- The final Time Skip of the book! -
I stood in front of the door to our little home in Florida. As my keys clanked, the door popped open. I changed my shoes so that I won't bring dirt into the house.
Now that I've been in space, I appreciate being able to breathe without a heavy spacesuit. Earth is truly a paradise planet. I didn't notice the gifts our planet gave us to survive until I lost them in outer space.
Before I could take a further step, my mum, Justine, approached me.
- Hi, sunshine! How was the training? Did you wear a spacesuit? Are you okay? - Justine welcomed me with an onslaught of questions.
- It was fun. I did get to wear a spacesuit, but it was a dummy one, not a real one. We went to a river so that the water can simulate zero gravity - I replied.
This was obviously a lie, but a lie I didn't want to say. The agency forced us to only present the censored version of events, as Captain Nigel fears that telling the truth may reach the enemy ears and the whole program would be compromised. This meant I had to lie to my mother, a person I'd rather tell the truth. The censorship really bugged me, but I had to adjust to it. After all, much like Einstein said, my space spy career has only begun.
I went over to my room and dropped off my backpack. I hid the Hyperspace keychain, as mum couldn't know that I went there. With a sigh, I put it into a cabinet and closed it.
As I found out, Justine was already preparing dinner, assuming that I must be very hungry after my training. Truth be told, I was extremely hungry after two missions in the field. However, my mum couldn't know that for obvious reasons.
With the fish sticks frying on the pan, Justine sat down on the couch in the living room and turned on the TV. I was shocked by what was on the news.
- Breaking news: a Russian surprise attack decimated the Hyperspace space staton in low Earth orbit. A sudden military strike caused station-wide chaos and forced many to flee. American soldiers had arrived on the station to protect it from further assaults - the news reporter said.
- Isn't that the biggest and most secure space hotel in the world? - Justine asked.
- To my knowledge, it is - I responded. The Hyperspace was massive, as I found out by being there. I doubt there's something bigger than it at the moment.
I watched the rest of the report with mum, but it wasn't anything crazy. The agency made an elaborate cover-up for our mission. There was a recording of the tank assault as proof of the "military strike". We were cut out of the video, but the commandos were still visible as a "counterattack". The events that took place on the Hyperspace were impossible to sweep under the rug. One of the escapists would have probably told their friends and family about today's events, so the government had to release an official statement.
The news reporter moved on to another topic. It was something about China, but I was too tired to listen. Plus, I've already heard what I needed to hear.
- I'm really tired. Can I go now? - I asked.
- Of course, my son! - Justine agreed and I went to my room.
It was quite a cosy room, with a small yet comfortable bed, a white desk with my laptop and a few other things, as well as a lot of books, mostly science ones. I'm passionate about space and managed to accumalate a large collection of books about black holes, speculative evolution, the solar system and more...
Now, I wasn't in the mood to read. I grabbed a book about gamma ray bursts and put it away on my desk. I lied down on my bed. Even though I took a nap aboard the Hyperspace, I was still very exhausted.
As I lied in bed, I thought about the other members of unit 212. Claudius must get used to his metal support arm. I wonder how his parents will react. I assume that there will be a cover-up, like he injured himself during the training or something. Amber was concerned over her reunion with her parents, but I don't know why. Maybe she also doesn't like the censorship?
Sebastian had to relax and he was the first to leave after our splashdown on Earth. I haven't heard from him since we were picked up by a motorboat from the landing capsule. We flew back to Earth in an actual lander and I got to observe the navigator, which was Jaxon Koval. He obviously said that he isn't "naively loyal". At this point, "I AM NOT 'NAIVELY LOYAL'!" was becoming his catchphrase.
I checked my phone to see if there were any messages.
Out of curiosity, I messaged Claudius to see how he's doing.
"Hey, how are you doing?"
To my surprise, the reply actually came.
"Pretty good; Einstein came with me and told my parents about a horrible accident amidst the training. Strangely enough, my parents weren't furious, but empathic instead. It will take some time before I get used to my metal arm, but I am recovering. How about you?"
I have read his SMS and soon responded with:
"I feel pretty good, even though I'm horribly tired. Did you see the news about the Hyperspace?"
"Yes, I have. Quite baffling how the Russians managed to smuggle a tank onto the station."
Claudius played along the cover-up. Our convesation quickly came to an end after this.
Einstein told us that there were some smugglers cooperating with the Perseids and those smugglers were captured by the commandos, but haven't been interrogated yet.
The Perseids themselves did escape and haven't been seen since they blew up our spaceplane. The organization will probably resurface some time in the future and it's likely that we'll have to confront them once more. For now, I could sleep peacefully. I turned off my phone.
Click!
Thinking about my new career and today's events, it wasn't long before I fell asleep. I had a nightmare about being ejected into outer space and Einstein didn't save us, but I guess those are just the effects of being a spy.
A space spy.
ns216.73.216.33da2
and then Add to home screen.