No time to talk, here goes chapter 3.

Disclaimer: I do not own Jimmy Neutron or any related characters. I also do not own anything else that is copyrighted, patented or in any way belonging to anybody else…that includes songs etc…

Up in the Air

Jimmy's plane hit the runway just as Sheen, Carl, Libby and Cindy ran up. He was out of the plane as soon as it taxied to a stop.

"Rivals, probably some corrupt government or company trying to sabotage the mission." He answered their unasked question ass he walked towards them. His wing-mates were just touching down behind him.

"Got it." Sheen said, nodding and jogging next to him.

"Any ideas on who they were?" Carl asked on his other side.

"No, but I think we can figure it out by cross-referencing the plane design against those used by all of our rivals." He admitted.

"I recognized them, they were MIG's." Cindy told the group at large, trailing behind Sheen.

"You recognized a foreign type of fighter plane, from down here." Jimmy asked, stopping dead in amazement.

"Yeah, they're the only fighters that leave that kind of distinctive trail." She explaned.

"Look girlfriend, I don' wanna know how you know that." Libby told her, clearly also amazed.

Jimmy decided to just ignore that and he resumed his jogging toward the main complex. In a short, silent while, he was inside and mounting the polished main stairs.

"Hey Rob." He greeted a man in a Space-Flight shirt as he passed him.

"Hey man, what's with the alarm." The man called back.

"Enemy fighters, they were gunning for the ship, took em A to A."

"Got it." Rob said, A to A meant aerial to aerial combat a term Robert Finnegan was only to familiar with after serving six years in the Air Force.

Jimmy continued running up the stairs, taking a right and starting up another, smaller flight of stairs. He walked up to a pair of oak double doors and voiced clearly "James." The voice lock clicked and the doors swung open to reveal his living area on the island, home away from home.

"Hey VOX." He greeted the automated computer as he headed to the bathroom.

He knew that his current long hair wouldn't be a good thing on a space-ship and emerged five minutes later with a much shorter haircut, courtesy of his improved robotic barber.

He scratched his neck irritable at the constricting dress shirt and threw it off changing into more comfortable flight pants and a t-shirt. He didn't know why he wore flight pants on Earth, they were essentially rather heavier cargo pants with pockets and loops and such for various tools and equipment necessary for space. He supposed it was just a habit he had picked up for spending so much time in a spaceship.

He picked up a portable laser-multi-tool from the coffee table and slipped it into his pocket. He loved the tool. It was like the ultimate leatherman. It had every kind of function imaginable, from a lethal laser to a cutting one or a wrench, all in the handle, which was only eight inches long and not overly thick.

"Guys, meet me by the ship." He spoke into the cell-phone he was using to call Sheen, Carl and Cindy at once, Libby wasn't coming on the expedition.

Ten minutes later he was standing outside the hatch waiting for the others to show up.

"Hey Jimmy, nice haircut." Sheen greeted him, he wheeled around to see Sheen right next to him.

"Wha!" He started. "Oh, thanks Sheen." By now Carl had turned up as well, followed not long after by Cindy.

"Okay guys, welcome aboard the Shadow Hunter." He declared theatrically twisting the circular handle in the middle of the hatch and causing it to swing open with a hiss. He led them into the airlock, which in this case, wasn't necessary and through another door that only opened when the first was closed as a security measure.

The ship was truly huge, three levels tall with a multitude of labs, control rooms and living quarters it also contained a smaller lander that doubled as a sort of life boat it could safely hold the whole crew which was small and bring them a good distance, hopefully, to safety.

Jimmy gave them a tour, Carl and Sheen already had their quarters, so it was only Cindy who needed to pick one. Total, the crew amounted to only six, Jimmy as commander and pilot, Sheen as co-pilot, Carl and Cindy as the biologists, as well as two other astronauts who served as Navigator and Communications officers. The other two were in a simulator at the moment so they weren't available for introductions with Cindy.

After the grand tour Jimmy was engrossed in a check list, obsessively making sure the engines were working just right, any flaw and they would explode on liftoff.

Sheen had changed into an outfit similar to Jimmy's, but instead of flight pants he insisted on wearing a different kind of protective cargo pants that, for some unknown reason, he preferred. His clothes were bright red and made him stick out, which was something he loved, in comparison to Jimmy's blue flight pants and grey t-shirt.

Carl was wearing full gear to get used to it, his was green, and Cindy, refusing to wear any of it, had had her pants and shirt altered to be fire-proof and more protective.

"Hey guys." Came a voice from behind them, Carl jumped and wheeled around.

"Hey Carl, Jimmy, Sheen, what's up."

"Jason, man, finally got out of that sim." Jimmy hailed him, waving from underneath a panel in the floor, making adjustments to the engine.

"Finally, right." The man named Jason Richards waved back, even though Jimmy couldn't see him.

He was the navigator on board and was followed by the com officer, a beautiful brunette by the name of Kristen Stewart.

"Hey guys." She greeted them and walked inside, carrying her bag upstairs to her room.

Jimmy crawled out from the space with difficulty and put the panel back. He glanced at Kristen and then at Jason, whistling softly.

"She's all yours mate." Jason caught his meaning. "All yours."

Jimmy grinned. None of the others caught this exchange as they were busy at their various tasks and none noticed when Jimmy put his tool back in his pocket and headed off up the stairs. He decided against trying to start something just yet and, halfway up them, turned back around and headed out of the ship, resigning himself to the usual last-minute details back at mission control.

As usual, when he walked into the building a secretary dashed after him to tell him that the media wanted a virtual press conference. Also as usual Jimmy let up and headed to the sim-room. He stepped into the room, closed the door and engaged the hologram, almost instantly, the room was filled with the holographic figures of reporters and news people all shooting questions at him. He rubbed his temples and pointed to a reporter at the front.

"Is it true that your ship is faulty?" She asked.

"No no, it's perfectly safe." Looking around he knew he would never be able to answer all of the questions so he searched for the most intelligent, the ones that wouldn't have pointless questions.

"You."

"Mr. Neutron, how do you plan on broadcasting from space?"

"We will broadcast by way of system relay up until a certain point at which we will be too far and record our journey in order to show the tape as soon as we get back within range."

"You."

"Is it true you are taking a government biologist?"

"Yes."

"And is it true they are paying you over 700 million dollars for this?" One reporter asked.

"We are not at liberty to discuss that." He told her.

And so it went on for another twenty minutes, at which point he ended the conference.

"No more questions. Any further inquiries you might have you can send to our public relations office and they will do their best so send you answers via email."

With that he walked out, canceling the connection.

Exhausted from the ordeal, he glanced at his watch. It was already night and he still had to work out those details about the voyage before going to sleep, he also needed a lot of sleep for the next day. He passed by the lounge on the way and picked up a soda, he usually avoided alcohol, and wouldn't even consider drinking before a flight.

That morning an alarm went off, loud and intruding. "Six o' clock AM, good morning Mr. Neutron."

"James or Jimmy." he muttered tiredly.

"Shit, what time is it." He asked the air groggily.

"Six o' clock AM sir." The computer answered.

"It was rhetorical." He got dressed, donning his usual blue flight pants and grey shirt, but also getting the rest of his flight suit and his helmet, as well as his other equipment that was in a duffel bag. Still exhausted he was halfway done getting it out when he groaned and put it back in again. Zipping up the bag he pulled on his flight boots and headed for the mag-rail.

Jason was already on board, looking as tired as Jimmy felt and already in his gear, which was light green compared to Jimmy's light blue.

Jimmy threw him a Propel bottle from the fridge on the mag-rail wall, which he caught gratefully.

They were speeding towards the launch area. And Jimmy gazed down in wonder at the mass of people crowded around the perimeter fence, there to watch the liftoff.

"Who did they let in again?" Jimmy asked, amazed.

"Umm, I'm not sure, I think just the guys who work here, but we've got a live feed broadcasting to the world, and maybe a cameraperson or two from CNN or something." Jason answered exhaustedly. Jimmy grabbed a Propel for himself and threw a couple more, along with a health bar, into his duffel side-pocket. Silently cursing the fanatic who had filled the fridge with all healthy crap, he dug a pack of gum from his pocket, throwing a piece to Jason and one for himself, throwing the pack into the bag as well.

He bent down and zipped up the pocket as the mag-rail stopped (Like a monorail, but floats using magnet, George Lucas' idea not mine).

He walked down the staircase to the launch building, glancing once more at the crowd assembled to watch the liftoff.

He grinned again, and slipped on a pair of Oakley sunglasses, he walked into the building.

"Hey." He greeted the people there, the workers that were controlling the launch system, the techies and the other crew members. Apparently they were the last to arrive, and the most exhausted by the looks on the others' faces.

"Okay, let's light this candle. Let's do this thing." He enthused, suddenly wide awake, leading the way to the main hatch. He unlocked it using an ID card attached to his pants and twisted the hatch, he pushed in and it slid outward. The pneumatic hiss accompanied by a mist of steam as it opened. Sheen closed it behind them and Jimmy opened the next door.

Jimmy and Jason put on the rest of their gear, sealing it and holding their helmets under their arms. The others had their helmets in the same position and they all secured their bags in a sealed hold. Jimmy led the way up a ladder into the spacious cockpit. He sat in the first acceleration chair, putting on his helmet and pressing the gauntlet control to use the clear visor as opposed to the polarized one. He strapped himself to his chair with his gloves and spun the seat around. His was the front-most control panel and he tested the comlink.

"Okay guys, testing one, two, three, let's go guys."

The others strapped in and powered up their consoles. Jimmy locked his chair facing forward and pressed button, holding it down. His chair moved forward so that his hands were comfortably resting on the console. He worked the control sticks on his chair arms in his gloves. "Okay guys, just waiting for the okay."

The others nervously checked their controls again, or at least Jimmy and Sheen did. Kristen checked her com-panel, and Jason his nav-system. Carl and Cindy simply checked their restraints.

"Okay guys, this is it." Came the voice of the lead com-guy at mission control. "T-minus ten…nine…eight…seven…six…five…four…three…two…one…"

"Liftoff!" Came the combined voices of every crew member and the man back at mission control.

Jimmy pushed his control sticks forward evenly, his engine already engaged, and Sheen did the same, keeping them steady in case Jimmy slipped up.

Not this launch though, the departure was perfect and the nose of their ship sliced through the cloud-less sky evenly. One of the few things that would go right this trip.