Moon settler

preface

Now that I think about it, it all started when I was five. I grew up a single child to a single mother. It wasn't until school that I realized 'it wasn't normal' to not have a father. I remember asking my mother where my dad was. She told me he lived far away. She said she would try to get ahold of him. He was a miner of sorts. He was mining Mars or asteroids or Venus. He was in the terraforming business as just another muscle. He emailed me occasionally after my mother found him. He would send pictures of himself in the observation room with Mars behind him or taking a quick break on the Martian surface with red mountains in the background. I guess it could of been anyone in the suit but he said it was him.

When I turned nine and my mother told me that she had done a lot of paperwork and paid a company a lot of money and that I was going to go see my father. She took me to Florida where I had to take some medical tests for the company. They told me I was going to fly on a rocket to Mars and meet my father but I had to be good for the rest of the school year and that I would fly out in July.

I was so excited at school. I was going to be the first child to fly to Mars. There were some children on Mars already but they had all been born there. I did the best I could in school. When school was done I was sad to tell my friends goodbye but I was going to be famous. When the day finally came we went back to Florida they took me by boat out to the elevator. I waited in the cabin as they loaded a bunch of equipment.

"How are you doing Nathaniel?" I was surprized by a nurse carrying some sort of thermos.

I never turned from watching the waves crashing against the platform and the boat rocking back and forth with the waves. "I'm alright. Kind of hungry."

"Thats perfect. I brought you an astronaut shake. I need you to drink it." She twisted off the lid and tilted it torward me. It was grey and smell like chalk.

"I don't want to drink that! It looks gross and smells bad!" I complained.

"Unfortunately astronaut food is rather bland and unfamiliar. But this shake will protect your insides from its self. In your cryogenic sleep you will be really cold and this shake will solidify in the cold and keep your stomach acid from making an ulcer or worse. You have to drink it to go through the cryogenic process. If you don't we will have to send you back to shore." she threatened.

I was so close to finally meeting my father, and about to be famous, nothing was going to stop me. I tried to not smell it as I brought it up to my mouth. As I took my first chug the chalk taste was so strong. It was cold and thick. I took another chug and soon had to breath. I tried to pull it away from my face but the smell almost overpowered me. I turned my head and had a slight gag.

"I'm sorry Nathaniel but I need you to drink all of it." she said sternly.

I nodded and took three more chugs. Finally, I had finished the shake. I frowned as I asked the nurse "Is it always that bad?"

"Honestly I have no clue, but everybody has a complaint so guess so." she stated.

Finally she lead me to a seat and strapped me in. There were a few other people already sitting. One was reading on his tablet another was asleep and there was a couple talking on the far side of the cabin. The elevator slowly came to life and began to rise.

It seemed so go very slow. I could see more and more of the ocean. It faded to a solid blue and I couldn't make out the waves anymore. We went through the clouds. It kept going and going. I started to see the coast line. It didn't look as I remember a map looking like. Out one of the side windows I could see both night and day. We climbed and climbed the windows started to frost around the edges. I could see more of the coast and cities. It started to turn dark I could see the lights from the cities.