The Other Earth

by Amber LaShell

  "After all the testing was complete, we have concluded that you are the perfect candidate to go on this mission to the new planet with Brandon here. Even though you are still quite fresh with the company, your scores far exceeded those of more veteran engineers."

  I stood completely still, not quite registering the words that she was saying. "What?" I said, stupidly.

  "Randi, you are going on the mission to study this new planet with me!" Brandon yelled at me.

  I looked from Brandon, with a silly grin on his face back to Jessica, who was also smiling.

  "Wow, this is such an honor Jessica. Thank you so much" I said, my eyes burning with tears that were begging to be shed.

  "Okay, good. There is some paperwork that you will need to sign, and then we can send out the memo and let everyone know that the team has been chosen." Jessica said.

  I nodded, "Okay" was all I could say without crying in happiness.

  "The blast off is in exactly two weeks from today and there is quite a bit to get you two ready for. Brandon we have already discussed your work. Randi, we have chosen a few people to absorb your work into their own until we can get a replacement for your position. I have sent you an email with the names, and you are to take anything outstanding or any notes they may need to these people today. You are to clean out your desk today as well and your computer and anything else essential will be moved to a new location" She said, pulling out a folder from her briefcase.

  "What about when I get back?" I asked her.

  She looked up at me, "What do you mean?" she asked.

  "Well, if you find someone to replace my position what will happen when I come back?" I asked.

  She smiled and patted me on the back, "Oh dear. You will not be going back to an entry position after going on a mission. You have just basically taken a huge promotion here. You will be a senior engineer with new duties upon your return."

  I shook my head, overwhelmed by the news. "Wow, this is so much to take in" I said.

  She nodded, "Yes, and the next few weeks, hell the next two years will be a lot to take in. Go ahead and take this and once everything is read and signed, bring it back to me in my office and then you can begin to get started on your desk" she said, handing me the folder and walking out of the meeting room.

  I took the folder and looked over at Brandon who was holding out his arms to me, "Congratulations Randi, come here" he said.

  I jumped into his arms and felt the tears finally break free from their prison as he held me tight. He stood very still, holding me in his arms and letting me get out the tears that he knew I wouldn't be able to stop.

  After a few minutes they started to slow down and I pulled away only slightly, never leaving his arms and looked into his eyes.

  "Is this real or am I dreaming?" I asked him.

  "Oh this is real, and it's happening fast. Hold on tight" he said.

  I gave a little squeal of joy as he twisted me around, lifting me up off of the ground slightly.

  ***

  I sighed as I looked at my desk, once a mess of papers now completely clean except for my phone and my computer. The IT guy would be here soon to move my computer, but I still had no idea where I would be moved to.

  "Congrats Randi!" a man I recognized from the accounting department yelled to me as he walked by on his way to the break room.

  "Thanks" I yelled back, not quite remembering what he name was.

  That was one thing I don't think that I'll miss about this desk, it was right on the way to the break room for nearly every employee.

  The reaction when the memo had gone out about me being chosen as the other person to go on the mission had been very mixed. Those people who had actually worked with me and knew me on a personal level understood how I felt about it and were happy for me. Then, there were the nosy ones who thought that I had only been chosen because of Brandon. I had decided to just ignore those people. Besides, would they matter after I was blasted into outer space and pushed through a black hole? Nope.

  "Randi Rose?" I heard a voice behind me. I turned in my chair and saw Paul, the IT guy standing there with a slip of paper in his hand and a small cart they used to move computers.

  "Yeah that's me" I said, never actually having had to speak with him before.

  "Okay, you ready to move?" he asked.

  I nodded, "Yes, I have everything packed and ready to go" I said, sliding the small box of my personal belongings off of the desk and into my hands.

  "Great. Congrats by the way, exciting news" he said.

  I smiled, "Thanks."

  I looked past Paul and saw Brandon coming out of the break room toward me. I smiled as he got closer. "Do you know where they are moving me to?" I asked him.

  He nodded, "Yeah follow me, you can drop your box there, and then Jessica is taking us out to lunch" he said.

  I clapped, "Wow, I am loving this already" I said with a laugh.

  I followed him down through the break room and out of the door to the other side of the building. I had never actually been on this side of the building as it was mostly reserved for upper management and people higher in the company.

  "I'm over on this side?" I asked, my eyes lighting up.

  He nodded, "Yeah, they already moved me over here and they have an office right next to mine for you" he said.

  I stopped him, "Office? As in an office with four walls, a window, and a door?" I asked.

  He laughed, "Yes an actual office. No more cubicles for you young lady" he said.

  I poked him in the ribs as we continued down the hall, "Watch who you are calling a young lady, I am still three weeks older than you." I said.

  We turned the corner and came to a large open area that had a few glass desks with people working in front of a line of offices. I looked into the offices as we passed and saw that they were mostly filled with people that I hadn't actually ever talked to before.

  "Who are these people?" I asked Brandon.

  "These are executive engineers. They spend most of their time out on missions. They are all here now, only because they were also being tested to go too" he said.

  My mouth dropped open, "I beat out all of these people to go?" I said, completely flabbergasted at that news.

  He nodded, "Yep. Okay, here are our offices. We are right down at the end next to Jessica, she has the cushy corner office" he said, pointing to three doors at the end of the hallway.

  I looked into the door of the office that was first and saw that they had already had my name put onto the door, and a plaque on the large desk as well. I looked around and saw that there was a chair in front of my desk that was white with large cushions. I put my box down on that as I laid my hand onto the large glass desk.

  The desk was made from completely clear glass, showing the marble floor beneath it. I looked around the room and saw a tall white cabinet on the opposite wall that had drawers for filing as well as spaces to put pictures or books or whatever was needed. I turned and saw that not only did I have a window, but the back was was nothing but windows. I looked down and saw the street beneath me, as we were only on the second floor. I looked to the right and I could see my apartment building in the distance, through the fog.

  "My office is right next to you here and is an exact match" Brandon said.

  I looked over at him and for the first time in my life that I could remember, I was rendered speechless.

  "Come on, let's get lunch guys" Jessica said from the doorway.

  ***

  I stood outside my front door and took a deep breath. This was going to be one of the hardest things I would probably ever have to do in my lifetime. I had to tell Stacey that I was going to be leaving.

  I slowly opened my front door and looked around, a tiny ray of hope crossing my mind as I started to think that maybe she wasn't home yet. My heart dropped when I saw her standing in the kitchen, cutting up veggies for dinner.

  I closed the front door behind me and she looked up from the cutting board, "Welc
ome home Randi, dinner is nearly done." She said.

  I nodded and walked over to her, wondering if I should wait to tell her when she doesn't have a huge knife in her hand.

  "Stacey, we need to talk" I said slowly.

  She looked at me and tilted her head, "Are you going to break up with me? Because darling, we aren't dating" she said with a smile.

  "They have chosen me and Brandon to go on the mission to the new planet. We leave in two weeks and will be gone for two years" I said quickly, needing to get the news out fast.

  Stacey dropped the knife she was holding, "What?" she asked.

  I stood very still watching her closely, "I've been chosen for the mission" I said.

  She blinked her eyes quickly and when she looked over at me I saw tears glistening there, "I knew it, you aren't coming back" she said.

  I walked around the kitchen island and put my hands on her shoulders, turning her to face me. "Now you listen here, I promise you that I will come back. I have already promised you that, and I mean it" I said, shaking her slightly.

  She closed her eyes as tears started to stream down her face, "I don't want you to go" she said.

  I sighed and pulled her into a hug, her head resting on my chest, "I know, but this is something I have to do. You don't understand how much good I can do for you, and for the whole planet" I said into her hair, smelling her apple shampoo.

  She sniffed, "I know you Randi, and I know there is no stopping something that is this important to you, I just really don't want to lose you" she said.

  "I understand, I really do. But, I am going to go." I said.

  She pulled away and looked into my eyes, "I know" she said, her face already tear streaked.

  "Look, let's go sit on the couch, there is something else I want to talk about" I said.

  She nodded and followed me to the couch with her head down. After she had sat down on the couch, I sat next to her.

  "What do you want to talk about" she asked.

  "Well, it's about Vickie" I said.

  She looked up at me quickly, "What about her?" she asked, her eyes wide and trained on my face.

  "Do you love her?" I asked.

  She nodded, "Yes, more than I have ever loved anyone" she said.

  I smiled at her, "Good. I think you should ask her to move in" I said.

  She opened her mouth as though to say something, then closed it back again, obviously confused as to what I had just said to her.

  "Look. With this mission comes a few perks. They have promoted me to an executive position with a substantial pay raise. My new salary, which is effective immediately is nearly three times as much as what I am making now." I said.

  "Wow" she said.

  I nodded, "Yes. Also, since we will be gone, we have been given a financial adviser that will oversee all of our bills and things while we are gone. I have already set in place the rent and all the bills for this apartment to be paid out of my salary. You will not have to pay for anything except for the food you buy. I really don't like the thought of you living here all by yourself, but I still want to be able to come back here when I get back. Vickie moving in with you seems like the best solution to me" I said.

  Stacey let out a breath and sat back on the couch. "Wow, this is so much to take in. Okay, so I will not have to pay my half of the rent anymore?" she asked.

  I shook my head, "Nope, rent is going to be completely on me for the next two years" I said.

  She looked up at me, "So, what happens if you don't come back?" she asked.

  "I'm going to come back" I said sharply.

  "Okay, I understand that you plan to come back, but what happens if something goes wrong and you don't?" she asked.

  I sighed, "In the case of my death or if after three years we do not surface back to earth, they will basically pay out my new life insurance policy out to my beneficiary the sum of the policy. The policy I chose will pay out three million dollars in the event of my death due to the mission" I said.

  "Who is your beneficiary?" she asked.

  I smiled, "You are. Three million dollars would be enough to set you up with a nice little place that you could pay cash for and not have to worry about paying rent anymore."

  She nodded, "It wouldn't be as nice as you coming back though" she said.

  "So, what do you say, are you going to ask Vickie to move in?" I asked.

  She took a deep breath, "That's a big step, do you think I'm ready for it?" she asked.

  I reached over and grabbed her hand, "I think you are, and if there was ever anyone I would say you were ready to settle down with, it's Vickie."

  She nodded, "Okay, I'll do it."

  We stood back up to head back to the kitchen to finish dinner when she turned and looked at me, "So does this mean that I'll have extra money to buy some new shoes?" she said.

  I laughed, "Yes, it does" I said pulling her into a big hug, happy that Stacey would never change.

  Chapter Nine

  I stuffed the last bag of food into the large closet and shut the door securely, latching the lock down to keep it into place.

  "That's the last of the food" I said, looking behind me at Brandon, who was checking the gauges on the supply board to see if everything was full.

  "Great. All that needs to be done now is filling the fuel and water reserves before takeoff" he said, looking at the only two lights that were red.

  "I'm glad our part is done at least, I have never lifted so many bags in my life" I said, stretching my arms out.

  "Well, it's worth it, besides your arms have never looked better" he said, looking at me with a sideways glance.

  I rolled my eyes and chose to ignore this particular comment, "So let's take one last look around. I haven't even seen the entire ship yet, mostly just the control area" I said.

  "Yeah, that's a good idea, let's take a tour" he said, turning toward the long corridor that connected the control room to the rest of the ship.

  "If you look over to your right, you will notice one of the many new features of the ship" he said in an annoying tour guide voice.

  I laughed, "Okay, no need for that now."

  He blew me a raspberry, "You are no fun, you know that?" he asked.

  I followed him through the hallway until we came out into the private quarters, which was the only area I hadn't been to yet.

  "So this is the area where we will basically be living for the next six months?" I asked.

  He nodded and pointed to the two doors in front of us, "This first door is the bathroom. It has a toilet and a sink" he said, opening the door quickly to show a plain room with exactly what he had said would be in there.

  "This next door is the shower" he said, opening the next door.

  Inside was what looked like an entire room dedicated to a shower, but as she look, she noticed that there were actually two sets of shower heads and curtains that could be pulled around each one to separate them.

  "So how does this work exactly?" I asked, pointing to the showers.

  "Which part? The part where they obviously want us to shower together?" he asked, wiggling his eyebrows.

  "No stupid, the actual taking a shower. Where does the water come from?" I asked.

  "Well, we have two different water tanks. We have a water reserve that has fresh drinking water. We would use that for everyday stuff like drinking or cooking or whatnot. Then we have a separate shower tank that basically pushes the water through a heating coil, through the shower head, back down the drain, through a machine that cleans it again, and then all over again." He said.

  "So we basically just keep bathing in the same pool of water for six months right?" I asked.

  He nodded, "Yes technically, but the machine cleans it, and it works pretty fast and the water pressure is surprisingly good considering."

  He closed the door and I followed him down the hallway. The hallway opened up to a small living area that had a table and chairs, a sofa and a small kitchen. There were three doors next to each other
on the other side of the room.

  He pointed to the doors, "The two doors on each end are our bedrooms. They are pretty sparse, just a small bed, night stand with a lamp, and a dresser for our clothes. The door in the middle is a small exercise room that has a couple of pieces of equipment to help keep us in shape, since we wouldn't get much exercise just walking through the ship."

  I nodded and sighed, "This is going to be a long six months" I said.

  Brandon shrugged, "Nah, not will all the sex we will be having" he said.

  I slapped him on the arm, "Yeah dream on buddy, I am a professional and plan to keep it that way" I said.

  "We leave in two days Randi. This is crazy that the two weeks are almost gone" he said, ignoring my comment.

  "Yeah I know. It seems like they just told me I was going yesterday, and now it's almost here" I said.

  "How is Stacey taking it?" He asked. He had not spent much time over at my apartment since we had decided to go back to being only friends.

  I shrugged, "Some days are better than others. Vickie already moved in, so that has helped to keep her mind off of things" I said.

  "How is that going?" he asked as we turned to go back to the control room of the ship.

  "It's going really great actually. Vickie is such a doll and you can tell she really loves Stacey. They have already decided that they are going to redecorate the apartment together so that it's something that will feel like theirs, rather than just Stacey's apartment."

  "How is that going to work? I mean it's still your apartment too, even though you will be gone for a little while" he asked.

  "It doesn't bother me, if they want to make it feel more like their love nest I'm okay with that. They are under strict guidelines to leave my bedroom untouched though. I told them to treat it like they live in a one bedroom apartment and that my door is just a blank wall" I said.

  He laughed, "I bet Stacey pouted on that one" he said.

  I nodded, "Yes, she tried to talk me into letting her turn it into her shoe closet" I said.