At the French launch pad in South America, the HariAnne rocket was poised and ready for launch, and the pad was deserted of workers. They were hunkered down in the HariAnne Control Center located five miles away.
"Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one," the French space worker called out from the loudspeaker system at the launch pad.
Fire shot out from the engine nozzles at the bottom of the HariAnne rocket.
The HariAnne rocket slowly lifted upward.
Clapping was heard from the loudspeaker while all the system engineers and French bigwigs inside the HariAnne Control Center celebrated their successful launch.
Back at the Oval Office in the White House, President Barnaby stood in front of his wall of TVs and watched while the HariAnne rocket rose up from the French launch pad and ascended up into the sky.
He turned off the TVs and moped back to his desk. He turned around and looked at the picture of Butch, and that sight of him made him feel better.
He heard a noise outside. He stood up and peeked out the window curtains.
He saw a bunch of protesters across the street of the White House. He saw a woman protester held up a "We Hate Barnaby" sign.
He saw a boy that held up a "Barnaby Eats Boogers" sign.
He saw a man that held up an "Asteroid Is Media Hype for $$$" sign.
"Man, being President sucks!" he said while he sat down at this desk and pouted.
Up in outer space around the middle of the asteroid, Butch drove the Space Buggy where it bounced over space junk and unreeled some wire.
A few minutes later, Butch stopped the Buggy.
Jake and Ralph Duct taped the wire to some pieces of space junk.
Butch climbed out of the Space Buggy and walked over with a roll of Duct tape. He taped a section of wire so he could stretch his legs.
A piece of space junk zoomed inches over Jake and Ralph's head.
Jake and Ralph watched while the piece of space junk flew away.
"Man! That was a close call," Jake said while he taped the last section of wire.
Jake stood up and looked around the area.
Ralph stood up and looked around the area.
Butch stood up and looked around the area.
A garbage bag, from the MSS, smacked into the asteroid and it broke open and pelted Jake, Butch, and Ralph with discarded food and other garbage.
Butch with garbage all over his helmet walked over to the rear of the Space Buggy. He unknowingly stepped into the coiled wire with his left space boot while he reached around inside for a towel. He grabbed a towel and wiped his helmet clean.
Another piece of space junk slammed into the side of the asteroid near the Space Buggy, and it rolled away, as Butch left the gearshift in neutral.
The coiled wire tightened around Butch's space boot.
The Space Buggy rolled toward the edge of the asteroid. It pulled Butch along, and he hobbled on one leg while he strained to free his left boot from the wire that tightened around his boot.
"Help me guys, I can't free my boot!" he cried out while the Space Buggy sped up toward the edge of the asteroid then Butch fell on his butt.
Butch's butt bounced over pieces of space junk while the Space Buggy raced toward the edge of the asteroid.
Jake and Ralph ran over pieces of space junk to help Butch.
They arrived at Butch at the same time the Space Buggy drove off the edge of the asteroid.
All the wire unreeled from the reel while the Space Buggy plummeted down toward the earth.
Jake and Ralph grabbed Butch by his arms to stop him from being dragged over the side of the asteroid.
At the underside of the asteroid, the Space Buggy dangled by the wire connected to the reel.
Jake and Ralph strained to keep Butch still, but the weight of the Space Buggy started to drag him closer to the edge.
"I can't feel my foot," Butch cried out in pain while the wire tightened around his boot and cut off his circulation.
Jake and Ralph tried to free Butch's boot from the wire, but it was too tight.
Jake started pulling up on the wire.
Ralph quickly jumped in, and he grabbed another section of wire.
Jake and Ralph strained and used all their strength to pull up on the wire.
This caused some slack on the wire that was wrapped around Butch's boot, and he sighed a sigh of relief. "Thanks, guys," Butch said while he wiggled his left boot around to get the circulation back into his foot.
He stood up and grabbed another section of wire, and he pulled with all his strength.
At the side of the asteroid, the Space Buggy got snagged on a piece of space junk while it was being lifted upward.
Jake, Butch, and Ralph felt the resistance and pulled harder.
The Space Buggy broke free when the space junk broke away.
The Space Buggy was lifted upward while the piece of space junk tumbled down to earth.
Twenty minutes later, Jake, Butch, and Ralph pulled the Space Buggy back up to the top of the asteroid.
"Whew, that was a close call," Jake said.
Jake looked over at the huge pile of wire then he looked down the rear of the asteroid. It was a long, dangerous climb over space junk.
"Let's press on with our mission," Jake said.
Butch looked down the long journey to the rear of the asteroid. "I need a break, let's eat first," he said.
"Sounds great. I'm so hungry, my stomach's nipping at my liver, and I hate liver," Jake replied while he sat down.
"Some pussy cat would taste great right now," Ralph replied while he glanced down at the earth.
Jake and Butch looked sickened over that suggestion.
Butch looked over at the moon. "Ronnie, where are you?" he said into the radio net.
Ronnie didn't respond to Jake's radio calls.
Back down on Space Beach, Florida, the garage door of Richard's five thousand square foot home opened.
Richard backed his pristine 1962 red on red Corvette out of his garage.
He raced his Corvette down the street.
The second he reached the stop sign, a fireball, which was the piece of space junk zoomed down from the sky and headed toward Richard's house.
It exploded a few seconds later.
Back up in outer space inside the Mayflower, Ronnie, his headset, and his magazines were tossed around while the spacecraft tumbled at the moon.
Ronnie woke up and looked around in a daze. He saw the moon from his windows while it approached at high speed. He panicked and frantically tried to grab the control joystick, but he missed. He tried again to grab the joystick, but he missed. He tried again and finally caught it, and he quickly fired the small thruster rockets.
Ten minutes later, the Mayflower descended and slammed onto the surface of the moon, and dust flew everywhere. The Mayflower's rear end was buried into the surface of the moon.
Inside the Mayflower, Ronnie sat in his seat, exhausted and confused.
"How am I going to get home?" he asked while he scratched his head and looked out his windows and saw the moon's surface.
Suddenly, the capsule was slowly lifted in the air, which startled him.
He quickly jumped up from his seat and looked out the windows. He watched while his capsule slowly moved across the surface of the moon.
He sat back in his seat and looked scared of this mystery movement.
On the surface of the moon, the Mayflower sat on two metal beams that were carried on the shoulders of twelve shiny silver-skinned human-looking aliens. They were part of a species called Moonies, and they all wore silver space suits with glass helmets.
They carried the Mayflower toward a mountain.
At the front of the twelve Moonies was an elderly bald Moonie that was called The Man In The Moon.
The Man In The Moon marched the Moonies and the Mayflower closer to the mountain.
The Man In The Moon removed a device from his suit pocket. He aimed it at the mountain and pressed a button.
There was a whirl while a large silver metallic door slid opened in the mountain and revealed a vast cave.
The Man In The Moon marched his Moonies and the Mayflower inside the cave.
There was another whirl, and the large door slid closed.
The Man In The Moon marched the twelve Moonies and the Mayflower inside the cave that was lit with strange-looking electrical lights.
Off at the far end of the cave were all the old Uranus Lunar Module descent stages, Buggies and other equipment left behind from the Americans so many years ago.
Inside the Mayflower, Ronnie looked scared while he knew he was inside a cave but didn't have a clue how he was being transported.
The capsule slowly descended, then it shook a little while it was placed on the cave floor.
There was an eerie silence while Ronnie stood up and peeked out the capsule window.
Someone knocked on the hatch that scared the crap out of Ronnie. He raced back into his seat.
There was another knock on the hatch, and Ronnie froze in fear.
The handle of the hatch slowly creaked while it was being turned from outside the capsule.
The hatched slowly creaked open.
Ronnie shook in fear, not knowing what to expect.
The Man In The Moon, with his helmet off, crawled through the hatch and stepped inside the capsule.
"Hello. I'm the Man In The Moon, leader of the Moonies. Who might you be?" he said with a kind tone and a warm smile.
Ronnie stared at The Man In The Moon and cowered in his seat a little fearful of the silver-skinned creature.
"You don't have a reason to fear me. We're a friendly species," The Man In The Moon said and gave Ronnie another warm smile.
"I'm Ronnie Humper. An astronaut from the National Exploration Rocket Program from the earth," Ronnie said the second he had a feeling that this silver-skinned creature was in fact friendly.
"It's been many years since we've had earth visitors. Why did you come back?" The Man In The Moon curiously asked.
"It was an accident. We were on a mission to get rid of an asteroid made up of space junk, when a piece of one-hit our ship and sent me here," Ronnie replied.
The Man In The Moon thought about Ronnie's comment for a few seconds.
"Well, I guess we'll have to figure out a way to get you back home. Follow me," The Man In The Moon said then he crawled back through the hatch.
"But I'll need oxygen!" Ronnie called out in a panic.
The Man In The Moon poked his head back through the hatch. "We have oxygen in this cave," he said then went back into the cave.
Ronnie crawled through the hatch.
Out in the cave, Ronnie followed The Man In The Moon while they walked around the Mayflower capsule.
He saw all of their old Uranus equipment at the far end of the cave. "Is that our old equipment?" he asked while he stared in awe at the old stuff.
The Man In The Moon glanced at the equipment. "We didn't mind you earthlings landing here and walking around and picking up a few rocks, but why did have to leave your trash behind?" he asked Ronnie.
Ronnie looked ashamed. "I'm sorry about that."
"Oh well, that was a long time ago," The Man In The Moon replied while he walked Ronnie over to a big long picnic table. "Please have a seat, it's dinner time," he added.
Ronnie sat down at the table next to The Man In The Moon.
Four beautiful bald young adult female Moonies walked over with a fluffy grayish colored pie in their hands.
They placed two pies in front of Ronnie and The Man In The Moon along with a spoon.
The Man In The Moon immediately grabbed his spoon and started munching down on his pie.
Ronnie looked apprehensive, and The Man In The Moon noticed. "We call them Moon pies and are very nutritious. Eat up, and then we'll work on repairing your rocket ship so you can get back home."
Ronnie scooped up some moon pie and took a nibble. His face lit up, as it tasted great. He took a bigger bite.
"When we're done eating, I'll have someone fix your spacesuit," The Man In The Moon said while he saw a massive rip in Ronnie's spacesuit.