Lunar One

By George Ross

One of the greatest achievements by man in the twentieth century was the American space program, which amazed the world when it accomplished the impossible by landing a man on the moon's surface and returning him to Earth.
A startling discovery begins a hazardous investigation by one dedicated team searching for the truth; instead they expose a network of murder, deceit, and cover ups by those sworn to protect their country.
Once the truth is known,they must decide how to use it without becoming yet another victim of this conspiracy.

• Language: English
• Publisher: George Ross
• Release date: Dec 14, 2016
• ISBN: 9780988138339

George Ross

I live in a small village in New Brunswick with my partner and best friend. We spend a lot of time enjoying our home, travelling and reading. I am retired after spending most of my career working as an engineer involved in many projects from retrofitting gas processing facilities to inspecting the refurbishment of a nuclear generating station. I began writing 8 years ago as a hobby and enjoy taking historical accounts and building a story around them. I am as factual as possible without risking legal action. I have been rejected by numerous publishers, however, thanks to Smashwords, I am getting my stories out. My desire is to entertain. So enjoy. George Ross

Book preview

Prologue

August 04 1967

The two actors made their way slowly through the ankle-deep sand and dust covering the large area of the floor they were walking on. The going was slow because of the few inclines and the weight of the bulky space suits the men wore exact replicas of the ones designed by ASEC, the American Space Exploration Corporation, for planned space missions. The equipment was so detailed it would be difficult for a ASEC Astronaut to tell it from the real thing. These were genuine ASEC space module suits, which had been rejected because of imperfections or some problem with the cooling or warming systems. The manufacturer had been given permission to sell them to a movie production company after removing proprietary ASEC systems from the garb so all that remained were the shell and empty backpacks.

With a little costume retrofitting, the moviemaker was able to come up with an accurate copy of the actual ASEC protective cocoon to be worn by future galaxy travelers.

It started as a low budget sci-fi movie about man's first trip to the moon by a small movie company called Brimstone Productions. They rented a former oil-drilling company warehouse on the outskirts of Austin Texas to recreate the moon scenes with perceived realism. The site was perfect because of the hundreds of tons of fine well fracturing sand left in the silos when the company went bankrupt would replicate the moon’s surface. The ingenious use of fogged flexible plastic moving in front of the camera lens gave the impression of static associated with the transmission of a televised signal as it travels from the moon to Earth. With the assistance of a dedicated crew and many intricate cable assemblies, the company was able to duplicate just how most people visualize a space traveler would walk on the moon. They even had a stripped down golf cart modified to look like a moon buggy, scrambling across the rugged dust covered lunar surface.

The American Space Exploration Corporation was a government-supported endeavour. Its mandate was to administer the U S space program as it evolved during the early fifties from launching telecommunication satellites to someday sending manned flights into the far reaches of the galaxies. With an almost unlimited budget, the program was devoted to staying ahead of the Russians after the Soviet Union put the world’s first communications satellite into orbit in 1957. Being caught off guard and embarrassed by the feat of their enemies, the American government swore it would never happen again. Thus began the foundation of the U S program, and the birth of ASEC. Within a couple of years, with ASEC leading the way, the Americans soon passed the Russians in their quest to conquer space.

Realizing it would be a good public relations move for them, ASEC agreed to requests from Brimstone to use some of their actual footage of the many rocket launches, along with astronaut training sessions for future space exploration. In exchange for their invaluable assistance, ASEC asked for and was granted a position as technical advisor for the movie produced by Brimstone. Since it was a definite win for Brimstone to have ASEC work with them, they jumped at the chance and readily agreed. ASEC too, was happy to be able to get its message out to the public about their goal to beat the Russians into space. They played it as a great opportunity for the free publicity at a time when the cold war was still on every American's mind, especially after the Cuban missile crisis a few years before.

Within three weeks of signing the agreement, ASEC consultants were working with the Brimstone crew to ensure that the movie was an accurate portrayal of what ASEC envisioned as an expedition by their astronauts to the moon. The production went well and with the collaboration of the two teams, the finished product was much better than Brimstone could have hoped. ASEC had supplied mock-ups of actual space capsules including a new prototype lunar excursion module they had designed to deliver their Astronauts to the surface of the moon. They expounded on their Pegasus project, called Helios for the movie. Several launch sequences featured the new powerful prototype Vulcan C rocket, which ASEC claimed had the ability to reach the moon. The movie was ahead of schedule by early the following year and ready for viewing by ASEC.

General Calvin Hughes watched the movie intently as John Spears narrated the scenes, explaining the sequences and their significance to the film.

''I'm really impressed!" replied Hughes, the Military liaison with ASEC for its Space Exploration Program, as he observed the grainy picture flicker in and out of focus. ''If I didn't know better I'd say you were filming these sequences on the moon,'' he continued, addressing the Director of the ASEC Space Exploration Program.

''Appreciate the compliment, Cal. Then we have achieved the purpose of the movie. Make it look like we were there. We had a lot of help from the movie producers; those guys could make a scene look so real with the few props they had," replied Spears. ''We figured this movie, if done properly, would be good PR for our Space Program,'' he continued.

''Well, it sure got my imagination going, John,'' replied Hughes. ''Yes sir, this is quite impressive."

''Thanks Cal,'' answered Spears. It was relatively easy to do and the cost was very reasonable.

''What is the anticipated release date of this, ah, movie, John?"

''Oh, the producers have a lot of work to do to finish up. They still have to edit some of the scenes, and install the sound track, and a few other things require a little tweaking. They estimate about two to three months, if everything goes well,'' answered Spears.

''You know, John’’ began Hughes, ''I was just thinking. If you wanted to really make a good PR project out of this, you have those movie guys include actual footage of your astronauts included in the film. You know add some validity to the movie."

''We can do some of that here with our own editing system,'' replied Spears. ''We have similar movie making equipment. Just don't have the room for the background sets like the actual studio has."

''So you are saying ASEC can edit the movie to look like it was an ASEC production?"

''I don't think it should be too difficult. If we weren't worried about plagiarism, we could take almost all of the movie company's footage and use it to make our own moon landing movie,'' said Spears.

''You know something? replied Hughes, ''Just as an experiment, why don't you blend a couple of your boys into the film and put their voices to match. I would like to see that. How long would that take?

''Gimme a week, and I'll have something for you Cal."

''Thanks, John;'' replied Hughes, ''I'm looking forward to seeing our boys on the moon."

Chapter I

April 14 1969

The towering three-hundred and sixty-foot Vulcan C rocket slowly lifted from the launch pad at Cape Coral, as over seven million pounds of thrust were generated by the expanding gases from the engines lifted the five millions pounds of rocket into the sky. With a tail of flame close to one thousand feet trailing behind it, the mighty rocket roared away from the Florida Cape. Within ninety two seconds, the rocket was a speck as it disappeared into the dawning Eastern sky. The few observers, mainly high-ranking Military personnel and several ASEC engineers and scientists waited until the flame vanished before they began heading back towards the launch control bunker.

Once back at the control center the group was met by the launch coordinator who de-briefed the assembled personnel.

''The launch went perfectly,'' he began. ''Not a blip. Projected moon orbit should begin at T plus twenty-one hours, fifteen minutes."

One of the Military men with two stars on his lapels asked. How long can you track the bird before you lose it on the far side of the moon?

The coordinator looked at the large screen at the front of the room and pointed to the dashed line slowly appearing above the large blue globe on the screen. He took a metal pointer and began tracing an imaginary line on the screen.

''As the capsule approaches here,'' he dragged his rod along the screen towards the smaller yellow globe. ''This is where we start to lose radio contact. This will last close to forty minutes and then we should be able to make the communication link again," as he nudged the pointer around the globe and finished at his starting point.

''So every time the capsule goes behind the moon, we lose, or rather you lose it?"

''That's correct, General. The moon absorbs the radio signal and we have dead air."

''How many orbits are planned?"

''We want to try at least twenty-seven."

''You just have the capsule circle the moon that many times? Is there a reason for so many?"

''They're not just orbits, General. We are testing the capsule control. We want to use the moon's gravity to propel the craft at various perigees. We are trying to get within two hundred kilometres of the surface to determine how much power the craft needs to escape the moon's pull so we can get the capsule back."

''How does that work?' asked the general.

''Sorta like using centrifugal force to throw the craft into a tangential trajectory so it can pick up enough speed and steer itself clear of the moon. The critical element is pulling out of the gravity field at the exact spot so the craft will be shooting towards Earth. A good analogy would be the sling David used for taking down Goliath. He gets enough centrifugal force by swinging the sling with the stone in it until he has enough energy built up for the stone to continue its journey, like the capsule in the moon's gravity. Then he releases the stone and hope it hits the target, in this case, the Earth."

''You make it sound pretty simple, sir,'' replied the general.

''Just a matter of mathematics, a little physics and a hell of a lot of luck, General,'' answered the man with a smile.

''Thank you for the explanation, sir,'' replied the general. ''When can you expect to know when and if your theories will work?"

''We'll need at least four days to complete the orbits and analyze the data,'' replied the scientist.

''Great,'' replied the general, ''We'll be waiting for the results."

Once his audience left, the engineers and scientists in the mission control center went back to their project at hand, monitoring the lunar capsule, which would be soon circling the moon at eight thousand miles an hour. Once the module came into radio contact, signals were sent to alter the perigee and manoeuvred the craft closer to the moon. Each succeeding orbit this distance was changed to bring the capsule a few kilometres closer. On the thirteenth orbit contact was lost, and never recovered.

Two weeks later Director of Operations met with government and Military advisors in a hastily convened meeting.

Gary Lemans, ASEC project director stood before the members gathered in the room at the Columbia Space Center. He knew he was going to have the fight of his life to save the program as he looked at the sombre faces staring back at him. Finally he spoke. ''Gentlemen, I know you are all aware of the problems we had with the moon shot test. I am here to answer any questions and clarify the problems we have been experiencing. So the floor is open."

The first to ask was Major General Jon Jacek, Chief Military liaison with ASEC.

''Gary, can you tell this group what is the status of the Man to the Moon Project?"

Lemans looked at Jacek and began. Gentlemen as you are probably aware; we have been working diligently to get a man to the moon. We have the power in the Vulcan C and we have had several dry runs to the moon. We have however, been unable to land a capsule safely there, yet. Our control of the lander module is based on radio signals from the Earth. Because of technical roadblocks, we have been unsuccessful. We have more missions planned, but we still have bugs to work out.

Jarod Townes, Washington liaison to the President stood and looked at Lemans.

''President Nickolson had promised the American people we would have a man on the moon by the end of the decade, and Jackson says he will fulfill that dream. Gary, It is now close to the middle of May. By my calculations you have six months and a few days to fulfill that promise."

''Look, Jarod, we are doing everything in our power to accomplish what the President has promised. We can't risk any of our Astronauts lives on a project we are not one hundred percent sure of."

Townes stared back at Lemans and said. This Man to the Moon project has cost the U S Government, the taxpayers, one point four billion dollars so far. You and your wizards here get a man on the moon before December thirty-first, or we'll shut you and ASEC down.

''You can't shut us down, Jarod. We're so close."

''Jesus Christ, man! Are you deaf? December thirty-first or we shut you and your goddamned operation down. Understand?" came Townes' thundering reply.

When he got no reply, Townes continued.

''Instead of standing there with your finger up your ass, I suggest you get going and get a man on the goddamned moon!" as he turned and headed for the door.

After Townes and a few others following him walked out, a crestfallen, red-faced Lemans looked at Jacek and asked in a barely audible whisper. ''Jesus, is he serious?"

''I'm afraid so, my friend,'' replied Jacek, trying to hide the disappointment he felt. ''Nickolson was adamant about beating the friggin' Russians to the moon, and his replacement, Jackson has pledged to fulfill that dream. At first, he wasn't too concerned about cost, but your expenditures have ballooned to triple the original estimate. He wants something for his money, if only bragging rights."

''Jesus H Christ man. Does he have any idea what a goddamned Vulcan rocket costs, or all the computer shit we gotta buy to fly the friggin' things?'' began Lemans, trying hard to regain some of his former confidence.

''Hey man! replied Jacek, putting his arm on the other's shoulder, ''I'm on your side. I'm just the messenger.

''What the hell am I supposed to do? I don't think, no I know, we won't be ready in five months."

‘‘Hey, you're smart. You'll think of something."

''Well I know for one thing, our computer systems need to be upgraded."

Jacek looked at his friend and said very seriously. Look, John, I'm on your side. You and your boys do whatever it takes to make it happen. Whatever it takes, make it happen!

Chapter II

June 2 1969

It was a promising morning at Cape Coral as the sun began to sparkle across the expanse of the Atlantic Ocean, slowly lighting the day as it dissolved the morning mists swirling around the huge Vulcan C sitting on its launch pad. The crew had been working all night and the two Astronauts huddled in their small capsule atop the three hundred and sixty foot rocket. Small plumes of the expanding liquid oxygen vapourized quickly as the sun warmed the air around the site. At exactly 07:10, the final countdown began, and two minutes later, the massive rocket motor flared to life with a ground-shaking explosion of energy released by the burning fuel. Within twelve seconds the behemoth sprang from the pad and thundered into space leaving a trail of flame and vapour as the superheated air-cooled. Two minutes and fifty seconds later the rocket was out of sight and began its trajectory orbit to break free of the Earth's gravity. Two pioneers were on their way to the moon and into the history books.

Forty-nine hours later came the words, which changed history forever. ''The Explorer has settled on the moon!" Three and a half hours later the first man from Earth stepped on the surface of the moon.

The crews working the consoles at Columbia Space Center went crazy, celebrating the monumental achievement they had spent so much time and energy to bring about.

The American public as well as the rest of the world watching the historic event went wild with the televised news of the landing and stepping on the surface of a distant world.

The Astronauts had earned their places in the pages of the world history books. The Americans had won a major propaganda war with the Russians. Everybody was jubilant.

Fifty-two hours later the capsule splashed down in the south Pacific. It was retrieved by the U S Navy carrier waiting close by.

At the exact moment the hovering helicopter pulled the bobbing space capsule from the warm waters, a chartered private jet exploded shortly after leaving the tarmac at an industrial airport in south Houston. The details of this event was quickly buried under the huge story now filling every newspaper and media broadcast transmission in the United States as they competed to tell the world of the unfolding historic event taking place in the South Pacific.

Five days of celebrations followed the Astronauts return to the U S, including a public ceremony with the President. They were proclaimed American heroes, and rightly so. They had gone where no man had been before.

ASEC's backers were on the team once more. The Space Program would continue with its present plan to conquer the galaxy with the blessing of those who a few weeks ago threatened to shut them down.

Jared Townes was one of the first to stop by after the excitement had died down and ASEC could get back on track. ''I knew you could do it, Gary,'' he said to the man, who until this day, he was worried would never reach this goal ''All you needed was a little incentive."

''Yeah, guess you're right, Jared,'' replied Lemans. ''We worked hard to get all the bugs out."

''Well whatever you did, it seems to have worked. Good job."

''Thanks Jared. We wanted to prove we could do it, and we did."

''Yeah you sure did."

Chapter III

Volrostokov USSR June 2 1969

The team of twenty Soviet scientists and engineers led by General Sergei Korolkov intently monitored the numerous screens in the huge control room containing two dozen desks, banks of monitors and electronic receivers and other pieces of equipment, as they received signals from the secret Russian satellite orbiting the earth. The Resolut II tracking system had been launched into space five months previously and been designed with state of the art electronics, unknown, even to the Americans. Its sole purpose was to spy and report any and all traffic from the U S entering the Stratosphere and beyond. The lead scientist suddenly swung to Korolkov and exclaimed to the officer wearing a perfect fitting, spotless and pressed field uniform of the Soviet Air Defence Forces Commanding officer. "(Russian) Comrade Korolkov, we have a launch of the American Vulcan C rocket from Cape Coral,’’ Korolkov went to the screen and watched as the undulating waves of green played across the pale grey background. ''What is it you think you have Mikhial?"

''I believe it is manned, Comrade General ''

''What gives you that impression?"

''I am picking up communication from the rocket and back from Columbia Control."

''Okay!" replied Korolkov as he picked up a handset from the console.

He waited until the connection was made, then asked to have another crew sent to the communications center at Vadislovstok Ukraine.

His next order was to increase the signals from the decoy satellites the Russians had orbiting to confuse the American who were monitoring their equipment speeding around the Earth. The decoys' transmissions would cover the signal coming from Resolut and keep it hidden.

''I want twenty-four hour monitoring of this launch. Someone must be watching it every second. Understood?" he directed that order to this chief engineer, Valentin Thachinko, who was the team coordinator.

''Yes, Comrade General,'' was the reply.

''And I want reports every hour, or sooner if anything changes!" continued Korolkov.

Twenty-two hours later, he received word that the rockets final stage had changed trajectory and was on a course, which would take it to the moon.

Thachinko knocked on the door of the small office Korolkov was using to catch a little sleep while he waited for the news.

''Come in!" Korolkov responded to the knock.

''Comrade General, the Americans are going for a moon landing. They plan to have a man walk on the moon!" exclaimed Thachinko, dropping his hand from his forehead after saluting the general.

Korolkov jumped up and followed Thachinko back to the monitors.

''They have jettisoned the final stage and are in moon's orbit. They are about four hundred and fifty kilometres from the surface."

''Is their orbit changing?"

''No, Comrade General. They are maintaining the same orbit. This is pass number eight."

''Then they do not intend to land or they would not be wasting fuel to maintain that path."

''Perhaps they are testing the gravity with a crew rather than an empty capsule, as before,'' answered the scientist.

I am unsure what they are up to. Regardless, continue tracking. If anything changes, keep me informed, replied Korolkov.

Yes, sir, Comrade General. answered the scientist.

There was no change in the orbit of the craft circling the moon until four hours and forty minutes later. Again, Korolkov was informed of the latest development.

''Comrade General, the capsule has broken orbit and has increased its perigee. It is now approximately six hundred and eight kilometres and maintaining that orbit."

''Do you have any idea what they may be doing?"

''The lander did not touch down. However there is a piece of the capsule missing."

''What do you mean, missing?"

''Comrade, Sir, it appears that the capsule jettisoned a section of the craft and is continuing to circle the moon."

''That is very interesting, Mikhial. What do you think it means?"

''Comrade, General, I am thinking something happened. I believe they intended to touch down on the lunar surface, but something must have gone wrong to make them abort."

''Do our communications report anything occurring which might have forced the crew to abort their mission."

''Nothing Comrade General. In fact, I am very certain that this mission went according to a planned program."

''What makes you so sure, Mikhial?"

''General we have recorded the conversations between ASEC and the capsule crew. I think you must listen to it and then you will understand my reasoning."

You have my complete attention, my friend, let's hear what you have. answered Korolkov as he followed the scientist from the little room to the control room consoles.

Chapter IV

September 2003

''Holy, shit!" exclaimed Dave Wilson as he surveyed the old warehouse. His company, Dave's Demolition and Salvage, had been contracted to clean up in preparation for another business to begin construction.

Wilson was a trim forty six year old whose work kept him in great physical shape. His greying, thick, brown hair was he only clue he was older than the thirty he looked. He was just over six feet with very little fat attached to his muscular frame. He would be considered handsome, in a way, to most women even once they noticed the three-inch scar, which ran down the right side of his head, from the ear to halfway down his neck. It was compliments of a Viet Cong bullet as his Huey was being shot at during a Medivac run in Nan in 1971. He considered himself lucky that was as close as he came to being wounded or worse over there.

''There must be a couple of hundred tons of goddamned sand to haul outta here! Shit, thought this was gonna be a nice easy job. He turned to his business co-owner, Bill Kelly and continued. ''Thought you checked out this friggin' pile of shit before we bid on it.

''I did! replied Kelly, ''Didn't figure a little sand would bother you, so I didn't worry about it.

''Shit, this ain't ordinary sand, you bonehead, he replied in his usual joking banter with his good friend and partner. It's friggin' frac sand. Where are we gonna throw this shit?"

Frac sand is worth money. I will call some of the drilling companies in Houston. Bet they'll buy it.

''Okay, buddy you do that. I'm gonna look for what else we gotta get rid of in here. You start callin'"

While his partner was on the phone, Wilson toured around the old warehouse, looking for anything salvageable that might help improve his profit on this underbid job. He found several rooms with some articles of beat-up office furniture, a few movie posters, and not much else. He examined the wall, and thought maybe he could sell the panels, which looked like real wood. He was tapping one and heard a hollow noise from it. Pushing on it, the panel gave way and swung to one side exposing a large cabinet. It was locked, but using a small blade on his multi-tool he always carried, Wilson managed to pick the lock. He opened the cabinet and saw stacks of large round canisters. Each container was labelled with a logo, Brimstone Productions and title along with dates and many sets of numbers.

''Hmm,'' said Wilson, ''Might be some treasure trove of old forgotten movies."

''What treasure trove?" asked Kelly

''Jesus Christ, Bill!'' yelled Wilson, ''You tryin' to give me a goddamned heart attack?"

''Sorry, buddy. Thought you heard me. Whatcha got?"

''Dunno. Maybe it’s some great collector items or a bunch a shit. Whadya find out about the sand?"

''Talked to a company called Wellfrac. They said if it was clean and actual frac sand, they would give us fifty bucks a ton and come here to haul it away,'' answered Kelly.

''Good deal my friend. When are they coming?"

''Guy'll be here in a couple of hours."

''Okay,'' replied Wilson. ''I'm gonna stick these cans of movies or whatever they are in my truck. You can keep looking around."

''Alright,'' replied Kelly. ''Don't open those in the sun. Might be antique porn, and you'll ruin them."

Wilson carried the ten cans of whatever out to his truck and returned to the building to wait for the drilling guys to show up and check out the sand.

Wilson drove home from the site after finishing up instead of going to his office first, as he usually did. He was met at the door by his seventeen-year-old son as he pushed on the doorbell button with his elbow, since his hands were full of the movie cans.

His son was a clone of his father; he was a handsome young man, maybe half an inch taller than his dad. He had the same strong face and thick hair. Although he lacked his father's build, he was still a very solidly built teen who participated in sports without being fanatical about it. He never considered himself a jock and was still a little shy around the pretty girls who vied for his attention.

''Whatcha got Dad?" asked Jeremy, as he helped his father with the load.

''Not sure son,'' replied Wilson. ''Found them at a site today. Maybe old movies or garbage. Didn't want to open them in the sun in case they dissolved or something."

''Yeah, I heard that the old celluloid films deteriorated rapidly in hot dry air."

''Yeah? replied the father, ''Where did you hear that?

''Gordie Mayer, a guy in one of my classes collects old movie reels and shit, I mean, stuff, like that,'' replied Jeremy, turning a little red in the face.

''Hey! replied Wilson, ''Maybe you could ask him about these. You know, don't wanna ruin them in case they’re valuable.

''Sure Dad, '' answered the son, ''I'll see him…,''

His mother, Susie, coming into the hallway, cut him off.

''What are you two plotting?" she asked with a big smile.

After Wilson explained again, what he had, his wife replied.

''You never know. Maybe you hit the mother lode this time, Susie said with another smile, ''but dinner is ready, so go wash up.

Two days later Wilson came home and after getting cleaned up went into the family room where his son was watching TV.

''Hey, Jeremy. he said, ''How's things, son?

''Good, Dad, How's it going?"

‘‘Oh, you know. Tear this down, and that down, haul it away, make a couple of bucks."

''Oh yeah, Gordie said to ask you, where'd you get those films?"

''In an old warehouse. Why?"

''He said he hoped you didn't mind, but he wanted to check out to see if there was anything on the film."

‘‘No, I don't mind. What'd he find?"

''He says they are old movie reels. Probably the sixties, thirty-five millimetre. Black and white.

''What kind of shape are they in?"

''Gordie says they are in like new condition. The only way he knew they were thirty years old is because the company went outta business in sixty-nine."

''So he knows who made them?"

''Yeah, but he says it's weird. The movie looks like it was supposed to be a sci-fi about the moon, but he says it has ASEC footage in it."

''Hmm, sounds interesting. Can you get in touch with your buddy and maybe we can see him after supper?"

''Jeeze, Dad, he is not my buddy; he's a real geek. I just know him; I don't hang around with him."

''Sorry, Jeremy, didn't want to burst your Mr. Cool reputation. We can give you a disguise if we meet up with him,'' replied Wilson with a grin, noticing the slight red tinge on his son's cheeks.

Later, after supper, Wilson and his son drove over to Gordie's home.

When he met the tall gangly teenager, he had to agree with his son that Gordie did indeed look like a nerd, or geek. He couldn't remember what his son had called him. He was just a shade shorter than Jeremy, but much thinner. He could be called wiry, was the first thought going through Wilson's head. Jeremy had about thirty pounds on this kid. His reddish blonde hair was cut in a bowl like shape and his nose was a little too big for his long face. All he needed to complete the 'geek' label was a pair of black framed glasses. However, looks weren't everything was a rule Wilson lived by, so he was not about to judge the boy until he got to know him.

After meeting Gordie's parents, the teen took Wilson and his son to his bedroom. The large room looked more like some kind of lab. There was equipment everywhere, most of which Wilson could not identify, competing for space on the floor with the bed, dresser and a chair.

As they manoeuvred through the room trying not to disturb anything, which was difficult, Gordie directed them to sit on his bed.

''Mr. Wilson,'' began Gordie, ''these are very interesting films. Jeremy says you found them in an old warehouse?"

''That's right, Gordie. Whatcha think they are?"

''Well, sir, he began, looking first at Jeremy then back to Wilson, ''if I didn't know better, I would say they came from ASEC. From what I've seen so far, and I hope you don't mind, I started checking the reels and got carried away. They're amazing!

''Oh, not at all Gordie. I appreciate that you took the time to look at them. Anyway, you said they are amazing. In what way?"

''Well, sir,'' he started again, ''like I said, these could have come from ASEC. I am sure I can prove they are film taken on the moon. Your films have similar, no, they have exactly the same sequences and audio as the television broadcasts of the moon expedition. It is like someone copied the broadcast from the lunar transmissions, but I have no idea how that could have been be done. There is no way to film a TV broadcast with a movie camera and get the definition these films have, he stopped and looked at Wilson, and then continued. ''There were crude video cassette recorders around, but there is no way they could get the quality of reproduction you have, and I don't know how they could film a taped program, either.

Wilson took his cue and spoke up. ''Could somebody from ASEC have copied the films and sold them to someone and that someone stored them at the warehouse?"

''That can be done, sir. However, these are thirty-five millimetre film size. A movie producer would use that size for the original master film. The copies are made from that master. I don't believe this is a copy."

So what are you saying, Gordie?

''I am saying, that what you have appears to be the original or the master. This is not a copy."

''Why do you think it's not a copy, Gordie?"

''A couple of things, Mr. Wilson, said the teen, The film is definitely not distribution quality, it is expensive, master quality film; and most importantly, it is a positive, not a negative. That means it was mastered to make copies from."

''So would that make it more valuable?"

''I don't think you can put a price on this for a few reasons, sir. What you have is something strange. What I mean, ah, what I'm trying to say is how did the original transmission of the first man on the moon end in a warehouse you are tearing down?" Gordie asked, turning a little red when he thought he was challenging the man.

''You make a good point, son,'' replied Wilson. ''But you seem to have a good grip on this. Tell me what you think." He finished, winking at his son.

''This is really a mystery to me, Mr. Wilson. Like I said to Jeremy, I have no idea how these films got into your warehouse."

''Gordie, Jeremy has told about your expertise and just listening to you I can appreciate you know what you are talking about. I know I can trust you, so this is what I would ask you to do for me. I believe what you say is true, so I gotta do some research on it. Meanwhile, would you make a copy from the master, put the master away so it won't be found, and I need to ask you to keep this to yourself. This is very important. If someone finds out what we have, it could be a problem. I don't want this public until I figure out what's going on."

''Sure thing Mr. Wilson, I'll make a copy and let Jeremy know when you can pick it up."

''Thanks Gordie, I appreciate that. How did you get into this? asked Wilson, with a sweeping motion of his arm around the room. Looks like a lot of expensive equipment."

''My mother's brother used to work for a small studio in Wilkes-Barre Pennsylvania. They made movies for HBO. Once their contract ended, the company figured they made enough money, so shut the place down; my uncle bought the place from his former bosses for a good price and made a few small films. I worked with him during the summers and learned a lot. Anyway, when digital took over, the DVD especially, he called it quits. He was gonna junk everything, so I asked if I could have it. Well as you can see by this room, he said yes,'' replied Gordie with a grin.

''Sounds neat, Gordie, but I think we have kept you long enough. Thanks for your help and the education. Very interesting."

''You're very welcome. It’s not often anybody wants to hear about my hobby. I'll let Jeremy know when I'm finished,'' he added.

On the way home, Jeremy turned to his dad and said. ''Whadya think of Gordie? A little strange, isn't he?"

''Most intelligent people have been labelled strange by those who don't understand them. Maybe he isn't tuned to the same channel as us, but he seems like a good kid," replied Wilson.

''Yeah, he never bothers anyone,'' answered Jeremy, ''and he sure knows a lotta shit, er stuff."

''Pretty interesting stuff about the film,'' said Wilson. ''I’ll have to do a little research and see what I can find out."

''Whadya think it means if Gordie is right and the film is the original one of the moon landing?"

''That's a weird one, son. If Gordie says there was no way it coulda been copied from the TV transmission, then it might mean that somebody stole or was given that film by ASEC, and that part really makes no sense. I can't believe ASEC would give away a master copy or if somebody stole it, what good would it be to them?"

''Well people steal valuable paintings. Maybe some rich collector wanted it. You know like somebody stealing the moon rocks and trying to sell them,'' replied Jeremy.

''Don't know, Jeremy, like I said, this is a strange one. Anyway, we won't solve it tonight,'' answered Wilson, ''and like I asked Gordie, keep this to yourself. Don't want too many knowing about this until I figure out what it is. Okay?"

''Sure, Dad, I know nothing!" he replied with a smile.

A couple of days later, Jeremy informed his father that the copy promised by Gordie was ready, so they picked it up, along with originals, and left a copy as promised with Gordie after thanking him for his help.

''Oh you're welcome, Mr. Wilson. That was a very interesting movie. Having watched it again while making the duplicate, I am positive that you have the original and not a copy."

''You could have given me a copy and kept the original, I wouldn't have known the difference,'' replied Wilson.

''The way to tell you have the original is every twenty-fifth frame has a little BP symbol etched on the film. This is how the filmmaker protects his movie. The copy will not have the mark, only the positive original''

''Thanks for your honesty Gordie, and the education. Pretty interesting stuff."

The teen just smiled and nodded, then asked. Can I ask what you are going to do with it?

''Not really certain Gordie. I am not sure how to go about authenticating this film."

''If I were you, I would start with trying to find out about the company that made it, Brimstone Productions. Maybe they can shed some light on it."

The next morning, Wilson and Kelly were measuring the building components to calculate how many loads and what equipment they would need to complete the task. Taking a couple of minutes while his partner was measuring the I-beam spans, Wilson went on a final sweep of the office area just in case he had missed anything. Opening the many desk drawers of