"Hit the deck!" shouted Mike as the car careened towards the group precariously. Subconsciously, Mike grabbed Linda and ran towards one side of the road. Astro tackled Tom down on the other side. Dot shrieked as Martie grabbed her arm and ran to the same side as Mike. Johnny pushed Ralph and Phil to the side before jumping out of the way himself. The rest of the students raced out of the way. The car screeched past. Everyone tensed up as the car slowed down. Was it coming back? But then it went screeching away into the night. Astro and Johnny took off after it.

"Wait, Astro! Johnny!" called out Tom before he took off after them.

"Tom!" Linda called out. She too tried to run off, but Mike held her back.

"No, let's wait for them to get back," said Mike. "That car would be long gone by now."

"Linda, are you alright?" asked Ralph.

"I'm fine," mumbled Linda.

"Is everyone alright?" shouted Mike. Everyone answered in the affirmative as they regrouped.

"What was that driver thinking?" exclaimed Martie.

"He could have been drunk," suggested Jackson.

"Then I hope Johnny, Astro, or Tom got his plates so we can report him," said Martie with a grumble. She eyed Mike. "Told you you shouldn't have told Rod about this."

"We don't know that Rod is even behind this," replied Mike firmly, giving her a stern look. "Don't jump to conclusions until we get all the facts."

"He got away!" Astro shouted in frustration. He was the first to return to the group, followed by Johnny and then Tom, who were panting.

"Well of course he did, he was booking it!" Tom said between pants.

"Please tell me you got his license plates," said Martie. The three shook their heads.

"And Johnny especially tried to get that," said Tom, pointing at the Cheyenne.

Johnny nodded, frowning. "But I couldn't really read the license plates."

Martie shot Mike a look. "Definitely Rod."

Mike groaned and rolled his eyes. What was it with his team and thinking that Rod Harger had it out for him? Sure, the two got off on a bad footing when they first met, and Rod understandably was still angry about it, but he wouldn't try to kill Mike intentionally. Right? "No, it doesn't mean that Rod is behind all this. It could still be a freak accident."

Johnny's eyes narrowed. "I don't know, Mike, I think that car was aiming for you."

The way Johnny said it sent chills down Mike's spine, but he ignored it. He merely shook his head. "Let's not worry about it right now, it's over. Right now, we should head back, and be careful about it. We don't want any more close calls."

"You're telling me," muttered Martie, as she shot a glance at Johnny.

Johnny shot her a quick glance before turning to the rest of the group. "He's right, we should get going. It's late, and everyone must be tired."

"I don't know, man," said Phil, "after that, my adrenaline's running a million miles a minute. I think I could stay up all night!"

Johnny chuckled. "You say that, but I promise you, as soon as your head hits that pillow, you'll be fast asleep. Trust me."

Mike chuckled. "I'm liable to fall asleep right now! Come on, let's get back to Sanford before anything else exciting happens."

"I wouldn't exactly call that exciting, but I agree," said Tom.

"Yeah, no kidding," muttered Linda. She shot Mike an odd look before the group began walking back towards the campus. Mike blinked. What was that all about?

The walk back started off mostly subdued, the group still slightly shaken by the experience of nearly getting run over. But Phil managed to lighten the mood by cracking a joke about halfway back, and by the time they returned to the campus, they were laughing as they had been when they first left the pub.

Mike sighed with relief once he and his roommates were back in their room, after making sure everyone else got to theirs safely.

"You still refuse to believe Rod is behind all this?" asked Johnny as he crossed his arms.

Orin glanced between them. "Are you two still going to argue about it?"

Mike held up his hands. "I'm not going to argue anything except innocent until proven guilty. Granted, everything so far has been suspicious on Rod's part, especially my letter of acceptance being found in his room, but we can't just blame him for every little bad thing that happens. He's not the school boogeyman, or anything like that."

"But you at least will acknowledge that Rod was definitely behind you nearly missing Sanford?"

Mike nodded, albeit slowly. "He has shown disappointment in my showing up and the letter was found in his room, as noted, so it would only make sense that he was trying to stall me from going. Why he doesn't like me, I don't know, but …"

Johnny groaned as he rubbed his temples. "Mike, how can you be so dense? Martie and I have told you time and time again he doesn't like you because you get everything he expects handed to him on a silver platter! You worked your very best and earned it, yes, but to Rod, he just wants the glory!"

Mike waved his hand. "Well he can have it, I don't care."

Johnny smacked his forehead. "That's the thing, Mike, because you work hard, you get the glory that comes from that, and Rod doesn't like that you manage to get first place because of it. Stop acting like ignoring it is going to make it go away!"

Mike sighed. "I know, I know, I could do that while he was on our team, but now that we're basically rivals …" Mike rubbed his temples. "The only problem is that he would still have to deal with the rest of the applicants. How is he going to deal with all of them?" Mike's eyebrows knitted together. "But, he does have a better shot at getting in than half the others, so why …"

Johnny sighed. "Because he wants to be the very best, Mike, the first, and you always get there before he does."

Mike sighed and shrugged. "What do you expect me to do, let him win?"

Johnny's eyes narrowed. "No, he can't just get away with it. We will have to come up with some proof that he's trying to sabotage your chances."

"I still don't think he had anything to do with tonight's incident." Mike huffed as he ran his fingers through his sandy-blonde hair. "Let's just leave it at that, Johnny, and call it a night. I'm exhausted. What about you, Orin?" Mike turned, and found their roommate already snoring away under his covers.

Johnny chuckled. "He's getting the hang of us, Mike. Before you know it, he'll have us figured out and know exactly how to get us to do what he wants."

"Is that really a bad thing, though?" asked Mike as he quickly changed into his pajamas. "Especially if he wants to get to bed on time and not listen to our arguments about Rod."

Johnny sighed as he too quickly changed. "I know, Mike, I know, but trust me when I say this, I have a sneaking suspicion that he is behind this. I'm just afraid one of these days he'll get his way."

Mike patted Johnny's shoulder and shot him a lopsided grin. "That's why you're watching my back, huh?"

Johnny smiled as he clapped Mike's back. "And always will."

Mike gave a quick nod. "Then there's really nothing for me to worry about, right? You've got my back, and I've got yours."

Johnny let out a huff. "Well, when you put it that way …"

"And we've got Martie, Orin, Tom, Astro, Linda, and now the rest of their gang. We're going to be fine."

Johnny scoffed. "Yeah, now we've just got to watch their backs and make sure they get to the final round."

Mike huffed. "Yeah, but we'll worry about that when it's time. Right now, let's see if we can't convince the board, or whoever decides on who's on the teams, to let us stick together. I really like the crew from Green Falls, and Orin and Astro as well, of course."

Johnny glanced at their roommate as he chuckled softly. "Of course. Can't go wrong with a couple guys from the other planets." He grinned at Mike. "Especially knowing how you are in particular in your quest to get to Mars one day."

Mike grinned. "Oh, you betcha."

Johnny leaned against the wall and crossed his arms. "So, how exactly are you hoping for the board, or whoever makes those decisions, to decide on making us a team? This isn't like with Killinger, who had been watching us pretty closely."

Mike rubbed his chin. "I'm sure they're watching us pretty closely too. I mean, they're probably going to be watching us especially during our training sessions and classes. But if we can form a team this week, I think we'd be off to a good start."

"And you're expecting to be the leader?"

Mike threw up his hands. "Whoever steps into the role naturally. It might become me as it is the sensible thing to do, having been the squadron leader back at base."

Johnny nodded slowly. "Yes, that would make the most sense …"

"Do you have someone else in mind?" asked Mike curiously.

"I think Tom Corbett has the makings of a natural leader," Johnny began slowly. "So if the two of you do end up on the same team, who would be the leader?"

Mike shrugged. "Whoever our captain says it's going to be, well, besides the captain, obviously."

Johnny grinned. "Obviously."

There was a slight pause. "Who do you want to be team leader?" Mike asked softly.

"Naturally I would say you, simply because I'm more used to your leadership style. But Tom, well, I could follow Tom anywhere as well."

There was another slight pause. "We've only known Tom and the others for, what, two days now? What have you seen in that time to show you that Tom's a natural leader?"

"You weren't with us, so you wouldn't have seen it. But when Tom, Astro, and I went after that car, Tom was the one who quickly stepped in to take the lead when Astro and I began arguing about what to do."

Mike blinked. "You and Astro were arguing about what to do? How come? It's not like either one of you had a hoverboard or anything to go after that car. Besides, I thought the both of you are in agreement that Rod's behind all this."

Johnny scoffed. "Oh we're definitely in agreement there, Mike, Astro just didn't understand the physics of Earth and wanted to go jumping after it, as Venusian gravity is just a little less than Earth's. Tom explained why it wouldn't work and pointed out that since the car was long gone, that we should just head back and make sure everyone gets to their dorm safely."

"Uh, Ok," said Mike, his eyes blinking rapidly in confusion. "That doesn't quite seem like something that would make you want to follow Tom anywhere."

Johnny chuckled. "It was the way he held himself, Mike, the way he talked. I found out from him that he's the eldest of five siblings, so he's learned how to handle situations."

Mike shrugged. "Well, ok then, glad to know he's got a good head on those shoulders. Still don't see how you came to trust him so quickly."

Johnny sighed. "You really are dense."

Mike gasped. "Dude, I'm just astonished at the whole thing. Took you months before you trusted me!"

Johnny shot him a mischievous smirk. "That's because you were something of a wild card, Mike Mars, still are, technically. All those poor rattlesnakes we've scared ever since we got up in the air should be able to attest to that, if they even want to show their faces again."

Mike laughed. "And I hope they don't. But fair enough, Johnny, Tom's got even more of a level head than I do." He paused and let out a yawn. "I don't know about you, but between the party and nearly getting run over tonight has me exhausted."

Johnny chuckled before letting out a yawn of his own. "Well, it is really late, Killinger would have our heads for being up this late," he remarked as he pointed at the clock.

Mike's eyes widened. "Yikes! All those months of training, just to lose it all in one night? Let's hit the sack, Johnny!"

"Aye aye, Mars One!" replied Johnny with a salute.

Mike saluted back. "I'll get the light, Mars Two."

"One thing's for sure, those guys are definitely going to need us to teach them some of that military training if we're going to make sure they make it through," quipped Johnny as he got into bed.

Mike quickly doused the lights before crawling under his covers. "Well, we'll worry about that when the time comes. Right now, I think we should just concentrate on getting through this week. Good night, Johnny."

"Night Mike!" In a matter of minutes, Johnny was sound asleep. Mike stayed up a little later, thinking over the near accident in his head. He hadn't wanted to admit it to Johnny, or anyone else, but he had seen the vehicle and noted how there were no distinguishable features, that it was a dark car, and the driver was obscured. It was obvious that whoever was behind this didn't want to be caught, and it was quite easy to jump to the conclusion that Rod was behind it all, especially considering how it was obvious that he had nearly cost Mike his attendance at Sanford. That being the case, there was still a chance there was someone else at the school who was trying to get rid of their competition. But who?

Mike played the scene in his head yet again, going over every detail. He tried to visualize where everyone was standing right before they noticed the car and jumped out of the way. Was there anyone in particular standing in the direct path of the car? Technically they all had been, and what's more, the car didn't come back to try it again. That's what made Mike pause. If it was a deliberate attempt on any of them, the driver would have tried it again, but since he didn't, Mike assumed it was merely a coincidence.

Finally, both his brain and his body exhausted, Mike fell asleep, but not before the image of a pretty brunette flashed before his eyes and made his heartbeat quicken.

(Author's Note: Hello rosy readers! Welcome to the first part of quite the upload! Heading out of town for my brother's graduation and wanted to get these uploaded before I left. Plus, for those who read everything, like Elizabeth Joan - hbndgirl, who is such a champ, thank you so very very much, I'm going to focus more on this mystery and Sprite Society for the next month or so, just to get them done. I have more ideas now, two of which I especially want to have done by the end of this year so I can post them in honor of the 20th anniversary of the Fellowship of the Ring. Think Hobbit detective ... it's just a matter of dates, names, places, and overall mysteries, lol. So, yes, the Nancy Drew and Hardy boys mysteries will continue, I just need to focus on getting these two done and out of the way for now so I can clear my plate for these other stories. Expect an update on Nd and HB when I get back from my trip. Thanks for reading and I hope you have a wonderful week! God bless!)