Space, for many, was the adventure of a lifetime. Reece Danielson had to chuckle at the irony. He never wanted to go to space, a dream for many in his generation. He had nothing against them or this opportunity. He was overjoyed to be selected for the latest four-person mission to Zhengzhou Space Station. It just never occurred to him to try for such a lofty goal. The long odds for selection to become an astronaut made it an unattainable career goal in his estimation. He’d focused on something within his grasp, the Marines.
He couldn’t believe it when the selection letter arrived at Marine Headquarters.He went around and around with the admins over the new orders. They eventually took it up the chain. He didn’t want to get his hopes up and then have them dashed when it was revealed to be a mistake. The admins assured him that it wasn’t a mistake. The orders were valid. He was going to space. Nothing could remove the smile from his face.
However, there was something strange about the whole deal. Someone needed to actually apply to the Zhengzhou Space Station Engineering Program to be selected. Reece hadn’t done it, and he couldn’t think of anyone who would have sent an application on his behalf. It certainly wasn’t his girlfriend. She was his ex-girlfriend now. She was pissed at the assignment and slept with his ex-best friend to get back at him. It never occurred to her that this wasn’t his doing. Her mistake, and he made sure to tell her that when he sent her packing. That diminished his smile, but only for a while.
The reality of becoming an astronaut was about to happen. It may not have been his dream growing up, but it was still an opportunity of a lifetime, and he was thrilled to be going. He decided two things at the beginning of the six-month training regimen. He’d make the most of the opportunity. He’d also use that time to forget his ex. He’d “turn that frown upside down” as his old supervisor liked to say. Those six months flew by. Now it was “GO” time. Strapped to the most advanced vehicle created by humanity, he was about to embark on a journey that would end well past Earth’s upper atmosphere.
Reece was going to be the new mission engineer. His responsibilities included all the mechanical and electronic components of the shuttles and the space station. He understood that it would be a demanding job and the biggest challenge of his life.
Casting his musings aside, Reece got his head in the game. The first thing he noticed was that his body still ached. He wondered if the other three crew members felt any better. Reece and the others had been lashed to the aluminum seat for an eternity. Commander Rogers and Pasha Novak sat up front. He and Sora Park sat in the back. They had staggered seating to afford them a better view. With the shuttle on its end for lift-off, they all lay uncomfortably pressed against the backs of those seats.
Reece could feel Earth’s gravity pulling him relentlessly into the lightly padded back of his seat, a dozen straps and buckles holding him firmly in place. With little to do but wait for the launch, he looked over the shuttle’s cabin area. A massive console filled the front of the cabin, splayed out in front of Rogers and Novak. The dark grey console consisted of hundreds of switches, toggles, levers, and buttons. The console had OLED (Organic Light-Emitting Diode) indicators and back-lit white lettering to describe its functions.
Above the console were thick polymer windows stretched across the front third of the cabin. They allowed the astronauts to view their surroundings, but right now, all Reece could see was blue sky. Above the windows hung several monitors, the largest organic liquid display that would display the countdown to launch.
The rest of the cabin area consisted of conduit, access panels, indicator lights, and toggle switches for numerous fail-safes. Five feet behind Reece and Sora were the back of the cabin and the door that led to the cargo bay. Reece quickly verified everything was nominal, but his mind wouldn’t slow down. A hundred different preparations played through his head while the launch technicians continued to double and triple-check everything. He needed to calm down.
Deciding to try a relaxation technique, Reece focused on what he could feel. Due to the fresh haircut and shave, his scalp and face were both cold. The shuttle doors had only recently been closed from the early spring morning, and what remained of his sandy-brown hair did little to protect his head from a lingering chill. That was okay. The Marine Corps trained him to be used to mild discomfort. He flexed his muscles to keep them from getting too stiff. He could feel the soreness from his last workout underneath the aches of sitting still too long.
Stuck in the seat, he just grinned the annoying pain away. It was his fault, after all. Having never been on a mission for anything like this, he had figured it would be a while before he could resume his training regimen. Therefore, he had over-intensified his martial exercises on his practice bag. His arms and legs were jelly after so many kicks and punches.
Realizing that the relaxation technique had helped, Reece focused on his crew mates. After spending six months with them, he had a good idea of their personalities. He studied each of them, wondering what they were thinking about as they prepared themselves for whatever trials were to come.
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Reece Danielson
The new mission commander, Alex Rogers, was seated in the front seat, a meter up and just to Reece’s left. He was no-nonsense, had little sense of humor, and was a total hard ass. He had the body and size of a professional Battleball line defender. His square jaw and deadpan gaze made his piercing blue eyes seem even more intimidating. The man was intimidating to everyone. He seemed to enjoy it, little smirks giving it away.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
Reece had found the man to be a bully though he had never been on the receiving end of it. Rogers seemed bent on creating an inner circle among the many astronauts during training and had continually tried to pull Reece in. It never worked. Reece hated bullies. On top of that, he kept getting bad vibes from the man. Regardless, Reece was a professional. He learned to tolerate the man. He was up the chain of command from him, after all.
Looking to the right of Rogers, Reece glanced at the mission and shuttle co-pilot, Pasha Novak. Thin and wiry, he would’ve passed for a marine if not for the brown hair sticking out at odd angles and hanging around his eyes and down below his chin.
Directly to his right sat Sora Park, a Korean biologist. If it wasn’t for the intense look she always gave him, she would be cute with her button nose and pursed lips. Reece heard during training that she was assigned to a secret project on the space station.
Static blared over the intercom, interrupting his thoughts. It was immediately followed by a male voice, smooth and clear, which Reece recognized as one of Ground Control’s operators.
“All stations have checked in and are in the green,” said the man. “Commander Rogers, are you ready for take-off? Over.”
“Comm check, everyone. Are you ready?” queried Commander Rogers.
“My mother always used to say, never go to the pub without money!” exclaimed an excited Pasha.
“Now, what in Hades does that mean?” demanded the instantly aggravated Commander.
“I am prepared, of course… Commander,” replied Pasha with supreme confidence.
“Alright then, Ms. Park?” grumbled the Commander, continuing through the crew comm checks.
“Ready, sir,” Sora softly replied.
“How about you, Danielson?”
“Good to go,” Reece replied, clenching his teeth.
“Okay, Ground Control. We’re ready for take-off. Over,” stated Rogers.
The operator’s voice piped up over the static of the intercom in reply to the commander’s statement. “In that case, good luck, and may the speed of Hermes propel you to your destination. Prepare for countdown. Over.”
A ‘90’ in glowing green numerals appeared on the large monitor above the console area. This is what Reece was waiting for. After a few seconds, the green number started counting down. Once it hit ‘60’, Reece felt cold and clammy.
Trying to calm down again, he took long, deep breaths as he glanced at Sora and smiled. She looked pale. Reece sympathized with her plight. She seemed as nervous as he felt. Sora squinted her eyes in pain but smiled back, weakly raising her thin eyebrows in the attempt. At ‘30’, the anxiety started to melt away once they focused on the imminent launch, and their training kicked in.
Once the counter hit ‘10’, a loud robotic voice started chanting the numbers as they flashed by. With the launch imminent, Reece grew calm, a benefit of his experiences in the Marines. At ‘1’, the spacecraft started to rumble as the solid rocket boosters flared to life. Reece clenched his jaw to keep his teeth from chattering and stared straight ahead. He was ready.
The crew members were all forced back hard into their seats as the spacecraft accelerated into the sky at almost 3Gs with nearly 8 million pounds of thrust. The sleek new shuttle was a far cry from the old-fashioned ones from the previous century. Still sporting the trademark white over grey motif, that’s where the similarity ended. Longer than the original generations of shuttles, it had a much sleeker look to it. This was accentuated by the smoothly swept body, curved wings, and tapered tail designed to eliminate the plasma cloud and friction variables that would superheat the older shuttles upon reentry.
The high-pitched whine of the slipstream and the constant shaking of the boosters made it seem like the shuttle might break up, despite its professional and sporty look. After a couple minutes, the boosters separated with the ‘pop’ of small explosions. The shuttle smoothed out, and quieted down for the remainder of the ascent. The boosters autonomously returned to the launch area as the space shuttle accelerated spaceward under its powerful fusion thrusters.
The crew traveled at a more tolerable 1G for a short while before slowly accelerating more and more once they escaped the atmospheric friction. Near the end of the burn, the shuttle was going nearly Mach twenty-seven. Reece felt like he had a four-hundred-pound gorilla sitting on his rib cage, then it lifted. The violent ascent was over, and Reece experienced the true weightlessness of space. He loosened the white-knuckled grip on his armrests and sighed in relief. Once they achieved a stable orbit, he looked at Sora again and smiled reassuringly at her. She smiled weakly back.
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“This must be what it feels like to have an elephant on top of you,” she grumbled.
“Yeah, or a really big woman,” smirked Pasha. “Isn’t that right, Commander Rogers?”
“Ouch, Pasha…” replied the distressed geologist before the commander cut her off.
“Silence!” chastised the already irritated commander.
“That’s no way to talk to a lady,” said Pasha in mock sadness.
“Are you talking about Sora or yourself?” Reece asked jokingly.
“Well, I am a lesbian trapped in a man’s body,” quipped Pasha.
“Cut the chatter!” barked the commander, and the crew quieted.
“We’ve all switched over to internal comm, Commander,” provided Reece, eager to calm the agitated man. “Only folks that can hear us are on this boat.”
“Fine,” mumbled Rogers reluctantly. “Just keep it down. I have to check in now.”
For once, the crew remained silent.
“Ground Control,” announced Rogers over the main intercom. “We had a successful launch, and we are now in orbit. Over.”
The intercom clicked back on, and the crew could hear cheering in the background as Ground Control replied. “Copy that, Commander. You are cleared to proceed with the mission. Report in when you’ve docked with the station. And Commander Rogers…good job. Over.”
“Copy that and… thanks,” replied the commander. “We’re on our way. Over and out.”
The crew’s anxiety seemed to disperse as the co-pilot, Pasha Novak, selected rendezvous coordinates with the space station. Reece felt the subtle momentum shift as the shuttle changed velocity to facilitate docking the shuttle to the station. It was on Zhengzhou space station where their mission would truly begin.
“So, lady and gentlemen,” said Novak. “We’ll drink beer with our space station friends in under an hour. The Nav System has it from here. Anyone have a deck of cards? I could teach you all… Taroky.”
“While I admire your enthusiasm,” replied the commander. “Let’s relax, get our heads straight, and prepare for the mission. We have a very long day ahead of us, and I doubt anyone else even knows what Taroky is.”
Pasha shrugged and smiled before looking back, winking at Reece. A look of wonder crossed Sora’s face, momentarily replacing the strained look the mission seemed to be bringing out of her. Reece even caught Rogers smiling for a moment. They had all seemingly taken a break from the constant weight of responsibility thrust upon them. Reece grounded himself in the moment. He felt more aware and prepared than at any time since entering the shuttle.
Soon, the navigation computer’s timer went off, and the computerized voice spoke again. “This is your five-minute warning. We will reach our destination soon. Prepare for docking maneuvers.”