Star Point

Ch. 1 Mission Discover

Work days around the Mission Discover operated differently than much of the crew was accustomed to. On Earth, work days were completely dedicated to the cause- formulas, experiments, conferences, and finding the time to beg for funding came to be the norm for many. Being restricted to essential personnel, however, meant many were met with a rude awakening. They were to eat, sleep, and exist as humans all while maintaining their duties both professionally and as good residents of their interstellar home. Because of this, sleep became known as an "essential non-essential". Most of the time it was available, but there were regular exceptions to the rule.

Marcelo always knew when his shift was coming to a close when he began to see the disheveled, caffeine-deprived shells of his coworkers hobble past his station on their way to the common area. The line up was always the same: 22:43 UTC signaled the wave of exhausted chemists slowly making their way to the life giving power of the freeze-dried coffee pouches. 22:50 UTC would bring about the grumblings of awakening physicists who were never quite ready to seize the day. By 23:02 UTC, the herd of zombified microbiologists would joke about how the food options on board would result in a 3-star rating of the establishment. Quitting time, or what lovingly came to be known as "the magic hour" in the aerospace engineering department, was 23:30 UTC, which accompanied the slow moving bodies of fatigued computer engineers returning to their sleeping quarters for the evening.

"Well," he said, flashing a tired grin towards his co-workers "I'd say we head to bed, troncos."

"You know, Rivera" Adrian Aiona - their department's resident American- snorted. His deep brown eyes stared at the Spaniard in confusion. "I grew up speaking Spanish with my mom and that side of the family. I took 4 years of Spanish. Hell, I lived in Puerto Rico for 2 years and I still don't understand you sometimes. Why you callin' us trunks?"

Marcelo simply sighed and ruffled the towering giant's tight, curly black hair. "It's slang, my friend." He shot a quick wink to his copper skinned, muscular colleague. "Come to Madrid and I will teach you proper Spanish".

Aiona jokingly pushed him to the side. "Come to Kapolei and I'll watch you fail Hawaiian with my grandmother."

There wasn't much of Earth that Marcelo missed on a daily basis, but having access to a hot shower was definitely at the top of the list. After a shift in the lab, the routine continued. He'd curse under his breath as he attempted to bathe with the liquid soap, water pouches, and rinseless shampoo that they had available. Occasionally, he'd have a drop of soap float into his eye, which would provoke a much louder reaction to escape his lips and into the ears of his colleagues who then were gripped with laughter at his minor misfortunes. After getting dried and dressed, he'd read a chapter of his favorite book, The Sun also Rises by Ernest Hemingway, before strapping himself into his sleeping bag for the evening.

Tonight was different, however. As he left the characters of the novel drinking their own wine and heading to bed, he felt a pang of homesickness and couldn't help but wonder what his loved ones were doing back home in Madrid.

Marcelo reached into his PPK bag and pulled out a laminated family photo. His late father stood as a healthy 30 year old man in his mechanic uniform, his signature smile almost glistening off of the photograph. His jet black hair stood in striking contrast to his steel blue eyes and olive complexion. Marcelo could remember the smell of his father's oil stained cotton shirt, the smell of a hard day's work permeating the family room until his mandatory shower was taken. Marcelo remembered his calloused hands holding his tiny ones as they traveled to El parque del Buen Retiro to feed the ducks. He remembered his tender voice saying "Marcelito, tienes que trabajar duro en ésta vida"- in this life, you must work hard. This would always be followed up with the most genuine, kind expression of love and care Marcelo had ever known. When he passed away, there seemed to be a smile-sized crater left in the universe that no other person seemed worthy enough to fill.

Marcelo saw his mother in her favorite black dress, her short stature offset a bit by the modest pumps she routinely wore. Carmen Rosalía, AKA Mamá, was one of the few Spanish women Marcelo had ever come across to be a natural redhead and to wear it proudly. That particular evening she was sporting her side swept pony tail with ringlets framing her freckled, round face.
A much younger version of Marcelo and his two older sisters, María Teresa and Lucía, sat in front of their parents in an obviously posed family moment in the living room. They didn't realize that would be their last family portrait together before his father's fatal car accident on the way to work one drizzly Tuesday morning.

Sighing, Marcelo tucked his photo neatly back into its place before drifting off for the evening.
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Hahn Hae-Won loved her job on the Mission Discover... that is, as long as her team would stay out of her way. Why did they need a team of 8 botanists, anyway? Two is company, three's a crowd... But eight? Eight becomes a riot after some time.

Hahn turned to the large digital clock on the North wall. Damn, she thought. It's only 02:24.

A faint knock on her window brought her back to reality.
"Oh," Hahn sighed in relief. "It's just you."

Ming Nian Zhen flashed a friendly grin towards her childhood friend. Her chestnut eyes twinkled with mischief. "Why so jumpy, Hahn? Are you doing something illegal?"

Hahn smirked. "That depends. If I say yes, do I have to go to prison? I can't imagine teaching my fellow inmates how to grow potatoes in space-made fertilizer being useful unless we were planning an escape that involved another space craft."

Ming giggled, flushing her flawless skin. "You'd be thrown in jail already if that were true." Her expression tensed up. "In all seriousness, boss wants all of us in a meeting with her at 04:30."

Hahn's mood began to quickly decline. "Meeting? For what?"

Ming shrugged. " I am just the messenger, my dear. I'll see you soon, ok?"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'll see you at the 1000th time we've had department and committee meetings since we've been on here."

Ming laughed. "Try not to break anything we've have to explain in the next hour, ok?"

She rolled her eyes. "I wasn't the one who put the graduated cylinder on the edge of my work station, Ming. That was all you, darling."

Hahn gently rubbed a leaf of her healthier sprouts between two fingers and sighed. Why the hell do we need another meeting so soon?