The Core

Take Off

Chapter 4

It’s an amazing creation. As big as 20 airplanes! I slow down as I approach it. Mr Dawerton gestures to it with his arms.

“Kayla, David, meet ‘The Jupiter 013’, your new home for the next four weeks!”

Then reality sets in. I’m going in to outer space, to places where no one has been before. There’s probably about 50% chance of death. I could get infected, I could blow up, I could burn to cinders, I could freeze to an icicle. Hell, I could even get kidnapped by aliens that take me to their lab, where they experiment on me or make me the flipping queen of the Martians! The possibilities are endless! I look at David, who smiles at me. I remember that I am not alone. I don’t have to face this on my own. David’s here. He knows what he’s doing and he will protect us from harm. I look at the other group of astronaughts. They are probably scared too. They have families, friends, loved ones. That’s why we are going to face this together. David slowly approaches me, his eyes focused on mine. He reaches into his pocket and takes out a bit of black string. He hands it to me and I get full view of the object. It’s a necklace. It’s a beautiful white stone, carved into the shape of an oval about the size of David’s eyes. There is black string attached to it. His arms go around my neck as he puts it on me. I take a look at the stone on my chest then look up at David.

“For luck,” he says. I put my arms around his waist and he hugs my shoulders. I take a deep breath. I feel so lucky to have a friend like him. Someone who looks out for me, makes me feel happy. Safe.

He eventually pulls away and nods at me in a way to say “You can do this.” Then he walks up the ramp into the shuttle. My wrist still in his hand, he takes me behind him.

My ears get blocked and start ringing, as if there is microphone feedback in my mind. My heart starts pounding against my chest. I’m almost definite it will rip out of my body if it gets anymore out of control.

The next few minutes are a complete blur. I don’t respond to anything, listen to anything, say anything. I just walk where David pulls me by my arm. I’m lightheaded and I think I’m gonna puke.

When I come back from my little mind vacation, I am strapped into a seat. There are about four more rows of seats behind me. Five in a row. I am in the front row, except for the pilots. Four pilots, two rows, two seats in a row. David is in the front row, being one of the more experienced pilots. He is wearing a headset, staring out of the wide window that encases the rounded wall. He is smiling and talking into his microphone. I can’t hear him over the chattering of people around me and the sound of a motor. Motor, does that mean were are about to set off. I lean forward and look at David; he turns his head towards me and smiles. I see him mouth the words “Take-off” I immediately sit back.

Now I really cannot breathe. Why did I want to be an astronaught? It’s Such a dangerous career. The pays not bad, but I’m not really focused on that. I don’t use much of the money anyway. It’s all stored up in a bank somewhere. I could have bought a puppy…Why am I thinking about puppies? I Take deep breaths and look out of the window beside me. Michelle is sitting in the chair beside me. She leans over and puts her hand on mine, smiling a reassuring smile, I smile back and nod in a way to say “I’m fine, don’t worry”. She sits back properly in her chair.

I feel momentum and close my eyes. Everyone goes silent, except the motor. Here we go. My insides turn into gel and my airways are cut off.

A few minutes later, I hear talking and I open my eyes for a split second. I see blackness out of the window. I open my eyes completely and focus my eyes on the other side of the glass. That’s when I know I’m not on Earth anymore. Complete darkness. I straighten my back and lean forward, eager to see more. As if they read my mind, the belts all automatically lift and everyone stands up. I see a digital red sign on the wall, Gravity Enabled. I quickly get to my feet and rush to the window, Michelle swiftly follows. I quietly gasp in awe as I look outside into the ocean of stars. It looks as if the Earth has drained all of the darkness from the sky.

A voice whispers into my ear, “it’s come true, hasn’t it?” I immediately recognise his husky voice. I don’t turn around because I can’t separate my eyes from this sight. I nod as my eyes tear up.

Ever since I was 14, my life’s goal was to look at the earth from up here. Exactly what I am experiencing now. My heart is vibrating as I realise I have achieved my dream. Something very few people say. David’s arms find their way around my waist and he rests his head on my shoulder.

“Shouldn’t you be steering or something?” I smile, looking at the empty pilot chair where David should be sitting. He follows my gaze.

“There are four pilots for a reason. Also, autopilot if we all are busy”

“Busy with what?”

“Eating, sleeping, we have needs to you know.”

“Can’t you just take shifts?”

“Probably, but in case of emergencies.”

I turn around when Michelle smirks at us. She’s so immature.

“Hey David!” I hear Jack Darton, one of the other pilots yell at David. I see Katie Longram giggling by his side. “Cover for me, I’ve got some important business I need to attend to,” he puts inverted commas on the word business. Typical Jack. Probably wanting to have sex in space with that live Barbie doll. I’m not surprised. He always hits on girls and is all about one night stands. I wonder if he realises how awkward it’s going to be being under the same roof as her for three months. He even hit on me at first, but once I got the fact I was not interested to him, he backed off.

I can see what all his one night stands saw in him though. Tall, blonde, blue eyes the colour of the sky.  He’s sexy. That is the painful truth. Maybe if he had a good a personality as he looks, I may have been all over him. But I didn’t want to be just another girl he sleeps with then dumps out like garbage.

On that note, David goes and sits on his pilot chair and I am left with Michelle, staring out the window.