Waiting

This is the introduction I created to a novel idea I have been thinking of. This story is titled, "Waiting." There are five characters, all highly trained professionals who were sent on a government mission to seek out a new planet suitable for humans. When things go wrong they end up drifting through space with no knowledge of where they are, no communication with earth, and all they have left is the time before their last bit of oxygen runs out.

I am thinking of writing this in "serial form," meaning that I will post updated sections until basically the entire novel is posted. So, if you're interested than keep up with my postings!

PART 1:

I sat nestled against the cold hard metal panel of the far back wall looking out of the small round five inch thick window that looked out into an endless darkness. The five of us had become intimate with each other, for the most part. The years spent drifting endlessly through space have seemed to bring us into some intimate conversations and strong bonds. The only problem is that the remaining aspects of our lives will be spent with no contact to the outside world while we all wait to die.

“Brant, are you okay man?” asked Luke. He was against the opposite wall, positioning himself by holding some pipes. “You look down.”

“Down wouldn't be the word to describe it," I said shaking my head at his apathetic attempt. “Don't you care that you are never going to see your family ever again!? We are floating in an endless deathtrap with this ship being our only means of life. We've been surviving in here for almost four years, time is running out. What happens when our last supply of oxygen runs out or our little packs of nutrient gel?”

He cut me off before my rant could go on any further, “You can't think about the bad things. Everyone is aware of what's going to happen and it sucks, but at least we have each other. I have a daughter who was three when I left, a beautiful wife, accepting the situation is the only thing that gets me through this.”

“And it doesn't bother you that your wife has probably already presumed you dead and moved on? Your daughter probably has no idea of your existence.”

He looked down, I could tell that I stirred some emotions but it was hard to care. We were all here in the same situation.

“She knows who I am you fuck! She knows that Daddy is an astronaut. Before we were cut off from communication we were heroes, we changed the face of humanity, we are experiencing something that no man ever has.” He tried desperately to turn our situation into something positive.

“We are a government experiment gone wrong. We are all going to die and no one will ever know a thing. We have had to live with this fact for four years while we all wait for our resources to run out. There is nothing heroic about this.