Kingdom Keepers III(85)

“‘Valves’…‘Hypersleep’…‘First Stage,’” Jess said. “Those are the labels. I don’t know what they mean, or even if they mean something, but Willa thinks it’s important.”

Charlene repeated the three labels, her eyes searching the console. The Hypersleep button was directly below the Engineer screen. Next, she spotted the 1st Stage Sep button below the Commander’s screen.

“That’s all I’ve got,” Jess said.

Charlene thanked her and was about to ask her to describe the location of the Valves button, when the doors hissed. Maybeck hit the button. The door was about to close.

“I need you in here!” she shouted to Maybeck, realizing that with her seat belt locked around her waist, she couldn’t reach the 1st Stage button, only the Hypersleep. “Now!”

For once, Maybeck listened to someone else. He dove through the opening as the door slid shut, landing across her knees, extended the full length of the capsule. He caught a foot, and just wrenched it free—his running shoe coming off—as the door sealed shut.

Charlene had reached out to pull on his leg to free his stuck foot. It was in that confusion that her eye lit upon a set of switches stacked vertically: Electrics, Hydraulics, Valves.

Valves! she realized. They were in such an out-of-the way location, she might have missed them entirely had she not reached for Maybeck’s leg.

But now, as the interior lights went dark, rendering the capsule pitch-black, and a screen flickered, showing a blue sky filled with soft white clouds, she worked to imprint the exact location of those switches: to her right, and a little lower than her elbow.

“How long is this ride?” she asked Maybeck, who had pulled himself to sitting, feet on the floor, facing the far left screen.

“I don’t know. Five minutes? Feels a lot longer than that, but that’s what I’m guessing. Did I happen to mention that I hate this ride?”

The screen showed they were lining up with a launch platform. The pod began to shake and the roar of rocket engines drowned out all thought.

“We…have…to…focus!” she said, her teeth rattling. “We have five minutes to figure out these buttons.”

“What buttons?”

“You take the Commander screen.”

“Got it.”

“Lower left button is marked—”

“First Stage Sep,” he said.

“That’s it. I’ve got the Hypersleep button and, I hope, the Valves switch. My guess is that we need to work these buttons in the right order and something will happen.”

“That doesn’t sound so great,” Maybeck said. “What if we don’t want it to happen?”

The capsule lifted and, as it did, the force driving Charlene back into her seat became intense. She sensed the capsule’s spinning and began to feel dizzy.

“Note to self,” Maybeck said, “I could easily hurl, or pass out, or whatever. So if we’re going to do something, I would suggest sooner than later.”

The liftoff was causing the capsule to feel like it might break apart.

“What…happens…first?” she managed to ask.

“Stage separation,” he answered. “I know that much.”

“And that’s you. Okay….”

“And like right away!” he spit out.

At that instant, the narrator’s voice instructed the Commander, “Initiate first stage separation…Now! ” The 1st Stage Sep button lit up.

“Push the button,” Charlene hollered too loudly, “and hold it! Do not let go!”

“Got it!” Maybeck said, depressing the button. “Hyperspace is next.”

The Mission Control woman told them they were looking good. Maybeck had a few choice words for her, but kept them to himself. The man’s voice told the pilot to fire the second-stage rockets.

“Don’t do anything,” she said.

“But what if—”

“It’s not part of Wayne’s instructions.”

“But we’re not even sure—”

“Do not touch any buttons. Not until I say so.”

“Who put you in charge?”

“You did, remember? You wanted me in the capsule. Well, here I am.”

They might have been able to see each other given the glow of the monitors, but Charlene couldn’t sit forward. She was pasted back in her seat. The capsule slingshot around the moon and the Mission Control man told the engineer to activate Hyperspace.

“Okay….” Charlene said, reaching out and pressing and holding the Hypersleep button.

“He said Hyperspace, not Hypersleep.”

“Yeah? Well, we’re making this up as we go,” she said. She could see Maybeck’s outstretched arm—thankfully, he was still holding the 1st Stage Sep button.