International Collective Space Organization Academy

Built amidst developing space research in South Africa The Academy was the final training ground for recruits who had fulfilled their training in their respective national space programs. The culmination of culture and teachings came together in the one of the most advanced training facilities on the outskirts of Johannesburg on 150 acres of land and 750,000 square feet of equipment, research and development and sleeping quarters. Built out of the newly discovered Lumen polycarbonate and paired with solar panels blanketing the facilities rooftop's allowed the facility to be completely self-sustainable without the use of fossil fuels. Its plain rectangular exterior camouflaged the newly developed technological experimentations and runs that were being conducted behind the symbol of the nostalgic Apollo 11 model encircled by all the member countries of ICSRO.

"Why does it feel like I'm staring at a prison sentence here?" Amir sullenly groaned with his personnel assigned bag in hand under the 24°C afternoon sun.

"You're too used to the sky kid. Time to dwell amongst us grounders" Saghir said gently pushing Amir up to the first security checkpoint.

ICSRO's dependence on automation meant less physical security and but a lot more cyber security. Getting into the academy was no easy feat.

"Flight Engineer Saghir, Pilot Amir, welcome back!" A voice greeted the two at the gate.

"Did they upgrade you I.R.I.S? You sound like you've just hit puberty" Amir jested with the A.I. security.

"Oh yes, that's my familiarity tone" I.R.I.S responded "This is my unfamiliarity tone" he said in a brutish gravelly manner.

"I'm glad we're friends" Amir said embarrassingly and walked on as Saghir smiled behind him.

"You're clear to enter the facility. The checkpoints shouldn't be a bother." The distant voice of I.R.I.S was heard through the dimly lit tunnel Amir and Saghir walked through until they reached the auto-walkway. The conveyor system moved along the stationary duo past the two other checkpoints. To their surprise as they entered the facility the portraits of the Chandrayaan-10 crew had been added to the wall on their left under LUNAR BASE INITIATES with enough space left for dozens more. A reinforced vigor entered Amir while Saghir nodded in appreciation at his now distant crew. The auto-walkway stopped and they walked into the sliding doors to see the old eyesore of the full scale International Space Station in the main foyer.

"Would've been thoughtful to have a crew on the ISS during our mission. They were way too confident in their end to end encrypted communication systems" Saghir assessed the situation analyzing the structural basis of the station.

"Slow and steady not fast and furious, right?" Amir retorted as a figure holding a tablet approached the duo. Her hair in a knot, suited in the grey ICSRO overalls and a peculiar smile engrossing her face.

"Welcome back Chandrayaan-10 crew members Amir and Saghir, it's a pleasure to have you return to the academy." She said sincerely. "My name is Karen, I'm a final stage recruit and I'll be assigning you to your respective students at your convenience." She shifted to a professional tone.

Both sighed in unison haven given the duty of teaching future astronauts, cosmonoauts and vyomanauts.

"What's the likeliness we can return to the moon with you?" Amir whispered to Karen.

"Likely, but we'd need to petition for a joint nation excursion. A lot more possible now since ISRO and NASA seem be on friendly terms after NASA's arrival on the lunar base." Karen cheerfully mentioned.

Amir and Saghir glanced at each other knowing the truth would've been more complex and that they were out of the loop, having to rely on the media just like everyone else.

"Here are your your standard ICSRO phablets, they'll keep you up to date on your schedule and any other communication facilities you may require."Saghir opened up his foldable phablet noticing a notification from ISRO. A meeting with professor with professor Kanan was scheduled in 5 minutes. He walked off into the direction of the meeting room to the surprise of Amir who stood nervously staring at a smiling Karen.

"Sooo, Karen, are you currently se..." immediately interrupted by a blushing Karen who quickly changed the subject "Have you seen our newest Virtual Reality immersion tech. Top of the line. If you'll follow me" She gestured at a flustered Amir who slowly inched in the direction of the aviation quarters.

Saghir walked to the teleconference room gazing past recruits beginning their morning with a personal training jog in groups of 10 in the outdoor training facility below him. They all seemed familiar - part of a whole. He avoided the gazes of higher level recruits that recognized him and had stopped in their tracks to express admiration or take a quick selfie. Saghir politely smiled and sped up flashing his identification chip embedded in his phablet onto the security panel to the communication centre. Amongst rows of state of the art computers he picked the one closest to him and signed in his ICSRO credentials. His previously accessed files popped on to the screen as he closed old emails and music searches to find the ISRO app communications device. There was a recent message available.

L.U.N.A: Hope this message finds you well Flight Engineer Saghir. I'm programmed to inform you when you open this application that all is in-fact well on the moon base. Despite some confrontation to begin with both teams have resolved to building the base as per previously planned objectives. The space anomaly Apollo has for the time being disappeared. Communication is now active and there are discussions of manning the International Space Station as soon as possible to further solidify any lack of communication hereafter. Let me congratulate you on your offer to be a part of the team that will man the space station soon. Professor Kanan will have further details for you. All the best!

The message was concise but clear. A ray of hope filled Saghir at the news and he immediately called the professor for further details. The integrated camera turned green and a red LED turned on at the base of the monitor for sound. Professor Kanan's image illuminated the screen with a wide grin on his face.

"I assume you've heard from L.U.N.A."

The walk outside was familiar to Amir having been a part of the aviation team for almost 8 years now. ICSRO's concept aircrafts and spaceships were out on display, each one more impressive than the last. He stopped at an earlier version of the Perseus that he had trained on prompting Karen to suddenly stop as well. Her clear skin sprinkled with freckles over her nose were now apparent in the sunlight. They both smiled at each other in silence as they appreciated the sentimentality of the model.

"If you wouldn't mind, the future of the aviation program might want a quick lesson from a member of the Chandrayaan-10" Karen pointed out at the group of recruits that had gathered around Amir. He saw a few familiar faces, smiling and nodding at them but was unfamiliar with the rest.

"Well, space - the final frontier. It's all I ever dreamed and more. Having flown combat missions in the Indo-Pak conflict I was well versed in advanced maneuverability techniques but when you lack blue skies and gravity those techniques are inevitably adjusted. So much so that you really do have to keep an eye on your vessels consumption levels. No, wasted, energy!" He mimicked a current professor that got the crowd snickering and laughing. "Being a pilot isn't just about navigating through the void, but ensuring that you navigate your crew through that void and do what's in their best intentions." He looked back at the Perseus towering over him and thought of Arjun and Sara, hoping they were safe.

"Mr. Amir, I'm an ISRO candidate too, I just wanted to know your opinion on D.O.M's large presence over our program and by extension ISCRO. Should we be concerned?" The recruit asked sincerely. Karen glanced over at Amir who was taken aback by the question and swiftly replied "The Defensive Organization of Moderators have our best intentions at heart."

"And yet they're our impeding parents preventing us from achieving our ambitions. Stay true to what you believe in kid, D.O.M's just a formality" Amir charismatically ruffled the recruits hair moving on with the laughter of Karen to accompany him.

"So apart from all the cool virtual equipment we have over here now, don't you feel ready for the actual thing?" Amir asked as they passed indoors to the virtual sector of the facility.

"Oh, I'm ready," Karen confidently boasted. "There's already a mission specialist on the Moon, Sara, but we need one to man the ISS and I've logged and impressive 400 hours." She physically brushed off her shoulder.

"Alrighty, first stop the International Space Station" Amir smiled at the thought of the two being teammates. A buzz in his pocket alarmed him for a second until he realized he had recently been given a phablet that he hadn't even used. The notification read:

Communications station. Now. - Saghir

"I guess virtual immersion will have to wait. Duty calls." Amir headed for the exit before receiving another notification,

Bring Karen. - Saghir

"Duty calls for you too, it seems. After you." He gestured to Karen who rolled her eyes at Amirs latest one-liner.

"We've been in discussion with D.O.M and the unfairness of the situation of grounding you boys. The Perseus doesn't deserve to accumulate dust at Sriharikota so we came up with a counter proposal that would satisfy both D.O.M's and ICSRO's needs." The professor paused as Amir and Karen walked into the room. "Hello Karen, I'm professor Kanan of ISRO" he greeted the friendly face. "It's nice to meet you professor" she shyly responded alluding to Amir to take the attention off her. "You're a sight to behold professor, please don't make us work here as instructors, I've already had half the recruits I've met ask me for selfies." he pleaded with the digital image on the screen.

"They're sending us back." Saghir cooly interjected. A look of astonishment hit both Amir and Karen's face.

"Yes we are! Not only are you two returning to the lunar base, you will be dropping off Karen and another ICSRO final stage recruit Tobias to man the International Space Station along the way."

A red faced Karen could only utter an "ok" to the news as Amir happily grabbed Saghir and celebrated with fist pumps. "Time to launch?" Saghir said level headed.

"One week. I presume preparations will be made on your end. The Perseus awaits." with a simple nod the professor ended the call. The trio stood in place at different levels of excitement but a clear goal of one week to prepare and travel to the Sriharikota Range.

"Whose Tobias, by the way?" Amir questioned.

"A final stage recruit I imagined being stuck with on the ISS. He's the only one with more simulation hours than me. Why is everything always ying and yang ?" Karen said flustered gnawing at her face.

"You've got a week of my company to look forward to, it's not all that bad." Amir smiled at her now excessive irritation. She took a deep breath and calmed herself as a professional.

"Okay." she paused "Let's begin with the virtual simulations, shall we?"