Yael ran a comb through her hair, as she started to get ready for the day ahead of her. She was in no way prepared for another day onboard the Starbound 20 but she knew that her options were limited. After all, once you were in space it was fairly difficult to leave.
Nevertheless, it had never been her decision to even be a part of this mission. Not really. Her father had sent her on the mission due to the fact that people who went were offered a large sum of money.
Yael had always suspected that her father cared more about his possession of money than he did, well, her. However, she wasn't about to let this get to her. Besides, at eighteen, she was the youngest member onboard the spacecraft and that was a matter that she had always taken particular pride in.
Despite Yael not having wanted to have been a part of the space mission, she had certainly brightened life up for her crewmates. It was in Yael's very nature to always look out for other people and try to cheer them up wherever possible, especially when it came to the people who had lost someone due to the terrible virus.
Not everyone appreciated her help but that didn't mean that Yael was going to stop giving it for a single moment. She had always been too much of a kind person for that.
Of course, Yael's space suit only further highlighted her optimistic nature. Her space suit was bright yellow, just like the daffodils that could be found in her garden back home on Earth. She had planted them with her grandmother a few years ago, before her grandmother had passed on. Fortunately, this hadn't been due to the virus. Her grandmother had just been incredibly old.
As Yael left her room, she began to walk down one of the main corridors of the space craft and greeted people with a warm smile, as she made her way on towards the cafeteria.
It didn't take her long to get there. After all, the space craft was large but it wasn't enormous. It didn't take very long to get around the place.
As soon as she had entered the cafeteria, Yael soon saw the familiar lime green suit of her acquaintance, Francesca.
"Hi Francesca," Yael greeted her with warmth in her hazel eyes.
Francesca turned to Yael and smiled back at her, then, as she ran a hand through her reddish-brown hair.
"Hi Yael. It's good to see you," she said, "I estimate that we'll be there soon."
"Where? Mars?" Yael asked, slightly astonished by this concept.
At that question, Francesca gave a nod of her head to signal her answer.
"I was in navigation all morning. It doesn't look as though it's going to take us much longer at all to get there," she said, with some excitement in her voice.
Francesca had enjoyed her time in space but it was safe to say that she had missed Earth. She had missed being able to plant her feet upon green grass and breath in air she knew wouldn't poison her lungs. The thing about Francesca was that she loved nature and, well, there wasn't exactly much of that up in space. Nevertheless, Francesca had appreciated her time so far. She had enjoyed getting to know some of her crewmates and she had loved the opportunity of seeing so many planets that as a child she had only dreamed about.
Unlike the girl stood beside her, Francesca had always wanted to be an astronaut. When the chance to go to space had come up, she had jumped at the opportunity.
"I have to admit, I am curious as to what we're going to find when we get there. I know that we're looking for the essence but imagine what else is out there! Maybe aliens? Who knows? You know...space is astonishing. It's as incredible as the ocean. Did you know how much of the ocean hasn't been explored yet? I can only imagine the secrets hidden in the depths of it. It's far too mind-boggling to even think about right now, though," Francesca said. "Besides, that's not what's important here. What's really important is that we're soon going to be on the Red Giant! How many people can say that they've done that? Don't look so worried, Yael! It'll be fine."
Yael, who felt as though she was struggling to keep up with the energetic girl stood before her, managed to give a nod of her head in response.
"Yeah," she said, "Yeah. You're probably right. It will all be a-okay in the end," she said. She was surprised by the fact that her confidence and optimism in such a matter was actually fairly genuine. Still, when the fate of humanity was resting on their shoulders, they couldn't be much other than optimistic. Things were far too bleak without it.
The girls chatted away for a little while longer but soon turned their heads to the door of the cafeteria when they heard someone enter it. They soon saw that they had been joined by Belle- she wore a dark blue space suit.
"Good morning Yael. Good morning Francesca," she greeted the two of them with warm smiles. "Have you two eaten breakfast? I'm sure that we will be landing soon and it's important for us to keep our strength up!" Belle said.
Belle had always taken it upon herself to care for the others as deeply as possible. Back on Earth, she had sisters and brothers who were all younger than her and so it was instinctual for her to care for the other crew members, even when they didn't always want to be looked out for.
"I invented a new milkshake today! I call it the space shake. You see, you add this chocolatey powder and then..." Belle trailed off, as she began to make the drink in front of them.
The two girls watched, visibly intrigued, though Belle could only provide a temporary distraction from their nerves surrounding their impending arrival on Mars.