Adventures In Space

prologue.

 Cassiopeia Sector. 18 years ago.

A buzz of excitement filled the air. It seemed like the whole damn ship had turned up to watch the motley crew board the vessel adjoining it. Lori could feel her heartbeat pick up and she fidgeted, the tight neck of her space suit not allowing for much breathing room. Her eyes darted across the faces of the crowds of people in front of her; some she knew, some she did not. Regardless she tried to absorb as many of their faces into her memory as she could. She wasn't going to see these people ever again, if all went well. A pang of emotion fell over her, as if she was in mourning.

The air around her began to feel constricted and she tried to force air in and out of her lungs as the sounds of excited chatter began to intensify to the point of being unbearable. She was terrified. Did she regret the decision? Looking round at the faces of the people in front of her, smiling and talking animatedly, it was hard not to see the underlying worry which was held in their eyes. No. She was doing the right thing, for everyone's sake. 

The sickening feeling grew and grew and grew as it hit her once more how important the task in front of her and the crew was. She couldn't bottle out now.

A hand met hers and her heart leaped again, she smiled and closed her eyes, interlacing her fingers with his and gripping tight. Her heart began to feel a little less like it was about to jump right out of her chest as she let his presence surround her; protecting her. No. She could do it, everything was going to be just fine. 

Now that the motley crew had assembled in front of the air lock, a man walked out in front of them, bearing an air of unmistakable authority. The crowd fell silent immediately as all eyes fell on his form.

The leader smiled, or tried to, it was more like a grimace as he held out his hand to shush the already quiet crowd. 

"We are gathered here today..." he began.

"I wasn't aware he was marrying us off" Jae whispered into Lori's ear. She tried not to snigger.

"...to bid farewell to this brave crew of people, willing to sacrifice themselves for the greater good!"

Lori zoned out. She didn't want or need to hear this spiel. She'd already had an earful from her Mother about the whole thing. How it'd make the family proud, make up for what her Father had done to taint the family's reputation blah blah blah...Lori didn't think that her mother realised that this was a one way ticket and the chances of Lori returning were relatively minuscule. Or maybe she did. Her Mother never really was the caring sort. 

Lori must have been zoned out for a while from the Leader's speech because before she knew it she was yanked back into reality when she felt herself being pulled through the airlock door into the spacecraft which was going to be her home for possibly the rest of her life. 

Wait...this couldn't be happening now she wasn't ready, she thought. She took one last glance behind her as Jae pulled her away and her eyes found her mother's. 

No, this was the right thing to do. 

2 weeks later.

So far the journey had gone smoothly and the crew had settled into life in the spacecraft; bar a few arguments over the limited space which had caused tensions to rise on several occasions. Lori had kept her head down and done what was needed to be done; focusing on her job of maintaining the vessel and throwing herself into it, mostly to avoid the thoughts which plagued her mind at every available moment. Of course, aside from work she always had time for Jae. After all he was part of the reason she had decided to come on this mission. That and the fact that life at home with her mother was unbearable.

Oh and that "for the greater good of the people" bullshit.

Lori was concentrating on one of her maintenance tasks one day when the Commander of the spacecraft came up to her. Commander Harris, as she was only known by her surname, was an older woman, around fifty with thin, wiry, grey hair grazing her shoulder blades. She was tall and lean and had unsettling icy blue eyes. 

"Lori, it's time for your routine medical check-up. Protocol says that it is a requirement that all crew members are administered to one every two weeks to ensure optimal health".

Lori rolled her eyes, Commander Harris was always one for rolling off all this protocol bullshit.

"Yes Ma'am" she replied before turning back to her work.

Commander Harris hovered, tapping her foot impatiently. Lori internally groaned.

"Ma'am?" she asked.

"The medical bay. Now Lori".

Lori sighed and put down her tools, wiping her hands clean on her overalls.

"Yes Ma'am" she repeated. Lori despised the older woman, probably because she reminded her of her overbearing mother. Something which Lori had hoped she had escaped from by going on this mission. 

Lori reluctantly made her way over to the medical bay, stopping at the electronic doors to scan dial in her personal code into the door which would allow the medical bay to be calibrated to her specific medical requirements. The doors opened automatically and she was greeting by the AI system.

"Welcome Lori how can I help you?" The AI spoke in a feminine voice. 

"I have been asked by Commander Harris to come for a routine medical check" Lori replied boredly, picking at her nails. She couldn't wait for this to be over and longed to be back at her work where there was distractions and Jae. 

"Of course" The AI spoke flatly, "Please take a seat".  

Lori went over to a white leather chair in the centre of the room and sat on it. Automatically the chair reclined into a more comfortable position.

"Please open your mouth wide" The AI instructed. Lori complied and a robotic arm reached out from a machine on her left, and took tissue samples from the inside of her mouth with a cotton swab for analysis. 

A screen appeared from the right, positioning itself in front of Lori. 

Pregnancy Test Recommended. The screen read. Lori's heart missed a beat. She read the screen again just to make sure she was reading it right. The words didn't change.

"No no no no this can't be happening" she breathed out. Her mind went into overdrive. When was the last time she had her period? It was way before they had departed from the mother-ship. How overdue was she? 

Lori gulped. She couldn't remember. 

With shaking hands she pushed herself up from the chair and reached out to take the tube from the robotic arms clutches. She felt dizzy as she went over the the door of the toilet adjoining the medical bay.

This couldn't be happening. 

A few minutes later she emerged and eased herself back onto the medical chair. The robotic arm swung towards her to take away the urine sample and she tried to remember to breathe as the medical machine next to her began to run an analysis. 

She closed her eyes and ran her hands through her hair.

There was a beep from the machine, signalling that the results were available. 

She opened her eyes and her heart stopped. 

Pregnancy Test Positive. Test again?

With shaking hands Lori reached out and touched the screen to run the test again. The technology was almost always accurate. Almost, that meant that there was a chance that it was wrong, right? But as the machine ran the test again she already knew the answer.

Pregnancy Test Positive. Test again?

Lori's hand found her lower stomach and she felt tears prick in her eyes as she let her head fall back against the chair.

"Fuck", she whispered.