Parasite

An Astronaut loses days in a routine flight around the dark side of the Moon.

Two days before the flight, I had a sense that something was wrong. I did not mention the gut feeling I had to anyone. I kept going forward as usual; there were thousands of things to do before lift-off. Finally, the day came, and I looked forward to seeing the stars once again.

"Two minutes to Lift-off." The voice in my headset said. "Good Luck, Major."

"Thanks," I replied, continuing the final countdown checks. I thought to myself, I hate these last two minutes. It feels like hours instead of minutes.

The checklist was finished, and I waited. My guts turned to steel as I heard the countdown at ten seconds.

The engines were already firing a blast of exhaust into the daylight of morning. When I heard, " Ten, Nine, Eight, Seven, Six, Five, Four, Three, Two One.""

Lift-off, the G forces blasted my back into the seat. My heart rate spiked, and my breathing was like I had just run a marathon. A few minutes into the flight, the extra fuel rockets disengaged and tumbled back towards the Earth. Right on time.

"Houston to Gideon One..You okay up there, Major?"

"Yes, Houston. I am here. Flight is going as planned according to the Flight Plan. Tell Jensen, the rocket discharged as he said it would. I appear to still be on course, and I can see the Moon in the distance. I am enacting phase two, Houston."

:"We have you on monitor. Everything seems to be going according to plan.