"Katie, wake up!" a muffled voice announced through a closed door. "You have to get ready for your father and brother's mission launch!"
Under any other circumstance, Katie Holt would groan and plead for an extra five minutes of sleep. Today, however, she shot up straight and forgot the bliss of slumber. The reason for this is that it wasn't a normal day. No, today was the day her father and brother, Samuel and Matthew Holt, would depart on their scientific mission to Kerberos, the fourth moon of Pluto. This was perhaps the most important expedition in the history of mankind, so it was also of the utmost importance that Katie see them off at the launch site.
"Coming!" she exclaimed as she jumped off her bed and picked up her clothing.
She made her way to the bathroom where she brushed her teeth and took a lengthy shower to fully wake her up, as a way to compensate for her long night gaming sessions. As soon as she was dried off she went to her room, where she dressed in her usual white/green baseball shirt, jeans and sandals. Katie brushed her hair and held it in a ponytail and dashed down the stairs for breakfast, only to find her brother and father missing.
"Mom?" Katie asked, confused. "Where are dad and Matt?"
Colleen Holt peeked her head from the kitchen. "Huh?" Immediately she remembered. "Oh, that's right! They left for the Garrison a little earlier to do some more paperwork and a final briefing. We're to pick them up in a couple of hours."
The Holt daughter nodded in acknowledgement and sat in the dining room table, where breakfast awaited her. Scrambled eggs with vegetables, bacon, toast and coffee, the Holt family favorite. She helped herself to a generous amount of sugar for her coffee and dug into her feast. As usual, her mother's cooking was incomparable to any other. By the time she took her last bite of toast, her mother walked into the room.
"Sweetie, don't you think you should be wearing something more… appropriate today? It is an important day, after all."
Katie groaned. "Do I have to? You always pick these dresses for me and they're so uncomfortable and itchy and sweaty. Can't I just go like this? It's not like anyone else is gonna be there."
Dresses were something that always bothered Katie. Growing up, she always had more "boyish" interests: robots, video games, toy swords, computers and coding, etc. Essentially, she liked whatever Matt liked, which was okay, since they were the only children in the Holt household and she idolized her older brother as a hero. Her interests also extended to clothing, preferring more "practical" clothing like t-shirts and tank tops and jeans and shorts over dresses and skirts. The most "girly" thing Katie had was her long, chestnut hair, and even then she usually wore it in a ponytail. Colleen was mostly fine with her daughter's interests, but she also feared for her daughter's social environment, what with not being able to relate with other girls. Eventually, both women had agreed that the younger would make the sacrifice and wear dresses on special occasions. This was such an occasion.
"Actually, people will be there," Colleen corrected. "The site will be full of reporters and colleagues, and I want your father and Matt to have one last look at you before they depart."
"...Fine," Katie whined. "But could it at least be more comfy? Last time I wore a dress it just kept riding up whenever I sat down and I could feel it right up my-"
"Language, Katie! Yes, I made sure it's good enough. I think you'll love it!"
They left their conversation at that and carried on with their morning. Katie figured that she could get some more coding done before heading to the Garrison, so she swiftly reached for her laptop in her room and isolated herself for a couple of hours.
Colleen spent her couple of hours watching the news, mostly focusing on every report focusing on the Kerberos mission. To say that the idea of her husband and her oldest son going out to the other side of the solar system (for years, most likely) terrified her would be an extreme understatement. When Samuel broke the news to her months ago, she broke down crying out of joy and despair. Joy that the two men she loved most would go on to accomplish great things for humanity. Despair that she would have to let them go for so long as they risked their lives. Most people miss their family members when they leave to other countries, and even to other cities, but even then it's easier to communicate with them. Samuel and Matt were going to space! Colleen felt her eyes watering as the television showed images of Samuel, Matthew and Takashi Shirogane, a family friend and the third person in the mission. It was only natural to cry for a third time today. It would be normal to keep crying until it was time to pick them up.
"Let me just say it's been an honor serving with you, Holt," Commander Iverson commended Samuel in his office, shaking his hand. "You'll perhaps be remembered as a pioneer of intergalactic diplomacy!"
"Oh, no need to get ahead of ourselves," Samuel was flushed from embarrassment. "This trip is purely scientific. We're just searching for traces of life, not establishing embassies."
Samuel Holt was increasingly nervous and excited for this expedition. The commander had a point, though. If all went well, then this would be the first step to come into contact with alien life and, hopefully, start a new age of prosperity between worlds, just like the old Sci-fi shows he used to watch with his children.
"Nonsense, the people will talk about you and your team like they used to talk about the explorers of old! Speaking of your team, where are they?"
"Oh, Matt is running some more calculations before the trip; just triple-checking, of course. Shiro's just running; turns out that exercising helps him clear his mind before big events."
Iverson agreed with that last statement. Takashi truly earned his respect within the Garrison as the example of a model recruit: ready, calm, collected, resourceful, and more. Matthew was also well respected in the Garrison, but it was obvious that his true gift was his mind. The Holt son could run some complex calculations in his head so efficiently that he could even be mistaken for an alien. Of course, Dr. Samuel Holt had his own recognition, being the best scientist in the country. It was a weird premise when he got word that the Holts and Shirogane would be the first people to travel to Kerberos, but he backed it up completely when he found out the implications of said mission.
"You got good men with you, Holt. The best of the best here at the Galaxy Garrison! Good luck, doctor."
"Thank you, commander."
They shook hands once more as Colleen Holt entered the office. She walked over to her husband and greeted him with a kiss on the cheek before turning to the commander and shaking his hand.
"Good afternoon, Colleen. What brings you here today?" Iverson asked.
"I'm just here to pick up my boys," she answered as her husband blushed again. "We have a few more things to do before they leave tonight."
"Well, we've better be off picking up Matt," Samuel sheepishly suggested.
Colleen chuckled. "Don't worry about that. Katie is looking for him."
"Wait, she's looking for Matt?!" Iverson paled. He ran out of his office to look for her before she broke into any classified space. The commander respected the two Holt men and the matriarch, but he couldn't stand the youngest one. From the very first day she appeared in the base, she kept sticking her nose into none of her business; always touching things, always entering restricted areas and always trying to hack into computers. Every time he dragged her out of the file room, she just kept raging on and on about finding evidence for alien existence. He couldn't exactly kick her out since she had a sort of visitor privilege, courtesy of being related to the Holt men and being friends with Shirogane.
Commander Iverson was about to reach Matthew's office when he heard the frantic sound of footsteps followed by a loud thud in the distance. Ah, great, my two other headaches, he thought.
"Come on, buddy! We're gonna be late for the flight simulation!"
"Hold on! It's not exactly healthy to run right after eating. Oh, I think I'm gonna be sick…"
The commander could have continued on to greet Matthew and stop whatever his sister was doing, but he figured that the two slackers needed a scare for good measure.
"McClain! Garrett! Why are you not in the flight simulator!" he yelled as he ran after them.
Matthew Holt sat in the front row of bleachers near the running track. In the track were his friend and colleague, Shiro, and a young man in a red jacket, who he identified as Keith Kogane. They seemed to be deep in conversation, the subject of which eluded him. Judging by their body language, he could tell that they knew each other far better than the Holts knew him. Considering the warm smile on Kogane's face and the relaxation on his shoulders, maybe it could be deduced that he's in-
Nope. Totally can't concentrate, Matt sighed, bringing his legs up to his chest. He tried, he really tried. No matter how much he tried to go over numerous calculations or over-analyzed facial expressions, he just couldn't shake off this feeling of horror.
What if everything goes wrong? he doubted. What if some of the numbers are off and we don't even make it to lift-off?! What if we do find alien life and they turn out to be extremely hostile and enslave us?!
He slapped himself. No, this wouldn't do. He signed up for this and there's no turning back now. Whenever Matt found himself in these moments of doubt, he would always find himself repeating encouraging words from Shiro. A real man to admire, Shiro is. The tall man was not only the model of a soldier, but he was also a good friend who considered everyone around him to be family. Maybe that's why that Keith fellow seemed to be at home when standing to his right.
The two young men said their goodbyes with a tight hug and the red-clad one walked away. Shiro turned around and proceeded to walk a beeline straight toward Holt.
"How's everything going, Matt?" Shiro prodded as he sat down to his left.
"Oh, you know. Just trying not to have a mental breakdown and imagine the infinite possibilities of everything going wrong."
"Come on, buddy, don't think that," Shiro comforted him. "Wasn't this your lifelong dream? To explore the stars, reach the depths of space and boldly go where no one has gone before?"
Matt laughed. "I mean, yeah, but that's not the point."
It's not like the oldest Holt kid didn't know the risks of such mission. He understood that sometimes, great achievements could only be made by risking it all and heading into danger. What bothered him wasn't the idea of failing. What bothered him was the effect it might have on his family. Katie had been by his side ever since he could remember. He was aware that his sister idolized him, which made the idea of failure much more distressing for him. Not to forget that his mother was also counting on him to succeed on his mission. Above it all, he was afraid of leaving them alone. He was sure that his father felt the same way, but it seemed that old Samuel was more experienced with keeping fear sealed up in order to assure the rest of the family that everything would be alright. If his father could do it, then he sure as hell could.
"I've had my doubts. There's always this voice that never goes away. It keeps telling me that something will go wrong, and no matter how much I check my calculations and tell myself that it's gonna be fine, it won't shut up. I'm scared of leaving my mom and my sister by themselves. I'm afraid that something will happen to us and that mom and Katie would just break down while hearing the news."
Shiro patted his friend's shoulder. "You know, you're not the only one who's afraid. This morning, you father walked up to me and the first thing he told me was how much he was crapping himself."
Matt chuckled at that. Shiro smiled before continuing.
"After that, he basically said the exact same thing you just told me. Turns out, his life's work is nothing compared to how much he loves you and your family. He would give up this mission in a heartbeat if any of you told him to, but your family loves him and you understand how important this is for him. And you know full well that they love you just as much as you love them and that they want you to succeed in your dreams. Maybe this is what you should dwell on; not on fear for your family and your self-doubt, but on how much you love your family and how much they love you."
Matt's vision was blurred with tears.
"Thank you, Shiro," he croaked as he wiped his eyes. "This means a lot to me."
"You know it," Shiro beamed, holding his shoulder now. "Now, if you'll excuse me: I have to convince a certain person not to drop out of training. He already missed the flight simulator."
By the time Shiro left through the right entrance of the track, Matt's sister appeared through the left entrance. She sped over to him as soon as she caught his sight and plopped down right next to him, exactly where Shiro sat. Matt wiped his eyes and just sat there with her, letting the silence do the talking.
The ride back home was as normal as usual. Despite what Colleen told Iverson back at the Garrison, there really wasn't much to do. Everything had already been taken care of days ago. Now all they had to do was spend their last day together as family, pretending that two of their members were totally not going out of the planet.
The first thing the Holt family did after arriving home was sit down in the living room and watch an old episode of their favorite Sci-fi show. It was still as cheesy and visually outdated as ever, just how Samuel and Katie liked it.
After finishing their show, Samuel was the first to stand up and stretched. He called Katie to accompany him to his home office, where he would be showing her something he'd been saving for some time.
"Katie," the father started as he sat down in his work chair, her on the other side. "You've grown into a beautiful and brilliant woman and I am very proud of you. I believe that you can grow even further to achieve even greater things than I could ever accomplish. Which is why I'm handing you this."
He held up a green flash drive. Katie raised an eyebrow.
"What's inside?" she inquired.
"Only the most important thing I've ever had in the Galaxy Garrison: a copy of every memory I've had with you, your mother and your brother. Every picture, every video, and even your report cards, they're all in here."
Katie was flabbergasted. "You have everything in there?"
"Yes," he replied. "Every time I felt doubt, that my experiments would end in total failure, I would just take a break to look at the stuff in this flash drive. It reminded me that no matter what happened to me, I would always have you."
"Wow, thanks, dad!" Katie felt her face wet as she jumped on the table and hugged her father from across. "This means a lot to me!"
"I hoped it would," Samuel started, jokingly. "If that hadn't won you over, I would have also told you that it contains a copy of the Garrison's OS and encrypted copies of my research files."
"What?! Really?!" Katie was overjoyed.
"If you're lucky and decrypt it, you might find information on aliens!" he teased in singsong. To say that Katie's squeal could be heard around the neighborhood would be an understatement.
Meanwhile, Colleen had her own gift for her son. She left Matt on the couch as she searched for it in her room. When she returned, her son was drifting away into slumber. Poor kid, she thought. He probably couldn't sleep a bit last night. Colleen was about to put away his gift for later when the sound of her daughter's squeal woke him up.
"W-what happened?" Matt asked, already groggy.
"It's your sister, most likely. Sam probably gave her his gift. I wonder if he was on his right mind when he decided to give her daughter classified information."
"Yup, sounds like him," he said fondly as he woke up properly.
Colleen thought this was the perfect moment to give him her gift. Without a word, she held her son's shoulder with her right hand while facing him and presented her trinket with her left. On the hand was a small box, a music box, to be exact.
"What is-"
"Just listen to it, son," she shushed as she opened it. What followed was a familiar, nostalgic melody that took Matt back to his childhood, to his toddler days. Days where the world seemed too simple and his biggest fears were stormy, thunderous days. During those days his mother would hug him and sing the same song imitated by the box. Needless to say that whatever emotion Matt had was replaced with melancholy.
"I-it's our song," he choked out, in tears.
"I know, son," she was trying to hold on tears. "Whenever you feel completely alone out there, just listen to this and think of us. I want you to know that no matter where you go, we will be with you and we'll always love you."
"Thanks, mom!" Matt cried as they hugged and enjoyed each other's company.
Katie and Matt sat alone in the old swing set in their backyard. Soon after their respective emotional moments with their parents, Colleen had goaded them to wash up and, especially for Katie, change clothes as she prepared their dinner. Colleen had been right: Katie did end up loving the dress despite not being her usual green color. Immediately after washing up, both siblings decided to wait for dinner in their favorite childhood spot.
"Katie," Matt began speaking after a period of silence. "Are you… afraid?"
"Yes," she replied. "Not just afraid: I'm horrified. I don't want anything bad to happen to you."
Those words pierced the young man's heart. "I don't want anything bad to happen to you, or mom, for that matter."
They wanted to cry. Whatever omnipotent presence existed in the universe could testify to that fact. They couldn't cry, at least not yet. Now wasn't the time for tears, but for rejoicing their achievements. They had to be strong for just a little while longer.
When they were little, whenever either of them were scared and parental comfort wasn't enough, they would often hold hands. Something about the contact seemed to calm them, as if it were therapeutic. They did just that, Katie's right hand holding tightly onto her brother's left. They remained like that for a couple of silent minutes.
"I'm going to miss you, Matt."
Matt smiled. "I'll miss you too, Pidge."
"Matt," Katie whined, letting go of his hand and shoving him to the side. "Don't call me that! You know I don't like that nickname!"
He chuckled. "It's cute! You remind me of a little pigeon!"
"I don't like being called 'cute'," she mumbled. She doesn't remember when or where that name appeared, but her brother would often tease her with it as a way to cheer her up. It had been a while since he called her that, ever since some other kids found out about it and used it to insult her. Oftentimes she thought of making up another name to cancel out the "cuteness" of the original, like something using the word "gun".
"I think we're in trouble, here," the older brother began immediately. "I didn't get you a 'going away' gift, like mom or dad gave us."
Pidge smiled. "Me neither. But I believe I can think of something."
They arrived at the launch site around one hour before preparations. This was it, the moment they've been waiting months for: the beginning of the Kerberos mission. In just a couple of hours, both Holt men would fly off to space to make history. Needless to say, the tears being saved up on the trip to the site were about to burst.
The Holt family entered the complex, where they were greeted by Takashi Shirogane, clad in his Garrison uniform. Whatever important thing he was gonna say was interrupted completely when he was suddenly tackled into a hug by a short girl in a lavender dress and headband.
"Shiro!" the girl screamed into his uniform. "It's great to see you!"
"I-it's great to see you too, Katie," he choked from being winded. "Sam, Matt, they're waiting for us in the briefing room for a final word before boarding."
"Very well," responded Samuel. "Let's go, Matt. Katie, please let go of Shiro. We wouldn't want our pilot fly us to space with a stowaway glued onto him."
Katie let go and watched as the three men disappeared into a small room in the distance. Both women made their way into a waiting room to the left of the lobby, where they were ambushed by reporters that bombarded them with questions that ranged from the mundane ("What are your relations with the Kerberos crew?") to the very personal ("How is this mission affecting you emotionally?"). A couple of Garrison security personnel had to appear out of nowhere and escort the women into a reserved spot for friends, family and (in Shiro's case) close colleagues. Good timing, as well; Colleen didn't want to break down in tears in front of complete strangers.
About ten to fifteen minutes later, all three explorers joined everyone in the waiting room to say their final goodbyes. Shiro spent several minutes shaking hands and hugging each and every one of his friends and coworkers (although he took his sweet time with Kogane, Matt noted), while the small family gave each other one hopefully-not-last group hug. Immediately after separating, Colleen smothered her son in kisses while Samuel easily picked up his daughter and locked her in a bear hug (which she definitely totally let herself be lifted up and not because she was incredibly small and light, shut up). After both parents had properly said their goodbyes to the kids, it was time to switch. Colleen gripped her husband's neck as they had a passionate kiss, to the comedic disgust of Katie. I would never do that in front of other people, she thought. No matter the circumstance nor the person.
"Sorry, sis," Matt said as he also gripped her hard in a hug. "I still couldn't find you a goodbye gift."
"Oh, I wouldn't say so," Katie grinned. "I think there's something we can do at the last second."
"What?" he inquired as she took her face to his ear and started whispering. What she said would be a violation of several rules and may even be illegal, but Matt thought that he could make it work.
While the adults and the teenagers were deep in conversation, the two Holt siblings sneaked out of the waiting room and headed straight to the machinery, where the spaceship was being assembled for launch. So far, they hadn't seen anyone that might pose a problem, so it seemed luck sided with them.
Katie pulled out her phone and handed it to Matt, who set up the camera and placed it on a wall and adjusted it so it would capture most of their bodies and the shuttle behind them. After carefully making sure that the picture would come out perfectly, he set up a timer and ran to his sister. They posed and waited for the flash to go off, but moved at the last second when they noticed a figure had approached them. It seemed that luck wasn't on their side.
"What are you two doing here?" it was Shiro. Thank God.
"Oh, Shiro!" Matt chuckled nervously. "Well, Katie and I decided to take a picture of ourselves so she can keep it as a memory from me. No need to panic or anything, really."
"You're not supposed to be here. What if you got caught, Katie? You could jeopardize your brother's career!"
"I know, Shiro," Katie sighed. She stared at him with wide eyes. "I just wanted to share one last moment with my brother before he left for so long. It's wrong, but I'm gonna miss him so much that I just need something to remember him by."
Her words and look pierced Shiro's heart. He couldn't say no to that face. Besides, he knew what it was like to be away from loved ones for so long.
"Fine. On one condition: I'll take the photo. We wouldn't want the image to come out badly."
The siblings cheered his change of heart. Shiro took the phone and positioned himself in from of them. Katie stood on her brother's right side with her left arm around his back and right arm forward. Matt held his right arm over Katie's shoulders and rested his left arm on his hip.
Click.
"Alright," Shiro commented. "The picture came out perfect. Now let's go back inside before we get in trouble."
"Okay, Shiro," Matt responded. He then decided to tease him for a bit. "Say, Shiro, how was your heartfelt goodbye with Kogane back there?"
The older man blushed and looked away. "W-what are you talking about?! H-hurry up, both of you!"
Shiro walked away quickly. Both Holts followed soon after, chuckling at their flustered superior.
"Don't worry, I'm not letting this go," Matt quietly told his sister. "We'll be alone in space for quite a while, so I'll make sure to tease him whenever I get the chance."
"Good," Katie affirmed. "Don't worry, I'm sending you a copy of the picture to your email."
When they returned to the waiting room, it was time for the Kerberos crew to prepare to board. After yet another goodbye to their family, Samuel and Matt followed Shiro to their destination. Katie and Colleen sat down in wait, having a clear view of the launch. The young woman pulled out her phone to look at the picture Shiro took. It was perfect.
"What is that?" Colleen asked.
"It's a picture Shiro took of us a couple of minutes ago."
"It's beautiful! You look lovely, Katie. And your brother looks as handsome as ever," she smiled. "As soon as we're out of here, we're printing it out to keep it in the house."
The two women sat there in silence for about an hour as launch time neared. As soon as the three men started boarding, the whole room went alive with clapping, minus two people. Colleen and Katie remained down, letting their saved up tears flow freely. They hugged each other to comfort themselves. When the lift-off countdown began, they were openly weeping. It was okay to cry now. Now was the perfect time.
10...
9...
8...
7...
6...
5...
4...
3...
2...
1...
And lift-off. The rocket shot up into the sky and disappeared from the window view. The rest of the flight was displayed in large televisions on the walls. After a few minutes, the rocket remained in flight, with no apparent problems. The flight was successful. The waiting room roared with cheers and applause, but the Holt women remained quiet. However, this time they weren't crying. It was no longer the time to feel sad. It was now time to feel proud. Proud that their loved ones finally took the first step towards the greatest human achievement in history.
They didn't realize how much this mission would change things. How much this would affect the fate of the universe. They didn't know that in five months an accident would occur and their world would turn upside down. That one year later, Katie would make her father's words come true and go on to accomplish even greater things.