Ric had filled out the application when he was barely out of college. He really hadn’t thought he’d even be considered for the position, but when they called less than a week later to say he had the job, he was totally dumbfounded. As a newly minted systems engineer, he thought he’d have to wait years before he could get to space. But the Consortium seemed to think he had what they needed, so a couple of weeks later, after some of the most rigorous training he’d ever had, he found himself on a rocket making his first trip to the moon.

He was into his third 6 month rotation when he was assigned to an EVA expedition to investigate a possible cave opening that had been spotted from orbit. With more and more people coming to the moon The Consortium was looking for fast and easy ways to create shelter. It was one of his jobs to assess finds like this and evaluate the practicality of using lava tubes and any other natural lunar feature that might allow human survival in an environment that is the antithesis of life. serve the purpose of protecting that fragile bag of skin that we call our bodies.

Unfortunately, (or maybe not) they found it to be little more than an overhang once they arrived at the crater. And a thin one at that. It was while they were surveying the terrain that the discovery was made. One of the geologists’ attention was drawn to something strange about the rim of another crater in the distance. That something was a straight line. In the jumbled and blasted surface of the moon, the LAST thing you expect to see is a straight line. And this straight line was several hundred feet long.

At first, it was impossible to understand what could create such a thing in such a place. Closer examination showed that the “straight” line was the peak of something MUCH larger and not a natural feature. In In fact, that peak was 100% artificial and NOT created by man. Later investigation showed that it was indeed some kind of spacecraft. But investigating The Wreck was only possible on the moon.

Shortly after the news broke, the Consortium announced that they would create a site they would name Selene City. The plan was to use a small impact crater to build a multi-level base that could accommodate thousands of people. It would take years to construct, but was necessary if humanity wanted to study the Wreck.

It is well documented that this single discovery created more chaos and controversy than any other discovery in human history. To this day there are those who will deny the existence of extraterrestrial life, let alone intelligent life. That one single discovery overturned nearly every major religion on the planet. Those who accepted the discovery that we are not alone became obsessed with learning everything possible from the Wreck.

Naturally, Ric wanted in on that and promptly signed an open-ended contract. That was years ago and now he was the director of mechanical operations with a staff of nearly 200 people. He only answered to the current City director, and the Consortium Council back on Earth.