At Doom's Gate

Chapter2

December 9, 1985
Inside the Challenger, en route to the moon.

— You know, that was the hottest year I've ever seen in Kentucky. That night I woke up to a bright light coming from outside my window, ran to take a peek and saw a sea of fire, you could almost feel the heat. It was the Hudsons' ranch, the tobacco field caught fire. My mom was already calling the fire department and old Rickson was inside the truck, I ran and jumped into the bed. The heat was intense and the fire was spreading fast, when we got close to the house, we saw it was also on fire and little Mary was crying, screaming for help from a second-floor window. The old man told me to get the animals out of the barn and ran into the burning house, he didn't think twice. I couldn't save all the animals, but the old man got all the Hudsons out of the house, including Mr. and Mrs. Hudson who had already passed out. In the end, he was also hospitalized with burns on his body and lungs. The day he was discharged from the hospital, he was already helping the Hudsons rebuild. — Rickson averted his eyes from us and stared into the void of space for a few seconds. — That was the kind of man he was. — He sounds like a good man, how is he now? — asked Soren. — I guess he's better than us, beside the good Lord, maybe we're even close here up above. The old man died a few weeks before I came home, my mom had already passed about three years before, so it was just me, old Rock, and the ranch. Three months later the mutt was gone too. Disappeared, never found him. — They say dogs wander off when they sense death coming. — Nolder remarked. — Yeah, must have been that. You know, I enlisted because I wanted to be like my dad, wanted to make a difference in the world. But the things I saw and did... — Rickson looked at his own hands, resting on his lap with the palms up.

— We all did, Kentucky. We lived through hell in that jungle, but now we're in heaven, look. — Nolder gave him a pat on the shoulder and pointed to Earth, which was already shrinking thousands of kilometers away from the spacecraft. Rickson gazed into the black void outside and began speaking again, more to himself than to the others, as if he had forgotten he was among other people. — You know, that ranch was all I had, and I lost it too... this mission is my last chance to honor my old man's memory. I hope they keep their promise to give me my family's ranch back. — Rickson abruptly turned, as if waking from a trance, and burst into a torrent of words. — Hey, have you guys seen that movie, The Terminator? Man, I have nightmares about that metal skeleton...

*****

Inside the Lunar Base

We proceeded cautiously down a long corridor, the door closing behind us in the same manner it had opened, plunging us into a darkness that slowly consumed and crushed our will. Our flashlights seemed to falter against the density of the surrounding blackness, their beams swallowed by the void. The corridor was long, the floor metallic like the outer walls, and the silence was broken only by our footsteps echoing loudly, indicating the vastness of that titanic structure.

We finally encountered a variation in the path, crossing what appeared to be a semi-inclined, almost pyramidal threshold. As soon as we stepped into the next room, an impossible illumination manifested. There was no perceptible source, yet the entire environment became visible. The light was not intense, rather moribund. Perhaps the architects of that abomination did not need as much light as we did; nevertheless, we had no difficulty seeing. The first thing we saw was the message on the wall: "Hell exists, the Devil is real, and God is dead." That ominous warning echoed in my mind, repeating over and over. My trance was broken by Rickson's exclamation of surprise as he removed his helmet and felt the familiar atmosphere and perfectly breathable air. Everyone had already removed their helmets under Captain Kendrick's command. I followed suit and couldn't deny my surprise; how was it possible? That structure indeed had impressive features. The low temperature was certainly part of the same atmospheric control mechanism.