The Other Earth

by Amber LaShell

  He shook his head, "That does not surprise me" he said.

  "So what about you, are you keeping your apartment for when you come back?" I asked.

  He shook his head, "No, I am having someone come in and put all of my stuff into a storage locker at the SSE. There is nobody there to check on things, so it's easier for me to just find a new place once we get back" he said.

  I nodded, "Yeah that makes sense" I said.

  "So have you told your mom?" he asked.

  I sighed, "Yes. I called and told her a couple of days after I found out" I said, running my hands through my short hair.

  "I am almost afraid to ask how she took it" he said.

  "Oh, you know my mom. An actress down to the very fiber of her being. She was overly dramatic. She cried, she screamed, she begged me to stay, and then finally told me she was proud of me and would keep up with the mission on television."

  Brandon laughed, "I know your mom. She is going to somehow turn this into something about her. She will get a movie deal or something out of this." He said.

  I nodded, "Yeah I know. My dad will probably turn up after I leave and try to milk it, pretending that he has always been in my life and is a great dad or something" I said.

  "I don't know. He seems pretty out of it these days" he said.

  I sighed, "How did your parents take it?" I asked him.

  "Oh, just like you would expect two scientist to take it. They told me that they were not surprised and knew all along I would be chosen. They then took me out to dinner to pry all of the details out of me. It was horrible" he said.

  I smiled, "Well at least they care and didn't just have a crying fit" I said.

  He laughed, "Yes, I guess you are right about that" he said.

  I looked over at him, unsure of what else to say to him to keep the conversation going. They had spent so little time alone together for the last two weeks, going out of their way to avoid talking. She realized that she actually kind of missed him, she wasn't used to not going out and seeing him at the bar, or having him come over and watch old movies with her. She was just about to tell him that she missed her friend when his phone beeped.

  "Oh it's time for our meeting with Jessica. Let's go" he said, turning to leave the ship. She sighed in relief that she hadn't said something that would make things even more awkward.

  ***

  I stood on the platform and looked down at the crowd of people beneath me, clapping and cheering. I spotted a few friendly co-workers standing there, happy to watch us go. I also spotted Stacey and Vickie, holding hands while Stacey cried. I waved over to them, wishing I could go down and hug them one last time before we left.

  I looked over at Brandon and saw that he was looking in another direction and when I looked over I saw his parents standing there clapping. I waved at them and his mother blew me kisses, always one of my biggest fans. When I had told her my dream was to be a scientist when I grew up, she always pushed Brandon to be better friends with me, probably hoping my ambition would rub off on him.

  "Okay, it's time. Let's go" Brandon said to me.

  I nodded and followed him into the space ship, turning as the doors closed behind me, blocking my view of the crowd. I knew that they would be asked to go inside as it would be dangerous to stand that close to the ship as it took off.

  I sighed and walked into the control room and sat in the chair next to Brandon. I placed all of my safety equipment on like we had practiced so many times in the past two weeks. Once all of harnesses were in place I sat in my chair and waited for the control board to fire up.

  "You okay?" Brandon asked.

  I turned and looked at him, "Yes" I said.

  "Are you sure?" he asked, looking at me closely.

  I sighed, "Yes, I'm fine. I'm just a little sad, and a little scared. Nothing I wasn't expecting" I said.

  He nodded, "I know, it was hard to say good-bye to everyone wasn't it?" he asked.

  I nodded, determined not to cry, "Yes" I said quietly.

  He looked at me for a few seconds longer and smiled. I looked back to the front as all of the lights on the control panel came on.

  We both started to check all of the gauges to make sure everything was as it should be in silence.

  "Okay guys, the ground is clear. We lift off in T minus sixty seconds. I need a verbal confirmation that all systems are a go" we heard the dispatcher through the intercom.

  Brandon looked over at me and as I checked my last gauge I gave him the thumbs up sign, "All systems go. Ready for take-off" Brandon said into the intercom, pushing the button so that he could be heard.

  We sat in our chair as the engines fired up loudly, too loudly to be able to hear each other, even though I wanted to hear that it would be okay one last time.

  I looked over at Brandon and he was already looking at me with a small smile. He reached out and grabbed my hand as we heard the countdown of the last ten seconds.

  "Lift-off" we heard the dispatcher yell into the intercom.

  I gripped Brandon's hand as the entire space ship started to shake as it lifted off from the ground. I looked back down at Brandon's hand on top of mine and before the force of the speed of the space ship kept us from moving, he turned his hand so that our fingers intertwined together. My heart skipped a beat as I looked back up to the window in front of us and saw that we were already as high as the clouds and braced myself for the burst of speed that was coming to push us out of the atmosphere.

  I felt the rush of heat as we pushed through the little layer of the ozone we had left and instantly felt the weightlessness of space. My heart pounded as I realized that I had just left the planet. I had never even left the country before, and to suddenly be pushed through space was something to behold. I looked down onto the planet as it slowly became lower in the window. It looked as though I was watching it through a movie. The ocean looked so very blue from this high up, and the land looked like little puzzle pieces that were oddly put together. I let go of Brandon's hand and reached into the pocket of my seat and pulled out my camera, anxious to get a picture of what the earth looked like just outside of its gravity pull.

  I took the picture and slowly put the camera back into the pocket, careful to make sure that it was secure before letting go of it, not wanting it to float through the air.

  "It's prettier than I thought it would be" Brandon said from next to me, looking out over North America.

  I nodded, "I know. I feel like I'm watching a movie, or stuck in a dream or something."

  "It does look like a movie."

  The intercom made a static noise, the I heard the dispatcher's voice come over, sounding like they were right in the room, even though they were now so far away. "Great job team. You are scheduled to land on the moon in three days' time where you will check your supplies and status to guarantee that the ship with be able to get through the black hole. We will be back in touch when you are one hour from landing. You are free to turn on the gravity, good luck out there guys" he said before going silent.

  Brandon reached up and flipped the switch for the gravity and I felt my body fall back down the inch into my chair. I looked over and saw that he was already starting to take off all of his safety gear and followed suit. Once we had everything off, we stood up slowly and looked out of the window. The ship was starting to slowly turn itself and they watched as it slowly turned the front of the ship toward the moon. After a few minutes they could see the moon larger than it had ever been while on land, but still far enough away to look like the moon they were used to.

  "So now it's a waiting game" I said.

  Brandon nodded, "Yep. I'm going to go and make something to eat, I was too nervous to eat before, are you hungry?" he asked.

  I nodded, "Sure, let's go see what kind of crazy space food we have in there" I said, patting him on the back as he passed.

  Chapter Ten

  I looked over at Brandon, who was busy writing in his journal. I had just finished my daily entry and was curi
ous as to what he thought about the fact that we were going to be entering the black hole in just a few minutes and would lose all communication with home.

  It made this part of the mission scarier than it had been, even all the way through landing on the moon and getting to walk around, we could at least communicate with the home base. In just a few minutes, we would be completely on our own, going through a portal that nobody except for a space robot had previously gone through. It made the mission feel like they were in a Star Trek movie.

  "Are you done writing?" Brandon asked from next to me, pulling me out of my thoughts.

  I nodded, "Yeah" I said.

  "You're still here? You usually go to your room and hide after you are finished writing in the journal for the day" he said.

  I rolled my eyes, "I don't hide, I just get tired is all. But, the reason I'm still here is that I wanted to talk about what's going on with you, get your feelings on it" I said.

  "What do you mean?" he asked.

  I pointed out of the window, where the black hole was close enough to fill almost the entire window. "We are just a couple of minutes from heading into that thing and we will be all on our own. I'm a little scared to lose the contact with base" I said.

  He nodded, "Yeah. It is a little scary, but it's so exciting all at the same time you know. We are going to see things in person that were previously only seen in pictures. It makes things look different to you" he said.

  I tilted my head, "How is that?" I asked, curious as to his reasoning.

  "Well, have you ever been to Europe?" he asked.

  I shook my head, "No I've never been out of the country. Well until now" I said quickly, not wanting to come off as a complete idiot.

  "Okay, have you seen pictures of the Eiffel Tower?" he asked.

  I nodded, "Yes of course" I said.

  "Well, so had I, many times over my life. Well, when we were in college, my parents told me that for every year I finished earlier than the average I would get a week anywhere I wanted to go. I graduated two years early and decided to go to Europe. I spent two weeks there going to as many places as I could. I spent a couple of days in London, then Rome, then Venice, and finally I spent the last few days there in Paris."

  I shook my head, "How is it that I never knew this?" I asked him.

  "It was the summer that you decided you needed a job and worked at some fast food joint. You were too busy to pay attention that you didn't see me for two weeks" he said.

  I shrugged, remembering my summer flipping greasy hamburgers for minimum wage, "Okay, point taken. So what does that have to do with this?" I asked, pointing back toward the window.

  "Well, if you would let me finish. I had seen all these pictures of the Eiffel Tower and was honestly not even all that excited to see it in person, figuring it would look like all the pictures. Well, it did of course, but it was still different. It was so tall and magnificent, and at night it was lit up in a different color each night. It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. This will be the same thing, the pictures were great, but the view in person will have to be breathtaking" he said.

  I looked at him for a few seconds before turning to look back out of the window, "Wow, that was deep." I said.

  He laughed, "Well, I have my moments" he said.

  "Brandon?" I asked.

  "Yes?" he replied, his head now looking back down at his notebook.

  "Why did you sign up for this mission?" I asked him.

  "Honestly?" he asked.

  I nodded, "Yes."

  He sighed, "Well, I actually didn't really have any intention to until I saw how excited you were about it. Your excitement was contagious and through what you would say I started to see how great this could be, not only for me but for everyone" he said.

  My heart lifted a few centimeters as I realized that I had more of an impact on his decisions than I had anticipated.

  Suddenly bells started to ring inside of the ship and Brandon looked down at the gauges. "Okay we are about to enter this thing. Base said that the space bot lost all power for a couple of minutes before it came back up. Let's just stay here together through that, and hope that everything goes as smoothly as we hoped, okay?" he asked, looking into my eyes.

  I nodded and looked back through the window and realized that there was really not a reason to now, as the black hole was covering the entire ship and it was pitch black, not even a star in sight.

  The bells stopped chiming only seconds before the ship was plunged into darkness. "Brandon?" I asked, reaching out for him, but unable to see anything around me as the ship was darker than anything I had ever experienced before.

  "I'm here Randi" he said.

  I felt his hand reaching around my legs and bent towards it, trying to judge the distance when I finally touched his hand and pulled it into mine.

  "Is that your hand?" I asked, just wanting confirmation.

  "Yes, are you okay?" he asked.

  I nodded my head, then closed my eyes in the darkness as I remembered that he couldn't' see me, "I'm okay just don't let go of me until the lights come back on" I told him.

  "Don't worry I won't let you go" I heard him say into the dark.

  I sat as quietly and as still as I could, hoping that the blackness around us wouldn't last very long.

  I felt what I hoped was Brandon's other hand sliding up my arm, while the hand holding onto my own never let go.

  "Brandon, is that your other hand?" I asked.

  "Shh" he said, his hand now sliding up my shoulder and pulling me toward where I guessed that he was sitting.

  I held my breath as he pulled me toward him, seeing him in my mind, even though I couldn't see him with my eyes. Once I was apparently close enough, he let go of my hand and slid both of his hands slowly over my body as though he was trying to gage where I was.

  His hands went around to my back and cupped underneath my butt and slightly lifted me up into the air. I reached blindly out in front of me and my hands came down onto his shoulders. I held on as he helped my legs to wrap around his dark figure.

  "Once I find your face, I am going to kiss you" he said, frighteningly close to my left ear.

  I sucked in my breath and gave a little moan involuntarily, afraid to move a muscle or say a word, knowing that he would be able to tell just how much I actually wanted him.

  "Every time I get close to this ear" he said, whispering into where he knew it was, and then kissing my neck right below it. "You jerk away from me. Is this your spot?" he asked, running his tongue up my neck and taking my earlobe into his mouth.

  "Yes" I admitted breathlessly.

  I felt his hands find my face and pulled me toward him until our lips met in the dark. He kissed me hungrily and I couldn't help but to moan into his mouth. The darkness pulling me in, making me forget about my resolve to keep the mission strictly professional.

  I sank my body into his, deepening the kiss as I wrapped my arms around his head. I felt his hands leave my face and slide quickly down my body until he came to the bottom of my shirt. He tugged on it, lifting it up and I pulled away from his kiss and lifted my hands above my head and he pulled my shirt of. I leaned back in and continued to kiss him as I wrapped my arms back around him, the darkness somehow melting away all resolve.

  I felt his hands slide up my back, searching for the bra that I hadn't bothered to put on that day. Once his hands came to my shoulders and he realized I wasn't wearing a bra, he slid them around until he found my breasts. I broke the kiss once more and tilted my head back as his thumbs found my sensitive nipples.

  I moaned as I felt his head lower down and he took one of my nipples into his mouth, slightly nibbling on it.

  "Oh yes" I whispered.

  I slid my hands down his back until I found the end of his shirt and pulled it up over his head and threw it down next to us. I let my hands linger on his muscled stomach as his reached back down and started to kiss and suck on my nipples again.

  I pulled his head bac
k up and pulled him back in for a kiss, smashing my chest against his, trying to get as close to him as I could manage.

  Suddenly I heard a click and then all of the lights snapped back on in the ship, temporarily blinding me. Once my sight was back I looked at Brandon, my cheeks burning as the lights reminded me what I was doing.

  "I'm so sorry" I said, pulling away from him and covering my breasts with my arm before he could see me. I reached down and grabbed the shirt I had pulled off of him and jumped off of his lap. I turned my back to him and pulled the shirt over my head and running back to my room where I shut and locked the door.

  I almost expected Brandon to come banging on the door and demanding I finish what was started, but understanding me like he did, he never came knocking.

  ***

  I stepped out of my room and looked around, hoping that Brandon was either already asleep or otherwise occupied. It had already been a week since the incident in the black hole, and things were still awkward. Well, they were awkward on my part, Brandon proceeded to pretend nothing had ever happened.

  I walked on the tip of my toes to the control room to have a quick look out of the window before heading to the kitchen to grab something to eat and going right back into my room, the only place that felt truly safe to me.

  I looked into the inky blackness and sighed, it seemed like we had been in this black hole for years, without anything to look out at to guide us. We had to trust the navigation system to pull us through this black hole in one piece and in the right place.

  "Everything okay?" I heard behind me.

  I turned around quickly and saw Brandon standing behind me in only a pair of sweat pants. I had to use every ounce of self-control to not stare at his muscled chest, which after a few weeks of doing nothing but exercising had somehow become even more muscular.

  "Yes I'm fine, I was just getting something to eat and thought I'd check to see if we could see anything yet" I said quickly, my eyes darting to the hallway behind him.

  "We won't be able to see anything for a while. The navigation says that we still have at least three more weeks inside of this thing before we come out on the other side.