Jane and I both sat in the silence, looking at each other with blank stares. I knew what I wanted to say, but didn’t know how to say it. I had been lying in my bed thinking the same thing. The need for companionship and friendship was still there. Sure, I knew Jane and we talked, but not much unless it was about work.
Jane finally spoke up. “I think all three of us need to be friends. Like, actual friends.”
I immediately seconded the motion. “Yeah! We should get to know more about each other, right now. Seriously!”
“Guys, I get it. You think this is funny. I’ll just go back to my—”
“Smith, we aren’t making fun of you. I’m serious. I’ve wanted the same thing, too. I just didn’t know how to ask or say it. This was perfect, I think. For both of us!” I wave an arm back and forth between me and Jane. Jane nodded in enthusiastic agreement.
“We need friends, too,” she added.
Smith drew in a long breath, and then slowly let it out. “You guys are great Thank you.”
We spent all night talking. We would ask each other questions, going back and forth, and laugh at the crazy things we had done before we ended up where we were. It was interesting to learn about one another outside of work, outside of the pressure. We learned a lot, like how Jane originally wanted to be a cosmetologist before she became an explosions specialist. She explained that working with her dad in their family quarry had changed her mind. She lived in Wisconsin and loved rap music.
Smith had always wanted to be a biotechnologist, but was made fun of in school for being a nerd. When he went to college, people had a different idea about him. He showed us a picture from high school. I couldn’t believe that nerdy kid had turned into Smith, as he was pretty good-looking.
I shared that I had always lived in Chicago, but had always longed to be out of the city
and that had driven me to pursue agriculture. I also shared the bottle of champagne I had packed for celebration upon arrival but never cracked open. The champagne got them all talking more and more.
Somehow, we all ended up dancing the night away to Jane’s rap songs as Jane and I sang backup for Smith. It was terrible and amazing. We all needed each other, and it was maybe the most fun night of my life.
WHEN I WOKE UP, I REALIZED I didn’t remember falling asleep. Looking next to me, I saw Smith’s head on my pillow. He was in bed with me, snoring. The shock of someone being in my bed caught me off guard and I jumped back. The jolt woke him too, and I could see from his wide eyes he was shocked as well.
“Good morning,” he said, trying to play it cool.
“Oh, yeah, hey. Good morning.”
I looked over to see Jane sleeping on the floor next to my bed. I kicked her, and she woke up abruptly.
“Why the hell am I on the floor?” she yelled, then broke out laughing. “You two are idiots, though, for real.”
“Why?” I asked.
“You had to sleep in the same bed because you’re ‘best friends.’ There wasn’t room for me, so you said I could be your ‘right-hand man’ and sleep on the floor next to you. Ridiculous,” she laughed.
A silent sigh of relief swept across me. I turned to Smith. He shook his head and chuckled to himself. “We are idiots...” His smile evaporated as something seemed to occur to him. “Oh my God! What time is it? We’re going to be late!” he yelled, jumping out of bed and running out the door.
THE MORNING TRAINING was the most excruciating experience I’d ever endured in my life. Hungover and sleep-deprived, we all stood in a line waiting for our orders. Spencer and Garrett looked at us like we were from a different planet, and not going to one.
A man dressed in black, with the space program’s emblem on his chest, stood in front us. He had the look of someone who was tired of our shit.
“You are not expected to be astronauts by any means. We understand that you have been thrown into this situation and have not had a lot of time for training. That is why we have astronauts who know what they are doing flying the ship. You are all just passengers,” the instructor said, pacing in front of us. “But being a passenger on a spacecraft is a lot different than being a passenger on a bus. This is your last lesson to learn, but possibly the most important. We are going to show you what takeoff is going to feel like, what the moment of zero-gravity is going to feel like, and how easy it is to lose your cool.”
Walking over to an all-white, bullet-shaped capsule, he walked up the stairs stationed on the side. “You will each enter this simulator, two at a time, and experience takeoff. The rest of the class will be able to see you, but you will not be able to see us. You will do this simulation over and over until you are calm. You are not expected to get it right the first time. This is new technology, and it moves faster than anything we have ever seen. Alright? Let’s do it!” Clapping his hands together, he opened the door, and looked out at the line of us standing there.
No one wanted to move. Quickly, the
