5

“I feel like I’m working at NASA,” Jaden said from his console in the control center. He, Caleb, Sonja, and Benjamin were alone in the S.M.A.R.T.S. Mission Control, ready to start the simulation. The control centers for the other groups were all on the second floor of the Mars Commission building — Mads and S.M.A.R.T.S. on the west wing, and the Kelvins and Fig Neutrons on the east.

“Me too,” Caleb agreed, sitting down at the console next to Jaden. A row of monitors was set up in front of him.

The four S.M.A.R.T.S. kids were taking the first Mission Control shift, which meant they would be watching over the colonists in the hab for the next eight hours. Antonio, Destiny, and Brooke were taking the night shift, which started at two thirty in the morning.

While the colonists had been getting a tour of the hab, one of the Mars Commission engineers had been going over the control center’s equipment with the rest of the S.M.A.R.T.S., plus Mrs. Ram and Mr. Leavey. She had also explained that all communication between Mission Control and the colonists would be on a twelve-minute delay.

Although emails could be sent almost instantly on Earth, communication between Mars and Earth wouldn’t be so easy. Messages couldn’t travel faster than the speed of light, and Mars was between 34.8 million to 250 million miles from Earth, depending on where the two planets were in their rotations around the Sun.

That meant a message could take anywhere from 3 to 22.5 minutes to go from one planet to the other. In order to make the simulation realistic, Mr. Pegg had decided it should take twelve minutes to receive emails or other communications.

After they’d gone over the Mission Control basics, Antonio, Destiny, and Brooke had gone upstairs to rest in the huge suite that S.M.A.R.T.S. had been assigned. Then Mrs. Ram and Mr. Leavey had left too. The sponsors were allowed in the control center, but Mr. Pegg wanted the kids to handle the simulation on their own. The Mission Control team had Mrs. Ram and Mr. Leavey’s cell numbers if they needed anything.

“Okay, so what do we do first?” Sonja asked.

“How about if we each monitor one colonist?” Jaden suggested. They wouldn’t be using all the tech in the room, but they’d be able to monitor the most important functions of the hab and keep watch on the colonists’ vital signs. “We can divide up the hab systems too, so we won’t have to try to watch everything at once.”

“I’ll take … Samuel,” Benjamin said. He was still pausing in the middle of every sentence, as if Samuel would be jumping in to finish it.

They quickly divided up the rest of the hab team. Sonja would monitor Goo. Jaden would monitor Dylan. Caleb would monitor Zoe.

“Samuel’s stressed!” Benjamin exclaimed as he brought up his twin’s vitals. “Blood pressure … is one hundred and thirty over ninety. Heart rate … ninety-four beats per minute. I knew he should … have traded.”

“Those levels aren’t dangerous,” Sonja pointed out.

“But Benjamin’s levels might be,” Caleb muttered to Jaden.

Jaden glanced over. Benjamin’s forehead was sweaty, and he seemed to be blinking faster than usual. He definitely looked stressed!

“Hey, look!” Sonja exclaimed. “They’re coming into the common room! It seems like everyone’s okay.”

The common room was the only part of the hab with a camera that sent a video feed back to the control center. They all watched the screen as Zoe, Goo, Dylan, and Samuel sat down in padded chairs.

“What is Samuel doing?” Caleb yelled, jumping to his feet. “He’s eating Cheez Crunchies!”

“So? We really … like them,” Benjamin said.

“But crumbs!” Caleb replied, running over to the screen. He tapped it to enlarge the image of Samuel. Big orange crumbs had fallen onto the twin’s shirt.

Jaden felt like an alarm bell had started ringing in his head. “Crumbs could get into the CO₂ scrubber,” he explained. “They might really mess up the machine. And if the scrubber is broken, the air will become unsafe to breathe!”

The colonists produced carbon dioxide, or CO₂, every time they exhaled. The invisible gas had to be taken out of the air and vented outside the hab by a special gadget called the CO₂ scrubber. If too much carbon dioxide filled the sealed hab, there wouldn’t be enough oxygen left for the colonists to breathe.

“Why does he even have Crunchies?” Caleb moaned. “Astronauts don’t get to bring food like that. They can’t even have bread. They use tortillas for sandwiches. Crumbs can be deadly!”

“I don’t … get it. I packed … both our bags. No Crunchies,” Benjamin answered. Then he started blinking even faster. “Someone else must’ve put Crunchies in Samuel’s bag!” He spoke loudly and without any more hesitation. “It was Barrett!”

“Let’s go find that stinking cheater!” Sonja cried, already starting for the door.

“No!” Jaden rolled his desk chair into the aisle to block her. “We don’t know he did it.”

“Who else could it be?” Benjamin demanded.

Jaden thought for a second. “The Earth Firsters!” he exclaimed. “I bet they’d love for the Mars Commission to look bad in front of all the reporters and possible investors. Maybe they’re trying to mess up the simulation.”

“That would make sense,” Caleb agreed. “But Barrett is still a good suspect. We know he doesn’t have a problem with playing dirty.”

“We’ll figure it out,” Jaden promised. “Just not now. We’re Mission Control. Our first job is to help the colonists.”

Sonja huffed out a frustrated breath, then nodded. “You’re right. They need to know not to eat any more Crunchies.”

“I’ll email Samuel!” Benjamin volunteered.

“We’re probably too late,” Caleb said.

“What are you talking about?” Benjamin asked. His fingers were already flying over the keyboard.

“Remember the delay? It’ll take twelve minutes for the message to get to them. And the video we’re getting is on a twelve-minute delay too,” Caleb explained. “Which means Benjamin was actually eating the Crunchies twelve minutes before we saw him do it. He’s probably already finished the whole bag.”

“I forgot about that,” Benjamin said. He hit the send button so hard it made a popping sound. “I forgot how far away Mars really is.”