'Inversion 1' Beginnings: excerpt #2

Hi
I'm continually editing, rewriting, skipping back and forth throughout this whole meandering tome to make it make sense. And it does! It does! All I need now is a bit between the middle and the end where nobody (well maybe somebody, but not lots of bodies) gets shagged. Sometimes, as I've found in real life, a change is as good as a rest.

Inversion 1
Beginnings
Excerpt #2

We sat on the bed, holding hands in silence. The clock ticked. Bags were packed. My shuttle was ready. I stood. Emma fell to her knees and hugged my thighs.
'Alex, please don't go.'
'Em...'
She cried silently. Need poured from her eyes and mouth.
'I love you.'

The massive ship gleamed in the ochre glow of the morning sun. She'd been christened Max Thrust II, in memory of the first near-light-speed vessel that had tragically disintegrated during testing. The Naming Committee somehow weren't aware of the notoriously dim-but-potent porn star who also bore that moniker. The joke wasn't lost on the crew:
Let's hope our ship has the speed of the original vessel and the staying power of the actor - and not the other way around.

On board, there was frenzied activity as maintenance ensured everything was ready. Most of the crew were already sedated and slept soundly in their pods. Once in orbit, the pods would be sealed and stasis generators would be activated. For each blissfully unaware occupant, time would literally stand still.

Security cleared the ship and we were soon underway. Within hours, we passed through Jupiter's orbit. The massive planet's swirling spot stared benignly through us as we swept by. Stephen13, my first officer, saluted and several others followed suit. Silence fell. Solemnity descended. We would never see Jupiter again. His looming presence seemed to impact on everyone on the bridge and brought home the finality of our mission. The shame of what we'd done to Earth made me hang my head. I imbued the silent giant with a voice. If he could speak, it was surely the least of what he'd say.
'You had a beautiful blue-green planet and you fucked it. Where are you going now? Off to fuck up some other paradise?'

Inversion 1, a sexy sci-fi novel, will be published soon.