Do You Dream of Terra-Two?

‘Actually, one-third of astronauts suffer from some form of space adaptation sickness,’ Eliot said, ‘for her information. It’s not just me… and Juno, when you see Harry tell him to go fuck himself.’ Juno winced as she remembered the comments that Harry had made to him that morning over breakfast.

The small windowless room was claustrophobic and the acrid smell of sick made Juno’s stomach roil. She stepped unsteadily off the bed, her head still swimmy and light, and followed Fae out.

It took a moment for Juno to figure out where she was based on the mental map she had of the vessel. She had just left the infirmary, which was on the upper deck. She had to walk all the way around the circular corridor to get her bearings. To her left were four cabins with the names of the senior crew printed on the doors:

Commander Solomon Sheppard – Commander/Pilot

Igor Bovarin – Flight Engineer/Educator

Dr Friederike Golinsky – Flight Surgeon/Educator

Dr Cai Tsang – Botanist/Hydroponics Expert

That last room was empty, and although a pile of bleached white sheets had been left on the bed, no one had taken the time to strip the plastic off the mattress yet.

The kitchen was filled with sealed boxes, and although the counters were gleaming and untouched, particles of dust glittered in the air and the place smelt unfamiliar.

‘You’re alive.’ Harry was seated at the table, his face illuminated in the light of his personal computer.

‘Fortunately,’ Juno said, stepping inside.

‘I hear Eliot is sick too,’ Harry said, a smile curling at the edge of his mouth, ‘should have listened to me.’

‘Oh.’ Jesse, who had been leaning on the counter at the far end of the room, looked up as if Juno was a ghost. ‘It’s Juno Juma, right?’

‘Right. Most people find it hard to tell us apart at first.’

The colour rose in his cheeks, ‘Well, you know – fifty per cent chance,’ he admitted.

It had been more difficult when they were younger. Juno and Astrid had dressed in identical outfits until they were fourteen. But, four years on, the differences between the twins were obvious. Astrid wore make up, lined her eyes with kohl and painted her lashes emerald or tangerine. She wore tie-dyed dresses and sandals, while Juno wore either her uniform or shapeless utilitarian clothes that looked like uniform.

‘What happened to you?’ Jesse asked.

‘Low blood sugar, probably.’

‘Right.’ He reached out and offered her a bag of Fruit Pastilles. ‘Well, have some of these.’

Juno looked down at the rainbow-coloured sweets.

‘You sure about that?’ Harry glanced knowingly at Juno from across the room.

‘Sure about what?’ she asked.

He shrugged. ‘Don’t take food from strangers.’

‘Jesse’s not a stranger,’ Juno said, although she couldn’t help but notice how different he looked from the boy they had trained with only a few months ago. His hair was long now, braided. His whole face hollowed out with a kind of gaunt beauty.

Reaching into the packet, she pulled out a yellow pastille and put it into her mouth. It was lemon flavoured, sharply sweet, and stuck like mud to the back of her teeth. ‘Have the whole thing,’ Jesse said, offering her the packet again. ‘It’s bad for me to be eating so many sweets anyway.’

‘Well, by all means, give them to her.’ Harry rolled his eyes, then pulled his headphones out of the socket on his computer. ‘Come and look at this.’

Juno crossed the room to peer over Harry’s shoulder. On the screen was a news segment, the headlines rolling across the bottom.

‘A historic day for Britain…’ the suited reporter said, shouting over the noise of the crowd. ‘From the early morning hours thousands gathered near Sandsend Fields to catch a glimpse of the launch…’

There was a slow montage of all their faces and Juno noticed Harry gazing out at the crowd, his hair lit up by the noon-time sun. For a second she saw what they saw. A handsome leader who exuded a cool confidence.

‘Lift-off! We have lift-off. At twelve minutes past the hour: lift-off for Expedition One.’ From the cameraman’s vantage point the shuttle was as little as a toothpick, trailing ribbons of smoke as it lanced against the cloudless sky. In three seconds, it was out of sight.

It was difficult to believe that morning she had been on Earth. Already, it felt like a dream. The shouting crowds in the bleachers, the reporters, the brass band…