Adventures of Space Cadets 101: Space Pirates, Allies and Aliens. Darryl Dean Wright
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one zero and counting down," came over the radio. "Switch Bus for go on the onboard computer. You are 'Go' for auto-sequence start. Clear launch areas, lock visors, and initiate o2o. God speed, One-Oh-One, and we’ll see you in about a half year."
Austen, on the radio said to Control, “This is the One-Oh-One; copy, roger ABU, over.”
“CODE ONE, CODE ONE, Countdown Hold!”
Austen said to his brother, “Putting in Kirk’s override launch hack program now.”
Derek said, “Mission Control must have realized that we are two hundred and ninety-five pounds overweight. The F.B.I. probably figured out that our brother must have stowed away last night. He was always the ‘Black Sheep’.”
Austen said, “It’s working; twenty seconds and away we go.”
Derek said over the ship’s speakers, “Alright, People, pucker up!”
On most screens right then, the public was watching a whole bunch of men in black running away from the launch site where the ship was taking off. One of the channels described it as a comedy. They hadn’t expected the ship to launch.
It was a perfect launch. Every branch of the military demanded to know how the launch happened, but E.D. had no answers. The public would soon forget about the event in just a few days, but the people on the shuttle would never forget it. Inside the One-Oh-One, it was like falling through the sky only ten times faster. Some of the astronauts were screaming, some were holding their breath, and some were just enjoying the ride. It wasn’t their first time. And the adventure began.
A few seconds after the rockets burned out and separated, the One-Oh-One was headed towards the moon at a tremendous speed.
Chapter 3
PROFESSOR CROSS
JR had been smuggled onto the One-Oh-One shuttle the night before the launch with the help of his brothers, a pilot named Tim Johnson, and a space marine named Dale Hawkins. It was JR’s weight, and the weight of a big large duffle bag that Earth Defense stopped the countdown for, but it didn’t stop launch.
Earth Defense did not know that the Houstons were prepared to bypass the countdown with the E.D. computers with their own computer program at the last second to launch anyway - a bypass created by a sixteen year old genius.
It was a month later and the One-Oh-One was crossing Mar’s orbital path. Of course Mars wasn’t there yet and would not be there for months. A sub-ship, The Obama, named after an ancient president of the first United States, was radioing the One-Oh-One to come to a complete halt, and to wait for the E.D. ship to arrive for a search and seizure of the criminal, JR Houston. “Do you copy?” They had been sending the same message over and over to the One-Oh-One.
JR was seated up front with his brothers and Tim Johnson. There were five seats in the flight deck. The fifth seat was for anyone invited who might want to peer out the front of the ship to see where the ship was going, or to enjoy the gems and diamonds. So many diamonds in space, and every one of them sparkled. It was beautiful if not monotonous.
JR said that it looked like E.D. had finally caught up with him. The flight deck ignored the E.D. hail. Tim was fed up with the constant hail so he turned the radio off. He said, “Man, that’s annoying!” Tim thought that in space there was nothing to do, so some ensign from E.D. just kept hailing them every other minute.
When he turned the radio off, JR thanked him. JR was getting irritated too. Derek said, “Talk, talk, talk. No one plays music anymore.” Austen laughed at that.
Nobody knew that an alleged criminal was onboard except for family, one pilot, and one marine. There were two crews so anyone that saw him would assume that he was on the other crew, even though his suit and helmet were gold.
JR asked Austen if they did have to stop for E.D., and then he asked, “How are you going to explain my added weight?”
Austen explained to him that under “miscellaneous” weight on the cargo list, “We added a Cross telescope at the last minute. It just so happens to weigh about the same as you, more or less, plus Derek’s and my illegal tobacco, and your, I’m assuming, illegal contraband.”
JR was hoping Austen’s lie would work or he was going to have to hurt some people. As his brothers closed the cabin door and lit up their cigarettes, JR asked, “The area for smuggling is under the seat by the port airlock, but it isn’t big enough for me, where am I supposed to hide?”
Derek told his older brother not to worry as he blew a smoke ring from his mouth. “There is a reason we told you to keep your space suit on.” JR didn’t like where that was going, so he gave Derek “the look.”
Tim laughed and asked Austen what a Cross telescope was?
Austen said that they had all kinds of scientists onboard, geologists, biologists, etc. etc., but that they didn’t have any room for labs, or research mods, but … they did have room for stellar cartography for all of the astronomers onboard. Tim just looked at Austen with a blank stare. Austen realized that he had never answered Tim’s question, so he elaborated, “It’s a big telescope.”
Tim simply said, “Oh.”
The communications console was blinking diligently waiting for a response. Tim was tired of it blinking, so he cut a piece of electrical tape and covered the blinking light.
Derek said, “Brilliant!” A second light on the same console started blinking. Derek said, “Dear God, it's spreading!”
It was the telemetry transmitter next to the radio light. Tim voiced his thoughts out loud, “It’s weird, but it is not E.D. It is blinking on a different pattern, and it’s on sonar, Sir. It is messing up our sonar.”
Derek turned on the intercom and asked Kim Hart to come to the flight deck.
Kim was in the back passenger compartment talking with the closest cadets next to her. Since they were passing the Mars orbital path, Mars became the subject of conversation.
Terry Stevens was engaged in talking about the Mars tragedy that happened before she was even born. Ever since the second Mars colony, New Florida, people had to carry their passports with them into space.
The rebel terrorists on Mars had managed to hire a known terrorist from Earth to enact their movement. No one knew that he was a wanted man and he walked freely among the colonists anywhere in the colony … The first colony.
Then one day, a Mars day, after so much death and destruction, they, the Martial police force, had him cornered, but he was an extremist and insane. He had strapped himself to a mini-nuke. No one thought that he would do it, but they were dead wrong. He had no problem pushing the little red button and taking everyone with him. Where the bomb went off there was absolutely no sign that a dome or colony was ever there. The only thing that remained was a large crater.
Kim was so intensely overwhelmed in the story telling that she jumped when the page came over the intercom. She stood up and excused herself as she left her seat. She smiled at Terry and said, “Looks like the captain wants me.”
Terry slapped her on her butt and said, “You lucky witch; save me some.” Kim smiled and made her way to the flight deck. She felt like everybody was staring at her, though. She was always so self-conscious.
When she opened the cabin door Derek said to her, “Hurry up and shut the door, please.”
She shut the door and began fanning her hands and coughing. “Is something on fire?”
Derek took a drag off the fag and said, “No, why do you ask?” He was having fun at her expense.
She exclaimed, “Oh my god! You’re puffing on illegal tobacco … on a spaceship no less! Are you crazy?!”
Derek smiled at her and said, “You are so beautiful when you’re beautiful.”
Austen said, “You mean mad.”
Derek