The Navcom beeped into life as J.D. ran up to the bridge. "Pete, could do with a hand up here bud," Pete entered the bridge soon after J.D. had sat down. "You see that big rock like thing we're about to hit?" "Yeah, we might want to avoid that," replied Pete, a sarcastic tinge to his voice. "I don't fancy dying in the twenty-first century," "Well that is Earth's Moon," said J.D. "What do you think, evasive action?" "I'd say yes," replied Pete, turning on the intercom. "Guys, hold onto something or strap yourselves in. Whatever, we're about to take evasive action before we end up strewn all over Earth's Moon. Hold on," "OK," said J.D. " Here we go," The problem that they were having, was that although the Navcom had planned a perfect course to Earth, it had failed to take into account that the Moon in the twenty-first century was much further away from Earth than it was in the twenty-eigth century, almost twelve million miles further away to be precise. As a direct result of this, The Reaper was passing the moon just under four miles off the darkside, and the Moon's gravity was not happy. It was hungry, and it didn't fear The Reaper. "Slingshot," said Pete. "What," J.D. was concentrating on wrestling the controls. "I've never pulled off a succesful Slingshot before," "Now's your chance and our only chance, so get it right!" J.D. looked unsure. "Or I could always get Dan to do it, or I could do it myself," teased Pete, as Trixi arrived on the bridge. "Slingshot?" she suggested to Pete. "That's exactly what I said," "Alright," J.D. was getting frustrated. "Alright, I got it." He wasn't lying either. He took The Reaper within ten feet of the surface of the Moon, constantly gaining speed. The G-Force onboard was incredible, no one could speak, their faces temporarily stretched back past their ears. J.D. let out an inhuman scream, as the pain of straining himself to control The Reaper. It wasn't long, only a matter of minutes before The Reaper had done full circle and was lining up for the Slingshot maneuver. To the crew though, this was the longest few minutes of their lives. The pain for all of them was excrutiating. Seconds later though, The Reaper began to leave the surface of the Moon behind, it's many mountains and valley's becoming a distant memory. The Slingshot was over, and as the G-Force wore off and The Reaper slowed down to a sensible speed, the crew cheered. J.D., beaming with pride simply sat there unable to do much else except shake all over. "Anyone else want one of these?" asked Trixi as she lit up a cigarette, and then put it inbetween J.D.'s motionless lips. As he inhaled the beautiful nicotine, his eyes closed and a wave of calm passed over him. "**** yeah," was all he could say. None of the Crew had ever seen Earth, only a few pictures here and there. The twenty-first century was the peak of Earth's tenure as home to the human race. Visually, it was stunning and from so far away the crew could watch weather systems and cloud formations as they moved over continents. They all watched in awe. The closer they got, and the more that Earth filled their screen the more excited they got. Although not a single person on board had a direct attachment to the planet, all of them knew that their ancestors had made lives there, good lives at that. It was only natural for them to feel a little nostalgia. "Breaking atmo in thirty seconds," Pete said, not that anyone was listening. They were all too busy admiring the view. "We should come out somewhere over the north Atlantic," He looked over at J.D., who was currently smoking his fifth cigarette in quick succession. "You ready buddy?" "I'm good man," J.D. smiled. "Take us down J.D.," said Trixi. "Yes Ma'am," "Breaking atmo now," Suddenly and without warning, The Reaper began to increase speed. "J.D., what are you doing?" "Nothing Ma'am, it's not me," Trixi knew this to be true as an extremely worried look suddenly appeared on J.D.'s face. "K, what's goin' on down there?" Trixi yelled into the Com. "Impact in ten," Pete yelled, fear radiating from his mouth. "I dunno'," was K's reply. "Things just started going crazy." "Six," Pete wasn't the only one on board fearing for his life for the second time in the last hour. "Hit the Half-Light," ordered Trixi. "Hit the ******* Half-Light now!" "Two," and J.D. hit the Half-Light, causing The Reaper to instantly disappear from Time and Space, materialising a nano-second later. "Everybody still with us?" asked Trixi. The replies indicated a full crew. "Anyone got any idea why that trip was so much smoother than our previous venture with the Half-Light?" asked Dan. "Not me," began Pete. "But to be fair, I'm not complaining. Last trip was a nightmare." "True," replied Dan. "Guys," J.D. looked worried. "I know where we are,"
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