SUNGLASESS AND ROCKETS Part 2: The Machine

HEAVEN

"Lucas!" I yelled.

"We're moving away!" Darwin exclaimed.

The view at the window was getting starry again.

"Lucas!" I insisted.

I freed myself from the seatbelts frantically and hurled over to our pilot. I unfastened his seatbelts and moved him away while I took his place.

"There are Vampires to the left!" Darwin said. "They're on our left!"

I'd already seized the rudder and tilted to the right. The gigantic blue curvature showed up through the window again. I saw Darwin switching to the front row.

"There it is!" he whispered. "There!"

The large black wingspan of the Vampire showed up a few feet down...you could clearly see the SVM hooked on its mechanical arm.

"Get a little closer!" my copilot exclaimed.

I didn't have to accelerate. The Pterodactyl flew much faster.

"Let's use the arm!"

"I'm ready!" Darwin said.

The tip of our ship was about to reach the Vampire's tail, a few degrees down.

"Okay!" he yelled. "Steer completely!"

I steered. The world turned around. We were upside down flying right above the Vampire!

"There it is!" Darwin yelled. "A little bit to the right!"

I saw the big green sphere.

"The lever," Lucas whispered. "Rudder..."

There was a small lever at the right hand of the rudder; I activated it. The mechanical arm moved.

"Tilt," he whispered. "Tilt to the right."

I did exactly the opposite, not on purpose. But luck made the Vampire to shift toward that direction. I moved the lever: the arm went near the tail. I pushed a red button on the lever's handle: the "fingers" opened up. The SVM was caught.

"There it is," Darwin whispered. "You got it!"

I pushed the red button once more. The pliers of the arm closed. The SVM unhooked from the other pliers.

"We got it," Darwin said incredulous. "We've got it."

"Straighten up," the magnate's weak voice whispered.

The trembling arm of Lucas stretched out and pulled a lever.

We sped up and left the Vampire behind. I steered. The world turned around one more time: the stars were above again.

Below, huge continents spread out along the globe.

"We've made it," I murmured stunned. "We did it."

I had no time to celebrate: a red light blinked on the board. It indicated a low battery charge!

"The battery is low!" I exclaimed.

"Guys," Lucas interrupted, with a shaky voice. "There is—"

He was breathing hard, dying...

"Take it easy," Darwin said. "Everything will be fine."

"Guys," Lucas gasped again. "Please do not wreck my ship," and in a broken voice he added: "it's worth a lot of money..."

He breathed out. Holy cow!

In the distance, I noticed sparks followed by explosions. They were Vampires; they burned down as they entered the atmosphere. That's how high their speed was...

Just like ours!

"I'm changing paths," I said in a low voice and steered.

The ship started jouncing. I turned the rudder back to its place.

"Lucas!" I called. "How do I get in an angle* ?"

"Lucas!" Darwin insisted. "Your ship is going to burn up!"

Lucas didn't answer.

Failing at the Earth's entrance equaled death. The radiant blue strip was getting nearby. We were flying too fast.

"God have mercy on us!" I exclaimed.

"Look!" Darwin said, all of a sudden.

A huge shadow was cast over the Atlantic Ocean. It moved over the water like a gigantic spectre of the Apocalypse.

"It's an eclipse," Darwin murmured. "It's a solar eclipse!"

That meant that the moon had gone back to its orbit.

"They have put the moon back in its place!" I celebrated. "The moon is back!"

Mama Bat did it. I felt indescribably happy and relieved for a tenth of a second. The ship was jolting. The small windows were tinted by a flaming orange which dazzled fiercely.

"We're roasting!" I exclaimed.

"Good bye world!" Darwin seconded.

The lights in the cabin blinked chaotically. The ship would not be able to make it. It was the end.

Not yet: the trembling ceased. The ship was slightly inclining. The color on the windows changed all of a sudden. A white light, of a blinding intensity flooded the cabin.

"I'm in heaven," I heard Darwin say.

*When a spaceship enters the atmosphere it must do it in a particular angle. If it isn't done this way, it runs the risk of suffering a bounce to space or else, from friction, the ship will melt like any high speed meteorite that penetrates the atmosphere.