Page 2 of Galaxy Between Us

Chet rolls his eyes, disappointed as most kids would be at receiving a telescope rather than the latest toy. He can groan all he wants because I am absolutely mind blown. It’s the most thoughtful gift I’ve ever received. I’m already thinking of all the clusters, nebulae, and planets I’ll be able to spy on with it.

I thank Knox with a tight side hug, not ready to set down my amazing gift yet. I hold it up for Mom and Dad to take a picture, and they smile softly at my excitement, but there’s a wistful look of resignation behind it. I know they think it’s a strange hobby of mine. An Omega yearning to learn about the sky of all things. Behind their tight smiles they’re hoping that soon I’ll grow out of this “phase” and magically develop an interest in cooking and cleaning and babies like any respectable Omega.

I suspect they even blame Knox for getting me interested in outer space, but the truth is that I’m the one who got him into it.

Through the angular window of my bedroom ceiling, every night I’ve watched the changes of the night sky as closely as a bird watches its nest. Here on earth, the possibilities for an Omega are extremely limited. Learn to cook, learn to clean, get mated, have babies. But in space? Possibilities are unfathomably endless.

Who knows. There could be universes in which Omegas run the world.

Four years later

Knox and I are catching up with the latest episode of Everything in Space at his house. Even though his mom just finished making us breakfast, she allows us to stay in the living room so we can watch while we eat. With plates of scrambled eggs and bacon, we sit on the floor as close to the TV as possible.

Knox is wearing his PJ pants with the planets of our solar system swirling around in a repetitive pattern. My lounge clothes are a little more mature with simple light blue stripes against a plain white fabric. I used to wear fun stuff like Knox, but as I get older, my parents want me to dress a little less childish.

It’s funny because Knox is the one who physically matured much faster than me, yet his youth shows in his clothes and hobbies. He’s about a head taller than I am and getting wider with muscles each day. But there was once a time in which I could beat him at arm wrestling, and I’ll hold that over his head no matter how giant he gets.

“Have you asked your parents yet?” Knox asks me through a mouthful of eggs, engulfing them with a ravenous appetite. My mom warned me that Alphas eat a lot. Whenever you dish their plates, always give them twice as much as whatever you think is enough.

I run to get him a napkin too before he ruins the carpet. With Knox, it’s bound to happen. Alphas are messy. That I know from experience.

“Not yet,” I answer him as I scurry to the kitchen and back. “I’m still waiting for the right moment. I really, really, really don’t want them to say no.”

“Maybe I should be there when you ask,” he suggests as I rejoin him on the floor.

“Yeah, that might help. But they’re not going to be happy to know how much a ticket costs. I will need to sell forty-seven bags of Omega Scout candy if I want enough money to buy it myself.”

I chew at the end of my spoon anxiously. Doubt and hopelessness cloud my thoughts. As the episode of Everything in Space wraps up, they roll the same advertisement for Beyond Our World camp (BOW camp). Every day, the deadline to apply for a ticket creeps closer and closer.

This isn’t just any summer camp. It’s a camp for elite kids who are trying to secure futures in the world's most successful space program, Comet XI. With a signature from Knox’s parents, and a forged signature from my parents, we already took the placement exam to get in. Both of us passed!

But there’s no way we can sneak off to camp without our parents knowing. At least, not without my parents knowing. Knox’s parents are more than happy to have the house to themselves for six weeks. These six weeks could be the last that we have with one another for the next eight years…or ever.

In the fall I’ll be heading to my Omega studies. That makes this the last thing we can do together. By the time I graduate post-Omega studies to become a working Omega, Knox will likely have scored at least an internship at Comet XI. Hopefully, I’ll be right behind him.

We promised each other that we’d meet in the grand entrance of Comet XI in front of the public telescope displays.

There are positions available in astronomy for selective Omegas. Positions that aren’t as involved as those reserved for Alphas, but still elite, nonetheless. If I do land one, I won’t be working anywhere near Knox. But just knowing that we’ve both made it into the same building we’ve dreamed of since we were younger, that’s the dream.

Heck, as an Omega, I probably won’t even be within proximity of a telescope. But maybe with time they’ll see the potential I have, and I can become an engineering assistant or a material handler. I may be reaching too high but as long as I make it somewhere within the massive Comet XI industry, I’ll consider my goal achieved.

But none of that will happen at all if I don’t secure my spot at BOW camp. I need to ask my parents if I can go.

Chapter II

I’m amazed at the clarity of which I can spot the small, glowing spec of Venus and even distinguish which phase it’s in. I’m a little bit jealous that I bought this telescope for Arius and not for myself. My much older model can barely focus on a fly on the wall.

“Can you see it?” Ari asks from his bedroom desk.

“Yeah. Wicked clear,” I nod, changing the angle of the scope to see what else I can find in the evening sky.

“That’s because I adjusted some of the internal lenses. It took a while, and I was afraid of damaging it, but it turns out that even the slightest adjustment of a few millimeters makes all the difference in the focus. Using a reticle, I recorded the measurements of a sunspot in the sun’s atmosphere for each adjustment I made.”

“Uh-huh.” I’m trying to keep up with Ari’s cute nerdy rant as I continue ogling Venus.

No other Omegas are like him. It’s hard enough to find other Alphas who are into astronomy as much as we are. He’s truly one of a kind.

“I analyzed each measurement until I found the most accurate one.”