SUNGLASESS AND ROCKETS Part 2: The Machine

THE TRIAL

Said character stopped a short distance from the front steps, still in the penumbra. You couldn't make out his face, but you could tell that he was wearing a blue uniform.

"Voodoo?" the doctor ventured.

The uniformed man put his hands behind his back.

"Who sent you?"

"Nobody. We're here on our own..."

Voodoo remained silent, waiting. Then, the doctor dropped the bomb:

"I don't know what are you up to...but if you turn over the SVM to the Vampires—"

"What?" Voodoo interrupted abruptly. "You lead some terrorists to the moon and now you want to blame me?"

Somehow the bomb did not explode; it was shot back to us and about to ignite. The doctor took a glimpse at us.

"The incident in the silo was an accident," he explained upset. "They tried to kidnap us ...and we came in one of their ships."

Our host kept silent.

"What do you want?"

The diplomatic way did not wear out.

"Stop the experiments immediately," the doctor requested to everyone's surprise. "The SVM has serious faults."

Diplomacy reached its end:

"You are dangerous," Voodoo replied and turned to one of the guards. "Wash them out carefully...their brains are worth as much as the base."

What?!

Voodoo turned halfway, took one step back to the table and stopped hesitantly, looking out of the corner of his eye.

"By the way Jonas, the SVM does not have faults."

"It doesn't?" Darwin was surprised.

In spite of my terror I asked myself if the powerful machine was actually really working. Or, was the doctor striving desperately to buy some time? If that was the case, the trick failed: the guards were already taking us away.

And the doctor kept on going.

"The moon is at risk!" he exclaimed. "The—"

At that moment it trembled strongly and we had to stop.

"The quakes have an artificial origin," the doctor continued when he recovered his balance. "They're not natural."

"Did you also forget that the Perigee causes the ground to shake?" Voodoo said, approaching his place at the table. "Wash them out twice," he ordered.

Darwin and I didn't know what to say.

"No natural tremor occurs every 2.14 hours," our boss replied.

If that was true, we were in deep trouble.

"The molecular structure of the moon is being altered..." he added for himself, as if absent-minded.

I didn't know what the hell was going on. The only thing I knew was that if the doctor had provoked any panic, it was only among his assistants.

"Take them through the back," Voodoo finished off, before getting back to his seat. "I don't want them to be seen."

To be seen?

The doctor recovered consciousness.

"We need to take emergency measures!" he exclaimed fighting the guards. "We can still prevent a disaster!"

"Wait a minute!" was heard all of a sudden. "Don't take them yet!"