The 400 #SciFriday

03

   Tension hung in the air like a ticking time bomb. Although the launch had gone smoothly, there was still a long - and tiring - journey ahead. Ali counted the hours, days and minutes as they went on with short, diurnal courses and cycles of endless night. The people inside the starship watched and waited, like predators hunting for prey. Muscles were coiled, backs sat hunched, and legs were ready to spring forth in a burst of speed when danger was nearby. Her hands often went to the phaser that was still hung at her belt, and it often gave her comfort in knowing that the weapon was still there.

   Food and water was passed around the hands of each other, they savored every last bite and drop, saving as much as they could for later. The hangar was cramped and stuffy; nothing Ali didn't expect. Space travel had always been like that, but this was worse. Maybe it was her being in this new environment for the first time on a ship like this, or maybe it was because she was just that kind of person who always thought about the negative side of things. Either way, it always caused the same emotion for her.

   Quil did not seem bothered, as usual. But within his eyes and the chilly touch of his steel hand, Ali could still sense the apprehension boiling inside him like lava from an erupting volcano.

   Light years of astral bodies flew by in streaks of brilliance, like Mars, as the bright red planet with its hot atmosphere and surface of dust and rock captured the large attention span of those on board. Ali's amazement only grew a little as she peaked through the plexiglass from the bench she was on in the middle of the hangar. The planet was bigger than she had expected, but sadly only saw its twisting clouds and dry, brown and orange, mountainous surface. A small, Martian race had just begun to colonize it a few years ago, and the city's lights could be seen through the blankets of cloud cover, blurry and bright from below. It was still under construction, but it had expanded rapidly from the last time Ali had seen it in satellite photos.

   Nothing ever happened; except when they hovered silently past the moon and Mars... It all seemed but a conclusion to a facade of the general happiness that would soon follow after leaving Earth. Another day went by, with still no sign of anything exciting...

   Until something small, firm, and possibly bumpy crashed against the side of the hull. It was muffled, for there was no sound in space, yet inside the layered titanium walls of the Hyundai it was quite noticeable. Scraping sounds like rock against metal and startling explosions of sound occurred and the floors shook, surprising the occupants.

   The intercom buzzed, and a male voice blared through,

   "We have entered the edge of the asteroid belt, please remain seated and hang on tight until we pass through it." That's impossible! Ali thought, It's miles thick! Some grabbed to the poles which separated each bench and others clung to relatives or strangers who sat beside them.

   Another crunch and a noisy bang came just seconds after as a seemingly large asteroid rammed into the side of the curved wall, barely indenting it as it bounced off like a rubber ball. Ali ground her teeth as a moan like a rusty gate being opened sounded.

   After a silence had engulfed the hangar in a state of pacification mixed with a strong aura of waiting for the next series of rough impacts to occur, Quil's focus suddenly became warring as he glared at the dots of thousands upon thousands of space rock and debris outside, which tumbled and rotated like tennis balls in a great wheel. Ali nudged him with her elbow, getting his attention, but he didn't face her.

   "What are you doing? You're going to freak a lot of people out by staring at them like that!" She whispered alarmingly, seeing the questioning expressions of a group of men and young women. Their foreheads were creased, and eyebrows were raised as they shifted uncomfortably under Quil's inhuman gaze. Only he didn't seem to be looking right at them, but right past them, out the window that was behind a blonde girl's head.