My name is Michael Darwin.
If you believe what you’re told, six Apollo missions landed people on the moon, ending with Apollo 17.
I’m here to tell you that isn’t true. There were eight. Apollo 18 was sent to investigate something the last mission couldn’t explain.
Contact was lost with Apollo 18.
We were sent to find them.
After undocking from the command module piloted by Gregory Hudson, which would remain in orbit around the moon, James Anderson and I piloted the LEM (Lunar Excursion Module) to the moon’s surface.
I finished donning my suit, locking the seal around the base of my helmet, preparing for my EVA (extravehicular activity). We entered the airlock.
Anderson’s voice came in through my headset, “Depressurizing”
A hiss was heard.
“Houston, this is Darwin. Are we go for EVA?”
“Darwin, Anderson, you are go for EVA”
I placed my hand on the door’s handle and gave it a firm turn. I pushed it open, and remained still for a moment. I wasn’t seeing it through a tiny window anymore. I was seeing all of it.
Anderson gently poked me, “You okay?”
“Yeah, I’m good”
I made my way outside onto the ladder. Anderson followed. I made my way down the ladder and onto the LEM’s foot.
“I’m stepping off the LEM now” I said.
I hopped off and drifted down onto the surface. I looked around at the grey desert around me. I was there. I was on the moon.
Anderson and I went behind one of the LEM’s legs, where the LRV (Lunar Roving Vehicle) was folded up and stored.
“Houston, we’re deploying the LRV” I said.
“Roger”
Once deployed, I checked to make sure everything was functioning. I waved in front of the forward mounted camera.
“Houston, we coming in clear?”
“We got good picture, Darwin”
I turned to Anderson. “Alright, we’re good to go”
We got in and powered it up.
Anderson turned to me from the passenger seat, “Hey, remember, no airbags. I’m trusting you.”
“Don’t worry, if we crash it’ll be in slow motion, plenty of time to figure something out”
We both laughed.
“This is Houston. Apollo eighteen’s last known position is approximately two kilometers north east from you”
Anderson and I looked at each other, expressionless, remembering why we’d come in the first place.
“Roger, Houston,” I said, “we’re on our way”
I put my foot on the pedal, and we were off.
Neither of us said anything until we were about halfway there.
“So…you think they’re okay?” Anderson asked.
I shook my head, “I don’t know. I really don’t know”
“I mean, what could’ve happened?”
“Out here? Equipment failure is my best guess”
“What about what they came to get? Could that be part of it?” Anderson asked.
“I mean, I guess. If they broke a test tube or something. But doesn’t that sort of thing take time to, you know…”
“Guess it depends on what kind you’re talking about. Isn’t botulim, botulin-“
“Botulinum” I said.
“Yeah, isn’t that stuff pretty bad? Kills you like right away, I heard”
“Don’t know, not an expert. I just can’t imagine it’d be responsible for it. They didn’t report anything, like ill health or whatever. They just went dark. You honestly think it played a part?”
“I don’t know,” Anderson said, “just thinking out loud”
“You’re coming up on your destination, should be right over that mound”
“Roger” I said, pushing my foot down a little harder to get up the small hill.
We got over it, and there in front of us was Apollo 18’s LEM. We drove up to it and got out of the rover.
Anderson and I took a quick walk around the LEM.
“There doesn’t appear to be any damage to the outer hull” Anderson said.
“Nope, nothing”
We came back around to the ladder.
“Alright, Houston, I’m going to go up the ladder now, see what’s up with our boys” I said.
“Roger, Darwin”
I put my foot on the ladder.
“Hey…” Anderson said.
I turned, “Yeah?”
“You gonna open it?”
“Of course I’m gonna open it, why?”
“It’s just…what if…”
I nodded, “I understand, but I really don’t have a choice”
I made my way up the ladder.
“I’m at the top now. Can’t see anything through the window, none of the interior lights are on”
I knocked on the door.
“No response from any of the crew”
I placed my hand on the handle.
“Okay, I’m opening the exterior door”
I opened it, and entered the airlock, closing the door behind me. I went to pressurize the airlock.
“Airlock’s pressurizing, power seems to be working”
Once pressurized, I opened the interior door, and entered the cockpit.
“Darwin, what do you see?”
“Nothing, I have to turn the lights on”
Knowing the LEM forwards and backwards, I located the switch, and flipped it.
“What the fu…”
“What is it, Darwin?”
“Darwin, you okay?” Anderson asked.
“Yeah, I-I’m okay. Um…the interior of the cockpit is covered in something”
I dragged my finger across a gauge on the instrument panel, and examined what came off.
“It’s some sort of purple…fuzz”
“What about the crew?”
I looked around.
“Oh, shit…”
“What?”
“It’s Captain Douglas. He’s here. He’s covered in it, too”
I poked him, “Douglas? Captain Douglas?”
“Darwin, I think you should get out” Anderson said.
I agreed with him. But, I had a mission to complete.
“Darwin, how is he?”
His mouth was agape and filled with the fuzz. It even covered his eyeballs.
“He doesn’t appear to be breathing. I…I think he’s dead”
I heard a sigh, “Understood. What about the rest of the crew?”
“They’re not here. Don’t know where they went”
“I think I do” Anderson said.
“What?”
“We didn’t look for their rover when we got here. I just noticed its tracks”
“Houston? What should we do?”
“Checking”
I looked back at Douglas.
“…Douglas?…”
He didn’t respond.
“Something happen?” Anderson asked.
“No, nothing. Thought he moved for a second”
“Alright, new objective. Follow the rover’s tracks and attempt to locate the rest of the crew”
“Roger, Houston” I said, turning around and back into the airlock. I depressurized it, opened the door, closed it, and headed back down the ladder.
Anderson was waiting at the bottom. “You okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine”
“Was it bad?”
I nodded.
We got back into the rover and started following the tracks. We soon came upon the other rover.
“Houston, we found the LRV” I said.
“Roger, we see it on the feed”
There were two people sitting in it.
“We’re at the LRV. Brians and Matthews are in it”
“Their status?”
“Their helmets are off” I said.
“…Say again?”
“Their helmets are off” Anderson replied. Houston didn’t reply. Nobody knew what to say.
Their skin was wrinkled, eyes bloodshot and bleeding. No sign of the fuzz, though. I noticed a bit of blood on the tip of Brians’ finger. I picked up his helmet lying next to the LRV.
On its visor, scrawled in blood, it read: DON’T BRING IT BACK
I showed it to Anderson. He was pale. I think I was, too.
“Why do you think they took them off?” Anderson asked.
“To avoid ending up like Douglas. They figured this was the best way out”
“Darwin, Anderson, return to your LEM and prepare to take off”
“What about the crew of Apollo 18?” Anderson asked.
“Mission control considers them a hazard. They are to be left on the surface”
“Understood” I said.
We got back in our rover and headed back the way we came. Anderson and I were silent.
We passed by Apollo 18’s LEM. I hit the brake.
“Houston, this is Darwin”
“What is it, Darwin?”
“The hatch. It’s open”
“How is that possible? You said Douglas was dead”
“I said I thought he was dead”
“Darwin, I have a really bad feeling”
“Yeah, me too”
I felt we’d seen enough.
“Houston, we’re proceeding back to our LEM” I said.
“Understood”
I pushed the pedal further than I was trained to. The ride was bumpy, but before we knew it we could see our LEM in the distance.
“What the…? Anderson, do you see that?”
“What? Where?”
“Right there, way down in front”
“Oh my god”
“Is that…?”
Somehow, standing between us and our LEM, was a figure. It was walking towards us.
“It can’t be” I said.
“It is, Darwin, I see him too”
I inched a little bit closer.
It was Douglas.
“This is impossible. He’s not wearing a suit”
“How could we both be having the same hallucination?”
Douglas started running.
“Fuck, fuck, fuck! Darwin, turn around, let’s go!”
I checked one of the rover’s gauges.
Anderson cried, “Hello?! What are your doing?!”
“The battery! If we turn around we won’t have enough power to get back!”
“What is it? What’s going on?”
“We have to go straight” I said.
“Are you insane?!”
Douglas was getting close and if I was going to do what I knew I had to, I needed time to pick up speed.
I floored it. Narrowly swerving around a couple of boulders, I managed to get the rover moving as fast as it could go. The camera was pointed right at him.
“Holy shit”
“You enjoying the view, Houston?” I asked, “Well, you’re gonna love this next part”
We closed in on Douglas. At the last second, he jumped right onto the rover. I slammed on the brakes and he went flying head first into the leg of our LEM.
“Let’s go!” Anderson said.
Anderson and I scrambled for the ladder, moving as fast as we could in our suits. Anderson went up first, I followed close behind.
“Shit, he’s getting up” I said.
“C’mon you son of a bitch, open!” Anderson threw open the door and climbed inside. He reached out from inside the airlock,
“Hurry up!”
I grabbed his hand, when I felt something pull on my leg.
“Fuck, he’s on me!”
Douglas bit my leg with extraordinary, unnatural force, tearing my suit. Air started rushing out.
“He got me!”
“Kick him off!” Anderson said.
I grabbed Anderson’s hand with both of mine, then leapt off the ladder, landing on Douglas’ head. He slowly fell off and to the ground.
“I got him, pull me up!”
Anderson pulled me into the airlock and I shut the door. I started to black out.
“Hurry…pressure…”
“I’m on it, I’m on it!”
Anderson pressurized the airlock, and I felt better. He opened the inside door and we got into the cockpit, when we heard a bang. I looked back towards the door.
Douglas was at the top of the ladder, striking his head against the window.
“Let’s get the fuck out of here” Anderson said.
I got into the pilot’s seat and powered everything back on.
“Taking off in three, two, one”
The engine ignited, shooting us up. Douglas quickly lost his hold and fell back to the surface.
“Fuck the moon” Anderson said.
I nodded, “Fuck the moon”
We reconnected with the command module in orbit. Hudson greeted us.
“Hey, how’d it go? Mission control wouldn’t tell me anything”
Anderson and I looked at each other, then back at Hudson.
“Let’s just get home, we’ll explain everything on the way” I said.
Hudson looked confused, but didn’t question us further.
I looked out the window, back towards the surface.
When we got back, NASA had all three of us sign papers basically saying we’d keep our mouths shut.
Anderson and I are still friends. We still have barbecues on some fresh, summer nights. And on nights when the moon is full, we give each other a look. The same expressionless face we made when we got there.
Then, we look back at the moon, and remember what, according to Houston, never happened in the first place.
How we remember…