Chapter 1: A Calling

The next day started the same way it always does. Owen, was on his phone, reviewing something that the rest of the comrades didn't care about. Owen was average height, Asian, and had spiky hair. Dom, being on the bowling team, was swinging his bowling ball around, hitting people in the legs with it. Dom was a big kid, but not fat, and he was very goofy at times. Chris, the short mature one, was trying to sleep in the busy lobby of the school because he stayed up late doing homework while simultaneously talking to his girlfriend. Lorenc, the skinny Albanian, and Sorin, a short intellectual Puertorican, were arguing over Dragon Ball Z and how Sorin just swindled Lorenc into paying too much for some Japanese candies. Tommy, the tall inspiring drummer of the group, was tapping his hands and feet to beat of some old rock song, that he was blasting through his headphones. TR, short for Thomas Ryan, had taken Anthony's phone to play games on it, which he does every morning. TR, was the sport player of the group and was on the offensive line for the football team. And Anthony, tall kid with shaggy hair and glasses, had his mind on Star Wars, but was sitting back taking it all in. Happy to have such a great group of friends.

"Tom give me my phone back please, the bell is about to ring." complained Anthony for about the tenth time this morning.

"Nope. I am keeping it until first period cause I know you need it to do the homework you didn't do last night." said TR.

Overhearing the conversation, Owen gave a slight laugh and said, "Take that Fat L, Anthony."

"Shut up Owen." chuckled Chris. "You litilery program all day and all night. Do you even sleep?"

"Ummm…." Owen said, clearly embarrassed. The friends shared a laugh as the bell rang telling everyone to get to homeroom. They all got up from their seats, Tom handed back Anthony's phone and The Comrades went their separate ways to their classrooms. All ready to start another normal day in highschool.

Second period was the most chill class for Anthony. He sat in the back of the class, so he was able to be on his phone most of the time. He sat next to his friends Dylan and Jeffrey. In the middle of some lecture Dylan asked, "Hey, did you guys hear about Elon Musk?"

"What happened? Did he solve time travel when he was high?" jokingly asked Jeffrey.

"Kinda…" confessed Dylan.

"What?!" exclaimed Jeffrey and Anthony with shocked looks on their faces.

"Yah, Elon apparently has been doing a top secret government project called Tesla Space. The government and him built a rock that is able to fly itself and has a prototype hyperdrive." said Dylan.

"Wait. Is the hyperdrive the same thing from Star Wars?" asked Anthony.

"Probably, but I don't know much about Star Wars." explained Dylan.

"This is so stupid." said Jeffery, "You mean to tell me that the goverment spent millions of dollars and teamed up with a guy who is always high, to make a rocket based off Star Wars!"

"Yep!" laughed Dylan, "They are actually presenting it this Saturday, in upstate New York."

"I normally would go to these things, but this is just stupid." complained Jeffery as the bell began to ring signaling the students to move to their next class.

Surprisingly all the comrades had the same lunch. They all sat in the front of the lunch room and were definitely the loudest. Owen was there first, as normal, and the rest filed in one by one. Anthony being the last, got his lunch and walked to the table. His mind is still on the talk he had with Lorenc, but filled with the news of Tesla Space. He wished that he was able to go on that ship, be able to fly it, have that emptiness be filled just a little bit. As he got closer to the table he saw his friends whispering something to each other. When they saw Anthony coming, they quickly stopped and acted normal.

Noticing this Anthony sat down and asked, "So… You want to let me in on this secret you guys have?"

"Nope!" they all said at once.

"Oh, come on! It is clearly about me so just tell me." complained Anthony.

"That gives us more of a reason not to tell you, idiot." said Chris.

"Stupid." joked Sorin.

"Shut up!" laughed Anthony, "But come on, just tell me."

"How about this, Anthony. If you guess it we will tell you." suggested Dom.

"Yah," agreed Tommy.

"Fine if you guess it, we will tell you." said Lorenc.

Pondering on what their secret was, Anthony guessed, "Does it have to do something with Tesla Space?"

"Um...." said Owen, giving Anthony the answer that he guessed their secret.

"Damn it." exclaimed TR, "Listen, we know you have not been yourself for the last month, so we are going upstate this Saturday to see the premier. I already called your parents and Kid is coming too." Kid the nickname of Andrew, the last member of the comrades and is Anthony's brother, was given to by Owen.

Shocked by the statement Anthony said, "Wow, thank you guys. I really appreciate it."

"Thank Lorenc. He is the one that told us about your conversation you had yesterday." said Sorin.

"I thought that was supposed to be between us!" said Anthony, giving Lorenc the death stare.

"What…" chuckled Lorenc, "You needed help and the best people to help you are us."

"Wait. Who is driving us there?" asked Anthony.

"I am of course." exclaimed Dom, "Being that I am the best driver here."

"No I am driving. Even Owen can drive better than you and he doesn't even have a permit." argued Chris as Owen laughed.

"Hey I'm not that bad." complained Dom as all the friends shared a laugh.

"I thank you all again." said Anthony.

"No Problem Tuces." said Tommy.

Saturday finally came. Anthony and Kid packed their bags and waited for Chris to pick them up. When Chris arrived Anthony got in the front, next to Chris and Kid hopped in the back. The three of them went around picking everyone up and headed north to the premier. Throughout the car ride Lorenc and Chris kept talking about Post Malone, Owen was boring Tommy and Kid about some program he just created, and TR was talking to Sorin about how they could start a candy business together. Anthony though, kept to himself listening to music on the radio. He was lost in his mind again thinking about life in general and the emptiness he felt inside him. He kept going deeper and deeper in his mind, but one thing continually popped up: what was his purpose. What was he born to do? Then Chris pulled him out of the trance asking, "So, does anyone know what is actually going to go down there?"

"I do." said Andrew in the back, "Basically today they are just showing the ship and announcing the project publicly. There are supposed to be guest appearances of people who funded the project."

"Who is making an appearance?" asked Sorin.

"Ceo of Pepsi, The head of Walmart, and Mr. Beast." said Andrew.

"The hell, why is Mr. Beast there?" asked Lorenc.

"Why wouldn't he be?" answered Dom.

"Good point." said Lorenc.

"I want to thank you guys again…" said Anthony but was cut off by TR.

"Tuces, shut up that's like the fifth time you said that." he said.

"Third time you said it in the car." implied Owen.

"Yah, we know you are grateful but you don't have to mention it every 23 seconds." chuckled Chris.

"Alright, alright." said Anthony, "But really thank you."

"Shut up!" yelled the rest of the comrades, laughing at the fact that they all said the same thing.

The comrades finally arrived at the premier site. There were hundreds of people already there and waiting for it to start. The compound was bigger than they expected. There were people in lab coats rushing around, making sure everything was in order for the test run. There was a stage in front of the entrance to the compound and a crowd formed in front of it.

"Let's hurry up so we can get a good spot." suggested Tommy as he got out of the car.

"The crowd is already pretty full." said Sorin, "I don't know how well we can see the stage."

"It doesn't matter, just hurry up." said Kid.

The comrades walked over to the crowd and tried to push their way to the front. But they ended up just being stuck in the back.

"I guess we are staying here." said Chris.

"It's fine at least we can see." said Anthony. But then the premier started to begin, with Elon Musk walking on stage, and the crowd huddled together, blocking the comrades view.

"Spoke too soon, Ant." nagged Owen.

"Hello everyone!" exclaimed Elon. "Welcome to the first public test of Tesla Space."

Cheers and applause erupted from the crowd. Elon raised his hand silencing the crowd and said, "Now I know you are all excited but unfortunately you must wait a little bit longer as we are finishing our final preparations for the test." A screen turned on above Elon showing the inside of the compound. The ship was being prepared as trucks were coming in with the final equipment for the project.

BOOs from the crowd arouse. "Oh come on!" yelled Kid.

Anthony, not responding to his brother's reaction, continued to look at the screen. He saw the trucks on by the ship and then turned around to see more trucks driving in the front gates of the compound.

"Well let's go home. We don't know how long the wait is and it is getting late. I don't want to drive when I am tired." said Chris.

They start to walk back to the car. "Wait. I have an idea." interrupted Anthony. "We sneak in."

"What!?" exclaimed Dom.

"See those trucks." said Anthony pointing to the trucks driving through the front gate, "That is our ticket to see this ship."

"I'm out." said Sorin.

"Tuces, I know you wanted to see this, but I am not sneaking into a government facility." said Lorenc, "Think of the consequences."

"Well you guys can leave. I am going to see that ship." sternly said Anthony, turning and walking toward the trucks.

Seeing this Chris looked at Kid, who gave him a look that said why not. Chris turned around and called out, "Wait. If you actually are going to do this, someone should be there to watch your back." He walked up to Anthony and shook his hand. Kid followed along with Owen.

"Why the hell not?" said Tommy joining the four.

"Well, we know you guys are going to fail without us." sighed Sorin, walking over with Dom and Lorenc behind him.

"TR?" asked Anthony.

TR looked at the group, shook his head and said, "You all owe me one." The group cheered and headed for the front entrance. "So what's the plan?"

"Those trucks we will use as cover. It's how we will get past the front gate. Once inside, we must be aware at all times. We could be spotted by anyone, so stick close to the trucks." explained Anthony

"You're crazy!" said Lorenc, "Does anyone have a better idea?"

"FOR RUSSIA!!" charged Owen running toward the trucks.

"Oh no. Owen WAIT!" called the rest of the group.

They caught up to Owen. "Owen, wait. We are sneaking in, not attacking." said Sorin. The group hides behind some guardrails near the front entrance. The last group of trucks pull in. One by one they go into the compound.

"This is our opening, let's move." ordered Anthony. They all move behind the last truck and follow into the hagar. The truck parked, stopping their movement. Anthony peeks around the back of the truck and saw the ship.

The rest peer around and look too. "It looks like the Quinjet." exclaimed Tom.

"I was just about to say that." said Lorenc.

"Alright we saw it now let's get out of here." said TR looking around to see if anyone has spotted them.

"I agree. Let's go." said Chris.

Thoughts rushed through Anthony's head. The thought of what purpose he is called for came into his head. The thought of emptiness reappeared into his mind. But the only thing he knew was that he had to get in that ship. He felt something was calling him toward the ship. Something that he could not explain. Looking around, he saw an opening and quickly sneaked toward the ship.

Noticing this, Kid called to the comrades, who had already started to leave, "Uh… Guys."

They turn around and see Anthony going into the ship. "What the hell is he doing?" hissed Dom trying not to alert anyone that they snuck in.

"What are we going to do now?" asked Tommy.

"We go get him." said Owen, "What else would we do?"

"Ugh! Fine but let's hurry." ordered Chris.

The ship was big on the inside. A full control system in the front of the ship and ten seats to sit the passengers, as the ship was built for interstellar travel. Anthony was amazed by the hull, the feeling he had earlier was stronger now.

The comrades all quickly sneaked onto the ship and saw Anthony fiddling with the controls. "Anthony, what are you doing?" hissed Kid, "We need to leave now."

"And stop touching everything." said TR as Anthony continued the fiddle with things.

"Nothing is going to happen. The ship isn't even on." complained Anthony, "I just wanted to see the inside of the ship, that's all."

"Ok, you saw it now lets go." ordered Sorin.

They started to walk to the back of the hull until the ramp started to close. Cursing under his breath Dom yelled, "Tuces what did you hit!"

"Nothing. I swear!" exclaimed Anthony frantically hitting the buttons trying to stop the ramp door.

"Bro, shut this thing off or we are all busted!" yelled Chris.

"I told you this was a bad idea." claimed TR.

"Not now, pls." said Tom.

Anthony continued to press all the buttons at random. "Nothing is working!" He claimed. A sigh of defeat came from his mouth as he heard the ramp door shut.

"Look what you did, Anthony!" accused Owen.

"Calm down." said Anthony taking a deep breath, "A ship like this should have another button that opens the ramp."

Chris looks around and sees a button at the back of the hull next to the ramp. He goes over and presses it. Nothing happens. He hits it again. Nothing happens. Then Chris rapidly presses the button but still nothing happens. He turns around to the rest of the group with a concerned look on his face.

"Great now we are stuck!" exclaimed Tommy. Turning and pointing to Anthony. "This is all your fault!" he yelled.

"Well this was your idea!" argued Anthony gesturing to his friends.

As the two argued, Kid peered out the windshield and noticed a group of people in a viewing box to the right of the rocket. Inside the box was a bunch of controls and technicians running around. Realizing what this was, Kid shouted to the group, "Hey!"

"Not now, Kid!" the rest commanded in unison.

"Yes now! There is a butch of people in that viewing box up there." exclaimed Kid, pointing to a large square that poked out of the wall, "We can get their attention. See if we can get to open the door."

A timer appeared on one of the panels of the ship's controls. "Good idea, Kid." said Sorin as the timer started to count down.

The group rushed to the windshield, shouting, waving their hands above their heads, doing everything to get the attention of the people in the viewing box.

"Nothing's working!" claimed TR.

The timer hit 30 seconds. The realization hit Anthony as the timer continued to count down. "They're not going to see us." he said, "Everyone strap in. We have to prepare for launch!"

"WHAT! Are you crazy?" exclaimed Dom.

"Yeah. We should be focusing on escaping this ship, not buckling our seat belts!" yelled Lorenc, "Keep trying to get their attention."

The timer hits 20 seconds. "If you haven't noticed… THAT ISN'T GOING TO WORK!" exclaimed Anthony as he buckled himself in.

The timer hits 15 seconds.

"He's right. This is only a test run, they have to bring the ship back." claimed Tom as he also strapped in.

The timer hits 10 seconds

"Fine but if this thing doesn't turn around I am going to kill you Ant!" said Chris with a dead expression on his face.

The timer hit 5 seconds, 4, 3, 2, 1.

"EVERYONE HANG ON!" yelled Sorin as the rocket blasted out of the compound. They raced through the clouds. Each one of them was glued to the back of their seat. The rocket breaks the atmosphere and slows down when it entered the empty void of space.

"Would you look at that." said Owen with a shocked face, "It's beautiful."

The comrades looked out the front windshield as the ship turned and faced the earth. "It most certainly is." claimed Andrew.

"This view may just help me forgive you." Chris chuckled to Anthony.

They all stared at their home with smiles on each of their faces. Anthony broke his stare to look at his friends. He thought to himself 'Man, I messed up. But at least we will all remember this moment.' His thoughts were interrupted by the screeching sounds of an alarm and red flashing lights.

"What's going on!" yelled TR as the ship started to spin.

The spinning ship continued to pick up speed. A light passed in front of the windshield and passed again as the ship came around.

"What is that?" claimed Dom, trying not to get sick.

The ship continued to spin faster and faster. The light became brighter and brighter as the ship spun closer to it.

Shielding his eyes, Anthony yelled, "BRACE YOURSELVES!"

They all clung to their seats as the ship was engulfed in the strange light.

"Sir, we have lost Tesla 1." said a scientist.

"What?" said a shocked Elon Musk, "Get it back!"

"We can't, Sir." said another Scientist, showing Elon Musk footage of a nearby satellite, "It was pulled into some kind of worm hole."

"SIR, I have found something." claimed the first scientist.

He showed Elon Musk footage from the inside of the hull of the ship. It showed being sucked into the wormhole. Elon Musk's face turned white as he watched the footage play over and over. He turned away from the horror and said, "Get me the names of those kids. I will notify their parents personally that their sons are gone."