G-foil

Randstad Conurbation, September 18th, 2047

Thirteen micrometers! Rachella could hardly believe this flimsy grey silvery foil could manage to attenuate everything the universities radiation chamber could throw at it down to a level hardly distinguishable from background radiation. Robert had really done it. He had managed to reproduce the foil used in the Apollo missions with replication drones. But why had Robert acted as if everything had been a loss? This discovery could have put her pupil on the fast track for a successful career in forensic science, but for some reason, Robert had chosen to bury these amazing results. It didn't make sense how he managed to get the numbers. The radiation chamber had just been installed last week, but the numbers Rachella was seeing here were almost the same as the ones in Roberts note. Without access to a radiation chamber like this, how did Robert manage to get at these numbers? Robert's numbers at the higher levels of radiation were the same, yet strangely it was at the lower levels of radiation were the result differed substantially. What did you do to get these numbers, Robert? Rachella asked herself. The young boy intrigued her more and more. Snap out of it Rachella, he is your student! Don't get all infatuated with that kid again!
Rachella and Stanley had been going through some rough times lately, but Rachella wasn't ready to throw the towel in the ring just yet. Stanley might have messed up big time, that didn't mean Rachella should just give in to a crush like this. Yes, she had feelings for Robert. Yes, she hated Stanley for cheating on her with a young girl. But that didn't excuse her acting on what likely was nothing but a little crush and even if it wasn't, Rachella wasn't going to risk her family, risk her career for a romance with her pupil. Yes, Robert was intriguing, smart and clearly, he had been smitten by her, but he was her student, she his teacher, and despite what Stanley had done, he was still her husband and the father of their children.

Where did you get these reading from Robert? How did you manage to get access to a state of the art radiation chamber? One even better than the one the university had just acquired. Think Rachella, think.

Suddenly it hit Rachella: The van Allen radiation belts! No! You didn't! Or did you Robert? God damn Robert, you did, didn't you? You somehow managed to run an experiment in space! Lage nek, I really can't deal with these feelings now, conjo. As Rachella realized the extent of trouble Robert had gone through to get these readings her admiration for this young man grew and so did her feelings. Did he know? Did he know that sharing his research with her would touch her in this way? Was this why he hadn't shared his results with her, hadn't worked on publishing his findings? Would he really have sacrificed such a career boost in order to spare her being torn between two lovers? What are you thinking Rachella? Robert isn't your lover girl, it was just an innocent kiss!

Then Rachella remembered Robert's face the last time she had seen him. Robert had been absolutely terrified by Junior. Did my cousin scare you into keeping your work a secret? Why would he? But then, did she really still know John Junior? Something had been different about Junior, but she couldn't quite put a finger on it. John had been a little brat with a neck for getting himself into all kinds of problems, but was he still that little brat?
"Jos libra John William Bridgewater, if I find out you had anything to do with Robert disappearing into nothing, I'm going to ……"

Rachella exclaimed out loud.

"I'm afraid he does Madam", a heavily French-accented voice spoke and startled Rachella. As she turned around, Rachella saw two men standing next to the door of the school's forensics lab. She recognized one of the two. It was Junior's business partner. Or at least, it was the large mountain of a man that John had introduced as his business partner. The second guy was an about twenty year old man that, while wearing a well-tailored suit, at the same time looked like he could have just stolen the suit off of a dead guy. Seeing the huge guy together with this new fellow gave a new dimension to John's 'business'. Were these guys organized crime? The French accent! Could these guys be affiliated with the African urban warlords in the former SAGDA territories?

Rachella looked at the two man in fear. "What are you doing here sir? Where is John?"

"I didn't mean to startle you Madam, and I am afraid I will startle you again if I tell you why we are here Madam. I think you better sit down for a moment Madam, I need to talk with you about your cousin John William Bridgewater and about your student Robert Gottschalk. It's a matter of global concern and we are hoping you might possess some information crucial to finding a resolution to the current events that I know you will be partially aware of."

"Are you talking about the early winter, sir? Nah, that's folly!"

"Yes, I am Madam. Both your student and my partner, your cousin have been abducted, Madam. We believe their abduction might somehow be related to the current climate crisis here. "

"Abducted!?" A shock went through Rachella. Things started to add up. But then again they weren't. Dozens of scary scenarios went through Rachella's mind, not of them pleasant for either Robert or Junior.

"Enough already mister 'business partner' if I remember correctly. What type of business where you in with Junior? And how does my student Robert fit into your story with John?"

The big guy was visibly surprised by Rachella's exponentially grown confidence. One moment she looked like a scared little mouse. The next moment Rachella's concern for Robert and John had gotten the upper hand and so had her resolution to make sense of what now looked like an unsolvable puzzle.

"I guess it wouldn't hurt now to fill you out on the details" the big guy spoke. The smaller guy looked startled at the big guy. "First of all, John and I aren't business partners. We are New Zion Agents. I am Agent Latour, you may call me Xavier if you like. This here is Agent Patrick Reed. I know the family was told that John didn't finish Agent training. But that's what everyone's family is told, Madam. The families of those that fail but also the families of those that don't."

Now the change Rachella had seen in Junior started to make sense. The confidence with what he carried himself. The enigmatic way of talking with her.

"And Robert?" Rachella asked impatiently.

"We are really not sure about your student Madam. We believe him to have knowledge about a wanderer that wasn't. But unfortunately, John never managed to fill anyone in on his suspicions about young Robert Gottschalk. John suspected your student to have knowledge about a decelerating wanderer that was picked up by debrisphere miners. We were hoping you might be able to fill in some of the gaps in our knowledge there."

"Did the wanderer originate in the van Allen radiation belt?" Rachella asked.

"No. it originated, is our current theory, from the moon. I know this will come as a shock, but we have reasons to believe both your student and your cousin are currently being held prisoner on the surface of the moon." At these word from Agent Latour, the pieces of the puzzle started to come together.

"Apollo 11"

"Pardon, Madam?"

"The place where they are being kept captive according to your intel, is it close to the Apollo 11 landing site? Is it on Mare Tranquillitatis?"

"Yes, it is" Agent Reed spoke, Agent Latour looking at him as if surprised.

"Apparently it is Madam. Could you tell me how you knew that?"

"Robert's thesis on the use of G-Foil by the Apollo 11 project. I believe my student might have gone a bit overboard with the concept of field research. It all makes sense now. The readings I was trying to make sense of. Robert managed to do on-site research. Real on-site research on the original landing site if I'm not mistaken." Rachella's mind was working overtime and so was her heart. There could really be only one reason why Robert could have done something this bold. Her! If that kiss had been just a kiss for him, Robert would not have done this, that much was clear. Robert really was in love with her, and knowing he might be in danger right now made her realize her feelings for Robert went much deeper than she had thought. But the fact that Junior too was in danger as well helped put things into perspective. Rachella feared for John as a mother would fear for a child. She feared for Robert as a woman would fear for her lover. But Robert was younger than John. Her silly feelings for Robert had to stop they had to stop right now.

"G-Foil?" Agent Reed asked.
"G-Foil is what makes it possible to safely pass through the van Allen radiation belt without receiving a deadly dose of radiation. G-Foil is what allowed astronauts in the late 1960s and the 1970s to fly to the moon and back. G-Foil most likely is what allowed your Mars-One 'friends' to flee the planet without starting to shine in the dark themselves. And if Robert and Junior are really on the moon, G-Foil could be what could provide you rough guys with the possibility to go fetch Robert and John with. Line the inside of a space pod with G-Foil and a ride through the van Allen belts is like a ride in the park."

"New Zion doesn't have spaceships" Agent reed spoke. Xavier gave Patrick reproachful look and whispered "No tactical data!"

"I think I might be able to help out with that" a voice spoke. Rachella couldn't make out immediately where the voice was coming from. But then as she searched the room she noticed a friendly smiling face in looking at them through an open window. Although the bulky guy looking at her had a completely different body when compared to Robert, she could see the family resemblance in his face.

"Seems like we are all on the same team here guys" The man in the window spoke. "Let's go and rescue my kid brother and that scary cousin of yours mam. You guys bring the foil, I'll bring the ship."

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If you enjoyed this chapter, you can find the rest of this story so far through this index. If you would like to win some SBD, I am running a Beta Reading Lottery each month to help me improve my work and to help you win one of the prices ranging from $ 1.8 STEEM to $12,- STEEM. You can find this month's beta reading lottery/contest here.

Cover art by Keith Draws