SUNGLASESS AND ROCKETS Part 2: The Machine

MIDNIGHT

A fleet of enemy ships were hurling over us from the left flank.

"I see them..." the pilot said.

He didn't change course. I couldn't stop watching the distressing scene; several ships were coming out intact from the explosions.

"Lucas!" Darwin yelled. "They're shooting at us!"

A series of sparks emerged from the ships. The pilot still took a last glimpse downwards.

"We'll come back for you professor!"

He made an incredible flat spin and crossed a swarm of missiles.

"Keep trying," the pilot challenged in the middle of the maneuver.

The spaceship accelerated vertiginously and left the lights behind.

"Major," he communicated through the radio. "We have the big SVM. I need the tunnels clear to exit."

"Are there more tunnels?" Darwin showed surprise from the back.

"There should be five at least," Lucas responded and pressed a key. "There's the Major."

"Lucas," it was heard. "Bilsby has cleared away two tunnels."

"Roger."

We were all the way in one of the many nooks of that dark vault. I fixed my eyes on the radar. It was still clear.

"Could you send your people to clear out the other exits?" the pilot asked.

After a pause due to static, the Major's voice was heard again:

"That's not possible. All my Bats are posted at the equator trying to fly this large sphere. I can't let anyone go!"

Lucas saw us out of the corner of his eye with a pleased expression.

"The contingency plan is working."

The moon was being driven by a bunch of spaceships.

"Unbelievable," Darwin and I marveled.

The pilot went straight up to the radio.

"Major, it's okay; we'll find a way out."

The radar was filling up with triangular shapes...

"More Vampires!" I exclaimed.

"They're not ships," the pilot corrected.

I looked up. Huge floating plates glared under the potent light of the Pterodactyl.

"They're minerals," Darwin said from behind.

Lucas slanted the ship; at the same time, the Major's voice was heard.

"I'm getting a preliminary report from the observatory..."

"From Earth?" Darwin inquired excited.

"I think so..." the magnate responded and slanted the ship even more. We passed through two enormous crystals. "Asia and Africa didn't move...it looks like there were no significant alterations..."

That was an amazing relief! I had the feeling that nature had forgiven man.

But there was something that still bothered me.

"What will happen on Earth when they realize that the moon is no longer there?" I asked myself aloud.

"If we kept the 1.5 degree inclination* it would not be much problem," Darwin stated optimistically.

"Maybe..." Lucas granted. "Maybe..."

In any case, an event without precedents was happening. For the first time in history, man altered the eternal order of the solar system and lived to tell it...

Being an optimist just like my friend, I added:

"We have to admit that we're living a unique moment in the—"

The Major's voice vibrated from the radio and broke in.

"Lucas, abandon the moon. The contingency plan has failed."

No one in the cabin paid heed to the gloomy announcement. More gigantic plates went out to meet us...they were starting to blow out in pieces.

"Damn it!" the pilot whispered and tilted the ship. "The Vampires are everywhere!"

He went to the radio.

"Weren't we entering a stable orbit?"

"It is a stable orbit that overlaps with an asteroid's orbit**."

A glimpse to the radar told me that a fleet of Vampires were coming from the front...

"What if we turn around?" Darwin intervened.

In the cabin we were more concerned about the nonstop persecution than the course of the moon.

"We'll get out through the first crack we find," the pilot replied and continued the conversation on the radio:

"What's the problem with the asteroid's orbit?"

"It's coming toward us."

*During the new moon's phase, the lunar axis keeps an inclination of 1.5 degrees with respect to Earth. This feature leaves the moon out of the visual field of any observer on Earth.

**The astronomers have detected about 350 objects with a minimum diameter of a third of a mile in orbits near the Earth. The experts assure that actually there are about 9,000 asteroids.