"Now, let's keep the laughter to a minimum," Truman said. "I know this is not to scale."

Faith was sitting between Will and Freddy in a briefing room in mission control. She could feel the eyes on her as Truman got started.

"Ignore 'em," Will whispered.

"That what you do?" she whispered back. He nodded just as Freddy gave her a nudge. Truman pulled out what looked like toy shuttles out and she had to stop herself from laughing.

"Both shuttles will take off at 6:30pm," Truman said. "Now, 67 minutes later, you're gonna dock with the Russian Space Station to meet cosmonaut Colonel Andropov, who will refuel the shuttles with liquid O2, that's your fuel, then you'll release and take a 60-hour trip toward the moon. Now we only have one shot of landing on this rock, and that's precisely when the asteroid passes by the moon. You'll then use lunar gravity and burn your thrusters, that'll slingshot you around the moon, coming up behind the asteroid. You'll be upward of 11 G's."

"Yeah, I remember this one. It's where the, uh, the coyote sat his ass down in a slingshot then he strapped himself to an Acme rocket. Is that… is that what we're doin' here?" Rockhound asked, her dad giving him a look. "No, no, really, because it didn't work out too well for the coyote, Harry."

"Come on, Rock," Freddy said. "The math's good. You know that as well as I do." Faith nodded in agreement. Rockhound ran the numbers himself a few times, so has Freddy and so has she.

"Well, actually," Truman said with a smirk, "we have a lot better rockets than the coyote." That earned a few snickers from the group. "Now, when you've finished your Roadrunner thrust move, you'll be moving at 22,500 miles per hour. Coming around the asteroid, where we're hoping that the tail debris will be cleared by the moon's gravity, and you'll land, right here." Truman pointed to two unimpressive looking spots in the back of the asteroid model.

"We got separate landing sites for each team," Clarke said, "softest parts of the rock as we can figure. At NASA, we don't take chances, we double up on everything. First team to eight hundred feet wins." She shared a look with her dad as Clarke continued. "This rock is big, it's dense, it has some gravity so you can walk around but use your thrusters so you can work easier."

"Ok, Mister Truman, let's say that we actually do land on this. What's it gonna be like up there?" Leave it to Oscar to ask that question.

Truman looked at him. "Two hundred degrees in the sunlight, minus two hundred in the shade, canyons of razor-sharp rock, unpredictable gravitational conditions, unexpected eruptions, things like that."

"Okay." Oscar nodded. "The scariest environment imaginable. Thanks. That's all you gotta say, scariest environment imaginable." If she wasn't already scared, she sure as hell was now. They were three days from launch and with each passing moment, it became more real than it was the moment before.

"So, you drill, you drop the nuke, and you leave," Truman said. "Now, here's the key: you're gonna remote-detonate the bomb... before the asteroid passes this plane…" Truman nodded at Quincy, who played a simulation of the asteroid. "…Zero Barrier. You do that, and the remaining pieces of rock should be deflected enough to pass right by us. Now, if the bomb explodes after Zero Barrier..." The video showed the asteroid fragments hitting the Earth. "…Game's over. That's all I got for you. You guys have some armadillo training on deck for the rest of the day."

Everyone nodded at Truman and started leaving the room.

"You ready to school the old guys, Faith?" Tucker asked with a chuckle.

Before she could say anything, Max shook his head. "You kids don't have a chance."

"You say that now, Max, just wait," A.J. said from behind her.

"I love you, kids, but you're just asking for trouble," Chick said.

"Yea… you kids act like you're God's gift. You can't top us. We were drilling when you were all still babies."

"Need I remind you that I am a Stamper?" Faith asked. "This is what I do; like my father and his father and his father. I think I already got you topped, Rock."

Her father's friend laughed. "You'll never be on our level, Faith. No offense."

"You know what, Rock, you're right," she said, sliding her arm around his shoulders. "I'll never be on your level… because I'm the upgrade." Faith kissed his cheek. "But you know that already."

"Well," Tucker said as the rest of the group went silent, "I think she took that round. Thanks for playing, gentleman."

"Harry, just sit back, relax. I'm gonna put on a free armadillo driving clinic." Faith rolled her eyes at the comment A.J. made to her dad over the radio.

They were out in the middle of the desert training on the armadillos for the last time before they get packed up to go to Florida. Max seemed to be doing okay but A.J. was, as usual, driving like a maniac.

"How you feel about all this?" Will asked from over her shoulder.

She didn't turn to face him but she smiled. "I think I always knew we were walking into hell and some of us aren't coming home but what Truman said today makes it more... real, I guess."

"Seems to be one of his special skills," he told her.

"Whoa, Harry! Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!" Bear shouted at the vehicle. Faith, Chick, Will and the other pilots jumped out of the way.

"Idiot," Watts muttered.

Chick looked at her. "You would think that your dad would be able to stop him from doin' dumb shit, monkey."

"Since when does A.J. listen to dad?" Faith asked with a chuckle before hitting the button on her two-way radio. "We don't have time to fix it if you fuck up the gear, Frosty. Slow down."

"Fine," he said as the armadillo's speed dropped off. "Happy, woman?"

"Immensely," she said.

"How do you do that?" Chick asked. "Keep him in check."

"Easy, he's not an idiot. He only acts like that because ya'll expect him to."

"That's all I got for you guys. We have a few more days, so if you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask them," Will said as he finished the last class they were going to have before they left.

When nobody asked anything, he let them go. Faith was about to leave the room when she noticed her dad and Will move off to the side.

"Wonder what that's about," Freddy uttered from over her shoulder.

"You have no idea," she said, looking up at him.

"I would if my best friend would tell me," he said as they walked out of the room. "Were you ever gonna say anything about you and you know who?"

"According to A.J., you already know. What is there left for me to say?" Faith asked.

"Uh, you could try with 'Hey, Fred, I'm banging the pilot'," Freddy said.

"I'm not banging anything or anyone."

"What?" Freddy looked at her in disbelief. "Why not?"

"Exhaustion?"

"You don't believe that any more than I do," he said. "Don't tell me you're scared."

"Not scared," she told him. "I don't know what to think or feel and…"

"And you're trying to sort all that out before you add sex to the equation. If that's the case, then that vibe you two have, the one you think I don't notice but I do, is the real deal. You love him." It wasn't a question so she didn't say anything. "You're worried."

"Aren't you?" Faith asked her friend.

Freddy shrugged. "I guess. I mean, way see it, if we go then we could die. If we don't go, everyone will die. Not really much more to think about then that. Though, if someone I cared about was going on this mission, I'd tell them how I felt while I had the chance."

"Does that mean you don't care about me?"

"Oh, please. I love you to death and you know it. And you love me like a brother. And if you don't make it back and I do, I'll keep an eye on Gracie. Come on, that's one conversation we never have to have."

He was right. They've been friends for so long that they could have whole conversations without saying anything.

"Tell him," Freddy said. Before she could reply, he put his hand on her shoulder. "Faith, tell him. You might not get another chance."

"…Gracie grew up to become a full-blown hottie, you know?" That was now, officially, at the top of the list of things she never wants to hear from Rockhound.

Faith and Freddy looked at each other before they followed the group. She was sure she knew what this was about but the guys calling Grace hot wasn't helping because her dad was getting more upset with each passing second.

"Harry, she is fully hot. She is…" came from Max.

"She's a babe," Rock added.

"Guys, okay, you're talking about my little girl, all right?" Harry yelled. "I think I know who and what she is, okay?"

"Harry, all we're sayin' is, we're talkin' about a kid who's comin' into her own right now," Oscar said. "She's gettin' curious about her body, and she's exploring her sexuality. You know what?"

"Oscar," Harry tried to cut him off.

The blonde kept talking, "That's a natural thing."

"You are about five minutes older than Grace is," Harry said. "Why should I listen to you?"

Oscar shrugged. "I know what it feels like to have your hormones pullin' you in just a thousand different directions."

"No disrespect, man, but we all helped to raise her. So, in part, we all feel like a bunch of daddies here." Thank the maker for Bear.

Rock nodded. "That's true."

"I'll be damned if I worked all these years so my little girl can marry a roughneck. She's better than that. Better than all of us."

"That include me?" Faith asked, jumping into the conversation.

"Faith…"

"I mean, I made a choice and I had to fight you on it for years. Is that how it's gonna be with Grace? She's only good enough to make her own choices as long as you agree with them?"

Her father groaned. "It's not the same, A.J. asked…"

"He asked her to marry him. I know," she said. "He talked to me first." Faith took a breath. "You look at him and I think you forget the kid who used to run around the back yard with me when our moms would visit each other. The kid who's loved Grace since before they knew what love was. The man who would die in a heartbeat for her. For me. For you. Do you know how many p\eople dream of a love like that?"

"It's different, Faith," her father said.

"It's always different. That's the way life is. It changes, people do too," Faith said. "You might not understand or agree but… it's her life, Harry. And even if you don't want to admit it, you love him too." The look on his face told Faith that she was right.

"How'd you get so damn smart?" he asked.

"I had a good teacher," she said before looking around the room. "A few of them, actually. Except Oscar, he's still a baby."

They all laughed when the man in question shouted. "Hey!"

"I don't know about ya'll but I'm gonna congratulate my sister… later."

"Lucy, I'm home."

"If anything," Will said, "I'm Desi and you're Lucy."

"Fair enough. Want some company, Colonel?" she asked.

"Of course. I gotta brighten up the place somehow," he said with a smile.

"Happy to help," Faith said, looking around at the room that was obviously meant for one. Will didn't say anything, just leaned against the door and watched her. She turned to look at him. "You're staring at me."

"You're beautiful. Can't help it," Will told her.

"Says the man with the otherworldly eyes."

"You think they're 'otherworldly'?"

"Yes." Faith nodded. "They're distracting."

"Are they?"

"Very."

"Well, if you wanna talk about distractions," he said as he walked towards her, "I suggest looking in a mirror." Then he kissed her.

Everything seemed to speed up and slow down at the same time. Before she even realized it, he had her pinned to bed and she didn't mind one bit. Will's mouth was hot and demanding, Faith slid her hands under his t-shirt to touch the warm skin there before she pulled the shirt over his head.

"Will."

He pulled back, his blue eyes shining. "Are you sure about this?"

"Yes," it came out barely above a whisper.

Just like that, he closed the space between them again, his lips on hers as he unzipped her jumpsuit. That started a frenzied rush to get each other's clothes off. Every inch of her skin was screaming to be in contact with his, Faith had never been so turned on in her life.

"Will." His mouth curved into a knowing smile as he stretched over her, his weight balanced on one arm, his other hand on her hip.

"Faith, look at me."

Their eyes locked as he slid into her, it stole her breath away. Without wasting a second, he began moving, deep, hard. Faith was sure that she was gonna lose what was left of her mind. She instinctively rose to meet him, they found their rhythm and moved together. She kissed his neck, his jaw and anywhere else she could reach as each move pushed them both closer the brink.

"I love you, Faith." The words, whispered in her ear, sent her over the edge in free fall. She mumbled his name as her spine arched and her head fell back onto the bed. They moved harder and faster, Will's control was almost nonexistent. He pulled her into another orgasm on the heels of the first, this time, his arm wrapped around her as he followed.

"I can't move," Faith muttered as their breathing slowed.

"Sorry."

"Don't be, I'm not," she told him before they rearranged themselves on the small bed.

"Sorry I didn't take my time. Couldn't take my time," he whispered against her shoulder. If he was expecting her to complain, he'll be waiting a long time.

"Don't ever apologize for that. I know I didn't really say it but… I love you too. I don't know what's gonna happen up there but I just wanted to say it. I need you to know."

"I knew that before you did."

"What's Kimsey doin' here?" Faith whispered to Tucker.

He glanced at the man in question. "Wants to have something to tell the President, I guess."

She nodded and tried to ignore her annoyance at having the General looking over their shoulders. Quincy told them Kimsey's idea of a solution and even they weren't dumb enough to suggest shooting a hundred nuclear weapons at anything, especially a giant rock hurtling towards the planet.

"So, Independence will go first. Faith, you'll be leading the team from inside the command center," Truman told the group.

"Understood," she said with a nod before and Freedom's team followed the director into the simulator's control room. Will, Watts and Davis were already there getting prepped.

"You ready, kid?" Davis asked her.

Faith looked at her shuttle's pilot. "As I'll ever be. Let's do this."

"Good job, guys," Faith said into her headset. Everything was going well, until Harry opened his mouth.

"Faith, they need…"

"I know, dad," she said, her eyes on the gauges.

"Okay," the technician next to her said, "we're gonna trip 'em up. My computer will simulate a gas pocket at six hundred twenty-five feet and then hard ferrite at six thirty-five."

"I'm gonna drill some more. We're takin' her up," came AJ's voice over the comms system.

Bear's voice was next. "I'm givin' it more torque right now."

"All right, lookin' good, Papa Bear," Faith said with a smile. "Clamp it down and let's watch our time, Independence."

"You got it, boss lady. Is it just me, or is it cool that Faith is our boss?" Oscar asked the guys in the tank with him.

She chuckled at him. "We got work to do, Oscar, talk about me later."

"They're gonna blow the tranny," Harry muttered from behind her.

Faith rolled her eyes, he has got to trust her. "I can see that, Harry. Frosty, slow it down, man."

Her sister's fiancé chuckled. "Take it easy, Faith… I got it."

"What you have is the fate of the world in your hands," she told him. "You're at six hundred twenty feet. Your pipe is long." Faith looked at Will's screen next to her. "It won't kill us to drop the RPM's down to eight thousand for a minute so we don't blow the transmission. We got time."

"Yea, yea. I got it." He didn't like it but he did was she said and backed the RPM's back to eight thousand.

"His RPM's are good," Will told her from his seat at the console.

"Good job, guys." Harry opened his mouth but she cut him off, "They have enough to worry about without you adding another voice to their heads. When your team is in the tank you can do what you want but I need you to be quiet."

"Fait…"

"We are not on the rig anymore and they are no longer your men. I have a job to do, now you can either shut up or get out. Pick your pleasure."

Everyone looked at her before turning back to their tasks. Will smirked but didn't say anything. Harry took a breath before moving to sit with Rock and Chick.

"Thank you," she said before getting back to work. "Now, where was I?"

Team Independence ran the sim all the way to eight hundred feet before they switched out with the Freedom team. Harry all but glared at her when she gave up her seat and moved to stand with Tucker as her team walked into the control room.

"Badass, girl," Bear said when he saw her.

"Come on, Papa Bear," she said with a smile. "You act like you don't already know."

"Knowing and seeing are different, baby girl," her friend said with a bright smile.

"Your dad's pissed," Freddy muttered.

"He'll get over it," she told him before filling him in on what happened.

"Sounds like you guys," her best friend said with a chuckle. "He does know he won't be up there with us, right?"

"If he didn't, he does now," Faith said as her dad's team started their simulation.

Freedom was smoother than Independence, she'd give them that one, but it probably had something to do with their decades of working together. There was a flow to it that her team hadn't yet mastered.

"Man, they're good," Oscar whispered.

"We all are," Freddy added.

"They've had more practice than us," she told them.

"You think we'll ever be that good?" Oscar asked.

"We're already that good," A.J. said.

"No, we're not," Faith said. "Don't get me wrong, because we're awesome, but we're not that good."

"What happened to all that Faith Stamper bravado?" Tucker asked.

"I can be prideful or I can be realistic. I'm choosing realism."

"I want my men to have tomorrow night off." Harry, Truman, Will and Faith were walking through the building when her father made that statement.

"What do you mean 'off'?" Truman asked.

Her father glanced at her. "I mean, off. Out of here. For at least ten hours. Then we'll go to Kennedy."

"Well, there's no possible way we can do that, Harry," Truman said. "There's a potentially huge security risk. What if they talk? What if they get hurt?"

"What if they're too burnt out to do the right thing? What if they get up there, and they forget what they're fighting for?" her dad asked.

"We're all on edge," she added. "We didn't ask to be here, you brought here. For all we know, this is our last couple days on Earth."

"It's not too much for them to see their families," Harry said.

Truman tried to dissuade Harry again. "Listen, there's no possible way we can do that."

"You got family, Colonel?" Harry asked Will.

"Two girls."

"Wouldn't you like to spend tomorrow with your girls?" her dad asked. Will didn't have to say anything; the answer was written on his face clear as day. Harry looked at Truman. "I'm not askin' ya. I'm tellin' ya. Make this happen."

"You grew up with him?" She nodded at Truman's question. "God bless you."