Midnight Creek Tales

#5. Lunar Darkness / Chapter 9

Trembling out, we suddenly came into contact with our own kind. Other people.... the same species of mankind that inhabited the Moon. Men, women, and children of all ages and sizes were outside in their customary space suits watching us as we unveiled from the shuttle. Eventually, through all of the silence, a man stepped forward from the small group of people to introduce himself, "Hello visitors, I can tell you were sent out by the space station to check up on us. I am sorry for the technical difficulties. Between all the difficulties and obstacles in this village, it's still nice to know that the people from Earth still care for us and are willing to help their brethren whenever in need."

We nodded our heads as we eyed the crowd some more... all of the people from my own personal observation were diversified equally. I could see a handful of Whites, Blacks, Asians, and Hispanics. All seemed to be healthy and in shape, none showing signs of malnutrition, and many of the children even appeared to be plump if anything.

"Oh, how rude of me! I'm sorry, I should've introduced myself! My name's Axel, and I am the mayor of this beautiful community." Axel smiled, but something about him set me off. It could have been his wordplay or the way his eyes were looking at me, but something just had rubbed me the wrong way.

An interesting thing I could tell about Axel was the fact that he was Native American, with nice bronzed red skin, and long luscious black hair.

Other than some minor details like his skin or hair color, I couldn't really see much of Axel and the citizens because of the bulky space suits they were wearing.

I could hear Axel through a microphone he was speaking into, with his glistening emerald eyes staring me down.

And for a mayor who has served his entire life on this desolate strip of land, he sure was built! I could see his muscles popping and protruding from his suit like the Incredible Hulk!

"I'm Rich, and this is my colleague and friend Simon."

"It is a pleasure to meet you both." Some awkward silence continued...

After a couple of seconds, Axel broke the ice. "Come with me; I shall show you our magnificent colony while the others take care of the ship. Our community is growing more than ever before!" Axel led the half of his people and us into the oxygen controlled dome.

Stepping in was like walking into a daydream and a nightmare at the same time. It looked beautiful and masterfully crafted to ensure it resembled an actual town as if it was something that you would've seen from the Jetsons. But then there was that human instinct warning you that the dome would collapse and kill you all.

Looking from just the front of the dome was something to marvel, as in the distance I could see roads, a school, a post office, a hospital, and many homes that stretched for a couple of miles.

"Please take off your space gear, you are our guests and we would like to make you feel welcome and comfortable."

"We're good Axel; these suits are very comfy. I think we'll just keep them on," I said trying to sound polite.

At first, Axel seemed to be a little angry, but then his face lit up. "Not to worry, we can deal about that later. As for now, I'd like to show you brave explorers our proud colony."

"Well here's the thing Axel, we were sent here on an important mission. It seems like you guys are alright, but for you and your people to survive we need to fix the connection coming from your transmitter."

"Alright then, I shall bring you men to the City Hall. That is where the control board is located."

Axel along with many other people began the process of taking off their space suits.