Space & Time

Chapter 5- Our Arrival

Space is darker than pitch, murderously cold and unnervingly quiet.

There really is nothing out here once we are away from the atmosphere of Mars. Based on our current course and now moving along at a relatively smooth and quiet Mach 24, we should break into Earth's atmosphere in just under three months time. You can think about many things in three months cruising along in what amounts to a tin can on steroids inside a vacuum. The directional controls my dad invented help us make the smallest adjustments to our flight path, even the tiniest move out here can change the course of the ship miles from the intended destination.

Accuracy is paramount or we could fly right by the Earth and never return home. The design of the angles of metal on the exoskeleton should bounce any fragments of meteors off and prevent major damage from occurring. We are on a monitored and restricted diet for the trip. I still remember how weak we all were once we got to Mars. My mom and Eva developed a rejuvenation diet and exercise plan to get our bodies back to full capacity once we set up on Mars.

I wonder what is going on with the others on the Intrepid, I am sure it's much like our ship, lots of brain puzzles and conversations going on, not much else. Vlad keeps an eye on Ivan. He has been very quiet for the most part, only asking for food and water when he needs it. I don't know what is going on in his head, but I can imagine he's shocked his plan fell apart. I hope we have someone to turn him over to in Russia when we return. Enough people witnessed his crimes against Russian citizens on a Russian outpost. Surely, he will face a death sentence. I wish sometimes that Vlad had knocked him out for good, permanently.

Vlad is stronger than most men are physically but just not the type of a man who could kill so easily. Other times I wish I was strong enough to walk over while Ivan was down and finish him myself, he was an easy target. He deserved it, and no one would have blamed me, a distraught daughter, but in the end, I would have to live with it, and I‟m not a cold-blooded killer. Maybe that's a good thing for me. I have a clear conscious and I‟d like to keep it clear, for a few more years at least.

*****

Josef, Tannin and I play card games with Alexei and Veronika. Sonya and Vlad talk a lot to each other, quietly. I can tell they are dreadfully concerned about what type of Russia awaits us. Because the initial communications malfunction, we have had zero contact with Space Command since passing by the moon in 1968. This could be a big surprise for a lot of people.

Alexei stays beside me after one of our card games, we were playing Spades and Tannin likes to watch, he is speaking even less now. Alexei was on my team this round. Alexi said, "Mika that was great how we won the last round, you could almost read my mind, giving me exactly what I needed to trump those last few hands. I know we have been through a lot, but I wanted you to know how much our time we spent together before the mission meant to me, back then things were great for a while. Even once we landed, I thought we would still be together. Something changed. Did I do something to you I can apologize for or make up to you about?"

I just stared at him.

He would not be too bad to be with I guess.  I just do not think I am ready yet, I'm still young. His parents met at fourteen and married at eighteen, I know they love each other, but I think I need to experience more of my life. How do I tell him that?

"Alex, I enjoyed those times as well, I had feelings for you then I was just sorting through. Maybe in a few years we could rekindle those, I just need some time, I know its cliché but really it is not you, it is me..." boy I that sounded crappy!

He hesitated, then shrugged his shoulders and replied "Ok" he said, "I‟ll leave you with that Mikhailya, I will hold you too it though. When our lives settle down a bit, I will want to give it another shot"