Read Online Project U.L.F. by Stuart Clark - Free Book Online

director,” said Alan as he stepped into a speed lift.
    “Great! Is there any chance I can get into one of the control domes?”
    “I’ll see what I can do. Down one hundred and twenty seven floors please.”
    “Complying,” came another voice.
    The curved door slid shut across the entrance. Within seconds the door slid open again.
    Alan stepped past her into the lobby. “Your room’s down here. Come on.”
    Kate cautiously stepped out into the corridor, which stretched away almost as far as she could see. She couldn’t believe they had descended so far so fast. Again, the walls were of the same clinical whiteness, almost dazzlingly bright.
    “So what are you doing here?” Alan’s curiosity had gotten the better of him.
    “I’m here on a placement, from my university actually.”
    “Oh, really? Where did you study?”
    “Princeton. I did biology there.”
    “I heard Princeton has the best biology course around.”
    “They do, and I was the best in my year. That’s the reason I’m here. I basically won the placement. It’s like a school prize.”
    After a few twists and turns they found themselves outside her door.
    “You’ll need to identify yourself to the computer as the new occupant of the room. Place your hand on the imprint plate and follow the instructions.”
    Above the imprint plate, which comprised a flat plate of glass in an alcove in the wall, was a small keypad and a speaker. Another voice stated, “Ident sequence initiated. State your name please.”
    “Kate Frere.”
    “Thank you. Checking records.”
    Alan stood smiling, fatherly, next to her. “That’s just so the computer can recognize your voice when you’re in your quarters,” he confided to her.
    The computer-generated voice came again. “Check complete. Frere, Kate S., arrived 1440 hours standard Earth time aboard shuttle Aurora. Ident accepted.”
    With the conclusion of the message the door slid away from in front of them.
    On the newly revealed wall opposite them there was a window through which they could see a panorama of countryside. The hills were a patchwork of greens, browns and yellows.
    “Wow! What a beautiful view!” exclaimed Kate. Then she remembered that she must be at least a mile and a half under the surface of the moon, “But…?”
    Alan stepped into the living quarters, explaining the anomaly. “The view is a computer-generated image. The boundaries of the image can be altered so you can have it fill the whole wall if you like, or you can simply make the frame smaller so you see a snippet of it.” Alan ordered the computer to make a number of modifications to illustrate his explanation. “Most people prefer having the image in the form of a window, the idea of being this far below ground makes them jittery for some reason and the window idea makes them feel better, makes it feel more like a home. You’ll find other windows in other rooms, but this is the only one that is adjustable. Anyway, dump your gear…” he said, indicating her rucksack, “…and take a look around. I’ll fix us some drinks.”
    The living quarters were very much like a standard two-story apartment. Bedroom and bathroom upstairs, kitchen and living room downstairs. The upper floor had a third room, too small to be a second bedroom but too large to be a coat room.
    “What’s this room for?” Kate called to Alan who was ascending the stairs with a glass in each hand.
    “Which…? Oh, that one. Well you can use it for storage purposes if you like, but this is in fact a sensory stimulus room. It can be whatever you want…within reason,” he shot her a smirk. “For example, you remember the scene from the window downstairs?”
    “Yeah, sure.”
    “Well, take a look at this. Computer, I’m on a balcony and I’m looking out over a field of poppies.” As Alan described the environment he professed to be in, the scene appeared around them. The floor became whitewashed wood before their eyes and a balustrade appeared in