"Thought you saw what, Mildred?" Dad prompted.
"A boy, Captain. Briefly, I thought I saw a boy in your cabin," Mildred said almost apologetically.
Dad looked puzzled. "That would be strange." He pressed a button on his comp and the XO's face appeared above his wrist.
"Yes, sir?" she asked.
"Hey, XO. Do me a favor and step over to my cabin please," Dad said. The XO's cabin was directly across from his. She could get there faster than he could.
Lieutenant Commander Hondak's image disappeared then reappeared a few seconds later. "Okay, sir. I'm in your cabin. Can I get something for you from here?" she asked.
"XO, look around. Do you see any children?” Dad asked with a smile.
She looked around a little bit confused by the request. "Umm...no, Captain. I don't see any children, except for the pictures of your kids hanging up on the wall."
"You see, Mildred," Dad said to the computer. "No children hiding in the Captain's cabin."
"Of course not, sir," Mildred apologized. "I really don't know what is happening with my sensor suite."
“Well, you are not as young as you used to be Millie," Dad said with a smile.
"Will there be anything else, Captain?” the XO asked, having caught on to the joke.
"No XO, thanks," Dad said. "We all make mistakes Millie."
"The new deep space exploration ship they are building has state of the art technology, including total visual and biometric security, and multiple redundant systems,” Mildred said wistfully. "It will not make mistakes."
"Oh yes, the ESAS Dauntless. The most advanced spacecraft ever," Dad said. "I am surprised they haven't upgraded your system with some of those same sensors. Especially the cameras. But when they built you, Mildred, they thought the biometric scans and the comps would be enough."
"I do not think those have ever been enough," Mildred replied.
Dad turned back to his screen and examined additional graphs of the approach to Kappaqilla. While the computer did all of the driving, Dad still appreciated knowing the routes they planned to take. He checked to see if there were any asteroid belts or other abnormalities in their planned trajectory to Kappaqilla. There was nothing interesting, so he went back to studying the detailed information about Kappaqilla.
Calling Home
The kids listened intently as the XO talked with their father and Mildred. Their hearts raced. They barely breathed. Daniel's mind was a blur as he thought about how he would explain everything to his father. What would his Dad say if he caught them? Would they be grounded for the rest of their lives?
Dad was always telling him how, as the oldest, he was responsible for his younger brothers. Daniel hated that, almost as much as he hated the realization that his father was right. He got Ernie, Nathan, and Ani into this mess. He needed to keep them safe and get them out of it. When the XO left, Daniel knew there wasn't much time to lose. They needed to call their mothers.
"Okay, Nathan, how long will it take you to set up the call?"
"In most computer systems, communications channels are open architecture, so it should be easy," Nathan replied nervously.
"What if it isn't open architecture?" Ani asked.
"Then I don't know if it will work at all," Nathan said quietly.
"Okay, let's go. Nathan first," Daniel said stooping down next to the access hatch.
Nathan scrunched down by the hatch. Ani crouched next to him. Daniel pulled the hatch away and watched Nathan and Ani scrambled through the door.
A few seconds later, Ani flashed a thumbs-up back to the hatch. The call to her Mom was going through! Her mother's image appeared over the desk a few seconds after that.
"Hi, Ani," her Mom said with a tired smile.
"Hi, Mom," Ani said talking fast. "I know you're busy. I am having such a good time with the Parkers. And their Mom said I could stay with them for a few days since no one is home at our house."
"Slow down, Ani," her Mom said. "I can always tell when you are excited because of how fast you talk." Her mom hesitated for a minute. "Is everything okay?"
"Everything's fine, Mom." She held her breath waiting for her mother to answer.
"Actually, I am relieved to hear that. The infection of the baobab trees is worse than we thought. I think we caught it in time, but if we don't act now we could lose the whole hectare. Honey, I have to run. Tell Dr. Parker thank you for me!"
"Bye, Mom," Ani said quickly. She ended the call and her Mom's image disappeared. She exhaled loudly and looked back at the access hatch. "It worked!"
"I heard," Daniel said climbing through the hatch. "Get back out of the room. Nathan -- can you call Mom? I'll do the talking."
Ani tried to leave, but she had to wait for Ernie to climb through.
"Ernie, what are you doing? I'll talk to Mom."
"You got to come in here, why shouldn't I?"
Daniel rolled his eyes. "Fine, but you need to do what I say. I am in charge. Be quiet and let me do the talking!"
"It's connecting," Nathan whispered. Suddenly, Mom's image appeared, but it was not as clear as Ani's Mom's picture.
Daniel knew the poor connection was because they were leaving the solar system. "Hi Mom!" he said as the image tried to focus.
"Hi, Mom," Ernie echoed.
"Hi, boys," she answered. The three-dimensional image projecting up from the desk squinted at them. "Where are you? I thought you were hiking today?"
"Umm...we are Mom," Daniel answered, thinking quickly. "We are at the train station so we hopped out of the pod for a few minutes."
"Oh...Okay," Mom said slowly. She looked back down at her work. "I'm sorry I can't talk for long. We had to recalculate the inject ratio...."
"Its okay mom," Daniel said. "We just wanted to tell you that we were going to hang out with Ani after we get back from hiking. She's all alone for the week so we were just going to--"
Mom looked up suddenly and very seriously. "--you are going to hang out with Ani?"
"Yes," all three boys said in unison.
Mom's serious face broke into a smile. "That's great! I am going to be swamped here and probably won't be home for a couple of days. And your father just told me he has to deliver equipment to Oculus."
"You mean Kappaqilla," Nathan said quickly.
Mom looked up seriously. "I think you might be right. I always get those two planets mixed up. How did you know Dad was going to Kappaqilla?"
Nathan's eyes widened.
Daniel thought quickly. "He didn't know. Nathan was watching a video about Kappaqilla in the pod from home."
"Well, a good guess, then Nathan," Mom said. "Have fun. Just let Harry or Grandpa know if you need anything."
"Okay!"
"Thanks, Mom!"
"Train's leaving, Mom. Talk to you later. Love you," Daniel said taking over the conversation again.
"Love you boys, too. Stay out of trouble! Goodnight."
As soon as the call ended Nathan scrambled for the hatch. Daniel and Ernie followed. Soon they were safely in the equipment area with the hatch closed behind them.
"I can't believe that worked!" Ani said with a huge smile.
"This is so awesome," Ernie exclaimed. "We have to find a way to see the planet."
"Yes!" Ani agreed.
"No way," Daniel said. “We’ve done way more than we expected already. We are staying right here until we get back."
"Yeah, we should stay right here," Nathan agreed.
"What?!? You two are crazy! We are going all the way to Kappaqilla! We can't just sit here in the dark," Ernie said.
"We need to see it," Ani said.
"We need to visit it," Ernie said louder.
"Yes, visit it," Ani agreed excitedly.
"Will you two just be quiet?" Daniel said angrily. This was his plan and so far it was working out. But going down to the planet would be an even bigger risk than they had already taken. "Just be quiet. We have two days until we get there."
Da
niel sat down and leaned against a wall. He closed his eyes to try to block out the others. He knew that Ernie and Ani were right -- stepping onto another planet was just about the coolest thing he could imagine if they could do it without getting caught. They had two days to figure out how to do it without getting caught.
Waiting
"I miss Mom."
"Nathan, that's the hundredth time you said that," Ernie said. The four young stowaways sat around the spacecraft's mechanical equipment room for the third day in a row.
"You will see her again in a few days," Daniel said trying to be comforting. "Besides, Dad is just on the other side of this wall."
"I know," Nathan said quietly. But it's just not the same. I even miss my violin!"
"I don't miss my tuba," Ani added.
"Why do you play that thing anyway?" Ernie asked. "Shouldn't you play something that matches your size, like a flute?"
"They wanted me to play the piccolo," Ani said rolling her eyes at the memory.
"Who did?"
"Mr. Kamau, the band director at my school in Mombasa. He said I would get too tired marching in the band with anything else."
"What's a piccolo?" Nathan asked.
"It's like a small flute," Ani said.
"So then how did you get the tuba?" Daniel asked.
"Technically, it's a sousaphone," Ani corrected. She paused before continuing. "Everybody tries to tell me what I can do, just because I'm short. It makes me mad. I was mad at Mr. Kamau and my Mom because she agreed with him. Dad told me to get any instrument I wanted, so I found the biggest one."
"But now that you have it, you don't like carrying it," Ernie observed.
"I don't mind carrying it, it's not that heavy. But the sound!" Ani covered her ears with her hands in emphasis. Ernie and Nathan laughed. "I wish I played the violin like you do, Nathan."
"I guess I like it," Nathan said. "I need to practice a lot. And now I am missing a whole week of practice because of this trip!"
"The ship is arriving in the Turnace system. Stand by to enter orbit of Kappaqilla," Mildred announced over the ship-wide speaker system.
"I guess we're here," Daniel said.
"Your Dad is so cool," Ani whispered. "All my Dad does it count baby octopuses or....octopi...I think."
The star schooner conducted a series of maneuvers as it approached Kappaqilla, burning thrusters and maneuvering engines to stay exactly on course. On the bridge, even the smallest maneuver was displayed on the status screens of the officers on watch. Dad and his team observed every detail closely. Entering orbit around a planet required precise calculations and Mildred executed the maneuvers exactly. But in the ship's mechanical equipment room, nothing changed.
"Orbit achieved," Mildred reported to the crew a few minutes later.
"Now what?" Ernie asked Daniel.
Daniel grimaced. Ernie would not let this go. They had been arguing for two days about visiting the planet's surface. Daniel wanted to stay where they were, in the safety of the mechanical equipment room. But like Ernie, he also felt the incredibly intense desire to set foot on another planet. Daniel was saved from answering, as they heard their father return to his cabin.
"We will want to get the cargo ready to go today. Begin moving it tomorrow if they are prepared to receive it. I don't see any reason to rush to get it down to the surface," Dad told his XO.
"A small shuttle is approaching," Mildred said, interrupting.
“That's unusual," the XO said.
"Very," Dad responded. "Mildred, what do we know about the shuttle?"
"The shuttle is a Kappaquillian personnel transport, capable of traveling between the planet and orbiting vessels. The shuttle can hold up to seven Kappaquillian or human life forms. Although this particular shuttle has been in service for 17 years, six months, and eight days, it has been retrofitted with the universal docking coupling."
"Mildred, do you know who is on the shuttle? Or what its purpose is?"
"The shuttle's computer reports that one human and five Kappaquillians are on board. They are requesting to dock with us," Mildred answered.
Dad and the XO looked at each other and shrugged. "I guess the Ambassador has come to greet us."
"Okay, Mildred," Dad said. "Have the officer of the deck escort our visitors to my cabin and notify the cargo officer that he can make preparations to offload."
"We might get to see some Kappaquillians," Nathan whispered excitedly. They had found a pinhole-sized opening between them and Dad's room on the second day of their trip. Nathan used it the most. Seeing Dad helped him feel less homesick. So he kept his eye on the small hole whenever he could.
Daniel was the most excited of all. It was their chance to see an alien race in person and maybe this would finally get Ernie and Ani to stop asking to sneak to the planet's surface. But Ani and Ernie started whispering to each other conspiratorially.
"We are going," Ernie announced suddenly. Ani stood next to him, nodding her head.
"I thought we were staying here," Nathan whined.
"We are Nathan," Daniel said standing up. He stood toe to toe with Ernie, glaring down at his younger brother. "We agreed last night to stay."
"You can stay if you want, but Ani and I aren't missing this," Ernie said as defiantly as ever.
"It's the perfect opportunity," Ani weighed in. "Your father won't be down there long. And we know we'll be safe in the back of the shuttle."
"No! I am in charge and I say we are staying here," Daniel nearly yelled.
"You heard Dad," Ernie said anxiously. "When they get the cargo unloaded he's going down to the surface."
Daniel looked back and forth between Ernie, Ani, and Nathan. He knew they were right. It was their best chance to go to the surface. He wished that they would let it go, wished that they were home again and this entire adventure was behind them. He knew deep down that they were going to get caught. But he also knew that nothing would get Ernie to stop when he had his mind made up about something. Daniel was supposed to be in charge, but Ernie always wanted to do his own thing. Ernie never wanted to listen.
"Okay," Daniel relented. If he went with them, he could still be in charge, and keep Ernie from doing anything foolish.
Nathan groaned his disapproval.
"Don't worry Nathan," Daniel said. "You should stay here, and keep an eye on things just in case there's a problem."
Nathan looked relieved, although Daniel knew he was still worried.
Daniel looked seriously at Ernie and Ani. "You both need to promise to listen to what I say."
They agreed although Daniel doubted that they meant it. He took a step closer to Ernie until their two noses were almost touching. "I mean it, you will do what I say."
The brothers glared at each other. Finally, Ernie looked at Ani, and Daniel seized the opportunity. He grabbed Ernie's arm and twisted it expertly. "I mean it."
Ernie yelped and nodded quickly. Daniel released his brother and looked at Ani with the same threatening glare. She nodded seriously.
Daniel was still not sure that they would listen but he pushed his doubts aside. He began to feel excited about one thing: he was going to be the first kid in his class to visit another planet!
To travel light, the three older kids left their packs and blankets with Nathan. They did not expect to be gone long – a couple of hours at the most – and they did not want anything to interfere with their trip. Daniel decided it would be best to get on the shuttle right away, in case their father's plans changed. Nathan thought he was getting the better deal. He pressed his eye against the small hole. Soon he would see his first Kappaquillians face to face.
It only took a minute for Daniel to open the access hatch, and the three older kids climbed out of the mechanical equipment room into the docking control center.
Daniel, Ernie, and Ani could barely contain their excitement. Daniel turned the knob on the hatch leading down to the hallway and opened it slightly. They could hear voices from the passagew
ay below, but no one was visible at the base of the ladder. They opened the hatch further. Daniel could make out the voice of the XO, giving some instructions to a crew member. A series of tones and hydraulic hisses came next, as the shuttle from the planet surface connected to the schooner John Glenn. As the doors slid open, Daniel heard a cacophony of sounds: introductions between the XO and what Daniel guessed was the Ambassador, several indistinguishable voices, and odd whistling sounds that he had never heard before.
"Please follow me this way and we will go see the Captain," the ship's XO said. All three kids were listening intently at the hatch. The sounds faded away and the passageway became quiet.
There was no time to lose. Daniel climbed down the ladder and looked up and down the hallway. Once he was sure it was clear, he waved Ernie and Ani down to join him.
They snuck carefully down the corridor, turned left and then followed it to the right again before sneaking down the smaller side passage where the shuttle access door waited. They passed the Kappaquillian shuttle entrance. The door was open but they did not dare explore that shuttle. Daniel's only thought was getting onto Dad's shuttle before they were spotted.
Daniel tapped the green "open" button on the glass panel and the doors slid aside, the top half sliding into the ceiling and the bottom half into the floor. The sound of voices returned to the hallway; Ani and Ernie rushed past Daniel and into the shuttle.
Suddenly they were floating in mid-air. They forgot about the gravity generator! Ani and Ernie weightlessly bumped into each other and the shuttle walls.
Daniel stepped in more carefully and closed the shuttle's door from the inside before he floated too far away to reach it. After twisting and turning for what seemed like an hour, Ernie opened the access panel under the shuttle's rear seats and held the panel aside. Ani twisted her body around until her feet were on the ceiling of the shuttle. She pushed off with her legs and sailed down to the access panel, then wriggled her way back to the cargo hold. When the boys did not follow her, she twisted and grunted until her face stuck out of the access panel. With big smiles on their faces, Daniel and Ernie spun their bodies this way and that in zero gravity.
Stowaways Page 8