Explorer X Alpha (20 page)

“Since the expedition to Mars is two days long, I say when we return, we free the kids in the infirmary and The Cave. We need to get the healthy kids involved because they can't hurt us all. We can also start systematically taking all of their weapons and then taking over control of the ship,” said Aadi.

“I ain't helping anybody,” said Damien while he studied his food and threw a frown at Carter.

“We figured you would say that, and you know what? We don't want your help,” said Eirena, sticking out her tongue at Damien.

“So, Tacitus, what do you think?” asked Aadi.

“I think we should leave it alone. You could be skipping to the wrong conclusion,” he said and looked down at his food while he ate methodically.

“You are kidding, right?” asked Dakota in utter disbelief.

“Yeah, Tacitus, you were there in the infirmary. You saw those helpless kids. They were put there because of some so-called ‘immunization' we were given. Heck, you were given it too. Who's to say that we all won't end up sick like those kids?” Eirena added, then hit her fist on the table.

“I say I could easily pick up a lot more fire power, but I need time and extra hands to do it,” Dakota added, with a smile of pride and glee. He rubbed his hands together at the thought of obtaining some guns.

“You are enjoying that idea a little too much, Dakota,” Aadi said with a smile on his face that barely held his laugh in.

“Well, I can help make some guns, explosives, metal defensive devices, and various other items that will bring them down,” Raiko added quietly. They all swung their eyes to her with shocked looks on their faces.

“What'd you say?” asked Scott and scratched his head to laugh in shock.

“I am good at fixing stuff and creating things from… well, from nothing. It's a gift,” Raiko said and chewed on her lower lip.

“Hey, I've been her victim in Speed and Fire, and I know she is telling the truth,” Eirena laughingly added.

“Cadets, report to your flight stations. Report to your flight stations,” said the voice over the loudspeaker.

“Well, it looks like this meeting is adjourned until we get to Mars. Then we can meet up and come up with a solid plan of attack,” Aadi said as he looked directly at everyone one by one. They all agreed and packed up to go to their flight stations on the lower launching deck.

They all walked quietly to the launching deck. All the other Cadets walked past them, laughing and joking. However, Aadi wasn't much in a laughing mood. Team Fire Six came up to them, and Jacob stopped, “Hey, Team Explorer X, we will be right behind you today. So don't slow down, or you'll get blinded by our dust,” Jacob laughed.

Damien immediately grabbed Jacob by his hair and pulled him down to his eye level and said, “The freak you will.” He pushed Jacob down to the floor, and then stepped on his stomach and over top of him.

“Sorry, man. He is kind of edgy… all the time,” Aadi said and helped Jacob up.

“No kidding. Is he the one who won your simulation challenge?” Jacob asked and scratched his head where Damien had pulled his hair.

“You can say that,” said a grim Scott as he walked by.

“When we return, I have some important stuff I want to talk to you and your team about, so see you later,” Aadi said and shook Jacob's hand.

“Sure thing. See you on Mars!” Jacob said and caught up with Neema, who was leading his team to their space cruisers.

The launch room was silver and blue with a clear glass surrounding all sides but the control room. Each cruiser was locked in an exit launch area, with the cruiser being partially out of the launch room and partially in space. Each launch area had the assigned team name on it. Aadi saw his space cruiser next to Damien and Tacitus.

 

 

“Welcome, Cadets, to our first ever space camp expedition to Mars!” said Captain Manning. Everyone cheered, even the Counselors that were preparing for the launch. All of the Counselors stood around making sure everyone's equipment was fitted properly and working properly. Aadi, took off his backpack and secured it under his seat. The Cadets were allowed to bring one backpack on the expeditions, so most of them bought everything they thought they would need on the trip and on their return if things turned ugly. After they found out what they learned last night, they all expected things to be different when they returned. Aadi and Eirena routinely checked their cruiser's external and internal operating systems to make sure that everything was working properly.

“All systems go up here, Eirena,” Aadi said while he looked at his screen and the navigation plan.

“Ditto back here,” Eirena added.

“Today, Cadets, you will be led on the expedition by Team Explorer X. Damien and Tacitus had the fastest simulation challenge times, so they will lead their team and us to Mars! Also, there are experienced astronauts that are going with you on this expedition. They will be following you all on the outer rim of your flight path, available if any of you get into trouble. They will also give you a tour of the planet that TEGRC has been visiting for decades. Our chief astronauts and Lead Scientist, Dr. Todd Bridges, has planned out the expedition in detail, and his sizeable staff will make sure that you all have a great life-changing experience. Who knows… when you grow up, perhaps you will be our next generation of astronauts! Let the expedition begin!” said the Captain with a lift of his hand. The engineers started the sequence for the launch.

Damien and Tacitus blasted off first, and Damien focused on the stars ahead and said, “Yes, I am home!” Aadi heard him through his earpiece and smiled. Since that was the first time he'd heard Damien say something in any sort of happy or contented fashion. Aadi and Eirena focused and followed to the right of Damien, flowing beside him in perfect precision as they watched Scott and Raiko move in position opposite them on the other side of Damien and Tacitus. Dakota and Carter easily slid behind them. They soared in a tight, controlled symmetry in the shape of a diamond and had a few miles between them and the other teams. The team of astronauts flew on the outer rim of the Cadet's cruisers in a spaced parallel line so that they could protect the Cadets from either side.

“Time to pick up speed,” Damien said as he pushed on the accelerator and kicked the cruiser forward. Tacitus methodically compensated.

They flew in perfect time and went into hyper-accelerated speed to get to the planet. Mars was clearly in sight, and the thought of landing safely started to excite Aadi.

“Hit it, Eirena,” Aadi said as he followed alongside Damien.

“Hey, Dakota, something's wrong!” Carter said, sounding worried but insistent.

“Shut up, dude, and compensate! Now!” Dakota yelled.

“I can't, something is wrong! No kidding, man! We are losing power on the back left!” Carter yelled.

“Mother Sucker! What is that?” Damien yelled as he saw the black starlit path before him opening up into complete darkness and some kind of invisible pull seemed to open the wormhole into a large tubular circle that pulled his cruiser closer and closer.

“Pull back! Pull back!” Damien yelled to all that would listen as he pushed his cruiser in reverse to fight against the magnetic pull of the black hole in front of him.

“Carter! Fix it, man! It's your job, now fix it!” Dakota yelled as he worked furiously to control the cruiser. The cruiser jerked forward as Carter adjusted the power source, and it crashed head-on into Damien. It threw Damien's cruiser into the middle of the black hole.

“Dakota! Look! Oh my God! Damien's cruiser's getting sucked in! Pull back! Pull back!” Carter yelled.

“Damien, Tacitus, we are coming for you! Everyone pull back! Head to the ship now!” Dr. Bridges commanded the other Cadets. They all started to turn and fly back toward the mother ship as the team of astronauts tried to make their way closer to Damien's and Tacitus's cruiser from either side.

“Eirena, we are close enough to pull him. If we all release our ropes, we can help him with the pull. You, me then Scott and Raiko!”Aadi called.

“We are with you! Say when you want us to grab him!” Scott replied.

“Crap, Carter, compensate!” Dakota yelled as their cruiser lost control and plowed into the back of Damien, pushing their cruiser further into the black hole. Dakota's and Carter's cruiser was pulled even deeper into the middle of the black hole.

“Captain, pull back Cruisers A1209, A1210 now! They are being sucked in,” Dr. Bridges called and tried to get the main ship to take over the control of Damien and Dakota's cruisers.

“We cannot pull back the cruisers. I repeat, we cannot pull back! The mother ship controls are locked! Pursue them and bring them back! There was an explosion below, and we have a situation here. Send back the remaining Cadets now!” wailed Dr. Faulkner.

“Now is our only chance, Scott. We are closer to them than the astronauts. Attach the cables and power back!” Aadi yelled as his muscles tensed from the impending danger that he could not control.

“We are ready!” Scott called back. He and Raiko put in the coordinates for the best position to throw the cable and pull Damien and Tacitus out of the black hole.

“You pull on Damien and Tacitus, and I've got Dakota and Carter. On one! Three… two… one!” Aadi called as his palms started to sweat.
I have to get this perfect. It's life or death,
he told himself. He put in the coordinates that caused his hook cables to be thrown precisely at Dakota's and Carter's cruiser. Scott and Raiko throw theirs seconds behind Aadi's. However before either could attach to their target, a huge surge pulled them all forward deep into the hole.

Neither Aadi nor Scott anticipated the surge. Their cruisers collided and caused them to bounce off in opposite directions, hitting both of their intended targets. Scott and Raiko rammed into the back of Damien and pushed them both further through the hole. Then, they were out of sight through the other side of the anomaly. Aadi and Eirena lost control and crashed into Dakota and Carter. Aadi growled in frustration.
How this could go so wrong?
he screamed in his head.

“We're going down. Pull, Tacitus, pull!” Damien said.

“No! No! Hold on, and we will try again!” Aadi said, and banged his hand on his controls.

“We are losing power fast! We are going to crash!” Dakota said.

“Help! Help!” Carter said as all communications dropped off during their disappearance through the center of the black hole.

“Aadi, we've sustained too much damage to help the others. We have to save ourselves. I have no control of the left jets, and we are going to land whether we want to or not!” Eirena said with a tear of frustration streaming down her face. She blinked and looked angrily at the controls as she watched one engine and then the other start to fail.

“Looks like we are going in… hold on!” Aadi replied as he looked up to see the middle of the hole suck them in.

“We are not alone. It looks like several of the astronauts that were so-called ‘protecting' us are gaining fast,” Eirena said and squinted her eyes in disgust.

“Yeah, but the back of this thing is closing fast, and they can't save us. They have to save themselves. Only about four of their cruisers made it in,” Aadi replied as he fought the controls, gave up, and then pulled out the manual controls.

“Let's go manual, Eirena, for more hands-on control. We are not going to land smoothly, as our wheels are jammed and one engine is dead. We are falling fast,” Aadi said. He heard Eirena switch to manual control behind him, and he took a deep, calming breath.

“Done. Let's get this over with!” she said as she braced her feet on the floor and controlled the shaking forked steering wheel with all the strength she could muster. She grunted as she fought the pressure of falling.

“Look… see that planet there? Let's aim for it. Now, Eirena, now!” Aadi screamed, and sweat spilled inside his clear helmet. The helmet started to deflate its rounded shell to soften and fit his skin as they descended. His stomach muscles tightened with the force of his pull on the wheel. They looked down at the deep brown, red, and white planet that would be their landing pad and took a deep breath.

Aadi fought the urge to cry out in frustration, but the ship was not cooperating with his attempts at control, and Eirena sounded just as frustrated with her grunts and swearing. The planet was coming closer, and they could no longer control the cruiser as they fell. They tried to contact the astronauts that followed them through but lost site of the other cruisers long ago. The communications channels they had seemed to be cut off when the black hole started to close. Aadi's hands shook in agitation and frustration.

“Ugh. C'mon, dang it!” Aadi screamed.

“Keep your cool, or we will surely crash and die! We can do this, Aadi. Just stay focused.” Eirena yelled. Aadi shook himself out of his frustration and pulled deep inside for the strength needed to pull up the cruiser as it fell through the cloudless sky of this new planet. Just as they broke through the surface, Aadi sighed in relief. He blinked when he saw a bright flash of light as it passed by their ship. It appeared to be a red ball of fire.

“Is that firepower? Someone's shooting at us!” Aadi yelled.

“Then maneuver away from it, Aadi! Now, here comes another one!” Eirena yelled. Aadi's arms and legs ached from the strength he used thus far, but he pushed his mind past the pain and pulled down deep to dodge the flashes of lights that came their way.

“We're hit and going down fast!” Aadi called out.

“I know, but I've got a trick up my sleeve. Aim to land over that mountain to the left!” Eirena said loudly over the noise of the fighting engine.

“Okay, here we go! All or nothing!” Aadi said as he pulled left, and they were out of sight of whatever was firing at them. They looked down to see the ground as it came up fast and hit their landing spot with several jerky bumps that caused their heads to snap back to the point where Aadi felt his neck would break off.