Dr. Bale tossed the asteroid bit high into the room above them. It came within five feet of the floating black device before a golden blip of energy shot out. The asteroid piece went up in a small explosion of dust and fire, tiny specks of debris raining down around them.
“Whoa,” Benny murmured.
“Hey!” Ash shouted, charging a few steps toward him. “Don’t you dare shoot anything off in my garage.”
“Defensive drones.” Dr. Bale grinned, ignoring her. He waved to the trunk beside him. “These are all primed to fire when a mineral of alien composition is within range.”
“We could have used those here last week,” Pinky muttered. “Or yesterday morning.”
“That’s . . .” Jasmine said, pausing as a smile spread across her face, “perfect. I assume we could program them to orbit a few Space Runners with satellite links inside, allowing us to create a makeshift communications line with Earth.”
“I want one floating around me,” Drue said, “programmed to zap any aliens that show up.”
“This tech could also be utilized to fortify the Taj defenses,” Trevone said. “Imagine if we could simply shoot hundreds of them into future asteroid fields.”
Dr. Bale smiled wryly as he listened to them. “Very clever, indeed. I can see why Elijah chose all of you.”
“You brought these for us to use?” Benny asked. His mind was already trying to put together a plan. “How fast can we get them in the air?”
“Immediately, to answer your second question.” Dr. Bale paused, letting his eyes roam over the group.
That’s when Benny realized that Dr. Bale wasn’t just handing over this technology without getting something in return.
“What is it that you want?” Ricardo asked, obviously having come to the same conclusion.
Dr. Bale smiled. Beside him, his two assistants stood with their hands clasped behind their backs.
“As Pinky mentioned, I’ve been gone a long time,” he said, smoothing down his beard. “I wouldn’t mind a hot shower. Supplies. We, too, have people on Earth we are in dire need of contacting.” He shrugged. “And, of course, access to some of the state-of-the-art tools and instruments you no doubt have lying around the Taj would be indispensable in furthering my work.”
“Which is what, exactly?” Pinky asked.
Bale’s face grew solemn. “Saving the human race, of course.”
Benny wondered how, specifically, he planned on doing that. After all Elijah’s assurances that everything would be okay in the end if they just trusted him, Benny wasn’t exactly keen on putting his faith in someone who promised to save the human race without giving any actual details. He looked at Bale’s vehicles parked on the other end of the garage.
“What’s in the other containers back there?” Benny asked.
“The future. Many of the innovations you saw in my camp. I couldn’t just leave them out there.”
“You brought all those weapons into the Taj?” Jasmine asked.
“Uh, and you’re sure they’re all safe?” Hot Dog asked.
“I do not want a bunch of bombs and laser guns hot-wired together on the dark side of the Moon sitting in my garage,” Ash said.
But Ricardo raised a hand, motioning for everyone else to be quiet. His eyes were narrowed—Benny could see him trying to work out a plan of his own.
“I think you and I should have a long talk, Dr. Bale.” He glanced at Benny and his friends. “Alone.”
11.
Ricardo and Trevone whisked Dr. Bale out into the Taj’s courtyard, leaving his assistants behind to stand watch over the cargo. Jasmine and Drue crouched beside the trunk filled with black devices, both speaking at once.
“So, are these gold things laser beams or plasma blasts or what?” Drue asked.
“Why the dodecahedron shape?” Jasmine asked.
“And, like, how powerful are we talking about here? How much can they destroy? We could test them out on Pluto or something! That’s where they found that first abandoned alien base! It’s perfect!”
“More important, what’s the internal energy source?”
“They’re run on modified fission cores,” Todd said. “Like a hyperdrive.”
“They’re Dr. Bale’s design,” Mae added. “The man is a genius.”
“Completely,” Todd agreed. “History will no doubt view him as such.”
Jasmine and Drue looked at each other before they both started talking again. Benny stood near the exit to the courtyard. His focus was less on what was going on in the garage and more on what Ricardo was discussing with Dr. Bale.
“Any idea what they’re saying out there?” Benny asked Pinky. He’d thought about trying to sneak around outside and eavesdrop, but in the open space of the Grand Dome there was nowhere for him to hide.
Pinky frowned. “Trevone has temporarily shut me out of the courtyard. I’m trying to work around him, but there’s a reason he’s on the Pit Crew.”
“Can Ramona maybe hack the system?” Hot Dog asked. “No offense, Pinky.”
The AI waved a hand back and forth. “None taken.”
“Ramona should focus on the satellites,” Benny said, nodding to the girl in a nearby Space Runner. “That takes priority, I think.”
Hot Dog sighed. “I thought Trevone was on our side.”
“We’re all supposed to be on the same side.” Benny shook his head. “I realize how dumb that sounds when I’m the one who didn’t tell them about Dr. Bale.”
“No use worrying about that now.”
“I wonder what Elijah would say if he knew the Taj’s garage was housing a load of weapons,” Pinky said. “Actually, strike that. I know exactly what he’d say, and I don’t care to speak those words while children are present.”
“I just have a bad feeling about this for some reason,” Hot Dog said.
Benny looked at the Space Runner that Ramona was still tinkering with, and then over to the research assistants. Jasmine turned one of the drones in her hands slowly, while Drue continued asking Todd and Mae questions. Behind all of them, the two big storage trailers loomed. He could only guess what all was inside.
With every move they’d made since first finding out about the Alpha Maraudi, it seemed like their problems had just gotten more complicated. Nothing had been what it had seemed. An asteroid turned out to be some kind of mother ship. A conquering alien race was really just trying to survive. Something told him, too, that there was more to Dr. Bale than they realized, but he had no way of knowing what.
“If we’re getting back in touch with Earth,” Benny said, “then it’s worth it. Right?”
Hot Dog nodded a bit, a hesitant agreement that mirrored his own feelings.
Ramona leaned out of the Space Runner. “Upstream, downstream connections are maxed. Both satellite SRs ready for launch. My work here is done.” She crumpled a soda can in her hand and tossed it over to a trash can yards away, a perfect shot. “Level complete.”
Benny watched Mae and Todd smile at each other as they heard this news, and then they were carrying several of the black devices over to the Space Runners, chattering back and forth.
“I’m assigning two drones to each vehicle,” Mae said.
“Brilliant.” Todd tapped on his HoloTek. “That should be plenty. I’ve already plotted the most efficient course for them to take.”
“Dr. Bale will be pleased.”
Hot Dog leaned in close to Benny. “I think they’re the only two members of his fan club,” she whispered as Drue and Jasmine rejoined them.
Jasmine still held one of the drones. “It really is a genius design,” she said.
“Guys, these things shoot out particle beams,” Drue said, his eyes wide and glittering under the lights. “Particle beams. This is crazy-go-nuts tech.”
“It’s strange, though,” Jasmine said, turning the drone over in her hands. “I can’t imagine this sort of technology being honed in a camp like the one we saw. Especially so quickly. They would need so m
uch manufacturing equipment and time. The logistics of creating these weapons must have been extremely complicated. He obviously had these lying around already.” She looked at the trailers. “I wonder what else he has in there.”
Drue’s eyes lit up. “Maybe we should find out.”
He started toward the trailer at a fast clip. Benny and the others looked at one another for a second before following him. They were a few feet from the containers when a voice sounded behind them.
“New Apollo Lockdown, Code Armstrong,” Mae said.
In front of them, the open door to one of the trailers slammed shut.
“There’s sensitive equipment inside,” Todd said. “It’s not for children.”
Drue turned to him, eyes narrowed. “We’re not just children, we’re . . .” He paused. “We’re Moon heroes!”
Todd smirked, but before he could respond the door to the courtyard opened and Dr. Bale walked back inside, Ricardo and Trevone following him.
“What’s our progress?” Dr. Bale called to his assistants.
“We’re ready to launch,” Mae said, looking up from a HoloTek. “The drones are programmed to protect these two SRs.”
“On your order,” Todd said, straightening his posture.
“Wait,” Benny murmured, taking a few steps forward.
Dr. Bale paused in the center of the room, surveying the satellite Space Runners before nodding. “Good work. Let’s not waste any time. We’ll launch immediately.”
“You’re welcome,” Ramona said, from her seat in the corner of the room, not looking up from her HoloTek.
“What’s going on?” Benny asked, feeling as though some big decision had been made without him.
“Just as I said,” Dr. Bale said. “I’m reestablishing communications with Earth.”
“I meant what did you guys talk about out there?”
Dr. Bale looked at Ricardo, who raised his head a little higher.
“Dr. Bale knows people on Earth who will be able to help us find Elijah,” he said. “We need manpower. We need an army to get him back. Dr. Bale is giving us that.”
“An army?” Hot Dog asked.
Dr. Bale nodded. “I have a wide range of contacts on Earth. They’ll no doubt be wondering what the status of the Moon is. Once they understand what’s happened, they’ll send reinforcements.”
“I thought everyone on Earth thought he was nuts,” Drue whispered.
“What’s your plan?” Benny asked.
“Simple,” Dr. Bale said. “We’re going to protect humanity.”
“And in doing so, we’ll get Elijah back,” Ricardo said.
“Yes. Of course.” The man pulled a HoloTek from his space suit pocket. “Now, first things first. Let’s get these satellites in the air.”
“That’s not a plan, though,” Benny said. “How are you going to protect the planet?”
But Dr. Bale didn’t answer. He tapped his device, and the two Space Runners rose a few feet off the ground.
“Something’s wrong,” Pinky said, before Benny could think of what to do next. “I don’t have access to the mainframes of these Space Runners and the auxiliary tunnel is open.”
“Oh, that,” Dr. Bale said. “In order to ensure that my drones work perfectly, I need complete control over the vehicles. Trevone let me tap into your operating systems. I’m sure you understand.”
“What?” is all Benny could say as the Space Runners shot forward out of the garage.
“Trevone?” Pinky asked, her voice breaking slightly.
The Pit Crew member kept his eyes on the dark concrete floor of the garage.
“If it’s a problem, we can try to work something else out,” Dr. Bale said, pocketing his HoloTek again. “But for the sake of time I figured no one would take issue with it. I’m here to help. Soon we’ll be back in touch with Earth again, and we’ll get everything sorted out.” He turned to Ricardo. “Speaking of which, we have several hours before the satellites will be in position, and I wouldn’t mind seeing that suite you mentioned.”
“We’ll put you up in one of the wings that isn’t being used by the scholarship winners,” Ricardo said. “You should find everything you need in your room. If not, please let Pinky know and she’ll do her best to accommodate you.” He looked at the AI. “Right, Pinky?”
“Of course,” she said, adjusting her glasses, a slight edge to her voice. “It’s my duty to serve.”
Dr. Bale looked at Benny and his friends. “Don’t worry. This will all be taken care of now. You’ve done admirable jobs. You saved the planet. You are true champions of humanity. So relax. Everything will be handled, you’ll see.” Then he turned on his heel and started toward the exit, Ricardo beside him.
“Trevone,” Jasmine whispered, raising her hands in confusion.
He glanced at her and opened his mouth, about to speak. But then he turned away and followed the other Pit Crew member out.
A few seconds passed in silence before Pinky spoke.
“Um, I hate to be the bearer of bad news,” she said. “But Ricardo has requested that the garage remain off-limits to all unauthorized personnel.” She grimaced. “That includes all of you.”
“What gives him the right?” Drue asked. “I’m not going anywhere!”
“Wait, we’re all getting banned?” Hot Dog asked. She crossed her arms. “He can come and drag us out if he wants us to leave.”
Benny bit the inside of his cheeks. The morning before, he and his friends had been leading the charge against the dangers that faced Earth, and now it seemed like they’d been cut out completely. Frustration welled up in him, but there was something else, too: deep down, he felt almost relieved to have lost control. To know that someone else was in charge of making the decisions and keeping Earth safe.
“No,” he finally said. He shook his head and looked at her. “We’ve got to try to work together, which means we should probably pick our battles. Besides, we don’t want to do anything to rock the Taj until comms are reestablished. Let’s just see how this plays out over the next few hours and hope for the best.”
Hot Dog bit her lip. “I don’t like this.”
“Me neither,” Jasmine said. “But I think Benny’s right.”
He smiled at her a little. Still, he couldn’t help shake the feeling that something was wrong—that there was a puzzle piece he was missing from the overall picture. He’d felt this sort of relief before, when Elijah had guaranteed that everything was fine at the Taj. And that, obviously, hadn’t turned out well. He swallowed hard, and looked at the others—the Moon Platoon. No matter what happened next, he told himself, they’d get through this together. They’d figure out a way.
But even as he repeated these thoughts, the sheer immensity of the situation threatened to crush all hope inside him.
12.
“Wait, so, some other dude is taking charge of the Taj now?” Iyabo asked, whipping her long braids back and forth as she looked from Benny to Jasmine, the silver ribbons threaded in them glinting. “And you actually went out there and found him?” She let out a long sigh. “I don’t get you guys. We had this place to ourselves and you went and ruined it with more adults to tell us what to do.”
She plopped down into one of the plush chairs in the Mustangs’ common room, where Benny, Drue, Hot Dog, and Jasmine had retreated following their exile from the garage. Iyabo had been talking with another group of kids in the room when they’d first arrived, but the others had filtered out. She’d stuck behind, though, insisting that if something were going on, she deserved to know what it was. Apparently, the fact that they’d been sitting around hardly saying a word to each other was an obvious sign that something was wrong.
“It’s not exactly how we planned it to go,” Drue said as he put his feet up on the coffee table in front of the cluster of chairs where they all sat.
Iyabo picked at a bag of dried fruit she’d brought from her room. “Yeah, well, I’d planned on having a fun-filled two weeks on the Moon, an
d we all know how that turned out.”
Pinky walked out of one of the walls where an animated red Mustang was rearing back and neighing silently. “Good news. Any minute now we should have a usable connection to Earth.”
Benny felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up. Jasmine let out a loud sigh of relief. Finally, at least one of their big problems was about to be solved. Communications were being reestablished.
“Great,” Hot Dog said, jumping to her feet. “So who are we calling first?”
“That’s . . . the bad news.” Pinky took off a pair of black-rimmed glasses and rubbed the bridge of her nose. “I’ve been blocked from controlling the satellite transmissions. Trevone is continuing to limit my abilities at Dr. Bale’s request. I am, apparently, too much of a variable as someone who can think for herself.”
“What?” Jasmine asked, her voice louder than usual. She pressed her lips together hard for a moment. “What is he thinking? This is so disappointing.”
“Currently, Dr. Bale and a few others are gathered around the holodesk in the meeting room downstairs preparing for satellite uplink.” Pinky’s expression twisted. “I . . . don’t seem to have control of that door anymore.”
“Okay, this is ridiculous,” Hot Dog said, beginning to pace. “You’re, like, the brain of the Taj. They can’t just cut you off from doing your job.”
“Why is the Spit Crew going along with this?” Drue asked.
Hot Dog came to a stop. “Spit Crew? Really? That’s the best you’ve got?”
“You don’t want to hear the names I’ve come up with for Ricardo,” Drue said.
She sighed. “I take one jersey from his room and I never hear the end of it.”
“Please think about what you just said.”
“Guys,” Iyabo said, cutting in. “Maybe you two should stop flirting with each other and focus on the actual issues?”
Drue and Hot Dog stared back at her, mouths slightly ajar, before both of them gagged like they’d just bitten into something spoiled.
“The Pit Crew is scared,” Jasmine said. “They’re just trying to get Elijah back. He’s like a father to them.”