Midnight Creek Tales

#5. Lunar Darkness / Chapter 2

When we got to Mr. Marchisio's executive room that was stationed on the highest floor of the building, my legs were wobbling like a bowl of jelly as we walked towards the end of the hall. "Look whatever happens we have each other's back right?" I said clarifying that we were on the same page.

"Rich that's something you don't even need to say, of course I have your back. Don't worry Marchisio has nothing on you, so there's no need to sweat it."

I began to brew up some confidence as we finally reached his office, and I gestured Simon to knock first. He did so, and we waited for a response...

"Who is it?"

"Richard and Simon," Simon blurted out.

"Oh you two! I've been meaning to see you guys, come on in!"

We entered his remarkably fancy office with a beautiful view of the Pacific Ocean. The times I've been in here, I've never stopped being amazed at the room. It looked like something out of a brochure.

"Take a seat guys, we need to settle some business."

Both of us noticed the astonishing gadgetry around his room and our jaws dropped. We took our seats in front of his Goliath-like desk and started discussing what was at hand. "You know, I am not one to give bad news, but I'm afraid I'll have to announce it sooner or later."

I glared at Simon, giving him the expression of, 'We're going to get fired!'

"You boys get along together right?" Mr. Marchisio asked while leaning out of his chair.

"Definitely Sir, we even share an apartment."

"Hmm.. and for how long have you two known each other?"

"Well gee, since high school. But hell, we even attended the same college."

"Excellent! And umm... do any of you boys have claustrophobia?"

Simon nodded his head no, and I agreed, "Mr. Marchisio not to be rude or anything, but what are with these questions? You sound like you're going to knock us out and throw our bodies into a well!"

At first, Mr. Marchisio merely laughed, but as the room became silent as a mouse, the tone grew serious. "Look, I know you boys have goofed around, but you're one of the finest scientists this program has to offer. And with that said, you are the only two that I would personally trust on such a mission."

"Mission?! What's this all about?"

"Well Simon, news from the lunar study and research department have reported that there's been a disturbance on our village."

"What do you mean by a 'disturbance?' Last time I checked on them, they were doing just fine."

"That's what we thought until their signals were cut off. It's been close to a month, and we still haven't heard from them."

"Can't this be a malfunction? Maybe the technology up there failed?"

"That's what we need to find out, but there's a good chance that it wasn't a malfunction. Something else could've caused the signals to go blank."

"And what could that something be?"

"I have no idea," Mr. Marchisio unsurely replied.

"But how do we fall into the equation?" I asked, curious to see what he would say.

"Well you boys will have to do something that is potentially dangerous, as well as highly uncertain. But the reward would be something almost unimaginable."