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kiphisme · 3 months ago

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One Small Step For Man

Victor Prowles moved swiftly through the crowd of people, the stomping of his thick boots echoing against the cacophony of similar sounds that covered the white tile. The man was on a mission: a mission he was late for.

As a space engineer, life was hectic and the busiest it physically could be. Since the trading of goods became extraterrestrial in the last eight decades, the need for engineers became desperate and the desire for good ones became a must. Everyone was fully trained and retrained every five to ten years. Diplomas became a renewal service that your company would cover the cost of if they liked you enough. One wrong move and you were swiftly cut out of the engineering branch and had to go to the backstreets if you wanted real work. The working landscape became a fiery hell where only the best of the best could compete with each other and Victor was in his own words, the best.

His stride was wide and firm, his shoulders broad and muscular, he held himself high with a confidence and discipline that demanded attention and respect from everyone he walked past. From the moment he graduated in ‘73, he used this physical confidence to his advantage at job interviews, trials and now was NASA’s lead engineer in space travel. And yet, despite being at such a high position, he was finally given the greatest honour he felt he deserved.

The honour of being an on-ship engineer.

He had helped create and fix up ships that left orbit but he himself had never been on one during the many expeditions to keep it maintained and in peak condition when coming back down. He dreamed of sitting in zero gravity, bolting and screwing the ship back into its original pristine self and subsequently keeping his crew alive. Granted, the crew was not his main concern but rather the ships themselves. He created these ‘lovely ladies’ as he called them with his bare hands and pure metal tools, sculpting them from blueprints he designed and testing their capabilities himself. He was part of every process and ensured that any complaints or criticisms went to him directly. As involved as he was, he only did it in order to ensure the best was produced. Some people found him abrasive. A perfectionist. They couldn’t understand that he lived for this. The ability to create space crafts was something he always dreamed of and from a young age he knew this would be his everything.

And now he got to be on the inside of one of his greatest accomplishments. He would have the opportunity to run it, keep it functioning and overall keep it reusable. Life was finally at its climax. And it could only go higher.

Victor reached the meeting room and opened the double doors that introduced him to a large open space filled with several people who stood there in their uniforms, talking amongst one another. The group seemed nervous yet excited, a collection of emotions that even Victor was feeling, despite being separated from them.

A couple looked over at him and the tone of the room shifted a bit. Colleen Graves, program manager of the Launching Services Program rushed over to him, pushing her glasses up onto her face in frustration.

“You’re late!”

“How can I be late? You can’t leave without me, remember?” Victor responded with a cocky smirk.

Colleen rolled her eyes and slammed his space suit into his hands. “Hurry up, press is coming at ten, we need to be ready to launch at five. Everyone, get to the dressing rooms please!”

Everyone began to scatter, murmurs surrounding them as they headed out. Victor knew what they were about but he didn’t care. He gave a glance to Colleen then looked down at her left hand. On it sat a small diamond ring on her fourth finger. He lifted her hand and kissed it gently as everyone left.

“Hey, you’re sexy when you’re mad, you know that?”

She rolled her eyes and pulled away. “Too bad you can’t get your dick hard before space. Now go.”

He laughed and headed off into the men’s dressing room, whistling as he entered ecstatically.

There sat three of the crew members getting out of their work uniforms and into their spacesuits: James Revelle, Mickey Ross and Captain Nicholas Burnes. A man he’d been competing with his entire career at NASA. But today? That no longer mattered. Sure, he wasn’t co-captain but he was better than a lousy notetaker who had to watch and follow orders. In his own way, he was allowed to give orders if it had anything to do with the ship. Repairs, the handling of spare parts, installations. If all hell broke loose, Victor could just blame the captain for not letting him do his job. A position he’d gladly take when desired.

He stood next to the tall and brooding captain, taking his shoes off before he unbuttoned his shirt and began to undress himself.

“Excited, Captain? This is the furthest we’ve ever gone.”

Nicholas glanced at him slightly and gave him a small, tepid smirk. “It is. And it’s a journey we all should’ve been on time for.”

“Oh come on.” He scoffed back. “I’m here, aren’t I? That’s what matters.”

A moment of silence fell upon the two and Victor felt an aggressive cold form between the two. Nicholas stared almost past him like he was looking for something. Then he gave another held back smile.

“You know what? Sure. That’s what matters.”

Nicholas patted Victor on the back before he looked away from him and finished getting dressed. Without any more words exchanged, he went ahead of the rest of the group to give a farewell speech and answer some questions for the press. This was the farthest NASA, and by whole, all of humanity, had ever gone in space travel. As such, he had to demonstrate his bravery and strength as one of NASA’s main captains. Known throughout most of the world, he had a reputation to uphold.

Victor watched Nicholas leave before a scowl hit his face and he looked back at his locker. He felt his face twist in a disgusted way. “Prick.”

Victor came out last from the rest of the crew and they all formed a line behind Nicholas in straight and broad stances for the photos. While everyone posed up and waved gently to the cameras, Nicholas answered the press's questions on behalf of everyone else. He kept a warm and inviting smile.

“Captain Burnes! Captain Burnes! This is the farthest NASA, let alone all of humanity, has gone all just for trade. Are you fully prepared to be gone for a full six years?”

He chuckled. “Well, of course. With our new and full proof cryopod technology, for us the travel will feel like nothing, we’ll still look fresh and young and maybe even a bit younger than when we left.” He winked, causing a swarm of laughs and flustered voices to call out before getting back on track.

“Captain Burnes, you’ve been travelling to space since you were in your mid-twenties, how many years have you really spent on Earth?”

“Long enough, I feel. I have a beautiful house, beautiful wife. Whatever time I’ve missed I feel I have adequately made up for it.”

More flashes of cameras shot out and more answers were shouted out to him.

“Alright here you, last question.” He called out and pointed to one of the reporter’s who stood at the right end of the large group.

“Captain Burnes, there are rumours about your contract allegedly being set to end after this trip with no renewal in sight due to altercations with other crewmates. Would you be willing to elaborate on these claims?”

A sharp stillness rose into the air. Everyone held their tongues, their breaths becoming faint and hesitant. An awkward distance formed amongst the room as though the divisive question had formed a physical gap between everyone and the reporter who asked it.

“I’m sorry?” Nicholas hesitated.

“Okay! No more questions!” Colleen abruptly announced. “Thank you so much for your time--”

“Wait! Don’t you want to clear these rumours now? Rumours like this can ruin a trip--”

“Ah, the media will say what it wants to say, people will always feel how they feel, let’s not conflate dismissal with hiding the truth. Everyone if you could please follow me--”

“Hold on.”

Colleen froze and looked over at Nicholas who was locking eyes with the reporter.

“Where did you hear this?”

The reporter hesitated slightly before brushing her hair to the side. “It’s just been floating around all year. It’s recently resurfaced online, it’s one of the main trends at the moment.”

Nicholas nodded his head. “Mm’kay. And sorry, what’s your name?”

“Oh, Olivia Brent.”

“Okay. Well, Olivia, I haven’t heard anything about my contract not being renewed, let alone me not getting along with my crewmates.” He laughed, straightening himself up as he looked over at the other seven who stood on stage with him. “I’ve grown to get to know each and every single one of these lovely individuals. We have gone through the worst storms and the best tides and I couldn’t ask for a more solid crew. So if we’re having altercations…” He said and looked back at the reporter. “I’d love to know about it guys! Hello?”

Everyone began to laugh, Nicholas had swiftly knocked the tension away and replaced it with a joyful giddiness that engulfed the room. Colleen clapped her hands, signifying the guards to start escorting the crowd out.

“Right well, you’ve heard it here first folks! Now come on, we got a launch to make!”

The crew cheered and they all headed down the ramp, Nicholas followed behind them and Colleen closed in on him. The two made a small distance away from the crew and began to passively talk while they headed up.

“I am so sorry I was not expecting her to be here. In fact I told them -- I told them not to call her!” She hissed under her breath, scrolling through her mirror tablet as she looked at the social media responses.

“You’re fine, Colleen. After all, the best news is the most unexpected. What’s everyone saying?”

“Uh, you handled it well… Good on you for being true… ‘That’s what real patriotism looks like’.”

Nicholas nodded. “Good.” He said and began to walk ahead of her before looking back. “Oh and Colleen?”

“Yes?” She looked up at him puzzled.

“Get her fired. I don’t ever wanna see that bitch’s face in front of me again.” He then swiftly turned back around and hurried to the front of the group, becoming the new leader and surpassed Victor.

The crew were quickly led through the landing and to the spacecraft’s entrance. It was a rectangular, more boxy design than previous spacecrafts of the past. Rather than it being pointed up into the sky, it was on a landing that slightly tilted it upward almost in like a catapult design. The crew went into the ship one by one, skipping the formalities of waving goodbye and headed in.

Once in, everyone took their places in the control room and buckled up into their seats.

“Oxygen levels?” Nicholas began the checklist whilst he turned everything on slowly.

“Elevated, not too high but could cause a problem in the air.” Roxanne Williams, one of the scientists said.

“Okay, turning it down. O-zone?”

“As clear as it’s gonna be. Get a move on already Captain. Unless you’re scared?” Victor mocked.

Nicholas glared over at Victor before he looked back at the consol.e. “You’re right, engineer, this’ll be my last flight anyways, might as well blow all of us up before we hit the air.”

“Oh don’t take that reporter seriously, Nick.” James Miller, another scientist, started. “You’re a great captain. Of course they’re gonna keep you here, why wouldn’t they? In fact, they’d probably clone you.”

Everyone except Victor laughed. Nicholas gave James a silent thank you and looked back at the console. “Alright. Hold on everyone. If we’re lucky, we’ll be in our cryopods in the next hour.”

Everyone cheered and with the press of a giant red button and the signal of a countdown, they were off. The biggest launch day in America’s history was taking place right in front of billions and billions of people. The Odyssey was a monumental victory for all of humanity. One that would encourage braver and more intense explorations of space and the hidden worlds above Earth.

That was the facade the crew left Earth with. And when they came back, they came back with a truth so visceral it couldn’t be buried.

GRAHH I FINALLY DID IT I am SO sorry this took literally the whole month (I suppose that was the point) but I REALLY need to discipline myself more so I can get ahead of that deadline for the sake of self preservation -- ANYWAYS Hope you enjoyed reading, it's about to get dark from here so STAY TUNED <3 PLEASE NOTE EVERYTHING IS A FIRST DRAFT SO I DON'T LOSE MY HEAD -- the goal of this story is to just post because I am terrible at motivating myself otherwise and then hate myself after SOOO. Ye, once it is fully finished it'll go through editing phase. It won't be major, just grammatical because I like what I have planned so far and I would never enjoy the idea of posting something knowing I am gonna change like half the plot yk SOOO. ENJOYYY

PREVIOUSLY: The Last Rose I Ever Saw

NEXT: ???

#writing #creative writing #writers on tumblr #author #writerscommunity #horror #sci fi horror #spacecraft #space exploration #crew members #this is gonna get dark #trigger warning from here on out #proceed with caution :)

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