SUNGLASESS AND ROCKETS Part 2: The Machine

MARIACHI, WE HAVE A PROBLEM

"Fifteen?" I quivered.

The doctor remained unaltered.

"Did you say fifteen?"

Automatically I glanced to the radar. Nothing showed up.

"Affirmative."

Ice cream man's fingers rested on the radar's controls.

"One second," he requested.

I decided to look through one of the back windows in search of the dots.

"Could they be Bats?" I heard Darwin venturing. "Maybe they have been following us..."

The captain left the questions on hold.

I turned around again without having been able to see anything but stars. The doctor was turning the adjustment buttons of the radar screen.

"I have nothing on the radar," he radioed. "Verify the information."

The radar was changing from a gray shade to a shiny green. All the same, no objects in motion appeared.

The radio cracked once again:

"Ten Vampires have left the Earth 52 hours ago following your path. Take the expressway to Vallarta and wait for instructions."

"Those lights, it's them!" Darwin exclaimed. "They're following us!"

The doctor looked at us:

"We are going to land at another site..." He leaned over the panel and pressed the buttons on a row, one by one. "Buckle up..."

"Look!" Darwin exclaimed and pointed to the front. "The Vampires!"

Some sparkles appeared on the lunar border.

"Those are the Bats," the doctor clarified surprised and reclined. "And they're shooting..."

A light dazzled the cabin and the spaceship jolted. The doctor tipped slightly.

"That missile came from behind! From the Vampires!"

His eyes turned toward the radar precipitately. But the screen still didn't show any activity. Wow! The Vampires must have been anti-radar.

"Damned radar," the captain uttered. "It doesn't work!"

"Break off course by three degrees," Mariachi was heard breaking in. "You have 40 seconds."

"There are more lights in front!" I screamed when I realized how the brightness of the dots increased.

We were in the middle of a space raid!

The doctor grasped the rudder.

"Tighten your helmets!" he ordered.

A force was sinking us brutally into our seats.

"We're going to veer," the warning was heard through the headphones. "The ship will crack"

Oh God! But the ship did not veer. We were flying in a perfect straight line on a collision course, toward the lights.

"The side thrusters are damaged," the captain whispered.

"Change your course six degrees," Mariachi requested. "You got 20 seconds..."

Ice cream man made an inspection of the front panel in half a second.

"Roger!" he responded and addressed his crew: "We'll do it manually." He started to undo his seat belts quickly. "Gordo, you're coming along."

By reflex I removed my seat belts. My partner, alerted, imitated instinctively my hasty movements.

"Darwin," the captain called, swiveling on his seat. "You will take my place."

Immediately, he pushed himself to the back. I shot forth right behind him, but first, I looked out of the corner of my eye at the new pilot taking his position.

Darwin didn't know how to control the ship. Naturally, that would not stop my daredevil friend to try, though.

"Here we go!" he exclaimed euphorically.

The spaceship bounced outrageously.

"You'll learn later!" the doctor said at once. "Just make sure to verify the velocity readings! Do not touch anything!"

The ship stabilized. The captain and I slid open the hatches of the oxygen and nitrogen tank compartments.

"Where are the thrusters?" I asked nervously. "Is there a way out through here?"

I prepared myself mentally for an emergency space walk. Precisely, the doctor slid open a side door.

And he got out a small ax.

"Which are the thrusters?" I insisted confused.

The doctor pitched me the hatchet and pointed out fast the nitrogen tanks.

"Here they are," he grabbed my legs tight in a clever movement. "Hit the first tank two inches from the spout, I will hold you."

There was no time to question the doctor's mental health.

Hell!

"They're the nitrogen tanks!" I objected with the hatchet in my hand.

"Detour to Vallarta!" Mariachi intervened from the intercom.

The cabin lit up.

"Another missile!" Darwin yelled from the front. "We have to veer away from its path!"

"Give it a blow two inches from the spout!" the doctor yelled squeezing my legs. "Hit it now!"

I got strength and with no further calculations I hit the tank right in the middle. A white spur came out as the container was bouncing in the fasteners.

A moment later, the ship twisted, and so did my torso...

The doctor squeezed my legs so tight that he almost crushed them.

"Don't let go of the hatchet!"

That instant, I noticed that the cracks were expanding...