- Guess what? Time Skip! -
It was 5:55 AM, and I was in a hurry. I ran out of the academy as fast as possible, hitting my backpack on a couple of things along the way. Finally, I arrived at the parking lot, where a taxi was waiting for us. I noticed Sebastian, Amber, and Claudius waiting nearby.
- Relax, you didn't have to run. We still have five minutes until we get going - Sebastian welcomed me.
That's when I noticed that the driver was none other than Jaxon. He had the same clothes as on day one, which were yesterday's clothes minus the blouse. Does this guy ever change his clothes?
- I am not being "naively loyal", I am just doing my job... - he said.
- We know - Claudius cuts him off. After that, we got in. I sat next to the left window, Amber sat near the right one, with Claudius sandwiched in between us. Sebastian sat in the passenger seat.
- Is it just us, or is somebody else coming? - Our leader asked.
- Unit 208 will join us, but I've got orders to bring you to the spaceplane first - Jaxon replied. With that in mind, we set off.
I was nervous, still worried over the success, or lack thereof, of this mission and the dangers involved. I tried to stay calm, so as a distraction, I peeked through the window. I noticed the Kennedy Space Centre getting closer. To my knowledge, the spaceplane runway was just slightly west of it. Soon, it was visible. There were several hangars lined up, all of which were white and boring. A spaceplane was waiting outside of them. It must be ours.
A security guard stopped us at the gate, but Jaxon showed his ID card, and that was enough for us to get through. We stopped in front of the runway.
- Okay, folks, let's board the spaceplane! - Jaxon exclaimed, exiting the taxi. We followed him to the plane. It was very slim and futuristic-looking. The upper half of the body & cockpit were white, with the bottom part black. The agency's logo was visible on the wings. The windows were tinted. We climbed the stairs that brought us inside. There wasn't much in there, only a line of seats on each wall, with two doors, one leading to the cockpit upfront, and another that led to the fuselage behind us. The spaceplane could accommodate 10 passengers and 2 pilots, totalling 12 people.
I sat down. Upon doing so, I felt my head hitting something hard. It was a small holographic projector. I lowered myself and turned around to look at the device, but it wasn't anything remarkable. Outside the window, I noticed that Jaxon had left the spaceport, probably to come back to the academy and pick up unit 208.
He came back six minutes later. Dawn was the first to enter, as she was the unit's leader. We welcomed her and the rest of her unit as they came in and picked their seats.
- I hope we won't die - Jeff muttered.
- Nigel and Einstein are piloting the plane - Amber noted. She sat near the front and thus had the best view of the cockpit, should the door open. As if he heard the girl, Einstein emerged from the cockpit.
- Listen, children. This flight will last a little over a day. Normally, we'd fly for three days, but due to the urgency of this mission, we must be there faster, so the agency provided us with a cutting-edge, newly built spaceplane. You may have noticed projectors above your seats. They'll allow you to watch training videos and spy tutorials during the flight, as you must come prepared. Enjoy the flight! - Einstein said, before coming back to the cockpit and sitting down next to Captain Nigel. As it turned out, Einstein was in fact the copilot.
I noticed that the door we entered through had closed. I heard the engines charge up, which meant that we were ready for liftoff. We were rolling across the runway, gaining speed. A robotic voice started counting down.
- 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1... Lift off!
The gentle hum of the engines turned into a loud roar as we lifted off the Earth, hopefully to return one day. For now, it felt like an ordinary flight, but faster.
- Hello, spies-in-training - Captain Nigel started through the speaker - We must teach you the emergency procedures if something bad were to happen. The door behind you leads to a room with space suits. When the alarm sounds, you must put them on as quickly as possible, in case oxygen was rapidly depleting... - I was listening, but at the same time, I was admiring the view. First, the Kennedy Space Centre got smaller, and soon I got a birds-eye view of the area around it, which included the neighbourhood where I lived. I know that my mum might have seen the spaceplane from a distance, but she had no knowledge that I was aboard said plane. I hope to see her one day, because she'd be heartbroken if she found out that I died.
After Captain Nigel finished explaining safety protocols, the projector turned on. It displayed a video titled "The Basics of Good Interrogation". It was a tutorial for spies, and there was a whole playlist of other videos after it, covering topics like self-defence, counterintelligence and various similar things. However, I looked out the window out of curiosity, only to find out that we were flying vertically and the clouds were far beneath us. Suddenly, I felt my body being crushed into the chair, and I saw blistering heat radiate off the spaceplane's heat shields. Before I knew it, we entered space. Real space.
I've always wanted to go to space, and my dreams were now coming true. The starlit sky looked incredibly tranquil, and the view of the Earth below us was... breathtaking. I noticed the others also ignore their videos to gaze upon the blue, green and white dot we call home. Additionally, I already knew that space is massive, but now I was able to see it. The all-encompassing black cosmos seemed to stretch infinitely in all directions. It felt truly alien, yet beautiful.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1Bnah0qVuw
Suddenly, a metallic object obstructed my view. It was an old, damaged satellite. It had a golden core with only one solar panel sticking out of it. On top of the core was a slightly burnt antenna. I knew what it was. We entered the area full of space trash.
- Please ignore that. We are entering the belt of cosmic garbage; however, we are prepared for this. We want you to stay calm and continue your education - Einstein calmed us down.
I looked ahead. There were loads of scraps and broken modules floating in a ring above the Earth. The satellite that blocked my view floated away and collided with another one. Then, I felt a shake that sent shivers done my spine. If any part of the spaceplane is punctured, the oxygen will deplete quickly, and we'll be stranded in space until a rescue mission arrives, if it does.
- Oh no - Sebastian yelped.
Luckily, nothing was seriously damaged. Moreover, I noticed a giant laser blaster emerge from the side of the spaceplane. It fired at an unknown object a few times and then retracted into the body. For a brief moment, I saw the thing that was in our way. It was a fuselage that was probably sixty years old. Its size meant that a collision would obliterate the cockpit. The pellets of light changed its course, and now it graciously floated past us. That was a close call.
- Okay, children. As you may have noticed, there is a lot of junk around us that could seriously damage our spacecraft. We mustn't let our guard down and stay alert, in case another one appears in front of us. Again, stay calm and continue your video education - Captain Nigel tried his best to sound friendly, but he failed, and his speech was cold as ice.
That's when I remembered the video. I rewinded to the beginning, as I wasn't paying attention, nor were the others. I started listening. I didn't expect to watch videos in space, but oh well, that's just how it is. At the corner of my eye, I saw Amber fall asleep in her chair. The video was unironically boring, so I understood that. I, too, felt sleepy, but I didn't want to waste my time in outer space on sleeping, at least not now. I looked out the window and started observing the random scraps of space garbage floating around. After a while, I looked away from them and saw the Moon ahead of us. The Silver Globe looked even better up close, compared to the view from Earth.
We were going to the Moon. Slowly but surely. For a deadly mission.
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and then Add to home screen.