Transformers: The Dark Side of Pretending to go to the Moon

We picked up some Transformers walkie talkies at a local thrift store this weekend. There were 4 of them, and surprisingly they all still worked.

Immediately, Lukas wanted to turn them on and play something with them.  I didn't blame him one bit as I kind of wanted to play with them too.

So, after a brief introduction to the basics of walkie talkie use we were ready to test them out. "Say something funny Daddy!" came his request from just a few steps away in our living room.  "Something funny" I replied holding in the red button on the side as I spoke.

Through the crackling of the speaker came a chuckle and a giddy "Roger dat, Daddy".  It seemed we were ready for business.

Lukas then grabbed Mrs. LIAYF and together they made their way to our backyard and into a waiting large cardboard box rocket ship.  Holding down the red button from the deck I called out "Rocket ship 1, this is Mission Control. Prepare for blastoff to the Moon" 

"Ready Mission Control"  my Transformer crackled.

Then, just as I was about to start my countdown a garbled message came through the speaker of my talkie.  It was a man's voice, barely audible.  As I struggled to figure out and what it was saying, it stopped.   I couldn't help recalling the story I'd heard about the mom with the baby monitor who picked up a video feed from the International space station. But the message had stopped, so I continued my duties as Mission Control.

"Mission Control to Rocket ship 1.  Blasting off in 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, we have ignition. And liftoff of Rocket ship one headed towards the Moon. Velocity 1000 mph and climbing" I continued.

But once I released the button, the garbled message seemed to start all over again.  I listened more closely this time.  "Something, something, November Eighty Seven" it repeated.  Then again. 

November 1987? I wondered what that meant.  Maybe this was a radio signal from back in 1987, returning from the planet Vega - complete with hidden plans to build a complex space travel machine.

Or, alternatively could this be a desperate looping distress signal first sent out back in 1987.  One kinda like the one sent out by that crazy French woman on LOST.

The possibilities were endless.

"November Eighty Seven, this is Mission Control. Over" I called into my Transformers talkie. "Do you read?"  Then, some more barely audible garbled words emanated from the tiny speaker.  'Foxtrot' might have been one of them, but it almost sounded like a reply.

"November Eighty Seven. Over.  What is your position?"  I repeated insistently, releasing the red button.

"Daddy! Daddy!  We are at the Moon.  We are at the Moon!" Lukas' excited voice interrupted through the speaker.

"Explore.  Report back." I succinctly replied, before returning my concentration to the odd message.

"November, Eighty Seven"  I continued "Please verify your status. Over.  This is Mission Control. Over. Please clarify, and reveal your position."  But the message seemed to only loop yet once again.  

Then, as Mrs. LIAYF walked up to me, not getting any response I disappointedly said to her "I don't think they can hear me."

"You better hope they can't" she laughed.  "It's probably the air traffic control....or even the military."

And I guessed that was true enough.  Glancing around the perimeter of our yard just to be sure I wasn't being watched, I decided to give up trying to communicate with November Eighty Seven. 

Besides, Mission Control didn't need anymore distractions.  After all, there was a return mission from the Moon to coordinate.

"Rocketship 1, are you ready to return to Earth?"

"Ready Daddy." my Transformer talkie crackled.