by Adam Holt
Tabitha loved that. “Oh, so you’re the Starboy she’s referring to. I’ve been wanting to hear Queen Envy sing about a geeky space stalker for a long time.”
“Me, too!” he shouted.
“Sunjay,” I said, “do you remember the last celebrity that went into space? Adam Levine, Jr.? I think his dad was a voice coach on TV or something. Anyway, he wrote a song in space called “Space Maniac.” Then he sort of became a space maniac. He launched himself toward the sun in an escape pod! ‘I want to find something hotter than me!’ he said. The crew caught his escape pod before he burned up in the sun, but they had to lock him up for the rest of the mission.”
“My Queen won’t do that,” said Sunjay. “She’s a normal human being.”
“—who dresses up as a sexy spaceship to get attention,” added Tabitha.
Well, at least he didn’t seem as scared about the mission, I thought.
After the press conference, we found everything we needed to make the rest of our plans. Sunjay found blueprints that showed all the different storage areas where he and Tabitha might hide. I didn’t need a spot. I already found a great hiding spot fit for one person, but not everyone felt so confident about my plan.
“You’re going to do what!” Sunjay screamed, his voice cracking. His voice was changing. It felt good to surprise somebody, even if he did think I was crazy. “Stop laughing, Tully. That’ll never work. Tell him, Tabitha.”
Tabitha just twirled her scarf. She scrunched up her nose and squinted at me with those lovely green eyes, like she was making some calculation in her head. “Take it easy, Starboy. It won’t be easy but it will work,” she said, “Dire cool, Tully. You’ll have food and a spacesuit. Good for you.” She blew another bubble. “Now let’s get us on board.”
Sunjay pulled up a blueprint that stretched across the LiveWall. An astronaut was drawn at the bottom of the map near the nose.
“Hey, Sunjay, what’s that there for?” I asked.
He squinted at the tiny astronaut. “Oh, that’s to give you the scale of the map. He’s about the size of your thumb, right? You can get a sense of how big everything is.”
We looked down the length of the ship. Each section was labeled in small, careful lettering. The cargo hold was as big as a classroom. “No,” Sunjay said, “the size of a gymnasium, but it will be packed with color-coded boxes full of equipment. We could hide in one of those boxes. I think they will put most of the food here,” he pointed.
A large section of the crew cabins was blocked off in a glittery looking purple. Tabitha twirled her scarf. “Queen Envy has an entire gymnasium to herself ? Look at all that wasted space. I mean, what’s she going to put in there? What’s she taking in to space?”
“Musicians need their instruments, Tabitha. You wouldn’t understand,” Sunjay said.
“Oh, good point, Starboy. If only she were a musician,” said Tabitha.
“You’re jealous, both of you,” he said. “You know, she sent me a message last night. I opened my holophone and she popped out, right in the middle of my room.”
“She sends that to all her fans,” replied Tabitha.
“Of course she does, but it’s still cool. She said she’s bringing two full drum sets, five guitars, two bass guitars, a banjo, three keyboards, something called a ‘key-tar,’” he continued listing as Tabitha and I just rolled our eyes, “two monogrammed spacesuits—purple and pink. She’s going to keep those in her room for decoration, I guess. Who needs two spacesuits, right? What? What!” he said as our eyes popped open. “What? Also, a bunch of stuff I would rather not say. It’s kind of embarrassing stuff, like, Tully’s caveman decorations, if you know what I—WHY ARE YOU STARING AT ME?!” His voice cracked and went up and down about three octaves.
“Sunjay, you genius!” Tabitha kissed Sunjay on the cheek. He wiped his cheek and looked at his hand. “I’m not wearing lipstick, stupid. Don’t you see?”
“See what?”
“Purple and pink—that’s what I think,” she said. “Scrubbles and Starboy and me. In space all three! Thanks to Queen Envy the celebrity hoarder.”
Sunjay looked confused, but I could see Tabitha’s plan. “Sunjay,” I said, “how would you like to go into space dressed in one of Queen Envy’s monogrammed spacesuits?” He stopped rubbing his face and realized what this meant.
“You mean it?” he said. “Oh, yeah! Strap me into a Queen Envy spacesuit and let’s go to the Moon!”
To the Moon, yes! I just wish we knew our final destination. Other than that, all systems were go. Dad gave us VIP passes that allows us to tour The Adversity on launch day. Sunjay and Tabitha could now get on board the ship—and stay there. I wouldn’t need a pass to get on board though. Finally, we created two diversions, but I’ll explain those details soon enough.
Later that night dad came home and found me in Mission Control, watching Star Wars once again. I gave him a head nod to say, “Hello, I’m mad at you.” He tousled my hair anyway and then he headed to his study. I decided to sleep on the old brown couch that night, comforted by the thoughts of what we had done.
The only thing I regretted? That I hadn’t thought about those extra spacesuits. Then Tabitha would have kissed me on the cheek instead. That would have been dire cool.
A MOMENT IN THE HALLWAY
A few days later we packed into Dr. Chakravorty’s hover car and headed to Florida for the launch. We drove the first few miles out of town on Interstate 10 until we reached the entrance to Hoverway 10. We drove up a steep ramp behind a few other hover cars. We reached the end of the ramp and Dr. C pulled back on the wheel. We rocketed up toward the hoverway four hundred feet above, an endless row of cars cruising between holographic yellow and white lines. I asked him to take the car “water-roading” above the Gulf of Mexico, where we could go as fast as we wanted.
He set the autopilot, turned around, and glared at me. “Water-roading? Are you crazy? These are leather seats. What if some lunatic bumps into us and we have to emergency land the vehicle in the water? The salt water will ruin the car. After that, I guarantee you that the sharks will smell the leather. They’ll eat my seats for dinner and we’ll be dessert.” Dr. Chakravorty’s new hover car was a part of our plan, a part that made Sunjay cringe. He almost fainted when we pitched the idea to him, but Tabitha convinced him it was for the best.
Dr. C acted as our chauffeur, but our chaperone was in the passenger seat—my Aunt Selma. In Middle of Nowhere, Alaska, she looked right at home in her work boots and overalls, hair pulled back into a sloppy ponytail as she chopped wood in the yard. She didn’t like warm weather though. She looked out of place in her flowered dress, and she sweated constantly. “Whoo, what a swamp! Turn up that AC, Niles! I hope our hotel in Florida has a pool.”
Our hotel did have a pool, and Aunt Selma swam all day. Dr. C went to visit some Space Alliance friends. The three of us tried to stay calm, but that wasn’t easy. We booted up Tabitha’s old laptop when we arrived at the hotel. All afternoon we played Cave-In! Tabitha’s hands were shaking, Sunjay’s voice kept cracking, but we managed to set a new high score. That distracted us for a while. “This is a really good sign,” said Tabitha.
Later that night reality set in. First, I said good-bye to my Dad. Well, it was stranger than that. I had to pretend to say good-bye to my dad. I had to act mopey when I was really thrilled about the trip and nervous to put our plan into action. In the end, my Dad gave me the same speech he does before all his flights. He teared up, and so did I. “I love you, son, and God willing, I’ll see you again.”
“I’ll see you soon, Dad,” I said. I mean it. We hugged, and he boarded a hovervan with the rest of his crew. They disappeared into the damp night air. They would spend the night aboard The Adversity, and God willing, we would join them the next day.
Dr. Chakravorty was snoring like a freight train when I returned to the room, and Sunjay was smiling in his sleep with his headphones on. I could hear Queen Envy blasting between his dad’s sn
ores. It was going to be a delightful night. I was about to plug my ears with toilet paper and get in bed when I heard a light scratch on the door. Out the peephole I saw Tabitha in her pajamas, standing in the hallway.
“Hey,” I said. I closed the door softly and leaned back against it.
“Did it go okay with your dad?” she asked.
“Yeah, fine. I don’t think he suspects anything. How’s Aunt Selma?”
“We’re getting along. She has some wild stories about the wilderness. I guess your dad’s not the only explorer in your family.” What about me? I thought, but decided not to say anything. “Your aunt doesn’t like the humidity in Florida. And she hates your dad’s job. She hates space. Is it because of the last trip, the Harper Device near-death deal?”
“No, it’s a long story that has to do with my mom.” I blurted it out without even thinking, and Tabitha seemed surprise. I was, too. She started to apologize so I changed the subject. “No, hey, don’t worry. So I think the plan is coming together fine. Dad doesn’t suspect a thing.”
“Of course not. I taught you how to act, didn’t I?” She paused and looked down at her slippers. Something else was on her mind. “Tully, are we really going to do this tomorrow? We could get into real danger out there.”
I remembered the note she dropped at school, how she doodled “Danger?” above the Harper Device. She doesn’t even know the Device is going on this trip, I thought. I never told her or Sunjay. She doesn’t know that it caused the storm that flooded her house. I wondered how she would feel about that, but I didn’t ask. “Are you worried something bad is going to happen to us? Well, it either will or it won’t, I guess.” Not the best pep talk, Tully. She looked down again, but I put my hand on her shoulder. “No, that’s not what I mean. Are you scared? Because if that’s it, I think we should be scared. I’m scared that our plan won’t work, but it’s got to work. Anyway, you know what scares me more?”
“What?” she said.
“Not leaving. Being stuck in Alaska, not knowing if my dad will return. And being a thousand miles from you and Sunjay. That’s really a horror story to me. I want an adventure story.”
“Me, too. For the longest time I wanted to run away from home—just for a while—but I never knew where to go. So when you started talking about your plan, it just felt perfect. And you and Sunjay are my crazy fun summer friends, so I had to go. You guys are like family to me.”
“Really?”
“Yes. You never let me down. You always pick me up. I just hope we haven’t tried for too much.”
“No risk, no reward. That’s what my dad says.”
Tabitha nodded. She was wearing her lucky scarf, and it turned a deep purple. She has something else on her mind, I thought, waiting for her to speak.
“What’s your dad going to say when we come out of hiding in a few days?”
“He can say what he wants. I’d rather be yelled at in space than yelled at in Alaska. Whatever he says, it won’t be ‘Go cut some wood!’ And whatever he does, we’ll be the first people ever to sneak into space.”
“And survive,” she added. Her scarf went from purple to light blue.
“Yes.” I tugged on her scarf. “So just wear your lucky scarf to bed and think about three things you’re grateful for. It’s a good habit.”
“Okay,” she said, laughing and sniffling.
For a moment we both stood there looking at each other in the hallway. It reminded me of our very last game of Cave-In!, where we were down to our last life. We were almost crushed by a boulder, but Tabitha pointed out the danger and I dodged it. We cheated death and made it to the next level. Sunjay then found an extra life hidden under a rock, so we played the game together for another two hours. It was a perfect moment that we could never have planned. If I said or did the right thing, I thought, it might be the same way tonight. Tabitha and I might hang out together for another three hours—maybe explore the hotel, sneak up to the roof, watch the stars, and take a walk. Anything might be possible. It was a strange feeling that made my head swirl. Her scarf went from blue to bright green. Part of me said, “Go!” and another part said, “Where?”
But I couldn’t decide what to do or say, and the moment sort of slipped away like a meteor blazing past and leaving behind only the cold stars. We nervously smiled. She gave me a hug before shuffling down the hall to Aunt Selma’s room. I tried to get some sleep, but between Dr. Chakravorty’s Snorefest, Sunjay’s elbows, tomorrow’s mission, and thinking about that moment in the hallway, I didn’t sleep a wink.
HOW TO SNEAK INTO SPACE IN THREE EASY STEPS
The next morning went as planned. Sort of. By the end of it, we would be aboard The Adversity, but not before I scared an orangutan, wrecked a hovercar, and had a run-in with an angry swamp monster.
We arrived at the launch site, which looked like a music festival hosted at an airstrip on the fourth of July. A holographic banner flew above the entire event—about a mile long and a mile off the ground, it was clearly visible from the ground or from space. “100 Years Since Man First Walked on the Moon!” One hundred thousand people poured through the gates in every sort of vehicle—bicycles, mopeds, cars, hovercars, hoverboards, and monstrous hoverbarges blaring dance music. We flashed our VIP badges and found a place to park Dr. C’s hovercar.
Inside, an enormous grandstand towered over one side of the airstrip and boomed music to the huge crowds. A hangar stood next to the grandstand, and in it was The Adversity, full of people wanting a closer look at our ship.
Some people came for the launch. Some people came for the music. The Space Alliance booked some of the world’s biggest acts for the festival: The Rolling Tombstones, the Stone Cold Breathmints, and the Hypertones were all there. Queen Envy was the closing act the night before the launch, of course. Sunjay couldn’t believe he had missed her performance, but we all knew we needed our sleep. We had a busy day ahead of us.
“But she wore hover shoes and floated over the audience when she sang ‘Nothing Can Hold You Down!’” he said.
Tabitha shrugged. “Sunjay, you don’t need to hear that song. We’re going to live out those lyrics when we get on board The Adversity.”
For the last few nights the crew slept on board: Redshirt Anderson, Buckshot Lewis, Gallant Trackman, Sylvia Moreline, and my dad. Lincoln Sawyer was on board, too, but Androids don’t need sleep. Queen Envy slept in her hoverbus, enjoying one more night of luxury. And Scrubbles, well, I knew exactly where Scrubbles would be.
He was my ticket on board.
After we parked the hovercar, the three of us walked ahead of Aunt Selma and Dr. C to talk about our plan.
“Everybody say what you’re going to do,” I said.
“Okay,” said Sunjay, with a gulp, “I’ll get the keys to my father’s hovercar. Then we’ll meet back here and we’ll drive it into—oh, stars, daddy’s going to kill me—“
“—You’ll be in space before he knows, Sunjay,” I reminded him. “Once we’ve ditched the car—“
“—Tully will do his orangutan thing and Sunjay and I will use our VIP passes to get on board and hide. We get Queen Envy to take us on board The Adversity for a tour of her room and we don’t leave,” said Tabitha, smiling and flipping her scarf.
“I can’t believe we’re doing this!” Sunjay squealed. “To hang out in one of the Queen’s spacesuits and watch her write the first album ever recorded in space—“
“—will be Heaven for her space stalker. And why I brought earplugs.” Tabitha grabbed his shoulders. “Time for the tour, Space Boy. Remember, I get the purple spacesuit.”
Step One: Ditch the adults and ditch the car.
Sunjay and Tabitha took Dr. Chakravorty to The Adversity hangar. I grabbed Aunt Selma by the hand and made for the grandstands. “Tully, slow your caboose down!” she said. Beads of sweat popped up on her forehead. I kept dragging her. We needed to tire her out.
“Wow, Aunt Selma, let’s check out the grandstand seats before we see th
e hangar.” She grimaced but tried to keep up as I pushed through the crowd, past the concessions, up the first set of stairs, and began bounding up the steps toward the VIP seating at the very top. “Come on, Aunt Selma!”
She looked like she had just jumped out of the pool by the time she made it past the vendors to the VIP seating, and she was breathing like she swam the 400-meter butterfly.
“My stars, what’s gotten into you? Let your old aunt rest a minute,” she said, puffing. “Can’t we just take the elevator?”
“Come on, Auntie. We’ll be sitting down all day. Oh, they’ve got the best lemonade in the VIP area. Let’s get some,” I said. It didn’t take much more than that to get her inside the air-conditioned booth. It looked like a huge press box at a football stadium where people can watch the game, eat, and drink. And that’s what Aunt Selma wanted to do. She sat down and ordered nachos and a lemonade. By the time her food arrived, she convinced me that we should stay in the VIP. Perfect.
I ran back to the car. Sunjay and Tabitha were already there.
“Your aunt is drinking lemonade,” said Tabitha. “Good! We lost Dr. Chakravorty in the hangar. Sunjay, give Tully the keys please.” Sunjay reluctantly handed me the keys to his father’s car. We all got in. I started the engine. There was no turning back now.
“Okay, Sunjay. Where’s that pond?”
Sunjay pointed the way. I slowly brought the hovercar off the ground. Carefully, we made our way down rows of cars until we reached a little forest. There we found a pond surrounded by cypress trees, just like we had pictured it on the LiveWall. It’s the kind of place my dad would take me bass fishing, but we weren’t here for the catch of the day. We were here to dump a car.
Tabitha and Sunjay hopped out of the car and onto the shore of the pond. I stayed in the driver’s seat. When we decided no one was around, I coasted Dr. C’s brand new hovercar over the water. It was just deep enough to submerge the car. I would have to swim back to shore once I dumped the car.
