Chapter 37 — The Great Departure

When Milky passed through the barrier between the outer world and the inside of the spaceship, he got lost for a few seconds.

His eyes were too naive to comprehend what exactly was this strange thing he was passing through. But probably a grown adult wouldn't have done a much better job at understanding what was going on.

Eugene found himself entirely immersed in some sort of thick creamy golden light. It was a bit like swimming inside a luminous egg yolk. But the fluid matter it was made of was much more complex than that.

Milky actually saw that it had some sort of yellow metallic patterns to it, which, of course, he couldn't recognize, but that looked like something akin to electronic circuits running everywhere around him.

Milky actually went through several layers of those liquid circuits, pushing them aside with one hand, while holding fast to Mr. Fox with the other. He was reflected and refracted inside that smooth electronic lava that was surrounding him. He was hovering in melted topaz. He was floating inside a sunlit honeycomb.

His eyes barely got used to that strange light before he arrived on the other side. He popped inside a volume that was in fact the cockpit of the spaceship.

The walls of the cockpit were also golden, but they seemed solid now. The cats were already there, sitting down, each one in his own seat.

That place was some kind of strange control cabin. Milky got fascinated by the weird design of the surrounding installation. Everything, including the seats and the control desks, was seemingly made of massive gold. He saw that the big buttons and the levers on the desks were perfectly adapted to the shape of a cat's paws.

Milky was still admiring the cabin when Fluffy popped up after him, through the same wall.

"Come on, take a seat." she said. And she indicated the central seat that was still empty.

Milky took a look at the seat. He approached cautiously, then climbed on it. It was also made of the same shiny metal as everything else, but curiously, it wasn't hard at all. It actually felt very comfortable when Milky sat down on it, holding Mr. Fox in his arms.

"Now fasten your seatbelt." ordered Fluffy.

An automatic device went on and some kind of flexible duct ran across Eugene's body, hissing like a swift snake, and buckled him up in his seat. "Oh!" He was very surprised, and laughed because of this unexpected thing.

"Good!" said Fluffy. "Now, let's go, guys."

Nero was sitting at the front of the spaceship (that is at the top of it, since the Egg was currently standing vertically on the ground.) He was looking sharp, focusing on the last checks before departure.

Ruby was sitting next to him, on the right. She was also busy checking some gauges and reading symbols on the display.

Topi was sitting at Nero's left.

Just behind them, at the center, there was Milky, surrounded by Pebbles on his right, and Parker on his left.

Fluffy was lying in her seat behind them all, above them, on a high platform that was like her throne on which she was resting like a sphinx.

From his seat, if he looked straight forward, Milky could see the interior of the dome that was the top of the Egg. It was funny, because when he was looking straight at it, it seemed to become transparent. The wall was still appearing golden and opaque everywhere else, but was gradually turning transparent around the central point of Milky's vision. One could see the sky above through this convenient transparence.

The sky was full of bright stars above them.

"Stars!" went Milky, with both joy and awe.

When he looked on the side, he could also see outside, through the mysterious gradual transparence of the wall. There, he saw his parents standing at some distance, looking unexplainedly sad.

He waved at them.

"Hey, Mommy! Daddy!"

"They can't see you." explained Parker. "This wall gets transparent only from the inside."

"Oh…"

Milky did not realize that his parents were staying behind.

"We're ready to go." announced Nero.

"Okay." agreed Fluffy.

"Beginning of the take-off procedure." ordered Nero.

"Ten seconds to ignition." announced Ruby. "Ten… Nine…"

"Are you happy to travel to space?" asked gently Fluffy.

"I am!" answered Milky. "But…" He looked aside again at his parents, and held Mr. Fox closer. His parents were now moving away from the spaceship while it was preparing for take-off.

"Seven… Six…"

"Fear not." continued Fluffy. "This is your destiny. I am here with you. Your personal goddess. Nothing bad can happen to you."

"I know. Thank you Fluffy!" And he seemed happy again.

"Four… Three…"

"Let's go then!" she said.

"Yay! Let's go! Yay!"

"Two… One…"

 "Ignition."

From outside, sitting in their car now, Angie and Marvin were observing the departure. Suddenly, they saw that the Egg started to go incandescent, glowing more and more intensely, as if a lot of energy was accumulating before being released. A powerful luminous wind was now flowing from the spaceship and swaying the grass all around it.

All at once, a great flash occurred. Marvin and Angie were dazzled by it, and they felt a sudden wave of heat. When the intense flash dissipated, the spaceship was gone.

Bending to see the sky through the windshield, they caught sight of a luminous golden trail up in the night.

Inside the spaceship, Milky was thrilled. It was the first time he experienced such a powerful acceleration and loved it.

Now, looking through the transparent dome, he was seeing how the sun was quickly appearing behind the curve of the Earth while they were ascending with high velocity.

It was with awe that he admired these incredible colors surrounding him. The gradual cool shades of blue which turned warmer on some foamy clouds that were looking somehow like cotton candy.

That was it! They were leaving the Earth! The cats were used to such things, but Milky was discovering everything. Without understanding exactly what was going on, he marveled at the sight of these hazy heights.

To inspire the other members of the crew, and to celebrate the beginning of their new adventure, Pebbles started declaiming a poem, with his soft, deep, voice:

"Lo! How vast the Universe

And veiled in endless mystery!

As fast as rhyme and witty verse,

The travelers rise in ecstasy.

"The Chosen One without a fear

Is starting a new odyssey,

Rising throughout the atmosphere

And…"

But he suddenly got interrupted by Nero:

"There's something wrong…" he announced.

"What?!" went Ruby.

Nero was focusing on the display.

"Hum, what is it, Nero?" asked Fluffy. "What's wrong?"

"I don't know yet… But… What the hell is going on?!"