“Don’t call the police on the Shepherds,” Dani clarified. “Call them on yourself. You’re trespassing in Omega City. Get arrested. You’ll be safe in jail.”
We all stared at her. I think my mouth was open.
“You’re . . . really twisted, did you know that?” Mom whispered.
Dani didn’t even flinch. “Can’t help it. It’s how I was raised. Now, will you help me?”
FIFTEEN MINUTES LATER, we were all standing at the launch terminal of another missile silo, staring into the hollow cylinder at the gleaming white sides of another rocket ship. This one was marked on its side with the name Wisdom.
Eric seemed skeptical. “For a man who left the Shepherds because he thought we should all stay on Earth, Dr. Underberg really likes his rocket ships.”
“Duh. He was a rocket scientist,” I said. “Besides, that’s not why he left the Shepherds. He was just really sick of them lying to get their way.” I glared at Dani, but she ignored me, as she was busy hacking into the computers there and readying Wisdom for takeoff.
Mom put her hand up against the glass and leaned forward, looking down into the depths of the silo below. “I’m still not sure how this glass is supposed to keep us safe.”
“It’s not,” explained Howard. He pointed to the edges. “Before the missile takes off, there are multiple layers of blast doors and ceramic shielding that cover us and protect us from the rockets.”
“Still,” said Mom, her brow furrowed.
Dani wore a similarly uncertain expression, but I don’t think it was because she was nervous about the safety of the launch station. After all, that would require her to actually care about us. No, she was busy working on the actual launch and flight plan, as well as making sure Wisdom was capable of life support and other mechanisms.
“You know what I don’t get?” Savannah asked. “Why the Shepherds never found this place before we did.”
Dani sighed. “They thought it was destroyed, and Dr. Underberg with it. Fiona was the only one who suspected the truth. But Guidant has all the money in the world to fix things up now, so as soon as we were made aware that it was here, we stepped in.”
All the money in the world, I thought, as long as their secrets and lies stayed buried.
Howard was still admiring the ship. “So the Shepherds rebuilt it, just like the rest of Omega City?”
“Yes.” Dani typed on.
“Why did they do that, if they had their own spaceships?” he asked.
“Howard, dear,” said my mother. “Maybe don’t bother Dani while she’s, um . . . hacking?”
“It’s okay,” said Dani, not looking up from the screen. “They originally rebuilt the ship because they were trying to launch it to intercept Underberg’s ship, Knowledge. The ships are twins, and have built-in flight plans meant to allow them to automatically join and link up once in orbit.”
That made sense. If the people on the ships were all from Omega City, it only stood to reason that they’d want to find each other in outer space. “So you guys rebuilt it hoping that would be an easy way for you to find Dr. Underberg?”
“Exactly.” The tapping of the keys became more furious.
Savannah made a face. “So why didn’t you do it? I mean, wouldn’t catching Dr. Underberg have been so much easier than kidnapping all of us and planting us on your space station as a trap?”
“They tried. Unfortunately, they never could figure out how to disarm the kill switch that kept the rocket from launching.”
“What’s a kill switch?” Savannah asked, her eyes wide.
“It’s an automatic shutoff,” said Eric. “You know, like the one in that elevator that almost gassed us when it thought we were Russians?”
“Oh,” said Savannah. “Yeah. That’s just like Dr. Underberg to put something like that on his rocket ships, to keep outsiders like the Shepherds from using it.”
Dani pressed one more button, then sat back in her chair, a satisfied smile playing across her face as the lights on the launch terminal came alive. “But I just fixed it.”
Above our heads, a dozen screens flickered to life, showing the silo and the rocket from different angles. There were also views of what must be the interior of the spaceship. It looked a lot like I remembered Knowledge, with the big chairs for the astronauts and small rooms connected by round hatches and covered with storage and control panels.
“Wow,” said Howard. “Are you sure I can’t go inside? Just to see?”
Mom shook her head. “Who do you think you’re kidding?”
Savannah leaned forward. “Wait, you fixed it? Just now?”
“Yep.” Dani brushed her aside to set up the launch sequence.
“But aren’t Guidant people all excellent computer programmers? You said earlier that the computers in Omega City were so ancient that a five-year-old with a cell phone could break in. So why couldn’t they?”
“Maybe it’s the same reason no one found Omega City before we did,” I suggested. “Dr. Underberg hides things so only people who are his friends can find them. I’m sure it was something personal, right, Dani?”
“Uh-huh.” She nodded, typing. “What Gillian said. Personal.”
“So what was the code this time?” Savannah asked. “More Pluto stuff? Another number code?”
“Okay,” conceded Dani. “Maybe not exactly the same.”
“Do you ever stop lying?” Mom sounded exasperated.
And so did Dani. She groaned in frustration. “It was me, okay? I hacked the hackers. I didn’t want them catching Underberg, so I made sure they couldn’t disarm the switch and launch the ship. And now, I’ve undone my beautiful work.”
“So you can catch him,” I said, studying her. Mom was right. She lied about everything. She lied so much, maybe she didn’t even know what the truth was.
“Yes.”
Actually, she told me she didn’t believe in the truth, just whatever story worked best for her. Which meant I’d better make sure her story was set before she left.
“And rescue my father,” I prompted. “And Nate.”
“Yes!” She threw her hands in the air. “Do we have to keep going over this?”
“Not if you don’t keep changing your story.”
She rolled her eyes. “I think that’s my cue to blast off.”
Howard came forward again. “Are you going to get in a space suit?”
Dani shook her head as she unzipped the hood of her utility suit. “These suits are positive pressure suits. All I need to do is hook them up to the machines inside and it should be sufficient for my flight. This isn’t the moon mission, guys. Our technology is way better. I will, of course, be wearing a helmet. But those are inside the rocket, too.”
Mom sat down at the launch chair Dani had vacated. “And it’s all automated? To . . . blast you off and fly you to the other spaceship and everything?”
“Should be,” said Dani as she tucked her hair inside her hood.
“And the blast doors and stuff? That’s automatic, too?” Eric added. “I don’t want to be fried.”
“Yes, yes, yes.”
I couldn’t believe how casual she was acting about going to outer space. Then again, she said she’d done it before. I wondered if that was what happened when you were raised as a Shepherd—you came to believe that spaceflight was no more special than an afternoon drive.
She turned to my mother. “You’ll call the cops when I’m gone, right?”
I guess that was another thing Shepherds were used to saying.
“Yes. I hope they can get in here without your voodoo.” Mom gestured to Dani’s box.
“Of course,” said Dani. “I’ve disarmed the entry system. Anyone can come in now. I had to make it look like you all really broke in. And don’t worry. I’m sure the police will believe you. After all, this isn’t the first time the kids have trespassed in Omega City.” She took one last check of her programming. “Well, this is it. Any messages for your father? Or Nate? Or Dr. Under
berg?”
“Stay safe?” suggested Mom.
“Come home?” suggested Savannah.
“Remember everything you can. I can’t believe you get to go into outer space!” whined Howard.
I looked at Eric. Eric looked at me. I couldn’t think of any messages I’d trust Dani to deliver.
“Stay safe,” I echoed at last.
“Yeah,” agreed Eric. “And come home.”
“And—” we both said at once, then stopped, gesturing at each other to finish.
“And we love you,” I said.
Dani nodded. “Okay.” Then she left the room. A few minutes later, we saw her silver-encased figure cross the walkway to the rocket, far below. A few moments after that, her frame came into view on several of the interior monitors. She was aboard Wisdom. We watched as she busied herself getting settled in the cabin, making sure everything was operational and online, and going through her final launch checks.
Eric sidled up to me. “Is this really going to work?”
I shrugged. I had no idea. “We’ve gotten this far.”
“Yeah,” he said. “And we’ve messed up every time.”
“Not every time.” I had to cling to something. “We got into Omega City okay.”
“Sure,” he said. “But do you think we’re going to get out okay?”
I folded my hands in front of me, ignoring the sour pit of dread in my stomach. All this work to get out of Eureka Cove, and we were still in Shepherd territory. I watched Dani on the monitors. She was our last chance to save my father, and I barely trusted her.
Eric nudged my shoulder. “The good news is, we managed it last time, right?”
“Right,” I mumbled.
He looked at Mom. “You know, I don’t think you actually need to call the cops. They came the last time when the rocket took off.”
Mom clasped her hands in front of her, squeezing tight. It made her seem nervous and small. I glanced down at my own interlocking fingers, and quickly released them. Oops.
“So we just wait, then?” Mom asked.
“Or we go,” said Savannah. “Like, now.”
“No!” cried Howard. “I want to see the rocket launch.”
“Well, I want to not get caught by the Shepherds,” said Savannah. “So which is more important?”
And then a loud, booming voice sounded through the room. A voice I knew well. Dr. Underberg and his recorded messages for Omega City residents.
Launch sequence activated—Rocketship Wisdom.
Please evacuate all personnel and equipment from launch silo.
“Here we go!” Howard bounced again. He ran toward the window but, as promised, large plates of steel began to fold up and cover the view.
Mom watched the shields slide into place, but still looked concerned. “Do you think we’d be safer waiting elsewhere?”
Launch sequence paused. Deploy hex key to continue.
On-screen, we saw Dani pause whatever she was doing and look up, her helmeted face impossible to read. She quirked her head to the side as Dr. Underberg’s voice repeated the instruction, then turned her attention to the terminal before her and started pressing buttons.
“What’s a hex key?” Savannah asked.
“It’s probably a hexadecimal code,” Howard said. “It’s a type of computer code. Base sixteen.”
More codes. Well, at least Dani was well equipped to handle that. I watched her on the TV screen for a few minutes more. Her work was steady, unhurried and deliberate as the seconds ticked by.
I really hoped she knew what she was doing.
9
SECURITY
EXCEPT FIFTEEN MORE MINUTES PASSED, AND NOTHING CHANGED. DANI still worked furiously at the terminal near the pilot’s chair, and the loudspeaker still repeated Dr. Underberg’s messages of delay. After a while, he sounded a little peevish, though I’m sure that was just my imagination.
Launch sequence paused. Deploy hex key to continue.
“Is there a way to turn him off?” I asked at last. “It can’t be good for her concentration.”
“I’ll help her,” said Howard. “I’m good with codes.”
“You’ll do nothing of the sort,” said Mom. She had turned on yet more screens in the launch terminal, showing exterior security footage of Omega City and the field above it. She kept nervously scanning them for signs of new arrivals. “We’re all staying together, and far away from that rocket.” She leaned in to look at one of the screens. “Oh, no.”
There were cars pulling up outside the building where we’d entered. I saw dust clouding around the parking lot, and through it the shadow of dark sedans. Because of the camera placement, we had a bird’s-eye view.
“Are they Shepherds?” Eric asked. I swallowed, my throat dry.
“Look.” Howard pointed at one of the cars on the screen. You could just make out the glint of a light array on the car hoods, but no lights were flashing. “I think they are police.”
“That’s good news,” said Eric. He looked confused. “Right?”
Mom squinted at the images. “But if they came to investigate, why aren’t their lights flashing?” She looked at me. “Gillian, do you think they’re really the police?”
I came closer. “I don’t know . . . why are you asking?”
“Because your father isn’t here, and I trust your opinion.”
Her words hit hard and I blinked in surprise. Mom trusted my opinion about the bad guys—about Them. Because like it or not, this was all very real.
On-screen, they opened the exterior door and came inside the building. I lifted my eyes to the next screen, the one displaying the entrance chamber and the elevator. Here, the picture was better, but as they rushed in, I still couldn’t get a good enough view to make out a badge or anything. Dark clothes, thick belts—whoever these guys were, they were armed.
“I don’t know. They might be?” But the Shepherds wore dark clothes, too.
“If they are the police, we can turn ourselves in. If not . . . we should hide.” Mom bit her lip.
“What about Dani?” asked Savannah.
“What about the spaceship?” asked Howard. “She has to take off before the police get here.”
I squeezed my hands together. If Dani didn’t go, this had all been for nothing.
Mom nodded and turned to the communications array at the terminal. She flicked a switch. “Dani, someone has arrived here. It might be the police, it might be the Shepherds. Any advice?”
On-screen, Dani looked up, directly into the monitor, though her face wasn’t visible behind the mask of her helmet. “Um, I’m a little busy at the moment. Trying to get to outer space, remember?”
“Is there anything we can do to help?” Howard blurted out.
“No.” Dani went back to work. Her answer was clear—she had no advice for us. We were on our own.
Another ten minutes passed as we watched the intruders make their way through Omega City. I kept looking for badges or some other mark of their true identity, but when I thought about it, I realized it didn’t make any difference. If the Shepherds wanted to dress up like police, it would be easy. Easier even than copying our voices.
“We should find a hiding place,” I said, not liking the quake in my voice. “Just in case.” Behind me, Savannah sprang out of her seat and started checking the closets.
On-screen, Dani took her helmet off and addressed us again. “Dr. Seagret, can you enter a code for me from your side?”
“Um, we’re in the middle of . . . ,” Mom began fretfully. “It’s just that the kids . . .”
She exchanged quick glances with me.
“Mom, we have to help her take off. We have to. We’ll go hide, but if she doesn’t get up there, Dad—” I couldn’t even say it.
Mom gave a short, decisive nod. “Right. Go. Hide. I love you.” She turned back to the microphone. “Give me the code.”
“Gillian!” Savannah beckoned me over to a set of cabinets. We wriggled inside, Howard
and Savannah in one, Eric and me in the other. It was difficult shutting the doors from the inside, but we eventually managed. I found that if I angled my eye just right, I could see a slice of the room through the space where the door of the cabinet met the frame. It was just enough of a view to see my mother and three of the monitors. One still showed Dani at the spaceship. Another a shot of the walkway bridging out over the silo. And a third an empty corridor, somewhere in Omega City.
Launch sequence paused. Deploy hex key to continue.
We should have turned that announcement off. Where else might it be broadcasting in Omega City? If the newcomers heard it, they’d know exactly where we were.
We sat in silence as Mom and Dani worked. “Mom?” I said, after a minute or two. “Is there a lock or anything? A way to bar the door?”
“Dani, I’ll be right back,” Mom said over the loudspeaker. That may have been her doom, because just as she stood up, I saw figures on the walkway to the spaceship.
My heart stopped. They were here!
Eric found my hand in the darkness and squeezed, hard. A sob caught in my throat.
On-screen, figures burst in on Dani. I don’t know what I was expecting—her to fight them off, maybe? But she didn’t. In a moment, she was subdued and they were leading her back across the walkway.
Mom stood frozen in the middle of the floor. “Don’t make a noise,” she whispered. “Listen to me. Don’t make a sound.”
The door burst open. Eric and I clung tightly to each other. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t think.
Figures in black surrounded my mother. I shied away from the crack in the door out of instinct.
They were all shouting at once, but I could barely take anything in.
Get away from the keyboard! Put up your hands! Do you have her? Don’t let her get away. What are you doing here? What’s your name? Where’s your ID? Where’s the other one? Who else is here?
“Don’t talk to them, Grace.” Dani’s voice cut through the commotion. “Not a word.”
I held my breath and leaned forward to peek through the crack again. Dani in her silver suit was kneeling on the floor next to my mother. They both had their hands fastened behind their backs.
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