Seabrook, Texas, Rachel Clarke's Office at Vanguard Preparatory, Wednesday, November 24th, 2029 at 9:30 am

Rachel

I tossed the last of the tests into my bag. It took me over an hour to format these correctly so the students could have extra space below the questions to show their work. The test was almost five pages long, so they weren't allowed to complain that they didn't have the room anymore. As I picked up my bag, I knocked over a picture on my desk. It was a photo of Lucas and I when we went to see the world's largest ball of rubber bands in Orlando. My heart ached when I looked at it. I hadn't heard from him since our fight, and from what I could tell he hadn't been home since.

I called my best friend Anne right after it happened and she came over. We met after Lucas started working for NASA, and have been attached at the hip ever since. She's married to one of Lucas' coworkers, and partner in crime, Cooper. As I was about to head out the door, my phone rang.

"Hello?" I said as I adjusted a few things on my desk.

"Rachel? Where are you?" It was Anne. She sounded worried.

"What do you mean where am I? It's a Wednesday morning, I'm at work. I have a class in 20 minutes." I teased her.

"Why aren't you at the launch? You're going to miss it!" Anne exclaimed.

"Oh, yeah," I replied solemnly. I normally went to watch all of the launches with Lucas, but I still hadn't heard from him since our fight this weekend. They took off in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Since he wasn't going up, I didn't plan to go watch. "We haven't spoken since our fight." I sighed heavily as I dropped down into my leather desk chair. There was a long pause on the other end.

"Anne? Are you there?" I asked, waiting for a response. My anxiety started to creep up as I felt my hands sweating.

"Rachel," she paused before continuing. "Lucas volunteered for the launch a couple days ago."

I dropped my bag on the floor. I couldn't even believe what I was hearing.

"He's going up?" I asked, biting my lip.

"Yes, there's six of them on the crew for this one," Anne replied gently.

"How long?" I asked, holding back tears. I grabbed onto the edge of my desk, trying to steady myself.

"They take off in five hours," Anne said softly from the other end.

The flight from Houston to Cape Canaveral is about two and a half hours.

"How long is the mission?" Anne paused for a moment before quietly answering me.

"It's nine months," she whispered.

I caught my breath. The longest Lucas has ever been up there was four months. I didn't know how to respond. "He didn't tell you he was going on this mission?" Anne continued.

Anne is always so calm. I don't know how she does it.

"No, we haven't spoken since Saturday,"I said bitterly. I felt a lump start to form in my throat. The airport was a half hour away. I didn't have any bags so security wasn't going to take long. "Anne, I'm on my way," I said before I hung up and raced out the door, catching up to one of our floating subs in the hallway.

I'm coming, Lucas. You don't get to just leave without saying goodbye.

#

The flight felt like it took days instead of a little over two hours. When we landed, I stood up and headed towards the front of the plane as soon as I was able. I couldn't stop thinking about how rude I must look, but time was of the essence. I got off the plane and quickly made my way outside.

The air is much warmer here.

I always loved traveling to Florida with Lucas whenever he finished up a project or was headed up. It was always such a romantic trip, and I loved gazing at Lucas in a swimsuit all day. It would be just the two of us for most of it until we would meet up with Anne and Cooper. Fortunately, Lucas and Cooper have always gone up to the ISS at the same time. They got hired together and we have all been inseparable ever since.

I had never flown to Florida by myself. It was a different type of loneliness I felt. Not the kind you feel when you're sitting at home on the couch by yourself, but the kind where it feels like there's a deep hole in your heart, sucking everything positive around you into it.

I hailed down a cab and instructed them on where I needed to go. I fiddled with my skirt as my heart pounded in my ears. My view out the window changed from cars and buildings to a view of the ocean. I could see the shuttle sitting on the launch site.

It looks so small from here.

As we approached the base, some armed men came out to the car. As soon as they saw me, they nodded and waved at someone in the booth. I was practically holding my breath as they opened the gates.

"Nice to see you Mrs. Clarke. You almost missed the launch!" He smiled at me and gestured towards the rocket in the middle of the site. I could see all of the families, wives, and other civilians sitting in the watch zone.

"I know, I gotta go!" I jumped out of the cab and I didn't even close the car door before I started running. As I got inside I immediately spotted Anne. Her mousy brown, curly hair was easy to spot. The humidity in Florida exaggerated her frizziness. She waved as soon as she saw me.

"Oh thank god, you made it!" she exclaimed as she pulled me in for a hug. Her ocean blue eyes looked sad. Not just for me, but because her husband, Cooper, was also going on the mission. She knew exactly how this moment felt. There were TVs and cameras everywhere.

"Ladies and gentleman, please get ready to welcome this brave team of astronauts as they prepare to head out onto the platform," a booming voice echoed through the room.

I followed Anne's gaze to one of the televisions. The crew was putting on all of their gear. Some members of the crowd stood up and began moving outside.

"What do I do?" I whispered to Anne. She thought for a moment, then her face lit up.

"I know! We can call the emergency number they gave us!" She started to head towards the phone over on the wall. "We have to use a landline, though."

"Do you think they will let me talk to Lucas?" I followed her, my heart was pounding.

"We are about to find out." She spent a few moments locating the number in her phone. Once she found it she looked up at me and then tapped the keys on the landline. "Here you go."

"No. You call." I shook my head and looked down. "I don't know if Lucas will take the call if he knows it's me." My eyes started to sting again. "Can you ask to talk to Cooper?" Anne smiled and nodded without saying anything. She pressed the button and brought the phone up to her ear.

"Anne Richardson," she said after a brief pause. "I need to speak with my husband, Cooper. It's an emergency." My mouth dropped open and I stared at Anne.

Anne never lies.

She noticed my surprise and mouthed, "Well, it is!" I smiled at her slightly. I don't think I could've done this alone. I saw Anne's face light up again.

"Coop!" she exclaimed. "No, no, I'm fine. It's Rachel, she just got here. She wants to talk to Lucas," Anne paused again, listening. I glanced back at the TV. I could briefly see the back of Cooper, and you could tell he was on the phone. I think I saw Lucas close by, but couldn't quite tell.

"Okay, one sec," I heard Anne say behind me. I turned around quickly, looking at her hopefully. She held out the phone, stretching the curl in the cord out slightly. "Cooper is getting him now," she handed me the phone and I took a deep breath. "Just be honest with him."

Anne took a step back, but stayed within reach of me.

I brought the phone up to my ear. I heard some rustling and voices in the background. I guessed Cooper was still walking to find Lucas. After a few moments of pocket noise, I heard someone breathing slightly.

"Rach?" his voice was hoarse, as if his throat was constricted.

"Lucas? Lucas! What are you doing?" I felt like I was yelling at him because it was so loud in the room.

"Rach, I'm so sorry," he added. His voice was soft, yet he still sounded angry. I fought back tears.

"You're sorry? For what? For walking away from me the other night or for deciding to go into space for nine months without telling me?" It was silent on the other end. I could see Lucas in the background on the TV. He had his head resting in his free hand.

"For everything that has happened. For everything I haven't told you yet," his voice started to break. He was about to say something else when someone started talking on the intercom again.

"Ladies and gentlemen, your astronauts are about to begin their final walk to the launch pad. Please join me in welcoming them to the platform as they prepare for take off." I started breathing faster and I could feel my heart racing again.

"Rach, I promise you that I will tell you everything when I get back," Lucas added.

"What am I supposed to think, Lucas? I can't sit at home for the next nine months not knowing where we stand or what is going on with you. You need to talk to me. You need to give me something. Anything," I pleaded with him on the phone as I felt tears forming in the corners of my eyes.

"Rach, I have to go. We are beginning our walk," Lucas said quickly on the other end.

"Lucas," I said sternly through gritted teeth. "If you leave right now without telling me why you're doing it, then I can't promise you that I'll be here when you get back."

I could feel Anne put her hand on my back.

"Lucas! Say something!" I could hear some muffled voices in the background. I looked at the TV again and saw them getting into a line. Someone started ushering Lucas over to his crew.

"Rachel, I have to go, I'm sorry." I could hear that he was crying too. "I love you." There was a click and then silence from the other end.

The world around me started to slow down. The noise of the crowd started to fade into a mumbling, blurry sound. I lowered the phone from my face and let it drop. It swayed back and forth from the cord on the wall. Anne walked around to the front of me but I couldn't look at her. All I could do was stare at the television. The doors opened and the crew started walking out.

"Let's head outside," Anne said loudly. I barely nodded at her before she started to guide me through the glass doors that lead out to the watchzone.

The shuttle was so far away. The wind was beginning to pick up, blowing my hair into my face. The warmth from Anne against my side was the only thing making the crisp slaps against my face bearable. I held my hair back and squinted out at the platform. The cameras panned over to the men walking out.

They look like ants from here.

I turned back towards the TV. They were all dressed in their white space suits carrying their helmets at their right side. I scanned their faces frantically, trying to find Lucas. The cheering got louder.

His height and wavy dark hair made him stand out from the rest. His hair was much shorter than when I last saw him. They have strict grooming regulations when they go on launches. His face looked tired, and his dark eyes seemed almost black, like he hadn't slept for days. I knew that it was selfish of me to hope that he was hurting too, but I could see in his movements that he was also suffering. His walk was sluggish and his waves to the crowd were even less enthusiastic.

As soon as everyone got out onto the platform, they stood in a line and the crowd continued cheering.

"Lucas," I whispered to myself. Anne squeezed my shoulder.

Does everyone here really know what they're cheering for?

Some of the crowd was made up of civilians who paid to come watch the launch. They didn't have a loved one up there who was about to leave for nine months, crippled with the fear of them never returning.

The camera began panning across the crew, allowing each of them a few seconds to make a gesture to their loved ones. It finally got to where Cooper and Lucas were standing. Cooper continued to wave and then blew a kiss to the camera. You could see him mouth, "I love you, Anne," to the camera. I heard Anne sniffle beside me. I had been so preoccupied with trying to say goodbye to Lucas that I forgot about how Anne must also be feeling. I wrapped my left arm around her.

She rested her head against mine and I heard her whisper, "I love you too, Coop. Be safe."

The camera centered on Lucas. He was waving at the crowd while sucking in his bottom lip. I could see him mouth something that looked like, "I'm so sorry," as he blinked tears away slowly. The others started to walk towards the launchpad. He turned and began to walk behind them. I started bawling, and Anne pulled me in closer as we cried together. I kept saying "please be okay," under my breath as I watched Lucas get closer and closer to the launch pad.

They began to step into the rocket one by one. The crowd's cheering hadn't slowed down. Cooper blew another kiss to Anne before getting into the shuttle. Lucas stepped forward into the shuttle, and turned to the crowd and waved just like everyone else. He looked directly into the camera, and it felt like he was looking right at me. He had tears streaming down his face.

Oh, Lucas. What happened to us?

The final member of the crew got into the shuttle and the door was sealed shut. We had to wait almost three more hours before they actually took off. The wait was agonizing as every horrible scenario began to play through my mind.

"TEN!" The crowd yelled as the countdown began.

"NINE!" The ground started to rumble.

"EIGHT!" Every second felt like an eternity as I waited for the trembling to grow stronger.

"SEVEN!" I looked out towards the crowd.

"SIX!" I saw families holding each other close.

"FIVE!" Others had their eyes closed. They probably prayed for a safe departure.

"FOUR!" I glanced back at the rocket.

"THREE!" The quaking of the ground was growing stronger.

"TWO!" I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I hated watching the posts come off of the sides of the rocket.

"ONE!" It felt as if the entire Earth was shaking as the rocket began to leave the ground.

"Please come back to me, Lucas," I cried out as I collapsed into Anne.