Charles lay in bed, his arms under his head. Looking out the window, he could see nothing but the small lamps that lined the sidewalk around the garden. And the stars. So many stars. He thought he had a great view from his balcony in Connecticut, but it couldn’t match the one out here in the New Mexico desert. His mind raced with the day’s events. It had started just after he’d checked in at the motel and had been run over by Bev. It had ended with him watching her during dinner, but not having the courage to sit next to her. He had thought about asking if she’d like to play a game of pool before bed, but she’d disappeared with Katie again before he’d had the chance.
It almost seemed like Bev was avoiding him.
He didn’t have any reason to think
“No, no no no,” Bev said, yanking on the doors. She swiped her badge for the hundredth time, but it didn’t work. She looked down the darkened path, but she was alone. There was one person that was still awake…but she couldn’t go back to where Charles still sat. She didn’t trust her feelings when she was around him.Despite the fact that she couldn’t stop thinking about how handsome Charles had looked in the moonlight, and how, despite his being older than her, he had retained a boyish charm that she found irresistible, she had walked away. But how could she have done anything different? He was going to ask questions—ones that she didn’t want to answer.Whatever image he had painted of Bev, she didn’t want it replaced with one
When Bev woke up, sunlight was streaming through the window, making her wince. Her head pounded and she doubted she’d slept more than a couple of hours.Katie and Cecelia were already up and dressed in their exercise clothes.When Katie noticed that Bev was awake, she said, “You better get up. We’re supposed to be at the gym in ten minutes for Tai Chi.”Bev groaned and shoved her pillow over her head. She didn’t think she’d make it out of bed, let alone through an exercise class.The pillow was whipped out of her hands, leaving Bev defenseless. She glared at Katie, who stood over her, the pillow swinging, taunting h
Charles walked by Phil and Darrell, who had apparently slipped in to film the early morning Tai Chi class. He couldn’t wait to go on the flight the next day, when he’d be free from those two. They seemed to be everywhere, and judging by Phil’s smile as Charles walked by, Phil knew more than was good for him.Charles paused as Phil stopped Bev and Katie in the doorway and asked for a few minutes of their time. Charles wondered if he should step in and tell Phil off for asking for an interview. He turned back, but when he saw the two women graciously accept and step away from the group, he stopped. Bev didn’t seem annoyed or pressured into something she didn’t want to do. In fact, she seemed to be enjoying it. It was only when she noticed Charles watching that her smile slipped for a moment. But then she turned back to Phil, a
Brady nudged Charles’ arm as they left the locker room. “You nervous?”“About…the flight tomorrow?”“No, the centrifuge,” Brady said.“Should I be?” Charles wasn’t sure what the centrifuge was, but it was just another thing to get them used to the pressures of space travel. None of what they had been asked to do had been a big deal thus far.“No, you shouldn’t,” Cecelia said from where she leaned against the wall a few feet away. “He’s just trying to make everyone as nervous as he is.”
“I want you to know that I cannot require you to participate in this centrifuge experience,” Doctor Randall said, facing the group in one of the most intimidating rooms Bev had ever been in. Even when she had been working in New York and stood in front of her boss, knowing she was about to lose her job—it didn’t compare with this. The circular room was bare, shining red tile gleaming from the walls. And in the middle…something that looked like it could belong in an amusement park, if you didn’t know that in a few minutes you were going to feel six times your weight pressing in on you. Yeah, she had Googled it.The contraption had two long metal arms that spanned the room and looked like it pivoted around a metal cylinder that was bolted to the floor. On the end of one of the arms was a capsule-looking thing, kind of l
Charles felt disoriented as he leaned on Doctor Randall. His body had never been through so much torture. But he had done it, and without puking. He had Bev to thank for that. He slid into his chair in the hall, many of his teammates looking similar to how he felt. Only three people were left: Brady, Cecelia, and Katie. With each person who came out, Katie made another phone call to her daughter. The last time she’d returned, she’d complained that her sister-in-law had stopped picking up the phone.“Guess I better show you how it’s done, eh?” Cecelia said, teasing Brady. She smiled as she said it, but her eyes held fire. Whatever anxiety she’d had before had been replaced by the feud between her and the young actor. Who knew someone could gain a nemesis on a space tourism flight?
“I can’t believe I said that,” Bev said, pacing back and forth in their dorm room. “To a billionaire.”“So what? You told him you know your way around a cardboard box. That could mean anything,” Katie said, studying her reflection in the full-length mirror on the closet door. “I really like this spacesuit. Doctor Randall said we get to take it home as a souvenir. Usually when I get free stuff, it’s a lousy T-shirt that is three sizes too big.”“Can we focus on me for a moment?” Bev asked. “Everyone associates homeless people with living in cardboard boxes. Where would we even get a box that would be big enough to fit inside? It’s not like people just throw those things out on the street.” She sighe
“Welcome to the simulation lab,” Julie said, stopping and opening a door that their badges didn’t allow them access to.Bev was the first one to step through the door, but it was so dark, she couldn’t see her own hand in front of her face. “Is there a light around here somewhere?”“Take about three more steps and it will kick on,” Julie said.It was a little unnerving stepping into the dark, but she did as she was told. As promised, the lights clicked on, but the sudden brightness momentarily sent spots through her vision. When they cleared, Bev’s breath caught in her throat.She was standing in a room that was even larger than the roo