Chapter 2: Gotta Blast

Jimmy poured every ounce of heart, soul and devotion he had into building this new rocket that would guide him and his friends to Sheen. Complete with essential equipment for their survival, ultimate navigational systems, the latest weaponry technology and an impressively durable protection capsule, the Neutron-Galacticon was ready after two months of ceaseless labor and brainpower.

It was during late June that Jimmy decided to show the gang the finished product. Their faces lit up as they stepped inside, imagining vividly the incredibility of their future departure. Libby squealed in delight and raved, "This has the sickest surround sound ever! I am totally down with this."

Carl wandered over to the seats with a hint of unease. "Umm…Jimmy, did you make sure to make these out of skin sensitive materials? You know how sometimes I can get hives and swell up pretty bad…" he worried.

Jimmy waved off his friend's anxieties, too busy with the controls to look at him. "They're fine, Carl. I considered your medical problems, and constructed them out of tight woven silks and cottons rather than wools, polyesters or synthetic materials. Just don't forget to bring your medications anyway," he replied hastily.

Carl sighed in relief. "Aw thanks, Jim, you're the best," he marveled.

With that, he threw himself onto one of the seats with glee, only to twist the wrong way and end up complaining about his scapula. Cindy pushed him out of the way, huffing with annoyance. "So when are we going to get this show on the road? It'll be a miracle if that Ultrageek is still alive given all this time," she rolled her eyes.

Jimmy turned to her with a triumphant look on his face. "I had programmed that rocket to only land on planets which contain some sort of life form. It also would have sent out a signal back to the lab if it landed and failed to pick up any signs of life in it or within a 100-mile radius of it. That way, Goddard would have known, and have been able to notify you all if…I uh… Anyway, that hasn't happened yet, so Sheen should still alive," he said with confidence.

Cindy's eyes were wide with alarm from hearing of Jimmy's possible death, but she quickly recovered by shaking her head and not letting the boy genius know how much it affected her. "Yah that's real nice, but what about the space car we got from the Intergalactic Showdown?" she inquired.

Jimmy turned back to his controls, lifting his eyebrows. He sneered, "That thing suffered some exterior damage due to its plummet to Mars' surface because of a certain someone…the only reason we made it back home was because of that energy source, which I now use for more important things in the lab than a type of fuel. Anyway, this is my best work yet!"

Behind him, Cindy laughed nervously and changed the subject. "So when are we leaving, Neutron?" she asked.

Jimmy smirked, "Tomorrow, I've already programmed our awesome camp counselor Chip to let our parents know about the awesome time we'll be spending at 'away camp' for a month."

His friends looked at one another worried with thoughts of 'I can't believe this is really going to happen' running through their minds. They watched their genius friend slip under the console panels for another routine check. He didn't seem stressed, so they had nothing to panic about. However, they couldn't have been more wrong, because away from their gaze, the boy genius' hands trembled as he screwed the last panel shut.

That night, Jimmy's mom sat on the edge of his bed and kissed him on the forehead. She let her son know that she was excited for his summer plans, but she also told him something that surprised him. "Jimmy, your father and I were worried about how you were handling Sheen's disappearance, holed up in your lab for months. When you didn't blast off into space though, I have to say we were rather relieved. Accidents happen, and it's not always up to you to fix everything. Sheen did what he did and that's that. Don't get me wrong, I feel terrible for the Estevez family, but I don't think your father and I would have been able to handle it if anything had happened to you instead," she admitted.

She smiled and blew him another kiss from across the room before closing his bedroom door. Jimmy turned to Goddard and sighed, "What's the probability that they'll find out about summer camp being a lie, boy?"

Goddard rolled over and his green screen glowed in the dark showing Jimmy a result of 76%. Jimmy looked up at his ceiling with nothing to say, his brow curved upward in sorrow.

They were ready. After cheerful farewells, Jimmy and his friends walked down to the park where they told their parents the 'bus' would pick them up. Jimmy turned off the ship's cloaking device and they all went inside. Now, they were about to set off into the unknown. Carl gazed out of a window a little concerned. "I sure hope this will be a safe and quick journey. I don't want an alien stuck to my face again or to run from a giant chicken again, or for anything else to happen," he stressed.

Cindy sighed with annoyance, grabbed the back of Jimmy's seat and shouted at him.

"Pick up the pace, Neutron! Let's go already!"

They were doing this. They were going to save Sheen. Jimmy took hold of the primary lever and blasted them into the sky.