The module lounge was quiet this evening, which suited Lou Corlin just fine. Normally he would call Emiko, maybe even FaceTime if they both felt up to it. But with Shepardsport’s data connections with the rest of the universe being in disarray, that wasn’t going to be possible.
Earlier today they’d been texting back and forth. Now even SMS was bouncing, which suggested that the problem had becoming worse.
His phone chimed mail. A quick check of his mail revealed several new messages, including one from Emiko.
When he opened it, he realized from the context that she must’ve sent it several hours earlier. Which meant it had taken this long for the store-and-forward mailservers to get it from Grissom City to Shepardsport.
At least everything she had to say was routine, the usual work, training, and teaching responsibility. Given what was happening down on Earth, and the fact that Slayton Field was the Moon’s busiest port of entry, it was hard not to fear the worst when he didn’t hear from her at all.
A sound from behind him attracted his attention, and he looked up to find Brenda Redmond giving him a worried look. “Hi, Lou. You mind if I join you?”
Lou was about to balk, then remembered that Brenda’s husband was also over at Grissom City. As a pilot-astronaut, he’d be living in the Roosa Barracks, right where everyone was coming and going.
Lou moved the bag with his laptop and graphics tablet to free some space on the sofa. “Go right ahead. We’re both in the same fix right now. I just got the e-mail that Emiko sent me about four hours ago.”
“At least you got it.” Brenda paused, as if considering what to say next. “About ten minutes ago, I got an e-mail from Drew, but when I tried to pull it up, the mail app said the message had no content.”
“Strange.” Lou considered the information, wished he knew a lot more about e-mail protocols. Almost all his work for IT had been with the big number-crunchers the science departments used. “Maybe we’d better check it out, especially if it would help get a handle on whatever’s blocking our connections with Earth. I can ask some of the people I know down in IT from my work there.”