Lunar Colony Read Online Free PDF

astronauts grabbing some grub after a long day of research. With the budget cuts, though, they all got sent home. That is, all but Salerno.”
    Glen stood in the cafeteria, trying to imagine what it would have been like to see it filled with astronauts. He couldn’t help but think about how lonely it would feel to be the only person living here.
    “Mr. Slayton, I don’t see Salerno.”
    “That doesn’t surprise me,” said the flight director. “She’s a rail, barely took the time to eat anything. Always too busy with her work, she said.”
    “Then where do you think she might be?” Glen asked.
    “Check the barracks,” Slayton replied. “If you’re lucky, you might catch her taking a nap, though I doubt it. She didn’t sleep much, either.”
    Two more halls branched out from the cafeteria. The one to Glen’s right had a sign that read VEHICLE BAY . The other, to Glen’s left, pointed the way to the barracks.
    Okay,
Glen thought,
I guess this is the way.
    Glen walked slowly down the corridor, feelingvery on edge about being in the abandoned facility. If he heard so much as a pin drop, he might have jumped out of his skin. Halfway down the hall, Glen saw a door marked GYMNASIUM. He knew that Slayton had told him to check the barracks, but Glen’s curiosity got the better of him.
    “I wonder what’s in here,” he said as he opened the door. Entering, he found an enormous room filled with basketball hoops, trampolines, climbing ropes, and other equipment. It was a lot like the gym at his middle school back on Earth, but so much better.
    “Look at this place!” he exclaimed. “No wonder Salerno doesn’t want to come home.” Glen picked up a basketball from the floor and shot a few baskets. Since he was still wearing his space suit, it didn’t take long to work up a sweat.
    Glen spotted something on the wall, which he assumed was a thermostat.
It’s getting a little hot in here,
he thought.
I’d better turn the temperature down.
Flipping the switch to the left, Glen immediately felt his feet leave the floor.
    “Whoa!” Glen shouted, surprised to find himself floating in the air. “What the heck is this thing?” He swam through the air until he hovered near the wall device. Looking at it more closely this time, he saw that it said GRAVITRON. “Cool! This thing must control the room’s gravity.”
    Glen kicked away from the wall and flew toward the basketball hoop on the far side of the gymnasium. Jamming the ball into the basket, he shouted, “Slam dunk! Two points for Glen Johns!” He pushed off the rim, somersaulting through the air. “This is so cool!”
    For several minutes he played, feeling freer and having more fun than he had in a very long time. In fact, he was experiencing the type of joy he hadn’t felt since he was a—
    “Kid!” shouted Slayton. “You’ve got a job to do. Now, enough fooling around like you’re on the playground, and find that missing astronaut!”
    “Yes, sir,” said Glen. He floated back to the Gravitron and reset it to normal gravity. As Glen’s feet touched the ground, he felt a little silly for playing around like a child. He hadn’t exactly acted like a thirteen-year-old who had an important job to do. Still, as he left the gymnasium, he couldn’t help but wish he’d had just a little more time to play.

    Glen shut the gym’s door behind him and continued down the hall until he reached the barracks.
    “Hello? Commander Salerno? Is anyone here?” Glen asked. Hearing no reply, he walked past row after row of empty bunk beds. With the departure of the astronauts, they had all been stripped of their linens. Glen spotted one, however, that still had a pillow and blankets.
    So, this must be where Salerno sleeps,
Glen thought. The bed was not made but, instead, was covered by a heap of blankets. “I guess if no one was around to tell me to make my bed, I wouldn’t bother with it either,” Glen said, turning away. Then he noticed something—the corner