Project Alpha

by D. J. MacHale

  …to land inside the bus.

  He went straight for the driver, who was slumped over, unconscious. The commando quickly released the seat belt and yanked the driver out and onto the floor. The commando took control of the bus and shot a quick look to the rear to confirm that all four passengers were also unconscious.

  He reached for a walkie-talkie that was clipped to his chest.

  “The babies are asleep,” he said through the filters attached to his mask. “I’m behind the wheel and headed for home.”

  Two miles ahead was the intersection of two highways. Going north would lead straight to the international airport.

  The commando went south.

  —

  Carly, Gabriel, and Piper sat behind a table full of microphones, fielding questions from the dozens of reporters who crowded around the stage.

  “Do you miss your families?” one reporter asked.

  “Sure,” Carly replied. “But we talk to them most every night. I get to tell them exactly how my day went.”

  “Piper,” another reporter called out. “How do you think your disability is going to affect the mission?”

  All eyes went to the small blond girl in the chair.

  The flying chair.

  Piper eased the chair back away from the table. She floated slowly around to the front of the stage, then throttled up and flew over the heads of the reporters. They all ducked, laughing. Piper flew back to the stage and settled into her place behind the table.

  “What disability are you talking about?” she asked innocently.

  The reporters laughed and whistled their approval.

  As the cheering continued, Dash stepped up onto the stage. He walked behind the others and headed for the empty seat that was reserved for him.

  “Everything okay?” Carly whispered.

  Dash nodded and sat in his spot.

  “Dash!” one of the reporters called out. “Congratulations on being named commander of the Voyagers. Just one question: Are you scared?”

  Dash looked at the others, who stared at him expectantly. He cleared his throat and said, “Sure. Who wouldn’t be? But I’m not going to let that stop us. None of us are.”

  The Alpha crew broke out in wide, confident grins.

  —

  Anna slowly opened her eyes. Her head hurt. Why did her head hurt? She gradually woke up to focus and looked around to see she was still on the bus, only the bus wasn’t moving.

  “Hey,” she called out to the others, who were still sleeping. “Wake up.”

  The others roused slowly, with similar headaches.

  “Are we there?” Niko asked.

  “We’re somewhere,” Ravi said while looking out of the window. “But it’s not the airport.”

  They were still in the desert. The bus was parked on a desolate unpaved road.

  “Where’s the driver?” Niko asked.

  Nobody had the answer.

  “Interesting,” Siena said. “Any theories on who those two people might be?”

  They all crowded around Siena to look out of the side window.

  Parked several yards away was the helicopter with no identifying markings. Standing in front of it, shoulder to shoulder, were two commandos dressed in black.

  The door to the bus opened and a third man entered. He was an older man with a shock of silver gray hair and intense dark eyes. They had never seen him before—but he had been observing them since they arrived at Base Ten. He walked slowly up the aisle with a smile that was meant to put them at ease but seemed more forced than friendly.

  Everyone huddled together for security.

  The man stopped, looked at each in turn as if taking attendance, and clapped.

  “Bravo,” he said. “I am so proud to meet you all.”

  The kids exchanged confused looks.

  “Who are you?” Anna asked tentatively.

  “I’m the man who is going to give you a second chance,” he said. “If you’re smart enough to take it.”

  It was the night before launch.

  After a year of hard work to get on the team, and another six months of training, it was almost time to go.

  T-minus twelve hours and counting.

  —

  Dash, Carly, Gabriel, and Piper were eating dinner silently in the dorm at Base Ten. It wasn’t until they’d all finished and pushed their trays away that Carly said what was on everybody’s mind.

  “Are we ready?” she asked. “I mean really ready? Sure, we can fly the simulators and run the systems, but this is for real now. I mean, we’re going into space.”

  “I think we’re ready,” Dash said confidently. “This mission is too important for them to send us if we weren’t.”

  “But what happens if we run into things they didn’t count on?” Carly asked. “There’s no way we’ve been trained for every possibility.”

  “That’s when we earn our ten million bucks,” Gabriel said.

  During the hours and weeks of simulator training, Gabriel had established himself as the best aviator of the crew and was named the official pilot and navigator. He had the uncanny ability to think three steps ahead and fly safely through every challenge thrown at him.

  “It would be nice to know exactly where we are going,” Piper added, bringing up a point they had been speculating about for weeks.

  “Seriously,” Carly said. “I mean, we launch tomorrow!”

  Carly was assigned to be the ship’s science and technology officer. She’d spent months learning every detail of the ship while honing various skills like troubleshooting the Element Fuser and analyzing the density of a celestial storm.

  Piper had trained to be the crew’s medic. Much of her training was in the medical bay of the Cloud Leopard, performing simulated medical emergencies and learning how to access the vast medical database.

  “Try not to stress,” Dash said. “Failure is not an option, right?”

  “Let’s hope not,” Carly said nervously.

  As commander of the mission, Dash had to learn it all. He not only had to be prepared to make decisions based on his crew’s recommendations, but he also had to be ready and able to fill in for any one of them.

  In addition to their training, they did their best to make the Cloud Leopard their home. They’d worked out in the gym and watched movies in the recreation room. They’d decorated their quarters and made daily video-calls to their families. As the weeks stretched into months, the crew had grown more sure of their skills, and more trusting of each other.

  “We’re going to do this and we’re going to get back with the Source,” Dash said. “I have total confidence.”

  “Good,” Phillips said as he stepped into the room with STEAM right behind him. “I do too.” He stood at the end of the table. “Big day tomorrow. I want you all to get a good night’s sleep.”

  “I doubt I’ll sleep at all,” Carly said, grumbling.

  “Is that because of nerves?” Phillips asked. “Or something else?”

  Dash stood up to represent the group.

  “We’ve done everything you’ve asked us to do,” he began. “We left our families. We worked hard. We studied like crazy. We agreed to fly to the other side of the universe. We’ve done it all, gladly, because it’s important.”

  “One hundred percent correct,” Phillips said. “Where is this going?”

  “That’s the question,” Dash shot back. “Where is this going? Where are we going? We’re supposed to launch tomorrow, but we’re as clueless about what comes next as the day we got here.”

  “We deserve to know where we’re going, Commander,” Piper said. “We earned it.”

  Phillips gave a tired sigh, and for the first time the crew realized that he had been working as hard as they had.

  “We’ve been overloading you with information,” Phillips said. “My concern is that it’s too much to handle, even for exceptional minds like yours. I didn’t want to look too far ahead and have things slip through the cracks right in f
ront of us. That’s why I’ve been holding back on giving you all the information about your flight.” Phillips took a breath. “But you’re right,” he said with conviction. “It’s time you learned. Come with me.”

  Everyone followed Phillips out of the dining hall and into the rec room. The commander strode to the large monitor that hung from the wall on one end, while the crew took the comfortable seats facing it.

  He pointed a remote control and the monitor flashed to life with a detailed, three-dimensional star map.

  “Your destination is a planet that was discovered by a deep-space probe nearly twenty years ago.”

  The image on screen zoomed in, flashing past thousands upon thousands of stars, creating a dizzying journey into deep space. The image eventually slowed until a single green planet filled the screen.

  “It’s called J-16. Its atmosphere and gravity are similar to Earth’s. We’re not entirely sure of the extent of life there.”

  “But things do live there?” Carly asked.

  “Yes, but we don’t believe it is intelligent life as we know it here on Earth.”

  Carly diligently input notes on her Mobile Tech Band.

  “And what exactly are we looking for?” Dash asked.

  “One step at a time, remember?” Phillips said. “Let’s get you there first.”

  “Okay, what about the first step?” Gabriel said. “Do I plot a course through the galaxy?”

  “No,” Phillips said. “The Cloud Leopard is pre-programmed to make the journey. Once you leave orbit you’ll jump into Gamma Speed. The trip will take fifteen days.”

  “At that speed we’re going to be pretty far from home,” Dash said.

  “Yes,” Phillips said. “But you won’t be alone. I’ll be in constant contact.”

  “That’s nice,” Carly said. “But checking in from Earth isn’t the same as having your life on the line a million miles from home.”

  “I know that,” Phillips said. “That’s why I’m sending along a fifth crew member.”

  The group broke out with a jumble of shouts of surprise. Phillips raised his hands to quiet them down.

  “Who is it?” Gabriel asked.

  “Me,” STEAM said.

  All eyes shot to the little robot.

  “You did not think I would miss the fun, did you? No sir!”

  The group erupted again, this time with cries of joy.

  “All right, Steamer!” said Piper.

  “STEAM knows everything about the ship’s systems,” Phillips said. “He will guide you through each phase of the mission.

  “But you’re right,” he continued. “Surprises will happen. It’s inevitable. To deal with the unknown, we need you all up there. People who think. Who adapt. Who have intuition. Picking you four wasn’t just about finding out who could best pilot a ship; it was about putting together a crew who can think on their feet.”

  The weight of Phillips’s words rested heavily on them.

  “Failure is not an option. Right?” Dash said.

  “Not if we want to keep the world spinning,” Phillips replied. “Are we good?”

  Everyone nodded numbly.

  “Good. You are one hundred percent prepared for this, trust me. Tomorrow, you go to space. For tonight, try to get some rest.”

  Everyone got up to head out.

  “Dash, wait a minute?” Phillips said.

  “What’s up?” Dash asked as the others filed out.

  Phillips placed a black metallic briefcase on the table and opened it to reveal an array of what looked like white pens.

  “Time to get started,” Phillips said.

  Dash’s face dropped. He knew exactly what Phillips meant.

  “This is the stuff?” he asked.

  “Each of these vials contains a single dose,” Phillips explained. “It’s simple to use. Flip off the cap to reveal the injector, then jab it anywhere on your body. Your thigh is an easy spot. You can even do it through your clothes. You’ll barely feel it.”

  Dash lifted one of the doses and examined it closely.

  “What’s the schedule?” he asked.

  “The injection must be given every day within twenty-four hours of the last. It wouldn’t be the end of the world if you didn’t hit the window exactly, but if you miss a dose entirely—”

  “Then that would be the end of the world,” Dash said. “At least for me.”

  Phillips didn’t respond.

  “I don’t want the other guys to know,” Dash said as he stared at the injector. “They’re stressed enough.”

  “I understand,” Phillips said. “But STEAM knows. You have to have backup.”

  Dash took a deep breath, blew it out, and said, “All right then, happy unbirthday to me.”

  He lifted the injector, flipped the cap off, and jabbed it into his leg. With a slight click, the first dose was done.

  “And my clock is stopped,” Dash said. “I hope you guys know what you’re doing.”

  None of the crew slept much that night. There were too many thoughts bouncing around in their heads. They had all made one last video-call with their families. It would be a full year before they would see them again, and the last good-byes were difficult.

  The preparation was done. The training was complete. There was nothing left to do but watch the clock tick down to zero.

  “Dash?” Gabriel said quietly, sometime after midnight.

  “I’m awake,” Dash said.

  “Something’s really bothering me.”

  “We’re ready, Gabe,” Dash assured him.

  “I know.”

  “Then what?”

  “What if we blow it? I mean, what if we just flat-out fail and don’t bring the Source back? The whole world is counting on us. How could we face anybody again?”

  Dash thought for a moment and then said, “There are two answers to that. Like Phillips said, all we can do is take it one step at a time. Don’t think of the big picture; it’s overwhelming. Just worry about the next step.”

  “What’s the other answer?” Gabriel asked.

  “I take it back,” Dash said. “There is no other answer. Failure is not an option.”

  Before sunrise the next morning, hundreds of Base Ten personnel were gathered near the hangar that held the launch platform for the Cloud Leopard. All eyes were on the mighty silver spaceship as it lifted off slowly from the launch platform. With an intense burst of power it shot straight up, impossibly fast. The ground rocked with a single violent shudder that came from the immense force expelled from the ship’s engines. There was no trail of smoke, just the rapidly shrinking image of a giant ship speeding faster than any man-made object of that size had ever moved.

  The cheers from the crowd were deafening as the ship became a small black dot that quickly disappeared.

  Dash, Carly, Gabriel, and Piper stood apart from the others, set off by their slick new navy jumpsuits with holographic V-shaped emblems. They had been surprisingly chipper all morning. They talked sports. They told dumb jokes. They tried to talk about anything and everything except the mission. But when the Cloud Leopard started counting down, they fell silent, and they hadn’t spoken a word all through liftoff.

  “Check your MTBs,” STEAM instructed.

  All four looked to their Mobile Tech Bands to see six simple words: THE CLOUD LEOPARD IS IN ORBIT!

  The crowd continued cheering.

  “I guess that means we’re next,” Carly said.

  Commander Phillips approached, and Dash stepped forward.

  “Alpha crew reporting for duty,” Dash said.

  Phillips smiled warmly and led them to the elevator that brought them up to the launch platform. Now that the Cloud Leopard was gone, the much smaller Cloud Cat sat alone in the center of the vast platform. It was about the size of a small house. They walked up the ramp and into the shuttle with STEAM leading the way.

  “Perfect day to fly. Yes sir!” the robot said cheerily.

  “I’m glad you’re here, STEA
M,” Piper said.

  The interior of the Cloud Cat was large enough for four flight seats, two forward and two behind, with enough room to walk between them. Gabriel took the front left pilot’s seat. Dash settled in next to him. Carly sat behind Gabriel, while Piper transferred from her air chair to the rear right. STEAM secured himself against the hull behind them with nylon straps.

  Phillips checked every last strap, making sure the crew was secure.

  “I won’t say good-bye,” Phillips said. “We’ll be talking to each other constantly. I also won’t say good luck because you won’t need it. You’re all too good.”

  “So what will you say?” Gabriel asked.

  Phillips thought for a moment, and coughed as if fighting back emotions. “I want you to know that I’m proud of you all and I wish I was going with you.”

  “Thanks, Commander,” Dash said. “See you soon.”

  Phillips nodded and exited the shuttle before anyone could see how choked up he was.

  The four crew members were alone. They exchanged nervous looks.

  “I guess this is it,” Dash said. “Final words?”

  “Yeah,” Gabriel said. “Don’t say final. We’re just getting started.”

  “Fair enough,” Dash said. “Let’s fly. You’re on, Gabe.”

  Gabriel put on his dark flight glasses, then hit the switch that lifted the ramp up into the ship and sealed the hatch. Nothing was out of the ordinary, except that this was not a training exercise.

  “Alpha Control,” Gabriel said in his most professional pilot voice. “This is Cloud Cat. We are secure and ready to launch.”

  “Roger, Cloud Cat,” the Alpha Control voice said back to them. “Initiating launch sequence.”

  Gabriel took his hands off the controls and sat back.

  “Okay, kids,” he said. “Nothing to do but enjoy the ride.”

  Alpha Control announced, “Cloud Cat, you are go for launch. Thrusters will engage in five…four…three…two…one…engage.”

  The ship shuddered as the engines sprang to life. Everyone was pushed gently into their seats as the craft lifted slowly off the deck.