Moonliner: No Stone Unturned Read Online Free
Author: Donald Hanzel
weeks.”
“Nikki’s going to the moon?” Lennox asks with interest.
“She is,” Cedric answers. “Her station wants her to cover the Apollo 11 anniversary party. We’re gonna stay downtown the night before she goes.”
“You know I have to go back to Moondock on August 1 st if you need me to transmit a message for you,” Lennox adds.
“I thought of asking you too, and I’ll keep it in mind,” Cedric responds. “Who knows what I may need if this has any success.”
Lennox is an attorney currently working for the Lunar Council, a UN appointed group to govern the moon. He holds an intense position that requires him to frequent Moondock, the moon’s permanently orbiting station. As of late, he’s been going almost monthly, or almost daily from a lunar-centric perspective. [2] Though he has one of the most fascinating jobs on the planet, it has grown tedious for him. You could even make a good argument that his job killed his marriage, but that could easily be a vast over-simplification.
Knowing how badly Cedric would love a chance to visit the moon, Lennox seldom mentions his travels during their discussions. It seems poetically unjust that Lennox would have to go there so often while Cedric, who’s itching to get there, still hasn’t had the chance. With the price of a single trip being the equivalent of a new condo, only 2069’s most affluent have the means to get there.
“She’s nervous,” Cedric says; “she’s a little reluctant to go.”
“That’s natural,” Lennox replies; “I’ve gone sixteen times and it’s still frightening for me every time they ignite the main outboard engines. To travel at such high speeds, weightlessness, none of it is like the posters or the commercials.”
“She’s reserved on a moonliner. Have you ever taken one?” Cedric asks.
“I rode a moonliner on my first trip, when the council wanted to interview me on Moondock to ensure I was capable doing the traveling the job requires. Since then, I’ve only traveled on executive shuttles.”
Moonliners are large, long, segmented space craft built to carry several hundred people at a time, depending on the model. They are not designed for atmospheric flight, but instead to ferry people between Earthport, Earth’s orbiting station, and Moondock. Travel to and from either orbital station to the surface of the celestial body it orbits is done via various shuttle services. Getting to Moondock itself is a costly venture, but adding a visit to the lunar surface almost doubles the price of the trip, making Nikki’s assignment all the more fascinating.
Executive shuttles, however, are hyper-atmospheric aircraft, capable of flying directly to the moon from the earth’s surface. Though more common each year, such flight is extremely expensive on many levels and remains quite rare. Air Force One is an executive class shuttle, as are most personal crafts of heads of state.
You would think the golf course would be more parched with how hot it has been, but the wet spring and few flash showers have managed to keep the course, the park, and the whole city green and lush. The scene is dreamy.
After a long afternoon, Cedric and Lennox fade away, down the final fairway and into the sun, talking and laughing as they walk. They tally their scores as they walk along. The sun is on the horizon and the sky is golden. The days are long and this one has been no exception.
Moonliner 1:4
Cedric sits alone, quietly watching a news report projected on the wall in the cafeteria of his university’s student union building.
“Construction has been announced for Marsdock, the orbital station planned for the red planet. If
“Nikki’s going to the moon?” Lennox asks with interest.
“She is,” Cedric answers. “Her station wants her to cover the Apollo 11 anniversary party. We’re gonna stay downtown the night before she goes.”
“You know I have to go back to Moondock on August 1 st if you need me to transmit a message for you,” Lennox adds.
“I thought of asking you too, and I’ll keep it in mind,” Cedric responds. “Who knows what I may need if this has any success.”
Lennox is an attorney currently working for the Lunar Council, a UN appointed group to govern the moon. He holds an intense position that requires him to frequent Moondock, the moon’s permanently orbiting station. As of late, he’s been going almost monthly, or almost daily from a lunar-centric perspective. [2] Though he has one of the most fascinating jobs on the planet, it has grown tedious for him. You could even make a good argument that his job killed his marriage, but that could easily be a vast over-simplification.
Knowing how badly Cedric would love a chance to visit the moon, Lennox seldom mentions his travels during their discussions. It seems poetically unjust that Lennox would have to go there so often while Cedric, who’s itching to get there, still hasn’t had the chance. With the price of a single trip being the equivalent of a new condo, only 2069’s most affluent have the means to get there.
“She’s nervous,” Cedric says; “she’s a little reluctant to go.”
“That’s natural,” Lennox replies; “I’ve gone sixteen times and it’s still frightening for me every time they ignite the main outboard engines. To travel at such high speeds, weightlessness, none of it is like the posters or the commercials.”
“She’s reserved on a moonliner. Have you ever taken one?” Cedric asks.
“I rode a moonliner on my first trip, when the council wanted to interview me on Moondock to ensure I was capable doing the traveling the job requires. Since then, I’ve only traveled on executive shuttles.”
Moonliners are large, long, segmented space craft built to carry several hundred people at a time, depending on the model. They are not designed for atmospheric flight, but instead to ferry people between Earthport, Earth’s orbiting station, and Moondock. Travel to and from either orbital station to the surface of the celestial body it orbits is done via various shuttle services. Getting to Moondock itself is a costly venture, but adding a visit to the lunar surface almost doubles the price of the trip, making Nikki’s assignment all the more fascinating.
Executive shuttles, however, are hyper-atmospheric aircraft, capable of flying directly to the moon from the earth’s surface. Though more common each year, such flight is extremely expensive on many levels and remains quite rare. Air Force One is an executive class shuttle, as are most personal crafts of heads of state.
You would think the golf course would be more parched with how hot it has been, but the wet spring and few flash showers have managed to keep the course, the park, and the whole city green and lush. The scene is dreamy.
After a long afternoon, Cedric and Lennox fade away, down the final fairway and into the sun, talking and laughing as they walk. They tally their scores as they walk along. The sun is on the horizon and the sky is golden. The days are long and this one has been no exception.
Moonliner 1:4
Cedric sits alone, quietly watching a news report projected on the wall in the cafeteria of his university’s student union building.
“Construction has been announced for Marsdock, the orbital station planned for the red planet. If
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