It has been ten years since the Constellation program came to an end and five years since you married your boyfriend Kelsey. You are enjoying a much-needed break from NASA. You are on holiday with Your Husband Kelsey in Germany. He is currently busy working on something with the European space agency. He joins you. He is a little frazzled from his work.
"Kelsey, what's wrong?" You ask. Hopefully, it's something you can help with.
"You try spending three hours arguing about liquid fuels being better for deep space travel than SRBs," He responds. At least you know that the Mars mission you will be undertaking is on the starship. You can tell he is tired of working. He just wants to enjoy his time at home. You want to tell him to relax but something tells you he just needs to get his frustration out.
"And to make things worse the Roscosmos wants to use their rocket," He sits down next to you. He is clearly defeated.
"Look on the bright side you are basically working for NASA and SpaceX so you shouldn't have to worry," You try to reassure him. He puts his arm around you. You return the favour by gently squeezing his hand.
"We will see what Jim Bridenstine has to say about that," he responds. You turn on the TV to see what is happening. There is not much going so you decide that you should go explore with Kelsey. Two minutes later you are wandering around Berlin. You are thinking about how lucky you have been. Going to the moon as part of the Constellation program and meeting the love of your life at the same time.
"How are you enjoying your holiday?" He asks for the millionth time.
"Well, Kelsey it would be better if you stopped asking me," You respond. He smiles at you. You return the favour. Your phone buzzes. You check it because you are expecting a text from Jay.
"Who is it? Kelsey asks.
"Danny," You respond. So much for enjoying your holiday. You decide to ignore it till you are done your exploring. Danny can wait whereas your holiday can't.
"Let's leave it for now," Kelsey reads your mind. You put the phone back in your pocket.
"Kelsey what would you recommend in the way of food here?" You are suddenly feeling quite hungry. Three days later you are back in the states and you are wandering around the halls of the johnson space centre. You are looking for Danny. Instead, you run into Elon Musk.
"I am so sorry Mr Musk," You are a little embarrassed. At least you didn't spill any coffee on him. It could be worse.
"Have you seen Danny anywhere?" You ask because you know he has been working with Danny closely on the Nova mission.
"In the control room and don't worry about it," Elon responds. You nod and then you head to the control room. It is busy with some controllers. You assume they are watching the perseverance rover make its way over the surface of Mars. They are impressive images but you came here for a reason. You clear your throat. Danny looks up from his work.
"Thank you for coming," Danny remarks as he gets up. He leads you to the classroom where your journey as an astronaut began. There are two familiar faces. Kelsey and Jay. The rest, however, are fresh meat. You will get around to introductions when Danny is done.
"So Jay do you think this could be about the Mars mission that started our careers?" Kelsey asks.
"We will find out," Jay responds. Both Danny and Elon enter the classroom. It must be about the Mars mission. They are in an intense discussion about who should be the commander. They are tossing up between you or Kelsey. It should be an easy choice.
"Excuse me," Jay breaks through the argument. They turn their heads to Jay.
"Aren't we supposed to choose the commander based on a vote?" A ripple of agreement flows through the crowd. You are glad that Jay spoke up.
"Sure?" Danny is hesitant. At least he is somewhat on board.
"Jay is right," Elon responds. After a quick briefing, Elon and Danny finally leave. Jay has approached you. He is being followed by someone that looks familiar.
"Lilly I have someone I want to introduce you to," He remarks. You can tell that the man that followed him is his brother.
"Benji this is Lilly," Benji offers his hand for a handshake. You take it.
"Nice to meet you, Benji," You respond. You can tell he is a little flustered that he is meeting one of the Constellation astronauts.
"No worries Lilly," he responds. You can tell he needs to get things done before the next briefing. He leaves
"He is part of the space force isn't he?" You get the feeling that he is part of the space force because of the way he shook your hand. Firm but gentle. A minute later a Russian astronaut joins you. It makes sense that the Russians will be joining you on the mission. You wonder if there are any other international participants aside from the Russians.
"Roman Kuleshov," He introduces himself. You can tell that he has some respect for you.
"Nice to meet you," You respond. Another ten minutes later you have done the necessary introductions. You are listening to Kelsey who is arguing with Roman. They are having the age-old debate between the first man in space or the first man on the moon. It is not as intense as you thought it would be.
"Well I am telling you without Yuri Gagarin, Neil Armstrong would never have made it to the moon," Roman retorts. At least you are not involved in the debate.
"Yes but he was basically strapped to an ICBM and he didn't even land with the capsule," Kelsey delivers the final blow. You clear your throat. They turn their heads towards you.
"Let's just say without Neil or Yuri we wouldn't be here," You basically end the augment.
"Anyway do you know what Danny and Elon are up to?"
"I think they are arguing over who the candidates should be," Roman replies. The choices should be obvious. You, Jay or Kelsey as you are all the most senior astronauts. Five tense minutes later Elon and Danny have made it back and Danny has some paper. The paper is passed around to everyone except you, Jay and Kelsey. That makes sense because you know that Danny wouldn't want you all to vote for each other. Another three minutes later and everyone has cast their votes. Danny spreads the papers over the table. It is clear that you are the winner of the command. A ripple of congratulations flows through the crowd. After three hours of working you are back at home. Kelsey has decided to stay back for a while. You are talking to your dad.
"How was your day?" He starts the conversation.
"Dad I am in command of the Nova mission," You announce.
"That's good," He responds. You can tell he is not surprised. He does, however, have a sad look in his eyes.
YOU ARE READING
Constellations
Fanfiction"I am so sorry Neil" "It will be alright Lily," he responds. Lily Collins yearned to follow in her father Micheal Collins' footsteps but there was one problem. She was stuck serving coffee to people at NASA. One fateful day she ends up spilling cof...
