Tring! The sound of the elevator doors opening echoed through the station. "Welcome!" the female AI announced before disappearing. "We have arrived at Space Pod station DFFR395, VIP level. Have a safe trip."
Bobby and his family stepped out of the elevator and followed Ben to a large hall filled with thousands of portable Space Pods. Ben led them to a Pod and was greeted by the pilot inside. "Hey Ben, how have you been?" the pilot, Ceb, asked.
"I'm doing fine, Ceb. You seem to be in good shape," Ben replied. "These are our VIPs. I'll leave them in your capable hands."
As Ben left, Ceb instructed everyone to fasten their seatbelts. Once they were securely strapped in, Ceb took his seat in the cockpit and began piloting the Pod. "Everyone, godspeed!" he laughed and shouted as the Pod quickly moved towards the small blue planet.
After half an hour, the Pod landed on the planet's space pod platform. "Welcome to Gliese 667 Cc!" Ceb announced.
Bobby and his family then made their way to a nearby long-range teleportation station and joined the queue of people waiting for their turn. Margaret quickly came beside Bobby, interlocking her fingers with his, and asked, "Bobby, you're the genius of the family. Can you explain how that teleportation thingy works?"
Bobby remained silent, lost in thought about his failed proposal to Margaret. He had come up with many crazy ideas from romance movies, but eventually shook his head and muttered, "She's my sister."
"Hey, Bobby! Are you even listening?" Margaret's shout snapped him out of his thoughts.
"What is it, Margaret?" Bobby asked.
Margaret's thumb slowly rubbed his hand. Bobby felt it, too. She looked at him with a loving gaze and asked with a charming smile, "Bobby, why are you spacing out? Are you thinking about your girl?"
Bobby tightened his grip on her even harder and locked eyes with Margaret. They remained in a daze, staring at each other.
Mia and Jeremy Bradford, the couple standing behind them, also noticed the young couple's interaction. Jeremy frowned and attempted to speak, but Mia held his hand and shook her head to signal him not to disturb them. Jeremy exhaled heavily and looked away, ignoring everything.
Soon, it was their turn to approach the ticket counter. The middle-aged man inside cleared his throat, interrupting Bobby and Margaret's moment.
"Hmph!" Margaret snorted and released her hand from his grip, playfully punching his chest before turning her head away shyly.
Bobby pulled out four golden tickets and showed them to the man. "VIP tickets!" he said, shouting towards his back, "Nina! They are VIPs. Bring them inside."
A fourteen-year-old girl named Nina rushed towards them. She bowed to them and said with a professional smile, "Hello, I am Nina. I will bring you all inside the teleportation machine. Please follow me."
The four of them entered the room, which had white walls and their belongings already placed inside.
"Good luck and bon voyage!" Nina bowed slightly and hurried out of the room.
"Attention!" a voice announced through the speaker. "Please stay calm. You will all be perfectly safe. Your destination is the exoplanet Dwarka of the Delta Belt region. Now, starting the transmission for the four. Starting the countdown!"
"10 9 8..." A loud sound interrupted the countdown and Margaret became extremely nervous. Bobby held her hand tightly, interlocking their fingers, and started rubbing his thumb on her hand.
"It's okay. Close your eyes. I am here with you," he said, comforting her.
Margaret leaned closer to him and closed her eyes, feeling a sense of security in her heart. She soon calmed down.
Mia and Jeremy Bradford saw the couple's close intimacy and exchanged glances. Jeremy looked away, treating them like air. Mia made a satisfied smile and squeezed his hand.
"3, 2, 1. Go!" The ringing sound grew louder, and the room began shaking before quickly disappearing, leaving only a largely empty hall.
On Planet Dwarka, the ringing finally stopped, and the room settled. Bobby, the only Defect among them, knelt down and started vomiting everything he had eaten in the spaceship. Margaret quickly supported his body and brushed his back, saying, "Alright, alright! You'll be fine." After a few minutes, Bobby felt better.
The four emerged from the room, and a man greeted them from outside. "Welcome to Dwarka! This way, please. We need to verify your identity before you can leave," he said politely.
After some time, they left the Teleportation station. "Wow! These buildings look magnificent," Margaret exclaimed. "Aphrodite City, I am here!" On Earth, every infrastructure was still built in old-fashioned styles. But in Dwarka, everything outside was the wonder of new advanced technology and designs.
It was already dark, and the night of Aphrodite City was illuminated with beautiful lights. They saw many tall skyscrapers all around them. "Look!" Margaret suddenly pointed at a man leaning lazily on a military car. She moved closer to Mia and whispered in her ear, "Mom, look! That's Captain Jean Carlos. He looks even more robust than I've seen on the screen. Oh my god, he's looking at us!"