Landing
A few hours ago the Hawk left Planet Kronos. Blake and Alex head toward Earth with the important files. Blake rested his head on his chair to watch the stars from the front view mirror. An image of Lily comes to mind, of her smiling. Alex asks him to maneuver the hawk while he checks the file.
“1503 Honey Ave New York City, New York, USA is the address,” says Alex.
“Oh yeah,” says Blake as he is brought back to the matter at hand.
They sit back into periods of taking and silence throughout their trip until they reach a way station to refuel.
Gliding the hawk lands in an empty sport. The technician refuels the hawk. Blake and Alex get out of the Hawk to stretch out their bodies. They have landed on a small planet, West, that is deep blue in color. It has no moons. It has a barren look if not for the spacecraft that surrounded it.
They are ready to continue their journey. One more way station and they have arrived at Earth.
They settle into a routine on the Hawk. Stopping at the last way station. Making the stop a fast one they are ready to reach Earth.
On the last stretch to Earth, the stars seem to twinkle differently to Blake. It might be his imagination. It could be nervousness starting to get his better judgment.
On the outskirts of Earth, they send a message to Earth’s customs. Keeping the Hawk at standstill they wait some hours. They receive a message to proceed. Entering the different levels of the atmosphere the Hawk successfully makes a descent to Earth. Their trip down is fast and safe.
Hoovering above the concrete ground the Hawk parks on a spot in the spacecraft parking field. They have reached New York International Spaceport, one of the largest on Earth.
As they open the hatch of the Hawk they are greeted with workers who identify them and the spacecraft.
“You will need to be antigen tested inside for space antigens,” says the officer one
“It is standard precaution,” says officer two.
“Alright,” says Blake.
Alex nods his head in agreement.
Walking through the rows of spacecraft they reach a long building with windows facing the spacecraft. Other people are inside workers and people who own the spacecraft outside. Inside Blake and Alex are asked to sign consent forms. After they are taken to separate rooms.
Blake waits in the room for twenty minutes. A person with a medical robe steps in the door.
“Hello my name is practitioner Kim, I will be taking samples from your body,” says Kim.
“Okay,” says Blake.
“First I will swab your nose and then your throat,” says Kim.
Blake feels the cotton irritate his nostrils as Kim rotates the swab multiple times inside. The worst is his throat as he feels like gagging.
“Now I will scrape a bit of your skin off you, it will not hurt,” says Kim.
The topmost layer of skin cells is gathered.
“You are almost done, we will draw some blood now, just three test tubes,” says Kim.
She expertly finds Blake’s vein and presses down. She sticks him and blood pours into the tubes. With a bandage, she finishes her job.
Blake and Alex meet at the desk.
Officer one returns.
“Your result will come back in forty-eight hours. For now, you must stay in the facility and wait until all is clear” says officer one.
“Is there somewhere to rest?” asks Blake.
“
Yes, there are rooms at the end side, I will take you there” says officer one.
They are taken into small rooms with a bed and a desk. Given a set of clothes they go shower. Blake takes the time to try to send a message to Lily and to his father. To Lily, he asks how she is. To his father, he notifies him of his arrival. While at the Spaceport Alex talks to the other pilots about their ships. He likes very much to learn all he can about
piloting.
On their third day, they are sheared inside the office.
“You are clear of any space antigens, you can travel on Earth,” says officer two from the first day
“Thank you, can we keep our spacecraft here?” asks Blake.
“Yes as long as you pay the deposit,” says the officer.
“Okay,” says Blake.
“You can pay at the cash register window in the front, good trip,” says the officer.
Blake and Alex leave the office. Pay for the deposit for the Hawk to stay at the Spaceport. Now they are ready to catch a ride to New York City.
Alex investigates how best to arrive. He books two train tickets on a bullet train to New York Hub. Early in the morning, they wake up. The files are retrieved from the Hawk. Waiting at the deporting station, Bake and Alex both express their nervousness to one another. A sleek silver train pulls up. Its electronic doors slide open. Out step people, when they are done people are able to enter. Inside Blake finds his seat with Alex behind him. Red cushioned seats are comfortable underneath him. Outside the scenery changes from trees to taller buildings. They reach the New York Hub.
Alex stretches his arm as he has seen in videos when people want to get a taxi. A car pulls up.
“Where to?” says a gruff voice.
“1503 Honey Ave,” says Alex.
“Get in,” says the driver.
Alex and Blake get in.
New York City is full of people all around. Blake has never been seen on Earth before. He finds the trees to be a pleasant surprise. He has seen them in videos of course. They are different from other plants on planets he has seen. Fall is an interesting time with the changing of color.
The taxi drives them to a building that is tall and made of glass. Paying the driver in
American dollars they are left standing on the sidewalk. They look at one another. The time has come.