It was dawn in the Danakil desert. The sun rose above Erta Ale. Most people thought it was unwise to build a space aircraft launching facility near an active volcano, but other than the volcano the location was perfect. The landscape was mostly flat, and there was only a small local population because it was near an active volcano. The wild life weren’t a problem either. The Ostriches, Gazelles, and African Wild Asses lived as if the space center wasn’t even there.Though still this would be the last launch at Dr. Legesse Wotrou Space Center,due to fears of geological activity. Dr. Menelik watched a herd of gazelle graze from a window on the top floor of the space station. About a kilometer across the arid landscape stood the launch tower with the space shuttle loaded in. He looked on the TV covered walls of his office, and saw the happenings in the control rooms, launch tower, and astronaut quarters. Everyone was scrambling around making sure all was set for the launch. No one was walking in leisure. Everyone had a job to do. This is what they had been working up to for years. This is the day they would see the fruits of their labor.There was a knock at the door. “Come in” said Dr. Menelik. Two men walked in both carrying suitcases. “Mr. Engel” Dr. Menelik said smiling. “To what do I owe the honor?”“I just need you to sign some papers” Mr. Engel said opening his briefcase. “They’re just standard legal documents stating that you authorized the launch of the shuttle. This one says that you authorize the Selassie to began its mission.” He pulled a pen from his coat pocket and bent down to sign the papers.“Do I put the date of the Ge'ez calendar?” asked Dr. Menelik.“No just use the western calendar” Mr. Engel said nonchalantly. He wrote May 24 2085 on the paper. He looked at the other man in the room who was looking at the TV’s.“Who is this man that has accompanied you?” asked Dr. Menelik.“My name is Paul Tonui” said the man. “I ask you not to sign the papers just yet.” “Why not?” asked Dr. Menelik.“I was sent by some of the concerned members of parliament” said Paul Tonui. “Concerned about what?” asked Dr. Menelik.“Well, you see more than two trillion birr has been spent on this project to this date. That is more than six million over your allotted budget.”“Yes this is a costly venture” said Dr. Menelik. “Though I’m surprised that we are not more over budget than we already are. The budget parliament gave us was no where near enough, though we are grateful for what they have given us. They will see that this is a great investment in the long run.”“ The money could have been used for a more practical investment” Paul said. “Schools need to be built, research must be done, debts must be paid. Necessities must be taken care of first before we can invest in such luxuries as space colonization.”“Necessities” said Dr. Menelik chuckling. “By the way things are looking on this planet now space exploration should be at the top of Parliaments agenda. Polar ice caps are melting at an alarming rate. Eritrea is losing an average of fifty miles of land a year to the ocean. Within two decades the ocean will have reached Ethiopia. Half of Europe and the Americas are already in space because they know what is coming.”“But doctor that is not the point” Paul interrupted. “ The concerned members just believe the space program is moving to fast. Ethiopia is the first country on the continent to go to space and, build a space station. We are about to conduct a mission that the most powerful nations have only started attempting. They just believe that what you are doing is a bit too radical for….“For what” interrupted Dr. Menelik. “ For Ethiopia. It is sad that the same men who lead this country bound her with their doubt. The same men who weaken her with their corruption and greed. How dare they try to stop me when I try to bring hope to the people, and dreams of the future to the children. If giving hope to them is too radical. Then call me Dr. Radical.”“ Doctor I assure you that is not there intention” said Paul. “ They want only what is best for the people of Ethiopia. In wanting the best for the people of Ethiopia they believe it is their duty to intervene. They told me to tell you this only if you were not willing to change the direction of the space program. They are threatening to call for your resignation.”Dr. Menelik chuckled. “call for my resignation will they” he said grinning. “ Tell them to go ahead. But tell them to remember, I received my bachelors of science degree from Addis Abba University in astrophysics. My masters for NC A&T State university. My Doctorate from UCLA. Came back to Ethiopia became a tenured professor in astrophysics. I headed the department for the last five years. I have served as president of the Ethiopian Space Society. I have published multiple articles in scientific journals. I have conducted experiments on the international space station and on the moon station. I have been to space nine times. So tell them go ahead and fire me. Tell them good luck finding someone more qualified than me for the job. There is no such man in Ethiopia or even in the world perhaps.”The room went silent for a moment. “ Very well then” said Paul. “But please remember doctor that these are not my views or opinions, and that I am rooting for you.” With out another word he turned around and walked out the door.“Now where were we” said Dr. Menelik.“Signing the papers” said Engel. Dr. Menelik signed the papers.“Will that be all” he said handing the documents to Engel.“Yes” said Engel turning to walk out the door. “ But do remember that if the mission is not a success it could mean the end of your career and the end of the space program.” Engel closed the door.Dr. Menelik went behind his desk and sat down in his brown leather chair. He looked through the window at the spacecraft. Then he looked at the digital timer on the wall with a sign above that read time till launch. “10:35” the timer read. This mission must be a success he thought to himself. The people of Ethiopia depend on it.***The astronaut quarters was a windowless room. It had plane white walls with a white tiled floor and ceiling. There were a few lockers and a bench. It had no aesthetic function at all. You would have thought the room was useless if you had somehow managed to overlook the men in spacesuits.There were five of them sitting on the one bench in the room. Four sat motionless and quiet, while the other sat quivering. Everyone ignored him for a time until the one at the far left broke the silence. “Bekele what’s your problem?”“Nothing” said Bekele. “ I always get a bit nervous before a launch.”“ Well could you stop.” said the man at the far left. “You being nervous is making me nervous. This is only my first time going up.”“What” said the man second from the right. “you’ve never been up before and they’ve got you on this mission. You don’t know what the first five minutes will be like and you’re going to be up there for more than a month. You won’t last.”“ lay off him Mariam.” said the man second from the left. “ You heard him its his first time.”“Well if the boy cant handle this” said Mariam chuckling. “He certainly won’t be able to handle what goes on up there.”“Would you all just shut up!” the man in the center said obviously agitated. “Yes captain” the men said in unison. “ I can tell by your childish blabbering that none of you understand the magnitude of this mission. We are doing something that no nation has ever done before. We are going to a planet we only think exist and has god only knows what on it. And for your information Mariam I brought Ahmed on bored because he has skills in navigation and geography that are of a far greater value than yours on this mission.”The room was quiet. Not a word was spoken for what seemed to be an eternity. Then the door to the room swung open. Three men walked into the room.“Gentlemen its time” one of the men said. The astronauts picked up their helmets and stood up. “follow me” the man said walking out the door. They did as they were told and followed the man through the doorway. The other two men followed behind them and closed the door. They marched down the corridor. The only noise was the sound of their boots hitting the tile floor. They came to a door. The man turned around. “Gentlemen enjoy your fame while you are at earth.” He pushed the door open and a wave of camera flashes came rushing through the doorway. A legion of reporters stood lining the walkway to the next door. They weren’t asking questions just taking pictures. The party made its way through the parted sea of reporters. All was silent except for the sounds of cameras. They reached the next door and walked out. They stepped outside the building.The vehicle that would take them to space penetrated the sky like some space themed skyscraper. They walked toward it. “Get a good look men” said the captain. “This going to be the last time you see earth for a while.”“Or the last time we see it at all” said Mariam staring at Ahmed.When they reached the launch tower they all packed into an elevator and headed upwards. The space center came into full view as they ascended the tower. They saw the top of the building they had just exited and other launch towers without shuttles in them. They saw people and gazelles which were hard to tell apart at that height.The elevator stopped. The doors opened. They walked onto the platform. They looked out at the landscape in amazement. The people looked no bigger than dots. They felt as high as the mountains. On the platform there were five men waiting for them at the door of the shuttle. They walked towards them. They ushered them into the space shuttle. “Godspeed” said the men that had ushered them to the shuttle as he and the other two walked back to the elevator.The astronauts and the other men climbed into the cockpit. The captain sat in the pilots seat while the others sat in the other vacant seats. The other men began to strap them in. Once they were in the men wished them good luck and exited the shuttle. The count down timer read “50” and decreased by the second.“This is mission control” said a voice over the radio. “Countdown is in forty seconds, are all systems go”.“All systems are go” said the Captain. “The crew is ready.”“Excellent” said the voice from mission control. “ Lift of in twenty-five seconds, run your final check captain.” The captain flipped a few switches and pressed a few buttons.“All systems are go mission control” said the captain.“ nineteen eighteen seventeen” said mission control counting down. The captain began pressing some more buttons. “fifteen, fourteen, thirteen”. The captain pressed another button, the shuttle began to shake. “Ten, nine, eight”. the copilot pressed several more buttons. “Seven, six, five”. the captain flipped a switch activating the after burners, a loud roar came from the bottom of the launch tower. “Four three”. The shuttle began to shake. “Two one!”. All five men were pushed back into their seats by the force as the shuttle rocketed upward.“ Erta Ale” the captain said into the radio. “We have lift off.” Cheers could be heard on the radio from the control room. The captain held his hand over a switch. “Releasing auxiliary rocket boosters in five, four, three, two, one” he said into the radio. He flipped the switch. The two rocket boosters detached themselves from the shuttle, and went hurdling back to earth. The huge orange fuel tank soon followed suit.“Detachment was a success” said the voice from mission control. “ Stand by to enter orbit.”“Standing by” said the captain. The cockpit was quiet as it rocketed upward to the heavens. Everyone was calm except for Ahmed, who was griping his armrest as if it held the key to his survival.“ You think this is bad” Mariam managed to say chuckling. “Just wait until you get on the actual ship.” Ahmed acted as if he wasn’t there. As if his words blended in with the roars of the rockets.Time went on, and the spaceship rocketed upwards to the cosmos. The blue sky turned darker as the shuttle exited earths atmosphere. The ship rattled as if some great invisible force had taken hold of it. It seemed as if the shaking would never end. Then the shaking slowly subsided.“Powering down thrusters” the captain said flipping some switches. The thrusters went quiet. An eerie silence. The men began to unbuckle themselves from their seats. After they did so they glided to one of the windows. They sat there and stared. It wasn’t often that they got to see earth in such a way. Ahmed was the most amazed, his mouth hung wide open. It was his first time seeing earth like this. It was like a giant green, white, and blue marble.“Were moving out” the captain said floating to the pilots seat. “All systems are. What the hell!” the captain said looking out the window. The crew members rushed to the front window. They grinned. A soccer ball went floating past their front window as if it was the most natural thing in the universe.“Captain ,is all well” the voice from the space center said worried.“Yes, all is well” the captain said watching the ball as it glided toward earth. “Mission control” he continued. “What can you tell me about a soccer balls floating through space.”“What!” the voice from mission control said almost laughing.“Just forget it” said the captain. The soccer ball floated slowly towards the earth. The soccer ball began to go through the atmosphere like it was a meteor. It began to turn red until it burst into flames.The crew just stood there staring at the place where the soccer ball had once been. They stood puzzled by the occurrence that could only be explained by something that they had not seen yet.“Lets move out” the captain said sitting in the pilots seat. The puzzled crew went into the body of the shuttle to make sure all was well from the launch. The captain turned a few knobs, and pressed a few buttons. The shuttles rockets ignited, and it began to move forward.For about twenty minutes the shuttle coasted quietly through space. All that could be seen was the infinity of space.“Why are we launching the ship from the Ethiopian space station? asked Bekele.“Because the national space station doesn’t have the capability to launch a space ship of the size for a mission of this caliber. as the United Nations space station” the captain replied. “I think I see the station up ahead” he said pointing to what looked like a dot.
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