L4 Station - Chapter 3

 

Copyright © 2025 D.W. Patterson

All rights reserved.

First Printing – March 2025

Future Chron Publishing

Cover – Copyright © 2025 D.W. Patterson

Cover Image – ID 159616182 © limbitech | Dreamstime(dot)com

No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without permission, except in the case of brief quotations for the purpose of review. This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and events are products of the author's imagination and should not be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events and people, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Hard Science Fiction – Old School

Human Generated Content

Chapter 3

History of L4 Station – Dr. Ivar Heinlein – Regulus Publishing

L4 station was considered an O'Neill cylinder but it wasn't, it was more a tire without a wheel. Even though its 11 stories spanned 150 feet from the innermost level's ceiling to the outermost level's floor, it was centered by a spoke and rim construction that was itself 150 feet in radius. Also, it didn't have the open, airy, bright feeling that most illustrators used when drawing an O'Neill cylinder. But in one way it was far superior to an O'Neill cylinder in that it existed.

The station was built at the Earth-Moon Lagrange point, L4, because it was to serve as a base for mining the asteroids found there. It was estimated that hundreds of trillions of dollars could be made from those asteroids if brought back to the Moon for processing. It was also built there because it could be constructed and provisioned by Moon resources. This last consideration made the station a reality.

Each of the levels was almost 15 feet in height and unlike an O'Neill cylinder the sides of each level had an amount of asteroid material that would reduce the radiation of space to an acceptable level for human beings. The very most outer and inner floors were also banked with asteroid material for protection.

The artificial gravity of each level are as follows, within round-off error (level number is from the outer to inner since rotation makes the outer wall the floor):

Level 1, 300 feet radius, 0.33 Earth gravity.

Level 2, 285 feet radius, 0.31 Earth gravity.

Level 3, 270 feet radius, 0.3 Earth gravity.

Level 4, 255 feet radius, 0.28 Earth gravity.

Level 5, 240 feet radius, 0.265 Earth gravity.

Level 6, 225 feet radius, 0.25 Earth gravity.

Level 7, 210 feet radius, 0.23 Earth gravity.

Level 8, 195 feet radius, 0.22 Earth gravity.

Level 9, 180 feet radius, 0.2 Earth gravity.

Level 10, 165 feet radius, 0.182 Earth gravity.

Level 11, 150 feet radius, 0.166 Earth gravity.

The station was built over a period of three years almost entirely by a robotic crew. Robots had been used on the Moon since the first settlements almost four decades before. They had been developed there since and had reached a high degree of autonomy which the robots on Earth lacked. They had been supervised by a small group of men and had not only built the station but had started the first mining site for asteroid material used for the radiation protection.

Dad left immediately to report to the company. We waited for our belongings to arrive, which they did within an hour, carried on a donkey-bot which was also a common sight on the Moon.

Mom gave my brother and me our suitcases and boxes and told us to put our things away. I took the workspace and closet on the right side of the room and after I had put away my clothes I opened my boxes. On the shelves I placed my books, yes, paperback books. Dad didn't like that I was taking so many, though I'd left more back on the Moon in storage. But these were the absolute essentials I felt I would need for our one year stay aboard L4 Station.

Ten books in all, four Verne, three Wells, and three Burroughs. Others I could read on my Annie, but these were for those times when I needed to feel that sense of wonder in my hands, just as I had done when I was Roger's age. And Roger was starting to show interest, so dad couldn't say no. With the books on the shelf, it was home away from home.

Once finished, I asked mom what she wanted me to do. She said I could just relax until dad got home in a couple of hours. But I had a better idea, I would go exploring. I asked mom and she said okay, if I would take Roger with me and be back in time for dinner and stay on our level. So, we were off.

My Annie told me that at a radius of 165 feet, the hallway would be a thousand feet long. I suggested to Roger that we count the number of rooms we passed. We had counted up to thirty doorways when I heard some other kids. I didn't know there were other kids aboard.

The voices were coming from an open doorway, so Roger and I walked up and peered in. There were three boys and two girls in the room, and they seemed to all be playing a game on their Annies.

“Hi,” I said.

The boys ignored me but one of the girls stopped her playing and came over to the door. She was slightly shorter than me with brown hair and green eyes.

“Are you Raymond and Roger Jones?” she asked.

“Yeah,” I said. “I'm Raymond, but you can call me Ray, and this is my brother Roger.”

“Pleased to meet ya,” said Roger.

“How did you know our names?” I asked.

“Oh, my dad is your dad's boss, and I saw the paperwork,” she said.

“What's your name?” I asked.

“I'm Cindy Rice,” she said.

“I didn't see you on the LPL,” I said.

“The what?” she asked.

“The lunar personnel lander that brought us up here from the surface of the Moon,” I said.

“Oh,” she said, “I don't know anything about that. We boarded in Earth orbit.”

“You're from Earth? Wow,” I said.

“Why do you say that?” she asked.

“Well, I've been on the Moon since I was a little kid,” I said, “and I've only met a few people from Earth and no one who came directly from there.”

“We all came from Earth,” she said, gesturing to the other kids. “You want to meet them?”

“Sure,” I said.

We walked over to where the group were still playing their game.

“Your attention please,” said Cindy. “I want to introduce you to Raymond and Roger Jones.”

We each raised our hand as she mentioned our names and I said again to call me Ray.

“This is Jack,” she said, pointing to the biggest boy, “and Taylor, and Ryan. And this is my best girlfriend, Rosy.”

Only Rosy said hi.

“Who's your dad?” asked Jack.

“He's Raymond Jones too,” I said.

“What does he do?” he asked.

“He's going to be the head chef,” I said.

“The cook,” said Ryan in a way I didn't like.

“Yeah, he was the best cook in our Moon settlement,” I said.

“You're from the Moon? I bet you're a weakling. All Moonies are,” said Jack. “Hey Taylor, arm wrestle him.”

Taylor wasn't much bigger than Roger but if he was an Earth kid I was sure he would be stronger than me. Taylor didn't move but Ryan pushed him forward.

“Okay,” said Taylor. “Don't push me.”

“You know how to arm wrestle?” he asked.

“Yeah,” I said.

“Okay, let's go to the table,” he said.

We both sat at the table where the kids had been playing the game on their Annies. Cindy and Rosy cleared the Annies away.

Taylor and I locked arms and hands. I was already at a disadvantage as my arms were longer and I had to compromise my leverage to grasp his hand.

Jack said, “Get ready . . .”

“Go!”

At first, I thought it was going to be easy. I had deliberately spent a good bit of time doing strength training at school back on the Moon. I had planned to take up Moonball in high school.

But soon I noticed Taylor redouble his effort and my arm started to bend back. Now, I knew I was in for a struggle if I wanted to win. I also knew that if I lost, Jack would never let me live it down. I had to win.

Roger started encouraging me, the other two boys were behind Taylor rooting him on. The girls were running from side to side, I think they expected one of us to pass out. I started thinking I might be the one.

By this time my arm was shaking, Taylor's face was redder than any I'd ever seen. I closed my eyes and made one last effort, suddenly my arm slammed into the table and Taylor cried out. I had accidentally hammered his hand into the hard surface. He screamed and jumped up shaking and holding his hand alternately. The girls were panicked. Cindy ran for the door saying she was getting her dad.

The boys had got Taylor to stop jumping around and sit down and cradle his hand and arm.

Jack looked at me, “You didn't have to do that.”

“It was an accident,” I said. “I wasn't even watching, it just happened.”

“You're gonna be in trouble when Cindy's dad gets here,” said Ryan.

Roger started tugging on my arm.

“Let's go Ray,” he said.

I almost got up but thought I should stay and explain what happened.

“Not now Roger,” I said.

In a minute Cindy returned with her dad.

“What's happened?” he asked.

Jack spoke up before I could and told him I had slammed Taylor's hand into the table.

He looked at me.

“You're Ray Jones' son?” he asked.

“Yes sir.”

“I'm Edgar Rice,” he said. “What's your side of the story?”

“Well, we were arm wrestling, and I had closed my eyes to concentrate and . . .”

Before I could finish Jack spoke, “He did it deliberately Mr. Rice.”

“No, I didn't,” I said.

“Okay, okay,” he said, “one at a time.”

But before I could speak Taylor yelled, Jack had moved and touched his hand. I saw it but Mr. Rice didn't.

“Alright,” he said, “let's get you to the infirmary and checkout that hand. We'll discuss this later.”

They all left, except for me and Roger.

“I told you we should have left,” he said, and then he left the room.

I sat there shocked at what had happened and disturbed at not being able to tell my side of the story. After a minute, I got up and left the room also.

I walked slowly back to our apartment not knowing what I would face when I got there.

But at the apartment there was another problem, no Roger.

The first thing mom asked when I walked in, “Where's Roger?”

“I thought he would be here,” I said, dreading what was to follow.

“You lost him?” she asked.

“No, he just left a little before me, I was sure he was coming home,” I said.

“Well, he's not here,” she said. “You weren't supposed to let him go off by himself Raymond.”

There it was, the name, whenever she used my full name like that, I knew she was mad, real mad.

“There was some trouble with some of the kids,” I said.

She interrupted, “Trouble? What kids?”

I knew I had to get it out as fast as I could, or she would continue interrupting until she got flustered and sent me to my room.

“I was arm wrestling this boy we met and at the end he gave up without warning and I slammed his hand on the table, and he was hurt. I wouldn't have done it if I had known he was going to give up, but he just quit, suddenly,” I said without a breath.

“Roger is missing and you hurt another kid? Go to your room, I'm calling your father,” she said.

I guess I didn't say it fast enough or something, I went to my room and laid down on the bed waiting my punishment. But the worse was over, I had told mom the truth, if I was punished for it then there wasn't anything more I could do.