AN ANXIOUS FAREWELL

“Ruza! You are late as usual.” Vivian said with a scowl.”

“And you are early as usual.” Ruza retorted as she adjusted the straps of her backpack. She was dressed just like Vivian today.

“Today is such an important day for us. Couldn’t you have come earlier?” Vivian said, tapping her foot.

“Oh! Come on, Vivi. We have an hour left.”

Vivian felt a tingling sensation. She was thrilled and nervous at the same time. Vivian gripped Ruza’s hand tightly as they moved towards a lift.

The doors of the lift slid open when Vivian inserted her ID card. The door closed with a ding and started moving up. The lift was used exclusively to go to the topmost floor of the building which was specially designed as a spacecraft launchpad.

Ruza groaned slightly when she felt her ears pop due to the sharp ascent. Vivian was unbothered as she had undertaken extra training to withstand pressure fluctuations.

The lift came to a standstill at the 250^th floor with a ding.

They came out of the lift and walked to a section labeled ‘Restricted Access.’ Their footsteps resonated in the empty passage. They came to a halt in front of a massive glass wall.

A beam of laser scanned them; then, they placed their palms on a section of the wall for fingerprint scanning. The glass wall slid to one side when they finally inserted both their ID’s.

Vivian sucked in her breath when she saw the sleek spaceship. It was shaped like a boomerang, about 12 meters broad. It was made of vandalt, the darkest metal which could camouflage very well in the space once the spaceship was put on stealth mode.

Though she had flown this beauty during the training sessions, she hadn't expected her supervisor to prepare this one for the mission. So, she was pleasantly surprised.

Their Supervisor was waiting for them with a few gadgets in his hands. Mr. Rollan had come to see them off.

“Isn’t this man supposed to be busy?” Vivian muttered under her breath before plastering a smile on his face.

“Hello, sir. Hello Mr. Rollan.” Vivian greeted. She struggled to keep her face straight. Every time she saw this man, she felt an irresistible urge to punch him. She forced herself to turn her attention to her supervisor before she did something foolish.

“Ruza, this is a smart detect, telecamera.” He said, handing a device the size of a cricket ball to Ruza.

“It looks…looks like a ball. But what does it do?” Ruza said, scrutinizing it.

“Press the red button and see for yourself.” Their Supervisor said, grinning ear to ear. He was very proud of this invention. He hadn’t patented it yet, but he trusted the girls enough to give it to them.

The moment Ruza pressed the button, the ball blossomed like the lotus flower. Its surface was covered with hundreds of tiny lenses.

They watched in wonder as it rose into the air hovered over their head.

“Cool!” Vivian muttered as she craned her neck to look at it, soaring in the sky.

Mr. Dixon, their Supervisor, tapped an icon on his IAD and the device came fluttering towards him.

“This combines the features of a telescope and a high definition camera. It will help you live-stream the details of The Lycan World once you are within 5000 miles of the planet.” He explained as he caught the device in his hand.

His eyes snapped to Mr. Rollan for a moment. It was as if Mr. Dixon was challenging him to say something. Mr. Rollan just shrugged in reply.

“Here, take these IAD’s. I have paired them with the telecamera. You both will be able to operate it.” He said, handing each of them a brand new IAD.

"Give the old ones to me. i will keep them safely." Mr. Rollan said.

Ruza placed her old IAD onto Mr. Rollan’s stretched hands, but Vivian stuffed her IAD into her pocket. She didn’t want to give anything to him.

Mr. Rollan raised his eyebrows but didn’t say anything.

Vivian noticed that Mr. Dixon had a long stick-like device in his hand.

“Which device is that, Sir.” She asked curiously.

“This is something I got for you. You often get over-excited. This will help you.”

Vivian was taken aback when she heard this. She looked at his face, but there were no signs that indicated he was joking.

She wasn’t sure if she should be happy at his concern or if she should feel embarrassed that he called her reckless.

“Sir, please tell me it is a magic wand, and it will make her less irritating.” Ruza preened.

Mr. Dixon grasped Vivian's hand and turned it slightly to reveal a gash near her elbow.

Vivian sucked in her breath as her brows furrowed in confusion. She couldn’t recall how she got the scar.

Mr. Dixon pressed a button on the wand and placed it close to her skin. A blue light was cast on her elbow, and within moments the gash healed on her own.

“Wow! This is magical.” Vivian said, caressing the spot where there was a gash just a few seconds ago.

“Here, keep it safe and use it wisely. It works on a mix of Uranium and Plutonium. It will run out of power after a few times.” He said, handing the wand to Vivian.

“Thank you, Mr. Dixon. You are awesome.” Vivian said, throwing her arms around him.

Mr. Dixon was startled for a moment, but then he hugged her back.

“Remember, this is the most important device you have.” He whispered before pulling away.

Vivian couldn’t understand what he meant, but she decided to keep it with her at all times.

“Okay, girls! It is time to blast off. Buona Fortuna. Keep me updated.” He said, waving to them.

Mr. Dixon’s hand shook slightly, and he blinked his eyes, struggling to hide his inner turmoil.

He was anxious for the girls. He wondered why Mr. Rollan had changed the plans at the last moment.

Mr. Dixon would have canceled the mission if it was in his hands, but he wasn’t powerful enough. So, he did the best he could.

He arranged the best space ship ZSRO had, equipped it with the best security controls, and gave them the best gadgets he knew.

His heart twisted with guilt as he saw Vivian wave to him. Her eyes were shining with excitement and joy. That was his last vision before the doors of the spaceship slid shut.

“God, please be with them and protect them.” He muttered as he watched the spaceship take off and glide into the sky. It became smaller and smaller and finally disappeared from sight.