The Magic Between Us

The Launch

Twyla could hardly breath as she stood in front of the shuttle that was to launch her and her crew into outer space. Two months had passed quicker than she’d anticipated, and now that it was time she couldn’t have been more terrified. This is it, she thought with a shaky breath out. This is where we find out if it was worth it, or if we get torn to shreds.

“Hey shorty,” Demitri called, draping his huge arm around her tiny frame. Twyla was 5’3, and compared to his 6’5 frame, she was pretty short. “Are you okay?” he asked in a more serious tone.

“I’m going to have to be,” she replied, her voice barely audible. Sabrina came up from behind them, tugging her suit in various places.

“Did they have to make this so skin tight?” she whined. Her wild curly hair was pulled up in the sleekest bun she could make it, and she kept pulling the suit where it hugged her curves. “I swear, it’s like a second skin.” Twyla caught Demitri drooling a bit and chuckled, pushing his jaw closed. Sabrina was completely unaware, and Demitri stood up straight and looked away.

“They’re designed that way to help with mobility,” Fredrick chimed in, walking up behind them. “Though, I have to agree, it’s a bit tight in the unmentionable places.” As if to prove his point, he tried to adjust by moving his hips, but in the end, he ended up turning around to try and fix the problem that was squeezing his bits.

“We’re going to be okay, right?” Twyla asked, staring back up at the space shuttle.

“What now?” Twyla’s mother asked in disbelief, not quite understanding what came out of her daughters’ mouth. Twyla had gone home to explain what happened at her meeting with Travis. She couldn’t believe that she was getting half a million just for Twyla going on this trip, let alone the other stipulations of the contract.

“If anything were to happen to me, they’d pay for everything, as well as taking care of the farm,” she explained. Travis wrote each contract individually to meet the personal needs of each team member. Twyla recalled how fond he was of her; he was a follower of her work as well as Shane’s.

“This is insane,” her mother had said, sitting down to try and take it all in.

Twyla was missing her mother now, wishing she could somehow trap herself in one last hug. Sabrina stood beside her friend, grasping Twyla’s hand within hers and squeezing. The boys stood on either side of them, each in their own emotional turmoil.

“It’s going to be okay Twyla, I know it is,” Sabrina assured her, trying desperately to believe her own words.

“Are we ready?” Travis asked, walking through the well-lit room. Twyla wasn’t even sure she could call it a room; it was massive so it could house the rocket that would take them off their planet. Off Interim and into the space between. It was just big enough for the four membered crew, sitting atop giant jets that would have to push them through the atmosphere.

“I think as ready as we will ever be,” Demitri answered, the four of them adjusting their helmets. Travis nodded his head in understanding.

“Once you four climb inside, everyone will finish preparations and get to their stations. When we have everything in place, we’ll start the ten second countdown.” They all nodded their heads. Twyla thought she might hurl with nerves.

Twyla wasn’t ready, but she climbed the stairs that led inside the shuttle. They’d practiced so many times, how to buckle themselves in, what to do once inside, but now that it was real and not a simulation, Twyla couldn’t help but shake.

“Stations everyone,” a voice called over the intercom. The stairs that got her to the top were now being rolled away, and the door closed. Twyla fought to keep her breathing steady, suddenly feeling very trapped. Sabrina noticed her turmoil, and took her face in her hands.

“You’re not alone,” she told her, making Twyla look her in the eyes. “Demitri, Fredrick and I are all right here with you.” Both men took Twyla’s hand within their own and squeezed. Over two months, the group bonded well, and became very close. They knew what Shane really meant to her, and why she was on this expedition.

“We’ve got you Twyla,” Fredrick said, and Demitri smiled at her.

“You’re not allowed to pass out on me now,” he teased. They made her feel better, and she calmed down enough to stay focused.

“Everything okay?” Travis’s voice called over their intercom, and Demitri radioed him back.

“All good boss, just a bit of nerves.”

“I understand,” Travis spoke. “We’re all good here, we are ready when you guys are.”

Twyla sat in her seat, and she could hear the clicking of belts from all around her.

“Station one, good to go,” Demitri called through the handheld.

“Station two, good to go,” Sabrina radioed. Fredrick followed after, being station three.

“S-station four, good to go,” Twyla radioed, her hand shaking. She was strapped in and ready to go, machines whirring around her as she flipped the correct switches and pressed necessary buttons.

“Are you sure about this?” Her mother’s voice echoed through her mind. I’m still not sure about this, Twyla thought to herself. The countdown started and she felt like she was going to pass out.

“-6…5…4…” the automated voice counted. One.

Twyla’s head jerked back, the helmet clacking against the plastic headrest. The roar of the engines was deafening, and she was thankful for the ear pieces they wore inside their helmets.

“Brace yourselves!” Demitri called over the roar, speaking into the internal communications in their helms. The roof of the facility where the shuttle had been built had been opened to let the shuttle out, and the giant room had been cleared for the rocket. Twyla knew the facility had giant vents that sucked out any smoke from the fuel and fire to help keep the air as clean as possible. But it still left her breathless when she could see just how far up in the sky they were once they cleared the building. She knew why they did it, but she wondered if it would have been better on her nerves to just launch outside. Twyla never knew she was so afraid of heights, but she closed her eyes to keep from feeling queasy.

It felt like forever before they reached the edge of the atmosphere. Demitri and Fredrick were busy checking controls, speaking to one another. Twyla felt like she could be dreaming. Her head was dizzy, her vision blurry. She thought she heard someone call her name but she wasn’t registering.

“I think she’s slipping into shock,” Sabrina said, her voice getting through.

“Stay with us Twyla,” Demitri called, and she could hear the concern in his voice.

“S-sorry,” she stuttered, shaking her head. “I’m okay guys, really.”

The view of space was a completely different story, the world below drifted away and they were surrounded by darkness, glittering, vast darkness.

“We’re still on track,” Twyla heard Demitri say. Fredrick responded, but Twyla was too caught up in the vision before her. It was the space between, and she had a perfect view of it. It was larger than Twyla originally thought, but so were the twin planets below her. It looked like a black ocean, shimmering with an iridescent film. She thought she might be crazy, the feeling of power coming from it.

“Is it just me, or can you all feel that?” Sabrina’s question confirmed that what Twyla was feeling was indeed real.

“It’s like a field of energy,” Fredrick responded.

“Guys, get ready,” Demitri warned. “We have to catch this current just right if we want to get into the void.” Twyla was nervous, but now that the hard part was over, she had to trust Demitri to guide them. He trained the hardest of the four to pilot their shuttle, and he did well in Twyla’s opinion.

“What was that?” Sabrina asked, and Twyla’s breathing hitched in her throat. Something had hit the side of them.

“The blasters didn’t come off as intended, we’re okay though,” Demitri told them. “It just bumped us a bit. We’re okay.” Twyla let out a breath she forgot she was holding.

Suddenly the shuttle was yanked sideways, and it spun them around. Twyla couldn’t see the void anymore, just the planets they were caught between. Demitri was cussing and working his controls, and Twyla’s mind raced. Sabrina was yelling back at him in frustration as they tried to get themselves turned back around.

“Twyla…” Fredrick tried to get her to answer, but it was no use. She was locked in, so scared she was numb and unaware. She would just have to hang on. Another current pulled them sideways, and another pushing back again into another one.

“We have to get back on track!” Sabrina yelled, fear in her voice.

“Thank you, captain!” Demitri spat, fighting the currents.

This is it, Twyla thought, surprisingly calm. This is where we die. I’m so sorry Shane, I couldn’t save you.

“Look out!” Fredrick yelled. The currents not only swept them up, but the discarded blasters as well. It slammed into them this time, knocking them towards the void. But in doing so, the shuttle’s alarms were going off, the red lights came on, and Twyla felt like she was watching everything in slow motion. She felt so helpless, but she couldn’t make herself move. Twyla knew something had been cracked, she heard someone say it. Maybe it was their air supply? It had to be; the shuttle was practically screaming at them that their oxygen was low.

Twyla.

Her head snapped up. What was that?

Twyla.

It couldn’t be, could it?

“Everybody, hang on!” Demitri shouted, yanking hard on the control wheel. The shuttle banked hard, and caught a current that hurled them towards the void. They were spinning, flying fast towards the shimmering unknown. Twyla closed her eyes, the violent spinning of the shuttle making her stomach flop. Something hit them again, hard enough that it jarred the crew against their seats, and knocking the power out. Twyla’s head snapped forward again in the whiplash, and her head smacked against her helmet. She cried out in pain, her vision blurry. She could hear the others groaning out in pain as they had been thrown, Sabrina and Fredrick had been out of their seats trying to get the shuttle to return to normal, and Demitri was limp over the wheel. Oh no, please no.

Twyla held her head in her hands, the glass of her face shield smudging on the inside with her blood. As terrified as she was, she knew she had to take control of the shuttle. The emergency generator had kicked on, and a soft glowing red light blinked lazily at her. The alarm sounded, but she couldn’t hear anything very clear. Sabrina managed to help Fredrick up, and the shuttle was drifting closer to the void, the currents seemingly non-existent in the area around it. Twyla carefully made her way over to Demitri and the control wheel.

Use the backup. Push towards the void. Her mind was working in a way she was unfamiliar with, but she remembered their training. If anything went wrong, which it had in her mind. Thankfully, Demitri was coming to, his groaning a welcoming sound to Twyla.

Twylaa.

She knew it wasn’t in her mind. Twyla thought maybe she was experiencing shock in the form of hallucination, but that was the third time she had heard her name called out to her.

I’m coming Shane, I’m going to find you. She knew it had to be him, calling to her from the other side.

“Twyla!” Sabrina screamed, and before she knew what was happening, their shuttle was launched into the void by something unseen and she had been thrown against the control dash, her head slamming into the window. She saw stars, and briefly she could see a rainbow of light all around her before she slid into darkness, her body limp on the floor.