Author's Note: I finally got one out on time! Hoorah! Also, expect chapters to come flying out every day or so, especially since it is the sole NaNo project I'm working on, meaning I'll be finishing chapters quickly, or so I hope. Anywho, I hope you enjoy this part. I rather like the strangeness of it, but that might be because I've fallen into a weird writing rhythm. :) (Apologies, Admins. This chapter is 3,300 words. I do hope you like it too, though. :))

Chapter Five — Launch

T-MINUS FIVE MINUTES TO LAUNCH

One second. One of the smallest units of time. More than 21,990 servings of Coca-Cola are sold. A honeybee flaps their wings over 200 times. Two babies are born. 79 stars vanish from space. A snail travels a whole centimeter. The Earth receives 48,600,000,000 kilowatts of energy from the sun. A blink of an eye. One breath. This all can happen in just one second.

Sometimes, it only takes a second to make time stop.

***

Words. How all communication works. There are over 1 million words in the English language. Words are formed from letters, and letters came from ancient pictures carved in stone. Words can hurt, but also bring joy. Words can make you think, or come very easy to you. Everything has a word assigned to it. Everything.

The word T-MINUS can change everything.

It can even stop time.

***

Nova never knew what they were capable of doing in only one second. (Neither did anyone else in their sector. But Nova is first, therefore their monologue comes first. It’s logic, obviously.) But apparently, almost everything was possible. 

Most of the time, one second merely passes with a blink of an eye, but seeing as something funny happened and time seemed to slow (or come to a stop, we still haven’t figured it out yet), Nova had almost all the time in the world at their beck and call. Unfortunately, they spent it strapped into the chair, belt fastened over their inky black spacesuit, trying not to scream out. The rattling of the rocket’s engine was a lot harsher than it was in the simulator, or even how it looked on TV. Their deep purple eyes wide with fear, as they regretted their choice of coming, but only for a moment. 

What they didn’t see, notice, or hear, was that the clock on the wall next to them clicked to the next second. 

The small little movement of the red second had caused the time to make up for the lost second, while everything went just a tad faster than normal. And all of the sudden, the rocket had launched.

That didn’t really happen. 

T-Minus ten seconds to launch…

***

Sam Jersey wouldn’t have noticed that something was wrong, if it wasn’t for his mp3 player. Since time was going slower than a snail, so did everything else, except, of course, the humans. His music, which was Beethoven’s Violin Sonata No.9, had slowed so much, it was barely audible. Sam was confused. He had just charged the device before they left for the rocket five hours ago, and he hadn’t used it since. The battery icon in the top corner did not help whatsoever, as it was still green, and read 100% charged. 

Like everyone else, he did not notice the clock on the wall near Nova, or that the second hand wasn’t functioning correctly, and somehow, he did not enjoy the time he had frozen between two seconds. Instead, it was spent on confusion and the thorough investigation of his mp3 player. After no luck, he turned it off and packed it away into the pocket of his pastel yellow spacesuit. He couldn’t hear the noise of the astronauts communicating with mission control, and the other people in his sector looked as if they were frozen in time, stuck between two different seconds. (Which they were, but he didn’t know that.) 

Sam sighed deeply and ran a hand through his hair, before letting his arms fall limply into the arm braces fastened to the armrests. They were meant to keep his arms from flailing about during launch, but as he had to investigate his apparently broken music player, he had unclasped the restraints. Now, he lets his arms slide under the large metal brackets and watches as they clamp down quickly, unlike everything else around him. 

The spaceship rattles quickly and another tick of the clock goes by. Sam braces for launch. The world starts again.

But then it stops.

T-Minus nine seconds to launch…

***

Athene isn’t surprised when she realizes that either she is frozen in time, or time is frozen around her and she is the only one still with an internal clock (hint, hint, it is the first one). It’s a normal feeling for her, with the whole invisibility thing. It’s like that paradox, ‘if a tree falls in the forest, and no one is around, does it really make a sound?’, but instead ‘if I think I’m here, but no one sees me, am I really there?’. In reality, she isn’t truly invisible, but quiet. If she was louder, or did something more annoying, maybe someone would actually notice her, besides the other socially awkward person here (Nova, in case you didn’t remember). Athene is too fearful to ever do something like that, and always has been, since she was abandoned in that stupid Walmart. If anyone questions, it’s her parents fault. 

Even though she is aware with the slight time mishap, she doesn’t really try to do anything exciting, except drink mineral water, and that’s not even worth noting, even though it just was. She does think about what time really means. Is it something we really need, or is it a construct? Is the way that we measure time really the right way, or should we be counting by life experiences, or moons, or sleeps, or meals, or even how many times a day we breathe? 

While she ponders these existential questions in her head, the clock on the wall becomes unstuck, for just a moment, and it leaves Athene with sorrow greater than any person besides herself would truly understand. She felt alive when it was just her and the broken clock. But, now, she goes back to the silent one, the silent one who no one ever notices. And that is the true and only way she is meant to exist, says the universe.

But Athene doesn’t really heed the universe, does she?

T-Minus eight seconds to launch…

***

Zo is not one to notice when time stops. To them, time is non-existent, just something used to tell people what to do, and when the government wants them to do it. They don’t mind the government, exactly, but a lot of things can be blamed on the government. It’s especially fun to name things that are not particularly favorable, and say they’re part of a giant conspiracy created by the government. They took this skill from Jace, unknowingly. Jace knows, though, and xe actually admires it, surprisingly. Zo also doesn’t know this. 

They are one to notice when everyone looks as if they’re dead; unblinking, not breathing, and lips parted just barely. How they know this is classified information, which will probably be told to you later on, when you’re least expecting it. When Zo looks around the small cohort they call their temporary family, they think everyone is dead. They’re not of course, just frozen as Zo lives through a second all by themself. However, they will continue to believe this until the second hand of the clock proceeds to click to the next tick mark and everyone moves again. They do not know this either, as, reiterating from the beginning, they are not one to notice a single second lost, or dragged out so slowly that you can live it as if you were living through your own personal minute, where no one could do anything except you.

The red hand moves.

T-Minus seven seconds to launch…

***

Val’s heart flutters with excitement. Her eyes glimmer so bright, like a child’s eyes on Christmas morning. She listens to the countdown, mouthing the seconds along with mission control. She’s been waiting for this moment for a lifetime, and now, well, now her dream is coming true. 

What she doesn’t know is that as soon as mission control finishes the word ‘launch’, it will be her own time to take on the frozen second, and truly have a moment to herself for the last time in a year. However, people don’t do very well alone, dependent on themselves, and they definitely don’t do well when they’re surrounded by others who are unmoving, staring blankly at whichever way they’re facing. 

Confusion hits Val like a freight train when the clock moves to the next tick, causing her to glance frantically at the others around her. She calls out their names, but obviously, they can’t hear her. Ha. Ha. Universe. You’re funny. But I don’t like this game, so please stop it. She thinks, her breathing hitched. Of course, it’s not the universe controlling the time, but an outside force, unknown to all, except one. 

Valerie tries to slow her breathing, knowing it is unhealthy for the weak heart inside her body to have to work at such a high pace, knowing that if she overloads it, she could drop dead in less than a minute, maybe even a second. She works on the breathing exercises that her cardiologist showed her, inhaling for four seconds, holding for four seconds, exhaling for four seconds, and finally, holding once again for four seconds. Square breathing, he called it. She never liked it much, but it works. 

Once she calms her heart, the clock ticks once more, reenacting the countdown, allowing time to go on as normal.

Until it doesn’t.

T-Minus six seconds to launch…

***

Sam Dayler is the calmest person on the rocket right now. Unless you count the professionally trained astronauts, then she is probably the eleventh calmest person on board. Her patience is the key to staying cool, calm, and collected. She learned this skill about a year ago, after that nasty event involving Alyssa. If she wasn’t calm, she would find herself on front covers of tabloids, and all over the internet. That only happened once. It will never happen again. 

They also aren’t one to care if time slows. It’s just one second, right? There are 86,400 of those in a whole day. If everything goes as planned, and in this moment, nothing is going as planned. Time is slowing, people are confused, and, if Jace was caught up in this mess, she would go ballistic. Thankfully, xe aren’t here, and the only people affected are the amateurs. 

Sam doesn’t even notice that the countdown is not moving, or that the people around them are not moving either. Which is good for them, however, it is not good for the person who started all of this. That person in mention is quite irritated at Sam’s reaction to their actions, but they let it go, just because they’ve found better reactions in others around them. 

When something finally clicks in Sam’s brain, causing them to question what is happening, they don’t really give it a second thought, after coming to a conclusion that something must be happening in mission control. Nothing seems out of the ordinary to them, therefore, it does not register in their brain that they must find the solution to the problem. Sam would be the perfect person for a horror movie. 

Tick.

T-Minus five seconds to launch…

***

Selena is perpetually confused, so when the second hand stops after the crew at mission control says five, there isn’t much difference. She, unlike the others before her, decides to unfasten her seatbelt and untangle it from her deep yellow spacesuit, before standing up. She walks past the others, silently questioning their choices to look like dead corpses right before a launch, especially a televised one, where everyone (well, almost everyone) is watching you. Selena keeps walking until she reaches the door window to the airlock. 

Ever since the crew boarded the ship, she wanted to go inside, but no, she had to wait six months, the astronauts said. Why she had to wait was a mystery, but now, all by herself, she wanted to sneak in. Selena tapped on the keypad and opened the doors, slipping into the pressurized room, leaving the door open so she could get back out after she was done exploring. 

What she didn’t know was that she was being followed.

The figure who stood on the other side of the door shut the door silently, only allowing the smallest click of the lock to interrupt the silence. They smiled while they walked away, leaving Selena behind in the airlock, who, if forgotten about for too long without an oxygen mask, could perish from the lack of breathable air, too high of pressure, or being set on fire. These actions, of course, were all on purpose. 

When Selena turns to leave, she notices the door closed. I didn’t close that door, right? She thinks, as a wave of panic and despair washes over her, leaving her weak. She lets her legs crumple from beneath her and falls limply to the floor. She locates an oxygen mask, and, remembering her training, crawls over to it, unhooks the mask from the wall, and fastens it to her face, just in case. Selena bangs on the door, calling out for help, but no one can hear her, obviously. Someone will find her eventually, though, even if it’s not until they’re safely up in space. Her fellow crewmates will notice she’s gone and alert someone, right?

She can only hope.

The clock lives.

T-Minus four seconds to launch…

***

Nathaniel tugs at the collar of his faded blue spacesuit, then at the overly tight seat belt causing the tightness around his neck. He drums his fingers on the armrest, but the normally satisfying clank of the metal, did nothing but increase his anxiety. He’s always been terrible on planes, one time, during takeoff, he decided to take out his favorite book at the time, The Most Uncommon Ways to Die, and read the segment about planes that were unreliable, and liked to take nosedives randomly, such as the Boeing 737 max crashes in 2018. Nathaniel then proceeded to talk to the stranger next to him about the chances of dying while on the plane. The lady left for the bathroom about a minute in, and never came back. He always thought she died, but really she hid in first class, away from the strange sixteen-year-old boy spewing nonsense about death. 

Now, he’s learned that maybe reading frightening books about your specific mode of travel is not something you should do right before you try to go somewhere, but it’s very hard to ignore the fact that spaceships explode more often than planes. 

Because of his very, very, very rational fear, Nathaniel misses the stopping of the clock. Instead of realizing that he is frozen in time, he fidgets with everything that is possible to fidget with such as tugging at his spacesuit, plucking at the foam cushions on his chair, fiddling with the seatbelt, clicking his fingers on the arm restraints, even squeezing empty water bottles, just to listen to the crackling noises. Thankfully, the noise is enough to calm him down just enough to make the time pass.

The seconds hand moves less than an inch until it is enough to carry on to the next tick mark.

But it cannot stay in action, so yet again, it stops.

T-Minus three seconds to launch...

***

Finn is too distracted by his camera when time stops to actually notice everything in slow motion around him. He pans the camera around to everyone, filming the video content for his documentary, unmoved by the dead-like people around him. They all have pulses, though, but as explained before, he is frozen in time, therefore everyone else looks dead. Occasionally, there is movement, but not very often. However, as he moves the camera from person to person, he notices that Selena is gone. Her location unknown to him, he knows that wherever she is, is most likely dangerous, especially around launch. Finn turns off the camera and unbuckles his restraints, slowly getting out of his seat, unsure of whether doing it is the right plan. When he comes to the quick conclusion that death is more consequential than fear, he lets his legs move, searching around the cabin. 

Once he can shove unimportant thoughts out of his head, Finn remembers the place that Selena wanted to go to the most, was the airlock. He lets his feet carry him to the nearest one, keys in the code, and stands back as the door swings open, revealing a weak Selena hiding behind. Since she was trapped in the airlock, the seconds did not stop moving in slow motion for her, so, luckily, she can move at the same pace as Finn. He tells her that they’re leaving in less than two seconds, still unaware of the fact that time has slowed and no one is talking anymore, but that doesn’t matter at the moment. 

Finn leads Selena out of the airlock and brings her back to her seat, before buckling her in tight, and returning to his own. The stubborn clock decided that it would wait for Finn to return, so once he is safely in his seat, preoccupied by his camera again, the skinny red hand clicks into action, also moving the minute hand to the next minute. However, the poor second hand does not get to have the feeling of liberation for too long, because it once again slows and comes to a stop. A clock’s work is never done. 

T-Minus two seconds to launch…

***

Myriad is haunted by her evil pastime, but that doesn’t truly mean that it is a pastime. It is still a reality, whether she wants to believe it or not.  She’s behind schemes that even all-knowing people, like the narrator, don’t even know. Some of her schemes are even set to take place on this mission to mars. Some are ordered by an outside force, others she’s decided on her own. Myriad is dangerous, no matter how kind and sweet she appears to be. And the danger could be lethal. 

She is also well aware of her lonely second, for reasons that are classified and to be released later on in the story. There are limitless possibilities for her, knowing, that is. She could do anything, but in order to stay unsuspicious (yes, she knows no one is aware of what she is doing, however, most people who commit crimes are a lot more wary of people finding out, so they’ll do anything to cover it up. Anything.), she decides to stay in her seat and fiddle with her dark greenish-black spacesuit, staring down at her black gravity boots, watching her feet click together, reminiscing of better times. Times when she wasn’t bogged down with guilt. Times when she didn’t have to commit crime after crime, to cover-up the last crime. 

But once you go down the rabbit hole of murder and schemes, you can never climb out.

Ever. 

The clock forces themself out of the last frozen second, and begins to function normally, allowing the personnel inside to go to Mars. The clock will never forget who wronged them. The clock will get their revenge. 

Ding, dong.

T-Minus one second to launch.

Liftoff, we have liftoff. Mars Mission is a go.

***

Jace watches as the rocket lifts off the launch pad and flies into the air. Ten seconds go by, then twenty, then thirty, and forty, and fifty, and sixty, all the way up to three minutes and twenty five seconds, and the rocket is no longer visible. Xe won’t have to come in contact with those humans for a while. Maybe even forever. 

Especially if everything goes according to xyr plan.

And xe have a human on the inside to make sure everything stays on track to be completed. 

If it doesn’t? Well, I can’t tell you that. You’ll just have to wait and see.

 

Author's Note: Like I promised, here is another part. It definitely isn't of the quality of the one I posted yesterday, and it is a bit shorter, but it's okay. After all, who doesn't like a good food fight? :)

Chapter Six — Space pt. 1

T-MINUS 5 MONTHS, 15 DAYS TO ARRIVAL
Time in space is rather meaningless, if you truly think about it. When you wake up, there is darkness. When you eat lunch, there is darkness. When you go to sleep, there is also darkness. All this darkness is cured by lights, lights so bright that, if not accustomed to them, could temporarily blind you. For the past five days, there has been endless complaining from each of the ametuer astronauts, as they did not have the bright light training during their brief, ten day session. In their individual rooms, however, the lights are able to be dimmed, for the sake of sleeping, and using the provided computer. So, because of the convenience, most of everyone’s time is spent in their rooms, away from the insanely bright lights, except for Finn, who annoyingly floats around the different cabins in the spaceship, filming various things, like the communication between astronauts, or a crewmate completing a task, or even the simplest thing of eating dehydrated and/or room temperature food. Speaking of food, that simple task is about to get a lot more interesting.

If you remember (if you don’t, you will in just a few words), Jace had each of the humans write on their form what they’d do with zero gravity (which is actually just weightlessness, but Jace does not like to be corrected). And if you read each of the forms, then you’d remember what Sam Jersey decided to write on his form. (If you don’t, just hang on, I’m about to tell you.) Food fight, he said just a mere twenty days ago. Yes, you heard me right. Food fight. 

How does a food fight work in space? You ask.

Well, how about you wait? I’m about to tell you.

***

When one person floats about in the kitchen area, specifically Myriad Finch, trying to find the dehydrated ‘Moon Cheese’ and the crackers, there is another lurking behind, observing the terrible food options that exist in a spaceship. This person is Nova. At approximately noon, Finn Day floats into the kitchen, grabbing one of the weird spinach and banana protein drinks, one of the only liquids on the ship. Just two minutes later, Sam Jersey and Nathaniel come in, swinging from bar to bar, as if they were back on Earth, crossing the monkey bars. Sam grabs a bag of pasta chips (which are very strange, mind you, but they taste amazing), and Nathaniel takes the packaged chicken and a tortilla. At exactly 12:10 PM, Sam Dayler and Selena come in, debating whether they should have the same thing, or if they should choose their normal foods, dehydrated mac and cheese snacks and beef tacos. Once decided, Sam takes the dehydrated mac and cheese, and Selena combines two of her favorite foods, mac and cheese and tacos, by placing the cheese snacks inside of a tortilla. The best of both worlds. Valerie and Zo come cartwheeling in, each taking pizza flavored kale chips (which I personally don’t understand, but hey, it’s food). Athene comes last, at 12:15 PM, choosing some sort of greek soup that somehow can live in the spaceship, though when she opens the lid, droplets of soup float into the air, creating a cool effect, but not a practical way of eating. Once they all strap into the table in the luncheon hall, they eat peacefully.

Where’s the food fight? You promised one! You shout. 

Just hold on. I’m getting there. 

***

Sam Jersey is bored out of his mind. The daily schedule has been the same. Wake up at 7:30 AM. Eat breakfast immediately. Do tasks. Go to a lecture. Eat lunch between 12:00 PM and 12:45 PM. Do more tasks. Have some free time. Eat dinner at 6:00 PM with the other astronauts. Have some more free time. Go to bed between 8:00 PM and 10:00 PM. 

Like originally said, bo-ring. 

He has to do something, other than suffer from boredom and eat pasta chips daily. And that’s when he remembers.

Food fight.

He looks down at the sad, empty foil bag and furrows his brow. And that’s when it hits him. There is a small jar of tomato soup in the pantry. He unbuckles the restraining belt and allows himself to float over to the cabinet, where the soups and sauces live. He retrieves the tomato soup and peels back the tin lid, revealing the congealed, oily, tomato mush. Sam glides back over to the table and proclaims at the top of his lungs,

“FOOD FIGHT!”

And then proceeds to dump the tomato soup over Myriad’s perfectly smooth, brown hair. Of course, because of the lowered amount of gravity and the absence of weight, the soup hovers over the top of her head, particles of oil occasionally falling out of the air and splattering down on her. Sam Jersey cackles at the same time Myriad screams her head off, batting away the floating tomato sauce. She then throws her fig and olive crackers at him, which do nothing except float meaninglessly through the air. 

Her face etched into sorrow, Myriad takes cover in a cabinet away from the throwing of the foods. Finn simply takes out his camera and films from a safe distance, occasionally taking a bag of food out of the air and eating it. Athene and Nova get together and form an alliance, the stash of greek soup as their weapon of choice. They succeed in hitting the founder of the fight, Sam J., but cannot seem to target anyone else. Selena, Val, and Zo take cover in a nearby dormitory, occasionally poking their heads out and throwing kale chips at people. The kale chips refuse to heed their wishes and float aimlessly throughout the air, often becoming victims of Finn. Surprisingly, Nathaniel and Sam Dayler work together, gathering the most food, and setting up camp in the kitchen itself, instead of the luncheon hall, pelting anyone who dares to come near, and are eventually proclaimed winners. 

Once safe, everyone comes out from hiding, and sits down together at the table, dissolving into fits of laughter whilst admiring the damage they all created. Unfortunately for them, it is past 12:45, and the head astronaut, Avery McKinnon, is already angry. Of course, when she comes to find what sort of mischievous actions the amateurs are up to, she is angry, angrier than a pack of emus fighting ostriches, and that’s saying something.

“What the heck did you ten do in here? It looks like a stampede of elephants decided to destroy all of our food! And you all are covered in it! We, here in space, have to stick to a very strict schedule, and throwing food is not sticking to the schedule! Now someone explain, otherwise you will be confined to your rooms for a month, food will be delivered to you, lectures will take place on your computers, and you will write a 500-word essay on why schedules are necessary in space.” Avery says sternly, glancing at everyone with narrowed eyes. “So? Who’s going to fess up to causing this mess?”

The ten look at each other, attempting to hide their glee. No one speaks. Truthfully, they could use a month-long break from the strenuous schedule, and a 500-word essay is nothing compared to the school work everyone is oh so accustomed to. Nova looks like she is about to break, spewing all the information out, but Athene clasps her hand over their mouth and smiles sweetly at Avery. 

Discontented with the no-answer, Avery sighs loudly and resorts to the only thing she knows best. 

Punishment. 

“I guess you will all be confined to your rooms for a month. And that starts after you clean up the mess you’ve made in the kitchen and luncheon hall. I’m very disappointed in you all, and I do hope you learn from your wrongs. This sort of mischief will not be tolerated in the future. You all are supposed to be responsible adults/young adults, and if you’re not, I’m not sure this was the right decision on your part. Now clean. I expect you to be done by 2:00 PM. If you’re not, your sentence will be extended. Ta-ta.”

She floats away, leaving the amateurs to burst into laughter and smiles all around. They, of course, are proud of their actions. If something isn’t fun, did it really happen? Of course not. Cleaning, however, is not fun, but it is the small price to pay for their fun and a month-long break. No one curses at Miss Avery for her rudeness, no one talks either. They take out the cleaning supplies and wipe their mess away from the area, hiding a moment of fun from having a long lasting impact. 

Once everyone finishes, they wish each other good luck, and say goodbye, before retreating to their personal dormitories and exchanging their soiled spacesuits for crisp, clean ones. Finn begs for permission to continue filming the empty halls in exchange for trying to get each of the professional astronauts their own personal interviews, which is immediately agreed to. He also attempts to get out of the essay, but Avery stays firm on that. The others begin on their essay planning, which doesn’t take too long, especially since they were handed pamphlets on the exact subject ten days ago. 

However, everyone knows that when there are consequences, sneaking things gets a lot more interesting. Zo peeks their head out of the curtains secluding themselves from everyone else, and knocks on Val’s wall. She comes out, wary of what she might find, and Zo slips her a piece of paper including her email address and a small note reading ‘Email me. :)’. They both retract back into their rooms and start the beginning of what will eventually be a very, very, very long email chain. Athene sneaks out of her room and into Nova’s through the door that connects the two dorms. They play cards and Athene attempts to teach Nova how to draw, which isn’t as hard as she thought. Finn, of course with no restrictions, floats about the empty corridors, filming the silence, and occasionally tracking down a professional astronaut to interview. Sam Dayler and Nathaniel decide to co-author a part-novel, part-memoir, describing their food fight victory, communicating by morse code between their rooms, which, contrary to popular opinion, is not that hard, especially made easy with they’re simple knocking patterns, instead of dots and dashes. Selena crosses the entire corridor, just to hide in Sam Jersey’s dorm, so they can play Nintendo together. And finally, Myriad roams the entire spaceship, going unnoticed by everyone, continuing her planned schemes. Strangely, she even lurks outside Avery’s dorm creepily, and she is never noticed or berated for her actions. 

There are always loopholes, you just have to be smart enough to find them.

***

“Yes, Jace. Uh huh. Uh huh. Okay. I SAID YES, DID YOU NOT HEAR ME? Yes, I’m sorry. No, I didn't mean to raise my voice. No, I’m not angry. No, I don’t want to end the mission. Yes, they’re all in their rooms. Why? Because they had a food fight, I just know it. Yes, I’m aware. Yes, they’re being punished accordingly. Uh huh. Okay. Well, I must go now, the oxygen light is flashing, I think I have to fix the monitor again. No, I’m not avoiding you. Yes, there really is the problem. Okay, I’ll send you a picture. Okay, sent. See? Uh huh. Alright. Okay. OKAY. Bye, Jace.”

Avery sighs and leans against the dashboard. Jace’s hunger for power has intensified too much since the mission left, too much to handle anymore. Each phone call has gotten worse and worse, with Jace checking in every hour on the hour, and if the check in is missed, Avery is threatened. She wants to distance from xem, but the strings are just too tight. They can’t be cut. 

A shrill beep alerts her that she still has to fix the oxygen monitor. She sets the controls to autopilot, and leaves the front cabin, heading for the O2 module. What she finds there is a perfectly intact oxygen machine and a figure hooded in green velvet. 

“Who are you?” She calls out, masking her fright with a stern tone. “You shouldn’t be here.”

“Depends on who you ask.” The figure retorts, their voice unreadable. 

“Who’d you ask then?”

“Unimportant. Have a nice fall, I’ll see you in a moment.”

“What? Wait—”

Avery couldn’t finish her sentence before the ground opened beneath her and swallowed her into the belly of the storage room. She lands with a thud onto an empty wooden box that collapses upon impact. She stands up flustered and glances around frantically, trying to eye the figure who did this. Because they were going to pay. 

The figure comes down a spiral staircase, accompanied by dramatic flair. They set eyes on a frazzled Avery and smile. 

“I’m sorry I have to do this. Boss’s orders.” They say.

“Do what?”

The figure tugs on a rope nearby, dropping a rather large, empty, weighted box falls from the top of the room, over Avery. 

“That.”

She cries out, but they dismiss it. They walk up the staircase and silently shut the door behind them, only allowing the slightest noise of a click when they turn the lock, just as they did when they shut Selena in the airlock. Only this time, Avery wouldn’t escape. Because no one will remember her. 

Unfortunately, the figure did not know that someone was watching their every move through the security cameras. Even though their identity still stays a mystery, Avery will be found. 

Eventually.

Author's Note: Sorry I didn't get one out yesterday! I didn't have much time to write. But here is Chapter Seven. :)

Chapter Seven — Space pt. 2

T-MINUS 4 MONTHS, 18 DAYS TO ARRIVAL

It is day twenty-eight of the astronauts' one month (thirty-one day) sentence, and yet, they never adhered to the rules. In fact, each day at 2:00 PM exactly, they all meet in a vacated conference room, just to hang out. But today, they have a better mission. Twenty-eight days ago, one of them watched as Avery was trapped in storage, left without food and water, nor clean clothes. Thankfully enough, the green velvet cloaked person is kind enough to bring her food and water, but that is it. No matter how much the amateurs despise her, she is the reason this mission is possible. Today, they are finally going to free her from the cage. 

Nova sticks their head out through their room's curtains, surveying the corridor. Once they feel it is clear, they knock twice on Athene’s door, prompting her to also breach the safety of her curtains. They scramble through the long hallway, quieter than a coyote on ice, knocking a certain pattern on the wooden door frames belonging to the specific ten. As if it were a spy mission, or a choreographed movie, the other’s heads peak out of their own curtains. Nova and Athene lead the way to the conference room, the other eight following behind. They all file into the room, melting down into the gorgeous, mesh spinning chairs that everyone can attest to stealing from their grade school teachers or parents at least one time in their life. 

Once ready, Val brings the meeting to order, so they can talk about the game plan. Each and every person perks up in their chair, ready to provide new information, well, except one. And that person is Myriad Finch. She sits slumped in her chair, eyes blank, face emotionless. She avoids eye contact with each of the others, staring down at her feet. As Val allows Zo to give their input, Myriad looks up.

“I don’t think this is a good idea.” She blurts, causing all heads to turn and look her way. She stutters with all the attention on her, but still continues. “I mean, whoever must have done that, definitely is on some sort of mission or whatnot, and maybe it’s best not to get in their way? What if we end up in a trap next? What if they’re waiting for us down there? What if someone dies?” 

“We’ve already thought about that, remember?” Zo begins, stifling a sigh. “We decided that she’s the reason we can actually go to Mars, whilst Jace is the one who invited us, so we should take the risk. Weren’t you here at the day twenty meeting? ‘Cause that’s when we decided. And if you want to back out, that’s fine, but we’re already too far into this, and the more numbers we have, the better chance we can help Avery. Are you in, or not?”

Myriad can feel it—everyone looking at her that is. Their eyes burn into her skin, causing her to yelp. After strange looks from the others, and the worsening guilty conscience, she mumbles an agreement and stares down into her lap, fiddling with loose hair that had fallen out of her near perfect braid. 

With all interruptions out of the way, Zo continues with their intel, followed by Finn, Sam Dayler, Nathaniel, and Sam Jersey; then Selena, Nova, Athene, and Val. Though she agreed to participate, Myriad does not speak the whole time, still believing this is a bad idea, but there is more behind it. More secrets. More lies. And most importantly, more crime. So, she will go along, but silently. It’s always best to avoid suspicion. 

"So, the only thing we have to look out for, is a green velvet cloaked person. They’re the person who did this, and they’re also the person who is the most dangerous at the moment. I—” Val says, standing up, out of the chair, ready to leave.

"Um, I’m sorry to even ask, but it was never clarified that there was a person cloaked in green velvet. How do you know this? Are you that person? Did you trap Avery? Should we be careful of you? I’m telling you all… this is a bad idea. I can just feel it.” Myriad asks, her three questions almost to the point of manipulation. 

Almost to the point where she wants Valerie to say that it was her, when it most definitely was not. Val was the farthest away from Avery at the time. Where was she then? Well, you’re about to figure out. 

“What I was about to say, before you oh-so-kindly interrupted me, was that I was the one at the cameras, and I noticed the green velvet. My mom actually used to make cloaks similar to that before she died. So of course I’d remember. What’s with you today, Myriad? You seem especially jumpy.”

“Oh. Oh, um, nothing. I guess I didn’t sleep very well. I don’t know.”

“Okay then. Anyways. Who’s ready to save a prisoner? I know I am!”

The rest, except, of course, Myriad, echo the excitement. They all unstrap from the chairs almost in sync, allowing the weightlessness to float them up towards the ceiling. Myriad, still down below, reluctantly follows the same steps, but slower. And instead of floating, she stays cemented to the ground, thanks to the help of her gravity boots. She follows as Finn leads them out of the room and towards O2, then towards the locked storage door. Stepping aside, Finn allows a persistent Nova to unlock the door and lead the way down the oh-so-familiar spiral staircase, towards Avery’s box. 

“Who’s there.” She growls hoarsely, the conditions obviously getting to her. 

Without answering each of the ten (yes, even Myriad), assume a place around the storage box. They curl their fingers underneath the heavy wood. Nathaniel leads the countdown, starting on three, lifting after one. The first attempt fails, and so does the second. 

“Third times’ the charm!” Sam Dayler reminds everyone as Nathaniel counts down for the third time. 

They all lift the box with all their might, exhaling loudly when they’re able to move it over Avery and set it down to the side. Underneath, Avery sits, her face filthy, and hair a mess. She looks from Athene, to Nova, to Val and Zo and Selena, to the Sams and Nathanial, and to Finn and Myriad, her scowl fading, slowly transforming into a stone-cold, emotionless state.

“Wh-what—ahem—what are you guys doing here, I thought you were supposed to be in your rooms.” 

She gathers herself off the ground, brushing the filth and hair out of her face, resuming her usual confident, in-command stature, though, it was lacking most of the confidence and command. The ten amateurs look between each other, after not expecting this sort of… thank you? Zo turns to speed away up the stairs, but Val stops her. Everyone stares at Avery, while she stands awkwardly in silence. 

“You’re dismissed.” Is all that Avery says before marching away, up the stairs, through the airlock, and out of sight, most likely to take a very, very, very long shower and eat all the food she possibly can. 

“So…” Finn begins, rocking forward on his feet.

“Well, I’d call that a success, I guess. We should probably go back to our rooms, we don’t want to risk staying out here for much longer, in case that person comes in, or something. Anyways, I’m out.” Myriad says, scrambling out of the room as the others look on, rather confused. 

“Yes, good job all. Like Myriad said, I do think we should go back to our rooms, or at least get out of here.” Val adds, giving high-fives to the people around her. 

“We did it! See you guys later!” Zo calls, causing others to mumble their approval and file out of storage and back into the main module of the spaceship, having to adjust to the difference between the gravity between the two rooms. 

What they didn’t know was that the figure in green velvet was watching them, just around the corner.

And they were mad.

***

“Look, Jace, I told you I’m sorry. It’s not my fault, exactly. I was stuck under a box for twenty-eight days. Yes, Jace, twenty-eight days. There isn’t much I could do. No, Jerry is a perfectly fine substitute. Sure, he’s not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but he gets stuff done, unlike those ten worthless children you sent me to babysit. Well, yeah, they saved me, but they didn’t listen to me when I told them to stay in their rooms. That’s even worse. What are they going to do next, murder someone? No, no, NO, that was a joke. I’m not serious. Jeez, I’m sorry. Okay, won’t happen again, I got it. Uh huh. Well, I’m going to let you go, I should probably take a month’s worth of showers and get back to my job. Yes, I’ll be here next call. I hope. Okay. Have fun. Bye, Jace.”

Avery slams the phone back into its spot and leans onto the dashboard, staring out into the dark, cold abyss called space, but her eyes are dark and unseeing. Conflicting emotions swarm inside her mind, like an ominous rain cloud blowing in during a windstorm. She runs her hands through her filthy hair and lets them crash back down, disappointed in herself, though she is nowhere close to being at fault here. 

She sucks in a breath and the darkness fades from her eyes, instead turning to a glossy white. Her lip quivers, but she stays strong.

For a while.

Avery can’t take the pain anymore and lets her legs crumble from under her, collapsing to the floor. Shle then pulls her knees into her chest and rocks for a moment.

And for the first time in over a decade, Avery cries. 

***

Athene and Nova sit in Athene’s room, a card table between them. They each have a half a deck of cards, with a small pile of discarded ones on the other side. On the count of three, both Athene and Nova flip over the top card on their deck. Athene, with a six of hearts, takes both her card and Nova’s two of spades. She grins at the victory, and they start again, this time, when the cards are revealed, they both have a ten, Athene with the ten of clubs, and Nova with the ten of hearts. They both declare war, placing three cards face down next to their tens, then flipping the fourth card face up. Nova wins the round, after having an ace of spades, conquering over Athene’s mere two of clubs.  Nova surveys the cards and they smile victoriously, taking two of Athene’s aces. They mime placing a crown on their head, acting like a quing (genderless ruler in power) for just a moment, causing Athene to collapse in a fit of giggles. Once she can collect herself, the two go back to playing War.

“Hey, uh, do you think Myriad’s acting a tad… um… strange? I feel like there’s something more to her than we’re seeing, and it kind of scares me.” Nova says after three consecutive wins. 

“Oh, yeah. There is definitely something up. But I don’t know if it is just her being awkward, or if she’s trying to do something, I think she’s failing awfully at it, so you have nothing to worry about. Anyways, we have green velvet to think about, so I doubt that Myriad is a threat at all.” Athene counters. 

“I guess you’re right. Thanks.”

“Always.”

Athene offers a kind smile to Nova, and they continue to play, oblivious to a shadow, floating behind the rose pink curtain of Athene’s room, listening to every word. You’d expect them to be angry, or maybe confused, or maybe even sad. But they’re not.

Instead, they smile. 

They have everyone where they need to be.

Especially Athene and Nova.

Because those two are a lot more important than they think they are.