Trapped

Chapter 1

The beginning

The alarms were blaring and the rooms were filled with red lights. Something had gone horribly wrong. Everyone was running around, panicking so was I. I ran over to the escape pods and pressed the OPEN button as fast as I could. Damn it, it wasn’t working. The ship would go down soon. I hid under a fallen cupboard and hoped and prayed that I would survive the crash.

2003 wasn’t the best year. Inflation was at its highest. And Russian spies were leaking the US’s most confidential papers. A few months ago I finished my training as an astronaut when I was 29 so things were looking pretty good for me. On October 3rd shortly after my 29th birthday George W bush announced that the US was going to Mars. I was pretty sure that the US wanted to colonize another planet. It was pretty obvious. For 23 years the US had been building a spaceship that could withstand the temperatures of Mars. All of it in secret as well. They were looking for young astronauts. They ran tests and it showed that younger candidates were better for the job. The older candidates got heart attacks when they entered the simulation. I was picked as an engineer I would make sure that the engines didn’t go ka-Blamey while we were in space. We were going to lift off at 3:00 am in the morning on a cold day in July. They hadn’t disclosed any more information, just in case we were Russian spies or something. So there I was sitting in front of a blank TV. I had been worrying about the flight ever since I was chosen. What if everything exploded and we all died? The What ifs just kept on coming. My foot started to tap against the hard aluminium floor of my apartment. The car would pick me up soon. I gave them my address and they would knock 5 times on my door. KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK. I jumped up from my seat and opened the door with my jittery left hand. 2 men with dark sunglasses were standing at the doorway with motionless faces. I walked out of the doorway and followed them to their pitch-black van. They shoved me in the back of the van and drove to the launch site. We had been briefed on what to do and how to operate the ship. They guided me towards a changing room and gave me the suit that we would have to wear. It was orange and had blue stripes plastered across the fairly short uniform. I slipped into the tight uniform and put the black gloves on my sweaty hands. I opened the door and the 2 men were still standing there like a statue. They passed me a fairly goofy helmet and I was instructed to put it on. It had an integrated speaker inside the helmet so I could talk with the other crew members. I was guided to a large boardwalk. We were starting to board the spaceship. My hands trembled and quivered while I walked along those rickety planks. I entered the ship and found that the rest of the crew members were waiting for me. We stared at each other in silence before one crew member uttered a word.

“So.. is anyone nervous?” He asked.

“Yeah,” I muttered silently hoping that he didn’t hear my reply.

Everyone else nodded their heads.

“Is everyone here? Good, now, as you know you will be embarking on a dangerous mission. You all have your roles. You play them you will arrive and come back in one piece. Think on the bright side, you arrive back you’ll be heroes and you will retire early and receive daily payments from the government. Good luck and may god be with you,” Stated a voice.

The voice came from a loudspeaker that was in the left corner of the room. Then an animated video started to play on one of the many screens that were plastered around the giant ship.

“You each will have a coloured chair. The colour of your suit, the colour of your chair,”

My suit was orange so I sat down in the orange seat. Everyone did the same and sat down in their designated chairs.

“Look to your right and you will see a small buckle. Click it and it will strap you into your chair,” It continued.

I turned to my right and felt around for a buckle. There it was. It was right under the seat. I clicked it and a sudden jolt send a large black belt flying across my body. It was strapped to the side of the chair and tightened until it was sure that I wouldn’t fall out of my chair. I looked anxiously around the room and saw that everyone was strapped to their seats.

“Please put your helmets on,” Said the voice.

Everyone did as they were told and a visor flipped down. The air started to flow through the suits making sure that we could breathe. The air tasted horrible but it kept us alive. Just. Then the moment I’d been dreading started:

“T minus 10. T minus 9. T minus 8. T minus 7,” A computed voice said over the loudspeakers.

My heart pounded in my chest. I could feel my heart slowly coming up my throat. Beating faster. The suit was monitoring my heart rate and sent a small shock through my body. My heart started to return back to normal. Slowly but surely. I was calm and I closed my eyes. Then I heard it:

“T minus 0,”

Then as if all gravity was turned off I was sent flying into my seat. The pressure was forcing me into the seat. My ears popped and my eyes bulged. I was afraid they would pop right out of my sockets. It would be physically impossible for it to happen. And just as soon as it started it stopped and the pressure returned to normal. I lurched forward and breathed heavily. How much money was I being paid for this? I thought to myself. I instantly regretted ever becoming an astronaut.

“You may take off your helmets now,” A cheerful voice said.

I threw off my helmet and it clattered on the ground. The seatbelt undid itself and I was free to walk around. I could barely hear anything because of my ears. I put my hand up to my nose and started to blow. My ears popped and my hearing was fully restored to 100%. As told by the captain (who was a middle-aged man with a goatee) I headed to my post with one other crew member. His name was Spencer and he was the same age as me. He wore Nike glasses and was as skinny as a broomstick! I told him my name.

“My name is Parker,” I said.

I put my hand out and he shook it. While we were walking towards the engine room I noticed that Spencer had a limp. When I asked him why he said in a small voice:

“It doesn’t matter,”

I thought to myself Of course it does! If we’re going to explore a planet that no human has ever stepped foot on then we should get to know each other. We entered the room and sat at one of the reclining seats bolted to the ground. Then suddenly the whole ship shook.

“What’s happening?” Asked Spencer.

“I don’t know!” I yelled.

We both ran as fast as we could (tripping multiple times along the way) and we entered the main room. The alarms were blaring and the rooms were filled with red lights. Something had gone horribly wrong. Everyone was running around, panicking so was I. I ran over to the escape pods and pressed the OPEN button as fast as I could. Damn it, it wasn’t working. The ship would go down soon. I hid under a fallen cupboard and hoped and prayed that I would survive the crash.

END OF CHAPTER 1