STRANGE SCIENCE FICTION AND FANTASY OMNIBUS by Benson Grayson Page B

unloaded promptly and sent by rail to the Russian space launch facility at Baikonur in Kazakhstan. After his press conference, at which he repeated the statements on Russian policy toward Ukraine which he had told Putin, Hawthorne and Mathews were flown on Putin’s personal jet to Baikonur.
    The lift off a few days later went according to plan. Mathews, extremely nervous and not certain that the capsule would actually survive in space, found that when he took control it functioned perfectly. The capsule and its two man crew enjoyed an uneventful flight to the Moon with everything going well except for Hawthorne’s stomach, which rebelled at the feeling of weightlessness in space. At the critical moment when the capsule was to land on the Moon’s surface, Mathews did an excellent job, executing a smooth landing.
    As soon as the ship stopped moving, Hawthorne rushed to dress himself to begin his exploration. He had equipped the capsule with only one protective suit, seeing no reason why Mathews needed to leave the ship. Giving Mathews instructions to prepare for a return to Earth as soon as he returned, Hawthorne went through the airlock and stepped down onto the moon.
    Hawthorne did not expect to spend much time on the moon. He was quite sure that he would learn enough in a few minutes to confirm his suspicion that no human had ever actually landed on the moon, and that all accounts to the contrary had been fabricated for ulterior purposes. He felt much better even in his confining space suit than he had during the trip, his stomach having returned to normal.
    Notwithstanding the heavy space suit, Hawthorne made good progress, aided by his much lighter gravity on the moon. He ascended a small hill and then saw in front of him a depression in the surface, about twelve feet deep and probably some thirty yards long and wide. In the center was a large circular mound. The height above the mound declined on a gentle gradient and Hawthorne was able to walk down it with no difficulty.
    Nearing the mound, he changed his mind about it. It did not look like a hill and in fact like something not naturally made. Could it be a house? His mind rebelled at that thought. Circling the mound he saw what might be a door. Feeling very foolish he approached it and knocked. The door swung open. Inside Hawthorne saw a human type figure. At first glance, it appeared to be his own height, but when looking down he realized it was floating about a foot in the air. It was wearing some type of white garment and emitted a type of soft radiance.
    “Are you a Moon Man?” Hawthorne asked, hardly believing his eyes and feeling very foolish in asking.
    “Don’t be idiotic!” came back the answer in perfect English. “What else could I be? Do you really think I might be a Martian?”
    Hawthorne was taken aback. He was pondering what to say when the Moon Man went on. “You might as well take off that helmet you’re wearing around your head. There is plenty of oxygen in this depression for you to breathe properly.”
    Feeling he was taking a dangerous risk, Hawthorne unscrewed his helmet, removed it, turned off the oxygen supply coming from the tube mounted in the back of his space suit, and took a breath of the air. It was surprisingly fresh.
    “You see, “said the Moon Man triumphantly. “Now sit down and make yourself comfortable.
    Hawthorne sat down on what looked like a chair. Apparently the Moon people did not always float in the air but availed themselves of furniture. “Would you care for some Moi?” The Moon Man asked, speaking more politely than before. Before Hawthorne could answer, he poured a thick, viscous red liquid from a flask into a metal goblet and handed it to Hawthorne. The visitor from Earth tasted it, found it surprisingly refreshing and downed the contents.
    “What is this?” he asked. “I didn’t think you could grow anything on the Moon.”
    “We can’t,” came back the reply. “Moi is an organic compound