AN: A day late, sorry. I have exams next week so I'm blaming it on that xD
Chapter 3
It was really hard to believe that this building, which was the size of a bungalow, was where they were building a massive Space Ship.
"Are you sure we have the right address?" I asked Jake as he pulled in behind the General's car. A few men in army uniform were stationed around the large fence surrounding the building, a couple more guarding the doors inside.
"Must be." Jake said as he shut off the engine.
We got out of the car (Tobias having demorphed and remorphed on the way), following General O'Neill to the door. The men guarding saluted us as we headed inside.
I whistled, ment to be sarcastic. The whole place was empty.
"Nice set up." I said. O'Neill didn't reply, instead moved over to what looking like a security system panel, pressed a few buttons. Suddenly, the floor lurched and started heading down.
Down, down we went, until after a few minutes we came to a stop. The wall opened up in front of us, revealing a brightly lit hallway, people in lab coats and army uniforms moved here and there. Announcements echoed off of large speakers in the walls. And every once in a while you caught a few snatches of thought-speak.
"Alright so I stand corrected." I said.
"Come." O'Neill said, leading the way down the hall. "I sent word ahead for a meeting to be held for the Kepler team. With you three we officially have our full crew."
He lead us down the hall, people skirting around us, too busy with whatever they were doing to pay us much attention.
We passed quite a few doors, before O'Neill brought us to a set of double glass doors, NASA's symbol stained in the middle.
Inside was a large circular table made of a dark wood, except the middle, which was covered in a large, opaque glass.
"Please, take a seat. The rest of the team will be here soon enough." O'Neill said, moving to a chair facing the door.
We looked at each other, taking seats closer to the General. The door opened and three people came in, laughing between each other.
"Oh!" A woman with red hair exclaimed. "You must be the rest of our team? My name's Jessie." She said, holding out a hand to us. One by one we shook them, "This here is Dan." she pointed to a tall man with light brown hair, "And this is Kevin." The shorter blonde waved to us. "We're part of the navigations team for Kepler."
"What does that mean?" I asked as they took seats around the table.
"It means." Kevin said. "We designed the navigations system on Destiny. We are also going to be the ones to drive the beast."
"Destiny?" Tobias laughed, making Dan and Jessie laugh too.
"Yeah Destiny. We had a vote. It was either that or Enterprise." We all shared a laugh at that when the door opened again.
"Dad!?" I exclaimed, shooting to my feet.
"Hey Marco!" He greeted happily, grabbing me into a hug.
"What... What are you doing here?" I stuttered, completely thrown off.
"Dr. Reed is our Z-Space communications expert." Kevin explained as my dad took a seat beside me. "He's designed all the Z-space transmitters here on Earth and for Destiny."
I stared at him in surprise and Dad laughed at me, "I'll also be coming with you, on the ship I mean."
"What? What about mom?"
"She's fine with it. I always wanted to go out to space. Who is she to deny me that. Her words, not mine." He said quickly when Jessie scowled at him.
The door opened and two more people came in a curly haired woman named Jennifer and another guy who introduced himself as Jack claimed they designed the weapons for both the main ship, and it's vessels.
There were only three seats left, one beside General O'Neill, and the others sitting around the table.
When the last two came in (Harry and Al who said they helped build the Engines and Z-space engines).
"This seems like a really small crew." Jake commented, looking around.
"Oh no. We're just the heads of our specific departments." My dad piped up. "There will be more people, in all there's around 30 of us in total."
"Oh, well that sounds better." I mumbled.
Jessie laughed, "Destiny is designed to hold a small crew. Really, saying we're part of separate departments is false. Colonel Isthill demanded that everyone can jump from station to station if needed. I know just as much about the Z-space engines as I do my own specialty."
Tobias sat up suddenly, staring at her, "You said-"
"Where is he?" O'Neill suddenly demanded.
"You know him General." Jennifer piped up. "He's caught up in something. He'll be along soon enough."
My dad suddenly shifted beside me.
"What is it?" I asked him, and he looked uncomfortable.
"Have you been told who runs Kepler?" He asked, shooting a glance towards O'Neill, who shook his head once. Dad suddenly looked very nervous.
"Oh, he's not going to like this."
"The Colonel will just have to deal with it if he wants this mission to go forward." O'Neill said firmly.
"Alright. What's going on?" I demanded.
"Marco-" Tobias breathed, his eyes wide, staring at O'Neill. "I think they're talking about-"
"I am sorry!" A voice called out as I heard the door open. My heart stopped and I froze as I watched Jake's head snapped over, looking towards the door. I watched his eyes widen, and his face drain of color.
"It's fine Colonel. Let's get started." O'Neill said, sitting back in his chair. Slowly I turned and I swear, I felt myself die.
He was still shorter than Jake, but defiantly a few inches taller than me. His black hair was longer now, just down to his chin, which he kept hanging around his face. His bright blue eyes shinned behind a set of thin wired glasses, and widened in shock as he caught sight of the three of us.
Our eyes met, and a heart breaking hatred flashed.
"Ax-" Tobias whispered, getting to his feet shakily.
Ax ignored him, turning to General O'Neill. "What is this?" He demanded harshly. O'Neill frowned at him.
"Your team Aximili." he said firmly. "Ordered to be recruited by the President himself. They are the best for this job and you know it."
Ax looked furiously at the General before his face relaxed, "You are right. Of course." he sighed dejectedly. Ignoring us as he moved to his seat beside O'Neill, not sitting down, but setting up the papers he brought in with him.
"You knew this!" I hissed to my dad who shuffled in his seat.
"Ax- he's the one who offered me this job in NASA." he finally admitted, looking a little ashamed of himself. I didn't answer, couldn't answer. My heart pounded in my chest, my hands were shaking and I had to clasp them in my lap to stop the other's from seeing.
Ax looked up from his papers, pressing a spot on the desk, and lights wounds their way over the table in front of him, creating a key board. Type in a few numbers, the opaque glass in the center of the table glowed, sending a projection, floating in the air.
"This is Gliese 581 c. Nicknamed by Jessie here as Terra." Ax started, flashing a smile towards Jesse. "Terra, is one out of three confirmed Earth-like planets circling a single red dwarf star, much like our own."
The projection rotated, it's two moon circling around it.
"The moons are dead, like ours. Possibly by astroids, or even the atmospheres simply became too unstable. Anyways, the planet is has an estimated mass of 5.6 time that of Earth."
"A super-Earth!" Jennifer said excitedly, a scattered of mumbles running through the gathered group.
"Yes." Ax nodded, to her. "Continuing, it has a thirteen day rotation around its sun, but as far as we can see from Earth, Terra has a very similar weather cycle to that of Earth's, with the exception of its winters, which seem to last almost ten rotations, compared to its summers which last only two."
"Damn, so it's almost an ice planet." Dan muttered.
"No necessarily." Ax said, "Much like Earth, it seem that below the equator it tends to stay warmer than the northern parts of the world. Even if the weather is colder, there is hardly any snow that settles."
He flipped a page in his notes before continuing, "Terra's land mass takes up about 80% of the planets itself, with no actual oceans, but rather millions of lakes scattered over the surface."
"And the weather is the same?" My dad asked in surprise.
"Surprisingly yes." Ax confirmed, "Enough water seems to evaporated to cause large enough storms to keep vegetation sustained. We also do not know what's under the surface, there could be reservoirs of water as large as the Atlantic for all we know. But we wont find that out until we land."
"Speaking of that." Harry piped up. "Test run on Destiny's engine's was, generally, successful. We simulated a situation leading up to turning on the Z-Space engines, well there was a little problem."
"Such as?" Ax asked, frowning.
"When the main engine's are put into full burn, the right one seems to hesitate a few seconds behind the left. We're working on a solution right now." Ax nodded by Tobias raised his hand.
"Why is that a problem?" he asked and Jessie smiled.
"A few seconds could be enough to knock us off course. Getting into Z-space is a very precises science. We not only need to calculate how long we need to be in Z-space, but also keeping the ship on course for our destination."
Tobias looked confused still.
"Alright, you explain it." She looked at Ax, who sighed exasperatingly at her.
He turned to Tobias for the first time since entering the room, "Getting into Z-Space is relatively simple enough. Get going fast enough we, essentially, create a tunnel going from normal space, into Z-Space. A wormhole." He clarified. "Getting out of Z-space is not so easy. After all, simply slowing down does nothing, and the ships cannot handle going any fast than they already are, and theoretically, will not bring is back to normal space.
"Therefore, in order for us to return to normal space, we need to find a rift between Space and Z-Space. Essentially, a weakness that will allow us to create another wormhole, pulling us back. For example, the rift in our Solar system is out by Saturn which is where all Andalite ships exit Z-Space from."
"So, how do we know where these rifts are?" Jake asked, frowning.
"That's our job." Jesse said. "The data we recieved from the Andalites show molecular differences between real Space and Z-space. Think of a rift like a crack in a cup, with the liquid being real space, and the area outside Z-space. Through that crack, you are going to have leaks. The computer on Destiny will pick up on those molecular changes and guide us out. Fairly simple actually."
"Sure. Simple." Jake said, nodding seriously. The others around the table laughed (excluding Ax).
"Harry, Alan, I am hoping you have the engine problem fixed by the next scheduled run?" Ax said, and the two of them nodded, making something in their notes.
"Of course, sir."
Ax nodded turning to General O'Neill. "Anything else, sir?"
"No, I think you've covered it Colonel." he nodded. "Is take off still a go in six months?"
"It could be earlier." My dad said suddenly. "Most of the bugs have been filtered out, aside from the engine quirk-"
"Very good." O'Neill said, nodding to Ax. "I expect a full report on my desk by tonight Colonel."
Ax nodded, gathering up his papers as the projection shut off, the keyboard on his desk disappearing back into a smooth wooden surface. He didn't wait for a dismissal before rushing out of the room.
The General sighed, standing up. "Very well, back to work then. Dismissed."
Most of the other's got up, gathering their things and filtering out. Leaving dad, Jake, Tobias, the General and I.
I placed my head in my hands, letting out a shaky breath.
"This isn't going to work." I groaned, I felt my dad's arm wrap around my shoulder.
"What do you mean Captain Reed?" O'Neill asked.
I dropped my hands looking towards him, "You didn't tell Ax you choose us, and I don't know about you, but to me he didn't look to happy to see us."
"How long has Ax been working for NASA?" Tobias demanded, his eyes boring into O'Neill's, who look confused.
"Here's been working here for about four years, spending a year receiving his PhD- Are you telling me you had no idea he was here on Earth?"
"Is he a nothlit?" I demanded suddenly, remembering the glasses.
"Yes Marco." My dad said softly. "It's Ax's business really, but.- Yes. He has been a nothlit for four years now."
"Oh fuck-" I groaned again, slamming my head down onto the desk.
"Why? Why is he here?" Jake asked, looking around. "I thought he left with the Andalite's?"
My dad and the General exchanged looks. "I'm afraid, that will be something you need to ask Colonel Isthill."
"Isthill?" I mumbled, my voice vibrating off the wood.
"Ax's championship reads that his first name is Aximili, middle Esgarrouth, and his last name, or surname, his it easier on all of us." Dad explained as he gently rubbed my back.
"Gentlemen, you are the perfect candidates for this mission, and General Isthill has agreed or he would not have continued on with the briefing." O'Neill said firmly as he stood up. "Whatever issues there are between the four of you, you need to sort it out between yourselves." He saluted us, turning and leaving the room.
"Come on boys." My dad sighed. "I'll show you to your quarters."
