Prologue

“T minus twenty minutes to launch.”

Nine-year old Alex Stone listened to the booming voice as he sat on hard metal bleachers in Florida air as thick as soup. The setting sun cast an orange glow across the marshes and bays of the Kennedy Space Center. The shadows slowly lengthened as Alex watched the numbers on the huge digital clock tick backwards, seeming like they would never reach their destination.

His mother's face appeared on the giant projection screen set out by the water, and her head, enlarged on the monitor and enclosed in an astronaut's helmet, was the size of a whole person. Alex's mother was smiling the way she always did when she was excited about something, her bright white teeth sparkling and the skin at the corners of her blue eyes wrinkling like cat whiskers. She reached up and flipped a switch on the control panel with her gloved hand. Alex waved at her image, even though he knew she couldn't see him.

As far as Alex was concerned, his mother was perfect. Everyone said how smart she was, and Alex knew it was true. He loved to hear her talk about her work as a geneticist. She would explain in ways Alex could understand how all life was made up of tiny cells that contained plans called DNA. These plans decided what every living thing looked like, what colors it had and what its capabilities were. By studying these plans, his mom explained, we could help fix problems that sometimes happen when the plans are written a little wrong. That was why she had to go back into space for the next five months, to help figure these things out.

A calm female voice came over the loudspeaker. “Orion crew, lock your visors and verify positive O2 flow.”

“Copy that, Houston,” replied a deep baritone voice that Alex vaguely recognized.

“Grandma, what's oh-two?” he asked, looking up at her in the seat next to his.

“It's an abbreviation for oxygen, dear,” said his grandmother with a smile. She put her hand on his knee and patted it gently.

Alex squinted to try to see the rocket better. From this distance it was a blurry pillar of light against the darkening sky. His mother was somewhere in that distant bright tower. A warm gentle breeze washed over the bleachers.

Alex was starting to grow restless. He stood up on his seat and looked down at the dirt path that ran alongside the bleachers. A thin line of people trickled into the viewing area, while a sparse few headed in the other direction towards the smelly, plastic portable toilets that bordered the parking lot. Alex spotted his dad in the crowd that was coming towards the bleachers. He jumped up and down and shouted for him as he made his way up the crowded metal steps.

“Hey there, kiddo.” His dad smiled and gave Alex a high five. He was wearing his blue flight suit and he looked every bit the part of a military pilot and astronaut. His sandy brown hair was cut short, and his chiseled jaw, well-built upper body and tall posture emanated a relaxed confidence. Alex loved his father, but not in the same way as he loved his mother. Sometimes daddy was too serious and bossy. Mom was always warm and loving.

His dad sat down next to Alex.

“How was the press briefing, Mike?” asked Grandma.

“It was great until they asked me to explain Barbara's science experiments. I really had to pull that answer out of my...” His father stopped and looked at Alex. “...behind. It was pretty bad. Wish they could just stick to questions about how to go to the bathroom in space.” His dad chuckled.

“I could explain her experiments,” Alex piped up. “She's studying how to fix DNA when it gets broken. It messes up the plans for our cells.”

“Well, aren't you the smart little scientist. Now we just have to teach you how to fly an F-35 and you'll be ready to be a super-astronaut when you grow up.” His dad ruffled Alex's hair and Alex smiled.

The countdown was nearing the last few minutes. As the last stragglers began to settle into their seats, a silence fell over the crowd. The last light of day faded as the clock ticked down the final sixty seconds. A booming voice began to count with the clock. “Five...four...three...two...one.”

The sky exploded in light, and the crowd let out a collective gasp. The sound took a few seconds to reach them but then it shook the bleachers. Alex began to clap as he watched the light climb the sky up towards the stars. The last launch he had seen was for his father's last mission two years ago. This was even better than he remembered. The light seemed to be getting brighter and then as it crossed a cloud, it seemed to explode like a firework.

Alex was overjoyed and began to clap even more furiously. His hands hurt from the clapping; they felt like they might bleed but he wanted to clap louder than the booming sound hitting his ears. He kept clapping as bits of light fell, just like a fireworks show.

Then he suddenly became aware of the fact that nobody else was clapping anymore. The booms had stopped. He looked up at his father who was standing. His face looked ghost white in the evening twilight.

“Daddy, why aren't you clapping?”

Alex slowly looked around. The entire crowd was still. Then he heard a sob from within the mass of bodies. In the distant sky, it was raining sparks.

Something was wrong.

His grandmother gathered him in her arms as she began to cry.

Excerpt from Chapter 13

Alex felt a fluttering in his stomach and cold sweat on his body. It was the same way he felt when standing in line for a big roller coaster at the amusement park, especially one that had a massive drop at the start. As he approached the tower elevator with his father and Dr. Reid, he felt like he was next in line for the big ride.

“Here we go,” Alex’s dad said with a smile when the elevator doors closed. Alex’s stomach felt like it stayed below as the elevator rose. He took a deep breath and held it.

When the elevator stopped at the top of the 140 foot tower, Alex could see for what seemed like miles along the coast and out into the ocean. But his eyes quickly fixated on the hatch to Venturer, just across a metal bridge, as he walked slowly towards the capsule. Alex had been in mockups of the spacecraft before, but his breath was still taken away by the sight of the real thing, glistening in white paint with cool green lighting inside, the screens powered up and lights blinking. It looked like a scene from a science fiction movie, but it wasn’t. This spaceship, this rocket and this mission were all real! Alex smiled as he ducked his head and entered the capsule.

He crawled into his seat below the control panel and lay on his back with his feet raised above him. The capsule could hold up to six passengers and a pilot, but today it would carry only three. The remaining space was filled with dozens of bags of supplies - food, clothing, spare parts, spacesuits, computers, scientific equipment and hotel amenities. The bags were neatly arranged and held to the sides and bottom of the capsule with black straps that would prevent them from floating freely when they arrived in orbit and lost the sensation of gravity.

Venturer was designed to take tourists to space, so several round windows dotted the capsule’s hull. Alex checked the display above him and saw that they were a little more than two hours from launch. He remembered watching his mother before her flight. It was the last time he had seen her and she had been smiling with nervous excitement. She hadn’t had any idea what was about to happen to her. Alex wanted to feel the same blissful excitement she had experienced, but he couldn’t shake the image of exploding light from his mind. His father reached over and patted Alex on the knee as the technician closed the hatch to the capsule, sealing them inside. Alex tried to look over and see his dad's face, but the bulky helmet made it impossible.

“Ready for the ride of your life?” Alex’s dad asked over the private channel of the radio.

“Yeah, I think so,” Alex replied nervously. “I just wish we could hurry up and get this over with. I’m so scared I feel like I'm going to pee my pants.”

“Venturer, this is NewStar Control,” came a voice on the radio. “Check your mics please.”

Alex’s father started laughing, his chuckles booming into Alex’s ear. Then Alex realized that he’d pressed the wrong button on the wrist of his suit before speaking into the radio. He’d been speaking on the public channel that was sent to mission control. Wait, didn’t they say that they were going to air that channel on TV live? That means everybody heard that. Oh God, even Mackenzie probably heard that!

“Don’t worry, Alex,” his father finally said when he finished laughing. “We’ve all made that mistake before.”

Alex refused to speak after that. The control center began rattling off steps in their procedure, checking oxygen levels and pressures and fuel quantities. Alex was asked to do a voice check and he meekly responded that he could hear the control center fine. Before long, the display in front of him showed only 5 minutes left until launch.

“Alex, is your suit configured to launch mode?” his dad asked.

“Yes,” Alex responded.

“You’re on the private channel now, you don’t have to answer in just one word,” his dad said with a chuckle.

The clock continued to count backwards and was joined by voices from the control center.

“One minute to launch.”

“30 seconds.”

“Auto ignition is ready.”

“10”

“9”

“8”

“7”

“6”

“5”

“4”

“3”

“2”

“1”

Alex felt the world shaking. His seat bounced so hard that for a moment he thought it would break loose. He reached up and grabbed a support bar with both hands, squeezing tightly. The rumble of the capsule was far more violent than Alex expected. He felt sure something was wrong.

“Liftoff!”

Alex squeezed his eyes shut, waiting for the capsule to come apart around him. Instead, he felt a sudden force push him down into his seat. He opened his eyes and looked out the window to see the clouds above them rushing closer. He let out a breath. They were flying!

Alex tried to look over at his father, but he could not make out his face. His dad was all business, calmly checking the displays and rattling off numbers to the NewStar mission control. His father’s ability to remain calm in the middle of a literal fireball was impressive.

As the shaking and rumbling subsided, Alex felt himself being pushed harder and harder into his seat. They were accelerating faster now and were past the most dangerous aerodynamic loading on the rocket. A smile swept across Alex’s face as he began to feel that everything was going to be fine, and he started to relish the thrill of being shot skyward on a pillar of flame. He was surrounded by the sensation of the rocket’s vibration, the rumbling of the powerful engine and the force of the rocket pushing him back into his seat. He closed his eyes again and let the excitement wash over him.

That’s when the alarm sounded.