Chapter 4

As I sat at my desk after the monthly office meeting I kept thinking about Luna. Normally everyone is a bit distracted with their own thoughts while we listened to people drone on about spending and changing policies, but Luna looked different this time. Her thoughts seemed far off. I wondered if she was thinking about her secret project. I would have to give it another try. Perhaps one more time, with no interruptions, and I could get her to tell me. I might have seen the papers in her desk, but I needed to her the words from her mouth. I needed her to tell me what she was working on in order to be sure; in order to make sure my comrades didn’t have doubts. As my thoughts started to drift back to the fatherland, Luna walked into the office, coffee in hand and a worried expression on her face.

“How much coffee have you had today, Luna?” I asked jokingly.

“What? Oh, I guess I have had a bit much haven’t I.” she said as she placed the mug on her desk. “I guess I just have a lot on my mind today. After my conversation with Gooding I can’t seem to get my head straight.”

“Yeah, you seemed distant in the meeting today. What did Gooding want anyway?”

“Well, it seems that people have started to question the moon landing. There are some who think it’s fake and want to start an investigation.”

People are already having doubts about it? The damned thing only happened a little over two years ago. The look on my face must have reflected my thoughts because she gave a nod of understanding and said “I know. I thought it was too soon for people to start questioning it as well, but Gooding says that people are ‘more critical of the government these days,’ or something like that. He gave us the task of finding a way to stop the rumors before they get too out of hand.”

“Gave us the task?” I asked, wondering why he didn’t call me in on this conversation as well if I was going to be one of the people working on this new task.

“Yeah. He thinks that since we were the two highest ranking members working on the moon landing that we would be the best ones to figure out a way to fix this. He also said that he wants it done as soon as possible.”

“Well, I was planning on going home and relaxing in front of the TV, but I guess I get to spend my night here with you. I don’t think it’s such a bad tradeoff.” I said, flashing her one of my best smiles. To my satisfaction, I noticed the blush that spread across her cheeks as she lowered her head into one of the many books on her desk. If I was going to have to get information out of this girl, I might as well have fun with it.

. . .

Later that night as we sat in the empty building trying to figure out ways to stifle the rumors, I knew it would be a great opportunity, possibly the best one I had had yet, to get more information out of Luna. We were alone; there was no one in the building except for us and the cleaning crew. No one would be able to come in an interrupt us like before.

“I have had enough with this.” I said. “We’ve been working hours on this and still we have no idea of how to suppress the rumors. I feel like we keep going in circles. I say we take a break. Let’s talk about something interesting, for a while.”

“I’ve racked my brain for ideas on how to stop the rumors, but I just can’t seem to come up with anything. I think you’re right. We need a break. What interesting thing did you have in mind to talk about?”

“You.” I said.

“Me? Why on earth would I be interesting?”

“Because, I’ve worked with you for a while now, but I don’t seem to know anything about you. Tell me something about you.”

“What do you want to know? There isn’t much to tell. I graduated from MIT and then started my career here.”

“I know all of that. Tell me something else. Tell me about your life. Why did you choose to work here at NASA, of all places?”

“Well, I guess I just liked what it was about. I liked what they were doing here”

“You like the fact that we deceive people?” I asked.

“No, not that part. I like that we think about the future. We think about things to come and what we can do. We don’t let people hold us back. It’s all about what we can do and what we can achieve.” Her words drifted off and she got the same look on her face that she had in the meeting, the one she got when she was thinking about something that upset her. “ Anyway,” she said, shaking her head as if to clear the thoughts out, “what about you? Why did you decide to work here?”

“Oh, no” I said. “We aren’t done talking about you yet. There’s still so much I want to know about you.”

“What else do you want to know?” she asked, finally seeming to loosen up a little.

“Tell me about your family. What are they like?” For a split second, I thought I noticed a look of slight discomfort in her eyes at the mention of her family, but it was gone so fast that I chalked it up to her being tired. It was really late, after all.

“My family is just like any other family, really.” She paused after she said this and I pushed her a little further, trying to get as much information out of her as possible. The more I knew about her, the more I could try to connect with her. From all of my training, I knew that the more she felt we had in common, the greater chance I had of getting her to trust me. And in order to get the information I needed about her secret project, I needed her to trust me.

“Every family is different. What about your parents? Do you have any siblings?” I asked, trying to get as much information as possible.

“I’m an only child. I don’t get much time to speak with my mother or my father.”

“Why is that?” I asked

“Well, my dad is an important person in his job and it takes up most of his time. He travels a lot and my mother goes with him, so they are rarely home. We’re all just so busy in what we do that we don’t get much time to talk or see each other. Anyway, can’t we talk about you for a little? I’m sick of talking about me. What about your family?”

“Oh, I guess it’s like you and your family. I don’t talk to my parents or my sister.”

“You have a sister?”

“Yeah. But look, it’s late and I don’t think there’s much more we can do about these rumors tonight. We’re both tired so maybe we should just pick it up tomorrow. I’ll see you later.” As I walked out of our office I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding in. Every time I was asked about my family I always got tense. They were the last thing I ever wanted to talk about. Especially my sister.