The pre-launch quarters assigned to Starstruck buzzed with the cool light of Luster-powered LEDs, their glow reflecting off every chrome and glass surface. Darcy "Starstruck" Jones, a whirlwind of nervous energy, adjusted her position yet again, ensuring the light hit her perfectly for her pre-flight live stream.
"Hey #StarstruckSquad! Two hours until liftoff, and your girl is officially space-bound!" Her voice, amplified by the room's subtle acoustics, held a note higher than usual, a tremor betraying her carefully cultivated online persona.
Across the room, Dr. Lena Kapoor sank deeper into a ridiculously oversized armchair. The kind of furniture designed for a corporate boardroom, not a pre-launch quarantine zone. Clutching a worn copy of "Matilda," she sought refuge in Roald Dahl's darkly whimsical prose, a stark contrast to the sterile aesthetic Vance Holdings favored.
Dr. Jaxon "Jax" Riley, ever the charmer, a mischievous glint in his hazel eyes, sauntered over. "Relaxing before the big show, Kapoor?" he quipped, gesturing towards the book with a tilt of his head.
Lena lowered the book, fixing Jax with a look that could curdle Luster-infused coffee. "I prefer to engage my intellect without the fanfare of corporate-sponsored publicity stunts," she retorted, her voice dry as a vacuum-sealed ration pack.
Jax chuckled, undeterred. "Come on, Kapoor, lighten up! It's not every day you get to be a *pioneering astronaut* on a mission of vital scientific discovery."
Lena arched a perfectly sculpted eyebrow, her gaze lingering on the Vance Holdings logo emblazoned on Jax's jumpsuit, its stylized "V" a constant reminder of their corporate overlords. "Tell that to the last three research teams who vanished on Vance's watch," she muttered, her voice barely audible above the ventilation system's hum.
Their exchange was cut short by the brisk, measured footsteps of Commander Zara "Zee" Diaz. Her Luster-weave uniform, a study in midnight black, seemed to absorb the room's light, her presence radiating an aura of quiet authority. She exchanged a curt nod with Javier Rodriguez, her second-in-command, his expression as impassive as ever, his hand never straying far from the Luster-weave holster at his hip.
Zee's gaze swept across the room, taking in the scene - Starstruck's manic energy, Lena's carefully constructed wall of cynicism, Jax's carefully cultivated charm, and the hunched figure of Dr. Kenji Tanaka, the mission's lead engineer, his fingers a blur as he typed on his Vance-issued tablet, his brow furrowed in concentration. The weight of the mission, the knowledge that their every move was being monitored, hung in the air, thick and suffocating as the recycled air they breathed.
"Ten minutes to Vance-tervention," Lena muttered, her gaze fixed on the cityscape below. It was a running joke amongst the crew - the inevitable interruption of their pre-launch routines by their corporate sponsor.
A chime, crisp and artificial, echoed through the room, signaling the start of Starstruck's pre-scheduled corporate puppet show. On cue, Dalton Vance materialized beside Starstruck, his Luster-projection shimmering with an almost ethereal glow.
"And there he is, folks! The man himself, Mr. Dalton Vance, gracing us with his virtual presence!" Starstruck chirped, her smile a touch too wide, her eyes a touch too bright.
Vance, radiating practiced charisma and a smile that didn't quite reach his cold, calculating eyes, virtually placed a hand on Starstruck's shoulder, the touch a phantom pressure against her Luster-weave jumpsuit. "Darcy, always a pleasure. And to the rest of the intrepid K0B3 crew, my sincerest gratitude for undertaking this vital mission for the betterment of humanity."
His image flickered across the room, pausing for a beat too long on each crew member. Lena met the projection with a stoic expression, her grip tightening on her book, the irony of Vance invoking "the betterment of humanity" not lost on her. Jax, ever the showman, offered a charmingly roguish grin, his eyes, however, remaining guarded, a flicker of calculation dancing beneath the surface.
"As you know," Vance continued, his voice a smooth baritone, perfectly modulated for maximum impact, "Luster holds the key to solving some of humanity's most pressing challenges. Clean energy, advanced materials, interstellar travel - the possibilities are limitless."
He paused, allowing his words to hang in the air, the subtle hum of the Venture's Luster-drive a constant undercurrent to his pronouncements. "The K0B3 mission represents a pivotal step towards realizing Luster's full potential. You, the brave souls venturing into the unknown, are the vanguard of a new era, pioneers who will shape the future for generations to come."
His words, carefully crafted for maximum inspirational impact, rang hollow to Lena's ears. She'd heard it all before - the carefully constructed narratives, the promises of a brighter future, all designed to mask the ruthless ambition that fueled Vance Holdings' every move. She glanced at her crewmates, their expressions a mixture of forced enthusiasm and carefully concealed skepticism, and knew they were all thinking the same thing:
*Just get us to the damn asteroid already.*
. . .
Lena leaned against the cool, transparent Luster-reinforced polymer of the observation deck window, the sprawling cityscape below a blur of light against the encroaching twilight. Even from this distance, the air shimmered with a faint, metallic haze, the byproduct of countless Luster-powered generators humming away, fueling Vance Holdings' vision of the future. A future she was contractually obligated to help build, even if it tasted like ashes in her mouth.
"You know," Jax's voice, a touch quieter than usual, broke through her thoughts, "For someone about to embark on a potentially life-altering journey to mine a mysterious element from a distant asteroid, you're remarkably good at pretending to be bored."
Lena didn't turn. "Pretending implies a level of effort I'm not willing to expend," she retorted, her voice devoid of its usual sharp edge.
Jax chuckled, the sound surprisingly comforting in the otherwise sterile silence of the observation deck. "Always the charmer, Kapoor." He moved closer, his shoulder brushing against hers, a spark of warmth radiating through the thick fabric of their Vance-issue jumpsuits.
"Seriously, though, what's going through that brilliant mind of yours? Calculating the probability of us discovering alien life? Or perhaps composing a scathing critique of Vance's interior design choices?"
Lena finally turned, fixing him with a weary smile. "Something like that." She gestured towards the cityscape below, a tapestry of light and shadow stretching towards the horizon. "Just thinking about how much Luster has changed everything. And how little control we have over any of it."
Jax followed her gaze, his usual carefree demeanor fading as a shadow of understanding crossed his features. "Yeah," he murmured, his voice tinged with a rare note of introspection. "It's like we're all just along for the ride, strapped into Vance's grand experiment, whether we like it or not."
For a moment, neither of them spoke, the silence filled only by the muted hum of the Venture's Luster-drive, a constant reminder of their impending departure. It was a strange thing, Lena reflected, to find common ground with someone like Jax. He, with his easy charm and thirst for adventure, seemed the antithesis of everything she held dear. And yet, in this moment, as they stood together on the precipice of the unknown, she sensed a shared weariness, a quiet rebellion against the forces that had brought them together.
A low tremor ran through the deck, a subtle vibration that heralded the Venture's awakening. The lights flickered once, a brief interruption in the otherwise seamless flow of Luster-powered energy, before stabilizing, a silent reminder of their precarious existence, tethered to a technology they barely understood.
"Showtime," Jax murmured, his gaze meeting hers, a flicker of something unreadable in his hazel eyes.
Lena nodded, her fingers tightening around the worn spine of her book, a small act of defiance against the sterile perfection of their surroundings. As the Venture hummed around them, preparing to tear itself free from Earth's grasp, she couldn't shake the feeling that they weren't just embarking on a mission to mine a distant asteroid. They were venturing into the heart of something vast, unknowable, and potentially very dangerous.
YOU ARE READING
The Price of Luster
Fiksi IlmiahIn the near future, the promise of an untapped resource known as Luster sends the crew of The Venture deep into the cosmos on what should have been a routine extraction mission. But as they approach the remote asteroid K0B3, what they unearth could...
