A Drink Of Starlight

Owen’s eye’s slid open as he felt a descent begin. He sat up, looked around and when his eyes landed on Paige sitting seat belted into a seat in the front row he wandered over.

“Good morning or whatever time it is,” he said as he sat next to her and buckled his own belt.

“Hey sleepy head, not enough rest in paradise?”

“Can you call it rest with you dragging me to every beach in search of turtles?”

She slapped his shoulder right on a sunburn he had managed to get from forgetting to reapply sunscreen the day before, “Owww.”

“There’s more where that came from if you keep the complaints up.”

“Ok ok, I concede,” Owen rubbed the back of his head and looked around some more, “Captain say we were beginning the landing?”

“Sure did.”

“Where is everyone else?”

“Brett and Cam were snuggling in the back of our vehicle last I saw ‘em.”

Owen laughed, “I hate to break that up but I suppose I better go get them to prepare for landing, I’d hate to fall on this soft metal floor.”

As if on cue both Brett and Cam sat behind Owen and Paige and mimicked the process of buckling the seatbelts. Also in tandem the pair looked up at Owen and Paige who were watching them with smirks and said, “What?”

Paige began laughing and Owen asked, “Did you guys practice that to mess with us?”

“What? What happened?” Brett asked while looking puzzled.

“Practice what?” Cam also asked.

“Uh, nothing nevermind,” Owen started to change the subject as Paige tried to contain her laughter, “You two get a good sleep in?”

“Oh yeah, sleeping bags we thought we weren’t going to need were great with the seats folded in the back of the SUV,” said Brett.

“Surprisingly roomy back there too.” Cam added.

“Yeah Paige had mentioned she spotted you snuggling back there,” Owen pointed at the woman who was clearly not having an easy time containing herself.

“Eh it happens, at least we were comfy,” Brett shared a laugh.

“How much longer until we land?” Cam asked.

Finally able to speak after her bout of mirth Paige answered, “Captain said thirty minutes maybe ten minutes ago, so around twenty for sure.”

“Good, I could use some fresh air,” Cam sighed as he leaned his head back.

“Getting a quick nap in before we land?” Owen asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Nah, just relaxing,” Cam replied.

As the rear hatch of the plane hit the tarmac the team was blasted by the hot dry air of Australia. The flight crew was swarming around the aircraft checking various systems and pieces of equipment as well as unloading gear and supplies. As Owen stepped down onto the black pavement he spotted Maj Corvus going down a checklist with Schmitty. He beckoned the team to follow and walked over to the pair.

“Hey Crow, thanks for the smooth flights,” He called as he strolled over.

“Ah it’s not a problem Owen, thank you for the vacation we just had,” Corvus shook Owen’s hand firmly as he arrived, “What can I do ya for?”

“Was wondering if you could point us towards customs?” Owen asked, “Would like to get processed ASAP”

“Yes of course, it’s that building that’s a slightly different shade of tan than the rest of the others over there,” he pointed towards a nondescript building towards the south.

“Uh huh, I see that if I squint I can totally tell it’s slightly lighter than the buildings to the left and right of it.”

Brett roared a laugh, “Look at these two trying to out smartass each other, hey Schmitty, where are you going to have our vehicle parked for when we’re done with customs?”

“I’ll have it out front for you guys, want me to leave the keys anywhere in particular?” Schmitty asked.

“Center console is fine my man,” Brett replied.

As Owen walked through the door he saw the counter with a young woman wearing glasses working behind a computer and approached her. “Hi, we’re looking to process through customs, are we in the right place?”

She looked up from her computer and scanned the group, “Oh g’day, ya sure are, I’ll just need your passports and I’ll have you right on your way, after a few questions that is.”

Owen handed her his passport and waited for her line of questions. “Have you ever been to Australia before?”

“No ma’am.”

“Are you here for business or pleasure?”

“Business.”

“How long of a stay are you planning?”

“A day or two.”

“Where will you be staying while you’re here?”

“Uhh the inn right down the way.”

“Looks like you check out, have a nice time in the land down under, next customer.”

As he waited for the rest of the crew to process Owen walked over to a bench, sat down and pulled out his cell phone. As he did he turned airplane mode off and waited for any notifications. After a few seconds the message he had been waiting for popped up.

Give me a call when you land, I’ll get you a location to meet for the out brief -Mark

Owen swiped on the message and opened his phone then tapped on the call icon next to Mark’s name.

After a few rings Owen heard Mark’s voice on the other end of the line, “Hi Owen, how was the trip?”

“Good Mark, real good, thanks for the impromptu vacation.”

“It was the least I could do given you’re about to be seeing a lot of gray in the very near future.”

“Ha isn’t that the truth. The rest of the team is still going through customs, you mentioned a meeting place in your text?”

“Drive on over to the town of Woomera, there’s a single hotel there, old military barracks, we can meet in the lobby as you get checked in, let me know when you start driving and I’ll head out.”

“Sounds good,” Owen pressed the disconnect button and looked up just as Brett was approaching.

“Yo! Looks like Schmitty parked the SUV right over there,” Brett pointed just above Owen’s shoulder.

“Great, let’s go make sure he left the keys and get settled while we wait for the other two.”

As they walked into the lobby of the hotel Owen noticed Mark sitting with his legs crossed tapping on his phone, “Alright we’re here,” Owen announced himself.

“Fantastic, go ahead and get settled in your rooms and meet me in the gazebo in the courtyard.”

As Owen approached the door numbered as his room Paige walked past him and stopped at the down to the left of his own, “Howdy neighbor, no being too loud no y’hear,” she beamed a smile at him.

“I think I should be more worried about a break-in than you should be worried about a loud neighbor,” He teased back.

“Were break-ins listed as common on the crime report for the area?” Cam asked from directly across the hall from Owen.

“You never know with miss cat-burglar over here,” Owen pointed with a thumb at Paige.

Paige gasped in mock affront, “Why I never,” She opened her door, slipped in and poked her head back out, “See you boys in five, I’ve had to pee since we landed.” She ducked her head back in the door and it closed behind her with a click.

“That sounds like a good idea,” Cam followed suit.

As Owen descended the stair into the courtyard, he looked around and spotted the gazebo, Brett and Mark were already there and Brett’s boisterous voice could be heard from across the lawn. Owen walked over and took his place on a bench along the inside of the gazebo, Brett waved and tossed him beer, “five ‘o clock somewhere, amirite?” Owen looked down at his watch.

“It’s five now Brett.” Then Mark and Brett both laughed.

“Yeah I guess you’re right.” Brett snorted out, “Was just talking with Mark here and he let me know he’ll be joining us on this adventure.”

Owen raised an eyebrow at Mark, “That so?”

“I requested to join your team purely to assist as an administrative aid, I’d like to be your liaison to Earth to make communications as easy as possible for your team.” Mark replied. Just then Cam and Paige walked up, Cam leaned on a pillar and Paige sat across from Owen, “Well it looks like we’re all here so I’ll begin unless anyone has anything they need to do first?” Mark continued, and when none of the team interjected resumed, “Tomorrow morning we will head over to the spaceport and each get fitted with our suits, we got them all procured using your measurements from The University's database but it would be wise to check before we board the shuttle.”

“Wait, we're getting real space suits?” Paige asked, “Like something straight out of a sci-fi movie?”

“Indeed we are miss Quinn,” Mark smiled.

“Wow, I hope mine has the cliché boob pouches, I’ve always wanted to look like a hot astronaut.”

Brett let out a laugh and Owen put his face in his hands. Mark seemingly unfazed replied, “Actually because of the Kevlar skinsuit we are going to have printed from a body scan I think it is a very real possibility.”

Cam looked at Mark excitedly, “You’re telling me that we’re getting custom skin suits printed for us here on sight?”

“Absolutely, space is a dangerous place, our organization is making safety the top priority and is therefore sparing no expense, if you’re excited about the Kevlar, just wait until you see each of your custom suits,” Mark smiled, “Now that we have that excitement out of the way, the engineers need us over there at 0630, sorry for the early reporting time but we have a full day ahead of us to prepare you properly for the trip.”

“No worries, I think we all are used to earlier report times anyway,” Owen reassured.

“Thank you Owen,” Mark said, “After the fitting we will meet the flight crew and the couple other people making the trip up there for work and get our safety briefing, when that is complete we will get trained on the systems of the craft and basic operations procedures in case of emergency.”

“Do you know what kind of craft we are traveling on?” Owen asked.

“Yes, it is a type of shuttle that has been modernized and is capable of landing and taking off from a small runway on the moon as a part of the colony up there,” Mark passed Owen a picture of a black and silver craft closely resembling the Orion Projects aircraft, “I believe the ship’s name is ‘Deucalion’.”

“How long of a.. uh.. do we call it flight?” Brett asked.

“That is how it is described, yes,” Mark answered, “with the technological advances that have yet to be made public, I am told from take off to landing the trip will be twenty four hours.”

“So we do our fittings and training tomorrow and take off the day after?” Owen asked.

“That is correct,” Mark responded.

“That’s a quick turnaround,” Owen rubbed his chin, “what time zone are they using up there?”

“Zulu time, Julian calendar, seven days a week, six months a year, they’re trying to keep it as normal as possible to keep on track with Earth.”

“Aright, will you be riding with us to show us the way there?” Brett asked.

I think that would be a good idea,” Mark responded, “Now, you all go get some rest and relaxation before all the excitement of tomorrow.”

Paige jumped up, “who’s ready for dinner? I could use a real and hot meal, Mark you’ve been here for a week right? Any suggestions?”

It was nine pm when Paige let the door to her room close behind her, as it closed she leaned her back on it and slid down until she was sitting on the floor, do I break into his room again now and tell him? Do I wait? She opened her phone and went to her notes app and began reading a message she had probably typed and retyped a hundred times, Do I just send it and go to bed She tapped the back of her head on the door a couple of times, I’ll hold off for now, besides, what if he doesn’t feel the same? She stood up, walked to the restroom and started a bath. Should I have given him some signs and seen if he caught on? Nah, he’s so oblivious I doubt anything short of an outright confession would give him the idea.

Paige walked out of the restroom with a towel around her body and another wrapping her hair, she walked over to the bed, sat down and picked up her phone. She checked for notifications and when she saw there weren’t any she opened her messaging app, she found Owen’s name at the top of her pins and tapped on it then began typing, Will he notice the typing now icon? after a few times typing, deleting and retyping she settled on a message:

Goodnight, I’m so excited for tomorrow and even more excited for the following day -Paige

Paige sat and stared at her screen waiting for the typing bubble to arrive, Looks like I was too chicken again. She let herself fall back on the bed then scooted up to let her head rest on the pillows, Well, looks like I won’t be getting a response tonight, night night sleepy head.

Paige rolled over yawning and stretching while slapping the bed trying to find her phone to turn off her alarm. Once she found it she took a couple seconds to debate on pressing snooze or off, ultimately deciding she had better get up and get ready. She picked up her phone and saw that she had a message:

Goodnight Paige, this might be our best trip yet, I’m excited to share it with you - Owen

She checked the timestamp of the message, eleven pm, you dummy, why didn’t you come over? She debated texting him back but instead put on some shorts and a t-shirt, I’m going to see him in a few minutes anyway. Then ran out the door.

As she walked into the lobby she saw the whole team standing around chatting, and noticed Owen had two paper cups, one in each hand, with steam rising out of them, as she walked up he pressed one of them into her hands and said, “I hadn’t heard from you this morning and figured you had a late start so I made this for you.”

She smiled at him, her cheeks warming up, to hide her blush she raised the cup to her face and took a sip, “You know me so well, thanks.”

“No problem at all, you ready to get going?” He asked, looking at Paige, Cam and Brett in turn.

“Boy am I, I barely got any sleep at all last night, the anticipation is killing me,” Brett replied as he started walking towards the door.

As the rest of the group followed Paige realized that someone was missing, she jogged up beside Owen, “Hey aren’t we driving Mark with us today?”

“Oh shit, you’re right, I’ll shoot him a text while we wait in the vehicle,” Owen pulled out his phone.

“What would you do without me?” Paige turned up her nose.

“Well we would have left our guide behind that’s for sure,” Owen laughed.

After the body scans were finished and the crew had made sure their skin suits fit correctly and that they were in good condition, they made their way as directed down the hall following signs that read ‘Armor Fitting’ with arrows eventually leading to a set of double doors. As Paige pushed open the first door she stepped into an enormous room lined with various machines. She walked up to one of the machines to inspect it and noticed a pair of boots resting in it, “Oh my god, guys this IS straight out of a sci-fi movie, are you kidding me, are the machines going to suit us up?”

As if on cue a woman peaked her head up from behind a low wall, “Oh g’day, you here for the fitting? What is it team Owen right?” She asked.

“That we are ma’am,” Owen replied.

“Right, I’m Dr. Aimee Shields, no need to be formal though, just call me Aimee,” She walked from around what Paige could only describe as a cubicle and shook Owen’s hand.

“I’m Owen, the excited one over there is Paige,” he pointed towards her, “This is Cam, that’s Brett and finally over there is Mark,” He gestured at each member of the team in turn.

“Awesome, I’m super excited to work with the lot of you, the last batch we had for fitting was the security detail and let me tell you what a bunch of stiffs those blokes were,” Aimee walked over to Paige, “You seem the most excited and that makes me excited, you’re going first that alright with you?”

“Well I think the boys know it’s only polite that ladies first,” Paige beamed with excitement.

“Ok, your machine is right over here, follow me,” Aimee gestured for Paige to follow, “Alright you see the boots in there yeah? Go ahead and step into them and put your hands out to the sides like a T.” She mimed the motion as she explained.

Paige did as instructed, placing her feet in the boots then facing forward, standing straight and putting her arms straight out. Aimee walked to a screen embedded into the side of the machine and pulled out a keyboard. After a few seconds she pushed the keyboard back in and tapped the screen, the machine made a whirring sound and came to life, arms holding various pieces of the armor sprouted from the sides and began using red lasers to scan then place the pieces all around Paige’s body. As each part of the armor was set the arms switched to screwdriver tipped drills and began fixing each part to the piece adjacent to it. After a couple minutes the process was complete and Paige was standing in her black silver and white space suit. Her head was moving as she looked around and inspected the suit. She looked up and her head seemed to be moving as if she were speaking, Aimee picked up a headset, placed it on and spoke into the microphone, “There’s a screen on your left arm, select the radio button and turn on external speakers or we won’t be able to hear you my dear.”

Paige raised her arm in front of her face and began tapping, after a couple taps her visor turned clear and her voice boomed out, “Boobs!” And she pointed at her chest jumping up and down on her toes, the widest smile on her face.

Cam fell on the floor laughing, Owen rolled his eyes and giggled, Brett echoed Paige with a boisterous, “Boobs!” Aimee sat on a stool looking as if she were having the time of her life.

The next day Owen and the team parked in a garage near the space port, each of them grabbed the one backpack they were each allowed and made their way out. As they approached the large glass double doors of the stainless steel building with a sign on the front reading ‘Port Of Beginnings And Returns’ Paige grabbed Owen’s arm, “Are you ready for this grand adventure?” She asked.

“To be honest, I’m kind of nervous,” He replied, “I know that ‘home’ for us really doesn’t mean much but still, this is going to be a long way from it.” He rolled his shoulders then continued through the doors and looked at her, “Of course I’m excited, I get to go to the moon with my best friend, who else gets to say that?”

A smile widened on her face and she trotted ahead, “Well then hurry up boys, let’s get going.”

Owen sat in his designated seat on the shuttle, fastened the straps of the seat belt around his shoulders, chest and waist then raised his suit’s screen in front of his face, he tapped a few options until he found the communications channels and pressed the button labeled ‘Deucalion’ then spoke, “Is this thing on, can you hear me?”

“Loud and clear bro,” Brett’s voice came over the internal speakers in Owen’s helmet, he looked to his right and saw the man waving. Just then an official sounding voice infiltrated his helmet.

“Alright this is your captain speaking, for those who have never broke atmo before, welcome to this exclusive club and let me tell you how much of an honor it is for me to be the pilot to take you to the moon, for those of you that have you know the drill, assist where you can in prep for take off, we light engines in t-minus five minutes.”

The minutes seemed to crawl by as Owen watched the crew scuttle around the ship checking latches and various other fasteners. He looked at each of his team members, Cam was chatting with a member of the flight crew who was pointing something out on each of their suit screens, Brett was sitting arms crossed against his chest and his helmet resting on the headrest of his seat, Paige was looking around excitedly head spinning in all directions until she noticed Owen looking at her then she made her visor clear and beamed a grand smile at him, she then tapped on her screen and Owen felt a haptic buzz on his wrist, ‘Huh I didn’t know it could do that,’ He looked down at his screen and read the message.

What’r u lookin at? - Quinn

He tapped away on his own screen, typing up his reply.

Just some nerd on her way to heaven - Code

Owen watched Paige laugh inside her helmet and shake her head, then she raised a hand and flipped him off, Owen let out his own laugh.

“This is your captain again, thirty second warning, hands on handles, helmets on until instructed otherwise.”

Owen did as instructed and grabbed the handles attached by his legs, he put his own head on the headrest and closed his eyes.

“Liftoff in Five.. Four.. Three.. Two.. One.. Godspeed travelers.”

The ships engines roared to life, the rumble could be felt all around, Owen felt himself be pushed back into his seat, he gritted his teeth, remembering the training they had received he took slow and steady breaths in and exhaled in the same manner, he felt a jolt, the first fuel tank being ejected. After a few minutes the pressure stopped, testing he wiggled his fingers on the handles and his toes in his boots. When he was satisfied with that he shook his legs at the knees from side to side. He looked around at the same time and watched everyone else do the same small tests.

“Welcome to space, it will take about 24 hours to get landed on the moon, I’ll give a one hour warning for everyone to return to their seats in prep for landing, enjoy the ride.”

Paige unbuckled her straps from her seat then pushed off a little and felt herself begin to float, she aimed herself then pushed in the direction of Owen's seat. When she got to the seat next to him she grabbed the handle and maneuvered herself into the seat. She looked at her screen and opened a channel to him. “Hey, how’s it going?”

“That was actually far smoother than I thought it was going to be.”

“It really was, no gravity feels so weird.”

“I need to feel it still.”

Paige grabbed his hand and pulled him out of his seat, “C’mon then, let’s go.” She pulled him behind her to an open area and grabbed his other hand, “let’s dance.” She tapped some more on her screen and found an option for Bluetooth, she quickly paired her phone then navigated to her save music and played a song.

“To what do I owe the honor?” Owen smiled as he asked.

“You get to help me check ‘danced in zero gravity’ off my bucket list.” She replied, grabbing his hands again. As they spun she felt herself get lost in the moment, she reached up and unbuckled her helmet letting it float right next to her, she shook her head and watched her hair float around her face. She looked back at Owen and noticed that he had also taken his helmet off. She looked into his gray eyes. She pulled him close, their chests bumping then felt a tap on her shoulder.

“Hey mind if we join you guys?” Brett’s voice gleefully asked.

Paige looked over and found Brett and Cam mirroring her and Owen, her cheeks blushed then she burst out in laughter. “Please please please let me take a picture of the two of you,” she raised her phone.

“Make sure you get my good side,” Cam said in answer.

As Paige’s feet hit the floor of the ship she activated the magnets on the bottoms of her boots and tested the smart release function by raising and placing each foot back down a few times, satisfied that she wouldn’t float somewhere she didn’t intend to she made her way to the bunks, she released a food and placed it on the wall right above the cushion then pulled herself into the compartment. When she was settled she slid the retractable door closed and a small light slightly illuminated the space. That was far too close, I really got lost in the moment. She cupped her face in her hands and exhaled deeply from her nose, I can wait, I can wait.

Owen sat in his seat and pulled out his phone, he browsed his apps finally settling on his library app and went to his downloads, as he did he thought to himself, I wonder what that was all about, she really got into the dance, He found a book that he was already reading and got lost in the story.

Owen braced himself holding onto the seat handles as he felt the jolt of the ship landing on the surface of the moon, after he felt the deceleration complete he relaxed his grip. He looked from side to side and noticed the ceiling of the ship had turned transparent, he looked out at the stars above trying to spot the Earth. After a few seconds the captain's voice came over the ship's speakers.

“Welcome to the moon folks, pleasure flying you here, please allow the crew to complete checks then follow their instructions for off boarding.”

The crew members went to each other checking their suits making sure all was in order then began checking each passenger. When the crew member checking Owen was satisfied his suit was space ready she motioned for him to unbuckle then pointed towards an orange line on the floor, Owen looked at the line then back to the crew and gave a thumbs up. She pointed as his boots then made a walking gesture with her hands pointing at the line again. In understanding Owen stood up out of his seat and walked over to stand on the line. When every person on the ship had been checked the captain's voice came over the speakers again.

“Personnel checks complete, depressurizing and opening the hatch.”

Owen heard the hiss of air being sucked out of the cabin, then some clicks as machinery started working, he watched and a side panel of the ship fell slowly outward with stairs raising out of it, a crew member walked over to the new opening, peaked out to make sure it was safe to exit then waved at the first person in line to walk forward. As Owen got to the hatch he looked out at the ground and furrowed his brow when he saw the tarmac, he looked up more and saw the sharp edge of the runway where it met the gray surface of the moon. He looked from side to side and didn’t see the colony.

As his foot hit the black pavement of the runway he looked towards the back of the ship and was impressed to see what was reminiscent of an airport airfield, with painted a runway and taxiways. He walked over to the box painted on the ground where the rest of the passengers were being placed by what appeared to be another member of the crew then turned to face the ship, that’s when he saw the dome of the colony looming behind the ship, he gasped, it was like nothing he had ever seen, large hexagonal clear panels were fastened together in the shape of a massive dome, he could see the lights of buildings inside. His trance on the colony was broken by a beep in his helmet. He looked at his wrist screen and saw the crew member was adding him to a call.

“Hi Mr. Code, I’m Stevens, I was directed to escort you and your team directly to your quarters, I understand this is going to be your first moon walk, how exciting, come follow me,” He waved for them to follow.

As they walked Owen felt light enough that if he jumped he felt he would float off into space, as he bounced on the tarmac he couldn’t help but laugh like a child and wave his hands around his sides. He stopped for a second, turned around and was glad he did as he watched each of the rest of his team bouncing around swinging their hands as well. After a few seconds on the tarmac their guide stopped at the edge and gestured with his hand towards the lunar surface, “Please take your first steps truly on the moon.”

Owen paused at the edge too, he looked back at the team, “Line up, we’re doing this together.”

Paige stepped up beside him and grabbed his hand, then Brett beside her, Cam followed by stepping next to him and finally Mark took his place next to Cam. Owen beamed at them behind his tinted face shield then said, “Ok on the count of three we take our first steps on a new celestial body, one, two, THREE!” Hand in hand they all placed their boots on to the gray surface, a small tuft of moon dust billowing around their feet.

“Wonderfully done, I will remember that for a long time, thank you,” Stevens said as he stepped up next to them, “Now, let’s be off to get you settled, this way.” He started walking towards the dome.

As they neared the Dome, a protrusion came into view with what looked like a vault down in the front of it. Stevens walked up to the door and tapped a couple of buttons on his wrist screen, after a few seconds he put his hand on a lever built into the right side and pulled it left. The door pushed in and a well lit room with a similar door on the other side was revealed. Stevens beckoned them to enter the room and followed them in closing the door behind. “Keep your helmets on and make sure your boot magnets are engaged for pressurization.” After Stevens was satisfied the team was ready he tapped on his screen a couple more times and the room began to fill with air. When the hissing of air filling the space had stopped Stevens walked to the inside door, paused for a second waiting for authorization to open the door, then pulled the lever.

The team stepped into a large white room, the room had a couple of booths in it similar to the customs booth back in Australia, “For the future,” Stevens said as he walked up to one of the booths, “Now we can take our helmets off,” he raised his hands and released his helmet pulling it off, he then walked towards some stairs at the other end of the room, “well, are you ready to see the grand Luna Alpha?” and began to ascend the stairs.

As Owen’s head breached the top of the stairs he looked out and was awestruck by the city standing before him, he stepped out onto a sidewalk that ran along a painted road. Cam was next up beside him. Owen turned to him and put a hand on his shoulder, “can you believe this?”

“This is amazing, I never imagined a whole city sitting on the moon, and we get to live in it for a time?” Cam said.

“Holy shit,” Paige blurted as she joined the two, her eyes wide and her mouth agape.

“What’s all the fuss abou-” Brett cut the final letter off his question as he reached the top of the stairs.

“We’ll need to take a rover to the living quarters, this way,” Stevens pointed to some parked vehicles in a small lot just off the road, “You’ll have plenty of time to get familiar with the city, but I’m sure you’ll be just as blown away by your quarters.”

After a few minutes on what Stevens called ‘perimeter road’ he pulled the vehicle on to a street lined with small identical two story buildings, “this is family town, the director made arrangements for your team to be set up in a family unit, ah here we are,” he pulled up to a unit marked ‘42’ and put the rover in park, “There are fifty family units and you guys will be in this one, not a lot of couples here on LA so you guys don’t need to worry about any block parties.” Stevens laughed.

“How many units have people in them?”

“Counting you guys, just five, mostly just the bigwigs, there is one couple that was authorized a move from the apartments though,” Stevens explained, “They’re all in the low numbers, I was told you’re getting this unit for some privacy,” Stevens beckoned for them to get out of the vehicle, “You have a rover that’s parked around back, I won’t go in with you, easier for you to get settled if I’m not in your hair, your stuff should get dropped off anytime, anyways welcome, to the moon again, be seeing ya,” Stevens waved and drove off.

“Well, go on in,” Mark told the group.

As they entered the building they were met with what looked like a living area complete with a couch and couple of reclining chairs in front of a large screen television, a kitchen area that contained a stove, an island and a full size fridge/freezer combo, there was a dining area with a table and four chairs as well as an office type room with a couple of desks and some shelves. To the side of the room was a staircase that led to a hallway with four rooms, two on either side. Each room had its own desk, a medium sized wall mounted TV, a queen sized bed and a stand-in shower area with a toilet and sink. Everything in the unit was a sleek brushed aluminum with some painted black accents.

“Wow this place is set up with everything,” Paige said as she walked along the hallway, “how long do they expect the mission to last?”

“I expect to be up here for at least nine months, if all goes well you could be done sooner, or if you wish the mission to be extended I’m sure an argument could be made to assist with the colony.”

“I’m glad for the extended stay in one spot but what exactly was found that warrants such a long mission?” Owen asked.

“Something big, you have a showtime of 0800 tomorrow in the theater, you all will be briefed in more detail then, for now get settled in, get to know your new space, I’ll be heading to my apartment, if you need anything send me a message.” Mark said, “there should be a digital map set up in the office, if you need to go anywhere just be sure to leave one person behind to accept your belongings, farewell for now.”

“Need a ride Mark?” Paige asked.

“I appreciate the offer but I wanted to do some exploring on foot myself,” He replied as he pulled a tablet from his backpack, “I got a map loaded.”

At Mark’s departure Owen turned to the team, “So we wanna look at the map and see what’s around?”

Cam called from the living room, “Way ahead of you, looks like there’s a convenience store right over here,” He was pointing to a building as the rest of them walked over.

“I’m for sure gonna go see what kind of moon snacks I can get my hands on,” Paige declared.

“I’ll join you,” Owen offered.

“I’ll hang back, I want to check out the digs, probably take a shower,” Brett said.

“I’ll tag along then,” Cam walked with Owen and Paige.

Upon arriving back at their housing unit Cam plopped down on the couch and opened a bag of chips, “amazing how they already have our biometrics in the system to be able to buy things,” he said as he crunched on a chip, “btw Paige, how do we communicate with each other when we’re away up here?”

“Oh easy, the colony has city wide wi-fi, connection instructions are right over here in the welcome packet on the table,” she called back from the dining room.

“Looks like our gear and belongings were delivered while we were out, I’m going to head up and get my stuff organized,” Owen said as he walked back in from the back door.

“Alight, see ya tomorrow man,” Cam crunched on another chip.

“Nuh-night,” Paige waved, “Wait, do we even have night up here?” Owen heard her ask as he walked though the door with his name on it.

As He walked into the room his eyes moved from the living area complete with a sofa, to a nook with a desk in it, to the queen size bed against the far wall and finally to the open door of the bathroom equipped with a sink, a toilet and a stand-in shower that was surprisingly large. He walked over to the sleeping area then placed his duffel bag on the bed. He sorted and placed his clothes in the metal dresser placed on the wall parallel to the bed, then lined the various types of footwear along the wall next to the door and put his toiletries bag on the counter in the bathroom. After he was done organizing he placed the duffel bag under the bed and flopped onto the mattress. He found a remote for the tv set on top of the night stand bolted to the floor next to the bed. He clicked the power button and was surprised to find American networks programmed in. He clicked through the channels finally settling on the sci-fi channel. The movie being played was a low budget monster flick that was about halfway through. He looked at his watch Wow 2230 already he thought to himself. He sat upright and turned off the bed and began to undress, throwing his soiled skinsuit in a basket next to his dresser.

Owen walked to the bathroom and turned the shower on, after his shower he began brushing his teeth when he heard a faint knock at the door to his room. He paused his teeth brushing as he opened the door to say “Hello?”

“Am I interrupting anything?” Paige asked, she was wrapped in a white bathrobe.

“Not really just brushing my teeth before bed.” Owen replied.

“Well are you going to invite a girl in or are you going to let me stand here all night?” Paige twirled her hair around her index finger as she leaned on the doorway.

“When have you ever needed an invitation?” Owen stepped aside and Paige strolled past him into the room. As the door closed Owen turned and began asking “So to what do I owe th- oh,” Paige interrupted by pushing him on the bed.

“Pleasure,” she said as she untied the bathrobe and opened it to reveal black lace lingerie underneath. Her tattoo of a barn owl on her left thigh peaking above black mesh stockings.

“Well what do you think?” Paige clasped her hands in front of herself as she asked bashfully.

“I uh, I feel speechless,” Owen stuttered as he took in what he was seeing, he ran his eyes down her body admiring the curves, tracing with his eyes the tattoo of a hammerhead shark he can see through the shear fabric on her right side, he tried to make out the quote tattoo wrapped under her right breast but can’t read it fully due to the bottom of her bra interrupting. Is That one new?

“I’ll take that as a compliment,” Paige chuckled as she climbed on top of Owen. She kissed his neck and whispered in his ear, “I’ve been waiting so long to do this.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t pick up on any hints?” Owen apologized.

“Don’t, there never were any,” Admitted Paige as she leaned in kissing his lips.

“Why now?” Owen got out between kisses.

“I couldn’t hold on to the feelings any longer,” Paige pressed her body against his.

Owen embraced her, running his hands down her back stopping them in the small tracing her lace panties with his fingers, “Aren’t you afraid this will complicate things?”

“Complicate what? You’re already my best friend,” She looked into his eyes, the green of hers a stark contrast to the violet stripe in her hair.

“With the team I mean,” Owen caressed her cheek softly. Admittedly he had feelings for her too but was hesitant to come out with them for the same reason he was asking about. That and he didn’t want The University to find out and split them up.

“Can’t complicate what they aren’t aware of,” Paige placed her hand over Owen’s.

“It feels wrong to hide anything from them though.”

“I promise we will tell them as soon as the mission is over, I doubt they would be surprised, Brett might even give us an ‘It’s about damn time’ and congratulate you,” Paige smirked at the imaginary scenario she conjured in her head, “We’ll make it official, we’ll take the whole team out on the town and celebrate!”

Owen pulled her face closer to his and kissed her back, “As long as you promise.”