SUNGLASSES AND ROCKETS Part 1 : New Moon

THE GARAGE

Worn out from overexcitement, I finally fell flat-out on my bed. But I did not manage to calm my nerves. I looked at the time; it was six forty-five. I jumped right back into things at once. I felt renewed. Without a second thought, I went straight to the bathroom. I had to take a shower, ASAP; my date was at nine o'clock. I estimated I effectively had about an hour to get myself ready! I had to take full advantage of it!

Of course, I had not forgotten about preparing for the conference. I would take care of that when I returned, victorious, from my date...

Ah! Never before had water felt like it did that Monday night! I was a baby playing with soap bubbles in the bath! Happy and tone-deaf. I sang "The Way You Look Tonight," alternating between that and "Can't Fight This Feeling."

The time I spent in the shower flew by. As I got out, I looked at the time: it was eight-thirty! I got dressed in a matter of seconds. I ran to Sonny's room. I took his bottle of after-shave—mine had ran out—and emptied it on my face and neck. I hurried to the stairs and crept stealthily down them

I got to Darwin's house in no time at all. My friend was waiting for me on the porch. He immediately came up to the car and got in. I slammed my foot down on the accelerator of my dilapidated Chevy—vacuumed and polished for the occasion—and did not lift it up again until we got to Dr. Masterton's house, in a side street of Fair Lakes Circle.

Darwin announced the time as he quickly got out of the vehicle. Ten before nine! We got to the door, gasping for air. Without thinking about it, I was going to bang on the door, but Darwin stopped me. He indicated towards the floor, bent down, and picked up a piece of paper.

"A note from the doctor."

"What does it say?" I asked impatiently.

My friend went up to a flowerpot and stuck his hand in it.

"That the key to get in is here and..." he took the key and put it in the keyhole, "that he won't be coming back until after midnight, they've asked him to participate in a round-table about flavors in quantum mechanics. He'll be back in the morning."

"Flavors..." I said to myself.

The word reminded me that my stomach was empty, and I suddenly realized that I hadn't eaten.

We crossed the enormous living room in one stride. We went out to the garden and, running like the wind, we got to the garage, which was the doctor's laboratory. Darwin took care of opening the door. We did not speak; nothing could be heard aside from our panting. I did not do anything but look at my watch. Oh God! Only five minutes until the date.

A metallic screech announced that the huge door was open. It slid to the right. We went in: everything was dark. Who knew what wonders of technology would appear before our eyes as we turned on the light. It was the first time we were visiting the doctor's laboratory. In fact, no-one besides the eccentric scientist entered The Garage. I flicked on the lights.

"What a laboratory!" Darwin said.

It was a huge storehouse, similar to what you might see in a factory, with spacious shelves replete with instruments. There were several workbenches in the middle. But I could hardly pay attention to the strange artifacts that were to be found on the benches: I was looking for some glasses. The I.K.Y. was like a pair of sunglasses, and it seemed to me that the most appropriate place to look for them would be a row of rectangular, stainless steel boxes that were in a corner.

My gut instinct turned out to be right. As I opened the drawers, there appeared a tangle of innumerable pairs of glasses of every kind. I hurriedly turned them over. Shoot! Which one was the I.K.Y.?

"How are we going to find them in this chaotic mess?" I whined, distressed.

"They have a red frame."

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed that Darwin had climbed up one of the sets of shelves.

"It's heart-shaped," he continued.

I continued to take out the clusters of glasses. Instinctively, I looked at my watch: five past nine. Oh hell! I jumped towards the next box. There was nothing more than rusty tools and integrated circuit panels. Pure junk! I turned around.

"Any news?" I asked, on edge.

Darwin was advancing, in a crouched position, across the shelves.

"It looks like there are oscilloscopes up here..."

Where could the I.K.Y. be?

Still kneeling down, I swept the laboratory with my eyes, looking for any likely place: the table with the computers on it...shelves littered with test tubes and glass jars for chemistry experiments...the bookshelves...the other shelves...the cupboard...

A cupboard?

I got up and ran towards the cupboard. The I.K.Y. had to be there!

There was a blue-tinted acrylic cabinet. I could make out something that looked like the lenses inside. There was no keyhole. Instead, there was a set of buttons. Two red and two green. Bingo! I whispered, and pressed a green one. The unmistakable sound of gears could instantly be heard. Somewhere in the laboratory, an engine had become activated.

"What was that noise?" Darwin asked, alarmed. "Look! The garage door's closing!"

Oh my God!

In less than a fraction of a second, I figured out that if the green button was for closing the door, then the red one would cause the opposite action. The door would open. I pressed a red button. The door kept closing! Suddenly you could hear a sound something like an alarm clock. Or rather, it was more like a siren. On instinct, I backed away from the spot.

"What's going on?" shouted Darwin, "Aaaarrrggghhh!"

He threw himself from the shelf down to the floor. He had jumped about nine feet!

"The noise is coming from that corner!" he exclaimed, signaling to where a pile of debris was sticking out.

The door was closing. We started to walk, hesitantly, towards it. We decided to jog. Finally, we ran.

"I forgot to tell you something!" Darwin said, a few steps away from the door.

That was the last thing I managed to hear, before the explosion.