Return to the Moon: Mission 12B

Mark yawned as his eyes slowly cracked open. He got his rest that night, that was for sure. He sat up and and pushed himself to the edge of the bed. As Mark sat there, he heard an all too familiar voice begin speaking to him.

"Good morning, Mark," greeted Luna as calmly walked to Mark's side. "did thou sleep well?"

Mark always thought Luna acted like a puppy in many ways, most of them being the way she moves. He turned his head to see Luna standing next to him.

"Morning, Luna," Mark responded. "slept like a baby last night,"

"We are happy to hear that thou did," Luna said with a little smile.

She seemed... nervous. Or perhaps stressed. Mark couldn't put his finger on it, so he just shrugged it off. Mark got up as he put on his over shirt and pants. They were uncomfortable, but what other choice did he have? He began to walk to the main station room to check the temperature  and oxygen levels. He was thinking about checking the communication signal, but he had lost all hopes during the past few days, especially since the radio broke down. There was simply no use to check when it was a fact that the radio wouldn't pick up a signal. Mark walked down the stairs into the main station room and kneeled down in front of the oxygen tanks and temperature monitor. He looked at the oxygen tank levels. The oxygen levels were fifty-six point five and the temperature was seventy-two degrees Fahrenheit. Weak, but good enough, Mark told himself.

As he got up, Mark noticed something. Luna had been following him the entire time. This was odd, as Luna would usually greet Mark with a "good morning" and then just run off and do something else. But Mark, once again, pushed the thought aside and continued his daily routine.

"If I may ask, what did thou have planned for us today?" Luna asked.

For the first time, Mark had plans other than wake up, eat, and sleep. Today, Mark was going to be active trying to find a solution to the loss of air. He would try and figure out how to use less air while still holding the minimum amount needed. But from how well Mark knew Luna, she would definitely not be interested in the situation. Maybe Luna could just hang around or re-read one of the books that were in Mark's room.

"Well, I was sorta going to try and solve our oxygen complications, but I didn't really have plans for you," Mark admitted.

"Perhaps we can serve a use?" Luna questioned.

Luna? Helping? Mark never thought he would hear those two words combine. He thought about it for a moment.

"Alright then," Mark finally said. "but first, let's head over to the dining room for breakfast,"

Mark saw Luna's eyes brighten up in excitement, yet, they still held that tensed look from earlier. She began to trot alongside Mark. What is up with her? Mark thought. He kept walking as he pondered on the calculations he would need to find his solution.

Mark and Luna were half way finished with their meal already. Mark noticed Luna didn't talk much, but she sure did seem less talkative than usual for some reason. Mark would ask why, if not for the fact that he would drift off and focus on his calculations from time to time.

When they were finished, Mark and Luna began walking back to Mark's room to begin the "problem solving." On their way there, Mark remembered he had left his notebook and pencils in the communication center from last week's events.

"Wait, Luna. I forgot my notebook in the communication center. I'll go get em'," Mark said.

"Wait!" exclaimed Luna as she tugged on Mark's shirt.

What is her problem? Mark thought. There was a moment of silence before Mark spoke again.

"Wait for what?" Mark asked.

Mark noticed Luna began to get really, REALLY nervous. Okay, now something was up, Mark knew for sure.

"Uh... I uh...," Luna couldn't find any words to say until she finally sighed. "nothing,"

"Um... okay?" Mark said as he raised an eyebrow.

Obviously Mark wasn't born yesterday. He knew something was wrong. Maybe she was dealing with depression, like when he first met her. So Mark, once again, shrugged it off and let Luna be. When they arrived at the communication center, they began searching for Mark's notebook. In a couple of minutes, Mark managed to find his notebook, but still couldn't find the pencils. Aha! Mark remembered. I left them on the radio's table from when I took notes! Mark walked over to the table and saw a pencil under the table on the floor. He kneeled down to pick it up, only to notice a small, red light turning off and on at random intervals. Mark immediately knew what this meant.

"The radio's picking up a signal," Mark gasped. "The radio's picking up a signal!"

Mark sat in the chair next to the table and plugged in a headset into the radio. He started tampering with the controls to get better reception. Mark was finally going to be able to talk to the A.S.R.F crew again!

"Wh-t the hell? Wh- is this? H-llo? Hell-? Is any-n- ther-?" a voice on the radio said.

It was cutting off, but was enough to let Mark know what the man on the radio was saying.

"Yes! Hello? This is Mark Knights, the man who went on the mission four weeks ago! Send help!" Mark said as the thought of finally going home flooded his mind. "Please, PLEASE send help immediately!"

Dead silence other than Mark's heavy breathing filled the room.

"H-hello?" Mark said in fear.

Mark slowly looked down at the radio console and saw the last thing he wanted to see right now: the red light turning off. He sat there, frozen, for what felt like an eternity until Mark laid his head against the table surface.

"No," Mark muttered under his breath. "this can't be happening right now,"

Mark felt something rest on his shoulder, which he identified as Luna's hoof. He lifted his head up and slowly began to look over his shoulder. But before he could even look at Luna, he caught a glimpse of something. He looked back at the radio and noticed its side was a little out of place.. Actually, it was very out of place.