Asteroid of Secrets

**The Astronaut's Wife**

Eira Kwon squeezed the armrests and looked out of the shuttle window. She could see Earth rotating slowly in the blackness of space, and for a brief moment, she wished to be back home. The shuttle's engines roared, shaking the ship and rattling her bones.

"You're not afraid of flying, are you?" Orion Black asked, looking over his shoulder at her. He smiled at her with his perfectly white teeth, his face hidden by a thick mask that covered his nose and mouth. His eyes were visible behind the tinted glass of his helmet. "It's just like your ride to the ISS."

"That was my first time on a plane," she said calmly. "I wasn't even sure if they were supposed to look like that." She pointed out the window. "I thought it would be smaller."

"How old were you when you went up?" he asked, turning around and facing forward again. He leaned against one hand as he reached out to touch the control panel next to him. The shuttle jerked violently, making Eira gasp and Orion smile even wider. "See? No need to be afraid."

"I'll try," she said, trying to smile for him but failing miserably. Her heartbeat raced in her chest as the shuttle accelerated towards its destination still a few hundred miles above them. It was her first flight, but it definitely wouldn't be her last. As an astronaut from South Korea, she had been used to training in zero gravity environments since childhood, but being inside a pressurized can hurtling through space was infinitely more terrifying than anything she'd ever done before. A small part of her wished that someone else could go on this mission with Orion Black instead of her; anyone else would surely have less trouble than herself. But then again, this was also her chance to get ahead in her career: if things went well with this mission, her name would be known around the world by the end of it -- not just in Korea but all over the world. This mission would change everything for her; it was worth putting up with the fear and tension while she watched Earth grow smaller through the window behind Black's head until it finally faded from view altogether and left them alone in utter darkness illuminated only by the faint light coming from their instrument panels and screens.