Date: Mon, 28 Dec 2009 23:45:06 -0800 (PST)
From: Hawk Eye <hawkeyestorys@yahoo.com>
Subject: Destiny Ship Chapter 1

A Sci-Fi story about a 15 year old teen forced to move from Earth onto
another planet. This is the tale of Nate and his adventure.

This is my first go at writing a story so be kind when you are reading it!

There will be lovemaking scenes but that in the later chapters. Stay turn
there are more chapters coming. Please email me what you think of the
story. All legal applies. I have all rights to this story. Have an issues
please contact me.  Also I want to thank Pete my editor for being so
patient with me.. Love you Pete


Destiny by
Hawkeye
hawkeyestorys@yahoo.com


"WHAT!? WHEN DID YOU DECIDED ON THAT?"

"Nate, your mom and I decided it's the only thing left to do."

"Fuck that, I'm staying here!"

"Don't SWEAR! Besides son, I think it will be the best for us." Nate's dad
walked over to the chair and looked into Nate's dark brown eyes. "Nate
there is nothing here for us anymore.  You and your sister are not going to
have a future here on Earth."

Nate looked away toward his family pictures. "Dad, what about my friends,
our family?" He was ready to burst into tears. He couldn't just leave; he
felt as though he's betraying his friends, himself and his studies.

"Nate... look, I love you, son, and I want the best for us, for you and
your sister and your mom."

Nate looked at his dad and see this man in his mid 30's, black crew cut
hair, brown eyes, 6 feet tall, a well built man, and he has made his
decision. Nate looked at his mom and sees her sitting in the loveseat
looking at him, tears in her blue eyes. "Mom, can you talk to him?"

"Nate, dear..." She sighs and looked to the floor as she gathered the
strength to be strong for her family. "This is hard on all of us..." She
looked at Nate. She barely had enough strength to walk across the living
room. She knelt in front of Nate, took his hands and holding on tight said,
"I want a future for you. No one can find a job here on Earth anymore. You
know your uncle has been looking for a job for 3 years." She holds his hand
to her face and smells the soap that Nate used in this morning's shower.

"Well Uncle Andy is lazy, maybe didn't look hard enough." Nate was getting
desperate to keep his roots on Earth. He lived his short 15 years of life
in the northern provinces of North America. He knew he's losing his battle
and is holding his tears back. Nate felt that he lost everything he
knows. He was panicking inside. There was nothing he could do about it. He
knows once his father has decided, there is no going back.

"Uncle Andy may be lazy, but he's not stupid. He's a good engineer. Nate,
he's coming with us."

"Oh yay, we have Uncle Andy!" Nate said as looked to the floor, wondering
how he was going to tell his friends.

"Nate, look... we'll talk more about it after we eat. Why don't you invite
Thomas over for supper?"  Nate's mom was trying her best to keep herself
and the family happy. Nate wasn't happy about it and she knew it, she knew
that he was going to have a hard time adjusting. She loved her son, but she
knew Nate was trying to find his place in this world. She always told him
she would be there for him, no matter what.

Nate looked into his mom's and dad's eyes and felt so hopeless, felt he had
no control in his life, everything he tried fell back on him. Nate wiped a
tear from his face and got up to go into his bedroom. Feeling so livid, he
slammed his door. He looked around in his bedroom for a second, trying not
cry. After regaining his inner strength and taking a deep breath, he looked
in his mirror and studied himself.  He was skinny, not skin and bones, just
thin. Nate was just average height, 5'9" tall, black hair, brown eyes with
redness from crying, 150 pounds maybe.

"Fuck! I don't want to go!"  Nate looked away and felt hopeless and
angry.. He just wanted to scream at the top of his lungs. "It just isn't
fair!" Nate walked over to the window and lay down on his loveseat.

He looked at his wrist and saw his com pad.

"Nate to Thomas," he commanded.

"Hey Nate, you weren't in advanced computer class today. Where are you?"
Thomas' head appears over Nate's wrist. Thomas was having a snack when Nate
paged him.

"Mom and Dad had me stay home... Thomas, they gave me some bad news..."
Nate looked away from the hologram. Nate never told Thomas how much he
cared for him. Thomas was his best friend and secretly he had a crush on
him. Nate would never do anything to hurt their friendship; that's why he
never told Thomas that he's gay.

"Turns out you were a girl?"  Thomas asked smirking.

"Fuck you, Thomas!" Nate smiled. He knew Thomas would get him to smile
again. Nate looked at Thomas' image, he paused. "Thomas I want you come
over here now. This is bad..." Nate turned away. His tears were streaming
down his cheeks.

"It's that bad, Nate? Okay, I'll be over in ten minutes. Nate... it's
okay!" Thomas was concerned; he hadn't seen Nate cry often, in fact, the
last time he saw Nate with tears in his eyes was when he got kicked in the
groin last year by some bully named Hank.

"Thomas, come over now..."

Nate shut the com pad hard and got up quickly. He had a lot of anger and
hurting inside him. He just wanted to punch a hole in the wall, wanted to
rip his clothes off and break every damn thing in his room. He walked
around in his room, ready to destroy something, anything at all. He needed
to release this anger. He wanted to tell the world how mad it was and he
was hurting. Then he looked through the window and saw where he was. Nate
began to calm down. His breathing was returning to normal, his fists
relaxed. Nate looked deeply into this 22nd Century world he lived in, the
tall building shooting past the clouds, sparkles from the windows, the dark
and gray surfaces. Nate looked down and saw millions of people and
transports on the streets below. Nate was pondering, `What's going to
happen to me?'

He just had an overwhelming sense of loneliness. "I'm almost finished with
High School, and now this." Nate slapped the wall beside him hard and
leaned forward. He rested his forehead on the window. He closed his eyes
and tears were pouring out of him. Nate put his hands in his pockets,
feeling insecure.

Just as he started to regain control of his emotions, Nate felt two arms
wrapping around his chest and holding him tightly. Nate opened his eyes
slowly and breathed in his familiar scent. He started to relax, removing
his hands from his pockets. He held onto the arms that were resting on his
chest.

"We're moving," Nate whispered, as if it was his last breath of life.

"Where?"

"Some stupid planet," he said in an even lower voice. Nate said it for the
first time. He just broke down and cried.

The arms around his chest tightened even more to hold Nate up. Nate could
feel him breathing on the back of his neck. Nate spoke so softly it hurt
him, "Thomas" saying it as if it might be the last time.

"Yeah."

"We're leaving in a month."  Nate paused for second to get more
strength. "Tomorrow is my last day at school." The blow hit Nate so hard
that his heart skipped a beat feeling the anger inside him. There was a
fire burning within him, he wanted to scream, wanted to kill everybody in
the world. Nate punched the window as hard as he could, feeling a dull pain
in his hand... the relief that he wanted, away from the pain he was feeling
inside.

Thomas turned Nate around.  He looked into his teary eyes. Thomas knew Nate
was not okay. He threw his arms around Nate and held on for dear life. Nate
hugged him back, holding on to the last thing he had left. They held on to
each for a while. They just stood there, not talking, just being there for
each other. Nate cried on Thomas' shoulder, weeping until he couldn't cry
anymore. Nate finally let go of Thomas and took a step back and looked into
his eyes, then he looked at his shirt.

"Hehe... I got your shirt wet." Nate had a very weak smile on his face. He
couldn't stand up anymore.  Losing control of his emotions, he had expelled
every known emotion at once, and it wore him out.

Nate just couldn't stand nor look at Thomas.. He lost all his feelings and
will to live. Nate was overwhelmed by everything that happened in the last
20 minutes. When his mom and dad told him why he was staying home today, he
thought he was getting a day off from school and was happy about it. But
no, he was about to lose everything that he loved and held dear.

Thomas saw Nate was vulnerable and just staring into nothingness. He sat
beside him and spoke so softly that he could hardly even hear himself.

"Then we make it the best we can."

Nothing was said.

Nate turned around and looked at Thomas, his crush, his best friend, his
want-to-be lover, his everything.

Thomas has a light skin tone, a smooth skin - it makes babies jealous
knowing how smooth his skin is.  Thomas is taller than Nate by a few
inches. Same age, brown hair with lots of gel, green eyes that the gods
would kill to have. A body with little baby fat still remaining. Bright red
lips that are a sin to kiss. Nate sighed and looked away; he was staring
too long at his best friend's eyes. "We have to, Thomas, we just have to."

Nate was overtaken by a feeling of bravado and it was rallying him to kiss
Thomas. He never told Thomas these feeling before; he never could get the
nerve to just tell Thomas his feeling. Being gay in today's world is
nothing now. No, being gay is the next step of evolution. If you are gay
you have intelligence, you are creative. But Nate never could accept
himself. Never could tell anyone.

"Thomas?"

Thomas looked at Nate. Their eyes met and searched each other's souls,
searching for each other.

"..Never mind" Nate lost his courage.

"Nate, come on buddy, we've been best friends for 10 years! I know you like
the back of my hand. I've been there for you during the worst and the best
of times. Nate! Tell me what you're feeling. What are you thinking? Please
don't shut me out. Nate, I love you."

Nate could feel Thomas' arm around his shoulders. This made him feel as if
the world was in his hand, a feeling that nothing could hurt him. Everyone
was okay and perfect. Nate couldn't do it anymore. Nate has got to tell him
before the move... before he loses everything.

"Thomas..." Nate's heart was in his mouth, a feeling that death had come
into his room and this is his last minute on Earth.  "I'm gay."

Nate looked to his family picture. `Is this it?' he asked himself.. Tears
found their way back into his eyes.

Nate felt the arm around his shoulders tighten. "I know, Nate, and it
doesn't matter."

Shaking with fear, he didn't hear Thomas, Nate was still looking at the
floor. Maybe it was a dream; maybe all of this was a dream, a bad
dream. Nate was shaken out of his daydream.

"Nate, hello..." Thomas' voice was from heaven itself, concerned.

"Nate?" he said again.

"Umm look, Nate, I don't care that you are gay and I still love you."
Thomas looked over to see if Nate understood.

"What.... what do you mean you knew?" Nate couldn't understand what he was
hearing. Everything was too much. Feeling was too much, and the color in
his room was too much.

*sigh* "Your mom asked me, I told her you never said anything to me. She
questioned me for awhile. Nate... Nate, look we've all been worried about
you, your mom, Jen, June, Timmy and... me. The last few months you shut
yourself off. You haven't been acting like the Nate we know."

"My mom asked about me?"

"Yeah she did. You have a good family. They care for you. We all care for
you. You know you're not average, Punk!"

"Everything is average with me. So... *sigh*... you're not going to run
away?" Nate was amazed that Thomas was still sitting beside him, bum to
bum, leg to leg, arm draping over Nate's shoulders. He was getting a
feeling, he couldn't understand it, and it was a mix of being the happiest
person in the world, but another feeling, a gut feeling. Maybe Thomas
doesn't share the same feelings as Nate does.

"Hmm... no, your mom invited me for supper, so I'm sticking around for
that." Just as he said that, he pushed Nate off his bed. Nate looked up in
disbelief. Looking at Thomas with his big grin, he knows he couldn't be mad
at him for more than a second. Thomas extended his hands to Nate, he was
laughing, and just the look on Nate's face was worth it, every minute of
it. Nate got off the floor and didn't know what to say... Everything was
going too fast for him.  Moving, losing his friends, COMING OUT.

"Today is the worst I've even had," he whispers to himself.

Thomas walked toward the window and heard what Nate said. "It's a bad day
for me too, Nate. I'm going to lose you. After tomorrow we're not going to
see each other every day."

"I know... This is just too much..." As Nate sat down on the loveseat,
Thomas sat beside him and turned his com pad off. He didn't want to be
bothered by anyone. Knowing they've got a lot to talk about.

"I want to talk about us, Nate. Look, after your mom talked to me about
you.... I just knew then. Umm..." Thomas stops. He was trying to say it the
best he could. "I see how you look at me... Maybe that's why we get along
so well, Nate." As he musters all the courage he had. "I do love you,
Nate. You are my best friend and when you leave, it's not going to be the
same. But..." He looks into Nate eyes for the last free, innocent look. "I
like Jen."

That was all he could say. Nate just sat there looking outside, his heart
sank, and this was the gut feeling he had. Maybe he was so in love with
Thomas he didn't notice that Thomas was looking at Jen and spending more
time with her. All Nate could do was to sit there, he was truly feeling
alone. The only person he loves, the only person he cares for, the only
fantasy in his dreams. But Thomas was looking at someone else.

"Nate, I know you're hurting, I can even feel it emanating from you. We are
twins, we are brothers. What you feel, I feel." Thomas looked at Nate to
see if he reacted. "I love you, but I can't love you as a lover. I love you
as best friends for life."

Nate looked over to Thomas, their eyes met. It was as though sparks filled
the room and hope was being renewed. Everything seemed so much better.
Nate just reached over and wrapped his arms around Thomas' neck.

"That all I needed, Thomas, that you love me and we can be best friends for
life. I really needed that." They embrace each other for a few minutes.
Then there was a knock on the door.

"Thomas? Nate? Supper is ready."

"Umm.  Yeah okay, we'll be down in a sec." Nate regains his strength and
controls his emotions.

"Good, I'm starving!" Thomas smiles.

"You always are," Nate grinned and they got up. They arrived to the dining
room table and sat next to each other. Nate's dad was sitting at the head
of the table, playing with Missy, Nate's 7 year-old sister.

"Natey, we're moving, yaaaaaa!" A high pitch squeal emanated from her, just
enough that Nate had to plug his ears. Thomas just smiled at Missy, looked
over to Nate and laughed.

"Yes, it's just wonderful." Nate didn't want to upset Missy. Even though he
hated the idea, he didn't want to hurt his little sister. She was
everything to him. Nate looked for his mom; she was standing in front of
the food vendor.

"Pot Roast, with lemon, well done, honey glaze," she command the vendor to
produce the meal. No one knew how to cook, nor even touch raw meat. The
vendor zapped the big pot roast onto a tray, just enough for everyone to
eat. Putting the supper on the table, she sat down and looked at her family
and Thomas.

"I want to say something." She was feeling happy, she can sense Nate hasn't
accepted it yet, even Thomas was there. Everyone looked at her, waiting to
hear what she had to say. Nate put his elbows on the table and closed his
hands and buried his face. He was hoping for no more bad news.

"Missy, I talked to your teacher, this morning. They going to cancel all
your classes and tomorrow they're going to have a party and cake for you."
As soon this had left her tongue, Missy screamed as loud she could. Missy
always loves getting attention, but to have a party for her was the
best. She was ecstatic.  Missy had a smile that you only see on a Holiday
morning. She was giggling, laughing and could not contain herself. Nate's
mom had a massive smile on her face as Nate's dad was trying to hold onto
Missy to keep her from kicking the table.  After a few moments, when Missy
was able to regain control of her excitement, Nate's Mom looked at her son.

"Nate, all you friends are exempt from classes tomorrow. You are able do
anything tomorrow. Also, at the end of classes, the school is going to do
something for you."

Nate looked at his mother.. He didn't care. He was mad at his mother for
protecting him. This was the biggest shock he even received. He thought to
himself, `At least I can hang out with my friends all day.' Nate looked at
his plate and never said a word to his mom.

"Can I say something?" asked Thomas in his perkiest voice, Nate adores his
voice. No matter what happens, that voice lifts his sprits.

"Sure go ahead, Thomas." Nate's dad said.

Nate looked at Thomas, trying to figure out what he was going to say.
Knowing Thomas, he had to tell everyone he had to poop. Thomas was that
unpredictable.

"Nate just told me he's gay!"

Nate lost control of one of his elbows and his head hit his wine glass.
Nate was in shock that Thomas just snitched on him about being gay. Nate
freaked out and tears poured from his eyes. He looked at Thomas in
disbelief. How could he do this to him?

"Thomas!" Nate screamed at him.

"NATE!" His dad shouted at Nate, loud enough to force Nate to look at him.
"Nate, we don't care if you're gay, we still love you. Say you sorry!" His
dad gave Nate a wink..

Nate turned to look at his mom. His mom had meat on her fork and placed
into her mouth and chewed it slowly. She smiled. "Yeah, what he said,"
nodding toward her husband.

Nate looked at Missy.. Missy was smiling and looking at her brother and
Thomas. Missy looked as though she was pondering inside her little head,
`What's between them?'

Nate looked at Thomas; he had a grin so huge that it could blind the sun, a
smile to let Nate know, big deal, we're still here. "Sorry
Thomas... unpredictable you are. But why?"

Thomas looked at Nate and let his smile die "Because I'm your best friend
and it was my job to make you happy!" Nate was simply stunned by the
comment. He turned and looked into his plate.

He softly asked. "How long did you guys know?" Nate wasn't directing to
anyone, just anyone who wanted to answer.

"For a while, son... mothers know best and you were losing yourself; you
seemed so depressed and kept so much to yourself, we knew something was
going on. Your mom and I went to see someone; they told us you could be
gay." Nate looked up at his dad; his dad was in the military. Nate just
couldn't believe it was his dad who said that. He looked at Thomas, who was
happily shoveling food into his mouth like the world is going to end
tomorrow.

"This is the weirdest day in my life... I'm sorry I'm just not being me, I
guess..."

"HERE, HERE" his mother said loudly, but had a warm grin and everything was
going to be alright.

"So, you and Thomas?" Dad asked Nate.

"No sir.. We're best of friends; he didn't want to ruin our friendship,"
Thomas spoke, not missing a beat, stuffing his face betweens words.

"Good idea, your friendship is hard to come by." Just as his dad said that,
Nate heart sank, he knew what his dad said was right. Their friendship was
hard to come by and they fought for it in every way, shape and form. It was
a hard earned friendship. The door bell ringing broke Nate's train of
thought.

"Come in," Nate's dad said, after he burped.

The door open, a man walked in and said hello to everyone.

"Uncle Andy, are you coming with us to Alpha?" Missy asked. She couldn't
contain herself. She was giggling and her hands were moving fast, to the
point of blurriness.

"Hehe, calm down, little girl. Yes, I'll be coming with you. Family sticks
together, right dear?"

"Uh huh."

Uncle Andy sat down beside Nate's mom and gave her a kiss on the cheek.
"So what's for dinner?"

"Pot Roast," Nate's dad answered, not looking at anyone.

Uncle Andy looked at Nate, studying him to see his reaction to the news.
Uncle Andy felt sad for Nate. He knew that he would be upset if he was
Nate's age. He turned to look at his sister. "How did he take it?" he
whispers softly, hoping no one hears him.

"He was angry, but... luckily, Thomas calmed him down a bit." She looked
into her brother's eyes. Uncle Andy was an engineer, a star drive
engineer. He was in his late 20s, 6 feet tall, blonde hair and blue eyes,
but a bit overweight, not fat, just a belly. Uncle Andy looked away from
his sister and saw everyone except Nate looking at him.

"Nate told me he's gay."

"Thomas, STOP THAT!" Nate shouted at Thomas, he was shocked that Thomas
couldn't keep his mouth shut. Nate looked at Thomas and was ready to jump
on him and stuff his mouth with pot roast.

"NATE!" his dad shouted.

"WHAT? I CAN'T DEFEND MYSELF? I CAN'T MAKE MY OWN DECISIONS? I'M ONLY A
CHILD? DON'T I HAVE A FUCKIN SAY IN THE FAMILY?" Nate was angry, you could
hear it in his voice. He's lost everything, nothing can stop it.

Nate's father slammed his hand on the table so violently that it shook the
plates.

"NATE, DO NOT SWEAR IN FRONT OF YOUR MOTHER! NO, YOU DON'T HAVE A SAY!"
Nate's dad looked sternly at him. The military finally came out. He's the
boss, he commands respect and order.

"I NEVER DID, SCREW THIS FAMILY!" Nate jumped up, knocking over his chair,
and ran into his room. He slammed the door hard enough for the pictures to
fall down. Nate crashed on his bed.

Few seconds later, his dad entered the room. He saw his son lying on the
bed, covering his face. He could hear him crying into the pillow, saw his
lungs were filling and exiting hard enough for his body to shake. Nate dad
calmed down and took a breath. He sat on the bed, waiting for Nate to expel
his emotions..  He knew if he spoke it will make it worst. He rested his
hand on Nate's back.  Just to let him know that he was there. Few minutes
later, there was a light knock on the door. As the door opened he saw his
wife looking in. He nodded and she left. Nate heard the door close; he
turned around and saw his dad sitting beside him. He couldn't look at his
father, just couldn't, knowing the outburst they had. He'd rather forget
it. His father looked at him,

*sigh* "Nate, this isn't the easiest decision I've made." He paused. "Nate,
if I didn't do something, they were going to put me out of the military."

Nate looked at his father. `So that's why we're going on the colony
projects,' he thought. Knowing Uncle Andy tried without success to find a
job, how was his father going to find one? We've been living off the
system. Now he was losing his placement in the private school. They were
losing this apartment.

"Why Dad? Why didn't you talk to me?" Nate asked, holding back his tears.

"Nate, I don't know..." He paused. "I was afraid we'd lose everything. I
didn't want to be homeless. I don't want to see my son begging for food."
He looked away, remembering all the talks with his wife a week ago. "Nate
you're not a child; you're becoming a man. You told everyone you're
gay. Not everyone can do that, you've got bigger balls than most of the men
under my command."

"Well Dad, I doubt that, I'm just," Nate stopped, searching the right
words, "feeling weak." He saw his dad bending over to wrap his arms around
his son. Nate lifted himself up and hugged his father. "Dad?"

"Yeah son?"

"Sorry about before, umm, the shouting," Nate knew he was in deep
trouble. That just something you don't do in this household.

His father looked into his son's eyes, searching his feelings, trying to
get a read from his only son. "Nate, you needed to vent it out, you were
holding it in." He paused, his tone changed, a tone of commands. "Don't you
ever do that again. Understand?" Nate just nodded knowing he was getting
off easy. They left the room and entered the dining room.

"Finally he came out. Where you been hiding?" Uncle Andy laugh out loud, he
couldn't hold it in. He just laughed as hard as he could.

Nate looked up and couldn't help himself. He broke into a smile and he
started to feel relieved, to feel released. "I'm sorry, Mom, Uncle Andy."
He looked over to his mom and she was staring at him.

Then she looked at her husband. She can read him like a book, after
spending 16 years with someone you love, you gain an extra skill. "It's
fine, honey, just eat your supper. It's getting cold." She returned to her
dinner.

Nate looked over to Missy, She was avoiding his eyes. Missy was
heartbroken; she had never seen this monster come out of her big
brother. She was afraid of him, she keep quiet and still just to keep the
monster away.

"Missy?"

She didn't respond to Nate calling. Nate was heartbroken, he knew she was
scared of him. He couldn't do anything. He felt helpless. He wished he
never screamed at his dad. Nate dropped his chin and looked at his plate,
his food was cold now. He picked at his food, not talking, just feeling bad
about Missy. Everyone was talking, but even Thomas' voice wasn't picking up
his spirits.

Everyone got up when they finished the meal and start to pile into the
living room. There was enough room for everyone. Nate sat in the chair he
was in when the news hit him. Nate's mom and dad sat on the
loveseat. Thomas, Uncle Andy and Missy sat on the couch. Nate looked over
to the dining table and saw that the computer had zapped everything away,
clearing the table.

"Dan, I want to say thank you for getting me into the colony projects,"
Uncle Andy was saying while tickling Missy with his right hand. Uncle Andy
had been looking for a job for the last three years. He was at the top of
his class, but there were no ships leaving the solar system at that
time. He knew he had a long shot getting a job on the colony ships.

"Well, we had decided to leave Earth and try to setup a new life on Alpha."
Dan looked over to his wife and kissed her on the lips. Dan loved his wife
since the day they met. He pulled away. "Because I'm going to be the
security on Destiny, families get first priority." Dan paused and looked
towards Missy and smiles "Nate and Missy, they needed their Uncle."

"Thank you, I truly mean it. Do you know what I'll be doing?"

"No. we'll find out everything on Monday. Meet us here around 8 and we'll
go over and get all the information and get everything sorted."

Uncle Andy nodded and turned back to tickle Missy.

"What is this ship... Destiny?" Thomas asked Dan. He was curious, knowing
that his buddy was going to be on a ship for awhile.

Uncle Andy spoke up, "Well I don't know much, but it's a new ship that they
just designed. It has the newest Star drive. I think it can carry 250 to
300 people." He was thinking, trying to recall the specs of the ship.

"Well, is it safe?" Thomas knew they stopped building these star drive
ships because of a hull failure four years ago. 142 people died when the
bulkheads collapsed. From then on, no more ships were built and the
shipments of settlers and cargo to Alpha stopped. For the first time in a
hundred years, everyone on Earth stopped what they were doing and said a
pray or sang a song of tribute. For the first time, everyone in the world
was holding their breath and holding each other. Humanity is a powerful
emotion.

"Yes, they have redesigned everything, made it safer, bigger, better and
faster," Uncle Andy informed Thomas, trying to reassure all that it would
be a safe trip.

"Faster? How much faster?" asked Nate.

"Well Nate, it still will take time getting there."

"How much?" Nate perked up, hoping the technology would make it a quicker
trip. Nate was dreading the long trip, a trip that can drive men mad.

"Under two years, Nate."

Nate looked at his Uncle and blinked once. He hadn't thought it would take
that long. Nate would never volunteer for this trip. Not in a million
years.

"TWO YEARS!" Nate shouted in disbelief. Two years, stuck on a ship with 200
other people. Nate started to feel tightness in his chest. Looking at the
floor, he was wondering how his father could do this to him. Two years, TWO
FREAKIN YEARS!

"Nate, I did a three year tour on the outer rim of our solar system," Dan
said, trying to assured Nate that it's just a long field trip.

"That dandy, Dad, you chose to go, I'm just pushed into it," Nate sharply
snaps at his dad. Then he remembered that Missy is scared of him.  Knowing
that he lowed his voice and repeated himself.

"Son, it will be worth it. That's how I met your mom. When we got back to
Earth you were born. Son, I wouldn't trade it for the world." Dan looked
into his wife eyes and gave her a peck on her lips. Nate knew he couldn't
argue against that.

"Besides, this ship has a lot more features than the old ones. The people
of Earth stood up and demanded the ships should be fit for travel and fit
for people."

"Meaning what?" Thomas looked at Uncle Andy. Thomas had always been into
ship design and planned to go to engineer school after he finished high
school.

"The ships are three times bigger, with half the crew. They designed it so
it can be comfortable. They have gyms, a pool, family units, single units,
movie theater, it's like a cruise ship," Uncle Andy said as he tried to
remember the details.  Excited to be on the crew of the newest starship, he
couldn't wait and he downloaded all the information he could get his hands
on. Simply put, the ship was beautiful! A masterpiece. They really out did
themselves.

As Thomas and Uncle Andy talked over the details, Nate looked into the fire
place and got sucked into deep thought. `Maybe I'll be the only 15 year-old
in this ship, I might be the only kid, Christ! I'll be a virgin when we
land on this blue planet. 17 years old. Everyone I know will be finishing
college and what am I going to do once there, plant fields? I think not.'

"Why do I have to go to new school, since I'm done with my old one
tomorrow?"  Missy asked her mom, breaking Nate's daydream.

"Huh?! What did she say?" Nate asked. He wanted to make sure that he heard
right. How come he has to say goodbye to everyone tomorrow and go to
another school? Why couldn't he stay where he was?

"This isn't school as you think of it, dear. It's for people to learn about
the ship and how to run it." Dan told Missy but looked at Nate. Dan knew
Nate heard Missy.

"Oh, it's a special school. COOL!" Missy filled up with pride, knowing that
not everyone can go to this school.

"Kinda, dear. You start on Tuesday with Nate." Mom was smiling at Missy.
She didn't want to look at Nate because he would give her the look.

"Well Beth, Dan, I'm going head out and get some sleep. This is our last
weekend to enjoy some peace." Beth nodded and stepped up and gave her
brother a hug. Dan stepped up too, but only gave Uncle Andy a handshake.

After Uncle Andy left the apartment, Beth looked at Thomas. "Are you
staying tonight?"

Thomas smiled at Beth then looked at Nate then returned to Beth. "No,
Ma'am. I doubt Nate's going get any sleep and I want to keep my virginity!"
Thomas smiled at Beth. Nate looked at Thomas and threw a pillow at him,
hitting him in the head.

"Good lord." Beth walked away. She didn't want to know anything about that.

"Well boys, have a good night," Dan said as he disappeared down the hallway
with his wife. Missy was following them closely.

Nate and Thomas heard the doors close and at last they were alone again.

"Thomas, what do you think about all of this?" It was just a question, but
you could hear Nate's voice filled with uncertainly.

"I don't know Nate, it's a trip of a lifetime..." he paused "Fuck, I'm
going to lose my best friend. I guess I feel left out." Nate just nodded at
Thomas, knowing he had the same thing on his mind.

There was a silence in the room, a deafening silence. They just realized
what was going to happen to their friendship. Even with today's best
subspace array, it would take four years to send a message planet to
planet.. Thomas rose up from the couch and walked toward the door. Nate
followed him. Thomas turned around.

"Look Nate, I will tell everyone else tomorrow so you don't have to.
Please let me do it, you don't need to see them cry or get angry." Nate
looked into Thomas eyes and nodded his approval.

They hugged each other. Holding on to each other, knowing tomorrow is the
last day to be school buddies. "Damn it! Tomorrow we're going to have
fun!!" Nate's voice cracked, his emotions were getting the best of him.


"Will do, will do."

After that, Thomas headed out the door. The door closed softly and Nate
looked at it, stared at it. He slowly walked down the hallway and entered
his bedroom.  He stripped down to his underwear and slipped under the
covers. Folding his arms under his head, he looked up at the ceiling,
thinking.  `Tomorrow is going to be hard,' he said to himself, then his
eyes got heavy, his breathing slowed down. Nate was asleep.