The United Nations Colonial Corps has a lot of stories to it. I do too. In addition, I have a lot of expectations. It was only by chance that I got to know of the space exploration program. You may want to know how. I'll tell you – between you and me – I had reprogrammed Xavier when I was 12 years old. Before, she had only tutored me based on the things available in the school curriculum. But with the new program, she could basically answer all my universal questions, and that included satisfying my curiosity about the space exploration program done by the UNCF, which I had always wanted. On that fateful day, I had been eating the last bit of pancake I had hurriedly shaken out of the food maker. It was fluffy, delicious, and slathered with the right amount of syrup. Well, it was just around time for lunch but I wanted fast and easy pancakes, and I got them.

  Xavier had just wandered in from the terrace. There was a component in her that sometimes used solar energy to recharge, and she knew just when to go out and get it herself.

  "You back, Xavier?" I asked, focusing on eating my pancakes without making any crumb fall off.

  "Yes, I am back. I have got big news for you." She said to me.

  I looked up this time, uninterested in my food. I raised my brows and cocked my head. "Okay, shoot."

  "You asked me Three days ago on the 16thof May, at exactly 3:15pm, about the details for the space exploration program hosted by the UNCF."

  I leaned forward, my heart racing, my eyes sparkling with anticipation.

  "Yes?" my voice was slightly above a whisper. It shook and wavered, hosting all of my excitement in itself.

  The good news is, last minute, at exactly 2:02pm, the space exploration program became open for applicants. We have a window of two hours to apply."

  "Yes!" I screamed. "I love you, Xavier."

  We got to work immediately and within minutes, I had an improved persona that was social, went to school, a public school, and had a certificate with letters of recommendations..

  I faked my application because I did not have all the requirements, e.g. having a school certificate. All of my knowledge was not gotten in a formal setting, and I had no papers, only the truth of what I could do. So, I was eventually selected for this highly competitive program which only accepts 10 students from all over the planet. It is prestigious and I have aspired to get in for so long, it is almost unbelievable that I am here. Here, we are going to stay for two months and prepare for our final destination. I really cannot wait.

  Austin and I both step out of the bus. We are ushered into a smaller vehicle that moves really fast through an underground tunnel. The woman who ushered us in was a thin, blonde woman with a pixie cut. She did not speak to us all though. She was dressed in a suit, with pants that flare at the bottom. She wore pumps that made a click clack sound on the pavement. A badge on the suit showed she was from the UNCF, but she said nothing, only referring to and directing us with hand gestures.

  The car is comfortable, but shaped like a long pod. We go through the process of gas sterilization again, Austin and I. It is an upgrade from the train we just got down from. There is a screen projected on the board in front of us, showing the beautiful places surrounding the UNCF. This is where we would be staying. The presenter does not dwell much time on it. Instead, the scene changes and they begin to play an unreleased movie that is being anticipated in cinemas worldwide. I see Austin's eyes, the way they light up with excitement at the movie. He is transfixed till the one hour passes and it ends. The screen starts to show the first slides. It reverts to the history of UNCF. Austin looks bored with it.

  We sit at opposite ends of the bus. Austin picks up a book and I continue listening to the facts Xavier rolls out.

  Eventually, we speak. He says Hi to me, I respond, and we introduce ourselves briefly. Again, the silence ensues. At this point, it has become uncomfortable and I squirm in my seat.

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  "Must have been hard."

  "What?"

  Austin waves off a stray curl on his forehead and stares intensely at me. "Was it very easy for you to get in?"

  I think about the time I spent on my application. The lodge in my throat when I thought about them finding out that I was a fraud. Yes, I was 19 and eligible to apply on my own. I had the skills and the intelligence, but I had no institutional backing.

  "I suppose it was hard for everyone." I say with a shrug.

  Austin snaps his book shut. He holds it by the edges, it's title faces me. A brief moment passes.

  "You aren't going to ask me about the book? You look like the bookish type."

  I look at him and say nothing.

  "I see. You aren't one to talk much. Let's just say, I intentionally brought the title to your face so you could ask me about it."

  It is then that I finally regard it. The title is Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte.

  "That was written ages ago."

  "Yes, yes it was. And I am quite ancient myself. Nobody reads hard covers anymore. I got this from my..." He pauses and swallows. A shadow passes over his face, briefly. It appears, skirts around his features, and disappears. "It's like a family heirloom. It used to belong to my mum."

  I don't say anything. I may not get social cues a lot, but I can empathize enough to know that this particular conversation springs up a painful memory somewhere in him. That was why he was so excited about the book. I don't know much about it, except that it is a really old classic that has transcended the confines of time.

  "It was not easy for me, you know." He says suddenly.

  I am lost for a moment, unsure of what he is talking about. The book?

  "It was not easy applying for the space exploration program. I am incredibly lucky to be here. I used to work at the security force. I thought this was only for people with big brains." He flashes me a smile with his white pearls.

  I agree with him, completely. His arms are strong, taut. His is made of muscles and I can feel the strength rippling across his lean body.

  "Won't you ask me what it was like?"

  I lean backwards, almost sinking into the soft leather of the chair. I think of this boy, bristling with so much energy and exuberance. This stranger with his secrets, his history, his vim and vigor. I wonder why he is talking to me, even when I do not seem at all receptive. Is this how it is in the real world? Do people open up themselves so starkly? Do they flay their skin, open up their entrails, bleed on the sidewalk, make friends as easily as breathing?

  I am happy to converse with him, but I cannot help but feel like an earthworm pinned to a board.

  "I think you are an interesting person, even though you aren't saying much right now. I have a radar for it." He points to his forehead with his forefinger and draws an imaginary straight line. And then, he laughs at his own joke.

  "See you in the academy, Emma." He says and returns to his book.

  I tell Xavier to play me some music. It is an opportunity for me to process the bulk of what I have witnessed. It was just a simple short conversation, but it weighs so heavily on my shoulders. The pod is silent now. We are all preoccupied with our own thoughts.

  After a while, my panic sets in again, the desire to make no mistakes, to be as perfect as possible. I tell Xavier to start playing the facts again, and she resumes obediently.

  "The history of space colonization. The extraterrestrial colonization program began fully in the late 2000's. It was a period of great jubilation, optimism, as well as speculations and fears. After years and decades of trying, starting with the efforts of the SpaceX company founded by Elon Musk, a breakthrough had finally been found. However, even with the little successes they had, most people who had started with it were not alive to see the great, disastrous end. The first of the missions had horribly failed, as the spaceship crashed and landed into an unknown zone. There were several casualties involved. Most recognized are John Dalloway, Ella Mcstuffin, Kate Ratajwoksi, Ben Schneider, Peter Wargner, Gordon Noah, all of whom have yet to be found till this day, efforts have been made to..."

  Xavier continues to speak, while I zone out and get into my own head. This is one of the so called secrets people say the organization has been hiding. But it is out there, isn't it? Yet, I feel a chill run down my spine. I wonder if I have made the wrong decision by applying here. Those people have been missing for years, and they are yet to be found. How could they continue to run their programs with such a tragedy looming inside them like a cankerworm?

  A part of me hopes they crash-landed into a place where time does not work as it does here on earth, because that would mean they are dead for good. Again, my skin is filled with goosebumps at the thought of it. But I am here now, and there is obviously no turning back. This is what I have signed up for, the most interesting alternative to take me outside home. Everything else bores me terribly, and the prospects of the space exploration program is the only thing that gives me a little bit of excitement, that makes me feel alive. Out of all the names mentioned, Peter Wargner stands out for me. I cannot place a finger on the why, but it was after I heard his name that my heart began to thump wildly.