"Alright, guys, remember the Russian space station has been up there for eleven years. Most of us don't have cars that old. Now, the cosmonaut on board has been on that tin can for eighteen months, alone. So, don't be surprised if he's a little... off," Truman told them over the intercom.

"Sounds like he'll fit right in," Faith said with a chuckle.

"Let's get out of these flight suits," Davis said. Except Tucker, who was flying they shuttle, everyone unstrapped and headed towards the crew area to change out of their flight gear.

Davis told them all what they needed to do, helping both Faith and Freddy out of their suits before they helped him with his. She liked Davis, he was like that cool uncle who showed up with kickass stories.

Faith quickly pulled the long-sleeved Independence shirt over her tank top and pulled her boots on, tucking her pants into them before gliding –gotta love zero gravity- back to her seat and checking on everyone. "You alright, Frosty?" He nodded but didn't say anything as he passed her to change. "You guys are such softies."

"Can it, you," Freddy said without opening his eyes. She patted his head and looked everyone else over. Oscar didn't look so bad, neither did Bear. A.J. was a little green around the gills but not overly so.

"Just relax, Fred," she told her best friend.

"Trying, Faith," he muttered. "Trying."

"You're gonna have to do more than try," Tucker said. "There's the space station." He pointed out the window as it became larger and larger. They got there a lot faster than she thought they would. "We're about to dock. The Russian space station has fired her rockets to give us a little gravity, let us work faster. It's gonna make you queasy."

"That sounds fun," Oscar said as they all buckled back into their seats and watched as Davis and Tucker lined the shuttle up to the space station. They switched to manual override and she knew that their movements were all them. She could hear NASA counting down how far they were but it was so much cooler to watch. There was a clanking sound, followed by a hissing sound.

"Locks are engaged," Tucker said.

"Let's go, Independence," Davis said before ordering them to follow him. "Watch your heads."

"This place is a dump," she mumbled as they stepped out of their shuttle and into this place.

"That you're professional opinion?" Halsey asked.

She nodded. "Actually, it is. I got tools in better shape than this place."

She glanced at Will and smiled, he gave her a wink before looking around. "Where is he? Anybody home?"

"Welcome, everybody!" Colonel Lev Andropov dropped from the ceiling and looked at them. "I am not gas station. This is sophisticated laboratory. I'm in charge. So, do not be touching anything. I need one… I need you." The crazy Russian pointed at A.J.

"Go with him," Will said with a nod.

"I need you. Hurry up. Hurry up. Come on. Come on." A.J. glanced at her before following Andropov. The colonels followed A.J. and the Russian as the rest of them got set up.

"Okay," Bear said, "let's connect these fuel lines." Faith and the guys went into motion, getting the lines ready for fuel transfer.

"Freedom on the left, Independence on the right," Max told them. Faith and Freddy went one way while Chick and Rock went the other to hook up the hoses.

"Tucker, we have hard lock," Faith informed the pilot as soon as her line was sealed.

"Roger that, Stamper." She made her way back to the main part of the space station where everyone else seemed to be.

"We're ready to transfer," Will yelled into the fuel pod.

"I'm coming," Andropov yelled back. "No problem." He hit some commands. "Ready for transfusion!" There was some hissing before Andropov looked at them. "Fuel is pumping."

"You okay?" Will asked quietly.

"Yea. A little antsy." She smiled. "I can't pin it down but I'll feel better when we get out of here."

He nodded. "You and me both."

They were pulled from their conversation by Lev yelling at Rock. "Don't touch my uncle. You know? He's a genius of my family. He used to work for a big bomb factory. He used to make the tip of the bomb, the thing that finds, uh, New York or Washington, you know?"

"Ooh," Rockhound muttered.

"Guys," Watts said, walking over, "check your hoses. We got some thermal variation. Harry, let's look at the couplings, back on the shuttle."

"Yea, Harry… the couplings," Faith whispered to her dad.

"Watch it or I'll show Sharp your baby pictures," her father warned.

"Go ahead. I was a cute baby," she said. Then something on the station made a grinding sound.

"What's that noise?" Will asked the cosmonaut.

"Oh, no!" Andropov looked at the gauges. "God!"

"What is it?" Faith asked.

"Leak! Leak! Get your men back to the shuttle!" he exclaimed. "Go! Go! Hurry up!"

"EVERYBODY EVAC NOW!" Will shouted.

"A.J.!" She ran to catch up with Andropov, who was now yelling at A.J. to pull the lever.

"THIS IS THE LEVER!" her brother yelled back, holding up a piece of metal.

Faith didn't realize that Will and Davis were behind her until Andropov looked over her shoulder. "Colonel, we must get him out of there!"

She leaned over the fuel pod. "A.J., bail out! Hurry!"

"Hurry! Hurry!" Will said from next to her. "We gotta get him outta there."

They were all shouting as A.J. climbed the ladder, then an explosion blew them all back. Faith felt like her chest was gonna cave in.

"No! A.J.!" she called out. "A.J.!"

"We gotta move, now," Davis said, wrapping an arm around her waist to pull her away. She didn't have it in her to fight with him. "Come on! Close the hatch!"

"Wait a minute! Wait a minute!" Chick yelled as she helped Davis seal them off from the fuel pod. "We got a man in there!"

"Guys." Faith looked up and caught the flames on the ceiling. Since fires need oxygen, there was nowhere for it to go, except to follow the lines back to the shuttles. She reached over and grabbed the front of his jacket. "Will, look."

He followed her line of sight. "Fuel leak!"

"Evac now! Davis called. "Let's go! Let's go."

"Where's A.J.?" Harry asked, meeting them between the two shuttles.

"A.J.'s gone!" Will said, pushing both Faith and Harry towards Freedom.

"What do mean A.J.'s gone?" her dad yelled. "We're not leavin' without A.J.!"

"Dad, we gotta go!" He fought with them and Faith had to help push him towards the shuttle. "Go, Dad. GO!"

"Everybody strap in. Watts, gimme full thrust," Will said as Chick and Gruber shut the airlock. It took Faith half a second to realize that she was in the wrong place. Will must've realized it too. "It's a hundred and fifty feet away, you won't make it in time. Strap in."

She dropped into the seat next to her father and buckled herself into the harness.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Colonel! Fire's still comin'. We gotta move!" Chick yelled as they peeled off.

"Freedom to Independence," Watts said, glancing back at her, "we have your Stamper."

"Copy that Freedom. That means the Independence crew is accounted for. We're even heavy one cosmonaut. Tell Faith we're gonna miss her over here," Davis' voice came over the radio.

"Looks like you're with the old guys, monkey," Chick said to her.

"Looks like," she said. "You okay, dad?"

"Yeah, sweetheart, I'm alright."

"Gruber, she burned her arm. Check her over," Will instructed from his seat. Faith looked down and realized that her left arm was bright red and now that she noticed it, it started to hurt like a bitch.

"When the hell did I do that?"

"When you helped Davis with the hatch." Will looked at her for a long moment before turning his attention back to flying the shuttle.

Gruber pulled out the first aid kit and began fixing her arm. "Let's see what we can do about this."

"You sure you're okay?"

"I thought he died." Faith looked at Will as he floated into the cargo area. "I promised Grace…"

"You promised that you'd get him back to her." He pulled her into a hug. "That you would keep him safe." She nodded against his chest. "That's not something you can guarantee. It's not something any of us can guarantee."

"I know," she whispered. "You do know that pushing me onto your shuttle is cheating, right?"

"Is not," he said with a chuckle. "It was an emergency."

"Keep tellin' yourself that, Colonel."

"I plan to." Will kissed her head. "You should get some sleep."

"Easier said than done."

"You can bunk with me. It'll be tight but Max fits in the bunk, so it shouldn't be too bad."

"Pretty sure the cat's outta the bag anyway," she said. He gave her a look. "Not that it was a secret or anything, I'm just more private than my sister and A.J."

"So, if I decided to serenade you in the middle of a hanger?"

"You would never," Faith said.

"You're right, I wouldn't. I can't carry a tune to save my life," Will said.

"That makes two of us." She smiled. "Come on, we better go get some sleep while we can."

"Morning, guys. It's time to suit up, I guess. Uh, we got a big day," Truman told them over the radio. Sixty hours had come and gone rather fast, all things considered. Faith was wearing Watts' D.A.T. suit and strapped in next to her dad, behind Will.

"Booster sequence confirmed," Watts said as she entered in some commands. This is the part she was dreading, they were gonna be out of contact with Houston.

"Stand by for lunar roll," Will told them.

Watts nodded. High inclination. Lunar orbit."

"Everyone got those wills filled out correctly?" her father asked.

Faith looked at him. "Not funny, Harry."

"You trained for this," Will told them. "Just remember to breathe."

"On my mark," Watts said. "Five. Four. Three. Two. One." With the flick of a switch, they shot around the moon like a bullet.

They all listened as Will and Watts yelled out their speeds. Faith didn't pay attention, she was too busy trying to breathe. It was so heavy, like an elephant sitting on your chest.

"Eight G's, hand tight," Will called out.

"We're not gonna make it!" Max yelled

"Oh, we're gonna die!" was Rockhound.

They both needed to relax and breathe like the pilots told them too. They were wasting air by yelling stupid shit. Yes, it hurt to have that much pressure on their chests but it would ease up soon enough.

"We're maxed at 22,500!" Will informed them as the rattling stopped, the shuttle slowed and the pressure faded.

"That fuckin' sucked," she muttered before taking a deep breath.

Harry nodded. "No kidding."

"We have visual of the target, Houston," Will told control.

"Faithie, you see that?" her father asked.

"Yeah, Harry, I see it." She was in awe; this thing was beautiful. It was hell bent on killing everything but still beautiful

"Houston, you gotta see this to believe it," Will said, the wonder in his voice mirroring her own. After a couple seconds, he flicked a switch. "FOD radar on."

"You guys might want to hang on. We're going in," Watts warned.

"Goddamn! We got debris," Will said.

Watts nodded. "We're dumping auxiliary boosters."

They seemed to be okay, then Faith heard the one thing she never wanted to hear. "We're hit!" It was Davis. "Mayday, mayday!"

"No. No. No," Faith whispered. Harry reached over as they all listened.

"Mayday, Houston, mayday! We've lost R.C.S. thrusters! Mayday, Freedom, mayday! We are out of control! We are going down! Do you read me? Freedom, we are going down!" Davis called into the comm system. Faith closed her eyes, she didn't want to see, she didn't want to be here. She couldn't help but listen. "Everybody, go to your own life support! Lock yourself in the cargo bay! We are going down! Houston! Houston, we are going down! We have lost control! Good luck, Freedom."

After Davis, she heard Tucker, "Oh, my God, this is it."

"Sharp, what the hell is that? ls that the Independence?" Harry yelled.

"Houston, Independence is a dead stick. They're not gonna make it. Houston, Independence has gone down." Faith felt her heart break at Will's words. She never got to say goodbye. She was supposed to be with them. "When I touch this baby down, full reverse thrust," she barely registered Will talking.

Watts was still going too. "Fires on your right, Sharp!"

"Reversing the thrusters! Hang tight! Hang tight! Houston, we overshot our landing field. We overshot our landing field," Will informed Houston. Then he landed them, hard. Everything was silent for a moment. The only thing Faith could hear was herself breathing.

"Initiate system check. Make sure we can still get off this rock," Will told Watts.

The other pilot nodded. "Our electrical system is screwed. I'm going to back-up. Fuel seals check. Engine seals check. Pressure seals check."

"Anyone hurt?" Will asked them as he unstrapped.

Rockhound couldn't help himself. "Where's… Where's the other shuttle? What happened to the other shuttle?"

Will walked past her, touching her shoulder as he did. She wasn't sure if it was for her benefit or his own but she didn't care. Faith could hear the shock in his voice. "Independence is off the grid."

"'Off the grid?' What are you, a fuckin' cyborg? What does that mean?" She wanted Rock to just shut up.

Gruber looked at her before looking at Rock. "Hey, you saw it yourself, right? They're gone."

"Let's just ask God to take care of our friends," Harry said. "May they rest in peace."

"Amen," Chick muttered.

Faith slowly unstrapped and stood on shaky legs as her dad looked around at the group.

"We got eight hours. Let's get this job done and go home. We gotta get the tools unpacked and fire up the Armadillo," Harry told them.

"I'm not getting a damn thing on the inertial nav system," Will said before he glanced at her.

"I know where we are," Rock said, pushing his way past Will.

"Please step away," Will said. "Radio signal's dead."

"I'm flipping the backup generator," Watts told them. "Radio signal's gonna be cut in half till we get main power back."

Rockhound rolled his eyes. "We're in segment 202, lateral grid nine, site 15-H dash 32, give or take a few yards. Captain America here blew the landing by 26 miles."

"How the hell do you know that?" Will asked him.

"Faith's not the only genius, she just fills out the flight suit better than the rest of us," he declared. Everyone in the shuttle glanced at her before they turned their attention back to the pilots.

Watts looked around the room. "The gauges will not read. They're all peaked, like we're plugged into some magnetic field."

"It's the ferrite," Faith said quietly, gaining everyone's attention again. "It's why we were shooting for grid eight, thermographics indicated that grid nine was basically an iron plate." It's something that had her, Rock, Oscar and Quincy worried before they even left Texas.

"Congrats, Colonel. Good job. Great job. We're…" Rock started but she didn't have the patience for him anymore.

"Shut the fuck up, Rock. In case you didn't notice, he got us on the ground in one piece. I'm supposed to be on the other shuttle. You know, the one that just crashed and took half my family with it. You wanna stand here bitching and moaning, be my guest. I'm gonna make sure my friends didn't die for no fucking reason." Grabbing her helmet, she passed the now quiet geologist. "I'll wheel out the remote satellite link. Gruber, suit up."

"Yes, ma'am," the munitions specialist said with a nod. She could hear Will giving orders to everyone else but tuned them out.

Wisely, nobody dared to say anything else to her about landing sites or shuttle crashes. Faith was likely to hit anyone who did and they all knew it. She had just gotten the remote sat gear unloaded and onto the ramp when the guys joined her. They took it to the surface and Harry looked around.

"Down here. ln the valley," her dad called out.

"This is gonna suck," she muttered. Will and Gruber looked at her as she helped them push the large piece of equipment up a short ridge.

"How you figure?" Gruber asked her.

"Iron's hard to drill on a good day," Faith said with a sigh.

Gruber nodded. "You okay? About your friends, I mean?"

"No. But I have a job to do, can't worry about it now." Will touched her shoulder as they worked, Faith could almost swear that she felt his warmth.

"I have fire," Gruber told them as the remote satellite system booted up.

Will looked up. "Watts, I'm comin' back. Stand by."

"We couldn't've picked a worse spot to drill," Rock said.

"Well, I can pretty much guarantee it's not gonna be thicker than 50 feet," Harry told him.

Chick looked at her dad. "How do you figure that?"

"'Cause if it is, we're fucked," Faith said with a chuckle.

"Max, you good?" Harry asked the Armadillo operator.

"Yeah, boss. Just makin' hole," Max said. "Friggin' outer space."

Faith looked at the Earth from where she was standing. "I hope we get back to her."

Gruber looked over her shoulder. "We'll get there."

"There's some stuff in here I ain't never seen before." Harry doesn't say something like that often. He's seen a lot in all the decades he's been drilling.

"Hey, Harry, did you see that?" Max asked.

Her father looked at the 'dillo. " Yeah, Max, I see it. I see it. What is it?"

"Bet we twisted a shank," Faith said from her spot next to Chick. Her dad had Max back the drill bit out and sure enough, she was right.

"Wow, this is a goddamn Greek tragedy." Rock got his face near the drill bit.

Harry looked at them. "We've all seen broken drill heads before."

"Not after ten feet," Chick pointed out. That's exactly what she was thinking.

Rockhound shook his head. "I never seen one."

"Well, now you've seen one," her father told the group.

She looked at Harry. "What do you want, dad?"

"Unpack the Judge." It's big and mean but damn if it wasn't one hell of a piece of equipment.

She helped Chick get it set up. "Alright, get ready. Max, thread it, buddy."

"Guys, the clock is tickin'. Let's go, go, go, go, go!" Max called from the 'dillo. Harry was keeping them focused. Faith was moving faster than she thought she would in this suit and with an injured arm.

She moved next to her dad, who directed the guys on what to do. "Alright! Good! Crank it loose! Keep it at 25. Let's kick this asteroid's ass."

"All right, Chick. Give me more torque on the turbine, huh?" Max said.

"Max, I need some more power down here!" Harry called.

The big man kept going. "All right, boss."

"You wanna call it?" Harry asked her.

"Max," Faith said, "throw it in fourth, then drop the hammer. Let's drill through this thing. Come on, boys. We gotta push it. We're fallin' behind."

"Dig, dig, dig. Chew this iron bitch up," Harry told them. After a few minutes, Harry looked at his best friend. "Chick, the tranny's stuck."

She glanced up at Max when he called for her father. "Harry!"

"Max, release the clutch, man," Faith instructed.

"Pull it up!" Harry called. They all looked at each other as realization dawned.

"Okay. Well, this thing's not movin'," Chick muttered just as the console exploded and sent them both flying. "You alright, monkey?"

"I'm good," she groaned. "Dad, this isn't working." She pushed herself up. "We blew the fuckin' tranny already."

"Yeah." Her father sighed. "Come on, God. Just a little help. That's all I'm askin'." Faith closed her eyes, maybe if she prayed with him, it would help.

"I think we're close enough," Max whispered. "He might've heard ya."

"Faith, Chick, with me." They nodded at Harry and followed him into the shuttle. "Let's get it unpacked," Harry told them.

"What's up?" Will asked.

Harry glanced at him. "We're drilling through some kind of metal I've never seen before. It's fried two of our drill bits and now we blew our first transmission."

"So, how deep are we?" Will asked.

"We could use your help with this, Colonel," Harry said, avoiding the question.

"I have an assessment report due now," Will told them. "We're supposed to be at 200 feet. So, how deep are we?"

"Not as deep as we'll be when you quit askin' me these questions and help us load this transmission on," Harry said.

Faith rolled her eyes, they didn't have time for this. "We're at 57 feet." They both looked at her. "Will, we got this, you just gotta let us do it."

Harry took a breath. "Now, if you're not too busy, maybe you can give us a hand with this transmission." Will walked right past her dad. "Colonel Sharp! Get this strapped up. I'll be right back. Colonel Sharp!"

Faith and Chick did what her dad asked as he went looking for Will. They both looked up as the shouting started.

"You aren't gonna help him?" Chick asked.

"The stubborn oil driller or the stubborn Air Force pilot?"

Chick chuckled. "Either?"

"They don't need my help." They finished strapping down the tranny when she heard a beep. She looked at Chick.

He glanced at her before looking over that the bomb again. "Harry… the clock on that 9 foot nuclear weapon is ticking." Faith closed her eyes, she was having a fucking nightmare… that was it, a nightmare.

"Will, Secondary Protocol!" she yelled.

He came flying into the room calling the bomb expert over the radio, "Gruber, get in here, double time." Will looked at her. "Help me open this thing." She nodded and grabbed the electric screwdriver.

"You know what's going on?" Harry asked her.

"It's a surface detonation activated from Earth, complements of Kimsey and the President," she told him.

"You didn't say anything?" Harry looked at her and she could see the hurt on his face.

"Officially, she doesn't know," Will said. "I wasn't supposed to tell her. My orders are to shoot you if you tried to stop the detonation."

"Then why are you trying to stop it?" Chick asked.

"Why do you think?" Will countered, glancing at Faith just as Gruber took her spot. "She's the only person on your team with a chance of disarming it. I'd rather shoot myself."

Harry smiled in spite of himself. "You got this?"

"We got it," Gruber said. "Idiots on the ground keep ignoring Quincy. He's the smartest man on the planet for a fuckin' reason."

Harry, Faith, Chick and Watts watched as they quickly dismantled the bomb. Gruber looked at Will. "Red or blue?"

The pilot took a breath. "I don't know… Faith, pick one."

"Blue," she said quietly. He winked before he cut the wire and the beeping stopped.

"Blue, huh?" he asked her.

"It's the eyes," Faith said.

He chuckled and kissed her head. "Nice choice, Miss Stamper."

"I aim to please, Colonel."