“Where are the children?” asked a voice.
“What children?” Dani asked. There was a thump and she sprawled forward, unable to catch herself because of the zip ties around her wrists.
“Dr. Seagret, where are your children?”
My mother’s mouth remained shut.
“Do you realize people are looking for them?” the voice went on. “Don’t you want them to be safe?”
Don’t fall for it, I silently begged my mother. I knew this line of questioning. The Shepherds made it sound like they were on your side. But they were the ones looking for us. And she was the only one who knew where we were.
“Answer us now!”
On the floor, Dani was a flash of silver, and the room erupted in chaos.
Watch out! Quick! Stop her! What was that? What did she hit her with?
My mother slumped to the ground, her dark hair spilling over the floor. Beside me, Eric jerked, and I grabbed him before he could make a sound. But things were too crazy outside for anyone to hear us.
Eric was panting in my ear, and I realized that I was holding my breath. Mom was on the ground, only a few feet away. And there wasn’t a thing we could do that wouldn’t end up with us the same way.
Don’t make a noise. Listen to me. Don’t make a sound. My mother’s last words to us echoed in my head and I breathed out as slowly and silently as I could manage.
Outside, I heard a struggle, and Dani seemed to be dragged out of the way, over to the edge of the room. Our edge.
“What was that!” someone shouted. “What did you do to her?”
“Animal tranquilizers,” Dani replied calmly. “Though you’re the ones acting like animals.”
“Dr. Seagret. Dr. Seagret. Where are your children?” One of the guards knelt over her. “Hurry, hurry, she’s losing consciousness.”
“We hid them.” My mother’s voice was slurred and slow. “Somewhere safe.” The man waited, but my mother didn’t say anything after that. I’d forgotten how to breathe. Dani had lied again, broken her promise to my mother about using tranquilizers—and possibly saved us all.
“Where are they?” He barreled down on Dani, who was now quite close to my cabinet. I could hear the anger in his voice vibrating through the metal.
“Far away from here,” Dani said. “Are you kidding? That woman was so worried about her precious tots, she refused to do anything to help me until we dropped them off with a friend of hers. You know the Seagrets and their links to the conspiracy community. They’re probably way off grid by now.”
I was impressed by that story. I guess if you had as much practice lying as Dani, it came easy.
“What were you thinking, Alcestis? Do you have any idea what you’re risking?”
“Yes,” she replied. “I know it perfectly. And I’d rather risk it than risk my father’s life. You can tell Elana that, or I’ll be happy to tell her myself.”
“We’ll see about that.”
Just then, her eyes focused on me through the crack in the cabinet doors. “Yes, we’ll see what happens now. You may have caught us, but it’s not over. We’ll be okay. And I’ve launched more plans than you can possibly imagine.” Her gaze bored into mine.
“Ugh, shut her up, would you?” Someone dragged Dani away. Dr. Underberg’s voice flowed through the room again.
Launch sequence paused. Deploy hex key to continue.
“And shut this down, too, while you’re at it. The last thing we need right now is any unscheduled launches.”
“Yes, sir.”
“I’ve got to call for backup and find out where the children went. Dani has to have left some clue behind. We almost got it out of the mother.”
They thought we really had been dropped off somewhere, like the police station or Howard’s house. Dani had been right.
Outside, the dark-clothed people continued bustling around, but it got quieter and quieter. My legs started to ache, but I was too terrified to move, afraid I’d make a sound. Eric and I clutched at each other for reassurance. More time passed. I have no idea how much. Months, probably.
Eventually, I was pretty sure we were alone, but I was still too scared to open the door and see. Eric and I looked at each other. I shook my head at the question in his eyes.
I heard a thump from the other cabinet.
“Ow, Howard, stop.” Savannah. “I can’t move any faster. My leg’s asleep.”
“Well, scoot over. I need to go to the bathroom now.”
The silver of Howard’s utility suit passed before the door. Eric and I leaped into action, scrambling out.
“Howard, wait! Don’t leave the room,” I hissed at him, but he was already halfway out the door. What if the Shepherds were waiting just outside?
“Ow ow ow,” said Eric, hopping up and down on one foot. “Pins and needles, pins and needles.”
Savannah and I hurried to each other.
“Gillian, I’m so sorry,” she said. “I’m so sorry about your mom.”
“Yeah.” I felt numb about it, really. “But I’m still proud of her. She didn’t give us up, even as she was losing consciousness.”
“That was awesome!” Eric agreed. “I had no idea Mom was such a good liar.”
Neither had I. All this time, when the divorce was happening and we were selling our house and our boat and all this other stuff, Mom was the good one. The one who was following the rules. The one who had her career in shape and her priorities in place. She was the one who sent money and reminders to buy school uniforms, the one who rolled her eyes when Dad burned our dinners or lost our life savings or went on hour-long rants about government secrets and shadowy plots.
And now, she was the one who had lied to those same secret keepers—while being tranquilized—and saved all our butts.
Only, now what? We were alone, again, in Omega City. And no better off than we’d been yesterday.
“What do we do?” Savannah asked. “Do we call the cops now? The real cops?”
I puzzled over Dani’s last words, which I knew had been meant for me. You may have caught us, but it’s not over. We’ll be okay.
“I think—I think Dani saw me in the cabinet. She doesn’t want us to do anything about her and Mom.”
Eric’s jaw was set, but he didn’t argue that point. He’d heard her, too. “Mom’s not going to be happy when she wakes up and realizes Dani knocked her out.”
“Maybe.” Or maybe Dani saved her life doing it. The Shepherds would have to wait until my mother woke up to ask where we’d gone. It might give us enough time to get away. But to where?
I’ve launched more plans than you can possibly imagine.
She couldn’t mean . . . us. I felt shaky.
Howard came back in, still zipping up his utility suit. “I’m back. But you guys all better go, too. It’s way easier to pee down here on Earth than it is in space. Trust me on that one.”
“What?” Savannah’s eyebrows went into her hairline. “We’re not going to space.”
Howard looked at her like she was speaking gibberish. “Of course we are. Someone has to go get my brother and it’s not going to be Dani now. So it has to be us.” The words fell like tiny bombs into the landscape of my fear. Of course it had to be us.
I stared at him, in awe at his single-minded confidence as he crossed to the control panel and started turning things back on.
“Um, no it doesn’t,” Savannah said. “I’m not going into space.”
The screens all flipped on, showing empty corridors, empty silos, empty cockpits.
“Howard!” Eric cried. “What do we say about pushing buttons?”
“Relax,” said Howard. “I paid attention to what Dani did. Plus, the Shepherds left her little gray box. Look.” He pointed, and sure enough, her little hacker box still stuck out of the port of one of the terminals.
“That doesn’t make you Dani,” Savannah said. “Or, you know, able to launch a rocket.”
“You heard her!” Howard cried. “They are
basically set to autopilot.”
“Are you kidding?” Savannah shook her head in disbelief. “It’s. Outer. Space.”
Somehow, I don’t think that warning had the effect Savannah intended, as Howard just grinned and went back to work.
“Gillian!” cried Savannah, turning to me in exasperation. “Say something.”
Howard didn’t even spare me a glance. I opened my mouth, but nothing came out.
Because Howard was right. Nate needed to come home. Dad needed to come home. And there was no one left to go get them but . . . us.
Still. Outer space?
“Gills?” Eric said, his tone fearful. “Gills?”
“We can’t leave them up there,” I whispered to Eric.
“We can’t go get them, either.”
“What’s your suggestion, then?”
Eric ran a hand over his face. “We’re not astronauts, Gillian. We’re not. It was impossible when Dr. Underberg invited us to come with him last year. It’s impossible now.”
“Except Dr. Underberg is fine,” Howard pointed out. “He went up into space ten months ago, and he’s still there now. Knowledge was in a lot worse shape than Wisdom here is. And Dr. Underberg wasn’t in as good shape as we are.”
“We,” said Savannah, “are kids. Astronauts need to do months of training. They need to learn how to do everything in zero g.”
“That’s why I suggested you pee before we leave.”
“Sure. Peeing is the problem.”
“It is. Astronauts have to train to do it.”
She threw up her hands in frustration. “It’s like talking to a wall.”
“Gills,” Eric added, gesturing helplessly toward Howard. “Do something.”
I looked at Savannah. I looked at Eric. I took a deep breath.
Then I joined Howard at the keyboard. “How can I help us get to outer space?”
10
TURNKEY
ERIC GROANED. “WHAT? GILLS, NO.”
“Gillian—” Savannah’s words came at me as if from a great distance. I didn’t answer. I didn’t care. I was going to space, and I was bringing my father home.
Howard flipped another switch, and the voice of Dr. Underberg sprang to life once more.
Launch sequence paused. Deploy hex key to continue.
“You have got to be kidding me!” Eric cried.
“Okay,” I said to Howard. “Now what?” This was as far as Dani had gotten, and it still wasn’t blasting anyone into space.
“Now go to the bathroom. Get ready. I’ll go see what’s going on inside the rocket.”
There was a restroom conveniently located outside the launch terminal station. I used it, and while I was washing my hands, I looked at my reflection in the mirror. My ponytail was a mess; my utility suit looked rumpled. I smoothed out my hair. Were ponytails annoying in zero g? Maybe I should put it in a braid. A bun wouldn’t fit under my helmet. A braid, at least, I could tuck down the back of my suit.
Sure, Gillian. Think of your hair when you’re about to launch into outer space.
I was almost done braiding when I caught sight of Eric standing behind me.
“Do you know what Savannah and I have spent the last ten minutes doing?”
“No.”
“Checking to see if Dani left any more tranquilizers behind. Gills. We can’t talk Howard out of this. I know that. But I can’t let you go. It’s too dangerous.”
I wound a rubber band around the end of my braid. “Everything we’ve ever done in Omega City has been dangerous. It was dangerous for us to scuba dive through a parking lot. It was dangerous for us to use grappling hooks to escape an exploding rocket ship.”
“Yeah,” Eric agreed, “but we didn’t have a choice there.”
I turned around to face him. “I don’t have a choice, either. Someone has to get Dad. Someone has to get Nate. I’ll be fine.”
“Dad would not want you to risk your life for him.” Eric grabbed my shoulders. “Astronauts die, Gills. They die all the time.”
A shudder passed through me as I met his eyes. The usual teasing light was nowhere to be found. He was totally serious, and seriously terrified.
And so was I.
“Well, I’m going to make sure we don’t. All of us.” I slid my arms around his back and hugged him, hard. “I love you, Eric. Give my love to Mom and Paper Clip.”
Then I pushed past him and back into the stairwell, but instead of going up, I went down. I don’t know if he followed me. I couldn’t bring myself to stop and check.
The door to the walkway opened at my approach.
Greetings, space explorers. You have arrived at the doorway of the Rocketship Wisdom. Please come prepared with your blood type, life-support gear, and thirst for adventure.
I took a deep breath and stepped out. This walkway was sturdy and solid, unlike the one I’d crossed the last time I’d gotten on a rocket ship in Omega City. I tried not to look down as I walked out above the void. Though since I was about to get farther away from the ground than most humans, the idea of being scared of this height seemed a bit silly.
The door lay open. Inside, it looked like a spruced-up version of Underberg’s other ship. The same panels and screens and storage covered every inch of the interior chambers—but everything gleamed and shone in this one. I made my way down through the circular hatches connecting floor to ceiling into the pilot’s chamber. Howard was kneeling by one of the chairs and checking a bunch of wires and tubes that protruded from its base.
“The life-support stuff seems to be in great shape,” he said. “And they have all kinds of instruction checklists everywhere. I don’t know what Savannah and Eric are worried about. A child could do this.”
We are children, I thought. And just because we can follow instructions doesn’t mean we can launch a rocket.
I looked at the screen showing the launch terminal. Eric and Savannah sat in the seats up there, their eyes glued to their own monitors. I waved, and watched their reaction.
I came closer and flicked on the audio. “Hi, Sav.”
“Hi, Gillian.” She didn’t sound happy. On-screen, she folded her arms across her chest.
“Don’t be mad at me!” I exclaimed. “You know I have to do this.”
“I’m not mad,” she said.
“I mean, don’t worry.”
“I’m not worried. Because you aren’t going to do it.”
“Yes, we are!” Howard shouted, then went back to work.
Launch sequence paused. Deploy hex key to continue.
Then again, maybe we wouldn’t. “Um, Howard? Did you ever figure out what that code is that Dani was stuck on?”
“I’m doing that next.” He held up some tubing. “Here, attach the life support on your suit.”
You know what’s a scary term? Life support.
Howard lifted the flaps of my utility suit to find the panel used to set the cooling or heating elements, then plugged two different wires and a tube into the ports there. The suit suddenly felt tightly squeezed around me and then, on a breath, puffed up until all the wrinkles stretched out.
“There you go. Pressurized. Want me to show you how to attach the helmet?”
I nodded and he got to work. The helmet was hard, with an airtight seal around the base of my neck that tucked into the collar of my utility suit. My ears popped when he had it all worked out. I swallowed thickly and peered through the shadowy glass. All of a sudden, it seemed like too small a thing to really protect me.
And it was pointless, anyway, unless Howard unlocked Underberg’s code.
“So, Howard?” I said, and my voice echoed around the inside of my helmet. “You do have the hex key, right?”
“I will.”
Savannah was still sitting there smugly, watching us with crossed arms and a self-satisfied expression.
“Sav, seriously? I don’t want this to be my last memory of you.”
“Oh?” Eric snapped. “What happened to ‘I’ll be fine’?
”
“It won’t be your last memory,” she said. “Because you aren’t going anywhere.”
Launch sequence paused. Deploy hex key to continue.
She grinned.
Inside my space suit, I stamped my foot. I could not believe she was smiling about all this. “Sav, this isn’t funny. Dad’s up there. Nate’s up there. And no one can save them if we can’t. Don’t you get that? Nate saved your life last year. You almost drowned in that elevator”—I gestured vaguely to where I figured that chamber was in Omega City—“and he rescued you. We owe him the same thing.”
The smile vanished from her face.
“Don’t,” Eric said to her as Savannah’s arms dropped to her sides. “Sav, don’t help them.”
But Savannah had disappeared from view. Eric glared at me through the screen. I ignored him.
A few minutes later, she crawled down through the hatch.
“Savannah!” Howard exclaimed. He jumped out of his seat and started rigging up another one of the flight chairs. “Come try on a helmet.”
“I’m not going anywhere,” she said. She turned to me. “I’m here to help you take off. And I’m not doing it just because of Nate and the elevator, either. Besides, I already know you’ll risk your life to save someone you love, Gillian. Because I almost drowned twice in Omega City, and it was you who saved me the other time.”
My eyes began to burn and I took two steps forward and encased her in a hug. Even through the weird, rubberized sensation of my pressurized utility suit, I could imagine I felt her heart pounding as hard as my own.
She pulled away and wiped her eyes. “Now let’s get you guys into outer space.”
“How do you plan to do that?” I asked. “Suddenly learn codes?”
She shook her head. “You’ve got it all wrong. Dani did, too. The hex key isn’t a code. It’s an actual key.” She held up the hexaflexagon zipper pull. “Now all we need to do is find the lock.”
“How do you know this?” asked Howard. He crossed the chamber in a single step and went to snatch the hexaflexagon out of Savannah’s grip, but she closed her fingers around it and held tight.
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