Chapter 6
Guantanamo Bay Launch Site
Noah woke up early to the sound of the engines ‘revving’ up. He had always been a light sleeper and an early riser. Curious, he got out of his bottom bunk. Mr. Addi was still sleeping and he didn’t want to disturb him. Noah, dressed in a t-shirt and his Spiderman underwear, opened the cabin door. Light from the corridor spilt into the room but Noah only needed a crack to get out. He wandered down the hall to the elevator he had been in the day before. Suddenly, a voice could be heard over the speakers.
“Passengers, please wake up, we will begin take off procedures in one half hour. I repeat, Its time to wake up folks. This is it. You must sit in your cabins buckled in. The pull out table must be back in the wall and secure all items.”
The lights then came on in each cabin. Duke felt right at home. This felt like prison only there weren’t any bars or anyone locking him in.
Addison woke up telling Noah that it was time to wake. When he didn’t get a response, he looked down at the lower bunk and saw he wasn’t there. Jumping off the top bunk, Addi looked in the bathroom. No Noah. Opening the cabin door he saw Noah down the hall near the elevator.
“NOAH! Come back here.” Addison whispered in a stern voice.
“I just want to see what’s in here.” Noah began to come back toward Addi.
“Noah please let me know if there is somewhere you want to go. I don’t want to lose you. This is a big place and there is lots of stuff you shouldn’t touch.” Addi had been thrust into being a parent. It felt so natural to him though.
“Grown ups are all like my parents. Telling me things. You shouldn’t tell me not to do those things. I need to see them.” Noah was stubborn at best. He was back in his cabin and visibly upset. That trip in the elevator would come later.
The sounds of the engines were a bit louder now . Although not deafening to the ear, vibration was steadily increasing. They had all practiced the take-off procedure the afternoon before. Despite having done so, there was a bit of panic in their faces. What would become of them? What if they all blew up?
Shem and Monica were busy going through their pre-flight check list. Everything seemed to be a go. Shem looked out of the window of the bridge thinking that this was it. He was like Captain Kirk or Han Solo or something. He snickered to himself. He would have preferred to be Han Solo. Thoughts of blowing up as soon as they tried to go to light speed crept into his mind. He had to push those thoughts away. Now was not the time to have an anxiety attack. Monica continued to rhyme off the check list and all lights were green. Shem pushed buttons here and there. The engines made louder sounds, like those of jet engines as you hurried down the runway for take off.
The countdown continued. “T-minus 5 mintues.” The female voice computer rang out inside the bridge. Shem had built an elaborate communications system in the ship. His attention for detail was alarming. He turned on the system and spoke to the passengers as well as those in the air tower. It would be one of those speeches that carried through space to their new home and would be the new history books.
“Today we are leaving our planet, our home, to search for a new one and take the human race forward. That is our responsibility and we must accept that it is our destiny. Do not mourn those we leave behind. I believe that they would be happy knowing that we carry on. This is it folks. We take off in less than five minutes. Shem Finch out.” Shem turned to Monica who had a tear in her eye.
“Alright Mo, let’s see if this baby can do what I think she’ll do.” Shem was trying to cheer her up.
Time continued to countdown and each passenger probably had their life flash before their eyes. They were terrified. Shem knew he was terrified, the 98 below him HAD to be.
“T-minus 30 seconds Shem. Main thrusters engaged.” Monica pushed several buttons and the ship began to rock.
Fifteen seconds. More and more vibrations rocked the ship giving the passengers tremendous anxiety.
Five, Shem engaged hovering thrusters. They were now hovering 100 feet above the ground.
Four …
Three …
Two …
Shem pulled the yoke control back and off into the atmosphere they flew. It was with greater speed than any jet or space shuttle had ever flown. Pushing Shem and Monica back in their seats
The passengers had one small portal window in their cabins. It was amazing to them how quickly the thick smog filled horizon turned to the blackness of space. It was literally pitch black. They had left Earth’s atmosphere. What was left of it.
Shem was in his glory. “yeehawwwwww!” He yelled out. He had a love for speed. As a child he dreamed of flying a space ship. Now he had his wish. The look on his face was priceless. Any bit of fear had left him. Like a child seeing a wondrous thing for the first time. Monica couldn’t help but notice and she rediscovered why she loved him. These discoveries and his childlike amusement brought her great joy. She cracked a smile.
“Well wasn’t that fun.” She asked him. He grinned. “Alright initiating light speed engines. We should be good to go in a few minutes.” Monica began pushing more buttons on the console.
“Alright, I’ll let the passengers know.” He turned on his communicator once again. “We made it folks. We have left Earth’s atmosphere and we are setting up our light speed engines. I do not know how long we will be in light sleep, our estimate show not more than an hour. Please stay in your cabins and strapped in as a precaution. Finch out.”
Monica’s computer console bleeped at her and she knew it was time to go.
“Shem, the engines are ready. Any time” She glanced at him. This was it. Shem glanced over at Monica.
He was sweating profusely. He was confident yet apprehensive. With his finger on the button that would take them to light speed, Shem closed his eyes, held his breath and pushed resembling the breathing of a laboring mother. Letting go of the button, he opened his eyes again and breathed out. He was about to give birth to light speed. Upon opening his eyes Shem saw swirling lights before him. It was a beautiful and wondrous site to behold. Was he dead and on his way to the other side? His peripheral vision still had Monica in it. Slowly he turned to look at her as she stared out the bridge’s window. The swirling lights glowed on her face and for the first time he truly saw her beauty. Suddenly warning lights went off and alarms started to sound. Shem and Monica snapped back to reality and the ship started to shake in massive turbulence. The swirling lights grew dimmer as the turbulence grew greater. Shem and Monica frantically pushed buttons on their consoles wondering why they had such bad turbulence. Then within a blink of an eye the turbulence stopped and a planet appeared before them. It was as if it was magically put in front of them. Monica unbuckled herself from her co-pilot chair and went over to the navigation computer behind her.
“Navigational computers say that we are at the same point of origin. I don’t understand it. That doesn’t look like our Earth.” Monica was perplexed and kept searching and scanning the computer for an answer as to where they were. “Shem I don’t understand this.”
Shem unbuckled himself and got up to take a look. This planet before them was apparently the same planet they just left. “There must be something wrong here Mo. That planet is not Earth. Look at it. Clean air and the oceans are all wrong. There is less water on that planet than Earth. It looks just like the planet the probe brought back.”
Monica began scanning with her limited sensors. The planet before them had a moon just like Earth did. There must be something wrong with the navigational computer. Suddenly the hull of the ship started creaking that sounded like something buckling under pressure. Shem didn’t like the sound of it. Neither did any of the 98 passengers aboard. Shem decided it was time to land the ship on the planet, whatever it was. There was no time to figure what this planet out.
“Ahh, this is Dr. Finch again. It would seem that we have come out of light speed and we have arrived at our destination. It was a lot quicker than I had calculated. Ahhh, rest assured that the creaking noises you are hearing are normal.” He lied. “ I am beginning our decent to the planet now. Please make sure you stay buckled up. Finch out.”
The hull of the ship continued to creak. Shem began is approach to the planet below them. He had no idea if this planet had any life forms or what they would encounter once they landed. The entire ship was encased in a thermal shield so that it could withstand ten times the amount of heat of entry of that would be like the re-entry of Earth’s atmosphere. Shem eased the thrusters back to compensate for gravity. He wanted a nice and smooth landing. The hull continued to creak and groan from the pressure and Shem was now afraid his ship wouldn’t hold together.
They had now entered the planet’s atmosphere and Shem engaged the thrusters to land the ship similar to the way a helicopter would land. Through the bridge’s window they could see blue sky with clouds until they were in close proximity to the ground. All they could see was green plant cover, some dwarf trees and green meadow. Shem and Monica knew in an instant this couldn’t be Earth. The trees were too small and not like any they had seen before. The leaves were purple and blue.
They landed with a great thud that bounced them a little bit. It was at that point that Shem took in a breath. So did all of the other 99 passengers.
Noah woke up early to the sound of the engines ‘revving’ up. He had always been a light sleeper and an early riser. Curious, he got out of his bottom bunk. Mr. Addi was still sleeping and he didn’t want to disturb him. Noah, dressed in a t-shirt and his Spiderman underwear, opened the cabin door. Light from the corridor spilt into the room but Noah only needed a crack to get out. He wandered down the hall to the elevator he had been in the day before. Suddenly, a voice could be heard over the speakers.
“Passengers, please wake up, we will begin take off procedures in one half hour. I repeat, Its time to wake up folks. This is it. You must sit in your cabins buckled in. The pull out table must be back in the wall and secure all items.”
The lights then came on in each cabin. Duke felt right at home. This felt like prison only there weren’t any bars or anyone locking him in.
Addison woke up telling Noah that it was time to wake. When he didn’t get a response, he looked down at the lower bunk and saw he wasn’t there. Jumping off the top bunk, Addi looked in the bathroom. No Noah. Opening the cabin door he saw Noah down the hall near the elevator.
“NOAH! Come back here.” Addison whispered in a stern voice.
“I just want to see what’s in here.” Noah began to come back toward Addi.
“Noah please let me know if there is somewhere you want to go. I don’t want to lose you. This is a big place and there is lots of stuff you shouldn’t touch.” Addi had been thrust into being a parent. It felt so natural to him though.
“Grown ups are all like my parents. Telling me things. You shouldn’t tell me not to do those things. I need to see them.” Noah was stubborn at best. He was back in his cabin and visibly upset. That trip in the elevator would come later.
The sounds of the engines were a bit louder now . Although not deafening to the ear, vibration was steadily increasing. They had all practiced the take-off procedure the afternoon before. Despite having done so, there was a bit of panic in their faces. What would become of them? What if they all blew up?
Shem and Monica were busy going through their pre-flight check list. Everything seemed to be a go. Shem looked out of the window of the bridge thinking that this was it. He was like Captain Kirk or Han Solo or something. He snickered to himself. He would have preferred to be Han Solo. Thoughts of blowing up as soon as they tried to go to light speed crept into his mind. He had to push those thoughts away. Now was not the time to have an anxiety attack. Monica continued to rhyme off the check list and all lights were green. Shem pushed buttons here and there. The engines made louder sounds, like those of jet engines as you hurried down the runway for take off.
The countdown continued. “T-minus 5 mintues.” The female voice computer rang out inside the bridge. Shem had built an elaborate communications system in the ship. His attention for detail was alarming. He turned on the system and spoke to the passengers as well as those in the air tower. It would be one of those speeches that carried through space to their new home and would be the new history books.
“Today we are leaving our planet, our home, to search for a new one and take the human race forward. That is our responsibility and we must accept that it is our destiny. Do not mourn those we leave behind. I believe that they would be happy knowing that we carry on. This is it folks. We take off in less than five minutes. Shem Finch out.” Shem turned to Monica who had a tear in her eye.
“Alright Mo, let’s see if this baby can do what I think she’ll do.” Shem was trying to cheer her up.
Time continued to countdown and each passenger probably had their life flash before their eyes. They were terrified. Shem knew he was terrified, the 98 below him HAD to be.
“T-minus 30 seconds Shem. Main thrusters engaged.” Monica pushed several buttons and the ship began to rock.
Fifteen seconds. More and more vibrations rocked the ship giving the passengers tremendous anxiety.
Five, Shem engaged hovering thrusters. They were now hovering 100 feet above the ground.
Four …
Three …
Two …
Shem pulled the yoke control back and off into the atmosphere they flew. It was with greater speed than any jet or space shuttle had ever flown. Pushing Shem and Monica back in their seats
The passengers had one small portal window in their cabins. It was amazing to them how quickly the thick smog filled horizon turned to the blackness of space. It was literally pitch black. They had left Earth’s atmosphere. What was left of it.
Shem was in his glory. “yeehawwwwww!” He yelled out. He had a love for speed. As a child he dreamed of flying a space ship. Now he had his wish. The look on his face was priceless. Any bit of fear had left him. Like a child seeing a wondrous thing for the first time. Monica couldn’t help but notice and she rediscovered why she loved him. These discoveries and his childlike amusement brought her great joy. She cracked a smile.
“Well wasn’t that fun.” She asked him. He grinned. “Alright initiating light speed engines. We should be good to go in a few minutes.” Monica began pushing more buttons on the console.
“Alright, I’ll let the passengers know.” He turned on his communicator once again. “We made it folks. We have left Earth’s atmosphere and we are setting up our light speed engines. I do not know how long we will be in light sleep, our estimate show not more than an hour. Please stay in your cabins and strapped in as a precaution. Finch out.”
Monica’s computer console bleeped at her and she knew it was time to go.
“Shem, the engines are ready. Any time” She glanced at him. This was it. Shem glanced over at Monica.
He was sweating profusely. He was confident yet apprehensive. With his finger on the button that would take them to light speed, Shem closed his eyes, held his breath and pushed resembling the breathing of a laboring mother. Letting go of the button, he opened his eyes again and breathed out. He was about to give birth to light speed. Upon opening his eyes Shem saw swirling lights before him. It was a beautiful and wondrous site to behold. Was he dead and on his way to the other side? His peripheral vision still had Monica in it. Slowly he turned to look at her as she stared out the bridge’s window. The swirling lights glowed on her face and for the first time he truly saw her beauty. Suddenly warning lights went off and alarms started to sound. Shem and Monica snapped back to reality and the ship started to shake in massive turbulence. The swirling lights grew dimmer as the turbulence grew greater. Shem and Monica frantically pushed buttons on their consoles wondering why they had such bad turbulence. Then within a blink of an eye the turbulence stopped and a planet appeared before them. It was as if it was magically put in front of them. Monica unbuckled herself from her co-pilot chair and went over to the navigation computer behind her.
“Navigational computers say that we are at the same point of origin. I don’t understand it. That doesn’t look like our Earth.” Monica was perplexed and kept searching and scanning the computer for an answer as to where they were. “Shem I don’t understand this.”
Shem unbuckled himself and got up to take a look. This planet before them was apparently the same planet they just left. “There must be something wrong here Mo. That planet is not Earth. Look at it. Clean air and the oceans are all wrong. There is less water on that planet than Earth. It looks just like the planet the probe brought back.”
Monica began scanning with her limited sensors. The planet before them had a moon just like Earth did. There must be something wrong with the navigational computer. Suddenly the hull of the ship started creaking that sounded like something buckling under pressure. Shem didn’t like the sound of it. Neither did any of the 98 passengers aboard. Shem decided it was time to land the ship on the planet, whatever it was. There was no time to figure what this planet out.
“Ahh, this is Dr. Finch again. It would seem that we have come out of light speed and we have arrived at our destination. It was a lot quicker than I had calculated. Ahhh, rest assured that the creaking noises you are hearing are normal.” He lied. “ I am beginning our decent to the planet now. Please make sure you stay buckled up. Finch out.”
The hull of the ship continued to creak. Shem began is approach to the planet below them. He had no idea if this planet had any life forms or what they would encounter once they landed. The entire ship was encased in a thermal shield so that it could withstand ten times the amount of heat of entry of that would be like the re-entry of Earth’s atmosphere. Shem eased the thrusters back to compensate for gravity. He wanted a nice and smooth landing. The hull continued to creak and groan from the pressure and Shem was now afraid his ship wouldn’t hold together.
They had now entered the planet’s atmosphere and Shem engaged the thrusters to land the ship similar to the way a helicopter would land. Through the bridge’s window they could see blue sky with clouds until they were in close proximity to the ground. All they could see was green plant cover, some dwarf trees and green meadow. Shem and Monica knew in an instant this couldn’t be Earth. The trees were too small and not like any they had seen before. The leaves were purple and blue.
They landed with a great thud that bounced them a little bit. It was at that point that Shem took in a breath. So did all of the other 99 passengers.
posted by Tracey at 4:40 PM
1 Comments:
Hmm Interesting!
I would imagine light speed to be super quick, but that was almost too quick. I wonder, are they on a different plane similar to Earth? Purple and blue leaves? Cool! :) Can't wait to see where this goes.
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