Free Project U.L.F. by Stuart Clark

towards the shuttle. The wind gusted and cut through him in icy blasts. At the top of the shuttle stairway a young girl in uniform desperately clung to her hat. It seemed ridiculously small for her head and fought against the band of elastic which ran under her chin but even with this annoyance there was no threat that her smile would be blown away as easily as her hat might be.
    Given the conditions there was little to smile about, but she turned it on him and he returned it and gave her a curt nod as he passed her and stepped into the relative shelter of the shuttle.
    He dumped his bag, the only belongings he had with him, into the rack above his seat. He ran through everything he’d done before leaving his apartment. It was all taken care of. He lowered himself into his seat and took a deep breath. It was time to focus on the task ahead.
    The shuttle’s door closed with a thud, shutting out the wind that howled outside. A flight attendant’s voice came through the speakers that lay on either side of his headrest.
    “Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. This is the twenty-three fifteen shuttle flight to the moon-base. Take off will be in approximately five minutes and we request that all passengers be seated at this time. We will be breaking Earth’s gravitational field one hour after liftoff over the mid-Atlantic and then proceeding directly to the moon. Total flight time is estimated to be eleven hours with an arrival time of approximately 10:15 AM standard earth time. We thank you for traveling with Orbit shuttle services and hope you enjoy the flight.”
    A few minutes later there was a hum as the engines roared to life. The pads at Wyatt’s sides pressed against him, matching the contours of his body, holding him with a firm but not uncomfortable grip. The shuttle’s turbines fired and the craft lifted off the pad, lurching violently in the strong winds. Wyatt was grateful that he had not eaten anything since lunchtime.
    Shortly into the flight the hostess who had welcomed him aboard approached him, “Can I get you a drink? Tea? Coffee? A soft drink, or something alcoholic perhaps?”
    “Do you have any beer?”
    “Certainly, sir, any particular brand?”
    “Oh, whatever, I’ll leave the choice to you.”
    “We have the latest beer on the market, launched only two months ago, brewed with genetically engineered yeast for a sharper taste.”
    “That’ll do just fine,” he said giving her a long, hard look.
    The shuttle bucked slightly and he let out a groan.
    “Are you okay?” she asked.
    “Yeah, I just don’t fly well.”
    “But Mister Dorren, it says on your boarding chip that you are going on an expedition from the moon-base. Surely that will involve far more flying.”
    “Yeah, but the only bumps and turbulence you get in space are if you hit an asteroid or get sucked into a black hole, and that tends to only happen once.”
    “Oh, I see,” she said. She continued to smile but had completely missed his sarcasm. There was not the faintest twinkle of amusement in her eyes. To her, he was another paying customer and this was another conversation, another day at work. He looked at her and she back at him, and there they were, two people, face-to-face, same species, different worlds.
    The beer was indeed good, a sharp taste as she’d said. On his empty stomach it had gone straight to his head. He was already tired and the alcohol was making him dozy. It was time for some shut-eye. He made himself comfortable and within minutes he was asleep.
     
    *    *    *    *    *
     
    Kate looked at the bag on her sofa. It would be all she would take with her on the expedition. It was a huge plain black canvas bag and all it contained was clothes. T-shirts, jackets, pants, shorts, and boots. All standard issue for a U.L.F. team member. Next to the bag was a black satin jacket with PROJECT U.L.F. printed across the back in silver. This was not a standard-issue garment, but Alan had “acquired” it for