"Well, I'll see you a little later after our morning briefing. And don't worry."
He smiled.
"Your secret is safe with me."
Bella smiled back.
His eyes crinkle when he smiles.
Chapter 7
BBella sat at the table in the smaller room she’d been given for the meeting with the crew, answering work emails on the approved laptop NASA had let her bring. She’d be talking in more depth about the cream, as well as giving demonstrations for application, since it was unique and had been adapted to use in space. In addition to the Diana IV crew, the backup crew would be in attendance. She double-checked she had everything set up, from the actual tubes they’d be using to wet wipes for them to clean up afterward. She was anxious to hear their thoughts—since they’d be the ones to actually use the product, their feedback meant a lot to her.
Mike, Elena, Margie, and Jack entered the room, along with the others, and took seats around the table. Wearing their blue flight suits and brown work boots, it was a reminder that these men and women were working, no matter how much they joked around, and Bella couldn’t help but notice how good Jack looked in his. Jackie was right about the hot-astronaut thing, Bella said to herself.
“Good morning! We’ll be going over the moisturizer today—I’ll be telling you all about the ingredients we’ve chosen for the formula, their function, and then we will follow that with how to use it. If there are no questions at this time, then we’ll dive in.”
“This isAstra Seta. We modified a formula we had in development to make it richer—the texture is probably more balm-like than traditional cream moisturizer. This is because it needed to be highly concentrated, in order to meet NASA size and weight requirements.”
Pausing for a moment as the astronauts all opened the tubes they had in front of them, Bella waited to see if there were any questions before continuing.
“For ingredients, we added high percentages of ascorbic acid, astaxanthin, niacinamide, and Vitamin E. These are the ingredients we hope will provide defense against radiation.”
“Asta what?” asked Mike.
“Astaxanthin,” Bella replied. “It’s a mouthful to say, but it’s an antioxidant that is 6000x more powerful than Vitamin C, although that’s included too.”
“We have a blend of powerful peptides to signal the skin to produce more collagen, and Centella asiatica, also known as Cica, which promotes wound healing—the idea is that if any of you accidentally get a nick or cut while in space, this will help speed up the healing process. There are also green tea and oat extracts to reduce irritation from the suits.”
There really was more to this than just some gunk in a jar, she really knows her stuff and has put a lot of thought into this,Jack thought. He hadn’t thought he’d be impressed by the whole idea of‘space cream’but that was changing the more he heard Bella speak.
“We needed this to be both a hydrating and occlusive product, so we have four kinds of hyaluronic acid, with varying molecular weights to cover all the needs, plus glycerin and panthenol. These ingredients draw moisture into the skin. And to seal it all in, the occlusive ingredients are squalane and encapsulatedceramides for barrier support. But the hydrating ingredients and the occlusive ingredients go together like oil and water—because they are—so we had to add stabilizers to keep the formula together and from falling apart.”
After answering a few questions, it was time to apply the product to the skin.
“Please squeeze a small amount out onto your fingertips. I will walk you through the usage instructions. You don’t need more than a ¼ inch for this, as we will be applying it to the face only.”
“This looks like diaper rash ointment,” said Elena.
“Diaper rash ointment?” replied Margie.
“It’s good to use on tattoos while they are healing.”
"I haven't seen any tattoos on you Vasquez, where are they?" said Mike.
"No place you'll ever see Rendit," she retorted.
The group burst into laughter, Bella included. She waited for them to settle before continuing.
“What you want to do now is rub your fingers together to emulsify the product. As you rub, you will see the product start to thin out from the heat of your skin.”
Jack wondered if Bella’s skin would be warm to the touch. Somehow, he knew it would be, and it would feel like silk.WTF, Jack, get your head in the game here, pay attention, he thought.
“Here is where the product goes onto the skin differently than a traditional cream - you want to press and pat into your skin as opposed to massaging it in.”
Watching as they applied, Bella noticed that some of them got her instructions right away while others seemed to struggle.
"That's not the correct way — Captain. Or is it, Commander?" Bella asked, catching herself mid-correction.
