AUTHOR'S NOTE: Sorry about the wait; uni's been crazy.
Here's the chapter 4 to the story, gang! Hope you have fun reading it!
When they entered the room, they found that nearly a dozen people were there. Nicholas knew that a space shuttle would never hold that many people, but they would probably do rounds when serving on it.
They all spoke to each other in excited whispers. Nicholas and Johnson came to a stop at the back of the crowd. "Your captain is a very honourable man, Nicholas," Johnson said softly, as though preparing him for the meeting. "When you address to him you must do so with great respect, especially now, unless he wishes to be spoken to casually."
These words made no sense to Nicholas whatsoever, but he had no time to dwell upon them before the director of NASA, veteran astronaut Lieutenant Jones walked onto the stage at the front of the room. Everyone fell silent and saluted him. Nicholas did the same, though his uncle did not.
The Lieutenant looked at them and nodded. "At ease," he said, as they lowered their arms. "Gentlemen and Ladies of NASA, you are gathered here in this conference room today for a very important meeting. It will be the very first like this, so I congratulate you for being chosen to be the first team to begin training for these types of missions." He paused for a moment to make sure everyone was listening. "You will be briefed about your training and the future missions by your captain, who will remain as your leader on every single one of these flights. He's an ace student here at NASA and the youngest man to be named as a captain, so I expect you all to treat him well, whether you are older than him or not. Is that clear?"
Everyone nodded or muttered a soft "yessir".
Jones nodded in reply and looked to the other end of the room. "Without further ado," he began, "… Please step forth, Dr. Fenton."
Nicholas' eyes went horribly wide at these words, and he nearly had a heart attack when the man he had spied on stepped out of a dark corner and walked towards the stage. Danny, now dressed in full uniform, walked professionally up to the stage, keeping his eyes forward and not staring at anyone until he had reached the podium. There, he saluted the director, took the documents which Jones passed to him, and turned to look at the new recruits. He placed his hands behind him. "Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen," he said with a small grin.
Some people nodded or replied by "good afternoon, Sir."
"My name is Dr. Daniel Fenton," Danny continued. "But most people prefer to call me Danny. While on the shuttle, though, you will refer to me as Captain or Dr. Fenton." He walked to another corner. "I am honoured to be the leader of the first crew for these missions, and I hope you will all come to enjoy me…" He paused for a moment and cracked another grin. "I may look serious, but honestly, it's just show. Trust me, I'm a nervous wreck."
People chuckled.
"Just being up here is making me hot."
More giggles.
Danny cleared his throat and looked down at his documents. "These types of missions usually ask for four to six people at a time, and perhaps a few others who will act as their workers," he began. "We will become a crew, sort of like a family, you might say, and it will remain that way until either you retire, I retire, or we all die."
Some people laughed hysterically at this, even Danny. After everything was calm, he continued: "The missions are to not only gather samples on the moon or go gather information at the spacestation, but they will also be about taking risks. I've developed equipment that you will all train in, just as I had to. These things will allow us to gather better information and find samples from not only the moon, but from stars and other planets." He smiled cleverly. "And, considering what kind of family I come from, we will also be gathering information about creatures that no one could ever properly study…" He raised an eyebrow. "Ghosts."
Nicholas was slightly taken aback by this, as well as some of the other astronauts in the room.
Danny nodded while closing his eyes. "I know, I know; you're all probably thinking that either I or NASA have lost our minds," he said, making a few people laugh again. "But I assure you that this is the real deal. Ghosts have been proven to exist outside our planet's atmosphere, but even though they are not the main objective of our missions, we will be asked to gather any kind of information about them as needed. The information about ghosts that you gather will be given and analyzed by Dr. Michael Johnson, the head of our research labs here at NASA." Danny grinned. "I hope this will all be an adventure for you guys," he said. "I know that it will be for me."
With that, he pulled out another sheet of paper and leaped off of the stage. He walked into the crowd of astronauts, who began to surround him. "Okay, folks; now's the time to see where you'll all be fitting in with me," he announced. "Each person here is assigned a position, and this will be the position you are in until you decide to leave the team of shuttle B-614. Many of you will be sharing posts, considering you will all be rotating missions."
He raised the paper to his eyes. "Melissa Krahn and Jeffery Godard," he called out, "You two will be in charge of the radar computers."
"Yessir!" two voices replied firmly in the crowd.
"Arthur McCarthy and David Tsuki, you two are in charge of the main computer system."
"Yessir!"
"Lisa Montgomery and Judy Lance, you two are at head supply duty. When we're outside working hours on end, we need to keep up our energy and make sure all of our supplies are up to date. You two will also be in charge of making sure the medical cabinets are well stocked and cared for. Clear?"
"Yes, Captain," a woman announced while the other saluted.
"Lancer Erickson, you'll be in charge of the map and directions."
"Yessir," a man replied.
Danny looked at his list again. "Jacob Robinson and Martha Stewart, you two will be the head medical examiners," he said, pointing at the two people. "Big job, guys; if anyone gets sick I'm counting on your expertise to bring them back to full health, and if not, find a way to get them back home."
Danny continued going down the entire list until everyone in the room had been named and assigned a job. Only one position remained, and only one name left.
Danny looked at the final name and breathed a heavy sigh. "And our last and most important position," he said, "My co-pilot and second in command. This job can only be filled by one man, and according to this, the smartest of the pack." He raised his head and scanned the crowd. "Uh, Dr. Nicholas Stevenson," he announced.
Nicholas froze, partially in sheer excitement of being picked for this position, and partially out of sheer horror. But after his uncle gave him a firm push forward, he raised his head and walked up to the front of the crowd. "Uh, here, Sir," he said softly.
Danny looked at him, and almost instantly, his face filled with shock and disbelief. He fell incredibly silent and stared at the man who had just been spying on him.
Nicholas tried not to show his anxiety. He raised his head and saluted Danny. "You can count on me, Sir," he said.
But the look in Danny's eyes did not say the same as Nicholas' words. In fact, if they were saying anything at the moment, it was "I'm putting my life into your hands?"
Danny remained mute a while longer before quickly turning away and walking back to the stage. "Uh, session closed," he muttered. "You are all dismissed."
The room immediately filled with excited whispers as the astronauts left while speaking about their positions. The only two that remained behind were Nicholas and his uncle.
Johnson walked up to his nephew and placed a hand on his shoulder. "I am certain you will do well, boy," he whispered.
"Well?" Nicholas scoffed. "Uncle, did you see how he looked at me? He was probably hoping never to see my face again. And now I'm going to be working with him on every mission."
"Trust is never an easy thing to build," Johnson agreed. "But you must begin somewhere."
Nicholas looked at him in silent until he heard upset whispers outside the meeting room. He and Johnson stared out the door before walking over to it and looking down the hallway.
At the other end, near the doors that were closest to the stage, stood Lieutenant Jones and Captain of shuttle B-614: Danny Fenton.
Jones and Danny were quietly arguing about a matter Nicholas was certain had his name written all over it.
Johnson looked at his nervous nephew and then urged him to walk with him as they started for the two men.
"It's got to be a mixup," Danny whispered, upset.
"There was no mixup, Daniel," Jones replied. "We assigned each person according to their specialties."
"Specialties? Sir, begging your pardon, but anyone can be my co-pilot!"
"Not anyone on these missions."
"I demand a recount!"
Jones frowned. "Danny, what's been decided has been decided!" he whispered harshly. "Nicholas is one of our brightest students! He's flown planes since he was thirteen years old! His father was an astronaut before him! He's the best man for this job, so be the Captain you were assigned to be and accept it!"
"I can't work with him!" Danny snapped softly behind his teeth. "I can't work with room peepers!"
Once close enough, Johnson cleared his throat to catch their attention. Jones and Danny looked up in his direction.
"Is there a problem here, Sirs?" the scientist wondered.
Nicholas did not bother to look at Danny. He was afraid the man was staring at him with another icy glare.
Jones stood up straight. "Not anymore, there isn't," he replied with his Southern accent.
Danny shot a concerned look at his boss. Jones frowned in reply. "Dr. Fenton, I will not repeat myself," he said sternly. "The choice is final. Unless something horribly wrong occurs, the positions will remain unchanged. Am I clear?"
Danny opened his mouth to object, but another stern look from his director caused him to rethink his words and remain silent. He sighed. "Yessir," he replied quietly.
"Good." The Lieutenant saluted him, causing Danny to stomp his foot and salute back. Then, he looked at Johnson and nodded. "They're your problem now, Doctor," he muttered in the man's ear before walking off.
Johnson smiled amusingly before looking at Danny. He tilted his head slightly. "Is there a problem, Daniel?" he wondered. "You seem a bit shaken up a little earlier."
Danny remained silent. He simply crossed his arms and frowned softly.
Johnson chuckled. "I've seen that look before," he said. "You're not happy about something, and you refuse to go down without a fight."
Danny raised his eyebrows slightly before they fell back into the shape of a frown again.
"The question is, though, is this worth fighting for?"
Danny scoffed sarcastically and glared at Nicholas. "You tell me," he said dryly.
Nicholas looked away shamefully.
"Daniel, I know you must be upset," Johnson said gently, placing a hand on Nicholas' shoulder, "But the Lieutenant is right; you will eventually learn to work with my nephew—!"
"Work with him?" Danny interrupted, not the least bit impressed. "Excuse my behaviour, Doctor, but after all I've been through, I've come to learn never to trust a spy."
"I assure you, Nicholas is no spy—!"
"Then explain to me how he magically ended up on the other side of my door when I transformed!" Danny snapped impatiently, spreading his arms out wide. He shook his papers in the man's direction. "I don't trust spies, and I don't trust liars. Those are the kinds of guys that land me in fights for my life!"
Nicholas finally decided to speak up. He raised his head and looked at Danny. "I won't tell anyone," he said softly.
Danny looked at him and remained silent.
"I swear it. I won't tell anyone who you are."
Danny held his silence a little longer before laughing sarcastically and grinning wryly. "Of course you won't," he said sardonically.
"Daniel, I can assure you that my nephew always keeps his words," Johnson said gently. "He will not tell a soul of your secret identity."
"You know what, Doctor? I'd really like to believe that," Danny replied, pointing his papers at the scientist. "But unfortunately, he decided to peek, and because of that, he's going to have a really hard time rebuilding my trust."
"I understand, but he will remain silent."
Danny frowned in reply and shook his head. "I can't just take those words, Sir," he said softly yet seriously. "Since I was fourteen, I could never trust those words from anyone except three people. Anyone else who discovered it before I told my parents, I tried to trust, but it only landed me in a heap of trouble, either with a ghost hunter, or with a ghost who wanted to kill me." He pointed at himself. "If you've been in my situation, you'd understand. I'm not wanted on either sides of the line, Dr. Johnson. I was a nobody in highschool, and I'm a villain in the Ghost Zone."
"You are neither, Daniel," Johnson insisted. "Look at you now; if you were a nobody, would you be the Captain of shuttle B-614?"
Danny fell silent. He looked down at the documents in his hands.
"And if you were a villain, why are there certain ghosts who have befriended you while you were searching for your physical body, those five long years? I do believe recalling you mentioning that."
Again, Danny was silent.
"You are a hero, Danny; an astronaut. You can't continue to bear this secret alone and not trust certain people."
Danny shook his head and looked at the man again. "You don't understand, Dr. Johnson," he said. "My life, my powers, my family, is put on the line when I place my trust in the hands of some stranger. My best friend, my wife and my son, whom I didn't know existed until a few months ago, have nearly lost their lives because of the mistakes I've done." Worry filled his eyes, "I can't just place the secret of my powers into the hands of someone who deliberately spied on me. I could be putting the people I care for in danger."
"Not this time, Child," Johnson reassured him. "Nicholas may be curious, but he's certainly trustworthy. This, I can assure you with the upmost respect."
Danny was quiet again. He looked pensively at his mentor before looking at Nicholas again. His eyes studied him deeply.
Nicholas remained as still as he could.
Danny rubbed his chin thoughtfully before looking at Johnson again. "Promise?" he asked quietly.
"You have my word, Daniel," Jonson replied with a nod.
Danny stared at him a little longer before looking at Nicholas again. Finally, he nodded, but very weakly. "Alright," he said softly. "I'll trust your word."
Johnson nodded and looked at Nicholas. Nicholas grinned weakly in return after taking a deep breath. He looked at Danny. "I promise never to let anyone know, Sir," he said.
Danny remained silent.
"And I'll be the best co-pilot you could have."
At these words, Danny's eyes turned to ice again. He frowned softly at this and removed his hand from his chin. "That, will be up to me to decide," he said dryly. He leaned towards Nicholas, taking the man by surprise. "Don't think you're off the hook yet, Einstein," he whispered coolly. "I still don't trust you. If you want to gain my trust, you'll need to follow my every order to the letter, and think the way I think. And believe me…" His eyes narrowed. "A ghost doesn't think like a human."
Nicholas held his breath and nodded.
"Make sure you remember that," Danny added. "You're walking on thin ice, and if you break your word, the hole you'll fall in will be very deep."
"Understood, Sir," Nicholas replied meekly while nodding again.
Danny looked him in the eye before pulling himself away again. He cleared his throat. "I need to go pack up to return home," he said, more or less to Johnson. He nodded politely at the scientist before walking passed them. "I'll see you in a week."
Johnson and Nicholas watched him walk off before Nicholas sighed and rubbed his neck. "He hates my guts," he muttered.
"If he does, then it is of your doing, Nicholas," Johnson replied sternly. "Think twice next time you see a door partially opened, is that clear?"
"Yessir."