An Unexpected Reunion

When Morgan opened his eyes, things seemed different right from the start. He was no longer in the hanger bay, and was lying down in what was a rather soft bed. As he started to sit up, he realized that the bed was at least a queen size, something he didn't see anywhere on the station. When he stated to look around the room, Morgan began to realize he was no longer on the station. The room he was in looked like a bedroom that someone might occupy, inside a house. That couldn't seem possible, Morgan thought to himself, before he lost consciousness he was on board Lunar One. He was on the moon! Not only would it be impossible for him to be back on earth, the Earth as he knew it didn't exist anymore, destroyed by an asteroid; an extinction level event with authority. He quickly hopped out of bed and slowly walked to the door.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," a voice called out.

Morgan recognized that voice and turned to the corner where it came from to make a confirmation. There sitting in the corner by a small desk was the very person he expected to see; Elizabeth from the international space station. Morgan could barely tell it was her, as her hair was down and she wasn't even in uniform. She was wearing blue jeans, a t-shirt and even sandals. All of this continued to confuse Morgan more than he already was.

"Where the hell are we?" he quickly asked her.

"I honestly don't know," Elizabeth replied, I got here about six hours before you arrived, it's a little uncanny."

"What is?" Morgan asked.

"Just look out the window," she told him.

Morgan walked over to the window, and opened the drapes to a sight that was nothing short of astonishing. It was a small town. Something you'd expect to see in a town that had no more than twenty or so thousand people. The roads were busy, people were shopping. It looked out there like nothing had ever happened. Life was going on as if the world never ended.

"How is this even possible?" Morgan asked, "Are we back on Earth?"

"I'm not sure," Elizabeth answered, "I woke here just like you did, just a little earlier. I haven't had a chance to soak it all in yet. When I heard you were here, I passed up on an offer to tour the town to wait for you to wake up first."

"This is unreal," Morgan said, still looking out the window. "This has to be fake, like a holodeck you see on Star Trek."

"I thought of that too," she replied, "But the people seem real, act real. I didn't join the others on the tour, I was just too creepy."

"The others," Morgan repeated, "Who else is here?"

"Everyone," she replied, "Every single person from the station."

"Everyone?" Morgan asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes," Elizabeth confirmed, "Gordon is here too. He got here even earlier than I did. He's a little freaked out about it too. No one from the station can explain where we are or what we're doing here."

Without warning, Morgan walked out of the bedroom before Elizabeth could say or do anything to stop him. He quickly accessed the stairs and descended down them onto the first floor where a handful of people where sitting in the living room.

"Who are you people?" he called out, "What are you doing here?"

One of the old ladies looked up at him, "I'm having tea."

Morgan looked around the room and it had appeared he was interrupting someone's afternoon tea with friends. While he was tempted to join them for a fresh cup, he was too distracted to do so. Instead he walked through the living room and out the door, going outside.

The sun was out, which completely caught Morgan off guard as he shielded his eyes to take a look around. It was your standard neighborhood; trees, cars in their garages, white picket fences, and people walking around and doing their own thing without a care in the world. Morgan started to walk down the street, people looking at him differently because he was still in his Lunar One jumpsuit. It wasn't until he reached the downtown area where things started to really freak him out. There were restaurants, banks, and even gas stations. Everything you'd expect to see in any normal town in Middle America.

"Excuse me, young man." An old man called out as Morgan walked by him, "Are you alright, son?"

"I'm okay, I think." Morgan answered.

"You look lost," the man said, "What house were you staying at?"

"I'm not sure," Morgan said, as he kept looking around. "I have no idea how I got here."

"I see," the man replied, "You're a newcomer. This has all been very exciting, been the talk of the town."

"What do you mean?" Morgan asked him.

"We haven't had anyone new in months," the old man replied, "And then out of the blue, a whole boatload of new visitors!"

"Where are these new visitors?" Morgan asked.

"Some of them are taking a tour," the old man replied, "the others are at town hall meeting with some of our local politicians."

"Thank you," Morgan said as he walked away. He asked someone else where town hall was and he found it in a matter of minutes. When he ascended the stairs into the fair sized building, he could sense that people he passed by were looking at him. It was likely because of the Lunar One jumpsuit he was still wearing. When he walked into the foyer of the town hall, he could see about a couple of dozen people, some still in their jumpsuits, listening as someone was addressing them. Morgan slowly walked up to the crowd and made his way to the front of the crowd until he found the person that he was looking for. Before anyone could reaction, Morgan stepped right up out of nowhere and clocked Commander Gordon in the head with a vicious punch to the chin, knocking the man off his feet and crashing to the floor. This caused a commotion as men grabbed Morgan and help him back from doing anything else. While Gordon was tempted to respond, he did nothing after being helped to his feet.

"Doctor Morgan," Gordon said, wiping the blood from his chin, "Nice to see you're back on your feet, despite the fact you're still feel rebellious. This is not the appropriate place to continue our dispute."

"Screw you Gordon," Morgan chided back, "I don't care where we are, that doesn't excuse the fact that you should be facing a court martial for what you did on the station!"

"Doctor Taylor!" a voice called out. It was a voice Morgan had heard before but he had trouble placing it. "This kind of violence is unacceptable in the town hall."

"I don't really care what you..." Morgan stopped mid sentence when he was face to face with the person he was speaking with. Despite the fact that she had a button on her chest the read 'mayor', Morgan knew her by a much different rank. "Madame President?"

"Not anymore, Doctor Morgan." She replied, "In this town, I'm just the mayor that everyone voted in. I know it's my third term but those rules don't seem to apply and everyone wanted me to remain in office."

"How did you get here?" Morgan asked, certain she should have been killed by the asteroid when it impacted with Earth.

"The same way everyone else did." She answered, "We all saw a bright white light and the found ourselves waking up here."

"Where is this place?" Morgan asked.

"We're not sure," The mayor replied, "But we're making the best of it. We're all supposed to be dead, maybe we shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth, right Doctor Taylor?"

"This is all so weird," Morgan said, rubbing his temple.

"I'm sorry Doctor Taylor," the mayor started, "but you've broken the law. Please take this man into custody."

"What for?" Morgan replied, "How would I know what the law is if I just got here?"

"Assault is the same here as it was back home, "The mayor replied, "That kind of behavior it unacceptable."

"What about attempted murder?" Morgan called out, "How about negligent homicide? Does those still count around here too?"

"We'll discuss with you further Doctor Taylor, once you've had a chance to calm down." The Mayor replied, unimpressed with his questions. "Take him away."

Two police officers put Morgan in cuffs and removed him from town hall. After taking a quick ride in the police cruiser, they stopped in front of what looking like a small police station, which was right across the street from Krispie Kreme, proving that everything was exactly like home was meant to be. Morgan was quickly processed and then escorted to the big cage at the back of the station to be locked up.

"You guys sure are rowdy." The officer told Morgan. "Second time we've had to bring one of you in today."

Morgan was about to ask, but he didn't have to when he locked eyes with the person who was already waiting in the cell. It was Demetri. The deputy opened the door and while Demetri look ready to attack him, Morgan waved his hand and backed him off. Once in the cell, Morgan walked over to a cot and lay down on it.

"Let me guess," Morgan said to his comrade, in his native language. "You've been in worse brigs?"

The two of them sat there in the cell, speaking to one another in a language only they could understand. It wasn't long before someone got frustrated not knowing what the two of them could be talking or planning. They could have been working on a break out the whole time and no one would be the wiser for it.

Finally someone did come in to speak with them. Morgan got up to his feet, his eyes wide with shock as he realized who had arrived.

"How the hell is this possible?" he called out to the visitor.

"I'm not sure," Doctor Hoffman replied, standing there alive and well, and not a single bullet hole in him. The last time Morgan had seen the psychiatrist, it was on the ground and bleeding out in the hangar.

"It's good to see you anyway," Morgan said, reaching out to grab Hoffman's arm to confirm he really was there. "Sorry,"

"It's okay; I often pinch myself to confirm it too." Hoffman said with a chuckle. "Even Lt. Jordan is here, alive and well too."

Morgan let out a deep sigh, "This it too weird."

"That might very well be," Hoffman agreed, "but beggars cannot be choosers at this particular moment. We take what we've been given and do our best to move on."

"Just forgive and forget?" Morgan asked.

"Pretty much," Hoffman confirmed, "That's how we survive."

Morgan turned his back on Hoffman and faced Demetri and spoke to him again in Russian, "They have no idea where they are and for some reason this is considered surviving?"

"Pathetic," Demetri said, not even stirring in his cot.

"How long have you known how to speak Russian?" Hoffman asked.

"I did few classes in college," Morgan answered, "But Demetri did most of the work, and he's a surprisingly patient instructor."

"I have to admit it was a sound strategy," Hoffman admitted, "Having a private language so people couldn't listen in."

"It was helpful." Morgan admitted, converting back to English, "How are you still alive? I saw you bleeding out on the hangar floor."

"I didn't die, but I was in the process of doing so." Hoffman explained, "After you all broke into the halls I laid there for what seemed like a lifetime, waiting to die, and then there was a bright flash."

"This can't be right," Morgan said, pacing around. "This is fishy, far too fishy for my liking."

Hoffman was smiling as he walked back to the door. "There's someone else here who wants to see you."

As he opened the door, Morgan watched in amazement as three people walked in to see him. It was his brother, his wife and their daughter, his niece.

"How is this possible?" Morgan called out.

"We have no idea," his brother answered, "But the good news is we're alive and doing well."

"We have a house with a spare room," His sister-in-law added, "We'd like you to take that room and stay with us?"

Morgan wiped a tear from his cheek, "Sounds good to me."