I was born when The War ended. A cruel race of expansion and technology between two superpowers. Of course, the draining of every resource away from the people to superfluous advancement didn't turn out like we all hoped. My parents were born in the Iranian Soviet Republics, when the Middle Eastern Alliance was still fighting back. They escaped through Egypt as teenagers, running for 3 days straight through the desert. Luckily, the UNA colonies in Africa picked them up, processed them as refugees, and gave them new lives.
My mother would tell me stories about Iran. Her and my father fought in the war against the Turkish Soviets. As a child in the 80's, the newly popularized 'news broadcasts' challenged the teachings of my parents. They would flip through channels covering war, policies, history. My mother's favorite line was "That's not what really happened!" My father always shouted to me about joining the military again, he always claimed that he wanted to be there when they finally "Finished off those damn reds."
On the contrary, the news seemed almost sympathetic to the Soviet Republics at that time. I didn't know it then, but their entire economy was coming crashing down. The universal trade currency the USSR used across it's various republics had fallen, their oil fields in the desert running dry. The USSR spent so much money in those Space Wars. It cost them their republics, it cost them their people. I can't even imagine what those people on Mars went through when the shipping runs stopped.
My Father pushed military, so I enlisted when I was 16. Unlike what he might have thought, the military hardly involved any frontline fighting like he experienced. We extracted refugee's, gathered information on the failing Soviet Republics, even helped with humanitarian aide. Five years into service, my commanding officer found I had more of an aptitude for office work, and a passion for the stars. I was put through the UNA Space and Discovery program, a military scholarship and federal teaching program that fast tracked service members into government ministries. It took me 4 years before I finally joined the Space and Discovery Ministry, and by that time my commanding officer had transferred to the Specialized Marine Forces. We occasionally wrote to each-other for a while, and eventually became good friends. When an official military branch for Space started to be developed, he couldn't help but jump on the chance to work with me more directly. Bazi always loved when I talked about the stars.
>--[===}
"Hey!" Bazi floated over to me, snapping his fingers in front of my face. I jumped my neck up and shot out my breath. I had phased out of it glaring the chaos lines all across Europa. We had theorized about the massive mountain ranges, but they were so much more beautiful up close. Despite the rocky appearing terrain, a drone had confirmed the smoother surface of the moon. Many kilometers of ice acted as a pseudo-crust for the celestial body, and it would be our job to...
Find this and other great novels on the author's preferred platform. Support original creators!
"You ok?" Bazi said, looking up and down.
"Yeah, sorry. Just thinking." I sighed.
Bazi looked back out the window, over the head of our engineers. "There's no better sight to get lost in thought." He paused, as we both stared out the window. The other crew members slowly broke up and went back to their work. They had come to see our final orbital approach around the moon. It was a risky orbit, due to the influence of Jupiter. It would fight for our scientific love until we found a decent method of planet fall.
"It's just like I thought it would be." I gasped out after everyone had left.
Bazi let out a sarcastic cough. "Oh come on..." He smiled, looking over to me. "Don't be so cliche, I know you're judging every little blemish on t's face." Bazi laughed, before pushing on the window and flying backwards. He floating on until grabbing onto the table in the center of the room, and dragged his body onto the metal chair.
"Do you think..." I started speaking, turning around to Bazi. "This is gonna work?"
Bazi sighed, sitting reverse on the metal chair. He hung his arms off the back on the chair, tapping his fingers where they touched. He grunted, and dropping his head down. "Either we make planetfall here, or we loop back to Mars."
"I was adamantly against going to Mars." I narrowed my eyes.
Bazi lifted his head back to me, a half-smile holding back a chuckle. "I know, that's why I mentioned it." His half turned into a full. "So I know you'll find a way."
I gave him a smile back, then turned to the window again. We had finally stabilized, and the absence of engineers gave me permission to demagnetize. I slipped out of my boots, almost flipping around entirely until I caught myself. Floating just above the ground, I stretched my body out as I let my soft spin continue.
"Nice, isn't it?" Bazi said, shooting himself up from the welded down chair. He flipped around, landing his feet on the roof, then turned around back at me. I nodded my head, eyes closed. I pictured the planet's surface, outlining the lines across it like a map. Inside my mind, I was an artist.
Bazi forced himself down, or up I suppose, appearing to sit down on the roof. He put his hands under his jaw.
"The pod isn't fully radiation graded." He said, my mind still spinning, but registering it. He was right. While our suits could handle it, the pod would be destroyed if Ol' Jupi decided to act up.
"You know t-" He spoke again, but I hushed him this time around.
"One dream at a time Baz. We're finally here, let's just enjoy it."
Bazi took a deep breath, clapping his hands together. He flung himself down from the ceiling back to the floor. He propelled himself to the north corridor, heading the sleeping quarters.
"Don't dream for too long!" He yelled back, as he flew away.