George's Cosmic Treasure Hunt (17 page)

“Oh, phew,” said Emmett with relief. “My mom would never forgive me.”

“And what are
we
going to do?” asked George.

“We,” said Annie, “you and me, that is, are going to Mars. The truth is out there, George. And
we
are going to find it.”

 

Standing on a wide balcony high up on the Global Space Agency's main building, George, Annie, and Emmett could see all the way across the swampland to where the space shuttle sat waiting, patiently and quietly, for takeoff. Around it was the scaffolding that had been holding it upright—a steel cat's-cradle of joists and supports for the enormous spacecraft. Two railway lines led away from the launchpad to the largest building that George had ever seen.

“You see that place?” said Eric, pointing to the building. “That's where they get the spaceship ready to send it into space. It's called the Vehicle Assembly Building, and it's big enough to stand the spaceship up inside it. It's so tall that it has its own weather systems—sometimes clouds form inside.”

“You mean it can rain inside there?” said Annie.

“That's right,” Eric told her. “You have to take an umbrella if you work in that building! When the orbiter—that's the spacecraft part of the shuttle—is ready to go, it leaves that building by train and travels to the launchpad, where it's prepared for takeoff.”

With its black-and-white nose pointing upward, the orbiter looked quite small against the giant orange fuel tank underneath it. The fuel tank was flanked on either side by two long white rocket boosters, waiting for ignition.

“See, they've taken the arms of the scaffolding away now,” said Eric. “That means they've closed all the hatches, and the crew who've readied the shuttle for launch have left the area.”

“Just like on my computer game,” boasted Emmett, “which teaches you how to fly the shuttle.”

“I'd like to try that,” said a voice from behind him. George turned around. A woman in an all-in-one blue Global Space Agency suit stood behind him. George knew this outfit meant she was a real astronaut.

“Okay!” said Emmett happily. “I can let you do that. If you come over to our house this evening, I'll show you how it works.” He caught Annie's eye. “Or another day,” he added hastily. “We're a bit busy right now, and I might not have time. You could come over tomorrow, if you like. If we're back,
that is. Not that we're going anywhere, but—ouch!”

Annie had nudged him quite hard.

“I was just trying to be friendly!” he whispered to her. “I thought you said that was a good thing to do!”

“I did!” she hissed. “But making friends with people doesn't mean you have to tell them everything we're up to the minute you meet them!”

“Then how do I make friends?” asked Emmett plaintively.

“Look, let's just get the planet saved, all right?” said Annie. “And tomorrow I'll teach you about being friends with people and how it works? Okay? Deal?”

“Deal,” said Emmett solemnly. “This is turning out to be a mega-cool vacation.”

“But don't you know how to fly the space shuttle already?” said George, asking a question to deflect attention away from Emmett. “Aren't you an astronaut?”

“Yes, that's right,” she said. “I am an astronaut. I'm what's called a
mission specialist
. That means I'm a scientist who goes up into space to perform experiments, do space walks, and help build parts of the International Space Station. I am trained to fly spacecraft, but that isn't really my job. The commander and the pilot fly the shuttle and dock it at the International Space Station. When we get there, that's when my work begins.”

“When you're in the space station,” said Annie, “are you all just floating around?”

“We are,” said the astronaut. “It's a lot of fun, but
it's difficult to do simple things like eat and drink. We have to drink through straws, and our food comes in packets: We open them, dig our fork in, and hope the food sticks to it and doesn't go flying around all over the place.”

“Do you ever have food fights?” asked George. “That would be cool!”

“But how do you go to the toilet?” asked Emmett, looking perplexed. “Isn't that very difficult in a low-gravity scenario?”

“Emmett!” squeaked Annie. “I'm so sorry about him,” she said to the astronaut. “He's really embarrassing.”

“Oh no!” The woman laughed. “Don't be embarrassed about your brother's question.”

Annie's face was a picture of horror at the idea that anyone could think Emmett was her brother.

“Everyone asks about the space toilet,” said the astronaut. “And yes, it is quite tricky at first. We have to do special training sessions to learn how.”

“You have toilet lessons to be an astronaut!” Emmett's face had turned pink with delight.

“It's just one of the things we have to learn to get by in space,” said the astronaut firmly. “We train for several years, learning the tasks we need to carry out during our two-week missions in space. We have to learn how to cope with being weightless and how to operate the shuttle's robotic arm and use all the other complicated electrical and mechanical equipment. Have any of you thought of becoming astronauts when you grow up?”

“I might,” said Annie. “It depends.

You see, I want to be a physicist
and
a soccer player, so I might not have time for all that extra training.”

“What about you two?” the astronaut asked George and Emmett. “Would you like to go into space?”

“Oh yes!” said George. “I'd like that more than anything.”

Emmett shook his head. “I have motion sickness.”

“We know,” said Annie. On the drive over, he had nearly been sick in
her backpack—the one with Cosmos in it. She'd had to snatch it away and push Emmett's head out of the open car window to prevent a disaster. Even then, it hadn't been pleasant.

Eric appeared next to them, looking worried. “Hello!” he said to the astronaut. “I'm Eric—Eric Bellis from the Mars Science Laboratory.”

“The famous Eric!” she exclaimed. “I'm Jenna. I've wanted to meet you for ages. It's great, the work you're doing on life in the Universe. We're all very excited about Homer and what he might find on Mars. We can't wait to hear the results!”

“Ah, well…” Eric frowned. “Um, yes, we're…excited too.” But he didn't sound like it. “I see you've met the kids.” He was fidgeting with his pager, which let him know if anything important was happening, either on the Earth or on Mars.

“I have!” said Jenna. “Are they all yours?”

“Er, no,” said Eric. “Just Annie, the blond one. The rest I seem to have collected somehow.” But he smiled as he spoke. “These are her friends, George and Emmett.” Suddenly his pager beeped furiously in his hand. “Oh, collapsing stars!” he said to himself and looked up. “I've been sent an urgent alert,” he told Jenna. “I've got to get to the control room immediately.”

“You can leave the kids with me,” she said. “I'm sure nothing will happen to them.” The kids shuffled their
feet and looked rather guilty. “You can page me when you're done,” she continued cheerfully. “I'll let you know where to pick them up.”

“Thank you,” said Eric, and shot off down the stairs. As he left, the clock on the wall that displayed the time to takeoff had started moving again. From time to time it stopped in order to allow more checks—of everything, from the shuttle launch systems, to the computers on the orbiter, to the weather in different locations around the world—to take place. Once all the checks were completed and everyone was happy, the clock moved on again. This time they were just seconds away from liftoff. George gripped Annie's hand as everyone called out to count down the final seconds together.

“Five…four…three…two…
one
!”

The first thing they saw was a great cloud of dust at the bottom of the spaceship, billowing outward
in slow, soft, pillowy folds of grayish white. As the spacecraft rose up from the ground, George and Annie could see a brilliant light under the tail. The spaceship moved upward as though pulled by an invisible thread, and the light beneath it was so bright, it was like seeing the skies ripped open to reveal an angel or some other celestial being appear from within. The spaceship climbed higher and higher, the mighty blast beneath it sending it vertically into the heavens.

“It's so quiet,” whispered George to Annie. “It's not making any noise.”