Lunar One

Chapter 20: Just A Rat In A Cage

     Morgan was released to the custody of his living family on the condition that he stayed away from Gordon and vice versa. Gordon had no problems accepting these orders because technically they were come from someone with a far higher rank than his own. It took a few weeks, but Morgan convinced the town officials to release Demetri, saying that he would not rebel and that Morgan would be responsible for the big Russian like before. No one in the town wanted to open their homes to the hostile soldier, most of them being American and fearful of the big red machine. To resolve the case without issues, Demetri pitched a tent in the fairly sized back yard behind the house that Morgan's brother owned. While not the most ideal accommodations, Demetri still thought it was better than being in the town jail. To thank Morgan's brother for their hospitality, Demetri helped with the big chores around the house, like cleaning gutters, mowing the lawn and even some gardening. Morgan understood that the big guy was just trying to keep himself busy, which he could certainly relate to. Morgan really didn't have anything to do in the small town. While he was thankful to be in the small town, which was called America for whatever reason, Morgan felt like a fish out of water. He just didn't seem to fit in and this drove him to look around and investigate where exactly they were. He got his brother to pick up some stuff from local shops and began to McGyver together his own scientific instruments. Something he could use to scan his surroundings and analyze the town just by walking around, which he did for hours every day. He would stroll around and occasionally do a scan when no one was looking, continuing to do this for weeks, even months looking for clues that might give him the answer.

     One day Morgan was standing on the edge of town, on the side of a road beside a corn field. He stood there waiting, until finally what he was waiting for drove up and parked on the side of the road just a few feet away from him. The door opened, and Captain Rogers stepped out to greet his friend.

     "What do you think?" he called out, tapping the hood with his hand. "Isn't she a beauty?"

     "It looks great," Morgan confessed, "But that's not why I asked you to meet me out here."

     "There's the sixty thousand dollar question," Rogers asked as he walked closer, "What the hell are we out there in the corn fields. Please tell me you're not going to plan another revolt.

     "No, nothing like that," Morgan confirmed, "I've discovered something and I thought you deserved to know the truth."

     "I don't like the sound of that," Rogers admitted, "What did you find?"

     "The answer to where we are." Morgan said, picking up a rock from the ground. He turned around and hurled the rock as hard as he could in the direction away from the car and the town. After flying for about twenty feet the rock slammed into something and then fell to the ground. The edge of town fizzled for a moment and then went back to its normal stance showing a road going off into nowhere with endless fields.

     "What the hall is that?" Rogers called out.

     "Our cage," Morgan replied, "We're not on Earth. This is a make shift town on another planet."

     "Oh man," Rogers said, walking back to the car and sitting on the hood to think about it for a moment. "Why are we here then? Why are people who were supposed to die on Earth here too?"

     "Because we're endangered," Morgan answered, "Think of this like what we did to the elephants on Earth."

     Rogers let out a laugh, "This is an alien wildlife preserve?"

     "Pretty much," Morgan replied, "This is why everything is so perfect. They're keeping us here to make sure our species doesn't go extinct."