Read Lunar Colony for Free Online

there’s something in the rover that will do the trick,
he thought. Climbing behind the wheel, he looked over the dashboard and found a button marked DOOR. “Aha!” he said as he pressed it. But to Glen’s disappointment and frustration, the door didn’t move. Instead, a message appeared on the dashboard console’s screen. It said D OOR A CCESS D ENIED . S YSTEM O VERRIDE R EQUIRED .
    “Darn it!” Glen said as he got out of the rover. He paced the vehicle bay, wondering why everything had to be so difficult. “It’s not enough that I flew a spaceship to the moon? Now I have to figure out how to override the system just to open some dumb door? What does that even mean?”
    As he stormed around the garage, he noticed a piece of machinery that didn’t look quite like the others. In fact, it looked more like—
    “A robot,” Glen said aloud. He walked closer, thinking that its drooped head made it look like it was sleeping. “I wonder if this thing works,” Glen said. He couldn’t find an ON button, and nothing happened when he banged on the robot’shead. But something caught his attention: a wire hanging from the back of the machine. “Hey,” he said, “it looks like someone unplugged it. I wonder what will happen if I plug it in here—”
    As Glen inserted the end of the wire into an empty port, the machine came to life. Its large eyes became illuminated and its head rotated wildly in every direction.
    “N o , C OMMANDER S ALERNO !” said the frantic robot. “T HIS IS AGAINST PROTOCOL !”
    “Hey there,” said Glen, surprised by the robot’s sudden movements. “Just settle down. I’m not Commander Salerno, but I need to know where she is.”
    The robot looked at Glen and seemed to come back to reality, like someone who’d just woken up from a bad dream.

    “P LEASE FORGIVE ME, SIR . I AMA LUNAR FACILITY HELPER ROBOT, BUT THE ASTRONAUTS HAVE ALWAYS JUST CALLED ME N AT . A PPARENTLY , I BRING TO MIND AN INSECT CREATURE YOU HAVE ON E ARTH, THOUGH I AM AFRAID I DO NOT UNDERSTAND THE CONNECTION .”
    “Nice to meet you, Nat,” Glen said, feeling a little funny. He’d never talked to a robot before. “What can you tell me about Salerno?”
    Nat’s eyes dimmed a bit, making him look sad. “M Y DUTY IS TO ENSURE THAT ORDERS ARE CARRIED OUT . W HEN C OMMANDER S ALERNO REALIZED THAT I WOULD NOT PERMIT HER TO LEAVE THIS FACILITY, SHE DISCONNECTED MY WIRING . I F SHE ESCAPED, THEN I FAILED TO DO MY DUTY .”
    Glen felt sorry for Nat but needed to know more. “What could you have done to keep her from leaving?” he asked.
    “M Y PROGRAMMING ALLOWS ME TO SHUT DOWN THE BASE, KEEPING ANYONE FROM OPENING THE DOORS . B UT I FAILED TO DO IT, AND NOW I AM JUST A FAILURE .” Nat dropped his head, saying, “B OO-HOO-HOO .”
    “Wait a minute, Nat. If you can lock thedoors, does that mean you can open them, too?” Glen asked.
    “Y ES, OF COURSE ,” Nat replied, perking up his head.
    “In that case, you still have a chance to help! I need an override on the vehicle-bay door right away,” Glen said, running back to the rover. “I’m going out to find Salerno!”
    “Y ES, SIR ,” said Nat. His eyes had brightened again, and he punched numbers into a keypad on his wrist, causing the bay door to instantly open.
    “Thanks,” said Glen, who turned on the rover’s ignition. But before he could step on the pedal, the robot zoomed over to him.
    “C OMMANDER S ALERNO’S SUIT EMITS A TRACKING SIGNAL . U NFORTUNATELY, YOU WILL NEED A LOCATOR DEVICE TO TRACK THAT SIGNAL, AND I SAW HER TAKE IT BEFORE SHE DEACTIVATED ME .”
    “Then how will I find her?” Glen asked. “The moon is a pretty big place!”
    “A FFIRMATIVE . B UT BECAUSE THE LOCATOR DEVICE IS QUITE BULKY, SHE MAY HAVE CHOSEN TO HIDE IT RATHER THAN CARRY IT WITH HER . I F YOU CAN FIND THE LOCATORDEVICE, IT SHOULD LEAD YOU TO HER . I WOULD HELP YOU, BUT I AM UNABLE TO LEAVE THIS FACILITY .”
    “Got it! Thanks, Nat.”
    Glen stepped on the