“What are you doing?” I said while trying to swerve around a small piece of space debris.
“What? I look cool in them,” Hank said, checking out his reflection in the tinted glass of the windows. “Take a chill pill, man, we have a long way to go,” He was right, there was a really long way to go, I was just a little high-strung because the fate of the world was in my hands. No big deal.
“We should be arriving at our destination in three and a half days. You know the plan, right?” I asked.
“Yeah, yeah, drive to the sun, shoot the thingy in it, then drive off and hope for the best.” Hank recited in a bored manner.
“That thingy is the most important part of this mission, now where is it? I was getting more and more agitated with him, how did he not realize what a big deal this was?
“I got it, I got it, it’s right…” Hank stopped in mid-sentence, and started looking around.
“Right where?” His searching was making me nervous
"Just kidding! it was under my foot." Hank said as he stooped down to get the machine, causing the ship to lurch forward.
"Hank!" I yelled, this was going to be a long ride.
After a day and a half of steering the ship and ignoring Hank, I decided to take a break. Hank could not operate the machine (I don't even know why he is on this mission) so I needed to park the spaceship in the middle of space. it wasn't ideal, but as long as we watched out for space junk and comets, we would be fine.
"Do you want to hear a scary story?" Hank asked me.
"Not really," I replied with a mouth full of dried fruit.
"Okay, so once upon a time, in a land far, far, away, there were two scientists stuck in the middle of space. They had stopped just to have a snack, but when they tried to start the spaceship, it would not start. So they called for help, but nobody came and they were stuck out in space forever until they died." Hank rattled off with chocolate sauce on his mouth.
"Lovely," I replied. "That is not a true story though, there will always be help."
"That's what they want you to think, but really, why waste all of that fuel rescuing people, who, if you let them die, can't tell people that help never came?" Hank said with his eyes wide.
"Shut up and finish eating, "I said, "we need to get this machine in the sun as soon as possible. Earth is counting on us." So with that, I walked back to the cockpit and started the engine again. Luckily it started, so there was no need to fear that we would be stranded out here forever.
A day passed since Hank's story, but so far, the spaceship has held up. Past expeditions to do the same thing we are doing have failed, and we are literally earth's last hope. The planet is collapsing, and scientists have discovered that the sun has moved a centimeter nearer to us, which is causing many problems like glaciers melting, volcanic eruptions, and countless earthquakes. That is why this machine, which is supposed to push the sun back into place, is very, very important.
"Are we there yet?" Hank yelled from the back.
"I guess, we have another day of travel until we reach the sun." I replied.
"Uggh!" sighed Hank, who I could just imagine was dying inside from being away from his video games for so long. "Why don't we use the hyperdrive button?" Hank asked in a whining voice.
"Because it can only be used once, and we need it to return to earth if something goes wrong." I replied.
"Ugh!" Hank said again.
"Hank, wake up!" I yelled, kicking Hank's seat with my foot.
"Wuh?" a confused Hank grumbled as he fixated himself so he was sitting upright. "I thought you said we had another day," he said, rubbing his eyes.
"I did, you have been asleep for a day," I said. "We are almost there, are you ready?"
"I was born ready, now where did I put that thing..." Hank trailed off.
"Hank," I said in a warning tone.
"Just kidding, it was in my lap, just tell me when to activate it."
"Okay, I'm going to do a U-turn, and right when I turn, I need you to push the button and throw it," I told him. "can you do that?"
"Of course I can, that is why I'm on this mission, I am the best football thrower in America."
"Oh, I was wondering why they assigned you to this mission," I said
"How did you not know who I was, I'm basically a celebrity." Hank said in amazement.
I just shrugged, "I don't like sports." I could tell Hank was about to say something else in protest to this statement, but before he could, I cut him off. "Look, if anything happens today, you have been a pretty good partner," I said awkwardly.
"What do you mean? What could happen?" Hank asked nervously.
"Well, anything, the sun could explode or something like that."
"Wow, that's never going to happen," Hank said.
"Just think about it though, no one has returned from this mission yet, what makes you think we will succeed?" I asked, thinking about every possible outcome from this mission.
"I just know we will, because the most decorated and brilliant scientist is sitting across from me, and the most attractive male football player is sitting right next to her. This mission will go as planned and we will go back to earth and be heroes." Hank said with a gleam in his eyes.
I smiled at his words. Maybe we would succeed. Maybe we would become famous. I closed my eyes to prepare for this moment. This machine would either work or it wouldn't. I opened my eyes, of course with the hyper-sun glasses on, and told Hank to get ready. The cabin was already overheating. Hank had just opened the door that would soon face the sun. The heat was unbearable, and the super thick spacesuits we had to wear were not helping. I counted down from three, then did the sharpest U-turn ever away from the sun.
"Now!" I yelled. I just hoped that Hank had thrown it in time. All of a sudden, the sun exploded.
At least that is what I had thought, it turns out that the machine had just caused a large sunburst to come up really close to the ship. The heat of the sunburst nearly hitting us caused Hank and I to pass out, but I remembered to press the hyperdrive button just before I blacked out. The next thing I remember was docking in the launch pad from where we had taken off. I didn't think it was real, because all I remembered was a flash of white light, which usually means that you're dead. But no, the president had already been contacted about the success of the mission and was there, and all of my fellow scientists were there cheering as Hank and I walked out, dazed by the events of the day. A few weeks later, Hank and I were called to the White House to receive the Badge of Courage, and we went down in history as the team who saved the world.
No comments:
Post a Comment