Femi stood in front of the spaceport, gazing in awe. The spaceport was a testament to technological advancement, functioning like an advanced airport but for spacecrafts: where they landed, took off, and underwent maintenance.
Upon entering the gate of the spaceport, a vast parking lot came into view on both sides, with a path leading to the main building in the middle.
The main building comprised five floors. The first floor served as the reception area where passengers obtained tickets for their flights, essentially the check-in point.
The following three floors functioned as waiting rooms, while the top floor housed the executive offices of the spaceport.
Femi approached reception desks with the shortest queue. Reaching his turn, Femi addressed the receptionist, who wore Tonic's spaceport female uniform, a light blue attire adorned with various attachments, including a planet emblem and a nameplate.
"Hello. I'd like to board the next flight to Mars," Femi said.
"Proof of identity, please," the receptionist replied, emphasizing the necessity due to concerns about underage runaways or criminal travelers.
"Heh heh, my old man says I look young for my age but believe it or not, I'm a legal adult," As someone who stayed in an area that was filled with old retired individuals, Femi conversation skills were apparently a tad awkward.
This was an attempt to improve his social skills because the old man told him he would need to improve that in the long run, but honestly, Femi didn't believe that was needed.
The receptionist simply ignored Femi's comment and went on with her business. Femi wasn't interested in her or affairs, which led to him dropping her as a test subject.
After confirming the necessary information, the receptionist returned his papers and inquired, "First class, second class, or third class?"
"Third class, please," Femi responded.
The classes were all divided based on how entertaining and comfortable they were. He could entertain himself and manage hunger with snacks before boarding, so why waste extra money.
"The next flight is at 9:45, 50 minutes from now. You may proceed to the second floor, the waiting room for your flight. Have a pleasant journey," the receptionist informed him, handing him his boarding ticket along with additional information.
After completing the luggage check and dropping off his bag for loading onto the ship, Femi purchased an instant food pack on the first floor before heading to the second floor.
After a while of gaming, Femi grew bored. Him being his usual self, he quickly fell asleep.
*****
"Flight to Mars, Third class personnel. Prepare to board the ship," an announcement echoed throughout the second floor, waking Femi from his nap.
Joining the orderly queue led by two officials in the male version of Tonic's spaceport uniform, Femi followed them outside towards the ship.
Exiting the building, passengers marveled at the vastness of the spaceport, encompassing not only the main building but also adjacent structures like hotels, restaurants, and conference halls. They were all oblivious to the fact that they were all owned by the Star-port.
While Femi was taking in the view, he got distracted by the mumbling amongst the passengers.
Everyone seemed to be shocked by the extravagant buildings.
"I see, that's what they're wasting my taxes on," an old woman, one of the passengers, exclaimed.
However, their attention was mainly captivated by the array of spacecraft in the distance. They were of different shapes and sizes; the average length was over 180 meters.
The type of spacecraft they were about to board was generally called a Voyager. Its primary use was for carrying normal traveling passengers from one planet to another.
It was 400 meters long; the body was gray and tainted with light blue which represented Tonic's flag. As every other ship did, it had its name, SOJE-0801, written on it.
Although it was not a battleship or exploration ship, it still had the common ship's firearms attached here and there. Space is unpredictable nowadays; during traveling, one can never be too safe.
The current queue was all third-class boarders and their sections, the third section was the second farthest from the ship's cockpit. The farthest being the employee room. Underneath all the sections were the storage room, engine room, and the armory.
After all passengers boarded the ship, trained soldiers who were armed also boarded the ship to protect the ship and reassure the passengers.
Although the Earth to Mars trip is the shortest between habitable planets and different precautions had been taken to avoid criminals from boarding the ship, they could never be too prepared.
Plunderers were very unpredictable and most importantly, they were crazy. They could still choose to raid the ship knowing how secure Earth to Mars trips were.
After Femi cozied up, he heard a voice coming from the speaker.
"All passengers are now seated, take-off may be rough, all soldiers in position. Thank you for flying with us. We'll begin the count-down to take-off."
The spacecraft was already slowly hovering. The spacecraft thruster's engine was preparing to operate.
3
2.
Most of the third-class passengers were riding for the first time. Immediately after the steward's voice sounded throughout the ship, they all subconsciously took a deep breath preparing for the takeoff.
1.
Takeoff!
The thrusters engaged, shooting the ship forward.
"Mars eh. The boring days are ending," Femi declared as he brought his hand up and grabbed the air.
A holographic screen, one born from his mind, imagination and his bizarre hunch was in front of Femi. It read:
[Go to Mars' GRA.]