Space & Time

Prologue

Mikhailya Groschev wasn't acting herself today. Her mood was sour and she was clearly displeased with the repetition of her assigned duties of vegetable sorting in the supply pod with Vladimir again. She wasn't pleased at all.

This sucks, this really sucks, why am I stuck here again? Being the third best pilot on the team, I should be able to catch a break from these boring duties, certainly on the day before my sixteenth birthday. I don‟t know why dad insists I spend my valuable time in the storage pod with Vladimir sorting every one of our vegetables again. This is the crummiest job for anyone who isn't an agricultural extremist!

Dad should know I‟m better suited elsewhere, like maybe being on the mine exploration team with the others. This is almost claustrophobic. It‟s the coldest pod in our compound. It is most definitely miserably cramped, cold and dark in here. I've been pulling my weight on our mission every day for the last year, every bit as much as Anatoly, Boris, Fredrik and my older brother. He could easily change the schedule, what good is being the mission commander if you can‟t look out for your own daughter‟s precious time?

My workloads have been far more tiresomely tasked than the boys have for sure. The other girls don‟t mind the light work. I‟m certainly not like them, I need to suit up and get outside, get my hands dirty. There is plenty of red sand on this planet to get my hands dirty.

"Mikhailya"

I hear Vladimir calling my attention away from my self-indulged pity party.

"Yes Vlad, what do you want me to do now?" I snap back with annoyance. He knows I detest my days with him in here, even though he‟s a super nice man, kind of like a big Russian teddy bear. He really holds on to misguided hope believing he can teach me something important for our mission. He can rest assured it‟s hard for me to learn about something when I could give a rat‟s behind about it.

Vladimir continues, "Mikhailya, for now just put all of the affected vegetables in a pile in the corner, I am sure Leon and Izabella will want to keep studying the effects new element has had on them. I‟m not sure why they aren't rotting yet after this long. I think they are perfectly fine to consume but let‟s wait until they‟re analyzed to be sure."

I nod my head to acknowledge him but grumble to display my dissatisfaction.

He continues an unwelcome attempt to bring me cheer, "Come on kiddo, this isn't so bad. Most everyone we left behind on Earth a year ago would give their right arm to switch places with you. What‟s up? What‟s got you so worked up today?"

"I‟m just cranky I guess..." I try to blow him off.

"Cranky? Come on Mikhailya, you are usually so cheery something must've happened to you. You aren't acting yourself. Oh yea, also you don‟t do cranky very well." Vlad smiled big after his comments.

"You are old and married Vlad, you wouldn't understand." I reply. Watch it buddy, I can dish it out too.

"Alright, alright, I give. It is clear you want to wallow in self-pity. Suit yourself. But let me tell you from experience, if it is because of Alexei or any of those boys, don‟t waste your energy pouting about them. They all have a long way to go before the start acting like men."

Sometimes I swear he has telepathy. I‟m trying hard to suppress my smile so he doesn't see that he cheered me up a little. But really this is an amazingly boring task, lettuce here, beans there, radish in the corner, blah, blah, blah.

I haven‟t been to the mines since the discovery of the new element, possibly due to an overprotective father. I've heard the boys moan about how boring it is to stack the new element in piles out there, waiting for the go ahead to at least start bringing it back to our colony. I guess I won‟t know that overprotective parenting emotion he has until I have my own kids one day. I appreciate his concern, especially since our two rockets prematurely lost communication with Roscosmos command once we passed the moon last year. I need to get mom to talk with him, maybe she can convince dad that a girl needs some adventure in her life! A few more hours and I‟ll be done in here for the day, and then when two weeks pass, hooray, I am back again for more torture.

Geez, this monotony is so much worse than dealing with breaking up with Anatoly three weeks ago. It sure would be nice if I had a way to speed up time and get this mission over with, then we can go back home and be welcomed as the hero's we set out to be.