Moon Dust

Moon Dust
 
(The GENERAL has a deep commanding voice, and JIMMY is young and slightly nervous to have such an important figure in his cab)
 
GENERAL:  Take me to the moon.  (Door slams and taxi takes off)
                                   What’s your name, son?
 
DRIVER:  Jimmy.  (Admiringly) And I sure know who you are, sir, you’re General
                  Feldspar, the most decorated general in the Intergalactic Fleet!
 
GENERAL:  Ha ha well I suppose you’re right.  Say, Jimmy, how long have you been
                       flying this rig?
 
JIMMY: A-about six months, Sir.   (Stammers)
 
GENERAL: Just out of flight school, are ya?
 
JIMMY:  Yes, Sir, I wanna fly intergalactics, just like you.
 
GENERAL:  Well, Jimmy, did you know that I flew moon cabs when I was your age?
 
JIMMY: No way! Really? 
 
GENERAL:  Yep, that’s how I got my start.  Well, there was one day in particular…I’m    
gonna tell you a story, Jimmy…
 
         I was twenty years old, just out of flight school, I was waiting in the cab for the occasional customer when a young woman walked up to the
 flyer.  “Take me to the moon,”  she said as she slid into my taxicab.  I turned around to look at her as she buckled on the G-force harnesses.  She was the most beautiful creature I had ever seen.  She tucked her beautiful, long black hair behind her ears and turned her face toward mine.  My eyes swept over her features. They followed her pale forehead, down her wide, graceful cheekbones, slender nose, and rested on her plump cherry lips.   I was entranced; I couldn’t take my eyes off of her.
    “Ahem,” she noisily cleared her throat, “The moon, please.”  I shook my head,
              …. I must have stared for longer than I thought.
    “Right, yeah, thanks.  Could I see your ID, please?” Ever since the advent of  
              lunar drug trafficking the government required that we run the IDs of all and interlunar travelers. 
    “Oh, yeah…” She muttered as she fiddled with her bag.  She eventually handed me a small glowing card.  I took it from her, looking down at her information.  Selina Leonina, resident of Crystal Crater, The Moon.
    “So you live on the moon?” I asked, trying to make small talk, as I swiped her ID over the dashboard reader.
    “Yeah… that’s where I live, why?” She added suspiciously.
    “Oh, well um…” I stuttered, searching for an explanation for my interest in her when the reader on my dash beeped and glowed red.  DETAIN TRAVELER appeared on my screen.
    “Uhh, there seems to be a problem with your ID,” I said, then, not wanting this beautiful girl to be mad at me, I added, “It’s probably just some computer glitch or something…” The screen beeped again and DETAIN TRAVELER, INTERLUNAR PLOICE ON THEIR WAY flashed in red.
     I turned to look at her, “Who are you, exactly?”
She looked at me, her beautiful face wild with fear.  She unbuckled the harnesses and leaned into the pilot’s chair.
    “Please,” She whispered, “Take me to the moon, I’ll do anything to get out of here.”  She pleaded, her large, blue eyes sinking into my own.  Those eyes implored me to say yes, her incomparable beauty messing with my mind as I tried to make sense of my thoughts.  I thought about my life.  I was twenty years old, stuck driving a taxi until I could land a job flying intergalactic spacecraft.  I spent my days flying businesspeople, tourists, and aliens to and from the moon.  I was so bored.  I daydreamed about this kind of excitement.  Yet, when the moment confronted me, I couldn’t find an answer.  What if I said yes and we got caught and I went to jail… I might never become an intergalactic pilot….I could ruin my future…
    I felt Selina move next to me and suddenly her lips were mine.  Her firm, red lips massaged mine and her clever little tongue tickled my lower lip.
       
JIMMY:       What!? I’ve been driving this taxi for eight months and that has never            
                     happened to me!
 
GENERAL:  Shut up, Jimmy, the story is just getting good.
 
    “I’m taking you to the moon,” I said, as I rammed the spacecraft into drive. 
My adrenaline pumping, I took off from the taxi dock and fueled the jets as we began to rise into the atmosphere.  Selina looked me full in the face and gave me a twisted sideways grin,
    “Thanks, although I think you should tell me your name now.”
    “I’m Jeremy, Jeremy Feldspar.   I was hoping to fly intergalactic spacecraft for the government one day, but our little adventure might put an end to that if you did something really illegal.”
    “How well do you fly?”
    “I’m the best damn pilot this side of the Van Allen belt, why?”
    “Well, the police will probably chase us, but if you can make it to the moon without being shot down I can give you the coordinates where my friends will meet us, they can cover us as we land.”
    “What did you do that there is a shoot to kill order on your head?”  I asked, quite impressed with this dangerous girl I picked up in my taxi.
    “Have you heard of Don Madel?”  She inquired.
    “The intergalactic drug magnate and inventor of the new drug known as moon dust?”  I questioned.
    “Yes, that’s right.”
    “And you work for him?”  I ventured. 
    “I am Don Madel.”
    “Holy shit.”  I was stunned.  I was transporting the most wanted drug lord in the history of the Milky Way.  This was a pivotal moment, I could turn her in for a huge reward, but Don Madel (Also known as the beautiful young woman sitting in my taxi) had people everywhere.  She would have me taken out in the blink of an eye.  On the other hand, She was the most beautiful woman I had ever met.  I just met her, but in that short span of time she convinced me to take the biggest risk of my life.     
 
JIMMY:  (Amazed) So what did you do? 
 
GENERAL: I flew her to the moon.
 
JIMMY:  You mean, you made it?!
 
GENERAL: We made it.
 
JIMMY: Without getting caught?!
 
GENERAL: I’m the best damn pilot this side of the Van Allen belt.
 
JIMMY: True, but the whole Lunar and Terrestrial police squads must have been
               after you by that point.
 
GENERAL:  They were, but I managed to land and drop Selina off- with the help of
                        laser cover from her friends.  She kissed me, left the cab, and her posse  
                       escorted her into the subterranean caves.
 
JIMMY:  She just left you?
 
GENERAL: Yep, the police arrived shortly after and took me into custody.
 
JIMMY: How did you get out of that mess?
 
GENERAL: I pled temporary insanity and served two years of indentured pilot 
                      Service.
 
JIMMY: That’s it? They let you off that lightly?
 
GENERAL:  Well, yeah, they were pissed but I really made an impression when I
                       outflew them to the moon.
 
JIMMY: But what happened to Selina?
 
GENERAL:  (Mischievously) Why do you think I took a taxi to the moon?