Short stories: A new life
Ted was your average hero. At least, that’s what people always told him. In his mind he was nothing more than an glorified space pilot.
He glanced to his left, checking to make sure the oxygen circulators were working properly. Two hours ago, they had started acting up – the indicators flickering as though some ghost in the machine had some evil desire to give Ted a heart attack. But there was nothing to worry about. So far, all systems were fully operation…which was surprising considering that over half of the ship consisted of some of the lastest, most advanced, and unfortunately also the least “field-tested” space technology on the market.
So far so good. Hey – I can breath at least, Ted thought sardonically, what more do you need?
As he focused his attention back at the navigation screen, where green blinking blobs of light indicated speed and planetary coordinates, he became aware that the soft snoring sound coming from Rick was growing louder. Rick was Ted’s Navigator, and best friend. They had gone through NASA’s astronaut program together way back in 2015, and also progressed through advanced training together. Finally by 2020, they were both members of the elite Mars Colony team, at the very birth of the new mars colonization program.
Rick was sitting in his navigator seat with his head bowed down and his chin on his chest. His long bangs were hanging forward, covering his eyes and partially resting on the bridge of his nose. His hands were clasped on his lap. Ted glanced at the lieutenant patch that was attached to the shoulder of Rick’s navy blue NASA jumpsuit and he chuckled in spite of himself.
Ranks were meaningless in the EMG – otherwise known as the Elite Mars Group. They were twenty of the finest and most elite trained astronauts, hand picked from various branches of the military – their task, essentially, to shuttle large groups of Earth colonists to settle on Mars.
The reason behind Rick’s patch was an inside joke between Rick and Ted. At the end of their training at the newly formed Mars Expeditionary Training Academy at West Palm Beach in Florida – they were each offered a ceremonial “rank” of their choosing.
“Rank” in the Elite Mars team was meaningless because the motto of the colonization team was “Beyond Space and Time – United by One.” The motto had two meanings. One was a metaphysical metaphor regarding the One universal constant that encompasses all of space and time…but “United
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