“So am I going to explode just before we get home?” Dash asked.
Commander Phillips took a deep, troubled breath.
“You know how important this mission is,” he said. “And you are the perfect choice to lead it.”
“So either you’re sending me on a suicide mission, or you’re not all that sure about this age-metabolism horror-thing.”
“Neither,” Phillips said. “If you go on this mission and turn fourteen years old out there, you might die. At the very least you will have some physical problems.”
“So it is suicide.”
“No,” Phillips said with confidence. “There’s another option. Let me ask you a question: Until you heard about Project Alpha, did you imagine any of this could exist?”
Dash said, “I didn’t believe it after I heard about it either. Not really. I mean, seriously? Deep-space travel. Holograms. Intelligent robots. Gamma Speed. It’s all pretty…impossible. But then I saw the Cloud Leopard.”
“And you’re only beginning to learn about the technology we’ve developed.”
“Pretty impressive, except you can’t figure out how to keep a kid from growing too old to fly.”
Phillips smiled.
That threw Dash. Phillips didn’t smile much. He was usually all business.
“We have been developing a biologic,” Phillips said. “A cellular treatment if you will. When administered properly, it can slow the aging process.”
Dash stared at Phillips, trying to get his brain to make sense of what he had just heard.
“You invented the fountain of youth?” he asked, stunned.
“It’s not that dramatic,” Phillips said. “The effect is temporary, but we are able to arrest the natural aging process of cells. What I’m saying, Dash, is that if you agree to this treatment, we think we can keep you young enough to fly.”
Dash’s mind raced. Of all the amazing things he had heard, this may have been the most incredible. He walked to the forward window and looked out at the desert beyond, imagining what the view would be like once the Cloud Leopard was in space.
“Why didn’t you tell me about this before?” he asked.
“Because I hadn’t made the final crew selection,” Phillips replied. “And using this treatment obviously isn’t the ideal way to go. There are risks.”
“Like?”
“The treatment must be administered daily and at specific times. It’s a very strict regime. Failing to follow it exactly would erase the benefits and, well, you’d begin to age normally again.”
“That would be bad,” Dash said.
“Yes, that would be bad.”
“What happens after I get back home?”
“You stop the treatments and your cells resume aging naturally again. It would be as though it never happened.”
Dash glanced around at the wonders of the navigation deck.
“You waited to tell me until after I saw the ship,” Dash said. “You wanted me hooked.”
“I wanted you to fully understand our capabilities. You said it yourself. You weren’t convinced any of this was real. Now you know it is.”
“Yeah, now I know,” Dash repeated thoughtfully. “And I’m scared.”
“If you choose not to go, I’d understand,” Phillips said. “You’ll be on a plane back to Florida by nightfall.”
“Who would replace me?”
“I don’t know. They’re all capable but you’re the one who gives us the best chance of success. That’s why I’m making this offer. I understand it’s a tough decision. Maybe we should call your mother and get her opinion.”
“No!” Dash said quickly. “I know what she’ll say and you won’t want to hear it. I have to make the decision myself.”
“And that’s exactly why I chose you,” Phillips said. “It’s all right to be scared, but a leader can never be afraid to make tough choices. Can you make the tough choice, Dash?”
The bus carrying Anna, Ravi, Siena, and Niko drove quickly along the desolate desert highway, headed for the international airport outside of Las Vegas. There were no Humvees to escort them and no heavily armed helicopters in the sky to guide them safely on their way. Their job was complete. Security was no longer an issue.
Or so they thought.
High above, an unmarked military helicopter trailed them.
Nobody on the bus knew. Nobody saw. They were too far out in the Mojave Desert for anyone to take notice. There wasn’t another car within fifty miles.
The helicopter swooped low, matching the speed of the bus. It dropped quickly, square in the blind spot of the driver. It approached the bus from behind at a forty-five degree angle until it was thirty feet above it. The side door of the chopper slid open, and with a burst of speed, the helicopter flew forward until it was directly over the bus. A rope was dropped and a dark figure slid down it quickly. Three seconds later, the figure landed on top of the bus. The figure released the rope and the helicopter flew off.
The dark figure was a commando. A professional. He wore a black hood with a mask over his face that had two metallic disks near the mouth. He quickly pulled a pack off his back and reached inside to retrieve a canister that looked like a small fire extinguisher. Protruding from one end was a long, needlelike shaft. The commando grasped the canister, raised it high, and brought it down hard. The needle pierced the skin of the bus’s roof and the commando opened a valve at the canister’s base.
He moved quickly, catlike, headed for the front of the bus. As he ran he pulled a long metal tool from his belt. He reached the front and leaned over the right side, jamming the tool into the top of the door. With a violent thrust, he forced the door open. Like an acrobat, he grasped the top of the door frame and flipped himself over the side…
…to land inside the bus.
He went straight for the driver, who was slumped over, unconscious. The commando quickly released the seat belt and yanked the driver out and onto the floor. The commando took control of the bus and shot a quick look to the rear to confirm that all four passengers were also unconscious.
He reached for a walkie-talkie that was clipped to his chest.
“The babies are asleep,” he said through the filters attached to his mask. “I’m behind the wheel and headed for home.”
Two miles ahead was the intersection of two highways. Going north would lead straight to the international airport.
The commando went south.
Carly, Gabriel, and Piper sat behind a table full of microphones, fielding questions from the dozens of reporters who crowded around the stage.
“Do you miss your families?” one reporter asked.
“Sure,” Carly replied. “But we talk to them most every night. I get to tell them exactly how my day went.”
“Piper,” another reporter called out. “How do you think your disability is going to affect the mission?”
All eyes went to the small blond girl in the chair.
The flying chair.
Piper eased the chair back away from the table. She floated slowly around to the front of the stage, then throttled up and flew over the heads of the reporters. They all ducked, laughing. Piper flew back to the stage and settled into her place behind the table.
“What disability are you talking about?” she asked innocently.
The reporters laughed and whistled their approval.
As the cheering continued, Dash stepped up onto the stage. He walked behind the others and headed for the empty seat that was reserved for him.
“Everything okay?” Carly whispered.
Dash nodded and sat in his spot.
“Dash!” one of the reporters called out. “Congratulations on being named commander of the Voyagers. Just one question: Are you scared?”
Dash looked at the others, who stared at him expectantly. He cleared his throat and said, “Sure. Who wouldn’t be? But I’m not going to let that stop us. None of us are.”
The Alpha crew broke out in wide, confident grins.
Anna slowly opened her eyes. Her head hurt. Why did her head hurt? She gradually woke up to focus and looked around to see she was still on the bus, only the bus wasn’t moving.
“Hey,” she called out to the others, who were still sleeping. “Wake up.”
The others roused slowly, with similar headaches.
“Are we there?” Niko asked.
“We’re somewhere,” Ravi said while looking out of the window. “But it’s not the airport.”
They were still in the desert. The bus was parked on a desolate unpaved road.
“Where’s the driver?” Niko asked.
Nobody had the answer.
“Interesting,” Siena said. “Any theories on who those two people might be?”
They all crowded around Siena to look out of the side window.
Parked several yards away was the helicopter with no identifying markings. Standing in front of it, shoulder to shoulder, were two commandos dressed in black.
The door to the bus opened and a third man entered. He was an older man with a shock of silver gray hair and intense dark eyes. They had never seen him before—but he had been observing them since they arrived at Base Ten. He walked slowly up the aisle with a smile that was meant to put them at ease but seemed more forced than friendly.
Everyone huddled together for security.
The man stopped, looked at each in turn as if taking attendance, and clapped.
“Bravo,” he said. “I am so proud to meet you all.”
The kids exchanged confused looks.
“Who are you?” Anna asked tentatively.
“I’m the man who is going to give you a second chance,” he said. “If you’re smart enough to take it.”