by LM. Preston
“Right you are,” Aadi answered grimly.
“Hey, I sent Carter and Raiko out to the courts. Why don’t Eirena and Tacitus join them while we wait for Dakota and Damien?” Scott said.
“Gladly. I’ll see you both when the other two come out. C’mon, Tacitus,” Eirena said as she led the way out of the engineering room door after slowly opening the door and peeking side to side.
“Aadi, there is some scary stuff going on with this company and this ship. We have got to figure a way to fight this,” Scott said so angrily that he grabbed Aadi’s shoulder.
“I know. Just hold tight,” Aadi said as they heard Dakota and Damien coming through the vent.
“Hey, let’s go meet the others at the courts. We don’t want to be found here,” Aadi said to the others, as he screwed the vent closed.
“You got that right! No fight from me on that note!” said Dakota. He followed Scott and Damien out the door. Aadi finished up and went right behind them.
Carter had managed to get them the court closest to the engineering room where they found a bench and sat down as they were watching some of the other kids finish up their games.
“They just called for lights out. We got about ten minutes before they do their sweep and to kick us out of the recreation areas,” said Carter.
“Okay, now where to begin… uh, Scott, what did you find out?” questioned Aadi.
“There is some type of experiment going on here that caused some of the kids to get sick. And here is the kicker… they plan on getting rid of these kids that got sick from this experiment because they say they own the rights to them, as they were created by the company,” Scott said, and he slapped his fist against his hand in anger.
“Well, that’s not the half of it. There are a lot of sick kids in the infirmary, and they aren’t treating them well at all. The kids are drugged and helpless,” said Aadi.
“Not all of them are so helpless. Some of the kids that were injected got enhanced strength, but they brought those kids under control and put them in The Cave. I don’t know exactly what will happen to them, but one little girl named Maryann seems to think that they will be disposed of. She just doesn’t know how. Hopefully, they will find a way out in the near future,” Dakota said. Raiko looked at him and lifted her eyebrows.
“What do you mean, exactly? About ‘hopefully they will find a way out,’ Dakota?” Damien asked and then crossed his arms.
“Nothing, I just felt sorry for them. I would want someone to help me if I were in their shoes,” Dakota said and turned around to watch the basketball game.
“You better hope you have nothing to do with their problems, Dakota,” Damien said as he walked up behind Dakota and growled in Dakota’s ear. Dakota just stared straight ahead with a quick look of fear on his face at Damien’s comment and then brushed it off. His mischievous smile reappeared. Aadi raised an eyebrow at the exchange and wondered if there was something that Dakota wasn’t telling them.
“Well, guys, when we board our cruisers, bring everything that you need to protect yourselves. I don’t want to come back to this ship after the expedition to any surprises. See you all in the morning,” Aadi said, ending the conversation, as he was very disturbed and needed to get back to the room to plan how they could fight this conspiracy when they returned from their expedition. He needed to call his mom… now!
Aadi walked and blocked out all the kids walking past and around him. He blinked and blacked out his mind to bring his mom’s face into view within his mind’s eye. She was at her office at TEGRC typing on her computer keyboard, intently reading the screen when he called her. However, she instantly smiled and closed her eyes in order to speak to him mentally, “Aadi, I have missed you so. Are you okay? I’ve prayed that these next four weeks go very fast.”
“Mom, I miss you, too, but everything is not going well here. There are some strange things going on. They have kids that didn’t do well from the immunizations, and they plan to destroy those kids in some way. I don’t know Mom… I just wish I could come home now, but I don’t feel right leaving these others here to suffer,” Aadi thought and pushed it to her through the telenex.
“Aadi, what are you saying? Are you saying some of you all got sick, and they are holding those kids there? Oh my God! Why would Mr. Mitchellson let something like this happen?”
“Who is Mr. Mitchellson?” Aadi responded.
“He is the President and CEO of this company. He supports and approves all of the research and development for new business. He cannot be this cruel. I will see about this! I am going to request a meeting tomorrow, but first I am going to talk to your dad and some of the other parents we can trust,” his mom said.
“I don’t know, Mom. I just hope tomorrow is not too late. I think one of the kids on my team did something that may make this place a little hostile. I don’t know for sure, but I just got a feeling about something. Anyway, I’ll call you after the expedition. My team is leading it with Damien and Tacitus, my teammates, in the front,” Aadi pushed to her in his thoughts.
“That’s awesome! I knew you would be a great leader! My son, I love you and please, please, please be very careful not to bring attention to yourself,” she said as she put her hand up to her lips and kissed it.
“I think it’s too late for that, but I will try. I love you too,” said Aadi as he blinked and blacked out his mind’s vision of her. He walked faster to his room. He needed to speak to Ebu before the others arrived.
Aadi ran the rest of the way to his room. He scanned his eye and was in the door. He opened his backpack, and Ebu jumped out and climbed on the bed.
“Ebu, it’s starting to feel like this is a very dangerous place to be,” Aadi said and grabbed some of the things that were in his duffle bag that he wanted to take with him to the expedition in the morning. He put as much as he could into his backpack.
“I saw a lot of things that were very bad. I downloaded information into my hard drive, and it is locked away for safekeeping. I will share it with you after the expedition. I will go with you tomorrow. Make room for me in the bag,” Aadi opened the backpack to make room for Ebu. Aadi was so spooked that he decided he would sleep with his backpack on to be ready for tomorrow’s expedition.
The boys started to come into the room. They all looked solemn and had the same idea as Aadi. They started to pack their backpacks for the expedition with everything they may need while on Mars and for defending themselves when they returned, just in case.
“Hey, I, um… I, um, have a few extra laser guns,” said Dakota.
“Okay, Dakota. What’s with you? Where do you get this stuff? How did you get on the ship with it in the first place? They made everyone hand over their communications devices and any other dangerous items, but you have it all. What gives?” asked Aadi and shook his head in amazement at Dakota.
“Let’s just say that I like to acquire stuff on my travels,” Dakota said, smirking.
“He means he steals them,” said Scott as he put his hypnotic device discretely in his ear.
“Thanks, Captain Obvious. Well, I don’t know about you all, but I am sleeping with my stuff on. I am feeling a bit edgy,” said Aadi. He grabbed his space suit, helmet, and gloves and put them at the foot of his bed.
“I don’t think I will sleep for weeks after what we found out today,” said Scott.
“I am not going to have any problems sleeping,” said Damien as he climbed on his bunk, turned his back to everyone, and appeared to go straight to sleep.
“Tacitus, thanks for pulling me up back there,” Aadi said as he climbed in his bed and got under the covers.
“You’re welcome. Good night,” Tacitus said as he finally got into bed. As the lights went out, Aadi couldn’t see anything but Trevor, and the tears that fell from his eyes. Aadi felt horrible because he couldn’t help Trevor. He wished that he didn’t have to leave the boy there with all those other kids. He was tired of feeling helpless. As he closed his eyes, he wished he were
older, bigger, and strong enough to save them all.
Chapter 38
Aadi woke up with a jerk. Today is the day… expedition day, he thought. He jumped up with anticipation, his blood was pumped, and he was ready to be in the sky. He looked around and realized everyone was still asleep. He looked at the time, and it was just two-thirty a.m. They would be blasting off at five in the morning, and he couldn’t wait. He got up and went to the bathroom, brushed his teeth, and washed his hair. He looked at his face in the mirror, and Trevor’s face appeared. He felt helpless again, so for the first time since he started camp, he prayed. He prayed for strength and for Trevor and the other kids because he knew he couldn’t save them all. He put on his uniform and his gloves in his belt. He was ready. As he moved forward out of the bathroom, Scott stood in the doorway.
“I know how you feel, Aadi. I know how you feel. I hope God hasn’t forgotten about us, because right now, it sure is starting to feel like it. We will figure out a way to save them. I just know we will. We’ll come up with a plan,” said Scott as he put his hand on Aadi’s shoulder.
“God forgot about us the moment He put us on this ship or sooner even. He never did anything for me, and He ain’t going to start now. Move,” Damien spat out and stormed by Aadi. Aadi looked at Damien’s back as he passed and figured ignoring his comment would be best. He didn’t have the energy to deal with Damien’s anger any longer.
“I hope we will, Scott, because right now I really don’t feel like a leader. I have no control over what they are doing to those kids or to us. We all had that immunization. What is it going to do to us? What has it already done? I don’t feel different, but am I? Are you? I just don’t know,” Aadi said as he shook his head and walked past Scott to grab his backpack. Dakota and Damien started heading to the bathroom to get dressed. They silently passed him by, which wasn’t like Damien at all. Aadi wondered to himself, Did I wake them up, or do they already feel the same way I do about what we saw last night?
Once dressed, the boys didn’t wait for the call. They went straight to breakfast to meet the girls. Carter, Eirena, and Raiko waited at the table and surprised the boys by having their food already there waiting for them.
“Hey, what’s this about? You didn’t poison mine, did you? ‘Cause I wouldn’t put it past you since you were taught your place in the simulation. You may be bitter,” Damian spat out.
“Lucky for you, I wasn’t the one to get your food, Carter was. So hopefully, you didn’t tick him off enough to want to poison you or put some interesting tasty buggley wuggleys in your food,” Eirena added with squinted eyes.
“If he wanted to live, he wouldn’t,” Damien grumbled, but his usual biting sarcasms sounded dull.
“Well, anyways boys, we got your food because we don’t have much time to talk about the plan after we return back from the expedition,” Eirena said and picked up some bacon and stuffed it in her mouth.
“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.
Chapter 40
“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 be
en 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.
