Blastaway

by Melissa Landers

  He had won.

  And he seemed to know it, too, because he wore a grin as he settled into the pilot’s seat. It might’ve been the first time I’d seen him truly smile. “Someday you’ll thank me for this,” he said.

  I huffed. “Don’t hold your breath.”

  He ignored me, still smiling. But his grin flattened when he entered the code to open the hangar door and nothing happened. He punched in the code two more times, but the only response was a buzz and an error message that read INVALID ENTRY.

  He growled and stepped out of the shuttle. “Stay here,” he told me, as if I had any choice. “I’ll have to open the hatch manually.”

  “Manually?” I asked. “Won’t that blow you into space?” I nodded at his open door. “And suck all the oxygen out of the hangar?”

  “There’s a safety feature,” he said. “It sets a countdown after I push the button. I’ll have plenty of time to get back here before the hatch opens.”

  I didn’t share the captain’s confidence, so as soon as he walked away, I experimented with how far I could wriggle in my seat harness. I figured out that if I sucked in my belly and leaned to one side, I could stretch my hands to my hip. That wasn’t far enough to unlatch my harness, but I might be able to reach the laser I kept tucked in my boot. All I needed was to raise my calf a few inches higher.…

  I tried with all my might, stretching so hard I almost dislocated my shoulder. Just as my fingertips connected with the laser, I pulled it free from my boot.

  And dropped it on the floor.

  “No,” I hissed.

  I used my feet to try and pick up the laser, but I knew there wasn’t much time before the captain returned. I listened through his open door while I worked. But instead of his footsteps, I heard a grunt and a scuffle, followed by a loud “What the—” and “Oof.” I tried looking over my shoulders to see what was going on, but I couldn’t twist far enough. Then my door opened, and Kyler appeared, holding a finger to his lips in a signal to be quiet.

  “Captain Holyoake is in the hangar,” I whispered. “You need to watch out.”

  Kyler chuckled as he unbuckled my safety harness. He used the fallen laser to cut the ropes from my hands. “The captain’s about to meet my brothers. Trust me when I say he’s the one who needs to watch out.”

  Ky motioned for me to follow, and we crept along the wall toward the airlock that led to the main part of the yacht. Captain Holyoake was standing at the control panel…or trying to, anyway. His feet kept slipping and sliding on the floor, so he could barely stay upright.

  “Mega Über Lube,” Ky whispered to me. “I squirted it on that one tiny spot. I knew he would have to come to the control panel after we disabled the hangar hatch.”

  “That was you?” I asked.

  “Devin and Rylan, actually,” Ky said, pointing at the airlock room. “They’re on the other side of that door, getting ready to unlock it. Watch.”

  Right on cue, the airlock door opened. I spotted the twins and Bonner standing on the other side. The captain barely had time to glance at them when Duke, who had been hiding behind a smaller shuttle, ran toward the captain and body-checked him.

  What happened next could only be described as poetic. In perfect synch, the captain went flying into the airlock chamber while Bonner and the twins leaped over the patch of Mega Über Lube on the floor and landed safely in the hangar. At once, the twins hacked the control panel and closed the airlock door, trapping the captain inside. The best part was that right before the door shut, Bonner stuck his rear end in the airlock and farted. There was a tiny window built into the door, just big enough for me to see the disgust on the captain’s face.

  I couldn’t help laughing.

  Kyler walked up to the airlock chamber and jabbed a finger at the captain. “The Centaurus brothers have something to say to you, Holyoake!” He hooked a thumb at me. “You can’t mess with our sister.”

  While I blinked in confusion, Duke flexed his arms and delivered a dirty look through the window. “Yeah,” he said. “Only we can mess with our sister.”

  “What are you talking about?” I asked.

  Kyler reached in his pocket and produced a small data tablet. He held it between us and pulled up a document for me to read.

  SUPERIOR COURT OF THE FIRST DISTRICT OF EARTH

  FAMILY COURT, DOMESTIC RELATIONS BRANCH

  ___________

  The petition of Francis Roman Centaurus and Ronalda Smith Centaurus for adoption of the minor child:

  Figerella Moonbeam Jammeslot

  I had to reread the text heading twice before I believed what my eyes were trying to show me. Kyler’s mom and dad wanted to adopt me?

  That couldn’t be right.

  “What is this?” I glanced through the airlock window for Frank and Ronnie. If they wanted to adopt me, why hadn’t they told me themselves? “Where are your parents?”

  “Talking to their lawyer,” Kyler told me. “A lot of people had to pull a lot of strings to make this happen on the quick, but it’s happening. That’s why we came here—to take you home with us. My parents are your parents, too, if that’s what you want.”

  My mom and dad, whispered a tiny voice inside my head. But I was afraid to believe the voice, so I pushed it aside.

  “Boom,” said Bonner, mimicking an explosion with his hand. “You’re one of us now, Fig.”

  “Well, not yet,” Kyler said. “She has to agree to it first.”

  I scrolled through the rest of the document, whizzing past a bunch of legal terms I didn’t understand, and a list of statements promising that Frank and Ronnie would provide for my care and give me a proper home and an education. I reached the last page, where Frank and Ronnie had already signed their names. There was only one blank signature line left, and it belonged to me. Below it read Figerella Moonbeam Jammeslot Centaurus.

  “Centaurus,” I whispered under my breath.

  My heart swelled to the size of a melon. They wanted me in their family, so much that Kyler and his brothers had fought for me.

  My brothers, the same voice whispered, but now I didn’t try to silence it. I wanted this too badly to run away from it. Every cell in my body hummed with energy; nothing had ever felt so right. I knew that somewhere out there, my parents were smiling down at me. Maybe they’d even had a hand in making this happen—they loved me enough to do just that.

  Kyler wrapped an arm around my shoulders. “So what do you say, Fig? Are you ready to join our crew?” He added behind his hand, “My folks are crazy about you. Plus, my mom’s always wanted a daughter.”

  I tried to hold back my tears, but they spilled down my cheeks in waves. I smiled wide enough to split my face in half. “Here’s what I say,” I told him. “I want my brothers to show me what a NWARF is.”

  Bonner’s mouth formed an O of excitement.

  That should have been my first warning.

  “Uh, Fig,” Kyler said, wildly shaking his head. “You might not want to—”

  Duke silenced him with a lifted hand. “Now, now, Kyler, don’t spoil the moment. Our little sister wants a NWARF. Who are we to deny her request?”

  “Yeah,” Rylan said. “We aim to please, don’t we?”

  “Totally.” Devin chuckled, rubbing his palms together. “Her wish is our command.”

  Bonner extended an index finger and told me to pull it.

  I shouldn’t have done that. A cloud of noxious gas surrounded me, and the next thing I knew, someone had me in a sweaty headlock while a pair of knuckles scrubbed my scalp. Then a voice cried, “Wedgie!” and I reached behind my back just in time to block the waistband of my undershorts. After that, I was done playing around. I grabbed the wrist that was holding me down and twisted it in a defensive move my father had taught me years ago. Moments later, Duke was on his knees begging me for mercy while Rylan, Devin, and Bonner held up their palms in surrender.

  I released Duke’s hand. “I’ll go easy on you,” I told him, “seeing as it’s our
first day as siblings and all. But next time I won’t hold back.”

  Even as he rubbed his wrist, Duke smiled at me in admiration. “Dang, our little sister is fierce!”

  A grin sprang to my lips. I found myself standing taller with pride.

  “Heck yeah, she is,” Bonner added. “Totally savage!”

  “You guys haven’t seen anything yet,” Kyler said.

  His laughter led my gaze to him, to the spoiled brat I had hoped to con out of his spaceship a few days ago. He had become my best friend when I’d least expected it, and now he would be my brother. Nothing could have made me happier. In fact, there was too much joy inside me. I almost couldn’t hold it in.

  “Welcome to the family, Weirdo,” Kyler said. He gave my arm a playful slug. “You’re going to fit right in.”

  Maybe it only takes one person to write a book, but to publish a book requires a group effort, and that’s something I don’t take for granted. I’m very lucky to have a team of talented, passionate book lovers who work behind the scenes to bring my stories to life. Without them, you wouldn’t be holding Blastaway in your hands.

  To editors Laura Schreiber and Mary Mudd, thank you for guiding me through the revision process with suggestions that took Kyler’s and Fig’s adventures to infinity and beyond. You guys are brilliant, and working with you is a blast! (See what I did there?) To my agent, Nicole Resciniti, thank you for being my biggest fan and my champion. Your encouragement has carried me through a dozen books. Here’s to a dozen more!

  Big hugs to my critique partner, Lorie Langdon, who is a talented author and a wonderful friend. If I ever need to brainstorm a plot, or simply to talk about life, I always feel better after chatting with you. Much love to my hubby, Kevin Kreisa, for helping me invent ways to punish pirates and lasso the sun. You have a great mind for shenanigans!

  As always, I’m grateful to my family and friends for their endless support in spreading the word about my books. You guys are the best! And finally, to my kids, thank you for asking me to write a book that you could read. I’m so glad I listened. Your lovable quirks and goofy antics gave me lots of inspiration for Kyler and his siblings. The Centaurus family is more real because of you. But even though writing Blastaway was fun, it’s being your mom that’s the ultimate adventure!

  MELISSA LANDERS is a former teacher who left the classroom to pursue other worlds. A proud sci-fi geek, she isn’t afraid to wear her Princess Leia costume in public—just ask her embarrassed kids. She lives outside Cincinnati in the small town of Milford, Ohio, where she writes space adventures for kids and the young at heart.