Pink Farout

Prologue

<<Dad, do you really have to go?>>
<<Yes, my little boy. But i promise you that i will be back soon. Don't be sad.>>
<<Ok daddy, i love you.>>
<<Me too my little boy, me too...>>

On a quiet morning, the floor began to tremble.

<<What is going on?>>
<<It's just an earthquake Arthur. Don't worry, it will stop in a few seconds.>>
<<I'm scared dad.>> the boy said with tears in his innocent eyes.
<<Hug me and think at all the beautiful moments spent with your mom.>>
<<Okay.>>
A minute had already passed but the earthquake didn't want to stop. All the stuff in the house like plates, glasses, paintings etc. fell to the ground.
<<Dad, why doesn't it end anymore?>>
<<I don't know son.>>
Suddenly a loud noise was heard. Kevin looked outside the window and he saw that the avenue was splitting open. After a few seconds, the earthquake finally ended.
<<Ok son, it's over.>>
Someone knocked at the door. <<Tommy, brother...come in. What are you doing here? It just happened a disaster. >>
<<You have to come with me.>> the man said seriously. <<Get in the car, take Arthur.>>
<<Why?>>
<<Just come.>>
Kevin took his son by the hand. <<Come little boy, we have to go with the uncle.>>

Kevin was about 30 years old and he was a military. He was tall 1,80 and he was muscled like the usual soldiers. He was dark blonde, the hair short on the sides  with a tuft on the front. His eyes was mixed green and blue. He had a hinted beard and an olive complexion.  He was wearing a military uniform. He was definitely an attractive man.

Tommy was 41 years old and he was a NASA Engineer. Unlike his younger brother, he was a little overweight, not too tall and he had messy black curly hair. He wore black RayBan glasses. He had dark brown eyes, light skin and a long grey beard. He was wearing a blue shirt with tie with a lab coat over it.

Kevin's son, Arthur, was 8 years old. He was a sunny child, blonde like his father. He had bowl hair and light eyes. He was a bit like a small copy of his dad. He was wearing a lumberjack blouse and blue jeans.

The three were traveling. The child looked out the window. <<I miss my mom.>>
The man turned to him and looked at him lovingly. <<I know puppy, me too. You know she's always with us anyway.>>
<<Yes.>> hissed Arthur almost crying.

The child's mother, Angelina, died in a car accident a few years earlier. She was much loved by everyone. She was adored by her son. They spent a lot of time together, as Kevin, being a military man, was often away from home on missions.

<<We're here guys.>>
The NASA base was very large. Kevin looked around, expecting to see a lot of people and bustle, as normal as it is, but everything was so empty, silent, almost unreal for the place they were in.
Tommy put his hand on the soldier's shoulder. <<Brother, he is the boss of everything you are seeing right now.>>
<<Nice to meet you boy, I'm Roger Simmons.>>
Uncle picked Arthur up. <<Come little one, let's go play. I'll show you how to use a telescope!>>
Roger waved to Kevin. <<Come in, we have a lot to talk about.>>

Mr. Simmons was a man in his sixties. He had a thick, white beard, like his short hair. He was thin, tall and full of wrinkles on his face, as expected for his age. He was wearing a dark gray sweater with a shirt underneath and light gray checked trousers.

The room had gray colored walls, was full of monitors and electronic devices, in the center there was a large glass table with many chairs. Simmons cleared his throat. <<Son, we are in a critical situation, many of my employees are dead or have gone home to their mother because they don't know how to handle pressure and take responsibility.>>
<<I understand, and why am I here, sir?>> Kevin asked, almost annoyed.
<<I need a man like you for our mission, your brother told me what you do and what kind of person you are.>>
Kevin crossed his arms. <<And what kind of person would I be? Let's hear.>>
<<One who doesn't back down to anything or anyone, who follows orders without question, and who cares about people.>>
<<Yes, but there are millions more people like me.>> - he started smiling.
Simmons pulled up his pants and rested his hands on the table. <<I know, but there's no more time to fuck around. We need to move, before everything we've fought for, that we've built and that we know disappears forever.>>
<<Let's get to the point, why am I here? What mission is this?>>
<<We have to go back to space Kevin, we need help. Help from 'outside', let's say.>>Simmons stated, almost scared himself by what he said.
<<What do you mean from 'outside', sir?>>asked the soldier, curious.
<<I'm saying we need to look for those damn 'aliens', 'extraterrestrials' or whatever the hell you want to call them!>>he shouted. <<An interstellar civilization or I don't know, anything the hell. Anything that has a working brain and doesn't think with its ass! That isn't like us, that's what I'm saying, dammit.>>he said in a sad tone.
Kevin nodded. <<I understand...and how should we do it?>>
<<We have a spacecraft ready, it's called Falcon Rosè.>>
The soldier raised his eyebrows. <<Falcon Rosè? Is this a joke?>>
Roger smiled. <<No. Nice name, right? Don't worry, it's not really pink. Those gray faces up there won't make fun of you.>>
<<I'm thinking about abandoning my son and you want to joke? If I leave, I don't know if I'll ever see him again!>>he clenched his fists.
<<Kevin, he's the reason you have to fucking leave! If you don't, he'll never have the chance to grow up.>>
The man ran his hand through his hair. <<I know.>>
The table was full of paperwork, documents, envelopes and crumpled sheets of paper. Simmons searched among them. At a certain point he found the paper he was looking for. He showed it to Kevin. Above there was a picture, coordinates and a description. <<Boy, this is the farthest planet in the solar system, its name is Farout.>>