Solar Umbrella (Book 1)

Chapter 13: Bang Bang Bang

ONCE THE SHIP escaped Earth's embrace, things got...weird. The pressure not only subsided on Parker's chest, it vanished entirely. The ship's rockets disembarked, their mixture of liquid helium and oxygen all spent. They took themselves back down to Colorado Springs on their own, to be cleaned up, refuelled and used for another ship as soon as one was required. The information on the screen showed 600 kilometres from liftoff and increasing fast. They were moving well over 2800 kilometres per hour with very little change—things were shockingly stable. The numbers were quite simply mind boggling to Parker. He had read up about the launch, of course, but to actually see those numbers and, more importantly, to feel those numbers was a different animal. From the absolute chaos and implausibility of launch, he found himself in the exact opposite position. He trusted the numbers on the screen, but it seemed like the ship had come to a complete stop. The bomb they were strapped to was gone, and the float had begun. Already, Parker could feel his legs and arms begin to move away from him. Things remained strapped down, but they looked somehow looser. He looked across to Alex and smiled. Alex tossed back a thumbs up. No one wanted to talk first and break the spell.

Parker leaned into the aisle and looked across to where Ibrahim and Kate were sitting. Kate caught his glance and gave him the biggest smile he'd ever seen. The way she was sitting and turning left her face completely engulfed by the large window beside her. Her face lit all around by the refraction of the sun's light off the Earth, contrasted by the deepest black of space. As she moved her head, her hair moved across her face as if in slow motion. He had never seen something so beautiful. He actually had to take a moment and force himself to inhale before remembering to toss a half baked smile back at her. The smile isn't for you idiot, she's in space, Parker reminded himself.

"I saw that," DJ whispered, face placid.

"Shut up DJ," Parker whispered back, but his words carried no malice.

The group started chatting with nearby friends as they awaited the all-clear to take off their restraints and really enjoy zero gravity. Parker wanted to sneak another look at Kate, but he reminded himself to be cool, and focused on everything else. The Earth itself proved a useful distraction. It was its own kind of beautiful, lighting up so many of the windows on that side of the ship. It was huge, but shrinking rapidly as the ship coasted.

"Just a few more minutes everyone, and then we can enjoy the lack of gravity fully," Johansson announced.

The information screen showed about two minutes until the nuclear drive would kick in. Parker had been excited to read about it, but it wasn't anything special. Just a regular old nuclear engine, cooled by the vacuum of space. The engine would power up and thermally push them the rest of the way. They would speed up relatively slowly to keep the ride smooth, but the speed would increase gradually over time. The ship was programmed to rotate 180 degrees at the right time to burn back, allowing the ship to decrease in speed until being pulled in at LunaOne. The flip and the final docking were the only two stages left that required being strapped in. Johansson had explained they would be strapped in for the initial burn as well, as it could be jarring. The timer counted down on the screen and Parker felt a small bump and noticed a very slight change in gravity, but otherwise it was very smooth. The lights indicating their belts were required and locked in went off.

"Okay, everyone! Time for the best part of anyone's first trip to space! Take off your restraints and enjoy," Johansson shouted with a big grin on his face. "This is my sixth time, and I'm not tired of it yet!"

Alex was the first out of his restraints, undoing them even as Johansson spoke. He winked at Parker and DJ and attempted what might have passed for a flip on Earth. Whatever he did, it seemed he pushed off too hard and ended up knocking his head against the padded roof.