Saturn's Rings: A Slow-Burn Romance (The Lunar Chronicles AU)

Chapter One: Blastoff

"Thorne, pay attention!" Cinder's voice echoed off of the metal walls of the spaceship.

Thorne smiled. "I believe that's Captain to you," he began, but was quickly cut off.

"I will not, under any circumstance, call you Captain."

Cinder was doing a last-minute check of their ship, The Rampion, just an hour before they were scheduled for takeoff. The crew was on their way to embark on a three-year journey to orbit Saturn and collect samples from the rings. Though there was an International Space Station at many of the closer planets, this mission was the farthest humans had ever traveled from Earth. Somehow, Thorne had managed to be named Captain of the mission, but that didn't mean Cinder had to like it.

"Almost done in there?" another voice said. Cinder turned to see Scarlet waiting at the bottom of the loading ramp. "The ceremony starts in five minutes."

Cinder groaned. "Yeah, I just need to get cleaned up." The send-off ceremony, where the takeoff of their ship was live streamed to every channel and social media, was her least favorite part of being an astronaut. She hated being the center of attention. Scarlet tossed Cinder their red and black uniform, and she rushed to the bathroom, to scrub at the grease that perpetually stained her face. As the resident mechanic, she just couldn't seem to stay clean.

Cinder pulled on the black pants and tank top, then zipped up the black jacket. It had a red stripe down the side and the NASA logo was stitched over her heart, with Cinder Linh embroidered below. She ran her fingers through her hair, pulling it up into a slightly neater than usual ponytail. She was going to be on TV, after all. Glancing at her watch, Cinder pulled on her boots and stuffed her dirty clothes into her backpack. Three minutes until they were live. After tossing the bag onto her cot, she jogged down the gangplank and out into the bright sun.

One minute until they were live. Cinder hoisted herself up onto the makeshift stage, where the rest of the crew waited for her. "Do I have anything in my teeth?" Scarlet asked, flashing a toothy smile.

Cinder shook her head. "You're good." She turned to Cress, the techie, who was shaking with excitement.

"This is amazing," whispered Cress, looking up at Cinder. She was the youngest of the crew and also the shortest, standing at least a full head shorter than everyone else. "I can't believe we're going to space!" Cinder smiled, trying to contain her own excitement. She had been training for this day for years— they all had.

Wolf, the only veteran astronaut, hushed them. "We're starting." Cinder faced forward, gritted her teeth, and tried not to look stupid.

Commander Rikan, one of the directors of NASA, began his speech from where he stood at the podium. As he shared the goals of the mission and the itinerary, he gestured to Iko, Cinder's best friend, to hand out the Wings of Earth. The pins were a NASA classic, issued to every space mission. They featured a golden earth with wings on either side to symbolize the missions that had come before, and to serve as a reminder that no matter where the crew traveled, Earth would forever be their home.

Iko pinned the pin over the heart of each member of the crew; first Thorne, then Scarlet, then Wolf and Cress. Finally, she reached Cinder.

"I'm so proud of you," she whispered as she pinned the Wings of Earth to Cinder's chest.

A tear slipped down Cinder's cheek. "It should've been you." Originally the sixth member of their crew, Iko had trained with Cinder and the others. After an accident a few weeks prior, Iko had suffered multiple injuries and couldn't go on the mission. She had barely managed to convince her doctors to let her out of the hospital in time for the send off.

"I'll be at Houston in a week or so, and I'll be able to talk to you from there," Iko whispered, and Cinder nodded. Iko finished pinning the Wings of Earth next to the NASA symbol, right over Cinder's heart, then wrapped her arms around Cinder.

As Commander Rikan finished his speech, Iko left the stage. "And now," he announced, "I would like to welcome Captain Carswell Thorne to the podium."

Thorne winked at Cinder, and she groaned inwardly. This speech was sure to be a disaster. She suppressed the urge to cover her eyes as Thorne stepped up to the podium.

"Hello, my name is Carswell Thorne, and I am the Captain of The Rampion. First let me say what an honor it is to stand before you today, and to represent my country and my planet." There was a spatter of applause, and Cinder blinked. This was going better then she had thought.

"To be completely honest, I was shocked to be chosen as captain, as was the rest of my crew." The audience chuckled, and Cinder rolled her eyes. "Especially because there are surely more qualified people out there. But as shocked as I was, I accepted the offer. It has been my lifelong dream to explore the terrain of space, because as much as I love this planet, it is the idea of new ideas that I love even more." Thorne paused to glance at the crew. "I want to say thank you to Commander Rikan for offering me this opportunity, to my crew for supporting me, and to NASA for giving me this platform to fly from. Lastly, I want to thank each and every one of you for your support and donations, because it was you who made this all possible. So thank you."

The crowd applauded, and Thorne stepped down from the platform. The crew followed him up the gangplank and as soon as the doors closed, they began to prepare for takeoff.

"Nice speech," Cinder said, bumping shoulders with Thorne. She was genuinely impressed, but he could never know that. "Come up with it all by yourself?"

Thorne shook his head. "Nah, Cress helped me write it. The part about 'the idea of new ideas' was all me though." Cinder shook her head, unsurprised. She slipped into her second row seat and leaned forward to talk to Scarlet.

"Can I trust you to make sure he doesn't break the ship during takeoff?"

Scarlet laughed. "Don't worry, I've got it all under control. But you better wear your seatbelt just in case." Cinder leaned back and pulled the headset over her ears and began to buckle the safety straps across her waist.

"Rampion, do you copy? This is Houston, do you copy?"

Thorne's voice sounded in Cinder's ears. "This is Rampion One, everything seems to be in order." Cinder had never heard Thorne sound so official before. She leaned forward in her seat to see his face pale and glistening with sweat.

Cinder leaned back and strapped herself in tighter. She glanced out the window and saw Kai, Commander Rikan's son, staring at her. Quickly she turned away and fiddled with her headset, but still felt Kai's eyes burning into her head. They had gone through training together, he for a Captain and she for a mechanic. Why would he be staring at her? Though they had spent years passing by each other in the halls, she would be surprised if he even knew her name. You're being stupid, Cinder thought, he wasn't looking at you. He's just here for the launch.

"Rampion, are you locked in?" the voice from Houston sounded in the headset.

"Rampion One, locked in," Thorne said. Through the rumble of the spaceship, Cinder could hardly hear it.

"Rampion Two, locked in," said Scarlet, her voice slightly muffled.

Cinder cleared her throat. "Rampion Three, locked in."

"Rampion Four, locked in," Cress's voice squeaked.

"Rampion Five, locked in," Wolf's low voice echoed.

"Initiating takeoff sequence," sounded Houston, "Takeoff in ten... nine... eight..."

Cinder gripped the thin armrests of her chair.

"Seven... six... five..."

Thorne's hands flew over the controls.

"Four... three..."

Cress squeezed her eyes shut.

"Two..."

Wolf stared out the window ahead.

"One..."

Scarlet flipped the switch to the engine, and flames spurted out the back of the spaceship.

"Blastoff." The ship shot into the sky, towards outer space.