Page ౧ ) Take off and Critical situation

[Location: Launch Area, Sriharikota, India.]

(*Over speakers*)T- 1 minute, 59, 58, 57....

"At last we've succeeded in commercializing space travel, now all that's left is to rake in the profits!" said a man wearing a grey coat, as he stretched his stiff arms.

"Don't get carried away now, only after this launch succeeds can we say that... but I still cannot for the life of me understand why the boss has to go on the first shuttle... isn't it risky?? I mean- what if it explodes?", replied the man's secretary, anxiously massaging his forehead.

"Hah! You don't need to worry about that. The Sterling Star is a technological marvel! It will pave the way for Earth to finally move towards being a type II civilization! Imagine all of the natural resources floating across the Solar System, now within our grasp! And its all due to the genius of our CEO. Now only if he fixed his attitude..."

"Alright, alright", the secretary conceded, "but I have a bad feeling about this..." he whispered to himself.

(*Over speakers* 5, 4, 3, 2, 1... TAKEOFF)

At the same moment, the GSLV Mk III took off, with a shuttle attached onto it's side. It rose, leaving behind smoke as it sped up, and left the atmosphere in about 3 minutes. A few minutes later, the rocket finally reached space, as the shuttle disengaged from the rocket and set course towards the moon, leaving behind the rocket which became space junk.

However, just a few minutes after the shuttle disengaged, alarms started ringing throughout the launch centre.

"What's going on!", the man from earlier yelled, his voice booming through the audience room.

"Sir, we have encountered a serious problem. As the rocket left the earth's atmosphere and passed through the ring the ring of space junk, some of the space junk rammed into the shuttle. Its seems to have impacted the respiration related equipment, so now the passengers only have a few hours worth of oxygen." A scientist replied worriedly to him, as he watched the man's face lose color by the second.

"Then do something! Send mechanics up there, or bring the shuttle back down. Do something- Anything!!", the man screeched as he pulled his hair, hoping the CEO would return safely back on Earth.

* A few minutes earlier *

[Location: Starlight Vanguard]

"Hooohhh... this is so exciting, I can't wait to go to space!!", a girl of 15 years exclaimed, fistpumping.

"Relax Alya, we don't want your seat belt to become loose by any chance now, do we.", a man of 30-ish years chided her, a smile adorning his face.

"Bweh, you worry to much Uncle Toni!" Alya said as she stuck out her tongue at him.

"Hahaha... maybe I am doting on you too much, maybe I should cut your pocket money for next month", Toni replied.

"No no, you don't need to take such drastic measures Uncle!" Alya panicked, waving her hands.

"You really love to tease her, don't you?", spoke another man, smiling at him.

"Well, her reactions are cute and fun to see.", Toni replied, laughing.

"Hmph, you're always making fun of me, I'm not talking to you anymore." Alya huffed, turning her head to the side.

(*Over speakers*) 5, 4, 3...

"It seems the time has come", Toni observed, looking at the timer." You remember the procedure, don't you, Alya?"

"Yeah, yeah, who wouldn't remember after having drilled it into their head after hearing it a hundred times..."

"I really should decrease your pocket money"

"Don't-", she had to swallow her words as the g-force created by the take off pushed against her continuously. She turned her head to the side, looking out the window, watching the ground move farther and farther away from her.

A few minutes later, the sky gave way to the stars, as the rocket finally reached the boundary of the atmosphere and their bodies no longer felt pressured, and the shuttle disengaged from the rocket, before starting it's own thrusters and setting course for the moon.

Suddenly, the crew heard emergency beeps sound out from the control board.

"Huh? What's wrong?" The older man questioned as he got up from his seat and floated towards the front of the shuttle, to the control panel. However, the moment he set his eyes on the panel, his face turned pale as he called out to Toni.

"Toni! We have a problem!"

"What is it? What went wrong?" Toni asked as he floated next to him.

"Oh no, that's not good, how did this happen??" Toni spoke anxiously.

"What happened Uncle? What's going on?" Alya was clueless, as she was immersed in the beauty of space.

"Contact the base, and turn the shuttle around, we need to go back." Toni whispered to the man before going back to his niece.

"It's not a big deal Alya, just a few minor issues..." he said as they both looked out the window, looking deep into the void of space.

"Base, control, can you read me? I repeat, can you read me? Over"

"I can hear you loud and clear Vanguard."

"We have a problem control."

"We know, however we can't control the shuttle anymore..." Contol replied, in a sad tone.

"Come on, surely you can do something? Send up a rescue team or something!!"

"We don't have enough time, you would be long dead by the time any support gets to you... I'm sorry."

"How can this be... why, oh God, why..." the man murmured, tears streaming down his cheeks. "Toni, could you come here a moment?"

"What did they say?"

"...They can't do anything... we're doomed...", he replied, sobbing while trying to wipe his tears.

Toni's eyes shook and shimmering, tears nearly overflowing, as he turned around, cleared his eyes and floated towards Alya, who was excitedly looking out the window.

"...Alya"

"Yes Uncle!!" her joyful face stabbing at his heart even more as he spoke to her.

"Come here for a moment" he said, leading her to another room, and sat her down on one of the seats.

"...Alya... I want you yo listen to me very carefully."

"What is it uncle, is something wrong?" her smile slowly fading, as she felt something different about the atmosphere, which had gone from joyous to somber.

"Y-You see, while we ascending with the rocket, we passed by the space junk ring-"

"Yes, I know! It's the waste left behind by previous space missions."

"Yes, that's the one... You see, when we passed by the ring, we were hit by passing junk- and that junk damaged parts of the shuttle."

"Yeah, you told it was a small problem, didn't you, do you need my help for something? she asked smugly, flexing her non-existent biceps.

"No, no, Alya... that's not what I want you to do... what I want you to do us to sit right here."

"But this is an escape pod- wait, what's happening?! What's going on?!" Alya panicked, as she tried to stand up.

"No, no, its not such a big problem... it's just that the space junk which struck our shuttle had hit our respiration equipment and structures, leaving us without enough oxygen for 3 people-"

"Then let's all leave! There are 4 pods in this shuttle, so let's each get into one and leave immediately!!", she replied immediately.

"Yes, that's what we're gonna do. Now you be a good girl and stay in the pod, okay? You're going to leave first, got it?" Toni stated.

"Alright, I got it!"

"Good". Toni nodded at the other man, as he pressed a button, which closed the pod and shot it out of the shuttle, and back to Earth.

The moment the pod left, Toni slid down on to the floor, tears pooling in his eyes.