Solomon's Private File #78
These stories about Stephen and Solomon take place starting in
1950's. Stephen wrote about his life in letters to a penpal, and then
in a secure blog, in case he lost his memory again, in the master
computer in his school for gifted students, which he started attending
in 2016 in a new incarnation, until his death. Now his son Solomon is
attending the same school, and is writing in his own secure blog for
his future incarnations.
All characters are fictitious, even if some of them might have names
that belong to some actual people, or act like people we know.
Solomon is 16 in this story, in the Summer of 2042.
Solomon's Private File #78 "CNN Moon"
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The kids were behaving in a way that told the rest of the staff in
our Department in the Bureau that I had done something unusual again.
They expected me to say something about it. I just gave them a slight
mysterious smile. That really frustrated them. Finally, near the end of
the afternoon, the office manager said to me, "Please! What happened?"
All eyes were on us. Noses, nearby. I said, with false innocence,
"Whatever do you mean?" She almost growled. She said, "You did
something unusual again. We all know it!" I said, "Well, if you know
it, you don't need me to tell it to you. If anything happened. Is that
yelled, "I've got it!" I said, "Contagious?" Some chuckles. She said,
"On the news. Sol's Moon expedition. Going to be a show on CNN about
it, Saturday." I said, "Interesting how that was announced just after I
came out here inviting enquiries." There were a lot of noises of
frustration, mixed with chuckles.
There was a disaster in The Philippines. A large ferry capsized, and
was sinking. I told Mom. She ported all the people, over three hundred,
to the dock of last port. She told the Captain, who was last, "You did
well. Ready to join the others?" He thanked her and nodded. I gave the
whole thing to CNN, with narration. They put it on the air, right away.
We both liked the positive responses.
I said to Dex at summer camp in his office, "I see a change. All in
boats wearing life jackets." He said, "For years we didn't require it,
because they don't go out where it's any deeper than the pool. Usually
shallower, and no riptides. And we have a great life guard system. But
the boy you saved showed us we were just asking for trouble. Any who
complain, we quote your camp rule to. Stops it cold. By the way, that
boy is a CIT now, and an excellent swimmer." I said, "Think he might
like to have a visitor?" He almost split his face in half with his
grin. Ed said in the air, "I'll get him." Dex explained, "All of your
school business, he watches. Even here. I thought I would be
uncomfortable with that. Instead, I actually like it." I said, "After
you get used to it, it's like a warm family feeling." He said,
"Exactly!" I said, "In case you forgot, I'm Rusty Doads here." He
laughed. The boy I rescued came in, and we hugged and talked a lot.
Then he left to go to work. I said to Dex, after waving my hand around,
"So?" He said, "Right. It's a good life, and life is good. Thank you!"
We hugged. I got poked. I said, "We should fix that. Didn't bring my
wouldn't let the door open, Ed, too, until we were ready for it. We
squirted well.
I ported to the CNN studio. Don was there. I said, "You know this is
just about the Moon trip." He said, "I suspected. Using us." I said,
"Absolutely!" He chuckled. I said, "Important. Don't want to
contaminate it with other things." He said, "I understand. We're set up
for a direct feed instead of a projection, if you want to do that." I
said, "Fine. You know I'll be monitoring what actually goes out." From
the control room, "We know that!" I gave them a thumb's up. I said to
Don, "Had to give them thumbthing." He tried not to react. I said,
"Improving." He made some strange noises. We went on air. Don said,
"I'm here with Solomon. There is something expected about a Moon trip.
Solomon?" I said, "I was asked to get some samples from the Moon for a
Smithsonian exhibit." He said, "There is more, isn't there." I said in
a drawn out way, "A little." He chuckled. I said, "I suggested some
experts come along to choose what they wanted. That was a popular idea.
MUCH too popular when we thought to include National Geographic in
that. It was supposed to be secret. I think you heard that part didn't
work out too well." He grinned and said, "We did hear that, and
loudly."
I said, "We had to limit who would go, to just our purpose, which was
science and education. Dangerous for out of control sightseers
trampling all over the scientists and their activities. And the lack of
air, well, you surely know how overinflated politicians already are."
He laughed well. I said, "If they had come, after that back on Earth,
they would need a lot of help getting through the doors to their
laughed really hard. I said, "Right. Woosh! Back down to size in a
hurry. And the poor aids bowled over behind them, from the frantically
escaping hot air." More laughter. I said, "Have to tie down the Capitol
to keep it from going up like a balloon." Continued laughter. I said,
"So, that would be the lowdown for those in high office." Chuckles. Don
said, "In self defense, let's go to break." We did, and he said, "I
didn't expect that! Funny." I said, "Thanks. Needed a filler. Most of
the trip was boring work." He said, "Oh. Thanks. I thought we would
need other topics to be a source for your humor. I was wrong." I just
grinned, and he chuckled.
Back on air, I described the conditions on the Moon, and the suits
they wore. I used images of Beth and Brain as examples. Don said,
"Extremely well thought out." I said, "Has to be, when lives are at
stake." We went to break. Back from that, Don said, "You haven't named
who went with you to the Moon." I said, "I did, for some. Beth, Brian,
and Sharon, from the Museum shows. The others are doing a lot of work
now, and would be really bothered by publicity now if people knew who
they were. They can say it themselves if and when they want to. We were
a great team, and we all respect each other. We did some ground
vibration transmission experiments, and other experiments. All the
information that was gathered, and some that is still coming in from
things we left there, will be made public. Want to see Beth and Brian
experimenting with the Moon's gravity?" He did, so I transmitted it to
the feed. It included their conversation. I said to Don, "Now you see
why I didn't have your crew there. I had to manage the audio directly.
And your cameras wouldn't work there, and your people would have had a
lot of trouble controlling them because they would weigh less, but have
the same mass." Don said, "Thanks for the information."
He said "Tell me, was there any danger for the people?" I said, "Not
for being there. For something like throwing up in the helmet, I would
have transported that person to Earth right away, and turned off the
suit field, so they wouldn't choke on that er, stuff." He said, "I
didn't think of that. What about being struck by a meteor?" I said,
"The inertial control would have stabilized the suit field. The rock
would have been stopped, and they wouldn't have felt a thing." He said,
"I still don't understand it."
I said, "Here's an old toy called Silly Putty. Right now it's in a
ball. Hit it with this hammer." He did, and it bounced. I retrieved the
ball, and said, "It's still a ball. Not flattened by the impact. Now
with your hand, push it flat." He did. I said, "That's something like
what the suit field does. Something hits it, the thing is blocked, but
that impact is not transmitted to the person. But if you push the
person, that force is transmitted. Not dangerously so. Right. Can't
squish them flat to prove a point." He chuckled. I said, "But hugs work
just fine. You KNOW I wouldn't block that." He said, "Yes. That I know.
What about kisses?" I said, "Beth and Brian, with the approval of their
parents, want me to show this." I did, and in a traveling shot, too. I
said, "The first kiss on the Moon in modern history, and the first
ever, out in the open. Beth and Brain have made history, and I
absolutely love that." Don said after a while, "I have to agree. We are
out of time. Thank you Solomon, for sharing your Moon trip with us." I
said, "You're welcome." From the control room, "Off air and closed."
said it. I planned how the show would go. You knew I would." He grinned
and said, "Yes. You would."
There were comments all over about the broadcast. Some condemned the
kiss. Some thought it was harmless and romantic. I said in a statement,
"To those who have objected to the kiss on the Moon, I don't have
enough bad words to tell you how I feel about your stupid and hurtful
comments about and to my friends who don't deserve it. Beth and Brian
are very good people. They planned that before the trip, to make
history. They had been good friends for a while. I don't know if it was
their first kiss, and I don't care. It's not my business. In my family
and with my close friends, we all kiss each other, and on the lips,
too. Gender, orientation, age, nothing else gets in the way of our
expressing love and care with a kiss. You saw that live on air in a CNN
show with Don, with my father. They both kissed each other, and aliens,
too. I suggest to all of you who objected to that kiss on the Moon,
that you stop expressing your foul disgusting thoughts with your
mouths, and try using them to express love and care with smiling and
kissing. If you can find any who can stand your mean tempered presence.
Remember, Jesus and his Disciples kissed each other all the time. Going
to condemn that, too?" I showed it around, and got a lot of approval.
It was read on air a lot, and while it made a few very angry, it
received a lot of approval.
I built the new displays for the Moon rocks and the rocking dust
cylinders. We left space for paintings the Moon artist might give us.
Beth and Brian were with Sharon, one of her scientists we had with us
on the moon, and me. I did the recording, instead of Don and his crew.
The scientists explained about the rocks. Then Beth said, "What about
the Moon dust?" He said, "Ah, er, better ask Solomon about it. He knows
more." Brian grinned and said, "Sure. Sol, what makes it flow like
that?" I said, "First we have to know what created the Moon dust. It's
NOT like our usual household dust, which is mostly made of flakes of
human and pet skin, dust mites who eat those things, and their er,
droppings, plant pollen, lint, and a little bit of finely ground
plaster and rock. On the Moon, it's all rock, with a little bit of
metallic dust, too. It's a lot like what is produced in mining on
Earth, and is extremely bad for our lungs if we accidentally breathe
any of it in. That's why this rock dust is sealed in these thick quartz
crystal tubes. But it's not created by mining, but by billions of years
of extreme heat and cold cycles in the lunar day and night. Two Earth
weeks each. We'd need lots of naps if we lived there. Those temperature
cycles crack the rocks over time, breaking them down on the surface.
And the Sun's intense radiation helps that along. But that's not all it
does. It induces in them some static electricity. When solar flares
strike the Moon, they can actually kick the dust around, and because of
the strange effects of less gravity, no atmosphere, and the static
electricity in the dust, and even the shape of the micro-crystals that
make up the dust, the dust can actually flow like water in places and
times, and gather in large pools. Here are some recordings of that
happening." I pushed a button, and the display screen played them.
There were some wows.
I said, "To show some of that kind of thing here, we've set this
container on a, well, rock rocking machine, so you can see the dust
flowing from one end to the other, with the movement, in a vacuum."
Beth said, "Won't the dust, which is made from rocks, scratch the
quartz on the inside over time?" I said, "VERY good question!" She
looked very pleased. And Brian looked very proud of her, which she
noticed. I said, "I could have used a diamond container, but it
wouldn't be as strong as quartz. Instead, I lined it with a diamond
coating, for scratch resistance. And on the outside, with sapphire,
like they do now with watch crystals." Brian said, "And we like to
watch crystals at times." I said with a grin, "I wish I had said that."
We hugged each other. All of us did, even the scientist. Then Beth
said, "The kiss. I loved what you said." Brian said, "Me, too. Beth and
I have a request. What you said. We all do it, and it goes on air in
the PBS show." The scientist started backing away. We laughed. I said,
"Voluntary only." He said, "Er, thanks." So we did it. Sharon kissed us
all first, then Beth did it, and then Brian did it, and then I did it.
They were good firm kisses. I said, "No germs. Made sure." Chuckles. We
all went our ways.
At the office, the secs said, "Great show. Really funny about the
politicians! Loved the kiss. Loved the comment about it." I said,
"Whoever did those things would probably like to thank you." Chuckles.
My first client of the day came in. I said, "Odd expression you're
carrying around." He gave me his file and sat, and said, "Everybody's
still buzzing about that Moon thing." I said, "So I've noticed." He
said, "I think he's trying to get attention." I grinned and said, "Who
wouldn't, if they could?" He said, "Oh. Right. I was expressing
jealousy. Mistake?" I said, "Perfectly normal, even if not induced by
careful thinking." He took that hint, and thought a little and said,
"Right. He doesn't actually like attention. I think better of him now."
I said, "And of yourself?" He said, "You're one hell of a shrink!" I
said, "Er, thanks. Maybe next time, not so loud? I think they heard it
out there." He chuckled and said, "Right. Sorry. Boss doesn't like it?"
I pointed at me. He said, "Oh!" The interview went well, and he was
approved. Before he left, he said, "So what do you think of him?" I
said, "I shouldn't say. Professional courtesy." He grinned and said,
"Jealous?" I said, "Who, me?" He laughed. Just as he was about to open
the door, I said, "I can't be jealous of the workload of the shrink who
has the whole world as his patient." He looked surprised, and then
thoughtful. He said, "Thank you. I really mean that." I said, "You're
welcome."
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Grant
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