The Girl They Sold to the Moon Read Online Free PDF Page A

decontamination inside a sealed pressure vault. They passed into a transparent ring corridor and took a tram pad to one of the inner connecting spoke corridors, speeding along, passing through several small bubble domes. A walkway for foot traffic ran below the tramway. Both levels led to individual residences and shops. Tilly knew that the Habitrail complex was laid out like an old bicycle wheel, with all the spokes leading to the hub, or giant, main rotunda. The huge ore processing plant was connected to the outside ring with several long corridors. From watching a documentary once, Tilly knew the material used to build the entire complex was a clear metal glass composite called Ultrinium, which resembled Lucite.
    â€œThe air smells funked up,” said Dorothy, holding on tight to a handrail.
    Tilly stuck her tongue out, licked her lips and grimaced. “Tastes funny too. It’s all recycled. I heard someone say they scrubbed the air.” She couldn’t imagine the size of the pumps that had to clean, recycle, and pressurize the massive bubbles domes.
    As the foot tram continued its race toward the main hub, plants lining the walls came into view—huge pots and troughs held dwarf trees, bougainvillea, rhododendrons, jasmine, palms, and assorted ferns. The blooming plants and trees offered a sweet tang to the otherwise stale air. Bright multicolored lights enhanced the many shops, as they moved further into the interior. Besides the giant sun lamps strung from the corridor ceilings, every type of bulb, lamp, neon tube and strobe adorned the establishments--beacons that screamed advertisements and enticements to those on the walkways and above.
    The tram hissed to a stop. Tilly’s group of twenty girls, led by two bulls, stepped off the platform and descended to a lower walkway. She could see a vast opening under a spider web dome in the distance. The bulls led them through a corridor that ended in a small bubble dome. Here there were no roofs overhead, only wall partitions, some of them straight and others curved. Stars shone brightly through the clear Ultrium roof.
    The group formed a single line behind an elevated check-in desk. After reciting their codes to the clerk, each was given a bunk number and admitted through a set of double glass doors. They entered their Block 41 dormitory.
    Bunks were stacked three-high around the four rectangular walls, while the main floor consisted of five bunk rows. She estimated that the dormitory held at least 100 bunks. She saw about thirty girls milling about the dormitory. She walked by a small group that were reading books on portable roll-up viewers and passed others who wrote on touch screens. Nearly all of them looked up to see the new group. Some scowled. Others looked indifferent. A few approached the group and mingled, offering cordial welcomes.
    â€œWelcome to forty-one,” said one of them.
    â€œMake yourselves at home, piss ants,” said another.
    Tilly found bunk 77 near the end on the right wall. A large drawstring bag sat on the bottom bunk. Bedding and hygiene. Dorothy was assigned bunk 78, the one above Tilly’s.
    â€œLook at all the autographs and doodles on the walls,” said Dorothy. “It looks like everybody puts their stamp on the place.”
    â€œI’m surprised they’re allowed to do that. It kind of makes it homey.”
    Four potted palm trees sat in the corners, tiny sun lamps directed upon them. Two doors at the far end of the room displayed restroom placards. One wide-open hallway led somewhere else.
    A head popped over the edge of the third upper bunk, spilling a froth of strawberry blond hair. “Welcome to Block 41, dung beetles” said a woman with a husky voice. “Unpack your gear and settle in.”
    Tilly stepped back and looked at the woman occupying bunk 79. The woman appeared much older than the rest, gray-eyed, with a face creased with middle-aged wrinkles. Her nose and cheeks showed