Today was Transmit Day.

Today. The 17th of May 2030; 12am to 11:59pm. Not one second earlier or later.

Giovanni was sauntering on his way to the lower deck of the shuttle when Logan dragged him in and shut the door behind them.

The back of Giovanni’s head thudded softly against the metal door when they entered. “Ouch,” he intoned.

“You did what?”

“Is there a problem, Commander?” he said jokingly. “I said I used my call time last night.”

“On whose permission?”

“I need your permission to place a call?”

“There are technicalities to be considered, Giovanni.”

“How the hell was I supposed to know that?”

Rage pooled into Logan’s gut. He stared at Mr. Gambetti, wondering for the umpteenth time, how he always found ways to make his blood boil. It was like he had a talent for it.

Logan’s palms fisted and before he knew it, it connected with the wall behind his boss’s head. “Why are you here, for Christ’s sake?”

“Here we go again!” he exclaimed and proceeded to turn away from him.

Logan didn’t give him the luxury. “You don’t know crap about anything! Any astronaut worth his salt would know that our communication is based on space location. Altitudes. Altimeters. It was in the memorandum! ”

Logan was all up in his face but Giovanni did not even look fazed. “I couldn’t read it, okay? It was full of crap that I hardly understood. You had to explain it to me that day. Why didn’t you mention this then?”

“My apologies, Mr. Gambetti. Was I supposed to spoon-feed you every single detail?”

For the first time since Logan met him, Giovanni’s eyes sparked with a different type of glint. For the first time, he snapped. “You need to take that volume out of your voice.”

“Do I?”

“I am your boss, not one of your nerds. This is my company and your attitude is really starting to piss me off.”

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

Logan literally had to bite his lips to keep quiet. The words on the tip of his tongue would most likely get him fired. Luckily, someone else burst into the room then.

“What in the world is going on?” Borja asked as she appeared at the doorway, glaring at them both. “Everyone upstairs can hear you.”

Giovanni and Logan were barely a foot apart from each other. The latter backed away now to give himself some breathing space.

“Your commander’s got his panties in a twist because I called someone.”

She looked at her colleague. “Why? Today is Transmit Day after all.”

“Nah. My call was–”

“Don’t!” Logan jumped in.

“... last night.” He finished his sentence.

Logan slapped his forehead in frustration. All hell will definitely break loose now. “You can’t help being a problem, can you?”

Restoring gravity to the shuttle did not come without a sacrifice. The system procedures that combated the zero-gravity found in space, more often than not, impaired communication. Besides speaking with Earth GSA and the other three space shuttles, they were alone on this flight.

The more they got to stand on two feet, the less probable it was to sustain a connection with their home planet. As a result, Logan ensured he’d made all the necessary calculations. The crew could speak with their loved ones for the first time in three months today. At this exact altitude. Each person apprised their family of the exact date before they left.

Today. 17th of May 2030. Tons of families were no doubt waiting by their GSCOM phones— special smartphones assigned to them by the company —right now.

The only way the spacecraft could make a connection without sacrificing the in-house gravity was if they communicated during this exact altitude. Not a second sooner.

Suddenly they became four in the dimly lit room. An engineer, Adams, emerged from inside the deck.

“Were you there all along?” he asked him.

“You mean did I hear how our lovely CEO screwed up our gravity and possibly our first chance of speaking with home?” His voice dripped with edgy sarcasm.

“I did not give him permission to. He didn’t know any better.”

“That much is obvious.”

“Look, Adams, why don’t you give me a few minutes to sort this out?” There was no need for the other passengers to find out. They would be pissed and rightly so.

“I have a three-year-old daughter who hasn’t seen or spoken to her father in over three months. Tell me he did not just ruin the transmitter,” Adams replied stiffly. The last sentence sounded like a threat.

“He did not. I promise.”

“You don’t know that Commander. Even he doesn’t know that!”

Giovanni had finally heard enough. “Well, he is standing right here! You got something to say to me? Be a man and say it my face.”

Adams gulped. “We don’t deserve to be treated like this, sir.” He looked like it physically pained them to utter the last word.

“Give me a break. So what? I made a call at some altimeter you guys don’t like. So, freaking what? What’s the worst that could possibly happen?”

It was like the air itself was listening in on their argument. The pressure dropped in the lower deck. Borja, Adams, Giovanni, and Logan’s feet lifted off the floor, as though pulled by a mystical force they could not see.

Borja’s head smacked into a ledge on the wall and they all started floating in the shuttle once again.

Logan gave his boss a pointed look. “This, Giovanni. This is the worst that could possibly happen!”