My aversion to space travel began at the tender young age of ten when I traveled with Daddy for the grand opening of his first tourist resort on the surface of the moon. Mother had made the trip with Daddy before and was more than happy to have me go in her place. Besides, her job overseeing the running of Daddy’s business kept her quite busy. It would be a father/daughter adventure. Why she wasn’t concerned about her little girl blasting off on top of a rocket is beyond me.

The purpose of the trip was to demonstrate to the world how safe and common place space travel had become. “So easy even a child can do it,” the promotions proclaimed. That trip was the most miserable vacation of my life.

The medical profession had great concerns about sending a child to space. Their major concern was over how I would handle the multiple g-forces at lift-off. You wouldn’t believe the torture I had to go through in training and testing – months of it. I was poked and prodded and run through spin-dry till I puked my guts out.

There was safety training and emergency drills and more safety training. How many times did they think they needed to tell me not to touch anything so I don’t kill us all? I just wanted to be with my friends goofing off.

And it wasn’t just the torture chambers, there was also the media to deal with. I wasn’t exactly sequestered off from the public eye. In fact just about everything I did made the news. I was terrified of the up-coming rocket blast, but for Daddy’s sake I hid it as best I could.

Lift off was terrible. The noise and pressure; it was like having a semi-truck park on top of you. I would have screamed if I could draw the breath. Mercifully I eventually blacked out and woke up to weightlessness.

I have to admit there were some wow moments. One was seeing Earth pull away over time – a lot of time – like 3 days with little to do but stay out the way. Boring! And the food and facilities sucked; I had been trained in those departments too.

The crew did allocate a relatively safe area for me to practice my weightless acrobatics. Daddy apologized for the cramped conditions and described the possibilities for activity once we reached the Celestial Lunar Resort.

Landing on the moon was another one of those wow moments. We were no longer weightless. Donning our spacesuits we stepped out onto the surface of the moon. I scooped up a handful of powdery moon dust wishing I could touch it with my bare hands. Cameras documented every step I took. There’s media in Lunar City too. Earth was setting behind a distant ridge as we arrived by dune buggy at the resort.

To call Celestial Lunar Resort a resort stretches the imagination and we had the VIP suite. Our room amounted to a walkway between two sleeping cubicles and a tiny table and chairs seating area. Because of the low gravity I had to learn to control my movements so I didn’t go bouncing off the walls. Storage bins and entertainment devices were hidden behind wall panels for a sterile futuristic look. Meals, if you can call them such, were delivered to our room. One tiny window looked out on the barren landscape.

I wanted to go out to play. Outdoor activities had been planned for me for the benefit of the press. Back on Earth, children around the world saw me play catch and badminton with the other resort guests. As a result, the Celestial Lunar Resort, advertised as the latest in family adventure, took off like a rocket. Because of me hundreds of children would be put through the torture of visiting the moon.

I did enjoy the dune buggy rides. I even got to drive one. The rest of my time was spent doing schoolwork in our room while Daddy attended meetings. I missed my friends and wanted to go home.

I couldn’t help but smile as I looked out at the red planet below reminiscing over a journey that took place so long ago. I didn’t know it at the time, but that trip to the moon would shape my future. If only Daddy were still alive today so I could express my gratitude.

“Captain, the passenger shuttle is ready to descent to the surface.”

“Give the order, Lieutenant,” I commanded, regaining the composure befitting a star ship captain. “As soon as the shuttle returns from delivering its passengers set a course for Io.”

“Aye, aye, Captain.”