face.
“The mountains and craters are really close now,” she tells Cedric, now trembling in fear.
“Don’t look out the window,” Cedric tells her. “Listen to me,” it’s all going to be okay. Listen to me.”
“Oh my god!” he hears her scream just before the transmission turns to static.
Cedric tries to call her back but gets an automated message that Nikki’s number is not in service. He tries again, but again the same.
A red light starts blinking in Cedric’s sunglasses; a news alert. Cedric’s face drops as his darkest fear blinks in front of his eyes. He tells Phaedra to play the news flash.
“We’ve just learned that a lunar shuttle has crashed on the surface of the moon. The media shuttle was on its way to Apollo 11 centennial celebrations when it lost electrical power. We’re just now learning that DOT-5 News reporter Nikki Nova was onboard, as well as the shuttle captain and co-pilot.”
Cedric looks up at the moon, then away. He pulls his sunglasses off and starts mumbling something to himself using hand gestures, as if he’s trying to talk his way through a problem. His mouth gets dry. His fingers curl up, then his body. As the reality of the news sinks further in, he doubles over into a fetal position and slides off the bench onto the ground, breaking into tears beside the bench.
Part 2 : February 27, 2014
Seattle, Wa
A siren sounds way off in the distance, then is soon joined by another, but both quickly fade into the steady white noise of Seattle’s traffic flow. Beau doesn’t notice. He sits at a table cluttered with radio parts, working to piece together an old ham radio. News can be heard over a different shortwave radio, his favorite, which he keeps on a small desk in the corner of his room.
“In Ukraine, tensions have risen as gunmen have now seized government buildings in the country's autonomous Crimea region and raised a Russian flag.
“In April, The Paintings of former U.S. president George W. Bush will go on display at the George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum in Dallas. The exhibit, The Art of Leadership: A President's Personal Diplomacy, will include more than two dozen portraits by Bush, along with photographs and other artifacts. Bush began painting after leaving the White House,” a reporter announces.
A short music intro to a station identification begins to play, causing Beau to scramble for his little Sony, hand-held, memo recorder. He frantically searches for it as the intro wanes and the station is being identified. He spots the recorder just as the music fades and hits the record button right in the nick of time to catch the announcement.
“You’re listening to international news on the GLOB shortwave network, Cape Town,” the announcement states.
“I’ve got it!” Beau says to himself with a smile from ear to ear.
The news fades to inaudible background as Beau steps out of his house and onto his patio for some fresh air. The last few nights have been warmer and with March a mere two days away, winter is clearly on its way out. The moon is bright, at least what little of it there is left of it as it wanes near the end of its cycle. Maybe it just looks a lot brighter after spending such a dark winter behind clouds.
Beau’s been working on his radio a lot lately, trying to keep his job at a neighborhood tech firm off his mind. With the tidal wave of recent layoffs, that’s becoming increasingly harder to do. He can’t help but wonder if his job is waning away.
Then he hears it just for a second; a large digital sounding sequence of electronic beeps, followed by a unique squelch coming from inside the house, through the patio door. A ten-second period of silence follows, then the sequence of beeps and the squelch are
“The mountains and craters are really close now,” she tells Cedric, now trembling in fear.
“Don’t look out the window,” Cedric tells her. “Listen to me,” it’s all going to be okay. Listen to me.”
“Oh my god!” he hears her scream just before the transmission turns to static.
Cedric tries to call her back but gets an automated message that Nikki’s number is not in service. He tries again, but again the same.
A red light starts blinking in Cedric’s sunglasses; a news alert. Cedric’s face drops as his darkest fear blinks in front of his eyes. He tells Phaedra to play the news flash.
“We’ve just learned that a lunar shuttle has crashed on the surface of the moon. The media shuttle was on its way to Apollo 11 centennial celebrations when it lost electrical power. We’re just now learning that DOT-5 News reporter Nikki Nova was onboard, as well as the shuttle captain and co-pilot.”
Cedric looks up at the moon, then away. He pulls his sunglasses off and starts mumbling something to himself using hand gestures, as if he’s trying to talk his way through a problem. His mouth gets dry. His fingers curl up, then his body. As the reality of the news sinks further in, he doubles over into a fetal position and slides off the bench onto the ground, breaking into tears beside the bench.
Part 2 : February 27, 2014
Seattle, Wa
A siren sounds way off in the distance, then is soon joined by another, but both quickly fade into the steady white noise of Seattle’s traffic flow. Beau doesn’t notice. He sits at a table cluttered with radio parts, working to piece together an old ham radio. News can be heard over a different shortwave radio, his favorite, which he keeps on a small desk in the corner of his room.
“In Ukraine, tensions have risen as gunmen have now seized government buildings in the country's autonomous Crimea region and raised a Russian flag.
“In April, The Paintings of former U.S. president George W. Bush will go on display at the George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum in Dallas. The exhibit, The Art of Leadership: A President's Personal Diplomacy, will include more than two dozen portraits by Bush, along with photographs and other artifacts. Bush began painting after leaving the White House,” a reporter announces.
A short music intro to a station identification begins to play, causing Beau to scramble for his little Sony, hand-held, memo recorder. He frantically searches for it as the intro wanes and the station is being identified. He spots the recorder just as the music fades and hits the record button right in the nick of time to catch the announcement.
“You’re listening to international news on the GLOB shortwave network, Cape Town,” the announcement states.
“I’ve got it!” Beau says to himself with a smile from ear to ear.
The news fades to inaudible background as Beau steps out of his house and onto his patio for some fresh air. The last few nights have been warmer and with March a mere two days away, winter is clearly on its way out. The moon is bright, at least what little of it there is left of it as it wanes near the end of its cycle. Maybe it just looks a lot brighter after spending such a dark winter behind clouds.
Beau’s been working on his radio a lot lately, trying to keep his job at a neighborhood tech firm off his mind. With the tidal wave of recent layoffs, that’s becoming increasingly harder to do. He can’t help but wonder if his job is waning away.
Then he hears it just for a second; a large digital sounding sequence of electronic beeps, followed by a unique squelch coming from inside the house, through the patio door. A ten-second period of silence follows, then the sequence of beeps and the squelch are
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