Moon Zero Two

In May 2021, the Moon is in the process of being colonized, attracting a diverse population to Moon City, Farside 5 and other lunar settlements. The frontier atmosphere is rough, with new social schemes and rivalries shaping the micro-society. The stage is set for ambition, profit, and danger among the settlers.

Hubbard, a wealthy denizen, and Bill Kemp, a former-astronaut turned satellite-salvager, embody the frontier's conflicting motives. Hubbard plans to exploit rare resources for profit, while Kemp longs to push the boundaries of space exploration. Their paths will cross with high stakes as the story unfolds.

Hubbard hires Kemp to capture a 6000-tonne sapphire asteroid in low lunar orbit. Kemp is tasked with transporting it down to the farside surface, even though such an act would violate Space Corporation law. The scheme hinges on the promise of lucrative insulation materials for future rockets.

Kemp learns that Space Corporation plans to revoke his flight license, pressuring him to accept Hubbard's risky plan. The offer is framed as a chance to act before corporate rules clamp down and to profit from a crucial space-age resource.

A young woman named Clementine arrives at Spectacle Crater on the lunar farside, seeking her missing miner brother. The journey from Moon City to Spectacle Crater would take six days by a wheeled lunar vehicle. The reunion quest becomes entangled with Kemp's mission.

Clementine convinces Kemp to help her determine if her brother is alive. Kemp agrees, guiding them through rough terrain after landing near Spectacle Crater with a transport buggy. The uneasy alliance sets the stage for a dangerous search.

The duo discovers Clementine's brother is dead at his camp, murdered for discovering a large nickel vein. The find hints at immense wealth and increases Hubbard's desperation to control the claim. The tragedy adds personal stakes to the on-site conflict.

Hubbard's men ambush Kemp and Clementine, forcing a desperate fight for survival. Kemp shoots back, eliminating the attackers one by one and protecting the unlikely partnership. The skirmish tightens the danger surrounding the mission.

Hubbard reveals he was responsible for Clementine's brother's death and uses the threat to her safety to coerce Kemp back into the asteroid job. Kemp faces a moral crossroads as corporate power collides with personal loyalties. The pressure escalates as time runs out.

Kemp strands Hubbard and his remaining man on the large sapphire asteroid just before the retro-rockets fire, sending the rock toward the lunar surface. The bold move thwarts Hubbard's plan but leaves the criminals stranded. Clementine's fate and future ownership become more certain as the craft heads away.

With Clementine being her brother's next of kin, she gains legal ownership of the nickel vein and the crashed sapphire asteroid. The windfall makes her a very wealthy woman and shifts the power dynamics on the farside mining frontier. The resolution cements her as the primary beneficiary of the conflict.

The immediate threats fade as Clementine's wealth and property claims redefine the frontier. Kemp walks a fine line between independence and corporate power, having chosen loyalty over profit. Hubbard's ambitions crumble as his schemes collapse around him.