Jaxon

Hace

     The moon port wasn't as exciting as Jaxon had hoped it would be. This was the first and last time they had left Earth. Jaxon was hoping to see a little bit of the surface before going into the ship that would take them beyond the solar system. Unfortunately, it was completely enclosed and didn't look much different than the earth port.

     "Men! To your pods!" A commanding voice echoed down the nearly empty halls.

     They had only landed on the moon an hour ago, but they seemed to be pushing the timeline on everything. The boys changed into gray form fitting uniforms and shuffled down the hall and into the ship. The builders were the first to go into their pods. Followed by the officers. Everyone but Jaxon were now getting settled into their small rooms for the next six years.

     "God's speed." His CO said with a final salute to the teens as all other personnel left the ship.

     Jaxon shut the door behind them. It was now just the thirty teens left alone. Jaxon went from pod to pod. He made sure each teen was completely inside before closing their door. Some of the teens scoffed at him. Others were too nervous about what was going on to care. One or two even seemed to be crying. Now that it came down to it, the boys really started to show their colors.

     "Awe... look at you, taking your job as leader so seriously little guy." A hand came out and rubbed his head. Jaxon looked up and rolled his eyes.

     "You know, I could still set your pod on a timer to wake up... oh say... a year earlier than everyone else." Jaxon closed the door with a button on his tablet and waved. The process started that would preserve Blade in his sleep before everyone else's. "Asshole." Jaxon muttered.

     "Maybe you should set it to wake up like a week before the rest of us." Ash joked.

     Jaxon looked at the tablet and thought about it. "Nay, he'd just find a way to break the ship. Probably kill us all looking for the kitchen." Ash laughed at Jaxon's truthful answer.

     "I'll see you on the other side buddy." Jaxon smiled as he closed Ash's door.

     Once all the doors were closed, and the rest of the crew asleep, Jaxon got into his pod. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He didn't want to sleep suddenly. Something was wrong. Before he closed the door, he got out and looked over all the instruments again. All the readings were in the green. They were on the right course. Everything seemed to be fine.

     He took a quick look around the ship and checked the pods again. Everyone was frozen in the green goo that they had discovered on another planet that wasn't quite good enough for a settlement. It really was the best way to travel in space. No more chances of space madness and you don't waste resources like food.

     Even though everything was working properly... Jaxon could get rid of the feeling that something was very wrong. Something just gnawed away at the back of his mind that they shouldn't leave port.

     "It's just last-minute jitters." He said to himself. He crawled into his pod and started the sleep process.

     "How can someone so smart, be so stupid?" Loo was watching her phone waiting for Hace to eventually text her. This was the third time this week he'd stood her up for their date. She was starting to wonder if he was even interested in her.

     Finally, it came. The text was the normal.

Hace – Sorry Loo! Got into my job and lost track of time. Not gonna make it.

     Loo rolled her eyes and all but slammed her phone on the table. "For someone who works from home, how can he forget to look at the clock? What. A. Loser."

     Hace sighed as he set down his phone. He was so deep into rechecking the latest schematics that he had forgotten all about Loo. He wasn't really sure why he agreed to meet her at the coffee shop. She wasn't really his type. Sure, her yellow eyes were beautiful, but her personality was not much more than that of a couch.

     He knew he should just cut it off, but he was also scared of what she would say. He hated to make people mad. He really didn't like interacting with anyone, most people just pissed him off with how stupid they are. He'd be happy to just be left alone forever... well... maybe not FOREVER. Just, long enough to find the right one.

     Hace turned back to his computer and quickly checked his e-mail. There was an ad for moisturizer... delete. Get rich soon... delete. News update: Newest pets take the world by storm as numbers rise... 'hmmmm?'