Chapter 1 

The Moon, 2098.

She was near the top of the crater rim overlooking the lunar base. The lunar base was inside one of the rare lunar lava tubes found on the far side of the Moon. She was wearing her lunasuit. This was a three-layer suit that was built by the early lunar settlers. It provided protection but not speed. That is why she chose the suit. 

She could not help but peek over the top of the crater rim. She could see the outpost standing on the top of the lunar base. It was not high above the lunar surface. It just looked like a cabin on the surface. It was packed with instruments to measure various surface parameters and look for intruders. On the side, she saw the faded Indian flag that told her this was an Indian base.

An explosion rocked the outpost. From what she could see the entire outpost was destroyed along with the floor below it. There would be no people there. These were instrumentation decks.  

She ran towards the outpost or what was left of it. She could see another fifty figures approaching the outpost from all sides. She may have been the slowest of them. But she pushed harder. She reached the outpost and saw the ladder that went to the lower floor. She slid on the steps. Her lunasuit could bear such wear and tear. She reached the bottom deck and looked around. There were four hatches on the four corners of the room. She went to the one nearest her and started pulling at and trying to turn the handwheel. A few seconds later, others were trying the other three hatches. 

Each hatch would open to small halls that were called pressure chambers. These regulated the pressure between the lunar base and the lunar surface. Entering these pressure chambers was the most difficult part of this expedition. She pushed the handwheel harder. That was when the boy turned up. He was just as high as her waist. 

“Stop pushing,” he commanded.

He pulled out a pocket contraption and placed it against a lock on the side of the hatch. It made a few clicking sounds and they could hear the electronic locks turn to open the hatch. The hatches opened inward. Air would gush out as soon as the cracks in the door appeared. They waited for the air in the pressure chambers to escape into the lunar surface and then rushed into the pressure chambers. She carried the boy into the pressure chambers so that he would not be crushed by the others rushing in. 

They waited as the hatches closed again. They could now hear the air pumps work to fill the room with air. They could see faces from the other side of the pressure chambers looking at them. These were not angry faces. These were curious faces. She knew that both sides would wait till the air pressure inside the pressure chamber would be the same as the air pressure inside the lunar base. 

She looked at her lunasuit. There were a few scratches and deep cuts. Nothing she could not fix. She looked at the boy’s lunasuit. It was the latest model. There was not a blemish on it. It was as if it had never been on the lunar surface. 

When the doors of the lunar base opened, a man wearing jeans, a t-shirt, and an oxygen mask walked in. He looked around the room. He motioned for them to remove the lunasuits.

“I am Captain Rajeev Nair of the Indian Space Force.”

He motioned everyone to move to one side of the pressure chambers. He looked at the damage the explosion had caused.  He saw the fifteen people who had entered this pressure chamber including the boy. 

“Why don’t you people just knock?”

He ordered two people to look for identification - documents or tattoos. She showed her neck where the identification was tattooed. They were fast and efficient. They were done in ten minutes. 

They were taken to the medical examination deck. Captain Rajeev left the room. He called the robotic crew to fix the damage to the outpost and the instrumentation deck. This was the third break in this year. If this kept up, they would have to shut this base down. 

The doctor checked her pulse, weight, height, oxygen saturation, and drew blood to create her medical history. He looked at her neck and noted down her identification number. He called for the next person and repeated the procedure. 

She expected backlash. There was none. She saw Captain Rajeev return to the medical examination room and satisfy himself that the people were not too badly injured. His eyes rested on her. He looked at the tattoo on her neck. He tried to focus harder on the tattoo. 

“Indian?” he asked.

“Yes. Meera.”

“Malayali aano?” 

She nodded.