Chapter No. 16.

Two days later, Carl placed the spaceplane into orbit around Earth, which looked peacefully amazing as usual. There was no evidence of a calamity, war or extinction event. It was the same old blue ocean planet with swirling clouds that they were familiar with. In fact, it was a calming experience that temporarily relaxed the passengers.

"We're going down," Carl announced. "Make sure you're buckled in well. It's going to be a bumpy ride."

After firing the main rockets to slow the spaceplane, Carl turned it around and fired the jet engines to allow for a proper glide down to the surface, fighting the stratospheric winds all the way. He came in low over the Atlantic Ocean on a course to land on the French Guiana Launch Facility. Fortunately, there were no objects on the runway to impede his landing. He managed to land with a minimum of physical jostling.

"We made it," he said facetiously. "In one piece."

"Very funny!" Janet replied with a mock frown.

After unbuckling and exiting the spacecraft they stepped onto the tarmac on a beautiful sunny day with a slight breeze. The temperature and humidity were high enough to cause sweat. They headed to the mission control facility and found it as they left it, except for one difference. The front door was left open.

"I don't remember leaving that door open," Janet said. "Maybe some people are still here."

"If they were, I think they would have made more of their presence known," Carl replied.

They went to the main computer and found that some things were not in their places. Janet went over to a bathroom, and after several minutes, she emerged. "Someone wrote on the mirror in the bathroom. I don't understand what it means."

Carl, Margaret and Ellie went to the bathroom to see what she meant and saw that it was written in what looked like blood.. It was Carl who realized the significance of what was written.

"Oh my God! The idiot aliens teleported all the humans to the time of the dinosaurs!"

They stared at him as if he was loony.

"Look what it says!" He said, pointing at the mirror.

"Jurassic," Margaret said. Her eyes ballooned. "Oh . . . I get it!"

"Are you suggesting that a person materialized here and wrote that just before they vanished again?" Janet said.

"I don't see any other scenario. I think it's consistent with Melicia's recollections.

"I don't see what we can do about it," she replied.

"I don't know about you, but I'm not going to settle here realizing that humans are being hunted and eaten by huge reptiles."

"How could we change that?"

"I believe that the alien device on the Moon has that capability. I don't know about any of you, but I'm going to go to the Moon and see if I can reverse this horrible mistake."

"If you die in the attempt, we won't be able to revive the human race," Janet said.

Carl wanted to laugh, but he was too distressed for that. "We're not a big enough gene pool to do that. Besides, I don't want to live realizing that I could change what has happened. I wouldn't be able to live with myself."

"Shit!" she reacted. "This entire mission has been a complete screw up."

"I could use some help," he said in a softer more controlled voice.

Janet sighed. "Oh well, what the hell. I may as well go out trying to save the human race."

"I'll go," Margaret said. "Living out the rest of my life on this base would be boring.

"Good. The first thing we must do is fill the rocket and jet fuel tanks. We'll also have to install more oxygen tanks and water and make sure we have proper fitting space suits to walk on the Moon."

"We're not trained to do that," Janet said.

"We'll just have to wing it," Carl said. "I think that the alien device is in a peak in the center of that crater. If there is a control center, that's where it will be. I can set the space plane down near it."

Neither Janet nor Margaret was confident about his plan, but they realized that they had to help him. He was their only hope for a normal life on Earth.

Carl assigned them to finding an oxygen tank and transporting it to the spaceplane in a truck. He went to the fuel storage facility and filled a tanker truck with hydrazine and another truck with dinitrogen tetroxide, both chemicals that are highly toxic. He wore a full hazmat suit to handle them. Once he had rocket engine fueled, he filled the jet engine tanks with jet-B fuel.

The women had installed new oxygen tanks on the spaceplane and made sure that they had EVA suits on board for their anticipated Moon walk.

"Do you think he's right about the alien device on the Moon?" Margaret asked Janet as they stocked food and other staples.

"I don't know, but he is right about it being the only chance we have to reverse this crazy nonsense. I do believe it's causing the vanishing effect, but I'm not sure we can reverse it."

"All we can do is hope for the best," Margaret said in a depressed tone. "Life is going to be difficult if we don't succeed. I'm not sure that I want to get pregnant in a situation where there are no medical people."

"I can't get pregnant," Janet revealed. "I had my tubes tied. Even if I hadn't, I wouldn't want to bring a child into this dystopian world."

"Hopefully, I won't have to."

"How's it going?" Carl asked when he entered the spaceplane near the cargo hold.

"We have all the stuff we need stashed, including EVA space suits."

"Good. I think it's time to go and do our thing."

Neither Janet nor Margaret was enthusiastic about that, but they were dedicated to the effort to save humanity even though they were not sure they could actually pull it off.