Techno

Chapter 2

1 Year Previously...

     The phone buzzed as the line rang on the other end. There was a click, and someone answered.

     "Sarah?" Ellie asked, tingling with excitement.

     "Hello?" Ellie's sister, Sarah, asked.

     "It's me," Ellie responded, shaking with excitement. "You'll never guess what just happened!"

     "Uh, did 'Doctor Who' get cancelled or something?" Sarah asked, seemingly preoccupied.

     Ellie rolled her eyes, smiling on the other end of the phone, "No! Sarah...I got accepted!"

     "Accepted?" Sarah repeated with a note of confusion in her voice. "Like, you got accepted into the program?"

     "Yes!" Ellie squealed into the phone. "I'm going to become an astronaut!"

     There was no reply from the other line.

     "Sarah?" Ellie asked. "Hello?"

     "Ellie..." Sarah sighed.

     "What?" questioned Ellie, confused.

     "You know how I feel about this whole...'going into space thing'," Sarah continued.

     Ellie slumped against the wall, her excitement suddenly dashed, "You can't be happy for me? Just for once?"

     "It's not that," Sarah answered. "It's just...space is..."

     "Dangerous?" Ellie completed. "Sarah, going into space is no more dangerous than driving a car on the freeway."

     "You have to understand Ellie..." Sarah said.

     "No," Ellie abruptly cut in, suddenly a little agitated. "Do you know what it took to get into the program? Only twenty individuals in history have been accepted into working on the A.O.S.S.!"

     "Ellie, please..." begged her sister.

     "I had to go through ten individualized tests before I was accepted!" Ellie continued. "The tests were based on intelligence, agility, endurance, and even a little luck!"

     "Ellie..." Sarah tried.

     "I'm making history!" Ellie eagerly exclaimed into the receiver.

     "I can't lose you!" Sarah abruptly sobbed. "You're my little sister! I'm supposed to look out for you!"

     There was a painful silence between the two sisters.

     "Listen," Ellie whispered, "I'll be fine. They have all kind of protective systems that keep the astronaut safe. They've got backups for their backups."

     "And what if those fail?" Sarah asked, clearly trying to stifle her emotions. "What if you...die?"

     "I'm not going to die," Ellie consoled as she hugged herself. "I'm doing what I was destined to do."

     Sarah was quiet for a long time before she finally responded, "We'll talk about this more later. I've got some work to do."

     "Okay," Ellie answered quietly, and then she hung up the phone.

     Her apartment was cold, dark, and isolated. Photos of famous people from all throughout history were hung up on the walls. In the corner was Albert Einstein, in another was Amelia Earhart, but her favorite was one of the protagonist Luke Skywalker from "Star Wars". The photos were a reminder of her solitary quest.