Meanwhile, at Cooper Arena's security office (a little cubical in the corner with bedsheets hanging from the ceiling for privacy), the third shift security officer was arriving for the start of her shift.
"Evening, Ralph."
"Evening, Sam."
"Anything new to report?"
"Just some more of those Stupidly Reckless Vehicles."
Sam rolled her eyes. The last couple of days had seen an upsurge of SRVs visiting the little outpost, many of them arriving in an extremely reckless manner. Apparently, some members of the Pilot's Federation didn't realize they were supposed to be
surface vehicles, and seemed bound and determined to prove they could fly.
"How many so far?"
"Seven. I'm tempted to call in the Feds, but all they're doing is wrecking their suspension, and accessing the public data point. Mostly harmless stupidity, IMO, though I think the maintenance crew is getting sick and tired of... incoming!"
"That's number eight!"
"Technically, it's the first
today. Yesterday ended 24 minutes ago... oh, this is rich. I think they're trying to land
inside the compound this time."
The pair watched as the SRV soared through the airless sky, nose towards the ground, it's vertical thrusters accelerating it forward. About a half a kilometer away, it rotated back into a horizontal position, it's thrusters blazing as it attempted to negate its downward momentum. The SRV landed heavily on its wheels, just short of the outpost.
"I can't believe they landed safely! That was what, a 700 meter fall?"
On the security terminal's holofac, the SRV in question hit a rock, causing most of the left side's wheels to pop off and go bouncing across the moon's surface. As the cab of the SRV plowed into the regolith, the two security officers could see the SRV's commander cursing up a storm.
Ralph got up and patted his partner on her shoulder. "It's your turn to tell maintenance they got another pickup to do. At least they don't have to go far this time. Have fun!"
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Mental note: make sure I pick up some iron before making my next run. It was all going so well, up to the point when I realized I didn't have any materials for repair.
