The Lonely Spy (7 page)

Yolanda stared, smiled and shook her
head. ‘’ I don’t know’’ she replied. They burst out laughing.
‘’Alright, let us toast to what lies ahead and save planet earth’’
he said. ‘’I agree’’ she replied. They both nodded with agreement.
Yolanda’s body language suggest she is very calm and enjoying the
moment. Few minutes later, they experienced the beautiful sight of
the solar system from a different angle. As the spacecraft was
moving upwards, the sight of the planets was so unreal. They were
beyondcomprehension, it felt like they were in a 3D Cinema but 1000
times better, the sequence, the formation and everything moved in
motion.

They took pictures and switched on the
video cameras installed around the spacecraft to record every
moment in space from different angles.

They travelled with ease for the next 5
hours. They took notes of the solar system activities, processed
and entered them on their data files. They saw figures, few
thousand kilometers away. ‘’ Slow down Charles’’ she said. Charles
pressed and slowed down the speed of the spacecraft. These figures
were shining, glowing and glittering in gold. ‘’ I think we are in
the Orion’’ she said. She opened her mouth wide with amazement at
the sight. ‘’ It’s the constellation figures’’ Charles
said.

The creatures were fast asleep and
looked peaceful.The Sagittarius,Virgo, Aquarius, Taurus, Leo,
Aries, Cancer, Gemini, Scorpio, Capricorn, Pisces and Libra. Their
young ones were also asleep. Their snoring can be heard from inside
the inside spacecraft. ‘’ Let us not wake them up, we don’t know
what they will do to this spacecraft’’ Charles said. ‘’No problem,
the video is recording so we will watch the footage later’’ Yolanda
said. The spacecraft made a U-turn and went around these beautiful
mythical monsters. ‘’ Wow, they are so beautiful Charles’’ Yolanda
said.

They passed the constellation figures
without waking them up and sped off. They kept working on their
data they gathered, pulled out a telescope and learnt a lot of
insights.

An hour later, Yolanda coughs hard. The
automated voice from the spacecraft‘’ Please put on the oxygenex
mask’’ They nearly fell unconscious but they quickly put on their
masks. ‘’ I think it must be toxic gases’’ Charles said. ‘’ It’s
going to be a long tough journey’’ Yolanda said. The spacecraft
started shaking and rolled in different directions. ‘’ The winds
are very strong, put on your seatbelt’’ he said. They put on their
seatbelts. ‘’ It’s a tornado and we are inside of it’’ Yolanda
said. The spacecraft lost control and rolled deeper inside. Charles
struggled to take control but manages to fly out of the spiral of
the tornado winds. The spacecraft managed to fly out but they
nearly got lost. Charles managed to steer the spacecraft back to
the right route. ‘’Phew, I didn’t know there are tornados in
space’’ Yolanda said. ‘’I’m anticipating more, anything is
possible’’ Charles said. Yolanda looks excited about the journey
ahead. Charles held Yolanda’s hand and she blushed. ‘’I haven’t
seen you this happy since we were dating’’ he said. Yolanda took
off his seatbelt and stood up.

‘’
Are you hungry’’ She
asked. ‘’ ‘’Oh yes I’m’’ he replied. ‘’Let’s go to the kitchen and
grab something to eat.’’ Yolanda said. Charles took off the
seatbelt, put on the spacecraft on cruise control. He decreased the
speed and went to the kitchen. 15 minutes later, they were enjoying
themselves in the kitchen, eating and drinking wine. They teased
each other on who was scared during the turbulence. ‘’ Admit it
Charles, you wanted to piss on your pants and you were shaking’’
she said. Charles laughed but later denied that ever happened. They
discussed work and old colleagues at NASA. An hour later, they went
back to their workstation and got back to work.

Before they could do anything, the
spacecraft was struck by large waves of water. Yolanda screamed. ‘’
Charles what is happening?’’ The spacecraft rolled in different
directions. ‘’ We are in the middle of the ocean’’ Charles replied.
The waves kept striking the spacecraft but couldn’t break it. ‘’ Do
something, Charles’’ Yolanda said. Charles tried to steer the
spacecraft away from the waters by going to the east side, which
proved unsuccessful. He increased the speed of the spacecraft; he
drove upwards and finally drove out of the violent waves. The
spacecraft was stable and the speed was decreased to its normal
speed. The spacecraft switched off and nearly all lights were out.
‘’ Did you do that on purpose?’’ Yolanda asked. ‘’No, I didn’t, it
went off by itself’’ Charles replied. Charles took off his
seatbelts and went to the engine room. A moment later, Yolanda was
all alone in the workstation. It was dark inside the spacecraft but
the stars were shining bright outside. ‘’Yolanda, come to the
engine room’’ he shouted.

Yolanda took off her seatbelt and
rushed to the engine room. ‘’You see, the water did mess up our
nuclear rocket engines, they are wet’’ Charles said. ‘’Is it really
that bad?’’ Yolanda asked. ’’No, it’s not a train smash. We have
the solar powered engines’’ Charles said. He switched on the solar
engines and the spacecraft switched on and the lights were back on.
Yolanda and Charles went back to their workstation and put on their
seatbelts. ‘’ I think the nuclear rocket engines will be dry and
start working within 12 hours’’ Charles said.

As they were starting to relax, they
notice large rocks approaching towards their spacecraft at a fast
rate. They tried to avoid it but it was too late. The struck the
windscreen, sending the spacecraft swerving sideways without
direction. ‘’It’s the Meteors’’ he said. There was nothing Charles
could do except to wait for the meteors to go away.

For the next 15 minutes, large meteors
kept coming, striking the spacecraft from different directions.
Yolanda wakes up from unconsciousness; she looks around and noticed
that everything is upside down including files, books and small
equipment. She tries to wake Charles up. ‘’ Charles wake up’’ she
said. Charles opened his eyes and looked around. ‘’Thank God, we
are alive‘’ he said. ‘’ Yes we are, I think we should call it a day
or night. We have been awake for the past 60 hours’’ Yolanda said.
‘’ I agree, we will clean the workstation tomorrow’’ he said. The
automated voice machine sent an alert. ‘’ The spacecraft body
exterior is partly damaged. Press the ‘’Regenerate’’ button now’’
Charles pressed the Regenerate button. The Spacecraft’s damaged
exterior went off and new exterior parts came out automatically.
Charles switched off the engines and the spacecraft stopped. ‘’
What are the chances that another ‘’Space storm’’ will strike our
spacecraft?’’ Yolanda asked. ‘’I don’t know Yolanda but let’s hope
nothing happens’’ he replied.

ROMANCE

As they walked to their bedrooms
Yolanda looked at Charles and he noticed but she quickly looked
away. ‘’ Can you believe it, we have survived this far?’’she said.
‘’Oh yes! The spacecraft is indestructible’’ Charles said.Charles
understands Yolanda more than anyone else; he noticed she is
avoiding eye contact with him. As they were about to enter their
bedrooms, Yolanda looked back at Charles. ‘’You know when we kissed
in Mexico, I wasn’t thinking straight. Just so you know and don’t
get any funny ideas, Mr.’’ she said. Charles grinned and shook his
head. ‘’ Alright no, problem’’ he said. They entered their bedrooms
and doors were closed. Yolanda punched the air with irritation. ‘’
How can I be so stupid acting like a high school girl? She said.
She went to the bathroom and wondered. ‘’Bubble bath would be ideal
right now’’ she said. She opened hot water tap and went back to her
bedroom. She took off her clothes. While she was undressingshe
stared at the door with intensity. She smiled, shook her head and
walked to the bathroom.

On the other bedroom, Charles is
running on his treadmill at a fast pace. His face is dripping with
sweat and keeps running until he stopped after 45 minutes. He pulls
out his towel and wipes his face. Thoughts of Yolanda came in to
his mind. Was she flirting with him or just teasing him. Charles
shook his with confusion, went to the bathroom and took a shower.
He starts singing his favorite songs on the shower. Yolanda body is
relaxed and calm as she is wearing her gown. She stares at the door
again then walks towards it. She opened it and looked at Charles’s
door opposite her bedroom. She takes a deep breath and gets out of
her room. She stands in front of Charles’s door and knocks. There
was silence, she knocks again louder this time and there was no
response. ‘’He must be asleep’’ she murmured.

She rushed back to her bedroom, banged
her door and jumped to her bed. She covered her head with a pillow
and screamed. A moment later she threw the pillow away. She got up
from bed walked towards the mirror and stared at it. ‘’ I look
desperate don’t I?’’ she said. Yolanda chuckled and fixed her hair.
She jumped back to bed with excitement.

She leaned on her back and raised her
knees. She was deep in thoughts and a lot of issues troubled her.
Will this trip to space be successful? Will she go to prison? Will
she ever find love? ‘’ All I know is, I will try my best to
succeed’’ she said. Thoughts of Charles crossed her mind, she
smiled and wondered. ‘’Wait a minute, Charles only sleeps very late
and is a light sleep. He could have heard me knock on the door,
unless he is avoiding me. Maybe it’s because I didn’t kiss him back
on New Year’s Eve?’’ she murmured. She pulls out her headphones,
placed them on her ears and read her favorite novel.

Charles comes out of the shower feeling
relaxed. ‘’ Wow, that was epic, I feel refreshed’’ he murmured. He
wiped his body with a towel, brushed his teeth and wrapped his
towel around his waist. He went out to the kitchen to get some
snacks. He opened the fridge and took out his favorite snacks and a
bottle of red wine. When he came out of the kitchen, he stood in
front of Yolanda’s door. He sighed and went to his bedroom. He put
the tray with snacks and a bottle of red wine on the bed. He went
out of his bedroom and stood in front of Yolanda’s door again. His
heart beat faster, took a deep breath and knocked on the door. He
knocked again louder and longer the second time. ‘’What am I doing?
Poor girl, it’s been a long gruesome journey for her and here I am
trying to take my chances on her’’ he murmured. He taps his
forehead with his fingers and goes back to his bedroom.

Yolanda takes off her headphones. ‘’ I
swear, I thought I heard a knock on the door or is my mind playing
tricks on me?’’ she murmured. She stood, walked towards the door
and opened it. There was no one on the door. ‘’ I knew it, there
was no one’’ she said. As she was about to close the door, she
heard footsteps. She gets out and sees a half naked man with a well
toned arms and abs coming from the kitchen. Yolanda’s heart skipped
a beat. ‘’Hey I…. thought I….heard a….knock on my door’’ she said.
‘’Oh yes that was me; I was going to ask if you need anything or
something like snacks. I thought you were asleep but I’m sorry if I
have woken you up’’ He said. ‘’No, you didn’t I was wearing my
headphones. That’s why I didn’t hear you knock’’ Yolanda said.
“That good to hear, cheers’’ he said.

’’
Wait, whattype of snacks
do you have there in your room?’’ she asked. ‘’ Just light food and
snacks’’ Charles replied. ‘’ I can see you already have a wine
glass on your hand’’ she said. ‘’ Yeah I forgot to bring it, so I
had to go back to the kitchen’’ he said. There was moment of
silence and awkwardness between them. ‘’I was wondering if you
would like to join me for dinner?’’ Charles asked.

‘’
Sure, I would love that.
She replied. ‘’Wonderful, sowhere should we do it, my room or
yours?’’he asked. Yolanda didn’t respond. She opened her eyes wide
reacting to what Charles just said. ‘’No, I mean where should we
eat’’ he said. They both laughed but Charles was a bit embarrassed.
‘’Oh now I hear you, we can do it in your room, mine is a mess’’
she replied.

‘’
Well, food is ready to be
served madam, you can come in’’ Charles said. Yolanda’s heart beat
faster and was a little bit nervous. ‘’Are you alright? Charles
asked. ‘’ Yes I’m fine, let me….. ‘’ she said. Yolanda closed her
bedroom door. ‘’ That was strange’’ he murmured. ‘’ I’ll join you
in a moment Charles, I’m just refreshing up’’ she said. She leaned
on the door with both her hands on her chest and her heart beat
faster. ‘’ Alright, I’ll be waiting’’ he said. He rushed to his
bedroom, opened his wardrobe and pulled out his shorts and gown. He
wore them, rushed to the kitchen to fetch another wine glass and
more snacks. At Yolanda’s room, she is very nervous as she applies
make-up to her face. She combs her hair and applies her perfume on
her neck.

A knock came from Charles’s door. ‘’
It’s open’’ Charles shouted. Yolanda came in and Charles was amazed
at the beauty of Yolanda. ‘’ You look beautiful as always’’ he
said. ‘’Thanks Charles’’ she said. ‘’ It’s a pity tables were not
provided in our rooms’’ he said. ‘’It’s ok, we can eat on the bed
or on the floor’’ Yolanda said. Charles takes the bottle of wine
and opens it with a corkscrew. He pours it on Yolanda and his
glass.

They stared at each other as they
sipped from their glasses. ‘’ I am an astronomer but I never
thought in my wildest dreams that I would ever travel to space’’ he
said. ‘’ That makes the two of us’’ she said. ‘’Do you think we can
pull this off and get back to earth?’’ he asked. ‘’I think there is
a 50/50 chance we can do it. I mean if it wasn’t for the
indestructible spacecraft. We would be long dead by now’’ Yolanda
replied. ‘’ I agree with you there, but can believe it that we have
6 Nuclear weapons in our spacecraft’’ he said. ‘’It’s unbelievable
hey, this spacecraft can survive, if we detonate the bombs outside
the spacecraft’’ She said. They enjoyed their light snacks and
Yolanda has never felt this comfortable since she was with Charles,
long time ago. Charles took the wine bottle from the floor and
poured it on his glass. ‘’ Refill?’’ he said.