SUNGLASESS AND ROCKETS Part 2: The Machine

PERIGEE*

"And how are we going to get there?" I questioned sensibly. "The spaceship is screwed..."

Not really minding my question, the doctor spoke on the radio again.

"Mariachi, do you read me? We're paying a visit to Mama. I repeat: we're visiting Mama now."

The answer was a noise splattered by electronic whistles. The captain pressed the radio switch one more time.

"Mariachi, do you read me?"

Nothing.

"Damn solar wind..." he murmured upset.

He began to unfasten his seat belts.

"If there isn't a connection between Voodoo and the Vampires, the only thing we'll do is guide them to the base..."

I nodded. That was the most logical conclusion in the last five minutes. "But it's a risk that we must take..." the doctor finished, "waiting around 11 hours for Bilsby to show up is an even greater risk...so many Bats do not leave the base unless they have a reason."

He stood up and looked at me. I was undoing the belts. The doctor approved and turned half way.

"We'll do a physical inspection of the thrusters. Darwin, did you hear: we're going out."

Darwin looked petrified facing the window. The doctor headed toward the hatch, about 9 feet from the window.

"Darwin?"

"We're at the edge of a cliff," he answered and turning slowly, added, "its big..."

"What?" I jumped.

I noticed that the doctor, ready to pull the hatchway, hesitated.

"Gordo, turn on the red lights on the platform." He walked toward Darwin confidently, "minimum intensity," he added.

I flicked the corresponding switches and adjusted them to the lowest. A soft red should be shining from the ship's base. Then, the doctor's voice was heard again.

"It's true. The hatchway leads right to the edge..."

Oh boy!

I turned around. The doctor crammed together with Darwin to look through the window toward the hatchway, in the middle of the rear cabin.

"Should I turn on the front reflectors?" I asked.

"Not yet," the captain requested, "not yet..."

I turned to look forward. You couldn't see anything. I activated the lights in my helmet and reduced the intensity to the lowest.

"So, the hatch leads to the edge of a cliff..."

The blackness disturbed me.

"To a canyon," the doctor corrected. "But it's okay..."

"A canyon?"

"We have probably swerved 20 to 15 miles from our landing site."

The ship trembled again. I turned around slowly. The doctor was heading to the opposite wall.

"There should be an emergency hatchway...give me a second..."

I decided to get up. Walking carefully I approached Darwin.

"The wall goes all the way there," he commented.

I saw where he was pointing to. Four weak yellowish beams fell on the border of a grayish cliff, cut in a geometrical shape. Darwin kept tilting his head; his lights swept an extensive zone of deep fissures in the walls.

"Unbelievable," he whispered. "Unbelievable..."

Unlike my friend, I was unable to enjoy the desolate place. We were one step away from a slow motion death.

I decided to turn around. Trying to avoid any harsh movement, I turned. The doctor was removing a pane from the wall.

"Did you find the hatchway?" I asked spirited.

The doctor left the panel on the floor.

"Yup." Moving closer to a window on that side, he added: "We're bailing out in a moment."

The spaceship shook up again.

"Walk slowly," the doctor warned. "It's not wise to disturb—"

"I didn't move," Darwin replied looking back.

I hadn't moved either.

"Let's get the hell outta here," I said heading quickly to the other wall.

The doctor dissuaded me at once.

"There's no way out."

He drew away from the window and turned around cautiously.

"There's only a narrow ledge on this side..."

I gulped down and stayed still.

The ship vibrated more fiercely.

"I didn't move," Darwin and I protested in unison.

The doctor knew what had happened immediately.

"Stay where you are. It's moonquake time," he explained. "We're reaching the Perigee."

We remained a few seconds in distressed expectation.

The spaceship didn't move anymore.

"We're on top of a peak," the doctor reported and stepping forward a little hesitantly, he ordered: "Let's walk slowly to our places..."

The ship trembled.

All three of us ran tumultuously to our seats.

"Prepare to take off!" the captain exclaimed.

*The closest point between the moon and the Earth. During this approach, high waves occur on both heavenly bodies, while on Earth water moves on the surface, on the moon the ground moves, originating strong moonquakes.