Dad said something, then she said something and then he would say something else again. It went on like that until the Goddard arrived. It breezed passed the other landing vessels screeching to a hovering stop inches from the ground. Aunt Mini glared at my Dad who wouldn’t look at her. She lowered her voice like Daniel and I weren’t suppose to hear what she was saying, but was sure to speak loud enough so we actually could. “I certainly hope he’s the best, because he’s not the safest.”
The ship doors opened and Jake, the pilot appeared at the entrance. He couldn’t have looked more like a pirate if he tried. He had midnight black long hair pulled back in a pony tail and a short scraggily beard. He stood well over six feet tall and he even had an eye patch.
“All aboard,” the captain called out like he was announcing it to the entire loading station, despite the fact it was only the three of us going.
The ship is all cold steal and chrome. The dark, soft overstuffed, suede chairs placed at the control helm and all around seem out of place, with the rest of the ship looking so hard. Our pilot told us to call him Jake then told us to buckle up for take-off. I wondered if all science pilots were that to the point.
I snapped a photo of the Earth as we left her atmosphere and heard Jake say, “Sure sign of a first timer,” as he entered our flight pattern into the computer. But then he leaned in and said to me like it was something very confidential, “But then I’ve left Earth thousands of times, and still can’t get over how it looks.”
As the Earth grew smaller I began to take a closer look at the ship. It reminded me of something. I couldn’t think of what it was at first. Then it hit me. It looks just like Daniel’s game. The one Aunt Molly said to master.
Chapter 4 - 4th Entry Off World (Finally) - The Moon Has Bees