Twin Earth

“Okay, we’ve got about a two to three-hour window to get you guys up there before the next hurricane hits us,” Trevor shouted as we walked in to Level 5. “I need you to put on these.”

“I knew there was something else I hated about space travel,” I mumbled as I took the skin-tight space suit that Trevor was now passing us.

“Your helmets are in the craft.”

“Where’s all this water coming from?” Rachel asked looking down to our feet and splashing the few puddles that had collected there.

“The rain hasn’t stopped for nearly four days,” Hayden replied walking over. “Our pumps have been working non-stop and are slowly burning out from the work load. This whole room will probably be under water by tomorrow. We need to get you launched now and relocate back upstairs.”

Raising my eye-brows, I couldn’t quite believe that my first trip into space was going to a botched job on an untested craft without the consent of the British government. It couldn’t get more ridiculous.

“Is it safe to launch in these conditions?” I asked.

“We don’t have much choice Tom. James, I want you back upstairs now with my colleague Doctor Felix for pre-launch testing and you two need to get changed.”

Nodding, I pulled Rachel away from gawping at the pod craft and instructed her to use one of the side rooms for privacy. Finding my own room, I closed the door and placed the space suit on an empty desk and stared at it.

‘What ever happened to the big chunky white suits?’ I thought to myself sadly.

I had never felt comfortable wearing these newly designed skin-tight bio suits, as they always showed off my less than perfect physique with its pressurised shrink wrap technology and there would always be one tourniquet coil that would nip just a little too much in the wrong place.

I closed the blinds and stripped off the majority of my clothes and yanked on the ugly grey and orange suit. Zipping up the short zips I then hesitated before switching on the electrical current.

‘Here we go,’ I moaned as I pushed the switch and felt the mild vibrations spread around my body, pulling the suit swiftly into shape and tight against my skin. Twitching uncomfortably, I shoved my belongings into a nearby locker and made my way back out to Trevor and Hayden.

“Nice,” Rachel smiled joining me. “It suits you.”

“Shut up,” I moaned, but I had to confess she looked a lot better in her suit than I did mine. It was nice to see her out of heels too and in something more casual, if you could call a space suit casual.

“Right, I need you both to study the controls quickly with Magnus before I launch the final phase countdown,” Trevor announced.

“Don’t we get some training first?” Rachel asked worriedly, as we were ushered down the stairs towards the craft. “I’ve not been in something like this before.”

“No-one has,” I mumbled bluntly.

We waited as Magnus silently fiddled with some controls and then we gasped in astonishment as one side of the craft vibrated and seemingly disappeared into nothing.

“Where did the door go? Rachel asked in surprise.

“The outer-shell of the ionohex is made using Nano-molecular self-assembly manipulation.”

“I’m sorry what?” Rachel asked.

Sighing in annoyance, Magnus looked up at Rachel. “Think about what a door does. It needs to hold you securely and safely behind something right? Well, the usual doors you find on current space craft may work for such things, but it is extremely rigid and can be easily damaged, especially by space debris, but I am sure you know all about that Doctor Takahashi.”

Ignoring the jibe, I looked away and waited for the billionaire to continue his patronising explanation.

“The atoms that put together this door I can manipulate to be more responsive and stronger using molecular self-assembly. It is a quantum controlled mechanical door made from artificial molecules, foldamers, that define precise patterns of interconnection that I can switch on and off with a touch of a button. The whole craft has been developed in this way...”

“Okay, thanks Magnus, we get the point. Can we get in now?” I quipped.

Frowning Magnus motioned for us to climb in.

“I see we still need seats belt though?” I retorted, strapping myself in to the tiny compartment and switching on the screen in front of us.

As the door reappeared behind us, becoming a solid structure once again, it sealed the tiny space craft, creating a softening of sound.

“This is cosy,” Rachel joked, but I could hear her voice tremble as she did so.

Ignoring her I played around with the controls and was relieved to see that the majority of the systems were typical of a NASA space craft even with the fancy new technology.

“How much did you actually train for back in Germany?” I asked Rachel, relaxing back into my chair and checking a few controls on my seat.

“I’ve had medical training and built up some hours on a mock-up, but not on anything like this.”

“What about preparing for micro-gravity? Had any fun on the Vomit Comet?”

“The what?”

“Have you ever been weightless before?”

“No,” Rachel whispered nervously.

“Great,” I mumbled to myself.

“We didn’t get time. I’ve had some time training for extravehicular activities under water, and I’ve watched some precision air-bearing floor work, but...”

“So, you basically had a jolly as an intern for a while and did nothing?”

“I... I...” but Rachel didn’t finish, instead she looked down at her lap and fiddled with her belt.

“I’m just concerned that not only will I have to deal with this stupid space pod, but I’ll also have to deal with an in-experienced passenger,” I replied. “I’m not being mean...”

“Yes, you are,” Rachel interrupted, looking up at me. “You haven’t been in space either. I may not know much about being an astronaut, but I do know my science. I don’t know what the problem is that you have with me, but...”

“I don’t have a problem with you,” I snapped.

“Yes you do, ever since I’ve met you you’ve been looking down your nose at me. I might be young, and I might be a woman, but I was one of the leading researchers on the Euclid telescope and the empty space project, regardless of my age. I know my stuff. I’ve also spent time at the Large Hadron Collider with one of my close friends who’s a physics coordinator for the CMS experiment at CERN. I know that this anomaly, if it does contain dark matter, will be a fantastic opportunity for studying dark matter because dark matter is slowly being diluted through the expansion of the universe, yet this anomaly is growing, seemingly producing dark matter where it didn’t exist before. Only dark energy is increasing, not dark matter...”

“Okay, okay,” I breathed. “You don’t have to prove yourself to me.”

“Well, it seems I do!” Rachel complained, staring at me. Sighing heavily, Rachel double checked her belt again and looked away. I knew I was being deliberately difficult, but I was too proud to admit I was just as nervous as she was. I was even beginning to wonder if I should have let Trevor join me on this mission after-all.

“T minus seven minutes, thirty seconds,” a voice I didn’t recognise suddenly crackled into the craft.

“Already?” I breathed.

“I guess we’re on our way,” Rachel replied, suddenly forgetting all her animosity towards me and smiling, but apart from a strange blue glow entering the small craft neither of us felt any vibration or movement from below. There was also no sound being generated.

“This thing is on, right?” I asked to no-one in particular. “Do I need to do anything else?” I mumbled, scanning the screen again in front of me, but all seemed correct.

“T minus five minutes. Entering plasma sequence one.”

Now there was a clunk, as whatever had been holding us into position was suddenly released. A strange feeling of buoyancy was suddenly felt underneath and although the craft was still silent I could sense the energy building up below.

“T minus three minutes, fifty-five seconds.”

Suddenly the narrow window running around the craft was splattered with rain as the opening to the outside far up ahead began to slide open.

“I guess Magnus didn’t think of windscreen wipers,” I joked.

“T minus two minutes.”

The O2 venting button flashed green and I hurried to switch it off, glad to do something useful.

“Don’t want any birds hitting this thing,” I mumbled, pulling on my helmet and sliding down my visor. Nodding, Rachel did the same and softly gripped onto her seat belt in anticipation of our launch.

“T minus thirty seconds. On-board launch sequencer is now yours.”

“Thanks... over?” I replied, unsure of the protocol after so many years.

“Roger that,” the voice replied with a hint of laughter in his voice.

“T minus ten seconds, nine seconds, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one...”