Home Again

Lunar Colony

Not including the bonus quest 'cause it's boring :P

...

The woman, grinning, held out a camera and pointed it at the girl. "Happy Birthday, Al! Smile!" The girl did not smile. The woman raised her brow. "Come on Alice, it's your birthday! Ten years old! Double digits! Isn't that exciting?"

"Yeah," the girl sighed. "Growing up. Stress. Very exciting."

"Don't be so negative!" the woman laughed nervously. "You'll be fine. Everyone's been- or will be- like this."

"Fine," the girl grumbled. "Yeah, things are gonna go great. Probably gonna flunk everything." She sighed unhappily. "Why was I thinking about being a hero? You were right, Mom. Being a hero is stupid. It's for dreamers. I wanna be a scientist, Mom. I wanna see the real world."

Alice's mother sighed. "A-alright, Sweetie. If you say so."

ALICE

Fierce Fox and I ran over the concrete road, arriving at the grey, tin building that is Mission Control.

"We get to go to space again," I said. "Like in Astro Knights Island. Except we don't have to fight any aliens and cyborgs or save any princesses. But we do have to save someone, though. This lady named Salerno." I sighed. "But we won't catch her anyway. She'll go off to find an extraterrestrial species."

"Should we tell them that?" Fierce Fox asked, shrugging. She seemed more friendly, more approachable. "Like how you told Greg about his twenty bucks in Wimpy Boardwalk."

"I'm afraid the problem's a little more complicated than retrieving some teen's twenty bucks," I replied, shaking my head. "Let's go into Mission Control."

I'm into science, but not so much space. Still, seeing a control room was pretty cool. There are papers scattered on the floor, and large computers everywhere. Screens cover the walls, showing scales, the weather, a diagram of the rocket ship, and an ill pilot on said rocket ship. Despite the relaxed appearance, the Space Program had no money, and the two crew members were doing the work of fifty people.

"Yeah, we need to save this dump." I whispered to Fierce Fox.

"Why isn't anyone keeping an eye on Hatcher?" a voice grumbled. It belonged to the director, who stormed into the chaotic mess with a frown. "He looks like he's about to lose his lunch!"

"Uh... we'll take care of that." I said, winking at Fierce Fox.

"And who are you?" the director asked, staring suspiciously at us. His eyes flickered over me. "Hey, your face is familiar. Have I seen you somewhere?"

"Maybe," I answered briefly. "Anyway... we'll deal with Hatcher." Fierce Fox and I left before anymore questions could be asked. I sighed. "Man, this whole hero thing is confusing me and giving me a headache. I don't think I want to talk about it now."

"Me neither," Fierce Fox replied. She chewed her lip. "I think you know why."

"Yeah," I mused. "I think I do."

Hatcher looked quite green when we saw him in the ship. I handed him a bottle of ginger ale we 'borrowed' from an old astronaut. After swallowing it, Hatcher burped. His skin returned to a tan colour.

"You guys are lifesavers," he thanked us. "I've never been in space before. I guess I am a little nervous." He sighed. "Could you girls do me a favour? I think I, uh, left my wallet in my car." He handed us his space helmet and exited the small, triangular space that is the cockpit of the ship. The door shut behind him.