Discovering Alien Technology Part Two
Copyright© 2026 by GMet
Chapter 13
Thursday, December 11, 2025, I boarded AddlerThree along with Roger Mason, the former and now current astronaut from the Canadian Space Agency. He was the only one we were comfortable enough with to come with me as he had been in the loop with us since the beginning.
Both of us had taken flights in AddlerEight and then AddlerThree around the world at high speeds but still in the atmosphere to test out the G forces on our bodies. Our new space suits helped push the blood to or from our bodies to the brain or to our feet depending on if it there positive or negative G force. Four to Five Gs were normally all that people could take but fighter jet pilots, with special suits and training could survive and stand nine or more Gs. It was decided that a more gradual slope of our takeoff would occur so that we didn’t black out or get hurt as we had the ability to dictate what angle we took.
Roger and I were in agreement that P1 and P2 would be in charge of the entire flight in terms of piloting and landing. P1 and P2 knew that Base and I were actually in charge but we all wanted to ensure Roger didn’t get any misconstrued ideas of taking over control of the mission. This was a mission to inspect the space port facilities, determine the safety for the next contingent of people to visit, and to scout for a possible placement for the Canadian base.
The family had decided not to show him the tunnels as we knew he wouldn’t be able to keep it a secret. The robots had done a fantastic job of moving and hiding all the evacuated rock well away from the space port using the rovers and many wheeled dumpster containers, much like mining carts but made from light, strong materials. They were used to bring supplies up to the moon and then repurposed for our tunnelling debris.
The main space port building was a large half dome put against the wall of the ridge after it was ground flat and coated. The whole ridge wall was hidden by a titanium framework with the coated exterior painted as a bright mural. The tunnel entrance itself had a massive, sealed door to allow the machinery in while a smaller man door cut into the middle bottom of it allowed single users access. Shelving along the bottom half of the entire wall width hid both doors but could easily be moved on hidden hinges once a code was put into a hidden keypad. The rest of the main building was split into residences, conference rooms, offices, storage rooms and units for smaller stores and other things not thought of yet.
Another dome held all our rovers and equipment such as sprayers, compressing equipment as well as our repair facilities while a massive third dome was meant to hold up to three large cargo ships plus more smaller space ships. The fourth one, with a clear dome, was getting set up to try out our hydroponics to grow various fruits and vegetables. Two more domes were completed except for the final finishing details in the rooms for the one that would be set aside for a hotel and the second one was designated for the official Addler Store for all of our available consumables. The store was just laid out as a warehouse with a front portion set up as a showroom to display what we could provide with a large countertop to denote the checkout area. For now most of our consumables were stored in the main building.
Each dome had airlocks to allow two people at a time in the front of each building as well as at least one larger one at the side to allow the large rovers in to load and unload supplies. There was enough space in the airlock to ensure that only one door would be open at any time for safety. In fact, the controls would not allow the second door to open until the first one was in the closed and locked position. Every dome was made with our clear or coloured compound that made up our ship windows and had our new shields activated to cover the entire dome from small meteoroids and smaller particles. Additional defensive AMDS units, rail gun and lasers positions were also incorporated in the defence of the port.
So, the two of us were going up to see the progress for ourselves, really for the CSA and the world to see the progress, as Base and I knew exactly where we were with each dome. Roger and I were both looking forward to being on the moon in near zero gravity and inspecting the exterior and the interior of each dome. We would also take a rover to explore along the ridge and the flat escarpment around the spaceport. Roger was tasked with finding a place to put a dome up for the Canadian Government, though we suspected it would be very close to our Space port. We were also pretty sure they would subcontract Addler to provide the materials, tools and robots to build the pad and then provide and erect the dome. We would charge them for everything so we could start to make some money on our space program.
Once we were back with a good report, we would then turn on the taps and let people contract with us to take them up to the moon for an adventure or to explore putting up a colony of their own. We would have to staff the hotel and our stores but the ladies were in the process of hiring people to manage the hotel and the stores up there. This week, we had to get up there, assess and make it back before we actually opened for business.
Both pairs of sisters were at our space port to see me off along with the three mothers and dad. Everyone gave me a hug and my two ladies kissed me and threatened me with bodily harm if I didn’t come back to them. Reece was handling the press while Dad would be in the control room monitoring the launch and the flight. There were a lot of news feeds with video cameras at the Dryden Space port to catch the first human trip back to the moon in fifty-three years so Roger and I waved to them while walking to the AddlerThree. We both stopped and waved again at the top of the stairs before entering the ship and having the robots close and seal the door.
The two of us joined P1 and P2 on the bridge, sitting down on two of the station chairs along the outside of the circular bridge rather than the pilot chairs in the front. We had our helmets off for now but would put them on when we taxied to the runway and would keep them on until we were actually on the way to the moon. AddlerThree would be pressurized for the entire flight but no one was taking any changes on our maiden human flight. On the moon we would be just as cautious in the domes, keeping them on or at least close at hand in case something went wrong.
Dad gave P1 and P2 the ten minute countdown once Roger and I, along with Base, conferred with everyone that all systems were green and we were strapped in. Our luggage, such as it was, had already been stowed before we got on board and we had enough human food for ten people for a month and the same excess of water, oxygen and Addlerium.
At five minutes, the AMDS and the AMIS probes were launched to provide a screen for detection and if necessary, interception of any objects or attacks. I conferred with Base for a bit and then with Dad and Roger at the one minute mark. Dad counted the last ten seconds and then P1 released the brakes and AddlerThree rocketed down the runway and into the air. We were quickly climbing upward and I felt the G-forces press on my body as we raced through the atmosphere and out into space. I was able to watch on the monitors as we entered space and everything went dark outside.
Roger and I watched the earth go by on our monitors as we did an orbit around the earth to get to the best point to head to the moon. The heaters in the cabin kicked on as the temperature outside dropped to close to absolute zero. The robots worked okay in the extreme cold but better in normal temperatures so we had insulated the ship as best we could but the temperature dropped inside until the heaters came on. The suits also had heaters inside that would kick in for EVAs, on our walk on the moon or in the space craft if there was a breakdown. They also had layers to keep out the sun’s radiation as well as some of our proprietary material to deflect small space particles and to avoid rips and tears.
“Alright, we are approaching our takeoff coordinates to the moon,” P2 announced. “Final check of all systems please.”
“Propulsion systems okay,” Roger stated.
“Life support systems, including cabin pressure and temperature, are all optimum,” I stated after looking through those systems.
“All outer surfaces, sensors, coating, landing gear and seals are okay,” P1 added.
P2 summed it up, “All systems green across the board. Approaching coordinates for course change in ten seconds.”
P2 counted down and then at zero, P1 made the change in direction towards the moon.
“Course correction completed, we are on our way to the moon,” P1 stated for the record. “Speed set at ninety percent. Approximate time to the moon is one hour.”
Roger and I felt the increase in speed but it wasn’t as bad as the takeoff. Once we were at our cruising speed, I did another scan of all the systems before Roger and I took off our helmets and breathed the air in the cabin.
“Addler Control, this is Ben, we are on our way to the moon,” I spoke up on the main channel. “We have taken off our helmets and are enjoying breathing the cabin air. All systems are green and we will be unbuckling and moving around the ship to get a sense of moving around in near zero g.”
“AddlerThree, this is Addler Control, we concur on all systems green and acknowledge helmets off and astronauts are unbuckling to move around the ship,” dad responded.
Unsaid was a statement to be safe and don’t take unnecessary risks but he knew the world was listening so he didn’t play the dad card. We both knew mom would have said it, hence her not being allowed close to any microphones.
“Alright Roger, shall we explore a bit?” I asked.
“Sounds like a plan,” he responded with a grin.
We both unbuckled and floated out of our chairs, holding on to the arms to start and then propelling ourselves towards the door. We floated just like the other astronauts before us in space and we slowly made our way out of the bridge, using the handholds that had been installed to guide and propel us forward. We checked out the other rooms, trying out the sink and watching the water float up to the ceiling before going down the stairs to the utility floor to check out everything before heading back up. The magnets embedded into the soles of our boots helped keep us on the floor when we needed to walk and could be turned off and on with a voice command or via the AI controllers of the suit.
“Well, that was cool,” I said with a grin when were strapped back into our seats.
“It was,” Roger agreed with the matching grin on his face.
The rest of the hour we went over procedures to unload the supplies and finalize what we planned to do on the surface. I brought up a 3D rendering of the base and the surrounding geology so that Roger could map out our route around the area in the rover. The Canadian team had a few spots already picked out for him to explore within a mile of our base and two more within five miles. They had decided that they didn’t need to be any further away. Our family was fine with a one mile radius as our designated base perimeter as that is all we should ever need for expansion and additional runways for a long time. Once they picked their location, we would begin clearing a road and hardening it so that wear and tear on the rovers would be minimized and dust wouldn’t be kicked up each time someone travelled on it.
We had a unique opportunity to plan out roads, intersections, communities and expansions properly before they were needed so that we didn’t have to move something later. The family had already penciled in another runway for the possibility of increased flights as time went on. In between them, we had plans for a large airport type building so that passengers could get out of the ships into pressurized tubes and into the building without space suits on and avoid most or all the hazards of walking in space to the buildings.
Passengers could then board larger bus type rovers to get to our buildings or go directly to their colony of choice. We already had plans drawn up for the moon buses and one was being built at our Dryden headquarters. We would also have tunnels to our buildings from the airport but would keep those secret for now. The space ships could then exit the airport building area and get unloaded near the warehouse domes before being serviced and stored in our aircraft dome.
Roger and I finished plotting our route just before P1 and P2 announced we were entering the moon’s orbit and lining up for landing. We put our helmets on, pressurized the suits and shut down all other programs. We just listened and watched the monitors as we came in low over the moon’s surface. The landing gear were lowered and we gently touched down at the far end of the runway. Brakes were applied as was the front AIPS to slow us done until we turned the ship around at the larger turnaround at the other end. While we could have landed vertically, we liked landing horizontally using the various AIPS to push us down onto the runway rather than using the wings and air flow as there was none. We would have to do the same taking off but we found it didn’t kick up as much moon dust as the vertical takeoffs did and also didn’t put deteriorate the vertical pad as it wasn’t as durable as the one on Earth.
“Addler Control, this is AddlerThree, we have landed on the moon at the Addler Moon Base,” P2 made the announcement.
“This is Addler Control, acknowledged,” dad responded. “Have the robots set up for the filming of the astronauts when they disembark from AddlerThree please.”
“Already being taken care of,” P2 replied. “We have all our cameras filming as well as several cameras already set up around the ship and on drones. It will be well documented.”
“Roger, AddlerThree, we will link into the cameras now and patch in the media,” dad responded. “Ben and Roger, wait five and begin the exit.”
“Acknowledged,” I responded. “Will let you know when we start disembarking.”
Roger and I unbuckled while P1 and P2 handled the shutdown of the various AIPS units until such time as they wanted to move the AddlerThree again.
“Shall we?” I asked Roger.
“We shall,” he replied with a big grin through his clear headgear.
We made our way to the lower level and into the cargo area. We shut the man door and lowered the ramp until it hit the runway surface.
“We are ready to depart AddlerThree via the lowered ramp,” I announced to the world.
“Acknowledged,” dad responded. “Cameras are all recording.”
I nodded to Roger and started walking slowly down the ramp. He followed a couple steps behind me and we stopped at the end of the ramp to look around. It was stark and cold with nothing but moon dust, ridges and our buildings as far as we could see. We couldn’t see the earth in our view but that would be something we would want to see as soon as possible.
“This is Ben Addler, I would like to thank everyone who has helped Addler Enterprises to get to this point,” I spoke up. “Roger and I will be the first humans to visit the moon in fifty-three years. We acknowledge all the brave men and women who have gone before us in space from various countries and hope that this new venture is the start of renewed collaboration between all countries as we start the exploration and colonization of our solar system and eventually beyond. Our mission today is to review our space port for completion, safety of all our domes and to start the exploration of the nearby moon surface to decide on the location for our first neighbour, Canada. So with that, we step into the future and hope to have many more neighbours, as well as visitors, join us soon.”
I took the first step down onto the runway and then took a few steps to get my moon legs before turning to look at Roger.
“Roger, welcome to the moon,” I said as I waved him out.
“I would just like to thank Ben and his family at Addler Enterprises for this dream of a lifetime,” he said. “I take these steps for Canada and the world and hope to be a part of the many great things that they will provide for all humanity for generations to come.”
He was still smiling when he stepped off the ramp and slowly walked to me while looking around. We both had cameras on our suits and made sure to pan slowly around to show everyone watching the views we were experiencing.
“Alright, as you can all see, we’re standing on our runway and the base has a few domes already up,” I described what everyone was seeing as we panned. “We have our main dome on the left, a rover depot and workshop dome next and then the massive dome to repair, refuel and load the space ships as well as store them between flights. After that, we have the clear hydroponic dome and then the final two will hold our Addler Store and the Addler Hotel. We’ll inspect all of them and verify readiness, including all the safety gear and emergency procedures. We have a lot to do, including going on a few exploration trips in the rovers to scope out possible colony sites. We’ll be in touch at various times during the day to show whoever might be interested in the various buildings and sites. So, for now, this is Ben Addler, signing off.”
“Congratulations Ben and Roger and this momentous occasion,” dad responded. “This is Addler Control signing off for now.”
We both waited for a moment and switched to another frequency, one that no one could listen into, no matter what they tried to do. Everyone knew we were communicating, they just couldn’t break the code.
“Alright gentlemen, let’s get busy,” dad said. “The robots will unload all the supplies. We need you two to inspect the outside of every dome and then go inside and do the same. We have checklists you can bring up on your helmet’s HUD (Heads up display) so let’s get started. Everything is done slowly and safely. We know the suits are the best ever made but you never know what can happen. You both have repair kits and won’t be far from the various airlocks to each dome so don’t panic, help each other out and get inside if something goes wrong.”
“Affirmative Addler Control,” I responded. “It looks like we have a squad of robots accompanying us just in case but we’ll be slow and cautious. We’ll start with the main dome on our left. Roger, anything to add?”
“I’ve done a quick check of our suits and everything is at optimum readings so we’re good to go,” Roger replied. “Looks like we have three hours of breathable air so let’s get cracking.”
“We have spares flat cannisters that we can exchange at any time,” I informed him. “I think our minders may have a couple handy.”
The robots in question held up a couple as they were on the same channel. I just shook my head and led the way to the main dome. We took the short hops we had all seen on the previous moon landings to get to over to the main dome. I wanted to try out jumping but would wait for when less eyes were on us. It was said that a jump on the moon would be six times the height of a similar one on earth so with my increased strength, I could probably jump three to four feet, meaning up to twenty-four feet on the moon. I so wanted to experience that but for now, I stayed the course and skipped along with Roger until we got to the dome.
We walked along the three sides to inspect the walls and to look at what we could see of the half moon roof. As I already knew, there were no visible signs of damage or atmosphere escaping. We moved on to the other domes and found them all in prime condition. We were in the right spot to see a small meteorite hit the shield on the hotel dome and explode into tiny fragments that slide down to the ground along the shield. I noticed a small ridge of particles showing me that it wasn’t the first time it happened.
“Shields are working well,” Roger commented. “We probably shouldn’t be out here too long in case more are incoming.”
“Our helmets are made of the same material we use in the windows of the ships so no way they get through that,” I assured him. “Our suits have a layer of material that is ten times stronger than Kevlar so we have pretty good protection for the rest of our bodies, along with a layer of our coating on our shoulders, chest and back. We’re working on smaller shield generators to protect the entire suit but we’re not there yet.”
“So we’re protected but not one hundred percent,” Roger responded. “Let’s use one of the rovers to explore the potential colony sites before we move inside.”
“Sounds good to me,” I agreed as I led the way to the workshop and rover dome.
One of the robots had the garage door already opening via a panel outside so that we, and our robot minders, could just walk into the non-pressurized dome. There were now ten rovers of different sizes on the moon, with four of them being two seaters outfitted with a blade or rotating brush attachment in front to clean the runway and paths build between the domes. The moon dust kicked up every time we landed a ship and got over everything, hence the attachments. Four were four seaters with domes to protect the passengers and the last two were larger truck type rovers to hold supplies and tools. The two trucks also had a four seat dome so they were the biggest we had up here. The larger bus rovers would come up soon.
The robots led us to one of the fours seater domed rovers and I let Roger take the driver’s seat. It was probably best as I would be tempted to speed and do some donuts around the plateau. Once inside, with our two robot minders in the back seats, we started up the rover and turned on the large screen that showed camera views of all four sides along with a topographical map in 3D of the whole plateau, including all the domes, paths and runways.
“Plotting a course for the first site,” I said.
The system did everything once I picked a point on the map via the touch screen. The path was projected on the screen as a thick red line with a distance and time listed in the corner.
“Alright, here we go,” Roger said as he released the brake and slowly moved forward.
He drove slowly out of the dome onto the hardened pathway and then drove past the other domes until got to the end of the ten foot wide path.
“Addler Base, we are venturing past the edge of the current path, heading North to the first potential site,” I broadcast on the public channel.
“Acknowledged Ben, good luck,” Dad responded.
Roger eased the rover forward and we were now driving on the normal surface of the moon. The headlights helped with the gloomy areas as the ridge blocked some of the sunlight as we made our way slowly between the small potholes where meteorites had made craters in the surface. I cycled between views to see a small cloud behind us as we kicked up the dust.
“Temperature dropping in the rover, turning on the heaters and defrost,” Roger announced, hitting a couple switches.
“Acknowledged,” Dad said. “We should probably put all of them on a program to automate that.”
“Agreed,” I replied. “I’ll get on that and update the control software soon.”
It didn’t take long to go a mile, even at our slow speed. We had to avoid a couple larger rocks in the middle of the path and drive a bit to the left when we encountered a fissure across the route we had mapped out.
“We will have to fill that before hardening the path,” I spoke up.
One of the robots spoke up, “Noted.”
The ridge had turned to the left anyway so we left our mapped out pathway and followed it for a bit until we got to a large level area with the ridge curling again to create a protected area to possibly build a base at.
“This looks promising,” Roger stated.
“I agree, it’s perfect for protection from the ridge at almost 180 degrees with enough of an opening to allow for expansion outward as needed,” I responded. “Looks like enough room for several domes in there and then you could expand later.”
We drove around the inside of the quarter mile rough circle and found the surface to be flat and not pitted or fractured. The ridge seemed very stable with little rock debris at the bottom from pieces breaking off.
“I’d rate this a very good site,” I told Roger.
“I concur,” Roger agreed. “We should explore a couple other sites but I doubt we’ll find anything better this close to your base.”
“Alright, mapping out the path to the next site,” I said, working on the screen.
Over the next couple of hours, we drove around the surface of the moon in a circle around our base to find other sites. We had to avoid the ridge of course, as well as other craters, fissures and smaller protrusions standing up from the uneven surface. Three other potential sites were mapped out as well as the path we would need to get to them from the base or their first site.
“Alright, I have to say that site one is the best, followed by site three, site four and site two,” Roger summarized when we were heading back to the base.
“I agree, site one by far is the best site within a mile of our base,” I responded. “There may be better ones out farther but we don’t have time on this mission to explore any more. I will have some robots go out to five miles from the base and map out other potential sites over the next month just to have some other possibilities for other countries to explore next.”
“And we will focus on site one for our base,” Roger stated.
“Alright, we will put together a proposal to extend our paths out to that site as well as building pads and domes with our robots and flying up the materials,” I responded. “Any idea on how many domes and how big they might want them to be?”
“Not at this point,” Roger admitted. “I think we would want a greenhouse, a residence, a main one for gathering and a utility one at least but they might want a warehouse as well. I know a couple could be combined and I’m sure cost will be a factor.”
“Of course, but we can work with five to start with and assume, what ten people to be there at one time?” I inquired. “You probably will want some robots as well to help with things and do some of the more dangerous tasks outside.”
“Ten people plus a few robots sounds right to start, but room to expand,” Roger replied after musing about it for a moment. “It’s a bit too early to know for sure and I’m not on the steering committee for the Canadian Base.”
“It’s always good to discuss early so we can put some things together when they finally get some things figured out,” I said. “Alright, let’s head back to Addler Base and we can be the first guests at the Addler Moon Base Hotel.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Roger agreed and pointed the rover towards the base.
It took us another half hour to get back and the robots had the larger side airlock open to the vacuum so he could drive right in. The outside door slid shut and air started being piped in as we got out of the rover. When the airlock was pressurized, the inner door slid open and we walked into the hotel, with the inner door sliding shut after we were both in. I checked with Base and he concurred that it was okay to get out of our suits so I undid the helmet seal and popped the helmet off, breathing the air to test it.
“Smells good in here,” I said to Roger, who was following my lead.
“Yes it does,” he replied with a grin.
We got out of our space suits and hung them in the conveniently placed space suit storage room across the hall from the air lock before heading to the main lobby. Two robots were waiting at the check-in counter for us but we first took a look around the lobby. There were couches, tables and even plants and trees scattered around the large space to encourage people to gather there. The lobby portion of the hotel was three storeys high with that portion of the ceiling and front wall made of clear compound to let everyone see outside. There was an impressive staircase leading up to each floor with balconies and railings at each of the second and third floors for people to look down on the lobby.
On the other side of the lobby, there was a glassed in restaurant with chairs and tables already for guests. The kitchen was already fitted out with all the equipment needed and several robots had been trained as chefs, waiters and hosts, with each being cross trained on various duties.
“Wow, this is much more than I expected,” Roger said as he looked around. “Looks like you’re ready for guests.”
“Pretty much,” I replied. “There are twenty rooms on the main floor, twenty-six on the second and sixteen on the third, all furnished and made up. We have robot staff for the hotel, the restaurant and to manage the front desk and the concierge desk. There are laundry services in the back of the main floor as well as a storage area and robot downtime room. Why don’t we check in and get our rooms up on the third floor and then we can check out the lounge on the third floor before having a meal?”
“Sounds good to me,” Roger agreed.
We moved to the check-in desk with a small store off to the side for snacks, drinks and various toiletries already stocked. We were greeted by the two robots once we were there.