Infinite

Chapter 1: The First Session- Part 1

Seabrook, Texas, Rachel Clarke's Office at Vanguard Preparatory, Wednesday, November 24th, 2029 at 9:30 am

Rachel

I tossed the last of the tests into my bag. It took me over an hour to format these correctly so the students could have extra space below the questions to show their work. The test was almost five pages long, so they weren't allowed to complain that they didn't have the room anymore. As I picked up my bag, I knocked over a picture on my desk. It was a photo of Lucas and I when we went to see the world's largest ball of rubber bands in Orlando. My heart ached when I looked at it. I hadn't heard from him since our fight, and from what I could tell he hadn't been home since.

I called my best friend Anne right after it happened and she came over. We met after Lucas started working for NASA, and have been attached at the hip ever since. She's married to one of Lucas' coworkers, and partner in crime, Cooper. As I was about to head out the door, my phone rang.

"Hello?" I said as I adjusted a few things on my desk.

"Rachel? Where are you?" It was Anne. She sounded worried.

"What do you mean where am I? It's a Wednesday morning, I'm at work. I have a class in 20 minutes." I teased her.

"Why aren't you at the launch? You're going to miss it!" Anne exclaimed.

"Oh, yeah," I replied solemnly. I normally went to watch all of the launches with Lucas, but I still hadn't heard from him since our fight this weekend. They took off in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Since he wasn't going up, I didn't plan to go watch. "We haven't spoken since our fight." I sighed heavily as I dropped down into my leather desk chair. There was a long pause on the other end.

"Anne? Are you there?" I asked, waiting for a response. My anxiety started to creep up as I felt my hands sweating.

"Rachel," she paused before continuing. "Lucas volunteered for the launch a couple days ago."

I dropped my bag on the floor. I couldn't even believe what I was hearing.

"He's going up?" I asked, biting my lip.

"Yes, there's six of them on the crew for this one," Anne replied gently.

"How long?" I asked, holding back tears. I grabbed onto the edge of my desk, trying to steady myself.

"They take off in five hours," Anne said softly from the other end.

The flight from Houston to Cape Canaveral is about two and a half hours.

"How long is the mission?" Anne paused for a moment before quietly answering me.

"It's nine months," she whispered.

I caught my breath. The longest Lucas has ever been up there was four months. I didn't know how to respond. "He didn't tell you he was going on this mission?" Anne continued.

Anne is always so calm. I don't know how she does it.

"No, we haven't spoken since Saturday,"I said bitterly. I felt a lump start to form in my throat. The airport was a half hour away. I didn't have any bags so security wasn't going to take long. "Anne, I'm on my way," I said before I hung up and raced out the door, catching up to one of our floating subs in the hallway.

I'm coming, Lucas. You don't get to just leave without saying goodbye.

#

The flight felt like it took days instead of a little over two hours. When we landed, I stood up and headed towards the front of the plane as soon as I was able. I couldn't stop thinking about how rude I must look, but time was of the essence. I got off the plane and quickly made my way outside.