Orpheus

3

Riley woke up feeling sore; the lines across the side of her face telling her she'd slept most of the night on one of her sides. She got up groggily from the convertible couch she called her bed, and made her way towards the small, closeted shower. Riley was grateful for the warmth of the water; it seemed to temporarily wash away all her demons. It felt like a warm embrace.

Fifteen minutes later she'd stepped out, dressed up, and was grabbing the suitcase she had packed months in advance, glancing at the digital clock on the wall: 4:17 AM, January 2nd. She only had three minutes before her 'carpool' would arrive and whisk her away towards destiny (metaphorically and literally; the spacecraft was christened Destiny). She walked towards the rustic wooden door, but not before taking one last look at what she had called home; it was small, with a hall that doubled up as the bedroom, a kitchen barely big enough to hold a stove, and a bathroom. Packed boxes were piled in a corner; all her possessions that weren't sold off were in there; the agency would take care of them. 

The hollow was small, yes, but it was home; a home whose comfort she wouldn't get to experience again once she stepped out that door.

'What if I never went?' She thought 'Out there it's going to be cold, filled with blackness and the unknown. I could stay here, stay here among others; leaving them seems wrong... to die alone...'

No, she decided; the time for prospecting had come and gone ago. She was one of the Orpheus; Humanity's last shred of hope.

She turned around and got out of the house. As she locked the door she realized how stupid it was: locking a door you'd never open again.

'Poetic, isn't it?'

Walking down the hallway she had done a thousand times, she realized she'd never quite appreciated the intricacies of it all: the cracks in the peeling mustard paint, the squeak of the floorboards, the musty smell of wood. In a wave of emotions, it dawned on her that she'd never experience walking down that hallway again. 

She was leaving. Leaving for good.

Never had the hollow seemed so appealing to her, yet now it did; it was calling out to her, stretching out arms unseen before, gripping her.

No, Riley had to go. It was 4:19 and the 'carpool' would be just 'round the block. Her pace quickened; she needed to get out those old french doors before these invisible arms took a good hold of her. She climbed down the flight of stairs and reached the front entrance, the morning breeze kissing her face; a mother's kiss.

'It would be much easier to leave if only things were different. Rain, be colder; mother nature don't be so inviting just when I'm about to leave...'

Her train of thought broke when she saw the black SUV stop across the street. Looked like the 'carpool' had arrived.

When Riley had joined NASA, it was in top secret. To the rest of the world she was a pharmaceutical consultant; yet every morning at 4:20, Ahmed would be there in that black SUV, along with Owen, to pick her up and take her to the Nevada Test and Training range; Area 51.

She crossed the street and got into the back of the SUV. "'Morning Riley..." Ahmed greeted in his deep voice; his face was droopy and emotionless as usual, but over the years Riley had learned how to find the feelings hidden in them.

"Good morning." she replied back in a friendly tone. That was what most of their conversations ever summed up to. Yes, there were moments where they joked about and opened, but most car rides were in solitude. Riley liked the silence. Ahmed respected that; he knew sometimes silences spoke louder than words, a realization Owen hadn't hit yet.

"Wassup Riles?" Owen quipped from the front passenger seat, his sandy pepper hair drooping over his broad forehead.

"Good morning Owen." she replied, flashing him a small smile.

"Really?" he asked, a grin on his face. "No panic attacks? No crazy last selfies?" 

He joked a lot when he was nervous; the more he was nervous, the worse his jokes got. 

Guess he was really nervous.

'At least I'm not the only one a little uncomfortable leaving home.' Riley thought as she stared back blankly; she could really pull off a poker face if she wanted to.

"Well, considering we're about to be shot into space with no return I'd say it looks like you're takin' this rather well." he said to break the awkward silence.

Yes, Owen was also one of the Orpheus. There were four others: Connor, Olivia, Pratham, and Elise; each handpicked for the mission at hand.

"Well, we are going where no man's ever been. That removes some of the sting I suppose..." Riley replied.

"Or adds to it." Ahmed chipped in.

"Ah just shut up will ya!" Owen said with a hint of irritation "You are not the one being shot into outer space like Laika."

"Laika never made it back." Ahmed said in his usual monotone, before looking at Riley; she thought she saw a ghost of a smile.

"Oh, jus' shut up!" Owen exclaimed as he put on his earphones, and the car was once again engulfed in silence; a silence which had now become part of Riley's life. She started out the window at the dark horizon as she tried to cherish the smell of those aged leather seats, the memories, one last time.