Voyager

"Lizzie–"

I make my way across the large crowds of people towards the enormous spaceship with the words SS VOYAGER written across the side. They're all here to watch the send-off and it's probably the biggest event of the century, at least judging from the thousands of people surrounding me. I heard on the news this morning that they've never seen this many people at Merritt Island before.

"Lizzie, wait!"

"Flora, we didn't forget anything! I triple-checked!" I exclaim, hearing my sister stumble with her suitcase. She runs into someone and immediately apologizes before huffing.

"No, that's not it!" she yells.

I stop and turn around.

"Okay, what?"

She looks at me, concerned. She's been looking at me like that for a month now and it's really bugging me. I think it's the nurse in her that constantly wants to check how I'm doing, but she knows how much it annoys me when she treats me like her patient.

"Are you really sure you wanna do this?" she asks.

"For the hundredth time, yes," I roll my eyes.

"I just think that this is a really rash decision–"

"I have a year to live and this is a rash decision?" I scoff.

"Lizzie!"

"Look, Flora, you didn't have to come with me!" I exclaim, feeling heated. "You still don't. But I've made my decision and the rest of my life is waiting for me on that ship. So, you can come with me or you can fly home, either way, I love you and I'm going on that damn ship!"

"Of course I'm not going to let you go to another frickin' planet without me," Flora grumbles, rolling her eyes.

I smile.

"Okay, then."

We make our way to the ship, past the crowds of people. It takes almost an hour to get there and waiting for us right in front of the spaceship is a line of people waiting to get their passes and name tags, I'm assuming. Flora and I join the line.

I look up and the ship is even bigger than I originally thought. It's supposed to hold a hundred guests and a hundred more crew members. It looks like something out of those Star Wars or Star Trek movies that came out centuries ago, but still holds popular today. I'm feeling excitement grow in my chest as I stare at it.

The line moves quick and before I know it, I'm next.

"Hello, name please?" says a woman staring down at an electronic list of names.

"Flora and Eliza Lane," I say. Flora shuffles to stand next to me.

"Any health conditions, food restrictions, or allergies, anything like that?"

"She's allergic to shellfish and I have cancer," I reply. The lady looks up at me giving that goddamn look everyone gives me. When I quit my job and had to tell my boss why, he gave me the exact same look. Flora continues to give me this look to this day.

"Alright, here you go," she hands us our lanyards and a thick packet detailing everything about the trip and the ship. "Both your name tag and key card is in here. Your name tag is mainly for introduction purposes, especially during the first week. Your key card is used for literally everything. To get in your room, to get your food, etcetera. It has all your allergy restrictions and medical conditions built into it so the kitchen and the medical staff are aware. If you lose it, you have to pay $25 to replace it. Got it?"

Flora and I nod our heads.

"Then I wish you well on your journey."

I look down at my name tag, smiling. It reads:



Flora and I walk up the steps and enter the ship, stopping almost immediately. It doesn't even look like what you imagine when you see it from the outside. It looks like we've entered Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory or something (you know, minus the chocolate). First of all, it's entirely white, there's trees everywhere, and a waterfall in the dead center surrounded by tables that I assume are meant for when we eat. Right now people are shaking hands and getting to know one another. There's stairs placed in four corners that lead up to the second floor, where it expands into hallways and I can see numbers plastered at the top. Our rooms, maybe? And the third floor is probably where the captain is.

"Holy shit," I hear Flora whisper in awe.

"I know," I reply.

"Hello there." We look up and a guard is smiling down at us. "Do you need help finding your rooms or anything?"

"Um, yeah, do you know where Room 289 is?" I ask.

"289?" Flora repeats, looking down at her card. "Mine's Room 275!"

"You registered after I did, so maybe that's why?" I say. Flora looks disappointed but I'm kind of glad we're not roommates. It's mainly because I know she's going to go full nurse-mode on me the second this ship takes off.

"It's all right, miss," the guard says, kindly. "You're in the same hallway. Come with me."

We follow him up the stairs in the northwest corner and into a brightly lit hallway. Flora's room is in the middle and the guard opens the door for her, letting her inside. I take a peek and I see it's small, but doable for two people.

"I'll see you soon, yeah?" Flora says to me. I nod my head.

The guard takes me to my room at the very end of the hall.

"Looks like you've got the the best room in the house," he comments. "The rooms at the end get windows."

He opens the door and I step inside. Half of it is already completely decorated with rainbow objects hanging from the ceilings, posters on the wall, and a bright pink comforter on the bed instead of the standard white ones. I look around at the half-multi-colored room to see my roommate putting up another poster. It's of a soccer team, I think.

"Uh, hi," I say. She turns around and a big smile appears on her face.

"Hi!" She hops down from her bed and thrusts her hand out at me. "I'm Willow Reddington."

"Lizzie Lane," I shake it. I glance down at her name tag and it says that she's from Mauritius. I've never been to Mauritius before. I wonder what it's like...

"I hope you don't mind that I chose my bed already. I get motion sickness sometimes so being close to the window isn't a good idea for me. And I didn't know if you like decorations, so I kept to my side. I can take them down if it bothers you..."

I shake my head.

"No, not at all. It's very personal, I love it. My side looks so empty now," I chuckle.

"I have an extra comforter–it's purple!–and I never run out of decorations," Willow beams. "I'm a teacher so I always have crafts with me. We can work on your side after orientation!"

"That's a perfect plan," I say, smiling. I'm relieved at my roommate being so adorable. I always hear stories about the roommate from Hell, but Willow seems normal. I wonder why she's coming on this trip.

"So, Lizzie, what do you do?" Willow asks, plopping down on her bed as I unpack my things. "Or what did you do?"

"I was a profiler for the FBI," I explain.

"Wow," she says. "That's very cool!"

"What about you? What grade did you teach?" I ask.

"Kids! First and second years," she smiles like she's proud of what she's done. And I'm glad. If Earth needs teachers then so does this new planet. Willow glances at her watch and she exclaims, "Oh we need to go downstairs! It's almost time for orientation!"

I look at the clock that says 4:55. The schedule says that orientation is at 5:00 and that take-off is at 6:00. The jitteriness in my stomach grows. It's finally about to happen.

Willow and I go downstairs to the Main Hall where it looks like all two hundred passengers are already there. The waterfall is covered by an enormous clear screen that had a picture of a galaxy on it, and the tables have been removed to fit all the chairs into rows.

"Lizzie!" I see Flora waving her hand at me as she's sitting in the middle. Willow and I join her.

"Hey!" I say, when we take a seat. "This is my roommate, Willow from Mauritius."

"Oh, wow, you're twins," Willow says when she shakes Flora's hand.

"I'm Flora and this is my roommate, Kavya. She's from India," my sister says as Kavya reaches around and shakes our hands.

Just as I'm about to ask Kavya what she does, the lights around us go dark, illuminating the screen. Everyone around us starts whispering, wondering what's going on when the picture of the galaxy disappears and is replaced by a man. I look closer to see him actually standing in front of us at a podium.

"Good evening!" he exclaims through the microphone. "My name is Victor Darling and I'm your captain on the SS Voyager. And my co-captain here is Leona Specter," she's standing next to him and gives us a small wave. "And it's our honor to welcome you to the journey of a lifetime."

He takes a step back and the screen above him changes. Now it's a video of what looks like the new planet. It's images and videos taken from the rovers we sent there and I can hear the people around me 'ooh' and 'aah' at it.

The voiceover on the video says, "HD 456712d, or Earth 2.0, was discovered on September 18, 3073 in one of the nearest galaxies to our own, the Canis Major. After centuries of searching, we have finally found a planet almost exactly like ours where humans can thrive. When you arrive on Earth 2.0, you can almost expect it to be just like home. Our current Earth will eventually die for many reasons, overpopulation and depletion of resources being some, and Earth 2.0 is the answer to keep humanity going. That's why you're here, so you can do just that. We thank you for taking this opportunity. Welcome aboard the SS Voyager and we hope you enjoy your stay."

The video ends and the room goes black. Some of the lights come on and Co-captain Leona Specter's face appears on the screen as she takes the podium.

"The journey to Earth 2.0 will take exactly eleven months. You have already been assigned your rooms and your roommates. If you wish to change your roommate or have any other inquiries, please visit the third floor, Room 53. In the packet you were given upon arrival are details about anything you need to know, like where the cafeteria is or the doctor's office is or anything like that. Food will be served in the cafeteria around the clock, but please be considerate to the workers. This is a one-way journey to Earth 2.0, so if you wish to leave, please do so now as it will be your last chance. Take-off is in twenty minutes."

Around fifteen screens, identical to the one in front of us, are coming down all around us and turning on, showing us what's happening outside so two hundred of us don't have to scramble for the windows to watch the take off. I can feel the excitement in the air. People are talking to one another and staring at the screens.

Flora takes my hand.

"You ready?" she says. I nod my head.

There's a minute left and people are starting to countdown. I can hear the engines starting and Willow, Kavya, Flora, and I join the countdown. We can see on the screens the thousands of people that have come to watch as they cheer and countdown with us.

"Five! Four! Three! Two! One!"

There's rumbling and we can see the ship levitating off the ground and go higher and higher. Everyone starts applauding and cheering and I can even see the crowd outside do the same. This is it, it's actually happening. I laugh and and glance at my sister, who's squeezing my hand tightly, and staring at the sunset as we rise higher into the sky, towards space.

The rest of my life is here.