"Houston? Houston, do you copy?" They were all standing around Harry as he raised mission control.
"Go ahead, Freedom."
They were all pissed about almost getting blown up by their own people but her dad, more so. The government asked them to do this and literally sent all but one member of their family on this trip. It wasn't too much to ask for them to let their team do the job they were sent to do.
"Houston, you have a problem. See, I promised my little girl that I'd be comin' home. Now, I don't know what you people are doin' down there, but we got a hole to dig up there." He picked up his helmet and looked at them. "We got work to do."
Faith smiled as they all moved to get back to their tasks. The change in dynamic was an obvious one, the control shifting from Will to her father with nothing more than a look. Both Will and Gruber did whatever was asked of them, knowing that they were short on time and all hands were necessary. Well, almost all hands.
"Okay, guys," Rock said. "I guess it's all go, no quit."
Faith rolled her eyes as she, Chick and Gruber moved to set up the new transmission. "How about you do some work, Rockhound?"
"Yes, ma'am," he said. "How ya doin' down there? You good?"
"Got the tranny," Chick said. "We're back in business."
"Hey, you guys should take a break and come up and see this. Wow. Got a great view of the Earth from here. Too bad we'll never set foot on her again," Rock told them.
"Speak for yourself," Faith told him. "I'm goin' home."
Rockhound was getting weirder and weirder with each passing moment. For a while, Faith didn't think anything of it, Rock was insane on a good day, but there was something about his demeanor that worried her. As long as he did his job, she had no problem with leaving him alone, problem was, he wasn't doing his job.
"Yee-ha!" Rock exclaimed. Everyone outside the shuttle looked at him. He was sitting on the bomb and riding it like he was at a damn rodeo. "Ride 'em, cowboy! Yippee-kai-yo, kai-yay!"
"He's fucking nuts," Gruber muttered.
Will was standing next to her. "Rockhound. Get off... the nuclear... warhead."
"I was doin' that guy from that movie, you know, Slim Pickens, where he rides it all the way in, the nuclear warhead," Rock told them.
"Now," Will ordered. Faith looked at him and she wasn't sure if she should be amused or turned on. Will in colonel mode is very sex.
"Oh, you didn't see that one, huh?" Rock smiled. "It's good movie." She shook her head.
"We got six hundred feet of hole to dig, Rockhound," Harry said in an attempt to get Rock to focus on their mission.
"All right, Harry. Just wanted to feel the power between my legs, brother," Rock said before looking Faith and Will's direction. "Hey, Sharp. No nukes! No nukes! No nukes!" Rock danced around.
"Is that gun in the safe loaded?" Faith asked.
"Can be in about half a second," Will told her. "You want me to get it?"
"We might have to shoot him."
"Want the honors?"
She smiled. "Do I ever."
"Rockhound, keep on that transmission," Harry ordered. She glanced at the man in question.
"Tranny looks good, Harry."
Her father nodded, "Alright." Faith, Chick, Will and Gruber were getting another pipe on the line. "Lock it down, guys. Good job."
"How come we didn't get any training on this thing?" She heard Rockhound ask. Faith glanced around for him.
"Uh, Dad…" she said just as Rockhound started shooting the gun that was mounted on the Armadillo. They only had the damn thing to clear out stuff that was in their way but now they didn't need it.
"Faith, get his attention," her father told her.
"Rock," she called. "What are you doing, man?"
"I'm gonna take this bitch out," Rock said as he kept shooting.
"You know that won't work, right?" she asked just as Harry snuck around Rock and tackled him.
" What the hell's the matter with you?" Harry asked. "Goddamn!"
"This is insane," Will said. "He's got space dementia."
"What's the protocol for that?" she asked Gruber but before he could tell her, there was a loud hiss. She looked up at the Armadillo. "Max, I need you to downshift and put it in reverse." She could tell that the pipe was stuck but that was not the most pressing problem.
"Uh, Faithie. What's happening?" Max asked as his eyes locked with hers.
"The ground's cracking," Will muttered.
"Earthquake!" Chick yelled, just as everything went to hell.
"Max," Harry yelled. "Quick, shut it off! Shut it off!"
"Dad! We're gonna have a blowout!" she called.
"I know, we hit a gas pocket!" Harry said.
"We got pressure out the ass!" Max called. He needed to bail out, fast.
"Max, get your helmet on! She's gonna blow!" Harry was still trying to get him out.
"Ah! Oh, Jesus, I'm cooking!"
She looked up. "Max, bail! Come on!"
"That's it. I'm out," Max said as he looked at her and Harry through the glass but it was too late. The Armadillo got launched right off the ground.
"MAX!" Harry screamed for their friend. "MAX!"
Then, as if nothing happened, everything settled.
"Goodbye, Max," Rock whispered. "Take care, buddy."
For a long moment, they didn't say anything. What was there to say? Max was gone. The drill was gone. Faith looked at her dad. "Dad. What… what do we do now?"
He looked at her. "Get ahold of Truman. Prepare the world for bad news."
"Guess what, guys? It's time to embrace the horror," Rock said. "Look. We got front-row tickets to the end of the Earth."
"Just because you don't give a fuck about anybody but yourself doesn't mean that that's how the rest of us feel. There are six billion people down there," Faith said. "Grace and Will's daughters and Chick's son... " She closed her eyes and leaned against the fissure she was standing next to. "We failed."
"Maybe not. Maybe… We can still drop the bomb in the hole…" Will offered, his eyes meeting hers. They were fighting for a lot of things, including time. Time that they spent passing by each other without even realizing it. Time that he missed out on with his kids. Time that she missed while on the rig. Time that they'll never get now.
"Won't do any good," Gruber said. "We'd take chunk outta this thing and that's it."
That's when they heard the most beautiful sound: static. Not that Faith liked static but, in this case, it was someone on their frequency and the only people here came in on two shuttles. Someone from the other shuttle made it and they had to be close.
"Are those…?" Chick pointed at one of the ridges and, sure enough, there were lights.
"YEAH!" Her father yelled.
"Way to go, baby!" Bear exclaimed and she'd never been happier to hear him in all her life.
"Harry!" A.J. called.
"Yo, Harry! What's up, baby?" Bear called.
"Guess we're not done after all," Gruber said with a smile as the vehicle made it's way to their site. When it stopped, Bear hopped out.
"Yo, Harry! Hey, baby girl."
"You're late, Papa Bear!"
"Traffic." He smiled that big smile at her before letting someone else out. The Russian, Lev.
A.J. popped up behind him. "Hey, Harry. You miss me?"
"A.J. I got just five words for ya; Damn glad to see ya, boy!" Harry said.
"That's six words," A.J. said.
"You made me cry, Frosty," she said. "I'm kicking your ass when we get back."
"Love you too. Freddy, uh, he didn't…"
"We'll talk about it later," Faith said, cutting off what she already knew about their friend. "We got work to do."
"You got it, boss lady," he said. "Now, where's this you need dug?"
"Chick," Harry called, "walk 'em down." The veteran driller nodded before he started leading A.J. to the hole. "Faith, where do you need me?"
"I…"
"That's your rig and your driver, makes you the boss."
"I was helping Chick," she said with a smile.
"Got it." Her dad flashed her a smile and got back to work.
She took a breath and turned her attention to the Armadillo. "All right, A.J. You ready? We gotta go fast."
"Born ready," he said.
"What I like to hear, Frosty. Bring her down. We got two hundred fifty feet to go. It's our last transmission, last drill head."
"Got it, boss lady. I'm punchin' through. First gear." There was a pause. "And we got contact."
"All right, man, let's show this bitch who's boss." It was like new life was breathed into all of them.
"How deep are we, Frosty?" Faith asked.
He glanced in her direction. "Seven seventy."
They were almost there, just 30 more feet and they were as good as done. They could put the bomb in the hole, fly away and save Earth. At least, that's what she was thinking until she heard the ground rumble. Not this shit again.
"Harry, he needs to back it out," Chick said. Harry, Will, Bear and Gruber all looked in Faith and A.J.'s direction.
Her dad nodded. "It's methane. Shut it down! Back it down!"
"No," she said plainly. They were not going to make if they stopped now. A.J. could break through but everyone just had to trust her.
"Faith…" her dad started.
"If he backs out now, the bit'll get lodged and we don't have time for that."
Chick looked at them. "It's gonna blow!"
"It's how we lost Max!" Harry said.
"I know, I was here. We got this."
"Harry, it's gonna blow!" Chick warned.
Faith looked at her father. "Dad, I know what I'm doin', you taught me how to do it. You just gotta me. And him."
"Your call, sweetheart," Harry said after thinking about it for a few seconds.
"Alright, it's just you and me, A.J. Let's take it home," she said. "Gimme a depth."
"Seven seventy-five," A.J. said. "Seven eighty."
"Come on, Frosty," Faith muttered.
"You guys got it," her dad said. "Come on.
"How far, brother?" Bear asked.
A.J. looked at her through the glass. "Seven eighty-five."
"Come on. Come on," Will muttered from behind her.
"Ninety-one. Come on. Seven ninety-two. Seven ninety-five!" A.J. said. They were so close, just a few more. "Seven ninety-seven! Ninety-nine!"
"Breakthrough!" Faith yelled.
"Eight hundred! Eight-oh-two, Faithie!" A.J. called. "We did it."
"Fuck yea! We did it!" she said as the guys all stated cheering.
" Way to go, you two!" Harry said.
A.J. smiled. "I knew it, baby!"
"Hate to break the party up," Faith said, "but we're not done yet."
"Still gotta set the bomb up," Will said. "We have," he paused to get a time check, "thirty-eight minutes."
"Let's start getting those pipes out of that hole, fellas," Faith said.
"That's what she said," Rock quipped from his spot, duct tapped to a chair on the shuttle.
Harry shook his head. "Quiet, Rock."
"It's stuck. Who wants to go down?" Chick asked. They made quick work of getting the pipes out until one got lodged.
"I'm the smallest, I'll go," Faith offered.
He nodded. "Let's get you tethered."
"Guys, I need that hole," Will called over to them from where he and Gruber were prepping the bomb.
Harry glanced at Will, "Gimme a minute. We got a bent pipe jammed down there and we gotta cut it out before we can send that bomb down."
"We got ya, monkey," Chick said, handing her the saw.
As she began the climb down, Faith could almost feel the space getting smaller and smaller. It was a good thing she went; A.J. was probably the only other person who could fit.
"Faith, come on! Make it fast!" he dad called down.
"Goin' as fast as I can! There's a lot of gas pressure!" Faith found the bent pipe and began sawing at the bend so they could pull it out. She was almost through when she felt it.
"You feel that?" Harry asked someone, she wasn't sure who. What she did know is that question and this trip did not go together.
"Harry, you gotta give me that hole. The bomb is almost ready," Will told her father.
"Pull that pipe out!" Harry ordered
"Give me 15 more seconds!" Faith could feel the walls around her rumbling.
"Well, this is somethin' new," she heard Chick mutter. Faith had to get out of here, right now.
"I don't think this thing likes us." Her dad sounded scared, more scared than he had been.
"That's 'cause it knows we're here to kill it," Chick replied. "Whoa!" That didn't sound good.
She heard some crashes and some medal clanking. "Hey, what's goin' on up there?"
"Faith!" Harry screamed for her just as another rumble when through the walls.
"What the hell was that?" she asked.
"Monkey, you gotta come up," Chick told her.
"Goddamn it, I'm finished!" Faith could feel someone tugging on her line. "There's a lotta pressure in here. Pull me up."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Hydrogen pocket!" Harry yelled just before the damn thing blew her straight into the air. It would've been okay if someone had her line.
"Dad!" This was not good, not good at all.
"I got her! Hang on, Faith!" A.J. said, catching her tether.
"Pull me in."
"Working on it, hang on," he said with a grunt. Debris hit the line and sent Faith tumbling to the ground. Of course, that's where all the trouble was.
She heard Will yell at Gruber to secure the bomb. Gruber yelled back, "Sharp, heads up!"
"Gruber! Get outta there now!" Bear called just as the munitions specialist went flying. Shit.
"Oh, God, no! Dad, look out!" she called. Harry and Chick hit the deck just as a boulder as big as the Armadillo went flying past them.
"Do you believe that just happened?" Harry asked. Chick shook his head at the question. "Faith, you okay, honey?"
"Yea, dad," she breathed, "I'm okay." She looked around as her dad called for each of them.
"Sharp, you alright?" Harry asked.
"I'm okay," Will said. Faith let out the breath she was holding.
"Bear, A.J.?" her dad continued. They were both in one piece.
She looked over when Harry got to Gruber. "He's dead, guys," she muttered. "Gruber's dead."
"Let's get that bomb ready and go home," Harry told the group. They all pushed themselves back towards the shuttle.
"Thanks for the save, Frosty," Faith said.
"You would've done the same for me," he replied. "It wouldn't have been as cool but still."
"I can live with that," she told him. "Let's get back to Gracie, huh?"
A.J. nodded. "I'm down with that."
"Oh, my God." Will looked up at her and motioned her over. Faith didn't know much about the bomb, just the little bit she learned thanks to a crash course from Gruber. Though, she could tell they were in trouble just by the look on Will's face.
"Is there a problem, Colonel?" Harry asked. Problem was a bit of an understatement.
"The timer, the remote, the whole thing's dead," Will said.
A.J. looked them, "What, the bomb is dead?"
"No." Faith looked up from the mangled metal. "Bomb's fine. The trigger's dead."
Will nodded. "It must've gotten damaged during the rock storm."
"How do we detonate it?" Harry asked. Faith and Will looked at each other, "Faith?"
"Manually," she told him.
"Let's get this in the hole and sort it out on the shuttle," Will said. They all pitched in to get the bomb in the hole; Will attached a line to it. If Faith had to guess, it was the cable to attach the manual detonator. Then they all when into the cargo hold.
"It takes two people to fly this thing. Either we all stay and die, or you guys draw straws." Will came up with a logical solution but something gnawed at Faith.
"I say we all stay and die. But that's me." Rockhound is really is crazy.
A.J. shrugged. "I'll draw. Let's draw."
"Nobody's gonna draw straws. I'll stay and take care of it." Harry said. She looked at her father; he was calm and the set in his shoulders told her that it wasn't really up for debate.
"Well, I can't live with that sort of thing," Chick said.
Harry looked at his best friend, his brother. "Nobody asked you if you could live with it, alright?"
"Bullshit! No way I will let you volunteer for this so I can go back to my home country like the man who didn't volunteer. No way!" Lev yelled.
Bear looked at them. "Hey, man, let's draw, and let's see who's gonna stay up here and dance."
Rock looked at her before he looked at everyone else. "Guys, I know you guys think I'm crazy right now, but I would really like this responsibility."
"What's the point?" Faith asked. They all looked at her. "We all know dad isn't gonna let one of us stay, doesn't matter who gets the short straw." She looked at Harry. "It was always gonna end this way, wasn't it?"
Harry nodded. "Yeah."
Faith figured it out the same time that she told him to let A.J. keep drilling. All this time, she thought he was questioning her because he didn't trust her but he was questioning her to make sure she trusted herself. He needed to see her lead, even if it meant going against him. He signed over the company, gave his approval of Will and let her take charge. He knew he was gonna die on this trip. Realization dawned on the faces of the others. Everyone, save Lev, knew that you couldn't talk Harry Stamper out of something if he set his head to it. It's what made him who he is.
"This is the best option. I got you guys into this, it's only right that I finish it," her father told them. For a moment, the only sounds in the cargo hold were from the shuttle itself.
"It's been a wild ride, brother." Chick hugged Harry. "I'll keep an eye on your girls."
"You take care of that little boy. Beg Denise if you have to," Harry said. Bear moved in next, he didn't say anything, just hugged his boss.
"Well, if I wasn't strapped down…" Rockhound quipped.
Harry chuckled. "Behave, Rock."
Their crazy friend nodded. "I'll try."
"Always thought of you as a son, A.J. Always. I'd be damn proud to have you marry Grace. You take care of my little girl and yourself. I love you, son."
"I love you too, Harry." A.J. had tears running down his face as her dad hugged him.
Harry looked at Will. "She's stubborn as hell but you figured that out already."
"Family trait, apparently," Will said with a smile.
"She loves you, you know," Harry said. "Take care of her, Sharp."
The pilot nodded. "I will."
Faith looked at her dad, who smiled and tugged the end of her braid. "I remember when you taught me how to do that to Grace's hair. I kept wondering what I was gonna do without you to help me take care of her when you left for college. You never complained, you just took care of your sister. The guys. Me. It's time to take care of yourself."
"You know, I just copied you when I couldn't figure something out. You always do the right thing," she told him. "I am so proud to be your daughter."
"I have loved you since the second I learned of your existence and I will never stop loving you, Faith Marie." He pressed a kiss to her head.
"I love you more."
"I love you most," Harry said with a smile. "Don't give the colonel a hard time. He's so in love with you it's almost painful to watch." She chuckled and nodded as Will told him how to set off the bomb. Harry pulled his mission patch off and handed it to A.J. "Give that to Truman for me. I love you, guys."
They all watched him go down in the elevator. Faith looked at the team, now her team. "We gotta strap in, guys."
They all nodded as they made their way to the cockpit. They dumped Rockhound behind Will, put A.J. in Harry's seat, she took Gruber's spot, Bear sat in Max's seat and Lev took one of the seats in the back.
"All right, let's go, Sharp. Let's get our team outta here," Harry told them over the radio. Will and Watts were moving so fast she could barely keep up with them.
"Monkey, you alright?" Chick asked.
She chuckled. "Nope."
"Yeah, me neither."
"Houston, do you copy? This is Harry Stamper."
Faith looked at A.J. He looked like she felt, tired, worn out and just done. Her dad was on the radio, she listened to his voice, he wanted to talk to Grace.
"Daddy!" Faith couldn't stop herself from crying when she heard her sister's voice.
"Hi, Gracie. Hi, honey. Grace, I know I promised you I was comin' home." Harry was about to break the kid's heart.
"I don't under… understand," Grace said. Faith's heart hurt as she listened to them.
"Looks like I'm gonna have to break that promise," Harry told his youngest child.
Grace chuckled. "I, um… I lied to you, too, when I told you that I didn't want to be like you. Because I am like you. And everything good that I have inside of me, I have from you. I love you so much, Daddy. I'm so proud of you. I'm so scared. I'm so scared."
"I know it, baby, but there won't be anything to be scared of soon. Gracie, I want you to know that A.J. saved us. He did. And you should've seen your sister up here bossing us around, Faith kicked ass, Gracie. She has been taking care of all of us her whole life. I think it's time she let somebody take care of her." Will glanced at her for a millisecond. Harry kept talking, "I want you to take care of A.J. I wish I could be there to walk you down the aisle. But I'll look in on you from time to time, okay, honey? I love you, Grace."
Faith could hear her sister crying. "I love you more."
"I love you most," Harry said. "I gotta go now, honey."
"Daddy, no." The signal cut out. Faith closed her eyes but the tears kept coming. She knew she wasn't the only one.
"What the hell's goin' on up there? Why haven't you guys left yet?" her dad asked. Faith looked at Will.
His hands were flying over the controls. "We're going, Harry. Houston. We got O.M.S. pod pre-start."
"Pod pre-start confirmed," Watts said as the ship sputtered and whined.
Will looked at Watts. "What's the problem?"
"I don't know," Watts said.
"What's wrong?" Lev yelled.
"Fix it now!" Will ordered. "We got no time, no time!" Watts ran past her and Lev followed.
"Will… what's going on?" Faith asked.
He glanced at her. "We aren't starting."
"Blow the bomb, Harry. We're with ya," Rock said.
"Come on, Watts," Will said.
"Sharp, get out of here now. You got less than three minutes," Harry told them. Faith couldn't decide if she should stay in her seat or try to help. She didn't know how the shuttle worked but it was a machine and she speaks that language very well.
The radio crackled in her ear, it was Clarke. "We're gettin' tight for ignition, Freedom."
"Houston, we've got no fire," Will didn't sound too sure that they would get off this rock.
"Will, breathe," she said as calmly as she could. "Watts has it, you know she does." He nodded.
"You know what that means, Faith?" Rock asked.
"Ship's busted. All the crap we did to it, I'm not surprised."
"A busted ship? And I'm strapped in here. I had a great spot picked out there." They all looked at Rockhound the best they could.
"He can't really be a genius," Will said.
"That's what I said," Chick muttered.
"Freedom, you fire that engine. If there's not a way, you find a way. The clock's tickin'," Clarke said, the worry in his voice was as clear day. "Let's go! Let's fire that engine, Freedom!"
"You got less than a minute. Don't think I won't blow this thing," Harry said. He was gone for a second but came back. "Sharp, get out of here. It's gettin' bad down here." At that moment, the ship roared back to life.
"She's coming back. She's coming back. We're hot! Watts! Let's go, let's go!" Will called as the other pilot jumped back into her seat. "Let's go! We don't have time! Hurry, hurry." The pair moved quickly but precisely. "We're outta time. Initiate thrusters on my mark! Two, one, mark!" Watts followed Will's instruction and they were off. "Thank you, Harry."
They were leaving, finally. But, for the first time since this whole thing began, she didn't want to go back to Earth, not with her dad on this rock. The logical part of her brain told her that he had to stay. The rest of her didn't give two shits about logic.
"Something's not right," Will said after a minute. "Too much time has gone by. We're goin' back and do it ourselves."
"Just don't. Wait one minute," Chick said. Will looked at Faith, his hand hovering over the controls to turn them around. She didn't say anything as Chick kept talking. "Colonel, I'm askin' you. Just one more minute!"
"Harry'll do it," A.J. added. "I know it. He doesn't know how to fail." Will moved his hand and nodded.
"Come on, dad," Faith whispered.
Then there was a flash.