The Y program

“Congratulations, mister Hobbs, we reconsidered our options and decided to offer you a part in our project. We hope you realize that usually, we do not give second chances. This is your lucky moment.” 

“Like for real?” that was the first thought to cross his mind.

“What are you five? Say something smart, quick!” his inner dialog started turning into an inner fight, “Say something before they think you’re crazy!”

“I am honored. Honestly, when I saw an incoming call from your office, I thought that I forgot something during my first interview, and you were calling to tell me to come and get it. I actually cannot find my wallet anywhere.”

Too much information, too much information. Stay cool. 

“I understand that only some people are privileged to work for you. I am honored, and I will not disappoint you. I will do my best.”

“Good to hear it mister Hobbs. We would like you to start as soon as possible, tomorrow morning perhaps?” 

“Tomorrow? I didn’t realize it would be this soon. I am traveling to visit my family for the holidays.” 

“We perfectly understand it, Mr. Hobbs. If you are too busy with your personal issues, we do not want to stand in your way. But we hope that you understand that there is a long list of candidates desperately waiting for a call as such.” 

Idiot. Only a complete idiot would talk about a family reunion when offered a dream job.

“I will be in your office tomorrow. Nothing is more important than this second chance. I will be there.”

Connor could already imagine the disappointment in his mother’s voice. With his father being sick for so long she could really use his help. And he had promised Gloria to be his nephew’s Godfather. But it is ok. He will figure something out. One step at a time. One step at a time. 

There is a saying that lightning never strikes the same place twice, right? He was lucky enough to get the second strike, but there probably will never be the third one. 

Isn’t it funny that a person sitting right next to you in the airport during a layover could turn out to be an employer at your dream job? Things do not just happen. He is not going to let it slip. Not this time. 

“You will find the list with all the necessary equipment attached to the email mister Hobbs. Right after a short instruction, you will be transferred to our facility to undergo a crash course. You will have to learn fast. That is a matter of national security.”

“New launch so soon? But there was nothing on the news.”

“Save all your questions for tomorrow mister Hobbs. Clearly, everything we had discussed cannot be told to any third parties. We hope you understand it. Your location and all your duties will be classified. Have a good day mister Hobbs. Do not be late.”

After the call ended Connor was still not able to move as though his whole body became concrete heavy. His back was sweating. And to his knowledge, none of that was the sign of joy. He was scared, so scared he had problems breathing. How can it be? That is a million-dollar chance right in front of him! All the guys from the Academy would be so jealous to find out he was the one to join the Y project. They would literally die to take his place. Why wasn’t he over the Moon happy? He was supposed to be jumping and dancing around, but he ran to the bathroom to throw up instead.

***

Was he the smartest? No. He was not the strongest one either. But he was the one to dream big and talk about the space the most. He got ten out of ten on his final evaluation in the Academy meaning that he was the last among nine other students in the group. He was not offered to join the next step of the training to get a higher rank or to switch to the specialization in the lab. He was just given his diploma, the commander shook his hand and wished him good luck. But he was not very lucky. None of the research space centers in the country called him back after the first interview. At this point, he started to lose hope and money flying from city to city to just be rejected.

He was tired and hungry and tired one more time. He was waiting for the plane to take him back home; home being an empty studio apartment that he could no longer afford.

“Son, do you know where I can get a decent cup of coffee here?” an old man in a black suit was standing right in front of him.

“Yes, sir, I heard that the place with the orange sign is pretty good.”

“Could you look after my luggage, will it cause you any trouble?”

“No problem sir, I will do that, I am stuck here for another four hours anyway.”

“As the sign of my gratitude.” the stranger handed him a large hot cup with a plastic lid.

Connor gladly took it. He would still be hungry, but at least he would not be sleepy anymore.

“I know a good man when I see one. I can also tell that you, young man, are a soldier, am I right?”

“A space cadet, sir.” Connor took a sip, the coffee was really good.

“Sounds like you have a bright future waiting ahead of you.”

“I wish, but my training had finished, and I did not get any job in my field. It was my childhood dream, you know, to fly on an actual spaceship, to be an explorer, to look for a new planet to save humanity. Turns out, it was just a dream. Right now, I am pretty much bankrupt and hopeless ready to take any job to pay the bills.”

The old man took a shiny card out of his pocket and gave it to Connor.

“We are hiring. If you are ready to take any job, you may as well give us a call.”

The card read Jeremiah Montgomery. CEO the Y space program.

***

He first heard of the Y project when he was seven. They were just about to launch the first-ever deep-space expedition. The whole world was waiting holding its breath. He decided he wanted to be an astronaut the minute he saw these men in silver suits. They were heroes leaving on a journey that would save humanity. The planet was slowly dying, everybody knew about that, it was only a matter of time. Many had tried, but only the Y project had succeeded. The spaceship returned home safely ten years later bringing the good news – they found the whole system of new planets potentially suitable for living, they needed teams to explore this brave new world. They were only accepting the best of the best. Years of training. The first team stopped copying and never came back. The signal with the team number two and three was lost when they were about to land on a new potential home planet. The fourth one was sent out two years ago. There was not much said on the news. Connor had no idea that the preparation of the fifth team was in session.

How lucky was he to be in the right place at the right time for once in his entire life? Standing in the hall of the Y program head office, he did not feel sorry for not getting through the previous interviews anymore. He got his second lucky chance, and he would do whatever it takes.

He could see other candidates. They were all dressed the same, and none of them looked like a superhero. Average height, medium built. Connor knew he could it, his big adventure was about to start.

The bus had no windows, and they had to hand in all their gadgets. The road took about two hours, at least that what it felt like. It was bumpy, and they could hear nothing outside, absolute silence. The first thing Connor saw coming out was a huge round building made of metal and glass. Thousands of people in white robes and silver suits were walking around.

“Welcome to the Y project training center future astronauts! Here you will get all the skills necessary for you to get on board the fifth deep space mission. Time is running out so your training will be extra short and intense. Do your best and soon you are going to make history.”

Connor had never felt so proud before.  

***

The x day has finally come. Or should he call the Y day? He was sore. Every muscle and strain in his body was hurting. His whole academy training was nothing comparing to three days here. Not everybody could endure it, some guys left. And he made it to the final eight! The only thing that would make him even happier was if he could call his mom. But it was against the rules. He could not tell her where he went and what kind of job he was doing. Classified. Everything was classified.

He put on his own silver suit, a very real one, and headed towards the launching zone. He did not really have the time to become friends with neither of the guys, but they seemed cool. They had a lot in common. And plus, they would get all the time in the world to know each other while flying in a real spaceship to a real new planet for at least five years. They listened to a very dramatic speech of the general, all that cheering from the tribune and rounds of applauses were only for them. They have already become heroes. They have already made history.

The massive door behind them was shut. The final countdown began. 10…9…8…7…6…5…4…3…2…1…

“I am going to get lunch? Can I get you something? Maybe a sandwich?”

“Yes, turkey sandwich sounds good and a salad, and maybe some fries. Watching all this nonsense makes me super hungry. Do we really have to do this every single time? So lame and pretentious.”

“I know, I know. The happy crowd cheering and this ‘you are the hope of our race’ thing gets a bit boring. But they need it, the research showed it uplifts their spirit, gives them confidence, increases inner capacities. This way they feel important, valuable. The better they feel, the better they accomplish the mission.”

“The mission? Do you call this the mission?” the technician pointed at the window.

There, behind the glass, a big black capsule was floating in a thick gel-like liquid.

“It is not the mission to be a lab rat.”

“I am not talking about them; I am talking about our mission. I do not think this batch will last longer than six months. Have you seen them? I am surprised they survived the training, especially the red-headed one. But before we test everything out, we cannot risk sending the real astronauts on the mission, we have already lost some good ones.”

“OK, I am starving, let’s finish here and go eat.”

“Deep space simulation #345 first entry. All the systems function properly. Turning on the overloading mode.”

“How much time do we have?”

“About an hour, then we come back to turn on oxygen deprivation mode, and we can be free for the rest of the day. Let’s go eat?”

“Sure.”