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4.9 Months Later
Magnus sat with Sylvia in the shuttle cabin watching the control panel. Carter had gone to the restroom. The Percival 3000 was less than half a day from entering the Earth’s atmosphere. Digger slept curled on Sylvia’s lap while she read different computer readouts.
Magnus looked over his shoulder toward the cabin door. He sighed. “Carter spends a lot of time in the restroom, doesn’t he?”
“I know,” Sylvia said. “He likes to sort through issues in private.”
“Is that all he does?” Magnus asked with a naughty grin.
She blushed. “Since we came out of hibernation, I think I’ve kept him too busy for him to want to—”
“I’m teasing.” Magnus laughed deeply.
“I know. I can’t ever get him to open up with me about what’s bothering him.”
“I worry about him sometimes. His mental stability isn’t quite on the right edge.”
“You’ve noticed that, too?” she asked.
He nodded. “Yes.”
“He frightens me at times.”
Magnus looked into her eyes. “Why? Has he hurt you?”
She shook her head. “No. Nothing like that. But his mind shifts into deep trances. When he goes into those, it’s nearly impossible to shake him out of such spells. Once he snaps back into reality, he doesn’t remember zoning out.”
“I checked his hibernation chamber’s settings after he went under. So I know he was scheduled for the same amount of time we were. I’d almost believe the deep sleep might have somehow affected his brain, but I had seen him slip into trances before then. Do you know if he’s on certain kinds of medications? If he had been deprived of them during hibernation . . .”
“He never told me if he was on meds. But I think that he’s still upset about Wanda’s death, even though he’s never mentioned her. Of course, I’ve not said anything about her because I don’t want him to regress. But, you know, I thought my affections might make him forget about that pain. If she’s not the reason why he’s still having issues, I wonder what is?”
He shrugged. “I have no idea.”
“Nor do I,” she said softly.
Magnus rubbed his hands together while watching the curve of the Earth. Seeing the world from above, the oceans, the landmasses, and the puffy white clouds, was more vivid than he’d ever be able to explain in mere words. The world truly was a spectacular sight to behold. Much more colorful than the Martian landscape.
A part of him couldn’t wait to walk on Earth again. He missed it more than he had thought he would. Looking away from the panoramic screen, he noticed the tears in Sylvia’s eyes. Her hope to heal Carter weighed hard on her.
“Pain of loss is hard for some to overcome,” he said softly. “Some never get past it, regardless of how much others try to help.”
“I know. I’m too optimistic. A bad flaw, I suppose.”
“No, it isn’t. As long as there is hope, you have something to strive for. Once hope disappears, death knocks. Without hope, there’s no need to live.”
Her hand stroked Digger’s neck while she sat deep in thought. She probably didn’t even knowing she was doing so. It was why people needed pets. Comfort. Therapy. Her free hand wiped her eyes before the tears escaped and streamed down her face.
“Any idea how long before we land?” he asked.
“Within eight hours? We should circle the earth a few times as our acceleration slows.”
The cabin door opened. Magnus and Sylvia turned. Carter smiled. Concern crossed his face when he saw Sylvia’s red eyes and cheeks.
“Is everything okay?” Carter asked.
She nodded. “I’m fine.”
“But it looks like you were crying.”
“I’m homesick and a bit worried about how we’re going to land without Grayson or the authorities taking us into custody.”
Carter frowned and stepped to the console. “You no longer have control over the shuttle to land?”
“I’ve not actually tried.”
Magnus stood. “See what you can do.”
She typed commands into the ship’s computer. A red alert flashed on the console screen: PROGRAM ERROR!
“Dammit!” she said.
Digger uncurled and blinked away sleep before dropping to the floor and crawling to Magnus.
“Sorry, Digger,” Sylvia said. “Oh, I upset him.”
Magnus picked up the ferret and scratched behind its ears. “He’s okay.”
Carter watched the message flash. “What’s wrong?”
“I have no control at all now. And we’re entering the Earth’s atmosphere.”
She typed in different commands. The computer responded with the same message.
Magnus leaned closer. “Nothing works?”
Sylvia shook her head. “No. I don’t understand it, either. The systems were never overridden. But now, every command I enter is being rejected.”
“Odd,” Magnus said. “Keep trying.”
“Okay. Not sure it will change anything.”
Magnus looked at Carter. “You come with me.”
He walked out of the pilot’s cabin and Carter followed.
“What is it?” Carter asked.
Magnus walked to a storage closet and slid the narrow door open. He reached inside and handed two parachute packs to Carter one by one. “We’re left with few options.”
“There’s no way we can jump.”
“Eventually, we’re going to have to.”
“Aren’t you afraid of heights?”
“Scared to death. But I’d rather face that fear than be arrested before I have a chance to fulfill a promise I made to myself and others.”
Carter nodded. “I agree with you on that.”
“Good.”
A few minutes later, Magnus and Carter returned to the shuttle cockpit with the parachute packs. They set them onto empty seats.
Sylvia growled with frustration, glaring at the computer screen as if it understood her anger.
“Still no luck?” Carter asked.
“No. Grayson has control. I’m locked out. I’ve tried every access code and override command I know.”
“Where are we programmed to land?” Magnus asked.
“The landing strip in California right alongside Grayson Enterprises.”
Carter’s jaw tightened. “There’s no way that you can alternate the landing coordinates?”
“I’m afraid not. He’s going to take us into custody the minute we land.”
Magnus smiled and pointed to the emergency parachutes. “We did find those.”
Sylvia still didn’t look hopeful. “At the rate of speed we’re traveling, there’s no way to jump. The wind shear will rip us apart.”
“See if you can find a way to lower the shuttle’s speed once we descend into the final landing orbit,” Magnus said. “That’s the safest way for us to escape.”
“I can try, but I can’t promise anything.”
“We need to decrease speed once we’re closer to California. Preferably a state or so away where we won’t be noticed exiting the craft,” Magnus said.
Sylvia forced a smile. “You only have two chutes.”
Carter grinned. “There are several dozen of them back there.”
After an hour of reading through the computer archives, Sylvia turned and a smile crossed her face. Great excitement rose in her voice. “I’ve discovered something.”
Magnus leaned forward in his seat. “What?”
“They never got access to the shuttle computer until we entered the Earth’s atmosphere. I mean, they had sped up our acceleration to make our arrival a couple of months early. But they never took full control of the ship until a few hours ago.”
“Why did that change?” Magnus asked.
“From what I’ve noticed, as long as the Hyber-Sleep was initiated, massive firewalls prevented anyone outside the ship from gaining access. This is probably a safety preventative to keep terrorists from taking control of a vessel while the occupants are sleeping. Virtually unmanned.”
“But we came out of Hyber-Sleep yesterday,” Carter said.
She nodded. “I know, but here’s the kicker. There is an eight-hour time gap after we awakened where the computer still maintains that firewall, which has expired. But the way the program is set, once we entered the atmosphere, there’s less likely a chance that anyone should remain in hibernation. So . . .” she glanced at Carter.
“Are you implying that we initiate the Hyber-Sleep again?” Carter asked.
“Would that work?” Magnus asked.
Sylvia shrugged. “I’m not certain, but it wouldn’t hurt to try.”
Magnus stood. “And what if it does? What can you do?”
“Provided I can get back at least partial control, I should be able to slow the shuttle enough that we can jump at a lower elevation without injuring or killing ourselves.”
Magnus looked at Carter. “Is it even possible to activate Hyber-Sleep without one of us being hooked up to the I.V.?”
Carter bit his lower lip while he thought. “Not sure. Let’s go see.”
Magnus handed Digger to Sylvia. “You want me to stay here?”
“For now, Sylvia,” Magnus replied. “Keep reading those archives. If those firewalls pop back up, give us a shout.”
“Will do!”
Magnus followed Carter to the passenger compartment. For the first time in several hours, he was more optimistic that they would actually touchdown on Earth without Grayson capturing them.
Carter studied one hibernation seat. He looked at Magnus momentarily and then he knelt beside the chair arm where an occupant normally rested their arm for the I.V. hookup.
Magnus watched but held his silence. The way Carter’s eyes gleamed; Carter was deep in thought. Magnus didn’t want to break the doctor’s concentration because this wasn’t something Magnus could figure out. He hoped Carter did. Quickly.
“While I might be able to hook the I.V. unit to something to start the flow, I don’t know how we’d mimic a person’s body temperature.”
Magnus said, “Hmm.”
“Wait!” Carter said. “I’ll be right back.”
Carter rushed past Magnus toward the restroom.
“Not again,” Magnus whispered.
But instead of Carter entering the restroom, he continued running to the storage rooms farther back. Out of curiosity, Magnus followed him.
Standing outside the storage room, he watched Carter grab an empty catheter bag and a thermometer. Carter smiled as he hurried out the door and to the restroom. Instead of closing the door like the doctor normally did . . . for hours, he left the door open so Magnus could observe.
Carter turned on the sink faucet. “This might be impossible to do, but if I can get the water to the proper temperature, it should last long enough for the computer to set the Hyber-Sleep into active, which, I hope, will trigger the firewalls back up.”
Carter handed the thermometer to Magnus. “If you don’t mind?”
Magnus frowned. “What do you want me to do?”
“Hold it under the water while I figure out a way to syphon water into the bag after we get the water adjusted to body temperature.”
Several minutes passed before they adjusted the water to a few degrees above human body temperature.
“That’s too warm,” Magnus said.
Carter shook his head. “By the time I get everything set up to activate the hibernation program, the water’s temperature will probably drop a few degrees.”
“What happens once the water cools down below body temperature?” Magnus asked. “Won’t the computer alert the system that there’s a problem?”
“Hopefully by that time, we’ll be ready to jump. However, our body temperatures do drop significantly during the hibernation mode, so it won’t send out an alarm right away.”
“Okay,” Magnus said. “That’s good. But what about brainwave detection?”
“There’s a mode that I can use to turn that off.”
Carter carried the catheter bag of warm water back to the hibernation seat. He gently tucked the I.V. needle into the bag at an angle that prevented the water from leaking out. There was enough empty space in the bag to allow the I.V. nutrients to flow without rupturing the bag at least for a few hours.
After pressing a few buttons and setting the Hyber-Sleep program, the computer activation system glowed green.
Carter smiled. “It worked.”
Magnus clasped Carter’s shoulder firmly and patted his back. “Great job.”
“Firewall is up again!” Sylvia shouted.
Magnus released a huge sigh. Everything seemed to be turning in their favor.