章 2: Lift Off
When Morgan returned to base, all was forgiven as he was welcomed back with open arms. Just days before Morgan had been cursing them all to die in a fireball in the sky, and now he wished them nothing but the best as he was once again a part of the team. The rest of the crew had not taken it personally as they all would have reacted the same way if they had gotten so close only to be rejected like that. Morgan wasn't as stuck up and snobbish as the man he was replacing so they were very quick to forgive him. The next several days simply flew by and before they knew it, all seven of them were strapped into a shuttle, looking up at the sky and watching the countdown.
Upon hearing the news, Morgan's parents as well as his brothers and sisters had all taken the time to come down to Florida to watch the liftoff. No one ever talked much to Morgan about what he did, as it was above most of them to understand, but everyone knew where he was going and they couldn't have been more proud. Nieces and nephews who thought he was weird now had a cool uncle that was going to outer space! For every nerd, this was the top of the world, to be an astronaut. Morgan had always wanted to do this, but never thought it would happen. It was the reason why he had been so aggressive when the chance came that his work would take him to test his theories on the moon. Morgan had never felt so proud, as he would be one of less than two dozen out of seven billion plus people on the planet that would be off world, and that was a true honor. He was so happy, he was speechless rather than his usual talkative self.
"Mission Control," Rogers called out. "Is this a bad time to tell you that my passport has expired?"
"Since you're going to remain in US airspace until you leave the atmosphere, we'll let it slide this time Commander." The speaker responded.
Everyone in the cabin had a good laugh. This seemed to ease the tension that had been brewing for some time since the doors were securely closed.
Mere minutes later, the engines started to rumble and Morgan began to tell that he and his crew were approaching the point of no return. Minutes later turned into seconds and before he knew it, mission control called for lift off. The engines blasted the ground and after a few seconds, they had lift. The g-forces were even worse than he had ever experienced in training and then some. The huge shuttle and attached rockets started to finally leave launch pad and were airborne in a matter of seconds. Morgan couldn't help but scream as the shuttle roared towards the sky. Rogers and a few others laughed. The commander was pointing at someone, as it appeared evident that his screaming seemed to settle a wager in Rogers's favour. Morgan didn't seem to care as he watched with wonder as blue slowly turned black. He was suddenly in outer space. Never in his wildest dreams did he ever think something like this was possible. The first time he dreamed of being in space was that first time he was sitting in science class and one of his teachers put on an episode of Cosmos to pass the time. Morgan was one of only a few students that bothered to pay attention and listen as Carl Sagan introduced him to the wonder of the stars and remind them all that they were not beyond our grasp. Now that little boy was living the dream, in the same stars that he watched as a boy on television; an interstellar traveler who was going to live on the moon. Carl would certainly be proud, Morgan thought as he looked back at his home planet. It was getting smaller and smaller every minute they were out there.
After jettisoning the burners, Rogers turned the ship towards the moon and immediately started their voyage towards what NASA casually referred to as the summer cottage. One thing this cottage had was a spectacular view but the commute took a little time.
"Tell me Morgan," Rogers called from the front of the cabin. "What's the first thing you want to do when you get to the moon?"
"That's easy, look at the sun." Morgan answered.
"That's not funny." Jessica replied.
"The sun would burn your eyes out." Jason corrected.
"I know that!" Morgan replied. "I have a box that will let me look at it without having to stare directly at it."
"You mean a box like kids use to look at an eclipse?" Rogers asked.
"Exactly." Morgan answered. "I made this one with my niece a few years ago to look at the last eclipse. When she heard I couldn't look directly at the sun when on the moon, she gave me the same box so that I could. So I plan to use that box outside the station when the sun is out for her."
"That's sweet." Jessica said after it was all explained. "And that box is in your luggage?"
"I had to fold it up, but it can be put back together quickly." Morgan said as he smiled. "So that way I can have a brief look at the sun."
"I tell you what I'm gonna do," Jason said as he chirped in. "I'm going to the exact spot where Neil Armstrong played golf and shoot a few rounds myself. I brought a driver and putter just for the occasion."
"Count me in on that one," Rogers replied, with a wide smile. "As an avid golfer myself, that is one tee time I don't plan on missing."
"I guess you'll have to count me in too." Morgan then said. "I've always wanted to see the landing site with my own eyes and take a few pictures. I can't believe anyone hasn't done this yet to finally shut those idiots up down there."
"Neither can I," Rogers said with a laugh, "Don't forget to bring your box so we can take a picture of you holding it beside the flag where Armstrong landed. I think she would like that very much."
"I think so too," Morgan said with a smile. Rogers was a nice guy, despite being like one of the jocks that never talked to him in high school. He was a pilot that made his way into the space program through the air force. But in this crew, he was the stand out as most of the astronauts were the nerds that all went into sciences and were going to the moon to conduct experiments. Rogers wasn't staying that long anyway. His job was to drop of the new people, pick up the people at the base whose time was up and give them a ride home. He would be up there for two days, three tops depending on the weather at Andrews. Rogers didn't mind being NASA's chauffeur because he got to do all the cool stuff with none of the hard, boring work. He loved to fly, so that was never a chore and then he farted around on the moon for a day or two and then came home. All that and they paid him to do it. How could a pilot ask for anything more? Rogers knew pilots who would pay NASA for this job, but he was the best and that was the space agency's preference.
Morgan and the others finally got the okay to unstrap themselves and enjoy all the joys of feeling zero gravity for the first time. Morgan took his helmet off and watched in blissful wonder as it floated away. He had been training for months and still he was like a child that had been given a new puppy for Christmas, so happy and oblivious to anyone around him. He slowly floated out of his seat and started to laugh as he flew around the cabin and slowly removed his space suit. Once all the suits were put away, he was able to float over to a new window and look back at earth from a different angle. Looking at the only planet he ever lived on from such a distance made him feel so humble and so grateful at the same time.
"We're not in Kansas anymore, Toto..." he said to no one in particular.
"You can say that again," Jessica whispered to him as she floated over to share the view. "Even from this view, it's still so beautiful."
"You can't even tell how badly we've been fucking the place up from this distance." Morgan admitted.
"You can't even see the borders from up here either." Jessica told him.
"It's just like a blank canvas." Morgan replied. "A map with no lines."
"You know for a bunch of nerdy scientists." Rogers called back to them. "You're getting awfully philosophic for my liking."
"Sorry," Jessica called back.
"Are we there yet?" Morgan suddenly shouted.
"Don't even start..." Rogers said with a stern voice.
They still had at least another day to go before they got to the moon but Morgan wasn't in a hurry. It would more than enough time for him to get used to being in space and just enjoy all the fun things before he had to get to work on the moon. This was the fun part and he was intent to enjoy every second of it.
"Are we there yet?" Morgan called out again, with a childish grin.
"Morgan!" Rogers called back.
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