Nowhere

Chapter 1

Cayden looked back at his small apartment for the last time. He wouldn't be missing it. Walking towards his car, he felt a little nervous. It's not as if he had a reason to stay, but not being able to return did worry him.

As his car drove towards the launch site, he thought that maybe he could make some friends this time, or acquaintances even. He quickly shook this thought, he never made friends in the past, what would make this time any different. Instead, he'd rather spend time on his own, not bothering with social interactions.

Driving closer to his destination, he could see a massive ship in the distance, the one he would soon be boarding. It reached up high into the sky and stretched along far and wide. The size was incomprehensible, though, most of it wouldn't be taken along for the whole journey. It was the first time something on this scale had been attempted. It needed to fit 100 people, after all, adding on the crew, storage, fuel, and it would have to be self-sustainable, for a few years at least. It needed to be massive.

He didn't know how long he'd be up there, however, none of the passengers knew, all they were told was a couple of years. Though, the prospect of living on a different planet was what excited him. He wished he could go there immediately, and to not bother with a few years of travelling. He had imagined not being stuck to earth, and living somewhere else more interesting, more interesting to him at least. Video games of space exploration and colonisation were his favourite past time. Wishing he was not stuck to the confines of earth, and now he got his chance and having to wait some time didn't bother him too much.

'How will we occupy our time for a couple years?' he thought to himself. They had said there would be sufficient entertainment including cinemas, shopping, etc, but things like these didn't interest him. He hoped that there would be some way to play video games, or failing that, a large collection of movies he could watch without the company of others. He had brought along many books and his own source of entertainment, so he figured he would be fine.

The car stopped, he arrived. He stared up the ship, which towered above him. He looked around, there were a few people saying goodbye to loved ones and family, but surprisingly to him, most people he saw came alone.

After standing around for a few moments he went inside what looked like the check-in building, sat down. He had come early. He looked around, and it appeared pretty much like an average airport, with much more security. He opened and began reading a book, one which he had read multiple times.

After a while, a boy, around his age, sat next to him.

'Of course, of every chair, he could choose, he sat next to me,' thought Cayden.

"So why are you here?" the boy asked.

Cayden paused for a second, making sure the question was directed at him.

"Uhh, what do you mean?" he asked, awkwardly. He felt slightly uncomfortable.

"Like, you know, why you decided to leave earth and everything on it,"

Cayden thought for a moment, wondered whether he should answer honestly or make something up.

"Cause, it seems fun"

"Oh, okay," the boy replied.

The conversation then went silent and Cayden was desperate to leave. He immediately stood up, perhaps with too much intent, and walked into the toilet, despite not actually having to go. He hoped that when he left, the boy would be gone, but as he walked out, the boy was still there. He could either walk away and look like a jerk, or sit back next to him. He decided just to sit next to the boy.

"So why'd you come?" Cayden asked, trying to appear more confident.

"I guess the idea of space sounds cool to me. Being on another planet, not stuck on earth, it just seems appealing to me" the boy replied, sounding fairly enthusiastic.

Finding someone who shared his interests in space eased Cayden's nerves.

'Maybe,' he thought, 'Maybe I could make a friend.'

"Yeah, I can relate, everything in space just seems so much more interesting than stuff here on earth" he replied.

As he was finally becoming engaged in the conversation, a message blared out of the load speakers.

"Could all passengers of the Starship Humanity please head to their designated boarding areas"

As they were about to leave, he asked

"Oh, I never caught your name,"

"Chris Blake, yours?"

"Cayden, just Cayden,"

And with that, they both lined up to finally board the ship that would send them to space.