NASA was a very different place from the farm or the city. Aside from The Rocket rising in the distance, it wasn't more than a vast field of grass with cement roads and buildings, all guarded by a lengthy fence (which had cost Elsa her two meowing fellows.) The Farmer's son was nowhere to be seen. Maybe he had gone inside one of the buildings; after all, humans loved to go inside buildings. There had to be some really good stuff in there for them wanting to spend so much time in them.

With the threat of the gate-guarding humans far behind, Elsa followed the grey road that stretched from the gate and far into the distance where The Rocket was. However, Elsa was well aware that it would take a lot more than just walking along the road and getting onto The Rocket. Up until now, nothing had been easy, and she had no reason to believe it would be any different now. After crossing paths with the gate-guarding humans, Elsa was a hundred percent sure that non-astronauts weren't welcome in NASA, and that if she got caught, she would be kicked out, and her journey would be over. So, with this imminent risk in mind, Elsa wandered this new, unknown territory with extreme care. Even though she didn't see any humans around, they surely had to be nearby; their voices occasionally echoed from the distance and then vanished.

Then, after some more walking, Elsa spotted two humans dressed like those at the gate. She rushed to hide behind a tall, metallic cube that rumbled like the machines did. They walked past the cube, talking between them, oblivious to the cow who had infiltrated their ranks.

Elsa sighed with relief—yet another close call successfully dodged.

The problem with lurking in the open like this wasn't her stealth skills. It was her size. If that noisy metallic cube hadn't been so conveniently placed, she would've been caught! However, for the rest of the way to The Rocket, there were no other places she could hide. There were a few bushes alongside the road, but they weren't large enough for her.

How would she make it to The Rocket without getting caught?

Then the ground started rumbling again.

Elsa recognized that rumble.

From another road that met up with the one Elsa had followed, the very large machine roared as it continued toward The Rocket. It then ceased its rumble right beside the noisy cube that Elsa was hiding behind. The human inside it came out and walked around the platform over which The Lunar Module stood secured. Right after, two other humans in weird onesies, a male and a female both with NASA logos on their shoulders, came out of nowhere.

"Took your time, didn't you, Roy?" one of them said.

"Jesus, not this again. Gimme a break. At least it's still in one piece, isn't it?"

"You're right. Last time you brought cargo from JPL we spent like two weeks in repairs," the female human added.

"All right. Shut up already and do your thing."

"I really hope the Module passes inspection. We need to get it loaded on The Rocket today."

With that said, the onesie-wearing humans climbed to the platform and started to check on The Lunar Module. As for the one who had come out of the huge machine, he went back inside and fell asleep within just a few seconds.

Inspection?

Load it in The Rocket?

While all this happened, Elsa still hid behind the metallic cube, spying on the humans. Their words gave her an idea: since simply walking to The Rocket and getting inside wasn't an option, she could just get inside The Lunar Module and wait for it to be loaded into The Rocket! Elsa became even more convinced of her plan when the onesie-wearing humans opened some sort of door on The Lunar Module. All she had to do now was get inside without them noticing!

Easier said than done, though. Both of the jumpsuit-wearing humans got inside The Lunar Module, probably as part of their "inspection."

After a while, a familiar meowing reached Elsa's ears, distracting her attention from her objective.

From atop the metallic cube, Sophia and Richard looked down at her, smiling. Elsa's eyes widened with joy. She didn't feel alone anymore; her friends were back with her! She was very happy to see them, especially after they fell prey to the evil gate-guarding humans.

Elsa spoke to them about her plan to get on The Rocket. They thought it was very ingenious, but they were worried about Elsa getting caught along the way. She didn't understand why they were worried—her plan was perfect, and after all, she had made it all the way here just fine.

She was going to The Moon at any cost!

Elsa then told her friends about the onesie-wearing humans inside The Lunar Module and explained she wouldn't be able to get inside with them in there.

Sophia had a plan for that, though.

She sure was a smart cat.

She walked nearby the platform and started meowing tenderly, singing a charming lullaby. Enchanted by her melody, the female onesie-wearing human came out of The Lunar Module and approached her.

"Aww, look at that!" she shrieked. "Isn't she beautiful?"

"Come on, Maggie, we don't have time for this. We have to get this done," the male said as he also came back outside.

But his words were of no use. Sophia walked gracefully in circles, meowing her hypnotizing tune, keeping the female human in some sort of trance. Sure that the human would follow her, Sophia steadily stepped farther and farther away from The Lunar Module.

"Come here, kitty!"

"Maggie, where are you going? Come on, we—"

"Don't worry, we still have a few hours," the female onesie-wearing human said as she continued after Sophia. "Help me catch her. I'm getting this one home!"

"Catch her? But—"

"Just help me here, all right?"

For reasons unknown to Elsa, the male human opted to stop arguing and cooperate. Of course, Sophia wouldn't allow herself to get caught so easily. And while she did her number, Richard urged Elsa to get inside The Lunar Module. This was her chance!

In a surprisingly steady manner, Elsa climbed to the platform, and before anyone could notice, she jumped into The Lunar Module.

As for the humans, it would take them a while to catch Sophia. At last, the male secured his arms around her, making sure not to let her go. "All right, we got her. Now hurry up, you know I'm allergic to these things," he grunted.

"Just hold her a minute, I have to get inside and check the comms equipment."

Elsa's eyes widened as panic took over. If the humans came back inside, she would get caught for sure.

"Don't worry about it. I already did," the male said, sneezing three consecutive times. "Also, you can't get back in there with cat hair all over you."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, yeah. I double-checked everything. It's all working fine."

"All right. If something goes wrong, I'll blame you."

"Seal the hatch, c'mon. I can't—" The onesie-wearing male sneezed again. "I can't take this much longer."

And so the door of The Lunar Module sealed before Elsa with a hiss and a loud clank. All outside noises were gone, and she was now sitting in an enclosed space just big enough to give her room to breathe. The external light filtered through two windows, but since The Sun had hidden already, it didn't help much against the darkness of The Lunar Module.

All of her hopes now hung on the Module actually being loaded into The Rocket. If everything went according to her plan, she would soon be on her way to The Moon.

After sitting there a long while, Elsa started to feel uneasy. Without a clear notion of what was happening outside, anxiety soon filled Elsa's body, and she started moving aimlessly in the confined space. She stumbled into things she couldn't see clearly. Soon her surroundings seemed to shrink, more and more, making her feel suffocated and desperate. This terrible feeling of uncertainty combined with desperation was new to her. Her breath sped up along with her rushing heart.

But then, after another loud clank coming from The Lunar Module's roof, she felt it lifting higher and higher into the sky.

What was happening?

Was she on her way to The Moon already?

Elsa struggled to stay still inside that shaking place, but it was nearly impossible. After a while, the shaking ceased, and the module didn't go up any farther. Instead, to the best that Elsa could tell, it fell into some kind of cylinder. More clanks and rattling followed, and then a voice came out of nowhere.

"Mission Control, the module has been loaded and secured in place. We can proceed with the preparations," the voice said in a dull tone.

"Understood. We're right on schedule. T-minus six hours and counting."

Six hours?

In spite of all the complicated jargon, Elsa took for granted that in six hours, she would be on her way to The Moon.

Finally, everything was going according to her plan!

Nothing could go wrong now!

And with her mind now at ease, Elsa chose to sleep for the following hours before her departure; she was really tired from her long and weary journey. She relieved her tired legs from her weight and sat, finally sliding her eyelids closed.

She wanted to save every drop of energy for her big moment.

❖

Author's Note

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