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she…?” Roth asked uncertainly.
    “Totally off limits,” Luke replied firmly before continuing to the training room.
    “Okay.” Roth nodded. “That’s smart.”
    “Anyway.” Luke broke the awkward silence. “You were the best boss I ever had. You’ve got the management skills to handle a big organization. You’ve got a scientific background. You are the perfect fit for this job and I can’t tell you how critical it is that we get started.”
    “What’s the job exactly?” Roth asked.
    “Your job would be to run this place. I see it as a mirror to when you were a commander at Nellis. You brought their very first F-35 squadrons to mission ready status. That was a brand new fighter with technology most of us had never seen. Same thing here. You’ll need a maintenance chief, engineers, logistics, and a personnel chief.”
    “How much of that is in place right now?” Roth asked.
    “You, me and Annie.”
    Roth shook his head.
    “This is the training room,” Luke explained. “Let me introduce you to George. He’s the resident AI. George, this is Dr. Roth Higgins.”
    “Good afternoon, Dr. Higgins.”
    “I’m leaving you here for a few minutes,” Luke told Roth. “George is going to give you a thorough overview of what we’re trying to accomplish. It’s more understandable when you see his presentation. Ask questions at any time.”
    Roth had a long discussion with George. Luke joined afterward to talk about the threat mankind was facing and the mammoth task in preparing to meet it. Two hours later the men departed Moonbase One for Baggs.
    “I’ll give the university a week’s notice,” Roth said.
    “Perfect,” Luke agreed. “That will give you enough time to spread the word about the great job opportunities in PDEF. We start advertising this weekend. The public pitch is that we’re building a new research facility in an undisclosed location, one that’s rough and inhospitable. We hint, but won’t confirm, it’s in the Antarctic. We encourage job seekers to bring their families. Other than that, all we promise is that it is a remote, extended duration contract where employees will be out of touch with people back home. No cell service at the South Pole…or here.”
    “When will you tell them what’s really going on?”
    “I won’t. They’ll figure it out when they get to Moonbase One.”
    “Kind of harsh, don’t you think?” Roth asked.
    “Not as harsh as having our planet blown away,” Luke replied, putting that question firmly to rest. “Let me know if there is anybody in particular you want and I’ll visit them in person.”
    “How will you review everyone? You’re going to get thousands of resumes, you know. And most of them won’t be accurate.”
    “I know,” Luke said. “We contracted with NexGen Recruiting and other big headhunting firms. They’ve got systems in place to do that kind of screening. Annie had our attorneys customize their standard contracts. We established rewards for bringing in the right people and stiff penalties for giving us duds.”
    “I’d like to bring in Samantha Meyer,” Roth suggested. “Last I heard she was the head of Space Systems in Denver. She’s a real tiger and one of the brightest people I’ve ever met. And she’ll know who else is a good fit.”
    “Let her know I’ll be calling on her. If you can get me an appointment, even better. One more thing,” Luke added.
    “What’s that?”
    “Welcome aboard, Roth.”
    # # #
    Samantha Meyer was an easy recruit. She’d crossed paths with Roth a decade earlier and her respect for the older gentleman rivaled Luke’s own. She expected Luke’s visit, having been prompted by Roth to accept a quick flight on the Gulfstream.
    Once Samantha was on board she and Roth decided the next item on the to-do list was a construction crew. Once the recruitment process kicked into gear they would be bringing on hundreds of people a week. That meant building a host of facilities and everything