No Turning Back

Chapter Seven: A Christmas Special Pt. 1

"Zhere zhere, I know it must be hard", Primis whispered in his deep German accent. I put an arm around his waist as I battled to hold back the tears. We sat there quietly without as much as another word before our ears pricked up. There was a low rumbling sound which bellowed in the distance. It was almost like the sound of an aircraft - or a lunar lander.

"I think that's them!" We both said at the same time before looking at eachother in surprise.

"Quick, ve must grab our zhings! Ve cannot alert zhem to our presence!" Primis exclaimed. We jumped to our feet before hurriedly grabbing the blankets and belongings.

"Where will we hide?!" I asked with panic. We couldn't exactly open any doors in the map without giving away our presence. Primis and I looked around the room as we tried to find a hiding spot. Then, his eyes fell on something.

"Look! Ve need to hide in zhe centrifuge!" Primis finally responded. I turned to look at him in horror as I felt nauseous at the sheer thought of being flung around in it. Especially since it comes to life whenever a lunar lander docks in the room.

"But!" I tried to protest before conceding that there was simply nowhere else to hide. I allowed him to drag me up into the chamber of the centrifuge.

"You know, this really isn't safe bringing loose objects into the chamber with us. I'd rather not get taken out by my own bag", I said dryly with a smile as Primis realised and agreed.

"Give me jour bag", Primis asked quickly before climbing back out of the chamber. I watched as he ran over to one of the barriers and threw our stuff behind some debris. He sprinted back over to the centrifuge before climbing in and closing the hatch.

"Quick, zhe restraints!" Primis ordered as we both buckled up. The sound of the lunar lander was steadily approaching the cosmodrome facility. I began to fill with panic as I anticipated the lander setting off the centrifuge. My feelings must have been written all over my face as Primis now turned to look at me.

"It vill be okay", Primis tried to reassure me as I felt ill at the mere thought of being spun around in this torture machine of doom. I felt the colour drain from my face as I knew it was going to be far from okay.

"I get motion sickness on a bike nevermind this stupid thing!" I replied hyperbolically in my sarcastic Scottish tone - always resorting to saying something humorous in bad situations.

"I promise, jou vill be fine. It's just going to be some vertigo und nausea und dizziness... und digestive upset--", Primis whispered as he tried to reassure me again before I cut him off.

"Not helping!" I said sharply - through gritted teeth - as the rumble of the lander was now deafening. It hovered above us as it prepared to dock.

"Zhey are docking!" Primis murmured with an involuntary grimace as we listened to the lander begin to descend. Suddenly, the centrifuge came to life and power began to flow through it.

"Oh no..." I whispered aloud before Primis suddenly put his hand on mine. And, as soon as we began to see the smoke from the spent rocket fuel, the centrifuge flung us back in our seats.

"Fuuuuuuuuuuu--", I screamed at the top of my lungs. The strength of the force became suffocating. The sheer weight of it sunk us back into the heavily padded seats and pushed against our chests.

Then, when the lander finally docked, we felt the centrifuge slow down before finally coming to a stop. Everything was spinning as I tried to focus my vision and check on Primis. It took a minute of two before I could finally see his face - which was practically green with nausea.