DROP POINT Episode Eighteen: Last Night Kyle, Pt. 2

The room was about six by ten feet. In the corner furthest from the door was a big object with a blue tarp over it. “That’s it, that’s the one!” Kyle exclaimed. Michael rolled his eyes as Kyle walked over to it and jerked the tarp off, throwing it to the side. The moon rocks led from the large air-lock door to the large hunk of metal: a busted- up buggy with an oxygen dome surrounding the cabin.“It’s a LunaRover,” said the Doctor. “A pretty banged-up LunaRover,” Michael added. Kyle gasped as he suddenly went back to remembering:

“JOYRIDE!” Piott whispered, pulling out a tiny plunger-like key of his pocket. “SWEET!” Kyle whispered back, making a face. “Seriously!” Piott responded, and high-fived Kyle and Bradley; the Doctor was working on destroying a ham sandwich. Piott wiped the bits of ham and lettuce from his hand and ran down the corridor. Michael, Kyle, and Bradley followed. They arrived at the commander’s personal garage, and piled in. Piott revved the engine loudly as the airlock hissed open, and burst out into the black and grey world beyond. The sun shone harsh and white on the horiz the carriage bounced harshly, tossing everyone into the ceiling of the LunaRover as it slammed into the terrain in the bottom of a large crater. Between the four of them, there was a lot of whooping and shouting as it raced along the dirt, tossing up dust, rocks and an tiny yellow fish Michael twisted the steering wheel harshly, screaming, and a large rock came into vision, glancing off the Rover, tossing them to the side. A large crack in the glass of the oxygen dome splayed out in front of them and everyone started screaming Piott was behind the wheel again. He was laughing. The metal of the carriage was punched in at several places, and more cracks were showing across the glass. “Okay, okay, okay,” Piott started, “seriously. We need to go back before the glass breaks and we end up asphixelating out here. Seriously,” he assured. Everyone sighed dramatically. “Seriously! We can’t let anyone see this! zzzzzz-- ”zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz zz

Kyle shuddered as the feeling drained away. His memories were still shorting out on him. “You know, you are a horrible driver,” he said to Michael. “In my defense, I was messed up by the Great Doctor over here,” Michael retorted.

“What were you doing in my lab anyway?” Bradley asked.

“Hey if I know,” Michael shrugged. “What’s the last thing we remember?” Kyle asked. Their only lead was to go to Piott’s office and look around for more clues, but every room and corridor between there and the garage would be packed full of people twenty-four seven. This, the Omniscient Narrator supposes, would be a great time to bring up Luna’s time system real quick-like. See, to avoid confusion by following its own day/time pattern, Earth’s moon adopted the date and time of the UNMC Headquarters. The Omniscient Narrator had only that to say and then brings you back to the story. Kyle had just gotten everyone to try to remember as much as possible about the previous night. Bradley’s last memory, he’d said, was setting up the inhibitor on its presentation pedestal. The commander was going to oversee the first human test on three soldiers of his own – and this is where Michael gasped in realization – and, everyone knows you have to look your best. A pedestal is the perfect way to do so, Bradley pointed out. Kyle’s last memory was of a tall man in a black cloak standing over his bed – a little creepy in retrospect. Michael realized the last thing he remembered was bring strapped down in a chair two hundred meters away from a large spinning bronze globe that was getting brighter and brighter. Kenny was there, too. In fact, he thought he remembered a sphere of light rippling away from it, slamming into him with a dull pain, then bouncing off the concrete walls and smashing through the machine, causing it to explode. But as soon as the bubble of light hit him, his memory got really messed up and faded. Piott was still out cold, but he liked to mumble things every now and then. Spittle rose over his lip and down his chin. Lovely. Kenny was there too? Where is he now? Kyle wondered as he examined the LunaRover while the others metaphorically scratched their heads. Then he saw it. “Guys,” he turned around.

“This isn’t gonna work,” Michael whispered. “Yes it is, just keep your head on straight,” Kyle whispered back. “Right.” They walked together, Michael holding Piott’s ID card and Kyle holding the set of keys he’d found in the ignition of the LunaRover. If they played their cards right, they’d get into the office of the Commander of the UNMC’s Space Fleet without anyone noticing. If someone else happened to play a Joker, though, they’d find themselves with a one-way ticket to

prison. Kyle tried to think happy thoughts instead. They’d passed seven people already and nothing had happened, which was good. Finally, they arrived at the last T intersection that led to the Commander’s office. It was surprisingly empty. When Kyle had first been there, this hallway was packed like sardines. They cautiously headed down in the direction of the door. Michael slid the card through a small machine on the door, and it rolled up silently. Both boys sighed with relief and stepped in. Kyle glanced around the mahogany-beige room, looking for any clues. He found one almost immediately: there was a green lunch tray with old food, sitting on a chair in the corner of the room. Kyle remembered Bradley’s sandwich before they went on the joy ride. No sign of Kenny.

They went down to the cafeteria, where an off-duty cook was sitting at one of the tables, lounging and talking to some friends. When he saw Kyle and Michael, he stood up. “You two back for another round of sammiches?” He asked defensively. The others tensed.

Kyle shook his head. “No. Can you tell us where we were before we came here last night?” “Yeah, you guys kept talking about an explosion down in the Doc’s lab. You had just come from there,” he said, easing up.

“Thank you,” Kyle said. “That about wraps this whole thing up.” “You’re kidding me,” Michael sighed. “That was a complete waste of time.” They started walking back toward the garage. “I still hate you, by the way,” Michael added. Kyle nodded. “The feeling is mutual,” but then he stopped. “Oh, crap! Kenny is still missing!” Suddenly, all the lights in the corridor went off.