“I guess it’s not much different from the cities in Japan that you know,” he answered ironically. Then he continued by saying, “Tall buildings are everywhere, streets and air space are invaded by all kinds of means of transport. You know, I believe there’s nothing you haven’t already seen. As you told me, you were born in Osaka, weren’t you?”
The young Asian man did not hesitate to answer, and even if his English was not perfect, it was not so difficult to understand him.
“Exactly! But as I was telling you, I moved to England a few years ago in order to pursue my studies in biology in London, where I learned to speak your language as well.”
“And I must say that you speak it very well!” Jerry praised him.
Korin thanked him and asked him, “Do you live with your parents?”
Jerry answered, “I live with my mother. She’s a hyper-apprehensive woman and I had to struggle to persuade her to make me leave and take part in this mission. I think she’ll never accept my decision, but I hope we will meet again on Proxima B!”
“Every mother is like that… And what about your father?” the Osaka biologist kept on asking him. Jerry froze and it took him much longer than usual to answer.
“Unfortunately, he passed away when I was a child.”
Jerry uttered those words just sorrowfully; it was a sorrow that reemerged every time someone reminded him of his dead father. Korin realized that, too.
“Sorry, I didn’t know that,” the Asian guy tried to explain himself.
“Don’t worry. But tell me something about your family,” Jerry encouraged him.
“My dad and my mom still live with my grandparents in Osaka. My eldest brother, Jin, lives in Australia where he runs a domestic robot factory, whereas my sister Akiro, who is younger than me, has just moved to Tokyo in order to attend the Japan Art Academy. Her dream is to issue a graphic novel of hers,” the Asian guy told Jerry.
“I wish I had visited Japan once in my life,” Jerry said almost regretfully.
“You would have liked it, but look on the bright side. We’re going to land on what is our own planet! Can you believe it?” Korin’s voice was filled with excitement while he was uttering these words. “Come on, let’s get ready for seeing the whole complex!” he concluded.
Jerry followed his young comrade’s advice. They both got ready for leaving their room and start the tour.
Michael, Amelia, Abigail and Emily were staying in their own rooms on the upper floors. Each one of them would share it with one new comrade, so the time had come for each of the four people to meet their own roommates.
Michael was so surly and gruff that he felt he had to set him straight regarding who would be in command of that space of 216 square feet that he would share over the next five months.
Amelia immediately made friends with a Russian doctor that specialized in cardiology as well. Just like her, she was single and had no children.
Not even Abigail hesitated to make friends with Gloria, who was a young Spanish chemist that had just graduated with honors.
Emily was quite lucky, too. Just like her, Nicole was a soldier. She enlisted in the National Guard (Garde Nationale). Each comrade would be of a nationality other than that of one’s own country. And this was just the first evidence that New NASA Corporate had concocted for new guests, that is encouraging the integration between different people who shared their job, namely the sentiment that no peoples of the Earth had known for quite some time now.
The alarm clock indicated 7:59 AM and Jerry and Korin were still sleeping deeply. A minute later, there it is, on time: the electronic thingy began to ring like a symphonic orchestra and it woke Jerry first, then the young Asian biologist.
“Damn it, Vandcamp! Destroy that thing!” Korin muttered. He was referring to that deafening noise.
“I’ve been here for less than half an hour and I already hate this place!” Jerry exclaimed. He sat down on his bed, trying to understand what was going on.
Ten minutes later, all the members of the expedition gathered in the canteen. A hum was filling the room. People were talking to each other as they all were sitting at the table; a few others, including Michael, were still looking for a seat in order to have their breakfast and talk with their other colleagues.
Michael stood there and held a tray. He was getting ready to occupy one of the last vacant seats near the huge hall. The pilot took his seat at the same table where Jerry, Korin, David, Abigail and two other young chemists were already sitting. He took the central seat, and so he sat down between Jerry and David.
“Oh no! You again! You’re like a persecution!” Michael exclaimed in his usual “gentle” way, as it were, after identifying Jerry, who in return extended a kindly greeting.
“Where do you serve?” Abigail asked Michael with a hint of a smile. The question triggered the curiosity of those who were there, too.
“I am not a soldier!” Michael answered contemptuously while eating his eggs and bacon.
“Well, the patch on your uniform is brown, so you are supposedly a soldier!” Abigail echoed. Even if she knew she had bothered him, she kept on looking at him defiantly.
“It’s a wrong supposition, woman!” Michael replied, mocking her self-confidence. Then he concluded by saying, “I’m a retired U.S. Air Force pilot. Actually, I don’t even know why I’m here.” After that, he swallowed the last mouthful of food, stood up and went away, leaving the other members perplexed.
“Probably that man will have some problems with any other person. It doesn’t bode well,” David stated in his usual calmness before finishing his breakfast together with the other people.
That same morning all the members of the military department had reached their own sectors for a lesson on the equipment that they would have at their disposal during their expedition. The hall looked like a large lecture theater with large windows that let the light in on one side, making the place very bright. Probably this hall was previously used to hold some lectures or give some courses.
“As you have probably understood, our task in this mission is going to be both the easiest and the most difficult one. We’ll have to keep this people alive. We’ll be their bodyguards, their police, and their law. We can’t know what to expect once we’ve got there or what it could happen during the travel, but there is one thing we certainly know: we must be ready for anything!” Matthew cried out in front of his future fellow travelers.
“What a loudmouth! He can’t be more than thirty, and he tells us these things!” Michael said to himself in a barely audible tone of voice while he was sitting in his seat some rows behind him.
“Bring them there!” the General told two girls holding some duffel bags just behind him.
“Thank you! So, yesterday we saw some procedures under regulation as for facing any hostilities. Today we’re going to see what to use when we have to face them,” Matthew kept on saying. He pulled a weapon out of his duffel bag. It looked like a little, light and black Glock pistol.
“This one represents the first piece of your equipment, a Junker 15! It fires mid-range beams of light and it is perfect for point-blank shots but it is not recommended for long-range shots. Its frame is extremely lightweight thanks to its carbon fiber construction,” the General explained as he leaned the pistol near the duffel bag on the counter.
“Gentlemen, here it is, Baiman 3! Thanks to its high fire power, it looks like an old-school assault rifle. It fires extremely powerful mid to long-range laser beams. After fifty shots, the gun magazine is empty and you have to replace it. Ah, I was forgetting to say that, without exaggeration, an inch of steel could be clearly cracked by shots fired at a range of sixty-six feet! Not bad, I’d say.”
Then Matthew