Page 1 of Starrily
Chapter 1
Take-off
The Universe started with the Big Bang. Callie’s universe was perhaps about to end in one.
She stared at the long, windowless body of the passenger plane parked on the tarmac and questioned her decision. Or rather, Ava’s decision.
Her friend caught up with her in a light jogging rhythm and fixed the collar of the slate gray flight jumpsuit. She put her hands on her hips and followed Callie’s gaze to the plane. “Wow. It looks amazing.”
It looked like a death trap. Perfect to take her up to thirty thousand feet, then drop into a free fall. Provided it didn’t go out in a fiery crash beforehand.
“Are you sure we can’t cancel?” Callie asked.
“Are you not feeling well?”
“Uh—well—”
“Oh, I get it. It’s the pre-flight jitters. Don’t worry.” Ava looped her arm around Callie’s. “It’s gonna be fun. Just shake it off.” She bounced on her feet.
Callie swallowed another objection. Ava’s decision to go on a zero-gravity flight may have been questionable, but it wouldn’t be fair of Callie to pull out now. Ava hadn’t pulled out that time Callie asked her to accompany her to the Science Festival and dragged her along for three days straight. And unlike the festival, these flights were incredibly hard to come by for civilians, and surely cost an arm and a leg. Ava had been lucky to win a trip for two and instead of inviting her boyfriend, she’d thought of Callie, saying she’d love it “because of all the science-y things.”
So, just for today, Callie would suck it up and let her friend enjoy the experience. “I’m fine. Let’s go.”
Ava didn’t need to be told twice and ran towards the staircase extending from the back of the plane. Callie took a deep breath and followed. She showed her ticket to a man standing at the bottom of the steps and ascended into the gloom.
Inside the plane, only a few rows of seats at the tail remained; the rest of the interior had been stripped clean, and safety nets clung to the walls. It wasn’t as claustrophobic as Callie had expected, but it still felt like a coffin. Was this how spacecraft felt? Good thing she’d never find out.
Some passengers from their small group had boarded already, one of them talking with the instructor up in front. Callie sat down next to Ava, who was positively buzzing; like a kid in a candy store, already in the middle of a sugar rush. Callie closed her eyes and counted along with her slow, controlled breaths.
At least their instructor was an actual astronaut, and the pilots were more than qualified for this. Plus, most zero-gravity flightswere done for scientific experiments; if it was safe for people to run on treadmills while doing this, surely it was safe for her to just … exist.
“Excuse me?” A hand following the female voice gently touched her shoulder. Callie opened her eyes. “I think you’re in my seat,” the woman said.
Callie checked her ticket, then glanced up. The numbers didn’t match. She’d been so preoccupied with her thoughts she’d simply assumed she and Ava had been seated together.
Baseless assumption. As if you’re a freaking astrologist, not an astrophysicist.
“S-so sorry,” she mumbled and got up. Ava attempted to intervene, but Callie said, “It’s fine. My seat is right over there,” and maneuvered around the lady to the opposite row.Why didn’t you check the ticket? That was so awkward.She sat down and kept her head low, hoping no one noticed her stupidity.
“Hello there.” The seat next to her shook as the owner of the cheerful voice sat down. A man, about her age—thirty or so. “Nice weather we’re having, isn’t it?” He took off his aviators—really, he had to wear sunglasses to this?—tucked them into the collar of his jumpsuit, and smiled and winked at her.
They didn’t know each other. Why was he talking to her so casually?
“Isn’t this gonna be fun?” he continued. “Suits. Special plane. Zero gravity. It’s very spy movie, don’t you think? We should get code names for each other.”
Oh, no. He was one ofthosepeople. Those who liked to approach random strangers in public and infringe on their personal space and … chat. She never understood how people could do that.
He looked like he’d walked straight off a set ofTop Gun. The aviator sunglasses; the burnished red hair, perfectly ruffled and curled at the top, shorter at the sides; the otherwise unattractivejumpsuit that somehow looked great on him, as if they’d chosen the design especially for him—prepared for a photo shoot, not a deadly flight.
“So, what’s yours?” he asked.
Callie blinked, forcing her focus away from his perfectly chiseled jawline. Seriously, no one had the right to be this good-looking. “H-huh?”
“Code name. If we’re pretending this is a secret spy mission.”
Most of her senses finally came back. “Are you serious?” she raised her voice, then continued quieter when a few people turned their heads. “We could die at any moment, and you’re concerned with code names?”
“We could always die at any moment.” He shrugged. “This one is no different from the rest.”
