Chapter Three:

The Next Town Over

The car starts with its usual clanging and banging. Once we’re on the road, I ask, “Hey, Dad, how do you know all those people in the bagel place?”

“Oh, I’ve known them for years,” he says, adjusting his rearview mirror. “Most of them are drivers, like me. Some are copilots.”

“Copilots? Taxi drivers have copilots?”

He laughs. “Of course. We’d get hopelessly lost without them.”

“But you don’t have one.”

“I used to. Yesterday was his last day.”

“Huh? But you never—” Suddenly the dashboard lights up in a rainbow of colors. Buttons, knobs, and screens pop out of the flat surface. My eyes bug out of my head. That definitely did not happen on the way to the restaurant!

Dad reaches for a knob marked COM LINE and twists it two notches to the left. “Sal Morningstar reporting for duty.”

“Good evening, Morningstar,” a squeaky voice crackles through the car. “This is Home Base. Do you have the instructions for your first pickup?”

“Affirmative. I’m heading to the field now.”

Field? What field? The only field I know of in the city is the one I play Little League baseball on, and we already passed it.

“Be careful out there,” the voice warns. It sounds like a mouse in a cartoon.

“Always am,” Dad replies. “Morningstar out.” He turns the knob back again without even looking.

“What was that about, Dad? What’s a com line?”

“That’s how I communicate with Home Base,” he replies, veering the car hard to the left.

“What’s Home Base?” I twist around in my seat and look behind us. Where did the city go? It’s so dark. “Where are we?”

“Hold on, Archie!” We whiz past a sign that says AIRFIELD.

“Um, Dad?” I grip the sides of my seat with all my strength. “Aren’t airfields where planes take off?”

“Yup!” Dad says. Before I can even form my next thought, a second seat belt reaches across my body and pins me tightly to the back of the seat.

The car grunts, and even in the darkness I can tell it’s changing. The hood stretches out until it’s much longer and rounder. The roof grows higher above our heads. “Dad! Are those… WINGS?” I have to shout over the sound of the engine, which is getting louder with every second.

A keypad swooshes out from the dashboard, and Dad’s right hand flies over the keys.

“Dad!” I shout. “Can you please tell me what’s going on? I thought you were a taxi driver!”

“I am, son. Now, this is gonna feel a bit strange, but trust me, you’re totally safe.”

I tighten my grip on the arms of my seat. Dad presses a red button and… BANG! BOOM! KA-BLAMO!

Fire explodes from the back of the car. We zoom down a runway that I didn’t even see in the dark. All four hubcaps fly off and spin in different directions. We’re going so fast I don’t even hear them land. And then, before I can catch my breath, we’re going UP! Straight UP! Into the SKY!

I want to ask Dad if I’m dreaming, but I can’t seem to make words come out of my mouth. My heart is thumping so loudly I bet Mom can hear it back home.

Mom!

She would FREAK OUT if she knew about this! If I ever make it home again, she can hug me as long as she wants. Seriously. And I won’t complain about the kisses, either. I’ll even take ’em from Penny, and hers usually leave a smear of peanut butter on my cheek.

My jaw drops as we pass the moon.

THE MOON!

I’ve never been on an airplane before, but I’m pretty sure we’re not supposed to be this high.

Dad’s talking and pointing out the window, but I can’t focus on a word he says. He pulls a lever below the steering wheel and we slow down a little. I finally remember to breathe. We are still moving really, REALLY fast, though.

I begin to notice the stars. Lots and lots of stars. More stars than I ever imagined existed. I stare and stare. I can’t see the moon anymore. Is that… Saturn? We swerve to the right to avoid what looks like a giant chunk of ice, then bank to the left.

It’s a good thing we haven’t eaten those tuna sandwiches yet. Mine would be splattered all over the windshield by now.

“Here, Archie,” Dad says, handing me a rolled-up paper scroll.

I stare at him. He looks like my dad. He sounds like my dad. But we’re in OUTER SPACE and he doesn’t seem NEARLY as surprised as he should be.

“It’s a map,” he explains, pointing to the scroll clutched in my hand. “I’ll need you to tell me when we reach the third wormhole. They’re invisible, of course.”

I want to shout, “THERE ARE GIANT WORMS MAKING HOLES IN OUTER SPACE AND YOU WANT ME TO FIND ONE? On PURPOSE?” But I’m still too shocked to speak. I unroll the paper and spread it out on my lap. This is not easy because my hands won’t stop shaking.

The map isn’t like any I’ve ever seen. Thick green lines crisscross each other, dotted here and there with red and blue splotches, and in the center is one small yellow circle. Tiny numbers are printed along each line in some sort of pattern. “Um, Dad? I have no idea what I’m looking at.” My voice comes out weird, like a croaking frog. A really freaked-out croaking frog.

“You can do this, son. Just give it a try.”

“But I don’t—”

He pats my knee. “You’ll figure it out. I should mention, though, if we miss the wormhole, I’ll be late for my pickup. And late getting you back home. And then we’ll both have to deal with your mother.”

I stare at him, then back at the map. This is crazy. Why would Dad think I could see something that’s invisible? I stare hard at the paper, but all I see are those lines and numbers and dots.

And then… BAM! Right in front of my eyes it changes. The images on the map rise off the paper and I’m staring at a 3-D image of outer space. It’s hovering right there over my lap! The small yellow circle is now a perfect image of our taxi! Is that… yes! I can see me and Dad inside, zooming through space.