Lunar One

Chapter 6: The Race Back Home

     Rogers shoved everyone back into the buggy, unanchored it from the ground and started it up. As he was driving back to base, he was attempting to contact it the entire time.

     "Rogers to Lunar One! Rogers to Lunar One!"

     Finally after a long pause there was a response. "Rogers, this is Lunar One. Are you guys all okay over there?"

     "We had small impacts but no injuries." Rogers answered as he was still driving as fast as he could. "Did you just see what passed by us?"

     "We were all in the bunkers." The voice replied. "What happened?"

     "The meteors were all fragments of an asteroid." Rogers informed the station. "The moon had a near miss with an enormous asteroid."

     "More like a close shave." Morgan added.

    "Are you guys serious?" the voice replied.

     "Lunar One, Dr. Taylor can confirm sighting." Rogers replied. "I repeat, sighting was confirmed. The asteroid was seen by all of us and it was a big bastard."

     There was a short pause. "Where is the asteroid now?"

     "It's looks to be on a collision course with Earth!" Rogers answered. "I repeat... this thing looks like it's heading for Earth!"

     "We'll try to get in touch with Houston." Lunar One replied. "Get back to base as soon as possible."

     "Already on our way back." Rogers said as he kept driving.

     Rogers wasn't taking a leisurely stroll this time so it took a lot less time for them to make it back to base. There were moments when Morgan honestly thought that Rogers's driving was going to knock them all clear of the Moon's surface but that never happened. Once Rogers had the buggy securely attached to the platform, all four of them made a run for the door. Once inside and oxygen was restored, they pealed off their space suits and entered the station. Rogers however only removed his helmet, and for that reason Morgan only did the same until he figured out what the pilot was up to.

     Commander Gordon was already at the door to greet them. "This had better be your idea of a sick joke."

     Morgan held up a piece of the asteroid that he picked up off the ground. "Does this look like a joke to you, Sir?"

     Gordon took the rock which was about the size of a grapefruit from Morgan and looked at back at Rogers. "How big was that thing?"

     "It's big." Rogers answered.

     "How big?" Gordon repeated.

     "Picture watching Mount Everest floating by less than a few hundred miles from the surface." Morgan answered for Rogers. "If that thing hits the Earth, it will be an extinction level event. Nothing will survive, not even bacteria."

     "Have you gotten in touch with Houston, Sir?" Rogers then asked.

     "Not yet." Gordon answered. "We're trying but there appears to be some interference."

     "That's not surprising." Morgan answered as he pointed at the rock that as still in the commander's hands. "There is a lot of metal in there. An asteroid that massive with metal in its core would cause a lot of interference."

     "So there's a killer rock heading for Earth and there's nothing we can do about it?" Gordon asked.

     "It would seem so." Morgan answered.