"The Crommelin comet 27 P was sighted for the first time in the 20th century by Japanese astronomers." "It moves in a far elliptical orbit around the sun." "A complete circumambulate around the sun takes 28 years." "In 2068 the comet was close to the earth for the last time." "Will my aging, tired eyes see it again in 28 years?" "Launching sequence." "Transport container B 73 1." "Stand-by ok." "Loaded and ready for launching." "This is the "Midnight bazooka"." "Lunar base 755 do you read?" "This is lunar base 75 5." "The next Container is coming" " B731." "OK." "Loaded and ready for launching." "3 - 2 - 1." "Launch." "Launch successful." "Container B371 is on the way to the moon orbit." "Flight status normal." "There it goes...to the moon." "Do not forget to inform lunar base, Ok?" "All right." "Lunar base, This is Midnight bazooka." "This was the last one." "Chief, what about this urgent job, we interrupted this morning?" "There was still a container anyway." "Correct." "When you are ready, shoot that one into space too." "Aye, aye, Sir." "I am glad tomorrow is my day off." "Chief!" "An emergency call." "Earth's headquarter asks us for docking permission." "Docking permission?" "Which ship is it?" "It is the flying Dutchman, Identity Code 078962" " EK." "They need to repair their ship before they can continue their mission." "The flying Dutchman?" "Never heard of it." "Isn't this the ghost ship that appears every 15 years." "Ah, so they are back from their mission on alpha Centauri?" "You think they were successful searching for proton mines?" "If so it will shake the world." "This would be some kind of homecoming..." "My goodness, everyone would just freak out!" "Chief?" "Yes." "Prepare for docking." "The ship is probably in bad condition." "Do we have spare parts for it?" "We used a lot on that french ship last week, but there should be some left in store 2." "Willie, Todd, don't forget to restore the main line." "Aye, Captain." "Why didn't we fly back to earth?" "You heard it, headquarter's orders." "It was a good decision to send us here." "Only from here we can continue our mission, once everything is repaired." "I take care of the drive turbines." "The flying Dutchman has loaded proton, am I right?" "This information is top secret." "Grade 5." "But we can assume it's true, because they do all repairs up here, before they return to earth." "They will be heroes, if they have enough of that stuff." "Too bad only the captain looks like a true heroine." "This is the second moon in the Solar system alpha Centauri." "It is called "Horn"." "At first sight it is a cold desert, but in 2020 we realized, the moon is full of mineral resources." "On our first mission we had it examined by surface exploration robots." "And then we set up a mega-factory for the extraction of natural resources." "On the third mission finally we could start the production." "we now have loaded as much as this ship can hold." "Nine tons of liquid proton." "Not bad." "It will suffice to supply earth with energy for the next 10 years." "Just wait how much we will bring from our next trip." "Cheers - to our meeting, after such a long time." "To you." "You sacrifised your former life to the mission." "I am glad you were successfull." "Fifteen years, Dan." "I would not have thought you'd become commander of the Midnight bazooka." "You know I always have one foot on the earth and one in space." "ls the extraction site on the moon "Horn"?" "Yes." "How is Tokyo?" "He must be an adult by now." "Tokyo is dead." "He always wanted to be a soldier." "Five years ago he fell in one of the african wars." "Don't start that now." "You chose a life in space." "I believed it was better for you, even if you had to leave me and my son." "My wife died last year." "I am alone again." "Now you know my life." "Dan..." "Do you still hate me?" "You think I am a tough woman, don't you?" "Chief, the shuttle for the emergency operation is approaching." "Please come to the control room." "Roger, I am on the way." "Life is hard, not you." "Nevertheless, you do have a responsibility for those, you were tough to." "Don't you think so too?" "Shuttle approaching." "Gate cleared for container B 404." "Loading manipulators 3 and 4 on automatic." "Container B 404 ready for handing over." "You can save your breath." "I made my decision." "So there is no other way..." "Chief?" "Chief?" "The container B 404 securely stored." "Good." "Report to ground control." "Roger." "Exxon, I'll be in my cabin." "You are in charge." "Understood, Sir." "What are you doing here?" "Have you forgotten, Maria?" "It's my turn tonight." "Careful!" "Get out of here!" "I told you to fix the main line." "Get out now." "Do not be like that, Maria." "Beat it, shut up." "I am not in the mood today." "Why not?" "I do not want this now!" "Not here!" "Understood?" "What's gotten into her?" "Hey, wait a moment!" "Haven't you and maria been a couple?" "I can imagine, why you fell for her." "We'll get on, won't we?" "You do not have to be ashamed." "We all get a little lonely here in space - sometimes." "Oh Hayes, go on or our Maria will finish you." "Don't hang around like that..." "Fighting units are loaded, 100 per cent." "Looks like we're ready soon." "Man, and I thought, I could forget about my day off." "Don't move!" "You do exactly as I say, got it?" "Where is your Commander?" "Number 1 to 5, go and secure the private quarters." "Kill everybody whom opposes." "We are not armed." "What's the point in occupying a supply station?" "What do you want?" "He just doesn't know when to stop, such a nuisance." "What happened?" "Is something wrong?" "What?" "Are you crazy?" "You want to fill a ton of liquid proton into this container and shoot it at the lunar base?" "Do you knoe what you're about to do?" "How did you get knowledge of the proton?" "300.000 innocent people live on lunar base." "Do you want to kill them all?" "On our continent the same amount of people die of hunger and malnutrition." "You send your food and your supplies to lunar base while we are starving on earth." "We lost the african war 5 years ago, but it's not over yet." "We fight on." "You will have to listen to us." "Even if we have to get our hands a little dirty." "Of course we want the other 8 tons of proton too." "Its military worth is incalculably." "To hell with you." "I did not transport it all the way for them to steal it from me!" "Lunar base has a defensive shield." "They will not reach it." "But if they detonate it in a 100000 miles distance, in its liquid form it will kill everyone on Lunar base." "Open the door, now!" "Damn it!" "Open, you hear me!" "Open!" "Dan, we take the emergency suits and go onto my ship." "Open!" "Immediately!" "Step back. I will cut the door open." "Damn, there is a pressure drop in there!" "Damn!" "What's the matter?" "Number 8, number 9, report!" "Come in!" "Come in!" "Damn!" "Keep the crew at bay!" "Captain!" "Number 11 and all others, hurry to the docking station." "What does this mean?" "Did you remove the main line?" "I just was about to replace it, when I got tired somehow and had a break." "Damn, Willie." "We're stuck if we can't get any energy onto the engines." "We are caught here on the flying Dutchman." "And we only have two ray guns and my small laser pistol as weapons!" "With that we won't last for a long time." "Direct the interstellar radar antenna onto the docking station." "And then?" "The EMR will implode and produce energy." "Cut the connections." "And now crank up the energy!" "They're fried like pasta in a microwave oven!" "The game is over." "Our transport container, is full of weapons, and in addition we have a trigger, to ignite the liquid proton." "Enough to blow up the Midnight bazooka." "And do you see what I hold in my hands here?" "The igniter!" "The ship is not manoeuvrable." "Undock the container by firing at the connecting screws." "But do not hit the container itself!" "Fire!" "Damn, I lost control over the container." "They cut it off." "What are you two going to do now?" "I think you know exactly." "I love you, both!" "What are you doing there?" "Open the airlock. I will shoot the proton into space, so it won't fall into thier dirty hands." "You stay here, Dan." "We only have 3 weapons." "Without a weapon you cannot fight." "And you have the responsibility for your crew." "You must take care of it." "You 3 cannot fight them alone." "Chief, we have overwhelmed the fighters!" "What shall we do?" "Chief!" "Chief!" "Captain, your orders." "Exxon, the container number B 404 is loaded with weapons and explosives." "I love you, Dan." "My son." "Load the container into our catapult and shoot it into space!" "Damn!" "You think we'll let you get away so eaysily?" "And with the stuff we worked so hard for?" "Hayes!" "No!" "Hurry, Maria!" "Willie!" "Make haste!" "Willie!" "Maria!" "Damn!" "Don't move." "Keep your hands off the valve!" "Dan, don't!" "Watch out!" "Baby!" "Loading of the catapult is completed." "3-2-1 Fire!" "After the terrorists lost their leader, they capitulated immediately, and without a fight." "The proton was safely taken to earth." "You know Dad, I think, I understand Maria now." "Sometimes there is no direct way for love." "That's what he said?" "He reminded me so much of you." "It'll be another 15 years, isn't that right?" "13 of them I will spend in a sleep capsule." "And you grow older by 2 years only." "Just as it was the last 45 years." "You really must be a tough woman if you take all this upon yourself." "Good luck, Dan." "Keep fit, my son." "Good luck to you too." "And once more she vanishes into the distant darkness, like a comet on its orbit," "or like a faint memory, disappering in the distance." "And she leaves me alone again." "Good luck, mother." "Take care." "Translation by Exxonvaldez and friends" "It's been 27 years since mankind made "their great leap forward"." "Journeys into space and between solar systems and stars became a normality." "We have now explored 18 solar systems thoroughly." "Systems, up to 90 lightyears away" "On earth, the wounds of the many wars get deeper every day." "A long shadow lies over our achievements, since the exhaustion of the energy resources of our solar system is near." "It is the greatest challenge now for mankind of the 22nd century to find new planets to live on, and we must hurry, building up interstellar trading systems, to use the energy resources in space." "Long?" "I am getting old, the many journeys into space are no good for me." "It surprises me again and again, this unpleasant feeling hasn't made someone like you crazy." "It is a small price for a jump of 21 years in just 5 hours and 40 minutes." "Beta Hydri." "It is the beta-star in the constellation Hydrus." "It is a G2 iv star, size 28 on the scale." "Our destination is the fifth of the 15 planets." "Ion." "Alina." "So you really managed to tame a Piccard?" "I knew they use the wind to travel." "Are they intelligent?" "See for yourself." "Do you see the fluff on their bodies?" "This is a fungus, it eats their secretions and lives on it." "The mushroom splits the air at the same time producing oxygen and hydrogen." "This means, the Piccard does not need air." "Exactly, and hydrogen gives him enough lift to fly anywhere." "What a wonderful creature." "It's a symbiosis!" "Two beings help each other to survive." "This planet has many of such creatures." "Take the big Birnams there, out in the hyperbaric sea, which is full of carbon dioxide." "They float along peacefully, while the trees on their back are giving them oxygen." "I wish we could look at each other without those stupid helmets and hug." "It will soon be possible." "Our examinations of this Atmosphere are almost completed." "Do we see each other again tomorrow?" "Yes." "What was your meeting with Julia like?" "Little Romeo." "That's none of your business." "Do you have a problem, major Beltin?" "These objects in space cause enough headaches." "The tensions on earth grow bigger while we speak." "The smallest occurrence can trigger a war." "Oh, really?" "Listen to me closely." "Stay away from this eurasian woman, understood!" "No way." "If the armed forces had not intervented so fast, we would not be in this dratted situation." "If you want war, go back to earth, Major... ldiot." "But mother!" "A curfew,?" "That's unfair." "You are in my office here." "So pay attention to your tone!" "Can I ask you something?" "Where do you go every night?" "I was just... I'm examining the biology of those plankton beings." "Since when are you a biologist?" "Do you have any idea on how dangerous the situation is at present?" "Have you thought about it once?" "It was so difficult to break down the rebellions and the radicals, just to start talks with the other party." "Alina." "You must you stop meeting the American." "Before they start talking about you." "This is an order!" "Reduce the MU supply." "Remain stand-by." "Did you contact the fith planet?" "Yes, they are very eager, getting the supplies." "Very good." "Can't wait for the day they start delivering supplies for earth!" "This will still take long." "What did they do?" "Impose a curfew?" "The Commander just gave out the order." "It applies to all areas." "Why?" "Yes, I know, it is a pity for you and your girlfriend." "But this is an order of the armed forces." "It was Beltin... ." "Thebastard!" "Hey, I am sure the curfew will only remain, until next week the negotiations with Eurasia have ended." "You know the UN ambassadors are here." "Next week?" "Ion, don't let the relation to the woman influence you!" "Find out wether we can colonize that rock here." "That's your task." "Fu%$?" "ing war-monger." "Alina..." "Ion, what happened?" "Report!" "An accident." "An unknown fungus escaped into the air and has contaminated the laboratory." "What?" "I am on the way!" "No!" "Nobody may enter here!" "we don't know yet, if the fungus can affect us." "But ..." "Ion, what happened?" "The area most likely suitable for a settlement, is this gigantic plateau, we call Europe." "There is only one problem." "A fungus like mould, is contaminating the entire area." "I understand." "The fungus is responsible for the white appearance." "Over there you see the colony Eurasia." "On this side is the colony of the Americans and Europeans." "On both colonies people are positioned since 4 months." "What's that thing, looking like a balloon?" "It's some kind of highly developed jellyfish as I was told." "These creatures actually originate from hyperbaric sea." "Commander, the UN Ambassadors are there." "I understand." "What is the situation in the laboratory like?" "Did we seal it?" "We don't have a connection inside." "Important is we have locked up the spores." "We should not tell the ambassadors about this accident, agree?" "Of course not." "That's between us, here in the colony." "We won't give a target to the eurasians." "Welcome on board, Ambassador Long." "I am Exxon Valdez, the commander here." "You must be tired." "Oh no, the journey was very pleasant." "I would like to introduce ambassador Snaut to you." "Good day." "This creature here is covered by a coral." "It uses it as a protective cover and as a weapon." "It is hard like ceramic." "Rather difficult, to clear up the way from those beasts." "Here are our mineral samples." "I cannot imagine any other planet as ideal for a settlement." "So many natural resources." "Our colony will show you..." "Excuse me." "Please do not touch that!" "Inside we are cultivatiting a new fungus." "Here is our boss, Lieutenant colonel Medvedeva and her representative, Major Guerin." "Both of them don't speak english too well, therefore I will translate." "We would like to introduce our 5 years plan for the settlement." "The first step will be the extinction of the fungus as well as all dangerous living beings, making this settlement impossible." "We must secure the resources of the area and find residential areas for the colony." "Large groundwater deposits, are located under the plateau." "We would like to use them, to irrigate arable land." "The groundwater must be cleaned first." "In addition, the groundwater is an obstacle for the drillings for mineral resources." "We therefore suggest pumping out all groundwater to the surface, to clean and store it there." "This way we will get a big reservoir, fertilizing the ground." "As an irrigation system we suggest, artificial rivers." "Those are rivers?" "They look more like borders." "Who creates the rivers, also decides how the land will be split up." "We will not let you do that alone!" "We still have not explored this planet completely." "But when you start altering it, you will also change its entire climatic conditions." "But the area around our Colony is very dry." "We need a reservoir of fresh water, we are dependent on it!" "That's your problem!" "Not our's." "If you do not agree, ... we will do all development work independently." "Against your will, if nescessary!" "By no means we will allow this!" "Ehm, excuse me?" "I have to take the medicine for my heart." "In any case none of the colonies can take control of the planet alone." "Why don't we have a break?" "And listen to the other colony's suggestion?" "Piccard." "Why can't I find Ion?" "ls this your heart medicine, Ambassador Long?" "Does it take effect yet?" "This here is a 2100s Bordeaux." "Of course it's taking effect!" "So they are fighting about water." "And those here are the most important colonies, the vanguard of development in space!" "I am telling you:" "mankind will manage to turn every planet in space into a battlefield." "It's always the same." "All our tries to live in peace will finally fail." "Oh, some day it wil work out." "The way we are behaving now, we are nothing but pests, parasites." "We have exploited the entire earth, until it turned into a desert." "And we are in space now, searching for a new planet, like these spores, looking for a new host." "Doesn't that scare you?" "No, actually." "So you want to say, mankind leaves indelible its traces everywhere?" "Perhaps it is our arrogance - we think we are very important." "Why?" "Did Ion ask for me?" "Sorry to disturb you so late." "Here it is." "Ion is inside here?" "Alina, is that you?" "Ion, thank God!" "I was in fear something happened to you." "Let me in." "No!" "Why not?" "Don't worry, Alina." "Please listen to me." "The atmosphere of this planet contains a parasitical fungus." "I got affected by it" "If you open this door, the spores spread and the entire colony gets affected, you too." "Do you feel ill?" "You are in pain, aren't you?" "Only at the beginning." "The pain has gone now" "I carried out some tests, my bodily functions are normal at the moment." "Then let me in." "The spores won't hurt me either." "It is too early to be sure." "But you can't stay in there forever!" "Like a guinea pig!" "It's fine, Alina." "As soon as I know the spores are harmless I'm coming out." "Please do not worry!" "If the armed forces discover us, we will both be in trouble." "Call it a day now." "Come..." "Good night, Alina." "Ion." "We cannot go on like that." "The eurasians do not move an inch toward us." "We have to take the first step." "Before it is too late." "Can you report?" "What has happened?" "Somebody opened the lock to the contaminated laboratory and destroyed the seal." "I proclaimed quarantine level C!" "Please put on a protective suit, only as precaution." "Where is the fire?" "Intruders?" "No, this here is the work of our guests." "Damn!" "What happened?" "Fungus spores they were experimenting with, were spread out in the colony." "Are they dangerous for people?" "I heard a man died in one of the labs." "Ion!" "Alina!" "Code 423-GKQ." "We need an emergency first strike." "Target is the euro-american colony." "It's contaminated by a dangerous fungus." "What have you just done?" "Don't you understand?" "This is our chance." "We can wipe out the entire colony with a single blow." "You don't have the legitimation for this." "Take the order back!" "This is mutiny!" "We have wasted enough time on diplomacy." "Shouldn't you better look after your daughter now?" "Ion!" "My God!" "Confirm shooting order." "Target:" "The euro-american colony." "Sergei!" "Everything behind this shield will be disinfected and burned, understood?" "Have you understood, Michael?" "But Sir.." "This is an order!" "Disinfect immediately!" "Don't move!" "Alina!" "Ion!" "Alina!" "Alina!" "Michael, do you see this?" "The shield is totally ineffective!" "Open the door, I beg you!" "Do you understand me, Michael?" "Michael, please!" "Please open, Michael!" "Ion ..." "It stops after a couple of hours." "After that you will as good as never before in your life." "Alina ..." "Mother" "Our bombers are on the way." "They will destroy the entire colony." "Ion ..." "You must stop them." "I can't." "Everyone here in the colony will be killed, if you do not do it." "You are the only one here who can move at the moment." "Force never helps." "Somehow the Bordeaux doesn't help at all at the moment..." "Ion ... 15 minutes to target." "Three Eurasian bombers in the approching at 2-7-0." "10 minutes and getting closer fast." "Stand-by for interception manoeuvres - exactly 1 minute." "The bombers have overflown the interception zone." "Ready for attack." "Ion ..." "I am sorry, Alina." "I could not press the button." "1 minute to target." "Take fire position!" "Target is zeroed in." "Fire!" "Piccard!" "Piccard, don't!" "No, abort manoeuvre!" "Piccard!" "So, said briefly, the fungus lives of waste-products of our skin and makes the oxygen exchange of our skin easier." "I like it." "I will never have to shower again!" "The additional Oxygen around us explains, why we are feeling so good and regenerated." "In addition, breathing in the spores stimulated our desire centres in the Cerebrum." "We are simply happy!" "Let's forget our unhappy past, major Beltin." "We all paid our price." "From now on we should discuss more smoothly and more friendly." "I totally agree, Lieutenant colonel Tatiana Medvedeva." "Please call me Tania." "They are like snowflakes." "They are spores, Alina, and they fly where the wind carries them." "They are beautiful." "Yes, absolutely." "I understand." "The spores die, as soon as they leave this planet." "It's a pity!" "Anyway we could not have returned to earth like that." "Mr Snaut..." "yes?" "Would you say we have conquered this planet?" "Or has the planet conquered us?" "Translated by Exxonvaldez and friends"