The dog walked up to him, sat down, and lifted his paw to shake.
Dash took it numbly.
“What the heck?” was all he managed to say.
The golden retriever pulled away from him and trotted for the door.
Dash fought to get his wits back and took off after the dog.
“Hey! Stop! Heel! Sit!”
The animal kept moving and ran forward through the corridor.
Dash was right behind him. It was a mistake. It had to be. The dog must have somehow got aboard without anybody knowing.
The dog ran up to the door that led to the room that was off-limits to the crew. He stood with his nose against the door and scratched at it.
“You can’t go in there,” Dash said. “It’s dangerous and…”
The door slid open.
Dash’s words caught in his throat when he saw who had opened it. Standing inside the off-limits room was yet another unexpected visitor.
It was the blond young man who had been watching the competition from the catwalk on Base Ten.
“You!” Dash exclaimed.
“I see you’ve met Rocket,” the teenager said.
“Rocket?” Dash repeated, stunned.
“My dog.”
“And who are you!” Dash demanded.
“My name is Chris. I’ll be joining you on your voyage.”
“What the heck, Commander Phillips!” Gabriel shouted angrily at the monitor as he paced the navigation deck. “Who is this guy?”
The whole crew was there along with STEAM. Chris stood to the side with his hands folded in front. Rocket lay at his feet, dozing.
“Chris is the reason we’re all here,” Phillips said. “He discovered the Source. He created the Gamma drive. He designed the Cloud Leopard. This has been his project from the get-go. I’ve only been the manager who helped him put it all together.”
All four kids turned and looked at Chris with curiosity.
“He looks like he’s in high school!” Carly declared. “How is that possible?”
“He’s older than he looks,” Phillips replied.
“So you’re some kind of uber-genius?” Dash asked.
“I am,” Chris said matter-of-factly. “And this is my dog, Rocket.”
Rocket raised his head and wagged his tail.
“Why didn’t you tell us?” Piper asked.
“Seriously,” Gabriel said. “We said no more lies and this is a whopper.”
“I didn’t lie,” Phillips said. “I simply didn’t tell you everything.”
“That’s for sure,” Dash said. “This one step at a time thing is getting old.”
“You weren’t told for security purposes,” Phillips said. “Project Alpha has been top secret for years. Chris has been top secret. The information he holds and the technology he invented is priceless. Now that the mission is public, there are those who would do anything to get hold of him. We simply couldn’t risk that.”
Piper flew to STEAM and said, “You told us the off-limits room had the fuel to power the Cloud Leopard.”
“It does,” STEAM said. “That is Chris’s room. Without him, there is no Alpha Project. He is the fuel. Yes sir.”
“Wait,” Dash said. “I thought adults couldn’t survive Gamma Speed?”
“I have been working with the Gamma model for years,” Chris said. “I devised a serum that will allow me to withstand the shock of a Gamma jump, as you can see. But it is specific to my physiology. It would not be effective with anyone else.” He smiled sheepishly, then continued, “Well, Rocket also has special treats.”
Dash stared straight into Chris’s eyes, trying to read his thoughts. Did Chris know that he was taking a daily dose to prevent aging?
“Unbelievable” was all Dash said.
“What else is there, Phillips?” Gabriel demanded. “What haven’t you told us? It’s okay. You can be honest. We’re stuck. We can’t turn back. We’re on our way and we still don’t even know what we’re looking for.”
Phillips looked at Chris and said, “It’s time they knew it all.”
“Darn right it is!” Carly said.
“But I don’t want to hear it from Commander Phillips,” Dash said. “If Chris is the brains, it has to come from him.”
All eyes went to Chris.
Chris gave Rocket a pat on the head and walked calmly forward to stand under the monitor. When he spoke, it was with the precision of a computer.
“We are headed to planet J-16 where we will retrieve one of the elements that will be combined to create the Source,” Chris said.
“One of the elements?” Piper said. “There’s more than one?”
“There are six,” Chris replied. “That is the purpose of the Element Fuser. We must gather all six elements in order to create the compound I have named the Source.”
“So we have to find six elements on J-16?” Dash asked.
“No. Only one of the elements is native to that world. Once it has been retrieved, we must then journey to five other planets. That is why, as you know, this mission will last an entire year.”
The four kids stared at Chris, too stunned to respond.
“Say something,” Phillips said.
“No,” Dash replied. “Not until we get it all.”
“Go ahead, Chris,” Phillips said from the monitor above. “They’ve got to be prepared.”
“We’re not going to like this, are we?” Gabriel asked nervously.
“Retrieving each element will be difficult,” Chris said. “For example, this is a creature that exists on J-16. Its image was captured by the landing probe.”
On the monitor, Phillips’s image gave way to a still photo of a dinosaur towering over the jungle.
Carly and Gabriel both gasped loudly.
“That’s a…that’s a…Raptogon!” Dash exclaimed. “The thing Anna and I battled in the arena.”
“So there’s intelligent life on J-16 after all,” Piper said soberly.
“We have to avoid Raptogons to get the element?” Carly asked.
“Not exactly,” Chris replied. “The elements that make up the Source compound are both chemical and biological. The element we need to retrieve on J-16 is the tooth of a Raptogon.”
The crew erupted with stunned cries.
“You can’t be serious!” Gabriel exclaimed.
“That’s crazy,” Carly said.
When the outburst died down, Chris said, “We have devices on board that will easily bring down a Raptogon. The challenge will be in extracting its tooth.”
Dash dropped his head into his hands.
Carly’s mouth fell open.
Piper held back tears.
Gabriel fought the urge to lunge at Chris and punch his lights out.
“What about the other planets?” Dash asked, his voice barely above a whisper.
“You’ve already gotten a taste,” Phillips replied. “In the arena with the Tundra and the Meta Prime Events.”
“So we weren’t just being tested,” Dash said. “We were being trained.”
“Exactly,” Phillips said.
Gabriel stood up, walked directly to Chris, and said, “So we’ve got to travel across the universe to get to a planet crawling with monster dinosaurs, knock one of ’em out, and then pull its tooth like Hermey the Dentist? And that’s only the first element?”
“I do not understand the Hermey the Dentist reference but yes, that is the first phase of our mission.”
Gabriel looked up to Phillips on the monitor and said, “Ten million bucks isn’t enough.”
“Is protecting Earth for generations enough?” Phillips asked.
“What else haven’t you told us?” Dash asked, dead serious.
“You haven’t been given the details of what must be done on each planet,” Phillips said. “Other than that, yes, that is the entire extent of the mission.”
“No, there is one more thing,” Chris said.
“Will we hate it?” Gabriel asked.
“And the mission will be a failure,” Carly said.
“That is not all,” Chris said. “Without the Source and the full energy it provides, the Cloud Leopard will not have the power to return to Earth.”
That news rocked the crew, leaving them speechless as they tried to get their brains around the devastating bombshell.
“Can we turn around and go home now?” Dash asked. “Honestly.”
“We cannot,” Chris said. “We are at full Gamma power. It takes time to slow and we would drift past the point of no return. We must gather the elements and create the Source or we will not return to Earth.”
Phillips added, “And Earth will die.”
“I guess failure really isn’t an option,” Dash said.
—
The kids held a crew-only meeting in the rec room. Chris wasn’t welcome, nor was STEAM.
“They’ve been lying to us from the beginning,” Gabriel said, pacing anxiously.
“They waited until we couldn’t turn back to tell us what we were in for,” Carly said. “Our families have no idea.”
“The whole world has no idea,” Piper said.
Dash let everyone vent until there was nothing more to complain about.
“We’re stuck,” Dash said. “The way I see it we only have two options. We can refuse to go through with the mission. But that means we’ll be lost in space. Forever.”
“And the other option is to go ahead with the mission?” Piper asked.
“Yeah,” Dash replied. “Maybe they’re not telling the truth about getting stuck out here, but I’m not sure I want to risk that.”
“I say we mutiny and take over the ship,” Gabriel declared boldly. “I can plot the course and navigate us home.”
“I doubt that’s possible,” Carly said. “Not with those ZRKs controlling the ship. They could counter any command you programmed. Dash is right. We’ve only got two choices.”
“Let’s put it to a vote,” Dash said. “We either shut it down or play it out. I vote to play it out. Remember, even with all the lies, we’re here for a reason. This is about saving Earth. And our families. Gabe?”
Gabriel frowned, gave it some thought, and said, “I vote for the third choice. Mutiny. If the ZRKs stop us, then so be it, but I vote to give it a try.”
“Okay. Carly?”
“We have to go ahead with the mission,” she said. “It’s a long shot but we still have the chance of bringing back an energy source that can stop the world from going dark. It’s not what we signed up for, but hopefully the end result will be the same.”
“All right, what about you, Piper?”
Piper nervously ran her hand through her long blond hair.
“I’m scared,” she said. “I mean…dinosaurs? And who knows what’s coming after that?”
“So what do you want to do?” Carly asked.
“C’mon, Piper,” Gabriel said. “I can get us home.”
“I believe you know how, Gabe,” Piper said. “But Chris designed this ship. If we try to take control, he could probably find a way to get it back. We have to do the thing that stands the best chance of getting us home, and that’s playing it out and finding the Source.”
Gabriel folded his arms, pouting.
“All right, then,” Dash said. “I’ll tell Chris.”
Dash stood at the closed door leading to Chris’s quarters.
“Chris!” he called. “It’s Dash.”
Chris’s door slid open and Dash got a glimpse into his room. The space was ringed with hard drives and monitors that rivaled the engine room of the Cloud Leopard. It made him realize that Piper was right: if they tried to take control of the ship, Chris would take it back.
“Yes?” Chris said.
“We all agreed to go forward with the mission, as planned,” Dash said.
“I am glad to hear that,” Chris said with no sign of relief or emotion. “You will not regret it.”
“Yeah, we’ll see. Just tell me one thing, and be honest. What do you think the odds are of us pulling this off and creating the Source?”
Chris didn’t hesitate and said, “Do you want the truth?”
“Yes.”
“Fifty-fifty,” Chris replied. “Those odds will improve as we succeed on each planet.”
The news hit Dash like a shot to the gut.
“Fifty-fifty. That’s not good.”
Chris didn’t respond.
“I’m not going to tell the others that,” Dash said. “I’m going to say you have confidence in the mission and we can’t fail.”
“Then you are going to be dishonest as well,” Chris said. “Why is that acceptable for you, and not for me?”
“Because this wasn’t my idea,” Dash said, trying to hold back his anger. “I didn’t ask people to leave their families and fly off on a mission that could just as easily fail as succeed. The only chance we have of pulling this off is to be confident that it’s possible. So yeah, I’ll fudge the truth, but that’s not close to what you guys have done.”
“I understand,” Chris said.
Dash started to walk off, then thought of something and stopped.
“Do you know about my age? And the youth serum I’m taking?”
“I do,” Chris said. “It is very brave of you.”
“It’s got nothing to do with being brave. I did it because I believe this mission is incredibly important and I believed in Project Alpha. Did I make a mistake?”
“Only if we fail,” Chris said.
—
Days passed as the crew sailed through the cosmos in Gamma Speed. They continued training, now armed with information that was specific to their destination.
Gabriel flew simulations based on the footage taken by the unmanned spacecraft as it landed on J-16.
Piper studied tropical-weather illnesses and practiced with the medical kit designed to treat flesh wounds.
Carly searched the computer database to learn everything she could about J-16. Now that it was unlocked, she found a wealth of information that had been transmitted back from the unmanned craft, including data about other creatures. The Raptogon may have been the fiercest, but there were plenty of other dinosaur-like reptiles that could give them trouble.
Dash worked with the simulators as well, though he didn’t fly much. Instead, he was instructed by STEAM on how to use a bazooka-like pulse cannon that fired out a charge of energy designed to topple a Raptogon. He spent hours inside a virtual-reality simulator that gave him the illusion he was in the jungle. Raptogons would appear and attack, prompting Dash to fire on them with the dummy weapon. It took him a while to get the hang of aiming the cumbersome device, but within days, he was knocking down beasties left and right.
Chris spent most of his time in his quarters and that was okay with the crew. They didn’t want to deal with him. He took his meals alone and made rare appearances on the navigation deck to discuss the journey’s progress.
Chris was an enigma. He had very little personality. It was like talking to an emotionless robot, which was an insult to robots that actually had a personality, like STEAM.
Rocket, on the other hand, had the run of the ship. Even though he was Chris’s dog, the kids welcomed him as if he was their own. They played fetch in the gym and let him sleep across their laps while they watched movies in the rec room. Rocket turned out to be the only surprise they didn’t have a problem with.
Everyone looked forward to the weekly family visits when Alpha Control patched picture and audio from their homes on Earth, directly to the ship. None of the crew let on about the truth of the mission. There was no sense in worrying their families any more than they already were. Instead, they put on happy faces and talked all about ho
w great the ship was and demonstrated how they traveled through the tubes. Each call ended with their families feeling confident that all was well.
Like Phillips and Chris, they weren’t being entirely honest.
Communication with Commander Phillips was always short, tense, and businesslike. He had lost the trust of the crew but they still needed him for ground support, making it necessary for the crew to tolerate their infrequent chats.
There was plenty to do on the ship, so it never got boring. It was when they hit the two-week mark that tension returned.
The next phase of the mission was about to begin.
—
Chris joined the crew on the navigation deck. When he stepped onto the bridge, everyone instantly stopped talking.
“I would like to say something,” Chris announced.
Nobody responded.
“I understand your feelings toward me and toward Commander Phillips. You feel as if we deceived you and in some ways we did. But that doesn’t change the reality we are faced with. Earth is in danger. Your families are in danger. We have an opportunity to save them. That’s why you volunteered for this mission and that has not changed. I hope you can look beyond your disdain for our methods and remember why we are here.”
“But we don’t trust you,” Dash said.
“I understand,” Chris said. “I will do all that I can to earn that trust.”
“We’ll think about it,” Carly said.
“Understood,” Chris said. “But please think quickly.”
“Why?” Gabriel asked.
Chris pointed to the endless field of stars through the forward window. For weeks, the crew had been gazing at that view, marveling at the constantly changing configuration of stars as the Cloud Leopard sped through the universe.
“There,” Chris said. “That green light. That is J-16. We have arrived.”
Orbit.
The rapid deceleration and exit from Gamma Speed wasn’t as smooth as when they had entered. The Cloud Leopard bounced and buffeted as if they were flying through a turbulent sea. It pushed the crew against their safety straps, throwing them one way and then the other without warning.
“Getting sick,” Piper declared.
“Is this normal?” Carly asked nervously.
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