Red Desert - Point of No Return Read Online Free Page B

without being subjected to extreme thermal excursions.
    I leapt to my feet
with surprise and shook his hand with enthusiasm. “It’s really a
pleasure to meet you!” I felt a sincere admiration for him and I
was quite intimidated to be in his presence.
    We sat and started
talking about everything and anything, while we were waiting for
our order. He was an affable man and, aware of my tension, he did
all he could to put me at ease. He seemed to be hungrier than me
given that, when his breakfast arrived, he started tucking into it,
causing a pause in our conversation. I swallowed a piece of
croissant and drank a sip of tea, before finding the courage to
speak.
    “Ms Moore had
mentioned something about a project concerning Mars …” I suggested.
I waited for him to reply.
    He looked at me from
over his coffee mug and, with a sly smile, took his time to set it
down. “Doctor Persson, what would you think about becoming one of
the first colonisers of a new planet?”
    I stared at him for a
second, confused and unable to articulate any sound. I wanted to
say ‘Are you kidding?’ but all I managed was a lousy, “I beg
your pardon?”
    At that moment I heard
my cell phone ring. I cursed under my breath because I had
forgotten to silence it. I didn’t know whether to ignore it or
not.
    “Is that yours?”
    “I think … so,” I
babbled.
    He gestured for me to
answer the call, so I took my bag and started searching. Not easy
in that confusion. Then I realised I had put it in my coat pocket.
I reached in and grabbed it. An unknown number appeared on the
display. Puzzled, I tapped the answer icon.
    “Hello?”
    “Anna Persson?” a
vaguely familiar voice spoke on the other side of the line.
    “Yes … who’s that?” I
asked, even more intrigued.
    “We just met in the
street. The accident with your bag … do you remember?”
    I felt a hot sensation
pervading from within. The red-haired man; that was where the voice
came from. I couldn’t believe it was him. It was some sort of
miracle.
    “Are you still
there?”
    “Oh, yes!” I hurried
to say. “But … how did you get my number?!”
    “I’ve found your
planner on the ground. I tried to reach you, but then I lost you in
the crowd.” I pictured him smiling. “I didn’t think I would ever
see you again … and, instead, I found myself in possession of your
name, address, and even your phone number!”
    I started laughing
heartily.
    “By the way, my name
is Jan-Willem De Wit. But you can call me Jan.”
     
     
    I kept on throwing up,
even though there was nothing more in my stomach. What the hell had
prompted me to become an astronaut? I was a scientist, a researcher
who worked at the European Space Agency. I was even paid well. I
had never really considered the idea of space travel. It was
something I liked to think I might do, while reading a book or
watching TV, but the reality was no fun at all.
    Since I had started my
intensive training in Houston, there hadn’t been a day in which I
hadn’t felt sick. They reassured me by saying it always happened
like that with beginners, but things would improve with time,
eventually. Now that once again I found myself embracing a bowl in
the ladies’ loo, I wasn’t at all convinced.
    “Anna, everything
okay?” I heard someone calling me. I replied with a moan. I
couldn’t even speak, but it was sufficient for Michelle to locate
me.
    I sat on the floor and
rested my back against the wall. She observed me from the doorway.
Perhaps she had pity on me.
    “Come on, darling,
I’ll take you to a lounge so that you can lie down,” Michelle
Francis gently said, while offering me a hand. I reached out and
she pulled me up like I was a child.
    She was strong, in her
forties, and at least a couple of spans taller than me. Compared to
her I looked like a woman in miniature. She put an arm around my
shoulders and guided me gently out of the toilet. My face must have
been a mess, but she looked at and talked to me in a