--Chapter 1--
Part 1 The dream of a man, the nightmare of a family.
''Father, what is that surprise you promised us?'', asks 16 years old Marika Esteban to her father, Joshua Esteban.
Their shuttle started to tremble as an another rock hit the somewhat weak shield. Marco screamed, horrified as the lights of their cabin goes on and off. ''"Why couldn't we have just stayed on Gran Canaria,'', he said to himself. He shifts to his father, who smiles at him and tries to reassure him. ''I know that since... that accident... you don't like travelling in space Marco, but we're almost there. Besides, I think that you'll forget everything about this little shuttle as soon as we land on the Freeport 9.''
Joshua looked at his watch. 18:36, good, only another two hours before they arrive. Joshua shifts his eyes to stare at his lovely wife, Cynthia Langlois, a former Junker who he met in his younger freelancer days, long before he became a Zoner. Cynthia wasn't too pleased to leave Gran Canaria, where they were already safe, settled, and rich. Surprisingly, Cynthia was really more of the scrapping kind of Junker. She never went too deep into debris fields, and she never had any troubles with anyone.
Another asteroid hits the ship, this time breaching the shields. Marco, frightened, holds his big sister tightly, who comforts him by singing sweet lullabies.. The P.A. dings;''Ladies and Gentlemen this is your Captain speaking We apologize for these technical difficulties Please fasten your seatbelts and we will be docking at the nearest station to verify the ship did not sustain any severe damage.''
Cynthia sighs, pulling on her platinum-blond hair. ''Great, just what we needed.. Honey, I'm sorry to tell you this, but you're crazy. We should've stayed there, safe and sound.'' Joshua, undisturbed by all the problems, was still gleeful. ''Cynthia, this is a one in a lifetime chance. Of course, we have two beautiful kids, we had a big house, servants, everything there. We will still have all this. This is just... our new beginning. As a united family.''
Their now-dark cabin was extremely small and way under the quality, and safety, Joshua expected. There wasn't much in it but two large beds, a small fridge, and a radio, which was ironically broken and unusable anyway, since all the available power was being used for the emergency life support, and a tiny bathroom, where Marco spent most of the trip, emptying his stomach from the nautious feeling he was getting from the pressure of the trip.
Marika keeps her brother close to her, and then asks her father again: ''Dad, what's that surprise....?'' Joshua gets up and pats her shoulder. ''I told you already. You'll know it when we reach Freeport 9.''
The PA dings again as the lights turn back on, along with the power to their quarters. Their 'cell' now looked a hundred times more comfy and spacious. ''"Ladies and Gentlemen, this is your Captain speaking. We were lucky enough to be in the path of a repair ship, which fixed up all of the damage the shuttle suffered. We will be continuing our route and arrive in Omicron Theta shortly."''
The family members, even though seemingly teared apart by this experience, in reality they were getting closer to one another. Back on Gran Canaria they were merely people who lived together in the same house. Today, they were a family, living their troubles together and united against them.
