Chapter 1

"Danger!" Will said.

John's stomach churned. In front of the Jupiter's cockpit, the red and blue giant binary stars burnt with a raging intensity. Wide bands of asteroids spiraled around the pair like clouds around the eye of an hurricane. In the middle of these dust storms, three helpless planets waited to be flattened, grinded, atomized. An urge to scurry under cover seized him. John took a deep breath to quell his nerves and darted a look at his wife.

"Are we at a safe distance if–"

"A supernova isn't what we should worry about," she said, interrupting him without averting her eyes from the glass-screen console.

"What then?"

"Radiation."

Will's voice resonated like a judge's gavel to John's ears. To think they had left Earth's polluted atmosphere to seek pristine skies on Alpha Centauri only to end up in a decaying system! That was one irony he did not appreciate. "Maureen? How long do we have before..."

"We're far enough."

The quick dismissal of his concerns failed to reassure John. First, the Jupiter's course was taking them closer, and second, his wife passing on a perfect opportunity to give him a long, passionate explanation about the astrophysical wonders of the phenomenon in front of them meant only one thing: she didn't have time to waste talking to him.

They were screwed. Just how bad remained to determine. John resisted repeating his question but after a couple of minutes, he stepped in front of the console and asked her again.

Maureen let out a deep sigh and raised bloodshot eyes toward him.

"If the Resolute doesn't pick us up in the next forty-eight hours, we'll have to land."

"Land again? Where?" Penny asked.

John swivelled his head toward his youngest daughter who had come closer to look over her mother's shoulder. "Hey, hon. We're working on the problem. It's going to be okay."

"Easy for you to say it's going to be okay! You're a soldier. You're used to life and death situations. Guess what? We aren't! I never wanted this! Why did we leave Earth? Whose stupid idea was it?"

"I want to go home, our home, in LA," Will said.

John spun back toward his son. "Hey, hey!" he said in a hushed voice as he grasped the boy's shoulder. "I know we've had some pretty rough times–"

"Rough? Try grueling! Do you have any idea how much–"

"Penny!"

While the young girl glared at her mother, jaw clenched, John raised a hand toward his wife and gestured for her to calm down. It wasn't unexpected a reaction. Everyone's resilience had been put to a strain, and if Penny needed to get it off her chest, so much the better. John stretched his hand toward his daughter. She yanked his arm away and turned her back.

A sob sounded on his left. John dragged Will into a hug. "It's normal to feel down. Whatever will happen here, we can face it, all together." John muffled a moan as his son's arms clenched around his bruised rib cage.

The reminder of the past days ordeal prompted him to check his copilot. Don was sitting against the bulkhead with his eyes closed, rubbing his temples, victim of a killer headache. Yeah. No matter the amount of training, nine g's was a bitch to pull. But they were alive, and in his book, it was always reason for hope. John kissed Will's head, broke out of the tight embrace, and grabbed the radio.

"Resolute, this is Jupiter two. Victor, do you copy?"

While they waited for an answer, he forced a smile on his face. "Two stops on a direct flight qualifies us for a refund."

He glanced at Penny, waiting for her rebellious quip. But the only reaction he triggered was alien. A long, eerie tone reverberated in the cockpit, wafting like a ghostly presence before faltering in a sigh.

"We should launch our distress beacon," Judy said.

John shook his head. The mere idea to broadcast their location in a place which all his instincts told him was hostile made the hair of his neck stand up. "Not until we've got a better idea of where we are. Maureen?"

"I don't know. I'm locked out of every system. I can't even stop the ship."

That he could help. John stepped back toward the emergency shutdown lever on the left side of the doors when from the corner of his eyes, he saw a blur as Judy reached for the distress beacon switch.

"Jude, no!"

Too late.

John slammed his fist into the glass protective case and pulled the lever down.

The alien noise that had receded into the background crept back up and pierced his ears. John leaned his forehead on the doorframe's as his sight constricted to a spot no larger than a pinhead.

"Dad? What's wrong?"

Judy's voice seemed far away. He took a deep breath to fight against the dizziness. Probably just a case of low blood sugar. His vision and his hearing were clearing already.

"We're still moving. John? I know you're spent, but I need you to go down and pull the emergency switch directly on the engine or disconnect whatever is bringing power to them."

Maureen was talking to him.

"I'll go," Judy said.

"No." As his daughter passed by him, John caught her arm and forced her to stop. "You go into the hub with your sister and brother," he said. "Nobody goes downstairs until I give the all-clear!" Then, he burst out of the cockpit.