In the three days, we spent at the spaceport, we've been trained to run Cassiopeia just in case. By default, they were on autopilots and could easily get us to Alpha 1. But, for security reasons, the briefing was still done.
The door to the hangar opened with a rustle and we went out to the ships. Rex started to get out of my hands demanding freedom, but I shouted and pressed him harder. It wasn't the time for pampering. My heart was racing with anticipation. I was looking forward to some incredible adventure.
I walked up to my ship and opened the door, and the view of the familiar salon calmed me down a little. There was sweat on my forehead, and I had a hard time exhaling. Everything will be fine, there's nothing to be afraid of. It wasn't the first flight, the Cassiopeans had repeatedly proved their reliability. Rex, on the other hand, had calmed down completely. He was breathing loudly, and his pink tongue was hiding in his mouth. When I felt that I was looking at him, the spitz raised his black bead eyes and wrapped his ponytail. If he's calm, I shouldn't worry about him either. It has been proven that the sensitivity of animals is much higher than that of humans. Science does not lie.
Okay. Everything. Let's go.
I climbed into the salon, put Rex on the second seat, wearing a small respiratory mask made specifically for me. It cost me dearly! Spitz sniffed at me trying to knock it down, but it didn't work out. Then I put my seatbelts on it and did the same thing to myself.
- See how much I appreciate you, redheaded you are? - I punched Rex over the head and looked at the spaceport through the windshield. I couldn't see the rest on the platform, so I came to the conclusion that everyone was ready.
Finally, the last signal came in, the glass roof of the hangar had moved apart, and the ships were soaring up.
Cassiopeia was speeding up, and I was getting sick. I was only looking forward, at the sharp nose of the ship, at the sky, and the roar of the engines made me noisy in my head. Everything was not so creepy at training sessions!
There were no other ships to see - either I was going first or I lost my way.
Oh, I wish Alpha 1 had been worth the suffering!
However, as soon as the ship left the Earth, it was surprisingly easier for me. The cosmos was black and empty, not like the pictures in the e-books, but still breathtaking.
I looked at the chains of asteroids, at the moon and understood the insignificance of my being. I, so small, felt like a molecule next to them. Atom! In front of me was a black abyss without borders, dangerous and fascinating. Billions of people lived there, behind me, on Earth, playing civilization, and never saw, never knew this power. What would happen if everyone could see the space?
In the side windows, where I had never dared to look before, I saw two more Cassiopeans. So I was just walking first. So everything was fine. I tried to see the pilots, but it didn't work out.
Finally, I saw the station. Alpha 1 was like a giant silver slope. There was no sound in space, but I imagined how powerful engines of the immense station could growl. It was a common project of all more or less developed countries, but it had a kind of autonomy, hardly repulsed by the local director. As far as I knew, the rules there were their own, and no legislation had any force. However, this is fair, isn't it? Civilized people are able to regulate their own lives.
Cassiopeia was slowly approaching the station. On the "belly" of the slope the doors to the hangar opened, and the ships confidently headed there. I was getting hot, sweat running down my forehead and getting lost in my eyebrows. I wiped it with my hand and looked at Rex's place. He was quietly sitting there, watching with his seatbelts squeezed in front of him. He seemed to be fascinated by the sight. It calmed me down, and I was afraid he wouldn't get hysterical while flying. For some superstitious fear, I didn't put him to sleep, afraid his body wouldn't survive the flight. The vets convinced me that everything would be fine, but I refused. Sometimes I was a rare fool.
I was tormented by the murmur of space. The many doors of the hangar opened, but there were no sounds, and my stupid brain was late adding them to my body. My ship was the first to enter the hangar and landed, silently releasing jets of gases. I waited patiently for the rest of the ships to pull up. Then, finally, I heard a real sound. The hangar began to depressurize, and oxygen sizzling into the room. I was watching the sign that showed the partial pressure of all the air elements. When the value reached atmospheric values, the mask fell off my face. I was relieved to exhale and lean back on the wall of the seat, covering my eyes. Rex was coming in at his place, with a respiratory mask hanging on his chest. I laughed, relieving the tension, and freed my hairpin.