13 Thirteen

"What? We can't let them steam roll us into submission. You expect us to work as if nothing happened?"

"Yes. That's exactly what I'm saying."

"Big tough guy. You have no problem stealing a guy's girl but when it comes time to fight, you're a pussy. You're all fuck and no fight, just what I thought."

Gus reacted like a jaguar ready to pounce on his prey. He instantly looked stronger, fierce. I thought I was dead. I studied his bulky shoulders and bulging biceps. At that moment I realized he could rip my body apart with his bare hands. Instead of worrying about Harding trying to kill me, I should have feared death at Gus's hands. At this moment, that seemed more likely. Had he waited for the right time or until I'd made him mad enough to do the deed. I closed my eyes and lifted my chin prepared to accept my gruesome fate.

"She told me you were upset. She didn't mean to hurt you," Gus said in an apologetic tone.

I opened my eyes. He looked solemn, but his body was still tense, his hands tightly balled fists. He could have hurt me if he'd dared. I was right. He's a lover, not a fighter. Pitiful. I'd feel better if he'd pummeled me with his meaty paws. At least I would have something to show for my pain.

"Nobody ever means to hurt anybody, but people get hurt. You plotted, waiting till I was booted off the Moon then made your move."

"That's not how. I never intended. Screw you Frank, you were gone. You were never coming back. This place is cold and lonely. You can't blame us."

"I sent messages. I told her how I felt. I risked everything to get back to her. I thought you were my friend."

"She never thought you'd be crazy enough to hitch a ride on a cruiser. Who does that?"

Doesn't he understand the power, the pull, the deep need to love, to be loved? When your life has a single purpose, when your desire is so focused, you can do nothing else. You will do anything, go anywhere. I had to be back with her. Nothing would deter me from that goal, that obsession, my desire. And to do all that I did, to move forward without consideration of the risk, only to be flatly refused. The flame of my desire snuffed out with a few cutting words. My disillusionment is not easily described; pain is life. I consoled myself rationalizing that many relationships are one sided, one lover is consumed, the other just there for the ride. So goes the life of the romantic risking all for hopeful bliss.

"I'm over it. I watched you dance; you looked good together."

"You're not mad? Do you want to hit me?" Gus asked readying his body like a shield to deflect a blow. If I hit him it would hurt me worse.

"Am I mad? Ha! I've felt so many things, I forgot to be mad." Why wasn't I mad? After all I'd done, did I love Wanda so much that I couldn't be angry with her? Am I the wimp, blaming myself for her inability to love me?

I looked up at the big brute. There was no fight in me. "I don't like what happened, but it��s out of my control, isn't it? You know what does make me mad? Those damned Kazakhs."

"Don't worry. We'll get them but in our own time and on our terms, not theirs."

"What's that supposed to mean. We have to free Harding and Monty. Let's kick those invaders off the Moon."

"We're outnumbered and out gunned. We need to be patient. If we submit. If they believe we are beat, we might catch them off guard."

"You want us to act like everything's normal, give up without a fight?"

"At least until we have more information and plan. We can't do much with one pistol can we? I'll send a message telling everyone to remain calm and follow along," Gus said.

I knew Gus was right. How could we go up against an enemy with no weapons and no plan, but I was charged, full of fury, striking back was the natural response.

Gus started recording a message on his watch. "We are all upset. We want fight back and free Commander Harding, but –."

I slapped Gus's wrist. "Don't send a message. They're monitoring. They told us the comms network was up so we would use it."

"How will we communicate? Guards will be posted in the corridors. It will be impossible to coordinate an attack."

"I have an idea, where's your console?" I asked.

"Over there on the desk," Gus said pointing to a grimy grease smudged table cluttered with pieces of torn down assemblies, parts scrounged from scavenged landers, and items of no discernable use Gus apparently kept in case they might serve a need someday.

I stood away from the desk unsure how to proceed.

Gus swooped in and swept his arm across the desk pushing the junk aside, sending some items clanking to the floor. In a single sweep of his arm he'd cleared a path to the console. I found a discarded rag, spit on a clean corner and wiped the screen of dust and grody fingerprints.

I stood over the console moving my fingers in the air like a concert pianist preparing to play. I wasn't trying to be fancy; I was thinking.

It took me three attempts to log into the bases' main router. Whoever setup this network didn't think security on a moon base was important. I guess I can't blame them. Who would try to hack the moon? They'd left the router settings with the default username and password; admin/admin. I was logged in. My fingers pounded the screen working quickly.

"What are you doing?" Gus asked.

"I'm setting up a second network on an a banned, Wi-Fi channel. We'll have a private, secure, encrypted network to communicate. Once I've set it up, I'll distribute an app to everyone's watch. The app will communicate on our secret network. The rest of the network will look and operate as normal. The Kazakhs can monitor the network all they want, but won't have a clue what we're up to," I explained as I worked.

"Why is the channel banned?" Gus asked as he setup his box to make another rail gun.

"Channel 14 was banned in the US and most other countries because it's frequency matches microwave ovens, but the channel still exists on most routers. I don't remember if the signal affects microwave ovens or if ovens disrupt the Wi-Fi signal. Either way, it shouldn't be a big deal for us."

"Yeah, as long as we don't blow up any microwave ovens," Gus said.

"Nothing blows up," I said.

I downloaded an open-source messaging app from my cloud drive, one that I'd messed around with in the past and set it's parameters to match the hidden SSID and password of the new network. Next, I copied the list of MAC addresses of registered watches into the app.

"Our private network is ready. It's slower than the main network but will suit our needs. The app will only work with watches on the user list. I'm sending a data packet containing the app to the watches on base. I need to use the main network for this."

"If they're monitoring the network won't they notice?" Gus asked.

"They're watching for video, voice, and text, not some random data packets." I crossed my fingers hoping no one would notice a blip of data broadcast over the network and hit the send key.

Gus's watch woke. He tapped the screen and the messaging program appeared. "I've got the app. You're a computer genius." He said in surprise.

"I've got skills," I said proudly. I looked at my watch and selected Gus from the user list, turned my back to him and whispered a message.

"Kill the invaders," he read the message out loud. "You still think killing them is the answer? They haven't killed any of us," Gus said removing a second set of gun parts from his magic part making box.

"I don't know. Killing does seem drastic, but what are we supposed to do?" I'd hoped things would be different on the moon. Humanity had a second chance to get things right. This group of moon colonists has done a good job. They've built a self-sustaining environment that uses or recycles nearly everything creating little waste. People generally get along when they aren't stealing another man's woman. There is no crime. There have been no murders or theft. There has been death but from accidents. The moon can be a dangerous place, accidents happen, there has been one suicide, don't blame me for that!

Now a group of humans have arrived who want to take what others have created. I guess wherever humans go, they do human things. What a disappointment.

"Let's see how things develop. I'll send a message to Wanda," Gus said. I listened as he spoke. "Wanda, Frank set up this message app, yes, our Frank. He's here with me. We haven't killed each other, so I think we're going to be OK." Gus looked at me for confirmation. I forced an awkward smile.

"Gus. Thank God. I hope you're working on a plan to get rid of those thieves."

"One step at a time. We can communicate, step one. Get some rest. Chat tomorrow."

"Goodnight Gus. Goodnight Frank," Gus said reading Wanda's message.

Aren't they sweet? Listen to them, our Frank, and us and we. It feels like I'm in a weird threesome now. I suppose if I'm willing to be friendly then we're all friends. It's not what I wanted. Being friends is not why I flew to the moon, but I'm learning it takes two to tango. If Gus and Wanda are dance partners, what does that make me?

"Maybe step two is get them to leave," I mused out loud.

"What are you talking about?" Gus asked.

"Living on the moon is difficult. If they find it challenging, maybe they'll go home.