Year: 2088
The astronaut floated inside Destiny, USA's lab in the new, recently launched International Space Station. The room was painted a sleek white, streaks of black and silver running across the walls lined with disparate machines, and a large concave window on the opposite end of the entrance. He was sent up before anyone else to begin working on the last few kinks, but two others were scheduled to arrive within a few hours after him.
He scratched his head - who was on the way again? Was it the German team? Russian? Didn't matter, he could hardly wait to split up the remaining load with them, and given the time it took to get from Earth to ISS he guessed that they were on their way soon. After spending the last couple of hours fixing up the communication system, he decided that he earned a break.
He placed a juice pouch in his mouth, then from his pocket pulled out a picture of his family with one hand and held a Polaroid camera with the other. He positioned the photo in front of the large twenty-inch thick glass window that gave a stunning view of Earth, left it hovering in place, and took a shot. He wiped the sweat from his brow, the film coming out like a ticket. The ISS, despite being out in the cold dead space and even before its spacious upgrade, had always been a little too warm to his liking, but since he was by himself perhaps he could adjust the temperature for the time being.
His lips curved to a smirk as he carefully removed the picture from the slot, wiggling it as its colors emerged. He thought of Zeke, his cheeky four year old son, aspiring to be like him, dreaming daily of riding out to space and exploring its endless mysteries. If he had a penny for every time he asked to board a spaceship like his father, the astronaut reckoned he could afford another child. Though the missus, Ava, might've had some words about it. She, like Zeke, was a lover of the final frontier. No matter how many times she'd deny it, she felt somewhat envious of her husband's line of work, but not out of hate, never. After all, who wouldn't want to see the universe from his perspective?
So today, even if the astronaut didn't exactly take his family of space freaks with him, he instead took a photo from home and took a photo of that. Once the freshly printed film's colors settled, he held it ahead of him; it had the picture of his family with a bright, giant Earth behind it and the blackness of space filling the top corners. The picture he took from home was of Ava attempting to give Zeke a kiss as he pulled away from her. If only stars shined in photos as they did right now. He'll definitely be pinning this in his sleeping pod.
"A photo of a photo taken to the next level," he said to himself feeling proud. Just as he was about to place the picture in his pocket, his hazel eyes caught something strange on Earth. Something glew, like a faint red. He looked out the window and waited, and it came once more. It came from underground, spread out as if it was a vein. He stared at the enigma and came centimeters away from the window, becoming wide eyed and confused. The winding red path traveled from the southern part of Mexico all the way to central California.
He pulled back and shoved the pictures into his pocket, then wiped the glass with the sleeve of his shirt and looked again. The line was still there - if anything, it was getting longer.
A blue light bulb in the corner of the room began flashing, followed by a soft, high pitched beeping from the radio below it. The man quickly twisted his body then pushed himself off the window, hit the wall with his shoulder, and picked up the transmitter.
"Hello?" he said, but no one responded.
"Hello? Houston, can you hear me? Hello?" He pulled it away from his ear. "Don't tell me I messed this up..." The astronaut turned his head; the line now zigzagged its way up to Canada, down towards Columbia, and in the middle of it was a forming tributary that headed east. It seemed to glow brighter. He let go of the transmitter and headed back to the window. "What the-"
