over to the spare bed and covered her with a blanket he found in the closet. He then slid under the covers of his own bed and looked up at the ceiling as if trying to see the stars shine through and muttered “Do you think it’s real this time?” Before shutting his eyes to witness the universe roar to life in the subconscious of his dreams.

As the morning sun peaked above the horizon, Owen’s eyes slid open to the sound of his alarm on his phone burring. He rolled over and grabbed it to check the time, 0715. Shit I'm late, he thought to himself. He looked over at the spare bed to find it empty, Paige got up sometime before him it seemed. He slid himself out of bed, thankful he had decided to shower last night. Shoving his feet into his flip-flops he brought for convenience he started for the door just as he reached for the handle he heard a wrap on it and saw it open.

“Good morning, I grabbed coffee, c’mon the team is waiting in the conference room,” Paige stood bright eyed and bushy tailed in the doorway holding two paper cups with steam lifting out of them.

“What time did you get up?” Owen asked, wiping the hangover from his eyes.

“0630, I needed a shower and figured you would need a pick me up too so I went to the café across the street.” She handed Owen one of the cups, “extra sugar and some sweet cream, you wearing that to the meeting?”

Owen looked down at his outfit, an anime inspired graphic short sleeve t-shirt, a pair of basketball shorts and his flip-flops. He then compared it with Paige’s more professional looking black slacks with pinstripes, a white collared button up with the top button undone and a women's blazer matching the pants “Yeah it’s just a team meeting, I don’t see why not.”

Paige raises her eyebrow at him. “If you insist, let’s go then.”

The walk down the hall towards the elevators, “Why don’t we take the stairs instead? I could use the walk.” Owen says.

“That gin must have hit you harder than I thought it would, old man,” Paige pokes at Owen’s stomach.

“Yeah yeah, I just feel like getting the blood flowing will help me focus better in this meeting.” Although it was true, the gin indeed hit him harder than he anticipated.

They entered the lobby of the hotel, a wide open room with marble floors and some pillars placed evenly throughout, in the far corner was the continental breakfast area that had a counter stocked with a variety of breakfast foods enjoyed by people from around the world. They wandered over and each grabbed something small and easy, Owen a bagel and Paige a pastry. They then walked over to the door placed in the wall next to the breakfast area that had a sign labeled ‘conference room’.

Paige pushed open the door and exclaimed “Look who the cat dragged in!” The team was all there with their contact. Owen walked in, waved and sat at the end of the table, he looked around and was relieved to see he wasn’t the only one who decided the casual wear was fitting for the meeting, Cam was dressed similarly except forgoing the t-shirt for a white tank top. Owen smirked and gave him a nod as if to say “You too?”.

“Alright let us begin, now that we’re all here, what do you have for us? Suit.” Owen said to the man standing in front of a white projector curtain. Suits are what the teams referred to the intel guys stationed around the world to present mission briefs and give information on behalf of The University.

“Good morning lady and gentleman,” He began, “My name is Mark and your mission is as follows, 22 September 2055, an infrastructure engineer for moon Base Luna Alpha stumbled on a previously undiscovered cave system in the Shackleton Crater, what exactly he saw in the caves is sensitive information that you will learn shortly after arriving at the habitation dome, you will investigate and determine what exactly is up there.”

“Wait, hold on, did you just say moon base?” Paige asked incredulously.

“That is correct ma’am” Mark replied and without missing a beat nonchalantly explained, “Two years ago a classified mission was sent to establish two colonies on the moon at the lunar South then North poles respectively, each colony consists of five hundred personnel sent to establish and prove that a colony could be successful.”

“How exactly was a one thousand person mission to colonize the moon kept this locked down?” Owen asked. “And if it’s this big of a secret how are we having this meeting here right now?”

“Through great pains mister Code, great pains indeed. Each person on the expedition was vetted, chosen specially for the tasks they would perform and sworn to secrecy by NDA. As far as Earth is concerned every person that is on the expedition had died sometime in the year leading up to the operation. As for this meeting location you may have noticed you haven’t seen another person in the building this morning, you may also have noticed that the four of you are the hotel’s only guests for the duration of your stay.” Mark said, “It’s funny how much time a ‘carbon monoxide leak alarm’ will get you with an empty building.”

“Makes perfect sense,” Brett laughed.

“I assume we’ll find out tomorrow how an undertaking as massive as this was carried out tomorrow?” Owen asked.

“Yes precisely, tomorrow morning you’ll head to Vandenburg Space Force base and be flown via C-17 to Woomera, Australia. Mr. Luger I hope the vehicle you’ve procured isn’t expected to be returned any time soon if at all.”

“Uh I’ll figure something out, I was trying to keep a lower budget.” Brett scratched his head.

“If you need to buy a vehicle with cash just say the word, it will be covered” Mark turned back to Owen and handed him an envelope, “Inside you will find a placard that needs to be displayed on the front windshield of the new vehicle Mr. Luger acquires, please let me know the make, model and color as soon as you can, and I.D. badges that will act as everything you’ll need for the duration of your mission be it entry to your living quarters or currency exchange for whatever you may want or need.”

Owen removed the placard and searched for Brett’s badge then handed the pair to him before passing the other two badges. “These display our real names?”

“Yes, because of the already sensitive nature of the moon colonies, Luna Alpha director asked specifically that no aliases be used, we agreed and deemed that level of secrecy unnecessary. ” Mark nodded, “The director is aware of the existence of The University and what we investigate, there were contingencies put in place in case something that would cause our dispatch were to be discovered. The contingencies were activated prompting our call up.”

“Go it, Brett, you can go now and track down some new wheels.”

“Aye aye cap,” Brett jumps up and gives a sloppy salute before exiting the room.

“What countries are all involved with the colonies?” Asks Owen.

“The United States of course, Australia, China, Japan and Canada for now.” Mark said, “When the colonies are proven successful and sustainable the rest of the world will be invited to participate.”

“Key players we should be aware of before we head out?” Paige asks.

“Director of Luna Alpha is a woman named Ai Cui, she’s of American Chinese descent. I feel I am safe to assume she will be part of your welcome party. Her colony partner Bolin Dai is a scientist studying various lunar cycles. David Salavar, the engineer that made the discovery and finally Sabrina Long, the command and control specialist that was working with Salavar at the time of the discovery.” Mark handed her a second envelope, “Inside are their profiles and backgrounds, these individuals are the only people on the moon that are aware of the discovery and we would like to keep it that way for as long as possible.”

“As far as amenities in the colony, what can we expect?” Cam asks, “Since we have the day, would like to grab some last minute items I might have overlooked.”

“Think typical military installation, a gym with an Olympic size pool, a mall style shopping center with department stores and restaurant style cafeteria’s and a 10 screen movie theater.” Mark passed Cam a map as he explained, “As for where the people put their heads down at night there are single family living quarters and communal living quarters. I have procured your team the second option”

“Oh my god, I get to swim on the moon! Are you kidding me?!” Paige exclaimed, “I gotta catch Brett before he goes, gonna need to pick up a bikini.” Paige hopped out of her seat visibly giddy, “C’mon guys let’s get going!”

“Are we dismissed then?” Owen asked Mark, scratching the back of his head.

“ Sure thing,” Mark said smiling, “Owen, could I ask you to hang back actually?”

“Absolutely, you guys go on, I’ll catch up with you for dinner.” Owen waved to Cam and Paige.

“Alrighty, do you want us to grab you anything while we’re out?” Paige called as she crossed through the lobby.

“Actually yeah, could you grab me a pair of trunks?” he asked.

“Trunks got it! WOO! This is going to be even better than I thought,” Paige grinned and ran after Cam.

“Thanks for hanging back, Owen,” Mark said as the door swung shut.

“Not a problem, what did you need?”

“I left my business card in your packet, could you take it out for me?”

Owen obliged, he turned it over and began reading the bold print

MARK JETTISON, Manager Special Research

“Oh I see, well then Mr. Jettison it’s nice to finally meet you in the flesh,” Owen stuffed the card back into his packet, “This must be a really big deal if you’re out here in the field with us.”

“The urgency The University is treating this expedition made me believe I would be best of service to you and your team in the field as well, I will be your direct link to anything you need The University to provide, please don’t treat this mission as any different than as if I was back at the office, you are very much still the team lead, I am here strictly as an admin support specialist.”

“Alright, I assume you had me hang back because you don’t want it getting around that you’re here?”

“Correct, I don’t want your team to feel as if management is breathing down their throats, although the work is important it would be best if the work got done as organically as possible if that makes sense, I know you’re used to referring to me as my University preferred moniker as Jettison but for this mission Mark is just fine.”