We walk out of the hallway, and walk towards our room. I type in the codes to leave the hallways, and we end up back in the main entrance. We walk straight, and enter the only hallway we haven't gone into yet. We end up at a door, and punch in the number 5009, this is the number that we need to get into our room. This is the only number that everyone knows. We end up in a decently sized room. There is a small kitchen, and two bathrooms. There are a few dressers, and beds line the back wall. I close the door, and we set our weapons down. There are twelve beds against the wall, and six dressers on the wall opposite. To the left of the door is a kitchen, and a small bathroom. To the right is a large bathroom, and I walk towards it.
Inside there are five showerheads. There are three sinks, and five stalls. I walk out of the bathroom, and turn my ear piece on. I hear Dallas come on, and listen to what he has to say. "Molly?" He says, "What's going on up there? Have you put the prisoners in their cages yet? I see that the robots have been activated." "Yah," I reply, "We just got into our room, we are going to leave first thing in the morning. Oh and we were attacked by these cat like creatures, Olivia was killed." "Oh," Dallas replies, "I'm sorry to hear that." "It's fine Dallas," I say, "She wasn't really Oliva, she was Colleen, Mike's daughter." Dallas says okay and says he'll tell Mr. Nostra. We are told to leave as soon as we wake up tomorrow, to make sure that nothing else will happen. I mute my earpiece, and walk over to the dressers.
Each one is labeled with two names. The first dresser is for Ava and Olivia, so I leave that one closed. The next one is for Alex and Ryan, so I open it. Inside is two new oxygen masks. This is for when we go back to the ship. The prison has oxygen in it, so we obviously don't need the masks when we are in here. I pick up Ryan's, and leave Alex's. I set the mask next to his pillow, and head back to his dresser. On the bottom of the dresser is a pair of shoes, and gloves, which I sit on his bed. I grab his new jumpsuit from a hanger in the dresser. It isn't a test suit anymore, sense we won't be needing those anymore. It is made of spandex, and have his name on the left breast. When I pull it down from the hanger, I see another drawer. I pull it open, and see that there are pins in it.
There is a NASA logo pin, and one that was made for our mission. There is also an American flag pin. I set the pins and suit on his table, and move on. I then think of something, and go back to the first dresser. I open the dresser, and look for the small drawers that have the pins in them. I fumble around in the box, trying to find the fourth pin that I know will be in there. I pull it out, and put it under my pillow. I move onto the next dresser, which is just for me. I open it, and see that my suit is different. Everyone else's suit is white with blue on the shoulder. They also have blue gloves, and white shoes. My suit is all blue, with a white patch on the shoulder. I have white gloves, and white shoes as well. The back of the suit also has the NASA logo on it. The one thing that their suit has that mine does not have is my name, but I assume I'll have a pin for that. I open my drawer, and see that there are a ton of pins in it. The first one I find is a gold rectangle with my name engraved on it, just like I expected. I next pull out a NASA pin, and the American flag pin. The mission zero pin comes out next, and I continue to rummage through the drawer.
Next I pull out a gold pin, that looks like a crown with intertwining wings behind it. That is the symbol for captain, and is similar to the one I grabbed from Ava's drawer. Hers is silver, and is for the vice. I plan on giving it to Ryan tomorrow. Next I pull out an FBI pin, it is a blue circle with my name on it. Next I pull a president pin. It is a circle with the president's seal on it. That was for my service for the president back in 2016. The last pin I pull out is a purple heart from when I was injured during my time in the FBI. I set all of my stuff down on my bed, and move onto the next dresser. I move onto Lucas and Mark's one, and get their clothing. They have the same suit as Ryan, but I assume their pins will be different. They both have the mission zero pin, FBI pin, and the American flag pin, but that's where the similarities end. Mark who was in the president's group with me has the president's seal. The next and last pin is for Lucas, and is a purple heart.
I remember hearing about how he earned it. Lucas was one of the FBI agents who were protecting a crew back in 2012. His job was to protect Emma, the captain of the NASA crew. There was an attack by the Japanese, who were trying to kill the entire crew. Emma was the only member who survived, and Lucas got away with only one bullet to his arm. I set their things on their beds, and go to Ally's dresser. She has her own, because she is the captain of the FBI group. She got this title because she was the first one to complete the task. Her outfit looks like mine, but she doesn't have the NASA logo on the back of the suit. I pull out her pins, and take a look at them. She has a gold rectangle with her name on it, and also has the golden crown for captain. She has an FBI pin, and the mission zero pin, and also has the same American flag pin. The last pin is a purple heart, and I try to remember how she got it.
I can't remember, and remind myself to ask her later. I set the outfit and pins on her bed, and look for her. Ally is in the kitchen, and I walk over to her. I say hey, and blurt out the question, "Hey so um I saw your pins and saw the purple heart, how did you get it?" she looks at me, and sighs. "Well..." she starts, but she's cut off by my earpiece ringing. I hold up my hand, and she stops talking. Ally turns her earpiece on as well, and we listen. "Ground control to Moon base, moon base come in." It's Dallas again, and I sigh. He's our only connection to ground, and he's starting to piss me off. I've hit that level where I just want to talk to someone else, I don't even care who, but not him or one of my crew. I reluctantly answer, and tell him that we can hear him. "Okay Molly, we are going to have you guys stay up on the base for at least another day." "Okay," I say, "But why?" "There was two terrorist attacks on US soil, so we need to keep you up for a little bit longer. We don't want anything happening to you guys. One of the attacks was in Juneville Maine, and the other was in Chical Florida, where you guys were supposed to be landing."
"Okay so what happened with the attacks?" I ask, with a sinking feeling in my stomach. "A small bomb was dropped on each of them. 35 people were killed in Florida, and 73 were killed in Maine." "Do you have the list of the dead from Maine?" I ask, anxious for his response. "But only tell me the people who are around my age." "I don't have it with me, but I can have it ready and narrowed down in a few minutes. I'll go grab it, and call you back, is that okay?" I tell him yes, and we sign off. Ally mutes her earpiece, and places her hand on my shoulder. "I'm sorry Molly," she says, her eyes clouded with pain. "I know how hard this is, I'll let you listen to the list by yourself, you don't need my listening." I thank her, and go sit down on my bed, waiting to weed through the list of names and see who I've lost. Dallas calls back a moment later, and Ally doesn't let anyone sign onto the call.
"Okay Molly, here's the list." He starts listing off names, and I try to match their names to faces. "Marry, age 25, Lilly, age 22, Seth, age 30, Jullie, age 24, Rose, age 29." "Wait!" I scream. "Rose who?" "Um her last name is North." "Okay," I reply, "I know her, please go on." "Delaney, age 27, Lucy, age 30, Jane, age 30, Lucas, age 30, Luther, age 30, Joe, age 30, and Dana, age 28." He end reading, and signs off. I knew a few of them, and Dana's death hits me hard. I was never a great friend of hers, but we had just seen each other a few weeks ago. I sigh, and close my eyes for a moment, and when I open them I see Ally sitting on the edge of my bed. "So, um I can tell you that story now if you'd like." I say yah, and she starts the story.
"So three years ago I was one of the twenty troopers who stormed the al-Qaida base. The men were waiting for us though, and we were heavily outnumbered. I was one of the only two who survived. I was shot in my leg and stomach, and kept hostage for seven weeks. Me and the other soldier, James were there together the entire time, until one day we escaped. We made it back to our base many miles away, and was rushed into surgery." I thank her for the story, and she gets off my bed. She walks to her own bed, and sits down. I walk from my bed to the shower, and change out of my suit. I leave it next to the shower, and turn it on. The cold water sprays out, and I step into it. There is no hot water here, so cold will have to do for now. I shower quickly, and shampoo up my hair. My hair has gotten longer, and I comb it through with my fingers. I reach for a towel, and realize that I didn't bring one with me. I call for Ally, and a moment later a towel flies towards me. I wrap it around my body, and take a look at my testsuit.
It is worn are ripped, and looks like it won't do much for me anymore. Ryan, Lucas, and Mark are sitting on Ryan's bed, and look up when I walk out. Ryan whistles at me, and I stick my tongue out at him. Mark gives him a light shove, and says, "Trust me, it's not that impressive." "Hey!" I shout at him and walk towards the last dresser. Inside are pajamas, and I grab a set that looks to be around my size. I go back to the bathroom, and slip on the shorts and shirt. I remove my suit from my bed, and slip under the covers. The boys walk over to the shower, and come back a few moments later. They have their towels around their waists, and without the suits on I can see how much muscle they have gained during our training. They get their pajamas from the dresser, and find something in the drawer.
They laugh, and throw a white sports bra and matching underwear at me. I pick it up and place them near my suit. "What?" I say, "Want a fashion show?" "No," Mark replies, laughing so hard he can barely talk, "I've already seen one, it wasn't too great." "Hey!" Ryan interjects, "Don't just speak for yourself, I know that Lucas and I wouldn't be totally against it." Lucas nods, and I close my eyes. A moment later I hear laughter again, and feel something hit my leg. I open my eyes, and take a look at what was thrown at me. I throw it back at them, and it hits Ryan on the head. He says, "Well, I guess they don't want us starting our own civilization on the moon." "Trust me, this wouldn't work too well, Mark needs a much smaller size than that." Mark laughs, and Ally walks towards the shower. Ally comes back a few minutes later and gets into her bed. Lucas turns off the lights, and we all go to bed.
It's our first night sleeping in a bed again, so we are all very happy. I drift into a deep sleep, but wake up around two in the morning. I have a terrible feeling that something is wrong. I wake up Ally, and Ryan. I pull out one of my guns, Ryan gets his Sword, and Ally gets her bow. I find a marker, and write on a pillow. "Ally, Ryan, and I are going to check up on the prisoners, something doesn't feel right." I lay it by the end of Lucas's bed, and we walk out of the room. I type in the codes, and we walk down the hallway. I look up ahead, and see a door latch shut. I nod to my friends, and we run towards the door, weapons drawn. Ryan is the first to get to the door, and tries to type in the code. He gets it wrong, and I push him aside. I type the right code in, and cautiously walk through. Everything looks normal, so we turn back around. We are walking back to the room, when Ryan starts talking to me. "I'm sure it was just a robot, calm down Molly." I type in the code, and we walk back into our room. The boys are still asleep, so I pick the pillow back up. I turn the case inside out, and put it back on my bed. I get back into bed, and close my eyes. I try to sleep, but something isn't right. Something is wrong, and I know it. I lay there,, and think about how happy I am that I'll be home soon.
About an hour later I hear something stir. It's Mark, he sits up, and looks around. He gets out of bed, and stands up. "Mark," I say groggily. "Oh!" he says, wounding surprised. "Where are you going?" "Oh you know, just going to the bathroom." He turns, and walks to the bathroom, returning a few moments later. He gets back in bed, and lays down. "You really should get some sleep Molly, we only have one more day until we get back home." I nod, and turn over. I quickly fall asleep, but sleep very lightly. I wake up again, around five, and sit up, looking around. I hear the door open, and lay my head back down on my pillow. Mark closes the door, and inches his way back into his bed. He looks around, and his eyes land on me. I bite my pillow, so I don't gasp. He shifts his weight, and pulls out his katana. The light from the bathroom hits the blade, and I get a glimpse of his face.
His brow is furrowed, and his jaw is locked. The muscles on his arm bulge, and I can see that his knuckles are white on the hilt. He adjusts his hands, and lets out a huff. Ally stirs, and Mark turns to look at her. He slides the katana away, and quickly slides into his bed. Ally has just saved my life, without even knowing it. She rolls over, and goes back to bed. I roll to my side, and keep an eye on Mark. He seems to be asleep, so I roll back onto my back, slowly falling back asleep. I am woken at seven, to Mark standing over me. He is shaking me wildly, and yelling my name. I shake my head to clear it, and sit up, reaching for my gun. Mark grabs my hand before I can reach it. "Molly," He says, "You were tossing and turning all night. You started screaming, so I woke you up. I think you were having a bad dream."
"I was woken up last night," I reply. "I saw you enter the room, where did you go?" "Molly, I never went anywhere, I was in my bed all night. I think you were dreaming." Everyone is up today. Ryan and Lucas are laying in their bed, and Ally is sitting on top of hers. Ryan looks mostly awake, but Lucas is yawning and rubbing his eyes. "No Mark," Ally says, putting her pillow on her lap. "I woke up last night as well, are you sure you weren't up?" Mark is getting angry now, I can see it in his face. His face is turning bright pink, and he is clenching his teeth. He is about to snap, and I know it. "I don't know what you're trying to imply Ally," Mark snaps, "I wasn't up last night. You've just gone batty. You probably woke up because of all of Molly's tossing and turning. I bet the prisoners could have heard it too." Mark turns on his heels, and storms off into the bathroom. Ally shoots him a dirty look, and turns her back to Mark. The shower turns on, and I turn my back as well. Ryan and Lucas come over, at sit on the end of our beds. "Hey," Lucas says, "Don't take it too hard Ally, you are the leader of the agents, he is still under your command." Ally sighs, and says, "I know, but I'm afraid that I can't control him." "He's just upset. None of us really got any sleep, so we are all a little mad. Just give him some time to cool down." We nod, and hear the shower turn off.
Ryan and Lucas hop off our beds, and dash back to their own. Mark walks out of the shower with a towel around his waist. He clenches his fists, and lets out a breath. His face is returning to its normal color, and his hair is pushed in front of his eyes. He walks up to Ally, stiff legged, and stops in front of her. She looks up, and I clench my fist. He looks down at his feet, and mumbles something. I can't hear what he says, so I lean forward to hear well. "Sorry Captain Groven, I shouldn't have gotten mad, but it wasn't my fault that you were acting like a bi-"Before he can even finish the word, I know that he regrets it. She sits up in her bed, and hops out. She squares him up, and stands in her fighting form. "Good," Ryan says, "I've been bored just sitting here, this should be good." "Ryan!" I yell, "We can't just let them hurt each other." "Don't worry," Mark says, through gritted teeth. "This won't take long. We all know I should be captain, I'm the best fighter." I let out a screech, and jump off of my bed.
YOU ARE READING
One Rotation
ActionWhen Molly, an aerospace engineer is asked to lead a mission to the moon, and lock the mass murderer Mike Sherling up, what will she do? Will she rise to the challenge, or will she fail, and let the murders rule the world?