The Return – Part 13

Mal’s assault force moved slowly from the shuttle to the building where Kaylee had found the freight elevator. The Aussies were in awe, looking at the blackness of space, not quite believing they were actually here, on the moon. They didn’t struggle much with the low gravity, the unfamiliarity with it the farthest thing from everyone’s mind, but the bulky spacesuits were making it slower than Mal would have liked. All were armed with weapons, rifles, shotguns, pistols, and machine pistols, but no lasers, and Mal didn’t like that either. He asked Will if his gang had ever come across any and they hadn’t, Will saying that they had never seen a laser. They knew they existed but they were tightly controlled before the war and his gang had never found any. Mal just hoped like hell no one was waiting inside with a laser pointed at their heads. This would be a real short fight if so.

Kaylee led the way, carrying her big flashlight, hydrogen battery, and EVA tool belt, with Mal and Will next to her, then Dora and the other Aussie men with Simon trailing. Simon had a pistol strapped to his hip but didn’t relish the idea of having to use it. Chin’s death was necessary but it still didn’t ease Simon’s conscience over what he had done. He carried his medical bag in one hand and a large sack with all their boots and shoes in another. Mal wanted his group out of the suits as soon as possible and footwear would then be necessary. The bag didn’t weight much now, but would once inside the base.

Kaylee made it to the outside airlock door on the building and then got to work opening it like she had the earlier one. Mal stood behind her while she worked, a knife in his hands, the only weapon that would be any use in the vacuum of space. In less than a minute Kaylee had the door opened.

Nothing and nobody was waiting for them and Mal suddenly felt like they had a good chance and had achieved surprise. They moved to the freight elevator in the center of the room and it was at the bottom of the shaft as