This post was inspired by a prompt in the Worldbuilding Community - Worldbuilding Prompt #1010 - Going for a Walk
Enjoy !
Image created by AI in NightCafe Studio
"I saw the way you looked at her, Mark. You're disgusting !"
Marie's face was twisted with rage, as she advanced on her husband, finger jabbing at him like a dagger.
"I didn't look at her any way. You're deluded ! The girl's seventeen years old and the daughter of my closest colleague and best friend."
"Yes, and you still want to screw her, you dirty old pervert. I've seen how she comes on to you, and you play along with it. You're just waiting until my back is turned one day, aren't you !"
"Damn it, Marie, you're making it all up. I do believe you're just jealous ! You've got no reason to be. You look great for your age, the low gravity does wonders for your figure. But we knew being pioneers in the first colony city would be tough. It's strain on all of us, we just have to get through it."
"Great for my age ? You shit ! I bet you've had her already, probably a threesome with Geoff's wife as well as his daughter. I'm not just going to get through it, as you say. I want out. Get me on the next ship back to Earth, Mark. Or else !"
"Oh stop being so stupid, Marie. There's no reasoning with you when you're in this mood. I'm going out for a walk. It'll give you time to calm down."
The last thing Mark heard from her as he turned on his heel and left their two-room Hab-partment was her mocking voice. "A walk ? We live in a goldfish bowl of a dome town a mile in diameter stuck on the dark side of the Moon. There's nowhere to walk to."
He didn't care. He had to just get away from her for a bit. Stuck in two small rooms, working hard and under permanent stress, and on top of each other with not enough personal space and a limited circle of other humans was just too much.
With tears in his eyes, he stomped across town. It didn't take long. Away. He had to get some head space. The dome was claustrophobic.
Almost without thinking, he found himself at one of the airlocks. On autopilot, he pulled on one of the communal extra-dome suits. Twisting the helmet on and plugging in the nearest air-pack, he cycled himself through the airlock as he'd done a thousand times before.
But this time, he wasn't going out to program the mining AI's or fix a broken rover-truck.
He was going walkabout. Going for a walk. Trying to maintain his sanity. He picked a peak as a guide point and started walking.
At first in a state of blind anger and confusion at what Marie had said, thoughts boiling in his head on a loop. After a while, he calmed down. It was a slow process. Eventually, he looked up at the sky. Pitch black, with a scattering of bright pin-pricks of light. No sign of Earth; the base was on the dark side of the Moon.
It was, he thought, quite beautiful. It reminded him of why they were out here. The first pioneers, setting up the infrastructure for a new life for humanity. It was a worthwhile project.
The sharp bleating of a buzzer broke his reverie. He hit a button under the left wrist of his suit to bring up the head-up display. It popped up in feint green characters on the plexiglass of his helmet.
"Replace Air Pack. 30 minutes remaining."
He had committed the cardinal sin. Distracted and running on adrenaline, he'd lost track of time. The most important thing the instructors had told him on his first Moonwalk. He looked at the other side of the display.
It read; "Distance to Dome; 5 miles. Walking time; 75 minutes."