Read Luna for Free Online Page A

seven people rode the Lunar Module to the moon’s surface.
    Caitlin tore her eyes from the vivid moonscape outside her window. She glanced back at her passengers. They were seated in a circle around the perimeter of the LEM, mostly quiet since leaving the Command Module. Was it the realization that they were about to land on a planetary body other than Earth, Caitlin wondered, or was it just that they were all sick of each other already after two days in close confinement?
    With the comm loops thick with pre-descent chatter buzzing in the background (Caitlin listened for Ray’s voice but hadn’t heard him since they went into lunar orbit), Martin Hughes wordlessly pointed out a mountain range to no one in particular. Asami Imura glanced around the circle, and when it seemed no one else had anything to say, offered, “Many people think of the moon as a flat boring place, maybe with some craters, but in reality it’s home to mountains that are taller than our Mount Everest on Earth. Some of them are high enough, and at the right latitude such that they are never exposed to darkness. Peaks of Eternal Light.”
    Presently, Blake Garner dropped into the Lunar Module and took his seat in the circle, the last to do so. “Be nice to put some solar panels up there, eh?” he said, dropping into the conversation as well. “Endless energy!” Then, to Suzette, his videographer: “You filming? Did you get that? I want to remember that.” She nodded.
    Asami glared at her. “Why don’t you stow that thing now so one of us doesn’t get hurt?” In reply, Suzette swung the camera’s lens her way.
    “Doctor Imura, esteemed selenologist, how about if you tell us your thoughts as we orbit the moon, only minutes from descending on an alien world. Any insights so far?”
    Asami was caught off guard by the serious question. She knew Suzette could edit out the line about getting hurt and just cut in with the question and awkward hesitation.
    “Well,” she began, “the moon—”
    Suzette lowered her camera and put the lens cap on.
    “—has had several geological forces acting on it, including volcanic activity, which…” Asami trailed off, stopping when she saw that Suzette was no longer filming.
“Forget it,” Suzette said, reaching behind her to put the camera into a storage compartment. “No one wants to hear it.”
    Asami’s mouth dropped open in disbelief.
    “I do. I’d like to hear it,” Martin Hughes said.
    The marketing veep shot him a withering stare. “We have a couple more minutes where I could have done it, but Safety Queen here’s giving me a hard time. It was just for some B-roll stuff anyway, nobody wants to hear that crap.”
    Asami unclipped her seat harness. “I’ve had it with you.” She started to stand up before the weightlessness made that difficult.
    Dallas’ voice came over the intercom. “We are go for Lunar Module separation in T-minus two minutes.”
    Blake held a hand out toward Asami in a stopping motion and shook his head. The selenologist resumed her seat. They were approaching the calculated point along their orbital path where their descent needed to begin if they were to end up at the target landing zone with minimal travel distance.
“ Better sit back down,” Suzette said under her breath.
    “ What ?” Asami leaned forward in her seat. “Blake, I didn’t sign on to be abused by your crew.”
    Caitlin swiveled her command seat around to face the passengers. She’d read enough articles on the psychology of space travel to know that arguments such as these could be symptomatic of claustrophobia, agoraphobia, fear of the unknown and general stress. “Enough! After we land, you’ll all get to stretch out a bit and eat. For now, we need you to sit back in your seats and relax.”
    Blake nodded his agreement, as did James Burton.
    “Prepare for lander separation,” Paul intoned.
    “Let’s light this candle,” Dallas replied.
    “Lunar Module, this is Command Module: You