Diversion To Urasha

James unwound his car window, allowing the cool evening breeze to brush past his face. It felt good, refreshing, especially in these current circumstances. Tomorrow, James was to set off on his very first space mission. He was to leave planet Earth for the very first time in his whole entire life. James was a bag of nerves, but at the very same time, he was a great big sack of excitement too.

James lent his head back on the seat’s head rest. He sighed as he impatiently drummed his fingers against the steering wheel. Lottie was taking forever to get ready. James released another sigh from his lungs. He shook his head, admonishing himself for being so impatient.

Lottie was everything to James. She was his best friend, the only person who truly knew him. Sure, James had other friends. He was close to his mother, but no one else truly understood him the way Lottie did. James had lost his father at a young age, and Lottie had lost both of her parents at a young age, too. James shuddered at the sheer thought of what his best friend had had to suffer. The poor girl had been in the car at the time of the accident. She’d had to watch her parents die in front of her very own frightened little eyes. Poor Lottie - how awful. To add further insult to injury, James’ best friend had then been uprooted from America to the UK, so that she could be taken care of by her aunt and her uncle. That was how James and Lottie had met - they’d ended up in the same school as each other.

It was safe to say that James and his best friend were a fair bit older now, both of them hovering a couple of years below twenty-five. James smiled, remembering how the pair of them had always dreamed of becoming space warriors. Then, at the age of fifteen, they were both accepted into the same space school. James remembered having to endure the boring theory lessons for the first couple of years. Lottie being Lottie loved the theory part the best. She was a geek, a total nerd, but a very very clever gal. James had been surprised during the later practical lessons. Lottie was surprisingly gifted when it came to physical tasks and obstacles. She was surprisingly handy with a gun, too.

James looked out of the front window at Lottie’s apartment. Yes, the girl was taking ages to get ready, but he was so grateful that she was joining him on his first space mission. James was also grateful for the fact that Lottie was even attending this leaving party which his mother was putting on for everyone. James’ best friend hated parties. She was the least social person he had ever met. Lottie felt very nervous around people, especially crowds or groups. Parties were pretty much a phobia of hers.

Lottie’s door finally flung open, and out emerged James’ best friend. As she approached his car, James could tell that she was feeling pretty nervous about all this. James was feeling nervous about the whole thing himself. He knew his mother would’ve gone to a heck of a lot of trouble to put this party on for him. He also knew that she was terrified of watching her only child leaving the safe bubble of Planet Earth. James thought of his father. He remembered that awful day when his father had never returned from that space mission. James shuddered - his mother had every right to be worried.

Lottie entered the car, taking the passenger seat next to James. He raised his eyebrows playfully. He could see why Lottie had taken ages to get ready. Her hair was its usual long brown curliness. Her golden glasses looked the same as they always did. But the rest of Lottie, well, it was Lottie. She wore a black leather jacket, which was embellished with badges she had collected over the years of her favourite computer game characters. She wore a white t-shirt with the word ‘geek’ splayed all over it. Lottie’s leggings were black and covered in silver sparkly letters which made out the word ‘meh’. Yep, there was no doubt about it, Lottie was definitely the geekiest person James had ever met.

“Are you okay?” James said, running his hands through his short golden hair as he started up the car.

“I’m fine. Do we need to make any last-minute pit stops?”

James reversed his car away from Lottie’s apartment. He inclined his head towards the back seat. “Already got everything.”

Lottie breathed a sigh of relief. “Good. At least we shouldn’t be late like the last time your mum put on a party for you.”

James gasped incredulously, although he failed to hide the humour in his voice. “Lottie! The party started a couple of hours ago. We’re late because you decided to take ages to get ready.”

Lottie’s eyes widened, horrified as she noticed the time on the car’s LED display. She could say nothing in response, except from a disgruntled little sputter or mutter here and there.

After almost thirty minutes of driving, James pulled his blue car up outside his mother’s little country cottage. He missed this, the country, the peace, the tranquility. James had grown up here - with his mother, and in his younger years, his father too. At the age of nineteen, James had yearned for independence. He had left his family home for the busier town life. His own apartment was only a few blocks away from Lottie’s.

“So,” Lottie sighed, raising her eyebrows. “Are you ready for this?”

James’ hands were both still clutched onto the steering wheel, but the car’s engine was off. “I just hope Phil gives me my space. It’s bad enough that I’m having to put up with him for god knows how long in space.”

Phil was another reason why James was feeling apprehensive and nervous about everything. Phil’s only good point was his experience as a space warrior captain. The man had captained plenty of space missions over the years, and this mission to Nebowska was another that he would be adding to his collection. The bad? Pretty much everything else. James despised the man. Phil had been James’ father’s best friend back in the day. The two had traveled through the Universe together. As soon as James’ father was killed, Phil wasted no time in getting with the man’s wife, James’ mother - Kimberly. James grabbed the bag from the back seat, slamming the car door as he and Lottie exited it. He wasn’t here for Phil, he was here for his mother.

The two best friends walked up to the front of the house. They rang the doorbell. The door immediately swung open to reveal James’ relieved mother.

“Oh, James! You made it, you came!”

James felt guilty now. His mother had been worried that he wasn’t even going to show up. He gave her a hug to make up for it. “Mum, of course I’m here. I wouldn’t miss this for the world. I just hope you’ve not gone to too much trouble.”

Kimberly freed herself from her son’s embrace, cupping his face in her loving hands instead. “Who me?” she whispered. “Would I really go to all this trouble for the bestest best son in the whole entire Universe? Hell yes!” Kimberly looked over to Lottie and smiled. “Come here, you,” she beamed, encasing James’ best friend in her arms. “It’s so good to see you before you go.”

To James’ amusement, Lottie’s face beamed bright red with embarrassment as she received the hug. She wasn’t one for physical affection. Nevertheless, Lottie liked Kimberly. She liked her a lot, so she returned the hug with as much love and friendliness as she could manage.

It was safe to say that James took after his mother in the looks department quite a bit. They were both physically beautiful specimens. Mother and son shared the same light golden hair and the same soft blue eyes. Both kept up with the trends, and both could’ve easily been models in their prime. James of course, was in his prime, with an athletic physique to match.

As the three of them entered the house, James remembered that he was holding the bag of wine and the box of creamy truffles, which he’d bought as a present for his mum. “Oh er, I almost forgot, I got you these.”

Kimberly patted her son’s arm affectionately. “James, what have I told you about always coming over with chocolates?”

James grinned wolfishly. “That they’re not good enough. That you prefer dark to milk.”

Kimberly rolled her eyes. “Hush, you! I tell you that they’re lovely, which they are, but that you needn’t always feel the need to bring me all these treats. It’s a treat just getting to see you.”

James’ face straightened. He felt emotional, all of a sudden, as he watched his mother’s kind expression. “I want to, Mum. After everything you do for me, it’s the least I can do.”

Kimberly took the bag from James, smiling lovingly at her only child. She led him and Lottie through her house, introducing them to the guests.

James took the time to admire his old home, touched by how much effort his mother had gone to. Everything was so elaborate. Parties usually consisted of food, drink, and perhaps a banner here or there. But this party exceeded the usual by far. Kimberly had embellished the room with all kinds of decorations. There were lights, banners and balloons. There were large blown up photographs of James all scattered along the cream walls. He felt a little pang of embarrassment. He was touched nonetheless.

James eyed the large table of food and drinks, licking his lips ravenously. His mother had outdone herself on the food front today. She hadn’t just prepared the usual food you would find in a buffet, she had cooked entire meals too, keeping them warm in her state of the art, heated counter. That chicken korma, James felt his tongue growing moister and moister, drinking in the fantasy creamy spice of one of his mother’s signature dishes. First stop - korma.

After grabbing some drinks, and devouring his favourite dish, James had tried his best to mingle with as many guests as possible. They were all here to wish him off into space, after all. Lottie had remained close to James’ side throughout. She wasn’t one for parties or big social events at all, and so James appreciated Lottie just being here. He appreciated her immensely, especially when Phil was around.

Naturally, James would want to spend time with his mother on the evening before him leaving planet Earth for the very first time. Unfortunately for James, that also meant having to endure Phil. James was grateful that Lottie did his polite chit-chatting for him. She didn’t have a problem with Phil.

However, James could only put up with Phil for so long. The man was an arrogant prick, and so James had decided to seek some refuge in his mother’s back garden. He loved this place, and it still looked the same as when he was a little child. It even smelt the same. James could smell the freshness of the air all around him. He could smell the little zesty spice of the trees.

James walked over to the little fence which separated the garden from the fields beyond it. Beyond those fields was woodland, woodland which he and his father had spent so much time ‘animal watching’ in. James lent on the fence longingly, yearning for just one more day with his father. He would give anything, anything at all for even a single minute with his father. At least then, James would be able to say a proper goodbye, and most importantly, he’d be able to tell his father how much he loved him. Just one more minute, James begged to the moon. It was full tonight. The moon looked beautiful.

James felt himself tensing up. He could hear someone walking towards him. He hoped against hope that it wasn’t Phil trying to come for a ‘friendly’ chat. To James’ relief, the footsteps belonged to his mother.

Kimberly placed her hand on her son’s bare arm, rubbing at it to try and slather it with a bit of warmth. “Oh, James, why didn’t you bring your jacket out? It’s the middle of November - it’s freezing.”

James shrugged sullenly, his mind still dwelling on his father. “I don’t know. I guess I didn’t think.”

“Are you okay?” Kimberly’s voice was nothing but kind.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” James sighed, trying to regain his composure. “It’s just... I miss him.”

Kimberly took a deep breath, knowing exactly who James was speaking about. “Me too. Every day. Every hour. Every minute. Every second. But he’s up there, you know, and he’d be so proud of you.”

James gulped, unable to hide his lack of faith. “I don’t know about that,” he whispered.

“James, seriously? How can you even think that? I mean look, look above you! Look at all those stars. Look at all those Solar Systems! Look at the true Universe which surrounds us. You more than most people should be able to appreciate that, James.”

“Just because there are other worlds, Mum, doesn’t mean to say that there is life after death.”

“James!” Kimberly gazed intently into her son’s eyes, impassioned by her beliefs. “Anything’s possible. If there’s one thing the Universe teaches me, it’s that anything is possible. You don’t realise how it was back before you were born. People looked up to the Universe, but they never truly saw it. They had no idea what was out there. Life, people had no idea that it even existed on other planets. These days, that belief strikes out as being completely and utterly ridiculous, doesn’t it?”

James nodded, agreeing with his mother. It baffled him that people used to truly believe that Earth was the only planet out there which contained life. The stars were so abundant. Life was so abundant. The evidence was right there, up above Earth’s atmospheric veil.

“You know,” Kimberly continued, seeing that she was finally getting through to her son. “People did seriously believe that it was impossible for life to exist out there. They believed it was impossible to travel to other Solar Systems and Galaxies. Now look at us. Now look at you and what you’re about to do. Maybe one day, the afterlife will be revealed to us, and maybe one day, people like you who don’t believe will baffle the minds of many.”

James couldn’t help but grin a little at his mother’s teasing smile. “Maybe,” he agreed, feeling a bit more upbeat.

“Look,” Kimberly sighed. She took a little brown box from her cardigan pocket. “Whether or not you choose to believe, I have a little something for you. I saved it for this very day.”

James’ heart lurched, realising what was in that little, brown velvety box. “Mum,” he began to modestly protest. “You know I can’t take this, it’s too much.”

“Nonsense.” Kimberly waved off her son’s words, opening the box to reveal the green jewelled necklace inside it. “He would want you to have this.”

James eyed the glowing green gem. It was beautiful. It was surreal. The necklace had belonged to his father, and James had always loved it as a child. The jewel had come from another planet. It was a magical gem from another world.

Kimberly placed the necklace around her son’s neck. “Who would have thought that we could’ve obtained a stone like this, huh? A jewel from another world? Well, your father did, and I’m sure you’ll find lots of souvenirs to bring back, too.”

“Mum…” James held the gem as it rested on his chest. “What if I…what if I lose it?”

Kimberly placed both of her hands on her son’s cheeks, gazing into his eyes with love. “I’m sure you won’t. I’m sure this jewel will give you strength. It will remind you of your father. If it brings you some form of comfort up there, then that’s all that matters. What you do with it is up to you. You’ve earned this, and your father would want you to have it.”

James studied the fluorescent green jewel. It reminded him of a comet, the way it curled a little, as if it had a tail. “Dad’s necklace will give me all the strength I need,” James whispered, feeling empowered by it already.

The morning of James’ first ever journey into outer space had finally arrived.

After his mother’s sending off party, James had retreated to his own apartment for the night. Unfortunately, he’d only managed to get a few hours of sleep. His thoughts had been racing, his mind filled with worrying thoughts, excited thoughts, questions that he couldn’t even answer himself. The truth was, no one actually knew what exactly was troubling the Nebowskans. Word had just got out that they were in some sort of trouble, and that they needed help. No one knew how serious the situation was. It could be something minor, and easily fixed. Or it could be something dangerous, something life threatening. Either way, James was very nervous about the whole thing. He didn’t like the idea of going into his first space mission blind, effectively. He hated the fact that Lottie was also thrown into the deep end for her very first space mission, too.

James approached the space centre entrance, placing his palm on the silver identification panel. The device read his print, opening the door.

It was safe to say that Berkshire’s Space Centre was huge - the biggest in the world. Space warriors from all over the globe came here to train and to embark on space missions. Many alien species would land their crafts here before going off to do whatever it was they had visited Earth to do.

James eyed the walls all around him. They were clean, gleaming pristinely. The white walls and floor of the building appeared to shine, as if polished every single nanosecond of the day. The corridor was long and narrow, winding up and down, left and right, leading to many different doorways and areas.

This time, James unintentionally slammed his palm on the next identification panel, watching as the little remnants of his sweat dissipated away from the panel, once his hand had been released from it. The door opened, and James entered the launch area.

James gazed up in wonder at the masterful ship which lay waiting for him. The Earthship was the biggest ship to have ever been created by mankind. This huge hulk of a vessel demanded only one thing: respect. It was impossible not to respect this silver voyager. The ship had journeyed through so many Solar Systems, so many Galaxies. It was old but brimming with experience. The ship was the ultimate Grandfather, watching over, guarding and looking after all its humans which had traveled within its safety. James was glad that the Earthship had been selected for this mission. It had always been his dream to travel to space in it. That dream was only a matter of hours away from coming true.

James was dressed in his black trousers, grey t-shirt, and silver zip up top. He met with the rest of his team. They spent the next thirty or so minutes posing for the routine crew photos. For the group shots, James was careful to sandwich himself between Lottie and Zach. He was careful not to be next to Phil.

Zach was a cool guy, and another good friend of James’. The dark skinned American was more experienced and slightly older than James. Yet the family man had an air of immaturity about him that made him kind of endearing and slightly annoying at the same time.

James watched as Zach grabbed Lisa’s arm, taking her to say her very own goodbyes to his wife and children. Mission pilot Lisa was good friends with Zach and his lovely little family.

James’ chest tightened as he watched his mother saying goodbye to Phil. The pair of them looked so in love, and James hated that. He didn’t want his mother to be in love with anyone other than his father.

As James watched Phil tearing himself away from Kimberly, he looked over to his best friend. Lottie was stood right beside him, looking rather lost. No one was even here for her. Everyone else, Karl, Zach, Lisa, and even Phil, they all had loved ones. But Lottie, she had always been the black sheep of the family. Her aunt and her uncle never gave her the love she deserved.

Without giving a damn about Lottie’s aversion to physical touch, James took her hand and led her towards his mother. Kimberly emanated love. She was just one of those indulgent people who showed nothing but kindness and love to everyone she met. James knew that his mother saw Lottie as a daughter. Lottie had plenty of people who loved her, just not blood related.

“Group hug,” James called, inviting his mum and Lottie into a huddle. Phil had thankfully backed off to give him some time alone with his mother. James was glad that even Lottie immersed herself in this beautiful moment.

As they all parted contact, James could see that his mother had tears in her eyes. “Oh no, Mum, you promised you wouldn’t blubber on me,” he joked.

“I’m trying!” Kimberly laughed tearily, looking lovingly into the eyes of both her son and Lottie.

James placed a tender thumb on his mother’s cheek, gently wiping away one of her tears. “Well obviously not quite hard enough,” he whispered.

Kimberly took a deep breath, somehow managing to pull herself together. “You two will look after each other for me, won’t you? There’ll be no silly bickering. I swear, you two are like an old married couple sometimes.”

It was true that. James and Lottie argued over the pettiest of things all the time.

“We’ll try and save our arguments only for when it matters,” James joked again.

“You won’t argue at all,” Kimberly corrected her son.

“Alright alright, we’ll do our best,” James promised.

James gave his mother another long squeeze. This time, he made sure to appreciate every single second of this moment with his mother, because in a matter of minutes, he wouldn’t even be on the same planet as her. He wouldn’t even be able to communicate with her.

“You be careful,” she whispered into his ears.

It was safe to say that leaving his mother at that moment, was quite literally one of the hardest moments of James’ life.

As James stood next to the Earthship’s entrance, he turned back one last time to look at his mother. At that point, his heart literally broke. She looked terrified beyond belief. The worst part? She was trying so hard to hide her fear. How many times had his mother had to hide her true feelings? How many times had Kimberly been forced to watch a loved one fly up into outer space? His father had never returned from space. The Universe was a dangerous place, and his mother had every right to fear that she may never see her loved ones again.

As James clambered his way up to the top deck, he felt overwhelmingly guilty. Although he hated to admit it, his mother had to suffer enough every time she watched Phil fly up into space. Now she was having to watch both her boyfriend and her son fly away from her at the same time.

Once in space, that was it, James and his crew would be gone from the world, or his mother’s world, at least. There was no method of contact up here. Once through those wormholes, the Earthship would be too far away to communicate with Earth. Of all the things humans could have mastered, James thought that communication would be one of them. Unfortunately, this was not the case.

James entered the the large communal cockpit, walking straight past the couch and the entertainment systems on board. The front of the ship was where he needed to be. By Lottie’s side was where he needed to be.

James eyed the black seat next to Lottie. The girl was already thoroughly strapped into her chair, looking greener than the greenest blade of grass. James took the seat next to her, strapped himself in, and then he placed a comforting hand on top of hers. Lottie was clinging to that seat as if it were the only thing protecting her from floating off into space.

“Are you okay?” James asked, trying to ignore his own anxiety.

“Yeah,” Lottie blatantly lied.

James felt a pang of anger and irritation as he watched his American captain walking over.

“Are you two alright?” Phil asked his two newest comrades.

“Yeah, fine,” James answered for himself and for Lottie.

“Good. Because this is a very special moment, y’know? You two, are two of the finest grads to graduate from space school. Hell, I remember my first space mission, and how nervous I felt. But that fear is nothing compared to the awe and amazement you’ll feel once you’re up there. You’ve spent your lives preparing for this very moment. Relish it, appreciate it, and enjoy it.”

James nodded, secretly appreciating Phil’s words.

Once everyone was safely buckled into their seats, it was up to Phil to give the final order. “Okay, Lisa, you know what to do from here, send her up.”

This was it - the moment James had been waiting for. As the ship began to lift, he felt his insides suddenly shaking and jittering around. Unable to calm his own nerves, James squeezed Lottie’s hand for comfort. Just as James thought the lift off was becoming too much to handle, his eyes were greeted by the glittery black blanket of space.