𝗨𝗣 𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗥𝗘, 𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐥𝐲 𝐟𝐢𝐜

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐎𝐧𝐞- 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫(𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰)𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐬

"I introduce you to our team," Doctor Iwanek threw his arms up like a little child in excitement. "to mission Discovery of an Unknown Galaxy. Short D.U.G."

As soon as he finished all the hands of the reporters snapped up, shouting a million questions.

A million too many.

A reporter in the front row, her notepad already half-filled with frantic notes, stood up without waiting to be chosen. "Doctor Iwanek, can you tell us what makes this mission different from previous ones? Are there particular risks or discoveries you're anticipating?"

The doctor smiled, his excitement returning. "Ah, that is an excellent question! This mission is unlike any before because we are entering completely uncharted space. We have no data, no preliminary scans, nothing. The risks are high, but the potential for discovery is even greater."

Another voice shouted from the back, "And the crew? How were they selected for this mission?"

Even better question, I would also like to know that.

"Why don't you ask the crew yourself, then you'll see how skilled they are and why they're needed."

Says the man who doesn't want to know our names, because of star names.

The attention was brought to us, it seemed before like the reporters didn't even want to have eye contact.

Well now isn't before anymore.

The man, who called the outside reporters amateur, spoke up. "I am Davis. Raphael Davis, public affairs officer; the face of this mission. Any questions from the media will be answered by me, I will manage the connection on board to the outside."

A few reporters scribbled notes furiously while others raised their microphones, ready to fire questions.

Raphael Davis adjusted his tie, his self-assured demeanor almost too polished. "Let me remind everyone that the safety of our crew is our first priority, and while we encourage media engagement, there will be strict limits to the questions we can answer as the mission progresses."

A skeptical reporter near the back raised her hand and, without waiting for recognition, asked, "Isn't that a convenient way to dodge accountability if things go wrong up there?"

You could only see if you were up close how Raphael's smile faltered for just a second before he regained his composure. "The nature of space exploration is unpredictable, but rest assured, our mission has the full support of every government and scientific body on this planet. We're prepared for anything."

As Raphael spoke, I could still feel the weight of a hundred eyes.

One by one, the people beside me began introducing themselves.

During which I fidgeted with my hands, I could feel the sweat on my hands. The heat crawling through my body.

Marcus Rowan Gonzales sat to my right, he's our propulsion engineer. So he focuses on our rocket's engine and the fuel system.

We only have one other engineer on board and that's the woman from earlier, William.

At twenty one she's brilliant in IT and system engineering, which is basically that she ensures all communication systems, software, and data processing work seamlessly and that they work together smoothly.

Then next was Adalina Ester Järvinen.

"Excuse me Miss Järvinen, what exactly does a astro-...micist?"

"Oh, Astrodynamicists," she corrects with a bright smile, seeming like she was happy to do so. "it involves the precise calculations of orbital paths and spacecraft manoeuvring in space. I apply orbital mechanics, gravitational forces, and other physical laws using calculus, linear algebra and differential equations to compute trajectories."

What in the world. I didn't understand what she said, she sounds as if she's one of the students who uses subjugate for capture to sound smarter in a presentation, while I have to quickly translate every word to German and not even Google knows what I'm talking about. So I have to give them a good grade, to not look stupid...

Heard that happened to a friend.

"I'm not sure I understand Miss Järvinen." The reporter looked up with confusion written all over her face, I'm hopefully not as oblivious.

"... basically, easy explained; I'm a space navigator. I make sure a spacecraft is on the right path and can get to where it needs to go safely, which is very important as we have almost no information on where we're heading."  

"Oh, cool." The reporter looked back down to her notes, presumably trying to disappear in the notes, while the next one of us stood up.

"Charlotte Kingsley, medic of the ship. So nice to meet you." She beamed sunshine through the whole room, her orange hair looking messy but perfect at the same time. "I just wanted to say how glad-"

Suddenly an Asian man ran into the room shouting Iwanek's name.

The attention shifting once again, while the man was still freaking out.

"Leon, calm down a bit. We're in the middle of something, what's-"

"Elliot," he paused finally finding him in the front row. "Problem with the ship. Need you right now."

Doctor Iwanek stood up serious and then started to... chuckle. "Guess that's time, you're welcome for us having you. You can go now."

He gestured with his hands for the journalists to leave and led the way, not waiting till they do leave, to supposedly the ship.

A/N:

If it seems rushed from one place to another, this will change as soon as they're in the spaceship.

Sorry for the long wait and if there any misspellings, it's 2am I won't check again. Hope you enjoyed <3

Stay safe,
X Lizzy