Proxima B

Phoenix, Arizona.

The day was sultry. The sun shone making the rocks, the ground and even the air incandescent. Everything would seemingly burn at any moment. A rattle snake stirred looking for semidarkness on some rocks to protect itself from the heat that surrounded the firing range where a platoon of PFCs was about to fire. Metal targets, which were a bit rusty, were there, incandescent, waiting for being shot by the bullets shot from the weapons of those young soldiers who were on the hills one mile away from them. Ten Marines that were led by their Chief Master Sergeant Lucas Douglas were getting ready to take point.

“Down, everybody! Take point!” the sergeant told them, so they all obeyed and took their own points, lay down and loaded the sniper rifle and waited for him to give the signal to commence firing. Lucas Douglas, for his part, took it easy before giving the signal. They waited for his signal several minutes. He had been used to the Arizona blistering sun since he had been serving in that helluva place for more than twenty years and he knew that he had to make them – the ones that he considered as the runts of the litter – understand that life in the army was not a game and that it would lead them to difficult decisions and exhausting waits under very hard conditions. Lucas Douglas, who was an Afro-American big-hearted, high-spirited man in his sixties and a very hard worker, too, was there today. He meant to get the best out of his seven men and his three women who were waiting for him to order them what to do. Some of them were getting impatient; others were already covered with sweat but no order had been given yet. The sergeant’s wait appeared to be intentional… He only had to yell the soldier’s name and this one would fire a shot. But he had not done anything so far. After getting a big glass of lemonade off a table under a nearby sunshade, the Chief Master Sergeant took a quick glance at the troop and immediately got an idea of whom would do one’s work well during that intense workday. He grabbed his binoculars and watched the faraway silhouettes, and then he yelled out, “MONTGOMERY!”

He barely uttered the whole name when a rumble caused by the gunshot pierced the air. The silence of the valley was replaced by the screeching of the bullet that shot the metal silhouette right on its right shoulder.

“Well done, Montgomery! Next time aim at its head!” The sergeant’s heavy voice directed its words to the young man, who murmured to himself in a low tone of voice, “What am I supposed to have aimed at?” He was a bit disappointed. He started watching the silhouettes from the monocle of the rifle.

“PINCHER!” the Chief Master Sergeant shouted again and another shot was fired by the soldier who missed the target completely and ended up behind the metal silhouettes among gravel and cobbles under Lucas Douglas’ gaze.

“Pincher! You did fucking miss it completely! You wouldn’t even be able to shoot the ass of an elephant sitting right in front of you!” the sergeant exclaimed, which elicited a smile from a few fellow soldiers. The guy that had shot, who was a bit angry and disappointed, did not laugh, but stood there and waited for further instructions. The soldiers, who were waiting for their own calls, took their own points again in the blistering sun. One of them was Emily Parker, a young soldier with light brown hair and brown doe eyes. A drop of sweat ran down her forehead to her right eye, the one that she was not using for looking through her monocle. She tried to wipe it, but as soon as Lucas Douglas saw that she was not paying attention, he yelled her name. It took about two seconds for Emily to take her own point again and shoot. The bullet shot the dummy’s head and the metal sparked, which stopped her fellow soldiers and the Chief Master Sergeant in their tracks. The latter did not hesitate to congratulate her on her work.

“You did a great job, Miss Parker! A great job!”

The training was over shortly thereafter. Each soldier broke ranks by freshening up a bit.

“Go freshen up, you deserve it! Great job, guys, except yours, Pincher and Sully. Your aim sucks…,” the sergeant said merrily from underneath the big awning. Then he turned his attention to Emily.

“Miss Parker, can I talk to you?” the sergeant asked the girl. The young soldier went up to him. She thought he would reprimand her.

“Sir, I’m sorry for…,” the woman tried to excuse immediately, but she was stopped her instantly by her superior.

“Miss Parker, I didn’t call you for what happened earlier. I called you to tell you that this morning I’ve received a letter from the Government and NASA. They wanted me to recommend somebody for a project,” the man informed her. Then he paused for a while and searched for any reaction in the girl’s eyes. Then he kept on saying, “I’ve thought of you. What about this idea?”

Emily did not expect the sergeant to tell her so. She took a few seconds to think and finally she said, “Sir, I’m confused. I don’t even know what this is about,” the young Marine said with hesitation.

“Once you’re in Washington, everything is going to be clearer. You’re too smart to get old in this fucking hole. You’ll find the invitation letter and the flight tickets in your bedroom!”

“Sir… I don’t know what to say,” the soldier stuttered one more time.

“Don’t say anything. Honor your country! For the benefit of all!” Lucas Douglas said finally. Their glances were admiring when they saluted. Emily went back to her accommodation.

She arrived there and picked up the envelope. Her hands were shaking. She was happy. She leafed through the letter and the tickets. She was ready to leave for Washington.

Chapter 2 – A new hope

T

he day of the flight to Washington had finally come. Jerry was busy getting his small luggage prepared, but the excitement and the curiosity that had seized him that same morning since his awakening had led him to hesitate over what to take with him.

“Not this one… This one is too showy… Ah! This is the one I was looking for!” the boy cried out while picking the shirts to take with him. He chose a pair of trousers and his underwear. He filled up the small bag and took it near the front. He took up his belongings, his keys, his wallet and a thin and clear-glass device whose shape made it look like a credit card but that was actually something that served as a smartphone. He took a look around for the last time to check if he had all that he needed.

“Mom! Mom! I’m ready to go!” Jerry shouted. His mother left her bedroom. She was still wearing her nightgown.

“My little man is going to Washington! I’m proud of you! Give ‘em hell, honey!” Mrs. Vandcamp said. Then she added, “Come here, let me hug you!” And they hugged each other with love.

“Mom, I’ll be back soon. I’m not going to the moon!” her son cried out. He smiled, kissed her mother on her cheek and took his luggage and walked towards the taxi while his mother was staring at him with her watery eyes, since she was sad for her son. But he let her feel proud of him, too.

Michael had just got on the plane that would take him to Washington. It would take only few minutes. The plane had an elongated shape and its wings were relatively small. Two electric engines were ready to thrust it supersonically, which was usual at that time. The motto of the air carrier stood out on both sides: The world in less than one hour. He boarded the silver plane whose inside was white and Havana-brown and took his seat. Then he sat down in the lavish seat made of synthetic material, which does not mean poor quality, and thought.

“Why the hell am I doing this?” he wondered in a low tone of voice. The passenger who was sitting next to him was attracted by his voice.

“Is it your first time on a Jet Line?” he was asked by Josе, who was a man of Hispanic origin. Michael turned slowly towards the man who was in his fifties and slightly overweight.

“No, it isn’t the first time!” the man answered lazily.

“Pleased to meet you. I’m Josе! I hope I’ll enjoy my journey with you,” the man said to Michael, who stared at him for a few seconds.

“Josе, huh? I’m Michael. Let me tell you something. I haven’t slept for two nights or something. And to add insult to injury, they’ve run out of whiskey at the bar in the airport, I’ve got on board this plane even if I didn’t want to, and I’ve settled myself into this seat on a plane, and now I’m sitting next to a man I’ve never seen in my life and that is already unbearable to me. It’s going to be a nice trip, you’ll see...”

The ex-Marine turned to the porthole and cried out, “The fucking rudeness people have!”

Washington D.C.

Some hours later, Jerry got off the taxi. He had got on the taxi at the airport of Dulles and was dropped off a few hundred feet away from the seat of New NASA Corporate. The building was wonderful. The way it shone thanks to its large glass windows made it look like a crystal; after admiring it for a while, Jerry walked towards its entrance. Emily arrived unexpectedly. She was in her civilian clothes. She was wearing a black coat and a pair of dark blue trousers. They both came close to the entrance and were embarrassed as usual since they did not know who would go first. So, Jerry decided to let her go first.

“Please… ladies first,” the biologist said. Then he smiled.

“Oh, a gentleman! I thought they had died out,” Emily answered sarcastically. After an exchange of smiles and gazes, they entered the structure and everybody went their own ways.

Jerry glanced at Emily for a last time. She was going away. He pulled out his smartphone to see if any emails had been sent to him from his workplace. He walked without looking around and, even if he was walking slowly, he collided with a man, dropping his trolley and some belongings.

“Oops, I’m sorry. I’m terribly sorry! I didn’t mean to. I wasn’t paying attention,” Jerry mumbled quickly as he tried to pick up the man’s things.

“Obviously! Watch where you’re going, boy! You could hurt yourself or hurt other people!” Michael exclaimed. His tone was a bit harsh, but as soon as he saw how much the young biologist was awkward while picking up the things, especially the letter from NASA that had also fallen to the ground, he was impressed with how Jerry looked frozen to see that he was there to attend the lecture, too.

“Give it to me, boy! Are you here, too, because of that stupid farce, huh?” Michael asked him abruptly.

“How do you know that?” Jerry asked promptly.

“The way you’ve looked at that letter…,” the ex-pilot answered. Suddenly a voice from some glass sheets that served as speakers interrupted him and made them vibrate by one acoustically induced vibration.

“Guests are invited to the pavilion 3. The lecture starts in fifteen minutes. Thank you!” the female voice that sounded almost metallic informed.

“Did you hear? We have to go! Take your seat and… good luck!” Michael said, addressing a frozen Jerry that stood there for a while before coming round and walking towards the pavilion.

At the entrance of the pavilion, David met two stewards who asked for his invitation letter. The engineer from Montana slid his hand in his coat pocket, and then he pulled out the letter and handed it over to one of them.

“Please sit down. Your seat is number 1367. You’ll have to go that way to reach it,” the supervisor told him after scanning David’s letter and checking his seat.

“Excellent! Is this a concert? There are so many people!” he exclaimed while he was taking a look around one more time. He noticed that hundreds of people were taking their seats in what looked like an ancient semicircle-shaped theater with so many rings facing the stage over which a giant screen stood out.

At the same moment, behind the scenes, while the audience was taking its seat, two men were drinking what looked like excellent liquor, even if they were expensive.

“Here you are. Try this one, Matthew. I can assure you that it is the best scotch you’ve ever tasted,” Ferdinand Piquet said. He was the President of the United States of America at that time. While handing the glass with two drops of scotch, he leaned his other hand on a three-star General’s shoulder, that’s Lieutenant-General Matthew Ross, who took up the glass and drank a gulp. His expression proved that the liquor he was given by the President was to his satisfaction.

“What’s the matter with you, Matthew? All those wars fought and won… and now… is a lecture enough to leave you speechless? Come on, my friend! Don’t worry! Everything will be alright!” the head of the State exclaimed and he gave Matthew some pats on the back.