"Homesick" (Gemini)

=Chapter 1: Homesick= ''2nd February 2026 Space Station Gemini, Far Above Earth''

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” Sonia’s eyes were fixated on the planet beneath her. She watched out over the beautiful blend of blue seas and lush-green land, occasionally mixed in with brown mountainous dry lands. “It is… It really is,” Roger was half-serious but half-playing along as well. Both he and Sonia had seen the exact same view a million times before. Yet for Sonia it never got repetitive or boring – a lot more than could be said for Roger.

“Roger, I get it. I do.” Sonia turned to face him, “But you should be more grateful. Who cares how many times we’ve seen it? We’re only going to be up here for another two days remember. After that, we may never see this kind of view again.” She looked saddened.

“Son’,” Roger put his hand on her shoulder, “You might be right. But you also might not be. Even if we never get a chance to come up here again, at least someone else will. We weren’t the first astronauts up here. We won’t be the last.” Upon hearing him say this, Sonia’s hand connected with his.

“Roger. Professor Sonia. We need you two in the coms room right now.” A male voice broadcast over the intercom. Both Roger and Sonia sighed. “We’re on our way,” Sonia spoke into her earpiece.

It didn’t take them long to reach the coms room – the space station wasn’t too large. “Bertie, this had better be worth it. Or I swear I’m going to… You don’t even wanna know.” Sonia restrained herself, while Bertie’s expression indicated he had taken her threat far too seriously.

Bertie swallowed hard, “This is rather urgent.” He continued to stare at Sonia. “Oh for heaven’s sake man,” Roger crouched down, “If it’s really that urgent, stop wetting yourself over joke-threats and start telling us what this whole ‘crisis’ thing is about!” He nodded, and leant down to the microphone in front of him.

“Hello Earth Control, this is Gemini, are you receiving us? Over.” A few seconds passed, but there was only static in response. “Repeat, this is Gemini, are you receiving us Earth Control? Over.” Again, there was only static in response. “Ok? So what? Everyone’s probably asleep right now.” Roger didn’t see the problem. “We haven’t heard from Earth in over twelve hours…” Bertie once again swallowed hard.

“Twelve hours?” Roger turned around in confusion and slight annoyance, “You didn’t think to tell us this until now?” Sonia stepped in front of him in Bertie’s defence, “To be fair, the guidelines did state that it should only be considered a problem if there’s radio silence for upwards of twelve hours.” Roger closed his eyes and stepped away from her. He turned around and looked up at one of the monitors showing Earth.

“What could have possibly happened down there then? I mean, not a single person at Earth Control is available?” Roger couldn’t make sense of the situation.

“Roger,” Sonia tried to get through to him. “No, Son’!” But he wasn’t listening to her, “We’ve been up here for six months. I haven’t seen my son or my wife for six months. We’re due to re-enter in just two days! Someone had better be on the other end of that radio! Or so help me, I’m taking the emergency escape pod back!”

Sonia and Bertie fell silent with widened eyes. “You have twenty-fours,” Roger waggled his finger at Bertie, commanding him in a low-tone aggressive voice. Again, Bertie swallowed hard.

“Byron,” Sonia put her hand against her ear piece, activating it. “Byron, listen to me. Enter the emergency override code. Disable the escape pod…” A few seconds passed. “Sonia? Are you out of your mind?” Byron was the English member of the team – With Bertie being American, he could hardly hear the difference between Sonia’s Australian accent and Byron’s English one.

“Just do it Byron, please. I don’t trust Roger right now. He’s threatened to use it. Disable it, now.” Again, a few seconds of silence passed. “Trouble is Sonia, if I do that, that means no one can access it. As the engineer, I’m the only one who knows the override code. Should, God forbid, anything bad happen to me, you’ll never be able to unlock it again!”

Sonia snapped, “For goodness sake Byron! Just do it!” She heard him sigh over the earpiece, followed by four beeping sounds; Byron entering the code presumably. “It’s done,” He mumbled. “Thanks buddy,” Sonia deactivated her earpiece again.

In his living quarters, Roger sat on his bed, looking out across Earth again. He was still longing to return to his family. He looked over to his bedside cabinet, picking up the photo frame on it and examining the photo. The picture was of him, his wife, and his son. They were smiling happily in front of the zebra enclosure at a zoo. From behind the grated fence, a confused zebra was staring at the camera. Just looking at the photo was enough to provoke a tear to roll out of Roger’s eye. “I’m coming home… I’m on my way, my love…” He moved the photo up to his chest, clenching it over his heart.

There was a knock on his door. “Just a second!” He wiped his tear away, putting the frame back on the cabinet, turning it away from him and towards the wall. He got up, and opened the door – Sonia stood outside, “May I come in?”

Roger stepped out of the way, allowing her to pass by. “Please, make yourself comfortable,” He gestured to an armchair in front of his window. “You’ve been soaking up the view then I would imagine?” Sonia asked him whilst she starred out of the window.

“Perhaps you can see through my wall then,” they both chuckled lightly. “Roger,” she turned around to face him, “Look, I get it. Really, I do understand. You miss your son, and you miss your wife. That’s understandable. But we have a crew of thirteen up here. Each of us has someone we love back on the ground. Even Bertie. I’m sure he can’t wait to return to his pugs.” Again, they both chuckled lightly. “Listen to me, Roger. We’ll get back down there; I promise you that. With or without Earth Control, we can still do this.”

He looked up at her in a daze, “Without Earth Control? Sonia, how would we possibly be able to get back down there without help from them?” She smiled at him, “I’m a genius. You know that. I know that. Even Bertie knows that.” Yet again, they shared a laugh.

“Six months, Sonia. Six months we’ve been up here for. We’re only the third crew to step foot on this station anyway.” Roger sat down on his bed, as Sonia rose out of the armchair and sat down next to him. “Think of all the wonderful new friends you’ve made up here as well,” She was trying to make him think positively to calm him down for sure, “Byron, Wells, Nadia, Me.” She looked at him deeply whilst he continued to focus the planet beneath. “The point I’m trying to make is… You don’t have to be so vindictive. You don’t have to be so angry. Your family might be down there, but they’re up here as well. We’re all here, for you. Just us we’re all here for each other. No one’s an exception up here. Not even Bertie!”

But this time, there was no laughter. Sonia looked up at Roger, noticing his eyes had widened, his mouth slightly open, along with intensified breathing, “Son’… Look…” He slowly raised his hand, pointing out of the window towards Earth.

They both jumped up off the bed and ran towards the window, planting their hands up against it – They watched as several bright purple lights launched up off of the land.

“They’re coming from all over! That one there isn’t even from the same country as these ones here!” Roger traced them with his finger. “Something huge must’ve happened…” He slowly turned to face Sonia.

“Everyone! Get to the coms room now! Right now!” Bertie sounded anxious and frightened over the intercom. Sonia and Roger rushed out of the living quarters.

As Sonia and Roger rushed into the room, they noticed all eleven other members had already arrived. Everyone was focused on one single monitor, looks of fear and terror flooding their faces. Sonia and Roger ran over to them, looking up to see what was going on.

There was a news broadcast on the monitor. A reporter spoke into her microphone as chaos unravelled behind her. People running around, screaming out loudly, and collapsing to the ground directed the crew’s attention.

“It’s simply unremarkable!” The reporter fearfully said, “It’s happening all across the globe! Right now in every single country! People are dying everywhere! On the streets, in their homes, in public restaurants, offices, beaches, on buses, everywhere! No one is safe! This… This… this Virus! It just has to be! It’s wiping out the entire human race! Where it came from, and what exactly it is are completely unknown. Just know this… Hold your loved ones closely, and kiss them… This is our final hour everyone… May God reserve a spot for each of you in Heaven…” The reporter began to gasp for air, before coughing up blood. The cameraman rushed to help, but the reporter choked and collapsed to the ground. The camera was knocked over, revealing even more people collapsing to the ground and choking on their own blood, people everywhere dying…