forbidden - chris beck

Chapter 1

Each crew member made sure their visors were locked and closed into place before taking their seats and strapping in.

Commander Lewis responded to NASA confirming all checks. The engine roared, bringing the shuttle into rattling motion.

I gripped the straps that were holding me in place and braced myself for perhaps the biggest acceleration I would ever feel. Of course I had done the training for it, but this was the actual thing. Ares 3 was happening and I was on it.

In that moment I thought about my parents, and how worried they looked when they said goodbye to me, like it was going to be the last time, but they knew this was what I wanted to do, and so although I knew they'd be a little upset, they couldn't have been more supporting. Thanks guys.

Martinez whispered a prayer under his breath, Beck took slow heavy breaths, Watney braced himself into ready position, Vogel kept a straight, prepared facial expression. Johansson closed her eyes while Commander Lewis breathed through her nose.

I glanced around at all the brave faces of my crew mates and tried to compose myself in the same way.

I couldn't quite believe it. I Ava Collins was actually going into space! After years of preparations and training, doing pointless and minor jobs they finally let me go up. As incredibly cheesy as it sounds, it's a dream come true.

I was thankful that I was sharing this experience with these people. Through training I got to knew each and every crew member briefly, but I knew nothing would prepare me for this many days of space travel with them. All in all they seemed great and I couldn't wait to see what we would all get up to together, I just hoped that there would be no tensions or anything between any of us.

Very few people actually get sent up into space, and even less people get to do it twice. So I'm assuming this is a once in a life time kind of thing, and so I only want it to be something worth remembering.

I smiled slightly to myself as we braced ourselves for blast off. The countdown was coming through our intercoms and with each second spoken my heart race only quickened.

3...2...1...

The retaining clamps ejected from the launch gantry, falling to the ground. Seconds later, preignition pyros fired, igniting the main engines, and the space craft lurched upwards.

In almost an instant, the sheer amount of force was felt as the ship shot upwards. No one could either speak nor even take a breath. It was astounding.

Of course, Watney wasn't able to hold his tongue for long as he yelled excitedly, "Mars baby, here we come!"

A little chuckled escaped Martinez's lips as the rest of the crew couldn't resist a smile as we breached the Earth's atmosphere and came amongst the stars.