“We’ll try and save our arguments for meaningful topics,” James joked once again.
“You won’t argue at all,” Kim corrected her son.
“We’ll be fine,” James promised.
Leaving his mother at that moment, was quite literally one of the hardest moments of James’ life. Yes, he had already ‘flown the nest’ so to speak. But leaving home and leaving the planet were two completely different things.
As the young space warrior stood at the bottom of the Earthship, he turned back one last time to see his mother. At that point, James’ heart broke. She looked scared beyond belief, and even worse, she was trying so hard to hide her fear. How many times had his mother had to hide her true feelings? How many times had Kim had to watch a loved one fly up into outer space? One of them never returned. Space was a dangerous place, and Kim had every right to fear that she may never see her loved ones again. Jonathan, James’ father had died after all.
As James clambered his way up to the top deck, he felt overwhelmingly guilty. Although he hated to admit it, Kim had to suffer enough every time she watched Phil fly up into space. Now, she was having to watch both her boyfriend and her son fly away from her at the same time.
Once in space, that was it, James and his crew would be gone from the world, or his mother’s world at least. There was no means of contact up here. Once through those wormholes, the Earthship would be too far away to communicate with Earth. Of all the things humans could have mastered, James thought that communication would be one of them. Sadly for him and his mother, this was not the case.
James entered the the large communal cockpit, walking straight past the couch and the entertainment systems on board. The front of the ship was where he needed to be. By Lottie’s side was where he needed to be.
James eyed the black leather seat next to Lottie. The girl was already thoroughly strapped into hers, looking greener than the greenest blade of grass.
The young space warrior took a seat, strapped himself in, and then he placed a comforting hand on top of Lottie’s. His best friend was clinging to that seat as if it were the only thing protecting her from floating off into outer space, and she was already in the process of falling from it.
“Are you okay?” James asked, ignoring his own anxiety.
“Yeah,” Lottie lied. The harsh belt of anxiety wrapped around her throat made it impossible for her to say anything else.
James caught an uncomfortable glimpse of eye contact from Phil. The captain looked pained, sad, sad to be leaving Kim. James tried to ignore the fact that he could relate to this man more than most right now.
“Are you two alright?” The captain asked his two newest comrades.
“Yeah, fine,” James answered for himself and for Lottie.
“Good. Because this is a very special moment y’know. You two, are two of the finest grads to graduate from space school. Hell, I remember my first space mission, and how nervous I felt. But that fear is nothing compared to the awe and amazement you’ll feel once you’re up there. You’ve spent your lives preparing for this very moment. Relish it, appreciate it, and enjoy it.”
James nodded, secretly appreciating Phil’s words. Phil was slightly less detestable today. The young space warrior couldn’t quite put his finger on why. Perhaps it was the fact that Phil would miss Kim as well? Or maybe it was because James’ captain was familiar? He was a prick, yes. But Phil was harmless compared to space. James was nervous, he felt scared. It’s amazing how people can come to rely on the people they loathe during life threatening situations.
The young space warrior watched as Lisa, Karl, Zach and Phil buckled themselves into their seats.
“Okay, Lisa,” James heard Phil saying, “you know what to do from here, send her up.”
James felt his insides suddenly shaking and jittering around. Unable to calm his own nerves, the young space warrior squeezed Lottie’s hand for comfort. Everything was loud, everything was moving, everything was chaos. James felt himself rising. It felt as if a humungous giant had picked him up, thrusting him higher and higher into the air, whilst shaking him violently. James managed to muster the courage to peer out of the window in front of him. It was changing now. The colour, the sky…it had gone from grey, to light blue, to dark blue….to glittery black.
Chapter 3
As soon as Lisa had slowed the ship to its usual pace, James and Lottie had both rushed out of their seats to watch the exquisite view of the Universe all around them. Luckily, in this communal cockpit, there were huge windows everywhere.
The two best friends pressed themselves longingly into the same window, gawking at the views outside.
First there was Earth! What a view Earth was! To see ‘home’ as a whole, as a marble filled with colourful whirls and swirls was such a tremendous feeling. It was a bittersweet feeling, too. It felt sad in a way to be leaving planet Earth. It felt daunting and scary. James felt vulnerable, and his heart still missed his mother.
The view of Earth and its loyal moon was soon replaced by Mars, and then by the ginormous planet, Jupiter. Jupiter was the ultimate, big whopper daddy alright! The giant ball of gas was absolutely massive, and it fathered plenty of moons.
“Okay, you guys!” James overheard Lisa calling out to everyone. “Get ready to say goodbye to our Solar System. We’re entering wormhole number one.”
James had been told many things about wormholes, yet he had never experienced one for himself. He’d heard that the spaceship would just be cruising along, then all of a sudden, there’d be a flash, and the next moment, the Earthship would be surrounded by a completely different bunch of moons and planets.
The stories which James had heard were true. There was no sudden jolting of the ship. It was perfectly safe to stand up during a wormhole, or heck, it was probably even safe to use the loo too. All there was, was a flash, a quick split second flash, and that was it - wormhole one completed.
Immediately upon exiting the wormhole, James noticed the abundance of stars all around the ship. There were more of the sparkling Suns, all illuminating the dark blanket of space.
“Wow,” James’ awestricken voice sounded to his best friend, “we must be in another Galaxy?”
“No,” Lottie’s own awestricken voice sounded, “we’re just closer to the centre. It looks beautiful here though.”
There was another white flash, and the views outside the window changed to darkness with a smattering of stars once again.
“I think we’re in another Galaxy now,” Lottie mumbled.
James and Lottie spent the whole day sat by that window. The window frame had a comfortable, red cushioned seat inside its frame which the two best friends lounged on.
Lottie was a clever gal. She spent the day educating James on all the planets which they flew past. Some planets looked pretty ordinary, like the planets in Earth’s very own Solar System. Others looked otherworldly, with some of the planets zooming around each other like pulsars. In Earth’s Solar System, there were no twin planets, just planets with moons. In the Universe, anything was possible. On one hand, James had never ever felt so far away from home. On the other, this is where his home was. Space was where James’ heart belonged.
After a long day planet watching, it was time for James to retreat to his temporary bedroom for the night. The room wasn’t great; it wasn’t huge, but it was peaceful. The room was James’ only bit of personal space. It wasn’t bad spending the day with Lottie, or even Zach, Lisa and Karl for that matter. However, James needed time away from Phil. On Earth, the young space warrior had avoided spending even seconds with his captain. Now, up here, James had no choice but to be stuck with the man he loathed.
James twisted his bedroom sink’s tap, cupping some water in his hands to swish away the toothpaste from his mouth. Once his teeth were clean, James eyed his unpacked suitcases, and then the empty wardrobe next to them. He watched as the clothes hangers just hung there expectantly, as if waiting for James to unpack his suitcases and drape h
is clothes all over them.
“Hah, you’ve got no chance,” he muttered to the inanimate hangers in front of him. James had plans to unpack as he went. He would take out what he needed, as and when he needed it. The young space warrior could not be bothered to go through the process of unpacking all his belongings and then finding a place to put everything, only for him to need to move it all again. Everything was fine being kept in his suitcases for now.
James stripped off down to his underpants, unveiling his impressive torso to his room. He had a body which most women would die to be with. He had a six pack, and several small tattoos spread across his body. James wasn’t just a pretty boy with modelishly good looks. He was manly, too, with a strong physique.
The handsome looking space warrior climbed into his double bed, clapping his hands, so that the lights would go out. James wrapped his bedsheets all around his body, relishing in the heat which they provided him with.
Today had been a long day, and the young space warrior could feel his eyes growing heavy already. Planets and stars whizzed through James’ mind. It felt like…it felt like he was flying. His body felt as if it were floating, floating peacefully through space.
James rolled over onto his back, closing his eyes and grinning as he cruised through space, travelling past planet after planet.
“Hey, James!”
The young space warrior opened his eyes to see his best friend soaring through space, just as he was. James rolled back over onto his front, flying in pursuit of Lottie.
She kept giggling. Lottie sounded like a little child laughing mischievously, and James, he had this impulse to just follow her. James soared past a number of planets, until he was stopped in his tracks. Where was Lottie? She had just…she had just disappeared? James’ body continued to levitate, whilst he took in the news of his best friend’s disappearance, and then, without warning, he fell into the darkness.
All was pitch black. James could not see a single thing. He could just hear this loud deafening noise. It was like a rumbling sound, one which reverberated its way though his entire body. James’ body felt hot, searing hot, as if he were lying on flames. Something, something hot, dry and grainy was stuck in his mouth. James’ eyes flicked open. He used his hands to sit himself upright. The young space warrior had been lying face-down on what looked like red sand.
Horror struck James, as his frightened eyes took in his surroundings. What was this place? It looked like hell.
As James fought against his body’s fear to stand on his feet, the young space warrior watched as the bright little flecks of ash floated past him like stars. This place was dark, and this place was hot. The air felt polluted and stuffy. Made sense this did. There were volcanoes and lava pools scattered around everywhere.
Above the non-stop rumbling sound, James heard a whispering in his ears. It was as if something was whispering to him in his mind. The sound was incoherent, but it was very ominous nonetheless.
Wanting to take his attention away from the creepy voice in his head, James began to hurriedly run across the landscape in search of a way out of this hell hole. The young space warrior trudged past endless amounts of boulders, until he heard yet another horrible sound. The sound was of a woman, a woman screeching for help. Without showing any consideration for his own safety, James began to run towards the cries. That was until something else stopped his feet from moving. There, only a couple of yards in front of him was a woman. James could not see the woman’s face, but he could tell that she was injured, as she limped clutching her side. The female appeared to have long dark hair which draped just past her shoulders. Her body was exquisite, curvaceous and fit, being flaunted by her tight black costume. Without warning, the woman fell face-down onto the ground. James ran towards her. Once the young space warrior had reached the woman, he realised that her body was completely motionless. It appeared that she wasn’t breathing. With both urgency and curiosity, James bent over the woman, placing his hand upon her shoulder to turn her over. Before he got the chance to see her face, James was stopped once again by that blood curdling scream. It was closer this time, and something else about it sickened the young space warrior. The scream was a voice he recognised.
“Help me!” He heard Lottie cry.
James left the motionless woman instantly. He fought with all his might to run as quick as he could to reach Lottie in time.
There she was! James could see her now, surrounded by flames and creatures. The young space warrior had no time to stop and look at the demonic beings surrounding his best friend. He had to reach her now!
The winged beings clawed at Lottie’s arms, ripping through her flesh as she screamed James’ name.
“LOTTIE!” James yelled, as his terrified eyes watched clumps of flesh being torn away from his screaming best friend.
Those things, those horrible dark creatures, they were tugging at Lottie, pulling her into the orange flames around her.
Lottie gave one last desperate screech, and then that was it. Lottie and the creatures were gone, engulfed within the orange fireballs.
“LOTTIE!!!!!” James cried, just as the scene all around him faded into his temporary bedroom.
***
Lottie sat at the communal dining table, waiting with the others for Zach to cook up this morning’s breakfast. James was yet to emerge from his room. He was awesome, but a little on the vain side, too. It was no surprise to Lottie that James was the last one out. He was such a girl! Lottie, on the other hand, she’d got up, got showered, dressed herself in her grey t-shirt, black skirt and tights. Her hair hung loosely over her shoulders. There was just no point making much effort up here when uniform was pretty restricted anyways.
James, hurry up and come out of your room! Lottie begged to whichever higher power would listen. Zach, Lisa, Karl and Phil were great, but Lottie had a hard time feeling comfortable around them. She had a hard time feeling comfortable around anyone who wasn’t James. Having social anxiety sucked balls.
Karl was perhaps Lottie’s favourite comrade, other than James of course. Maybe it was because he was pretty old and well respected? There was just this trust and respect which Lottie had for the silver haired Danish Doctor. Yes, he was a Doctor and a scientist. Karl would keep everyone safe. Maybe that’s why Lottie had warmed quickly to the man.
At last, James walked through the door, sitting himself next to his best mate. James looked good today, as always! His golden hair was slightly damp, giving him this fresh, clean morning glow. He wore black trousers. His light grey t-shirt…mmmm, James could always pull off a t-shirt. The way that the material would always hug his body, showing off all his muscles…any girl would drool over that! Then there were James’ arms, and the way that it looked as if his biceps would just rip through his t-shirt. Lottie’s best friend was ridiculously good looking, and he made the female space warrior feel a kind of pang sometimes. A pang in her heart.
“James! You’ve decided to join us at last!” Zach bellowed, dishing up globs of scrambled eggs on top of everyone’s toast.
“Yeah, just about,” James replied.
The more Lottie looked at James, the more she noticed that her best friend looked tired, stressed even.
“You okay?” She asked him, paying no attention to Zach taking the other seat beside her.
“Yeah, fine, why?”
“I don’t know…you just seem a little tired…”
“Yo,” Zach interjected, “the girl’s right, man. I heard you shouting at something in your room? Is everything okay?”
Phil dropped his fork, eyeing James intensely.
“What do you mean? James? You were shouting?”
Uh oh! Lottie thought. James was starting to look real pissed off as he held his filled up fork in mid-air.
“Not that it’s anyone’s concern or anything,” James began to answer, his voice etched with his exasperation, “but I just had a nightmare, that’s all. The whole thing was pretty vivid, so I woke up feeling pretty shitty.”
>
“But you were shouting?” Phil looked completely concerned. “If you’re having nightmares, James, it means you’re feeling stressed about something.”
“For fuck’s sake!” James’ voice was raised now, “can you blame me? This isn’t exactly easy being up here away from home. I don’t know about you, but I actually miss my mum. You’re probably so used to being up here that you really couldn’t give a shit about her anymore. Or maybe you just never cared at all.”
Phil was speechless,
“James….I…of course I…”
“Fuck you!” James got up abruptly from the table. “You wanna know the worst part about being up here? I’ve gotta put up with you. I’ve gotta sit and eat breakfast with you. Can you blame me for having nightmares?”
“James, sit back down!”
James shook his head.
“Nah, I’m outta here.”
“To where? Where do you think you’re going?”
“To check on the water tank, someone’s got to.”
As James left the communal area, all he could think about was getting as far away from Phil as he possibly could. James stopped outside the lift, slamming his fist on the call button. The lift doors opened, and James entered. The young space warrior pushed the ‘lower deck’ button, and the lift took him down to his destination.
The lower deck of the Earthship was split into two main parts. The first half of the deck was taken up by the ship’s ecosystem. Humans needed a source of oxygen to survive up in outer space. The plants inside the ecosystem tank provided the humans with all the oxygen they could ever need. Not only that, the place was beautiful, too, laid out like a forest. James couldn’t help but feel that this ecosystem would make the perfect retreat away from Phil, despite its lack of living animals.
The other half of the deck was taken up by the large aquarium-like water tank. Again, this tank lacked animals, but it provided both the humans and the ecosystem with all the water both would need.
Diversion To Urasha (Space Era Book 1) Page 3