Space Corps 101

Nobody can hear a scream in the vacuum of space, or so they say. But did you know you can hear the scream of the vacuum of space? It all started on my 18th birthday. I did not know it at the time, but I was being followed. Why me you may ask. To this day I do not have a good answer to that question. The best I have come up with is the randomness of chance.

It started like any other day. Oh balderdash! I JUST TURNED 18!!! Nothing could go wrong! This was MY DAY!

My parents had promised to get me a Doroni. My very own flying car. I was up before my alarm went off. I dressed and bound down the steps two at a time. Dad was in the kitchen cooking my favorite, French Toast and sausages.

"What's up son?

"Good morning, Dad. That smells great."

"Just something to start your day."

I gobbled down my breakfast and we talked about what the day held in store for me. I agreed to return for dinner and headed out the door. That is when I laid eyes on my freedom. No longer would I have to wait for a ride to get to my friends' houses. I could chart my own course through life.

To you it may have looked like the first Doroni off the line 50 years ago, but to me it was gorgeous. I walked around it. Touching each dent and scratch that made it one of a kind. Mine. Mom was finishing up attaching the power coupling and hit the power button. I had not thought my smile could get any bigger, but my heart swelled to twice what it was just moments before.

"Happy birthday Bud."

"Thanks, Mom. Thanks Dad. It is beautiful."

"You be safe and remember your flying lessons. We want you to live to see 30." said Mom.

I had plans with my best friend, Ben. We were to meet at his house and then go to his brother Rob's ranch in the mountains. When I got there, he was waiting anxiously out front. He waved and shouted something I could not make out. I landed on the far side of the pad and jumped out to greet him. Ben turned 18 a week ago and was excited as I was. Then I heard him. He was singing Happy Birthday to me. Kind of corny, no?

We had met in the first grade and become fast friends by the end of the first week. He did not have the luxuries my family had but that did not seem to matter to either of us. We went through our ritual hello, and I showed off my new Doroni. He saw the same thing I saw. Freedom. We could go anywhere and do anything now. So, after a lap around her we started thinking of a name for our new ride. We landed on Alice after the restaurant in that old song. I hope Alice does not get us in as much trouble.

As we were climbing in, Ben's Mom called out from inside their house to be safe and get back before dinner. We had to remind her Ben was eating at my house as it was my birthday. She said, "Happy birthday, I had not forgotten. I just want to see you both before you head to your house for dinner."

Ben said, "OK Mom, see you later."

His Mom said, "Be Safe." again and off we went.

The drive to Rob's ranch was usually uneventful but this was a day like no other in my life. We were just getting out of town when the Doroni seemed to take on a life of its own. Instead of heading over the trees toward the mountains it went straight up and fast. Neither Ben nor I had ever thought a Doroni, especially one this old, had the power to climb like that. We could barely move. The g-force that held us in our seats was tremendous. This was not right! How high were we going? How could we breathe if we left the atmosphere? Who was controlling MY car?

Ben asked me, "Can you reach the kill switch?"

"No, I can't lift my arm. What is going on? Do you think we are going to crash?"

"There is very little to crash into up here. Where are we going?"

"I don't have the foggiest idea."

That is when everything went dark. I do not know if you have ever left the atmosphere and entered the darkness of space but for me it was something I will never forget. Light seemed to dissipate and then went out. We were in space with vacuum all around us. It is strange how small I felt in the vastness of space from this advantage. But I had very little time to appreciate it.

In the vastness of space, you would think that nothing is out there. But man has been traveling into space for 150 years now. Can you imagine all the junk floating around out here? The bolt that broke and spun off into space from the first space station, the pieces from the separation of the stages of the first rockets and so much more. In that vastness what is the possibility that just one piece of junk would be in our flight path? A million to one? A billion to one? Well, this happened to be my unlucky day. One tiny piece of space junk and "KRACK".

The windshield that was protecting Ben and me from the vacuum of space suddenly had a crack and a small hole. You might not have thought about this, but Ben and I could no longer ignore the scream of the vacuum of space which tore our breathable air through that tiny hole. The sound was deafening. The fear that came over me was palpable just ask the hairs on the back of my neck. Evidently Ben had the same reaction.

Let me ask you a question. What would be going through your mind if, in a matter of minutes, your drive up into the mountains suddenly turned into your first space flight and in that very same moment you got to hear the Scream of the Vacuum of Space stealing all that precious life-giving air from your lungs? What would you do next? I have never heard such a sound for the rest of my days. I hope you never hear it for yourself. Then there was a jolt as if we hit something solid and we stopped, thrown hard against our seatbelts and everything went darker still as all the stars in the heavens disappeared. The scream of our escaping air stopped. That was the most precious sound of silence I have ever heard. But what was going on? Where were we? Who or what was behind all this? We were about to find out.