Chapter 18
I might be interested if the price is right … Have you any proof that the goods are what you say they are? Thad hunched over his laptop as he sat on the edge of his and Sonya’s bed, trying to convince himself that he should just hit the delete key, send the little packet of electronic information into the black hole of nonexistence, forget that he’d ever gotten the response, forget about the whole mental game he was playing, forget about the lunar vault and that little door that led to the safe filled with lunar “trash.” Because now it was beginning to feel less like a game and more like something real. Here, in front of him, was a response—from some guy in Belgium, a mineral collector, a rock hound, with the Hollywood-ready name of Axel Emmermann. Axel Emmermann seemed ready and eager to commit what he had to know was a crime—purchasing an illegal “multicarat” moon rock from a stranger on the Internet. Thad was still playing a game, but this Axel Emmermann wasn’t; he was really looking to buy a piece of the moon. Thad ran a hand through his flop of curly auburn hair. He was wearing only a bathing suit, having just come back from a day of scuba instruction at the local Y . His hair was still damp, and he could feel the goose bumps rising across his naked chest and back. He was in no rush to get dressed, even though he was supposed to be getting ready for dinner. He really had no interest in going out with Sonya and her friends tonight—even before he’d gotten the e-mail from the Belgian gem collector, he had contemplated telling Sonya that he wasn’t feeling well. There was a peal of sudden laughter from the direction of the living room, and Thad glanced up at the closed bedroom door. He didn’t
know how many of Sonya’s model buddies were gathered out there— when he’d come home from the pool, he’d counted at least four buffed and polished specimens, as well as at least three already opened bottles of red wine—but he didn’t think he could handle another evening of mindless conversation in some loud, overpriced, overly trendy restaurant. And now, looking at this e-mail, he knew there was no way he would even be able to fake his way through the ordeal. I might be interested if the price is right. … Thad shivered. He hadn’t really thought about price yet, even in the context of a mental game, because in truth, he hadn’t any idea how one would actually manage to pull off the heist. The lunar vault was unbelievably secure, from the keypad that got you over from Building 31 to the monitored entrance that led on through. Then there was the clean room and, of course, the huge steel vault door itself. The “trash” safe held about seventeen pounds of lunar rocks, but Thad didn’t think it would be possible to smuggle that much rock back through the clean room or past the security cameras. Which is why, in the original e-mail he had sent out to the dozens of foreign collectors, he had specified only a single “multicarat moon rock.” Working from that thought, he tried to figure out what kind of money he could ask for—how much imaginary cash he’d be demanding in return for his imaginary moon rock. Even though he remembered a single gram of lunar material was once put on the market for $5 million —and even if that number seemed ridiculous, he had read somewhere else that at a Sotheby’s auction, a gram of lunar material once went for $400,000—Thad didn’t intend to be anywhere near that greedy. He wanted this to be quick and easy, the kind of transaction that wouldn’t draw any attention. A Belgian gem collector couldn’t possibly have that kind of money, anyway; Thad needed to come up with a number that was both achievable and high enough to make it worth his while. Make it worth your while, he repeated to himself, incredulous at his own thoughts. Breaking into a NASA building, stealing the most valuable thing on Earth, endangering his chances of ever becoming an astronaut—Thad shook his head. That was only one way of looking at
the mental game. NASA had designated those rocks as trash, unusable. Thad could use the money to make himself a better scientist, a better candidate for the astronaut training program. He’d be out of debt; he’d have money to pay for schooling, research, whatever he needed. And if he became an astronaut, he might one day help NASA in its quest to get to Mars—which meant, in a way, this theft would be a good thing for the institution. He had to continue to think about the heist in those terms—because in those terms it was more than palatable, it was heroic and noble. Thad thought of himself as a scientist, and he would use whatever he earned from the heist to advance science. To advance himself, within the realm of science. And besides, you couldn’t get arrested for pulling off an imaginary heist, could you? Thad dried his damp hands on the blanket beneath him and looked at his e-mail account. He dashed off a quick message to Gordon, asking him to investigate this Axel Emmermann, to compile whatever he could find via the Internet and whatever other means he had at his disposal. Thad wanted to know whom he was dealing with before he took the next step. Meanwhile, he began to compose the response he would eventually send to the Belgian rock hound. He didn’t even notice when Sonya and her friends exited the house, trailing laughter, mindless banter, the cacophony of clinking wineglasses. He didn’t even notice as his green Toyota Tercel started up in the driveway, the tires spitting gravel as the group headed to the restaurant without him. Sonya hadn’t even remembered that he was supposed to be going to dinner with them— but Thad didn’t notice, and truthfully, if he had, he wouldn’t have cared.
sex on the moon - the amazing true story
Re: sex on the moon - the amazing true story
Chapter 19
Up in the air. It’s a bird. It’s a plane. It’s Emmermann … Axel grinned as he pictured himself flying circles around the sparkling blue sky over Antwerp, his charming potbelly struggling mightily to break free of a bright red spandex costume, a silken cape billowing behind him as the warm spring air whizzed about his aerodynamically bald forehead. He saw himself winding low above the sixteenth-century churches and castles, the tourists waving and applauding as he showered them with moon dust … His grin became an outright guffaw. Axel Emmermann, superhero. At the moment, Axel the superhero was on his knees in the little patch of dirt beneath the window of his living room, his face bright red as he fought a particularly villainous species of weed. He was using both hands in a patented throttle motion, pulling with all his strength as he attempted to dislodge the shock of bright green—a botanical brute that was strangling his wife’s parsley at the root. The damn thing was hanging on for dear life, and it felt as if the nasty plant’s tendrils were gripped around the very core of the Earth. He wished Christel could see him now, on his hands and knees in the mud, at the mercy of a brainless twist of plant. She would have seen for herself how amusing the label she had given him was. He was as far from a superhero as a forty-nine—soon to be fifty—year-old rock collector could be. But Christel was gone; she’d stormed off to the market right after Axel had sent his latest e-mail, leaving him alone in the house to face the nefarious weeds. Christel wasn’t really angry; it was more a mix of frustration, and maybe a little fear. Because many days had passed since Axel had sent his first response to Orb Robinson, Christel had assumed that the matter had been dropped. And rightly so. The other members of the mineral club had long forgotten the foolish hoax. But Axel was a
different breed, and even after a week he couldn’t seem to let the matter go. Maybe he was more like a weed than a superhero. That very morning, he had decided to take action. No spandex was involved. Just himself, in his gardening shorts, knee-high boots, and short-sleeve shirt, alone at his computer, just hours ago. It hadn’t been very hard to Google his way to the Web site for the Tampa, Florida, division of the FBI. He didn’t know for sure if Orb Robinson really resided in Tampa, but he couldn’t think of any better place to start. Certainly, the Belgian police force would not have gotten involved in a case of fraud like this. And he doubted that Interpol even had a Web site. Moon rocks were a uniquely American treasure, so if anyone should be investigating this, it was probably the FBI. Axel had crafted the e-mail carefully. His only mistake was to show it to his wife before he sent it: I am a mineral collector who lives in Belgium. Some weeks ago I was contacted via e-mail by a person, Orb Robinson, who claims to have some lunar rocks from NASA for sale. He also advertises on “the Virtual Quarry” of our Web site with the following ad: “Priceless Moon Rocks Now Available!!! …” I seriously think that this person is trying to swindle unsuspecting people out of a lot of money. I have answered his emails indicating that I would be interested in a buy if the price was right. If you want, I can forward these e-mails to you. I realize that this probably is a low-priority event, but nevertheless I would like to report it. Best Regards, Axel Emmermann Thinking back to Christel’s highly vocal response to the e-mail when he’d told her about it, Axel finally got a good grip on the weed and heaved his not so insignificant bulk backward; the weed finally came loose, nearly sending him tumbling back into the mud. He caught himself at the last minute and tossed the weed into a garbage pail. Then he rose heavily, his aging knees creaking with the motion. He shook the dirt from his bare legs and pulled off his muddied gloves. Then he headed back into the house.
As he approached the computer in the corner of the living room, he wondered if Christel was right. Not about him being a superhero, or about the danger of getting involved, but her observation that this really wasn’t about right and wrong, that Axel couldn’t let this rest because this, to him, was fun. It was a game, another hobby. Like popinjay, except instead of shooting arrows at a wooden bird affixed to a pole, he was casting e-mails at an invisible foe. It was true, he wasn’t working at the moment, having taken a short disability leave from the polyethylene plant where he was a quality control supervisor, due to a recurring injury, and rock collecting could only take up so many hours during the day. Archery filled most weekends—but maybe fighting crime would make up the difference. No doubt he felt a surge of adrenaline as he sat down in front of the computer. He wasn’t really expecting the FBI to answer him so quickly, but he had a feeling he’d be checking the computer more than a few times each day. Sooner or later, he would get a response. To his surprise, the minute he opened his account, he saw that there was a new message in his in-box—but not from the Tampa division of the FBI. Quite coincidentally, the e-mail was from Orb Robinson: Yes, valid proof will be provided. What is the approximate range of $/gram that you consider “right”? Let’s discuss your possible interest and see if we make a great business partnership. If you are truly interested then, I will provide you with more detailed information. Sincerely, Orb Robinson Axel couldn’t believe what he was reading. After more than a week, and directly after he had contacted the authorities—now this Robinson had finally answered him. Like the weed in his garden, the nutcase hadn’t just given up and gone away. Looking more carefully at the new e-mail, Axel immediately noticed something. Robinson was no longer talking about carats; now he was talking about dollars per gram. To a rock collector like Emmermann, it was a significant difference. Exactly how many moon rocks did this character have? Did he really think that a mineral expert would believe
he had in his possession many grams of the rarest substance on earth? Axel knew one thing for sure: he wasn’t going to wait for Christel to get back from the market to craft his response. He quickly came up with some numbers, almost off the top of his head. He was playing the role of an interested buyer, so he had to keep it believable. Hi Orb, If you can provide valid proof that these rocks are really lunar samples, I would be willing to buy if the price does not exceed 800$/ gram for rocks under 10 grams and 600$/gram for larger specimens. Axel Emmermann … It wasn’t until the next day that Robinson responded. At around nine in the morning, Axel was shuttling back and forth between the kitchen, where Christel was serving his son and daughter oversized waffles painted in more butter than was nutritionally safe, and the computer, checking his e-mail again and again—and then, there it was. Axel no longer even attempted to hide the burst of excitement that exploded across his face as he saw the new message: Axel Emmermann, Your prices are just fine; in fact I can do better than that, but I have minimum mass requirements. To give you an idea of my mass range, I would prefer to stay around 1 kilogram. The following is the breakdown of the varying price range … $500/g (.5–.64 kg) $400/g (.65–.85 kg) $300/g (.86–1.5 kg) Of course, verification will be provided before you purchase, I think that if you are seriously interested then we should meet and confirm this deal in person. Please let me know what you think. Sincerely, Orb Robinson
Axel leaned back in his chair. Carats had become grams, and now grams had become kilos. Christ, this hoaxer was brazen. Axel quickly did the calculations in his head. At the prices Orb Robinson was quoting, one kilogram of moon rock would cost around $300,000. It was nowhere near what real moon rocks were worth—but it was an enormous amount of money to a man like Axel. Even talking about trading that kind of money for an illegal specimen caused his crimefighting hackles to rise. This wasn’t a little hoax—it was significant. Reading the e-mail again, Axel began to think that maybe he had taken this as far as he could go. He now had this hoaxer quoting prices, and the only thing left was for him to fill a suitcase, hop on a plane, and head to Tampa. Of course, he was never going to do that. In forty-nine years, he had never been far outside of Belgium. Certainly not to the United States. And he had no interest in buying what was most likely a huge chunk of fake moon rock. If this was going to go any further, someone else was going to have to take charge. … Two days later, Emmermann was back at the computer when the cavalry finally came riding in. He clicked open the e-mail as soon as he saw the header—from the Tampa division of the FBI. Mr. Emmermann: First, thank you for forwarding this information to me. You have piqued my interest. Second, I’m afraid I am somewhat less than familiar with the laws surrounding the sale and/or possession of moon rocks. I assume—based on the letter from Robinson—that it is probably illegal. In fact, I would guess that Mr. Robinson is either in possession of contraband or is misrepresenting (in an effort to defraud someone) a more mundane mineral, i.e. he is violating the law in one way or another. Could you please let me know if my assumptions are correct? Last, if we do initiate an investigation into this matter, would you be willing to introduce an investigator to Robinson as your
representative in the States? Since Robinson has contacted you already, your credibility with him must be sufficient to quell any concerns he may have in conducting an illegal transaction with a complete stranger. Again, thank you for your alerting the FBI to this matter. SA Lawrence A. Wolfenden, Tampa Div’n Axel was initially surprised that the agent from the FBI seemed to be relying on his interpretation of the situation—that he was basically asking Axel for advice on whether this was something that was worth involving the FBI. At the same time, Axel felt a huge gush of pride. The FBI was contacting him from all the way across the world. His wife might make jokes, but he really was doing something real, putting something back in its proper place. If she wanted to call him a superhero, well, now he had something to show her. But before he printed out the e-mail to run around the house with, he crafted his response. Mr. Wolfenden, I believe that your assumptions are indeed correct. The chance that Mr. Robinson has lawfully acquired real samples of lunar rock from NASA is, in my opinion, next to impossible. Therefore he must be in violation of at least a few laws. The tone of his message also suggests to me that this is not his first attempt to swindle some gullible overseas buyer. I may be ahead of things but I wanted to see where this would lead to. I would be more than willing to introduce an investigator to him if you are willing to investigate this further. In my opinion it would be better that you draft a reply since you’re much more experienced in dealing with these kind of people. A real mineral collector (I’m not sure you have one of those on your team ) would express at least some concern about the verification. Of course, if I really was so gullible as to believe Mr. Robinson, I would be easily persuaded to buy if “my brother-in-law” was allowed to “take a look” at the rocks before buying. Since he already dove under my suggested price per gram, but his “multicarat” rocks have evolved
to boulders of a half kilo and more. This would be my reply if I was really an interested buyer … At this point in the e-mail, Axel drafted what he might say to Robinson if he was really going to go through with the transaction—but in a way to allow someone from the FBI to take over the situation, pretending to be his brother-in-law. Axel was really enjoying the creative aspect of this; it was as if he were a member of the FBI, plotting to bring down a master criminal. Of course, he didn’t really think Orb Robinson was a master criminal, just a nutcase trying to pull off a hoax. Nonetheless, it was gratifying work. Again to his surprise, the first response he got, later that day, wasn’t from the FBI. It seemed that Orb Robinson was getting impatient. Axel, Please indicate if you are interested and/or able to purchase a rare lunar piece. Timing for me is sensitive, so I won’t waste any of yours. We both know that you would be getting a great deal, and if you are still worried that I am trying to sell you a fake, good, I don’t want you to just take my word for it. Please let me address your voiced concerns. Just let me know what they are. Acquiring this specimen is a sensitive matter for me, as you can imagine, and that is why I have the minimum mass requirement. It is more a minimum financial barrier that makes this transaction worthwhile for me and my group. So if you are skeptical about the validity of the origins of the rock, good, I shall provide you with convincing evidence, when I believe that you are serious. If you are concerned that you cannot afford this transaction, I understand. Perhaps you could find a significant number of customers that would be interested in purchasing pieces of your lunar sample and then would have the incentive to make such an investment. Either way, even if you are no longer interested, please indicate it to me. Thank you, Orb Robinson Now this was truly fascinating. Orb Robinson had now become “me
and my group.” And even more interesting, Robinson had implied that the rocks had yet to be acquired. He didn’t have the moon rocks in his possession? It was something he was going to get, somehow? The size of the specimen had remained in the kilo area, but this seemed very significant. If this wasn’t just a hoax, if this Orb Robinson really was going to acquire moon rocks—then this was a crime that hadn’t yet happened. Axel ran a hand over his bald head. He had seen plenty of Hollywood movies, and he had always enjoyed the cat-and-mouse games played out between the cops and the robbers. Still, he did wonder—if he was offering money for these rocks, and that made Robinson go out and do something crazy to get them—was he actually inspiring the crime? Axel shrugged his meaty shoulders. Robinson had already done something illegal. He had endeavored to sell moon rocks over the Internet. Whether they were real or, more likely, part of a hoax—it wasn’t right. And if Axel hadn’t responded, maybe someone else would have. Axel had done everything right. He had contacted the authorities. This Orb Robinson seemed very eager to make the deal happen. He was the one pushing it along, he was the one sending out the e-mails. He was the one committing the crime. Axel wondered if Christel would agree. Soon he discovered the FBI certainly did. In a rather long e-mail, Special Agent Wolfenden told Axel exactly what sort of response he wanted Axel to send back to Orb Robinson. It was a play on the draft that Axel himself had written, which filled Axel with more pride. His creative crime-fighting juices had obviously been accurate. Any ethical questions disappeared as he read through the email. His “brother-in-law” had been changed to a “sister-in-law,” obviously because the FBI had a woman agent they wanted to use in the setup. But all in all, it was as Axel had planned: Hi Orb, Your prices are better than I hoped for but the specimens are quite large. You spoke of “multicarat rocks” but a 500 gram rock would cost me 250,000$ and that is no small change. This amount
is far out of my league and I would have to find one or more financial partners. Are these really the smallest rocks you have? I would be more interested in smaller specimens. I could always split up a larger rock for resale but it still is a large investment. Nevertheless, I can free 100,000$ on reasonably short notice. I would be happy to spend it on a single (authenticated) rock of at least 250 grams. I can’t free myself from work right now, so a meeting in person would have to wait until September. However, my brother and his wife live in Pennsylvania, U.S. I trust them completely and my sister-in-law is somewhat of a hobbyist in mineral collecting. She might be able to verify the rocks’ origin, I think. Would you be willing to deal with me through her? Sincerely, Axel Emmermann It wasn’t even a full day later when Robinson responded. Axel immediately forwarded the response to Agent Wolfenden. He felt a little like he was watching a movie in real time, played out over the Internet, these e-mails bouncing back and forth from the United States to Belgium and back to the United States. Who knows, maybe the criminal and the FBI were only a few miles apart, both communicating via a rock hound in Antwerp? It was the most exciting time in Axel’s life since his days in the army, even though he was doing little more than sitting in front of a computer screen in his living room. Axel, In attempt to keep things out in the open between us, I will address my concerns. As you well know, it is illegal to sell Apollo lunar rocks in the United States. This obviously has not discouraged me since I live in the United States. However, I must be cautious that this deal is handled with delicacy in that I am not publicly exposed. This same law that makes it illegal to sell Apollo lunar rocks also for our mutual benefit makes them quite rare and valuable. My projected return from this has been just over $250,000 and I would of course prefer to be involved in one business dealing and get it all over at once in order to minimize
my personal exposure. Having said that, if I can build some more trust with you, then perhaps I could do a deal with you for $150,000 and then if you find enough buyers you could buy the rest from me. As you can see this decreases my safety and increases my exposure and therefore I would only feel comfortable in doing this if I learned to trust you, which is difficult to do under the circumstances. Maybe you should give me the names of your relatives/contacts in the United States and then have them e-mail me and we shall begin to build a level of trust from that. I could meet them in the United States and then settle our mutual concerns and verify the authenticity of the specimens through them. I can acquire three very unique and valuable specimens and I am waiting to provide you with the details about them until I have built some more trust. One of them does involve dust. Please let me know if it is impossible for you to find some more investors in order to make this in one purchase. I would prefer that over two purchases. Either way I am interested in developing this business relationship with you. And I wish you a hefty profit from our encounter. Please reply with your thoughts and or concerns. Thank you. Sincerely, Orb Robinson Axel contemplated Orb Robinson’s tone as much as the message itself. It seemed the little hoaxer was getting frustrated with Axel’s limited funds—and he also seemed very eager to get this thing done. He also mentioned “three very unique and valuable specimens,” which seemed specific. If this was a hoax, why would he make any specifications at all? Axel fought the urge to respond on his own, waiting until the FBI sent him a draft of what he was supposed to say: Mr. Emmermann: Following is the reply we’d like to send to Robinson: Hi Orb, I would prefer to make the first purchase at 100,000$ as we
have discussed. If the lunar rocks are proven authentic and all goes well, I will have a much easier time of convincing others to invest and help with a second purchase. I have spoken to my brother and sister-in-law and they would be willing to purchase the lunar rocks for me. As I may have told you earlier, my sister-in-law is a hobbyist in mineral collecting. She has allowed me to provide you her e-mail address, which is [email protected] and said she’d be willing to stand in for me in this initial transaction. Although I trust my sister-in-law, I do not necessarily trust her abilities completely. How will you provide that the lunar rocks you offer are real? Can you provide me some documentation as well? Are they meteorites or samples from one of the Apollo missions? I would not be interested in purchasing meteorites. Sincerely, If Robinson likes this, I think the next message will probably be directly to myself and Agent Nance. I’ll let you know. SA Lawrence A. Wolfenden, Tampa Div’n Axel understood, reading the new letter as he forwarded it along to Orb Robinson under his own e-mail identification, that from here on out, if things went well, Robinson would be contacting his “sister-in-law” directly, and the FBI would probably be able to take over from there. There was a sense of deflation as he realized that he was giving up his front-row view of the investigation in progress, but really, there wasn’t much more he could do from Antwerp, and he wasn’t about to jump on a plane to meet face-to-face with a master criminal. From the sound of the e-mail, it seemed the FBI was going to put together $100,000 to try to entice this Orb Robinson to make the deal. Agent Wolfenden seemed to be taking this quite seriously. The next e-mail from Robinson, just one hour and eighteen minutes later—the last one Axel would receive for quite some time—made it clear that no matter how seriously Agent Wolfenden was taking the situation, it wasn’t any sort of overkill. If this was a hoax, Robinson was going to take it right up to the edge of the precipice, right up to the exchange of money for rubble:
Axel, Since I am confident of the authenticity of these rocks, I will hope that you are able to find many customers quickly after our first transaction, and will for now continue planning on making this transaction. I will e-mail your sister-in-law and begin setting up a meeting time and location. You make sure she is prepared to pay in cash, and I’ll make sure that she has all the relevant documents and publications on the individual specimens. The type of proof I will be providing will be the scientific publications, which can be easily verified and reproduced by you. In these documents/publications, there are quantitative measures describing the samples, photos, and unfakable descriptions of them. I encourage you to have your sister-in-law bring all the scientific equipment she has access to if she wants to double and triple check the samples for the accurate properties. I cannot alert you as to which exact samples will be involved before the trade, because the exposure becomes too high. However, I understand that during a transaction she, and I assume that her husband will be there for her protection, will want to have ample time to check the samples before purchase. So we will discuss the details of the transaction at great detail before it takes place. Please continue to stay in touch with me, and inform me of any changes, concerns, or updates. Thank you. Orb Reading this last e-mail, Axel had to admit that this was no longer sounding like an elaborate hoax. Maybe his wife had been right to be concerned; maybe there really was some level of danger in this can of worms. Axel was glad that he had brought the FBI into this—that the real authorities were going to handle it from here. Because superhero or not, Axel didn’t feel like he was playing a game anymore. This was beginning to feel like something that was deadly serious—and whatever was going to happen, it was going to happen soon. Axel was now pretty sure of one thing. Orb Robinson was about to commit a major crime.
Up in the air. It’s a bird. It’s a plane. It’s Emmermann … Axel grinned as he pictured himself flying circles around the sparkling blue sky over Antwerp, his charming potbelly struggling mightily to break free of a bright red spandex costume, a silken cape billowing behind him as the warm spring air whizzed about his aerodynamically bald forehead. He saw himself winding low above the sixteenth-century churches and castles, the tourists waving and applauding as he showered them with moon dust … His grin became an outright guffaw. Axel Emmermann, superhero. At the moment, Axel the superhero was on his knees in the little patch of dirt beneath the window of his living room, his face bright red as he fought a particularly villainous species of weed. He was using both hands in a patented throttle motion, pulling with all his strength as he attempted to dislodge the shock of bright green—a botanical brute that was strangling his wife’s parsley at the root. The damn thing was hanging on for dear life, and it felt as if the nasty plant’s tendrils were gripped around the very core of the Earth. He wished Christel could see him now, on his hands and knees in the mud, at the mercy of a brainless twist of plant. She would have seen for herself how amusing the label she had given him was. He was as far from a superhero as a forty-nine—soon to be fifty—year-old rock collector could be. But Christel was gone; she’d stormed off to the market right after Axel had sent his latest e-mail, leaving him alone in the house to face the nefarious weeds. Christel wasn’t really angry; it was more a mix of frustration, and maybe a little fear. Because many days had passed since Axel had sent his first response to Orb Robinson, Christel had assumed that the matter had been dropped. And rightly so. The other members of the mineral club had long forgotten the foolish hoax. But Axel was a
different breed, and even after a week he couldn’t seem to let the matter go. Maybe he was more like a weed than a superhero. That very morning, he had decided to take action. No spandex was involved. Just himself, in his gardening shorts, knee-high boots, and short-sleeve shirt, alone at his computer, just hours ago. It hadn’t been very hard to Google his way to the Web site for the Tampa, Florida, division of the FBI. He didn’t know for sure if Orb Robinson really resided in Tampa, but he couldn’t think of any better place to start. Certainly, the Belgian police force would not have gotten involved in a case of fraud like this. And he doubted that Interpol even had a Web site. Moon rocks were a uniquely American treasure, so if anyone should be investigating this, it was probably the FBI. Axel had crafted the e-mail carefully. His only mistake was to show it to his wife before he sent it: I am a mineral collector who lives in Belgium. Some weeks ago I was contacted via e-mail by a person, Orb Robinson, who claims to have some lunar rocks from NASA for sale. He also advertises on “the Virtual Quarry” of our Web site with the following ad: “Priceless Moon Rocks Now Available!!! …” I seriously think that this person is trying to swindle unsuspecting people out of a lot of money. I have answered his emails indicating that I would be interested in a buy if the price was right. If you want, I can forward these e-mails to you. I realize that this probably is a low-priority event, but nevertheless I would like to report it. Best Regards, Axel Emmermann Thinking back to Christel’s highly vocal response to the e-mail when he’d told her about it, Axel finally got a good grip on the weed and heaved his not so insignificant bulk backward; the weed finally came loose, nearly sending him tumbling back into the mud. He caught himself at the last minute and tossed the weed into a garbage pail. Then he rose heavily, his aging knees creaking with the motion. He shook the dirt from his bare legs and pulled off his muddied gloves. Then he headed back into the house.
As he approached the computer in the corner of the living room, he wondered if Christel was right. Not about him being a superhero, or about the danger of getting involved, but her observation that this really wasn’t about right and wrong, that Axel couldn’t let this rest because this, to him, was fun. It was a game, another hobby. Like popinjay, except instead of shooting arrows at a wooden bird affixed to a pole, he was casting e-mails at an invisible foe. It was true, he wasn’t working at the moment, having taken a short disability leave from the polyethylene plant where he was a quality control supervisor, due to a recurring injury, and rock collecting could only take up so many hours during the day. Archery filled most weekends—but maybe fighting crime would make up the difference. No doubt he felt a surge of adrenaline as he sat down in front of the computer. He wasn’t really expecting the FBI to answer him so quickly, but he had a feeling he’d be checking the computer more than a few times each day. Sooner or later, he would get a response. To his surprise, the minute he opened his account, he saw that there was a new message in his in-box—but not from the Tampa division of the FBI. Quite coincidentally, the e-mail was from Orb Robinson: Yes, valid proof will be provided. What is the approximate range of $/gram that you consider “right”? Let’s discuss your possible interest and see if we make a great business partnership. If you are truly interested then, I will provide you with more detailed information. Sincerely, Orb Robinson Axel couldn’t believe what he was reading. After more than a week, and directly after he had contacted the authorities—now this Robinson had finally answered him. Like the weed in his garden, the nutcase hadn’t just given up and gone away. Looking more carefully at the new e-mail, Axel immediately noticed something. Robinson was no longer talking about carats; now he was talking about dollars per gram. To a rock collector like Emmermann, it was a significant difference. Exactly how many moon rocks did this character have? Did he really think that a mineral expert would believe
he had in his possession many grams of the rarest substance on earth? Axel knew one thing for sure: he wasn’t going to wait for Christel to get back from the market to craft his response. He quickly came up with some numbers, almost off the top of his head. He was playing the role of an interested buyer, so he had to keep it believable. Hi Orb, If you can provide valid proof that these rocks are really lunar samples, I would be willing to buy if the price does not exceed 800$/ gram for rocks under 10 grams and 600$/gram for larger specimens. Axel Emmermann … It wasn’t until the next day that Robinson responded. At around nine in the morning, Axel was shuttling back and forth between the kitchen, where Christel was serving his son and daughter oversized waffles painted in more butter than was nutritionally safe, and the computer, checking his e-mail again and again—and then, there it was. Axel no longer even attempted to hide the burst of excitement that exploded across his face as he saw the new message: Axel Emmermann, Your prices are just fine; in fact I can do better than that, but I have minimum mass requirements. To give you an idea of my mass range, I would prefer to stay around 1 kilogram. The following is the breakdown of the varying price range … $500/g (.5–.64 kg) $400/g (.65–.85 kg) $300/g (.86–1.5 kg) Of course, verification will be provided before you purchase, I think that if you are seriously interested then we should meet and confirm this deal in person. Please let me know what you think. Sincerely, Orb Robinson
Axel leaned back in his chair. Carats had become grams, and now grams had become kilos. Christ, this hoaxer was brazen. Axel quickly did the calculations in his head. At the prices Orb Robinson was quoting, one kilogram of moon rock would cost around $300,000. It was nowhere near what real moon rocks were worth—but it was an enormous amount of money to a man like Axel. Even talking about trading that kind of money for an illegal specimen caused his crimefighting hackles to rise. This wasn’t a little hoax—it was significant. Reading the e-mail again, Axel began to think that maybe he had taken this as far as he could go. He now had this hoaxer quoting prices, and the only thing left was for him to fill a suitcase, hop on a plane, and head to Tampa. Of course, he was never going to do that. In forty-nine years, he had never been far outside of Belgium. Certainly not to the United States. And he had no interest in buying what was most likely a huge chunk of fake moon rock. If this was going to go any further, someone else was going to have to take charge. … Two days later, Emmermann was back at the computer when the cavalry finally came riding in. He clicked open the e-mail as soon as he saw the header—from the Tampa division of the FBI. Mr. Emmermann: First, thank you for forwarding this information to me. You have piqued my interest. Second, I’m afraid I am somewhat less than familiar with the laws surrounding the sale and/or possession of moon rocks. I assume—based on the letter from Robinson—that it is probably illegal. In fact, I would guess that Mr. Robinson is either in possession of contraband or is misrepresenting (in an effort to defraud someone) a more mundane mineral, i.e. he is violating the law in one way or another. Could you please let me know if my assumptions are correct? Last, if we do initiate an investigation into this matter, would you be willing to introduce an investigator to Robinson as your
representative in the States? Since Robinson has contacted you already, your credibility with him must be sufficient to quell any concerns he may have in conducting an illegal transaction with a complete stranger. Again, thank you for your alerting the FBI to this matter. SA Lawrence A. Wolfenden, Tampa Div’n Axel was initially surprised that the agent from the FBI seemed to be relying on his interpretation of the situation—that he was basically asking Axel for advice on whether this was something that was worth involving the FBI. At the same time, Axel felt a huge gush of pride. The FBI was contacting him from all the way across the world. His wife might make jokes, but he really was doing something real, putting something back in its proper place. If she wanted to call him a superhero, well, now he had something to show her. But before he printed out the e-mail to run around the house with, he crafted his response. Mr. Wolfenden, I believe that your assumptions are indeed correct. The chance that Mr. Robinson has lawfully acquired real samples of lunar rock from NASA is, in my opinion, next to impossible. Therefore he must be in violation of at least a few laws. The tone of his message also suggests to me that this is not his first attempt to swindle some gullible overseas buyer. I may be ahead of things but I wanted to see where this would lead to. I would be more than willing to introduce an investigator to him if you are willing to investigate this further. In my opinion it would be better that you draft a reply since you’re much more experienced in dealing with these kind of people. A real mineral collector (I’m not sure you have one of those on your team ) would express at least some concern about the verification. Of course, if I really was so gullible as to believe Mr. Robinson, I would be easily persuaded to buy if “my brother-in-law” was allowed to “take a look” at the rocks before buying. Since he already dove under my suggested price per gram, but his “multicarat” rocks have evolved
to boulders of a half kilo and more. This would be my reply if I was really an interested buyer … At this point in the e-mail, Axel drafted what he might say to Robinson if he was really going to go through with the transaction—but in a way to allow someone from the FBI to take over the situation, pretending to be his brother-in-law. Axel was really enjoying the creative aspect of this; it was as if he were a member of the FBI, plotting to bring down a master criminal. Of course, he didn’t really think Orb Robinson was a master criminal, just a nutcase trying to pull off a hoax. Nonetheless, it was gratifying work. Again to his surprise, the first response he got, later that day, wasn’t from the FBI. It seemed that Orb Robinson was getting impatient. Axel, Please indicate if you are interested and/or able to purchase a rare lunar piece. Timing for me is sensitive, so I won’t waste any of yours. We both know that you would be getting a great deal, and if you are still worried that I am trying to sell you a fake, good, I don’t want you to just take my word for it. Please let me address your voiced concerns. Just let me know what they are. Acquiring this specimen is a sensitive matter for me, as you can imagine, and that is why I have the minimum mass requirement. It is more a minimum financial barrier that makes this transaction worthwhile for me and my group. So if you are skeptical about the validity of the origins of the rock, good, I shall provide you with convincing evidence, when I believe that you are serious. If you are concerned that you cannot afford this transaction, I understand. Perhaps you could find a significant number of customers that would be interested in purchasing pieces of your lunar sample and then would have the incentive to make such an investment. Either way, even if you are no longer interested, please indicate it to me. Thank you, Orb Robinson Now this was truly fascinating. Orb Robinson had now become “me
and my group.” And even more interesting, Robinson had implied that the rocks had yet to be acquired. He didn’t have the moon rocks in his possession? It was something he was going to get, somehow? The size of the specimen had remained in the kilo area, but this seemed very significant. If this wasn’t just a hoax, if this Orb Robinson really was going to acquire moon rocks—then this was a crime that hadn’t yet happened. Axel ran a hand over his bald head. He had seen plenty of Hollywood movies, and he had always enjoyed the cat-and-mouse games played out between the cops and the robbers. Still, he did wonder—if he was offering money for these rocks, and that made Robinson go out and do something crazy to get them—was he actually inspiring the crime? Axel shrugged his meaty shoulders. Robinson had already done something illegal. He had endeavored to sell moon rocks over the Internet. Whether they were real or, more likely, part of a hoax—it wasn’t right. And if Axel hadn’t responded, maybe someone else would have. Axel had done everything right. He had contacted the authorities. This Orb Robinson seemed very eager to make the deal happen. He was the one pushing it along, he was the one sending out the e-mails. He was the one committing the crime. Axel wondered if Christel would agree. Soon he discovered the FBI certainly did. In a rather long e-mail, Special Agent Wolfenden told Axel exactly what sort of response he wanted Axel to send back to Orb Robinson. It was a play on the draft that Axel himself had written, which filled Axel with more pride. His creative crime-fighting juices had obviously been accurate. Any ethical questions disappeared as he read through the email. His “brother-in-law” had been changed to a “sister-in-law,” obviously because the FBI had a woman agent they wanted to use in the setup. But all in all, it was as Axel had planned: Hi Orb, Your prices are better than I hoped for but the specimens are quite large. You spoke of “multicarat rocks” but a 500 gram rock would cost me 250,000$ and that is no small change. This amount
is far out of my league and I would have to find one or more financial partners. Are these really the smallest rocks you have? I would be more interested in smaller specimens. I could always split up a larger rock for resale but it still is a large investment. Nevertheless, I can free 100,000$ on reasonably short notice. I would be happy to spend it on a single (authenticated) rock of at least 250 grams. I can’t free myself from work right now, so a meeting in person would have to wait until September. However, my brother and his wife live in Pennsylvania, U.S. I trust them completely and my sister-in-law is somewhat of a hobbyist in mineral collecting. She might be able to verify the rocks’ origin, I think. Would you be willing to deal with me through her? Sincerely, Axel Emmermann It wasn’t even a full day later when Robinson responded. Axel immediately forwarded the response to Agent Wolfenden. He felt a little like he was watching a movie in real time, played out over the Internet, these e-mails bouncing back and forth from the United States to Belgium and back to the United States. Who knows, maybe the criminal and the FBI were only a few miles apart, both communicating via a rock hound in Antwerp? It was the most exciting time in Axel’s life since his days in the army, even though he was doing little more than sitting in front of a computer screen in his living room. Axel, In attempt to keep things out in the open between us, I will address my concerns. As you well know, it is illegal to sell Apollo lunar rocks in the United States. This obviously has not discouraged me since I live in the United States. However, I must be cautious that this deal is handled with delicacy in that I am not publicly exposed. This same law that makes it illegal to sell Apollo lunar rocks also for our mutual benefit makes them quite rare and valuable. My projected return from this has been just over $250,000 and I would of course prefer to be involved in one business dealing and get it all over at once in order to minimize
my personal exposure. Having said that, if I can build some more trust with you, then perhaps I could do a deal with you for $150,000 and then if you find enough buyers you could buy the rest from me. As you can see this decreases my safety and increases my exposure and therefore I would only feel comfortable in doing this if I learned to trust you, which is difficult to do under the circumstances. Maybe you should give me the names of your relatives/contacts in the United States and then have them e-mail me and we shall begin to build a level of trust from that. I could meet them in the United States and then settle our mutual concerns and verify the authenticity of the specimens through them. I can acquire three very unique and valuable specimens and I am waiting to provide you with the details about them until I have built some more trust. One of them does involve dust. Please let me know if it is impossible for you to find some more investors in order to make this in one purchase. I would prefer that over two purchases. Either way I am interested in developing this business relationship with you. And I wish you a hefty profit from our encounter. Please reply with your thoughts and or concerns. Thank you. Sincerely, Orb Robinson Axel contemplated Orb Robinson’s tone as much as the message itself. It seemed the little hoaxer was getting frustrated with Axel’s limited funds—and he also seemed very eager to get this thing done. He also mentioned “three very unique and valuable specimens,” which seemed specific. If this was a hoax, why would he make any specifications at all? Axel fought the urge to respond on his own, waiting until the FBI sent him a draft of what he was supposed to say: Mr. Emmermann: Following is the reply we’d like to send to Robinson: Hi Orb, I would prefer to make the first purchase at 100,000$ as we
have discussed. If the lunar rocks are proven authentic and all goes well, I will have a much easier time of convincing others to invest and help with a second purchase. I have spoken to my brother and sister-in-law and they would be willing to purchase the lunar rocks for me. As I may have told you earlier, my sister-in-law is a hobbyist in mineral collecting. She has allowed me to provide you her e-mail address, which is [email protected] and said she’d be willing to stand in for me in this initial transaction. Although I trust my sister-in-law, I do not necessarily trust her abilities completely. How will you provide that the lunar rocks you offer are real? Can you provide me some documentation as well? Are they meteorites or samples from one of the Apollo missions? I would not be interested in purchasing meteorites. Sincerely, If Robinson likes this, I think the next message will probably be directly to myself and Agent Nance. I’ll let you know. SA Lawrence A. Wolfenden, Tampa Div’n Axel understood, reading the new letter as he forwarded it along to Orb Robinson under his own e-mail identification, that from here on out, if things went well, Robinson would be contacting his “sister-in-law” directly, and the FBI would probably be able to take over from there. There was a sense of deflation as he realized that he was giving up his front-row view of the investigation in progress, but really, there wasn’t much more he could do from Antwerp, and he wasn’t about to jump on a plane to meet face-to-face with a master criminal. From the sound of the e-mail, it seemed the FBI was going to put together $100,000 to try to entice this Orb Robinson to make the deal. Agent Wolfenden seemed to be taking this quite seriously. The next e-mail from Robinson, just one hour and eighteen minutes later—the last one Axel would receive for quite some time—made it clear that no matter how seriously Agent Wolfenden was taking the situation, it wasn’t any sort of overkill. If this was a hoax, Robinson was going to take it right up to the edge of the precipice, right up to the exchange of money for rubble:
Axel, Since I am confident of the authenticity of these rocks, I will hope that you are able to find many customers quickly after our first transaction, and will for now continue planning on making this transaction. I will e-mail your sister-in-law and begin setting up a meeting time and location. You make sure she is prepared to pay in cash, and I’ll make sure that she has all the relevant documents and publications on the individual specimens. The type of proof I will be providing will be the scientific publications, which can be easily verified and reproduced by you. In these documents/publications, there are quantitative measures describing the samples, photos, and unfakable descriptions of them. I encourage you to have your sister-in-law bring all the scientific equipment she has access to if she wants to double and triple check the samples for the accurate properties. I cannot alert you as to which exact samples will be involved before the trade, because the exposure becomes too high. However, I understand that during a transaction she, and I assume that her husband will be there for her protection, will want to have ample time to check the samples before purchase. So we will discuss the details of the transaction at great detail before it takes place. Please continue to stay in touch with me, and inform me of any changes, concerns, or updates. Thank you. Orb Reading this last e-mail, Axel had to admit that this was no longer sounding like an elaborate hoax. Maybe his wife had been right to be concerned; maybe there really was some level of danger in this can of worms. Axel was glad that he had brought the FBI into this—that the real authorities were going to handle it from here. Because superhero or not, Axel didn’t feel like he was playing a game anymore. This was beginning to feel like something that was deadly serious—and whatever was going to happen, it was going to happen soon. Axel was now pretty sure of one thing. Orb Robinson was about to commit a major crime.
Re: sex on the moon - the amazing true story
The seconds slow ly tick away. They roll into their infinite repetitions echoing the never-ending groundhog day. The cold concrete is eternal.[/size]