Clifford was of the opinion that technology would one day progress to a point where these restrictions could be overcome, but by that time the reasons for their having been imposed in the first place would long have gone away. In the meantime, scientists would be able to continue their researches into the new physics in laboratories on the Moon, anywhere else in the Solar System, and perhaps, one day, beyond. For the next one hundred and eleven years, however, as far as this kind of activity went Earth itself was quarantined. That was regrettable, but it seemed a small price to pay.
Chapter 26
The squat-nosed, ungainly surface-transport ship from Tycho Base slowed to a halt and hung amid the star-strewn black velvet of the sky over the observatory complex at Joliot-Curie, on Lunar Farside. Among the huddle of domes and receiver dishes that stood in the middle of the wilderness below, the massive steel shutters over the underground landing bay had already been rolled aside to uncover a splash of yellow light and relieve the monotony of ash-gray dust. Its flight-control processors concluded their dialogue with the ground computers and the ship sank gently out of sight of the surface.
Inside the landing bay, after the shutters had closed and the bay had filled with air, an access ramp telescoped out to mate with the ship’s entry lock as the last moans of its engines died away in the new world of sound that had come into being. The lock slid open and the small procession of new arrivals made its way down the ramp to the reception antechamber.
Professor Heinrich Zimmermann, his face wreathed in a smile, stepped forward to greet the three young people as they approached him.
“How was your journey?” he asked as he shook each one warmly by the hand. “No unpleasant complications, I trust?”
“Very relaxing,” Clifford told him. His face had filled out again and regained its healthy color. His eyes were shining brightly, just like old times.
“Starting to feel at home on this ol’ dust ball already,” Aub said.
“And what about you, my dear?” Zimmermann asked, turning toward Sarah. “Do you think you will enjoy living here on the Moon?”
“Who cares?” she smiled, snuggling nearer to Clifford. “I’m still getting used to the idea of having my husband back again.”
Zimmermann turned to usher them in the direction of the far door of the antechamber. “First I must show you where the bar is and join you in a welcoming drink . . . just to keep our priorities correct. Don’t worry about your baggage and so on; that will be taken care of. After that, we will show you to the living quarters so that you can clean up, settle in, and rest if you wish. I would like to suggest that we dine together later, in the main dining room at 2300 hours . . . in case you haven’t got used to the local time yet, that’s just over three hours from now. After that, I would be pleased to take you on a tour of the base and observatories. I warn you, it’s a bit of a rabbit-warren underground, and newcomers here tend to be confused at first, but I’ve no doubt that you will get used to it.”
He stopped and looked down at the sign that had been positioned across the doorway to which their tortuous route had by that time brought them.
“Oh, dear—it appears that we cannot get through this way. The tunnel is temporarily out of use for maintenance.” He sighed. “We will have to go back a little way, up and across into the next dome through the interconnecting tube on the surface. I am sorry about this. . . . This way . . .”
As they emerged from the access lock of the tube and entered the dome, Zimmermann called them over to a viewing port in the outside wall. From it they were able to see the limit to which the surface constructions extended on one side of the base. The professor pointed to the bare tract of dust and boulders that lay beyond.
“That is where you will be working,” he said. “The area has been surveyed and we have completed preliminary designs for three additional domes to house the new laboratories. Initially they will all extend five levels down below the surface and be connected into the main complex, of course. The new GRASER will be built below the largest of them . . . roughly halfway between that prominent crater and that group of boulders . . . and the BIACs and associated equipment will be next door, about fifty yards to the left. The third is really for storage space at this stage; it will be useful should you require room to expand later.”