It wasn’t like Jeremiah or Ambassador had been given a real choice for participation in space travel research. Short of leaving the planet, they would have been forced to participate. They didn’t mind though. Jeremiah was much happier in the NASA compound where they had ultimately been taken. He had unlimited access to the vast library, which contained books on far more interesting subjects than he had in his school library. He also found that he did not have to hide his advanced intelligence from the adults at NASA. His mom was allowed to come to the compound and live with him. She had gained a renewed confidence in the affirmation that his infantile disappearances had not been figments of her imagination.
Ambassador was preprogrammed for the tasks that he was being asked to perform. The scientists had finally started referring to him as Ambassador One, although most of them treated Ambassador as his first name and One as his last. He found it humorous when the new techs would approach him and say, “Mr. One the director has requested your presence in the lab,” or any variation that consisted of his normal duties. Ambassador had been heavily involved in the research and development in the Jeremiah Project, as it had been named.
The main difficulty with the Jeremiah Project had not been getting people or objects to travel the same way as Jeremiah. Ambassador had been proof of the ease with which it had been done. Only one other person had been willing to attempt Molecular Diffusion Travel, renamed since it was no longer theory, but still MDT for conversation purposes. The young scientist was brave enough to risk the journey, not knowing if Jeremiah could transport something biological in structure the same way he had with Ambassador. The scientist was soon promoted to Program Director of the MDT research team. Monthly scans of both the Program Director and Ambassador showed that the bonds of their previous molecular arrangement remained. The main problem presented in creating a machine that could replicate the effects of Jeremiah’s unique structure without destroying the item of its focus.
The Jeremiah Project moved along swiftly over the next two years. A new Hook was constructed and sent out to the planet of Pluto. Soon it was time to conduct the first test flight. Ambassador, Jeremiah, and his mother were all invited to watch the test flight from Mission control.
While they were waiting for the preflight procedures to be conducted, Jeremiah had argued with the Program Director saying, “Pluto is not a planet.” But the Program Director had insisted that he grew up being taught that it was and nothing would change his mind about it.
They stood behind the Mission Control desk at NASA watching the screen for the sudden arrival of the test ship at its destination. Due to the type of control system used to operate the shift and the technology the scientists had developed to select a specific destination Hook, the spacecraft would be able to make the shift without a crew for the first test.
No images of the ship were available on the screens because nobody cared to watch it disappear. Everyone focused on the monitors to watch the ship arrive in orbit around Pluto. The room fell absolutely silent as the countdown commenced. A voice boomed over the speaker, “Ten, Nine, Eight, Seven, Six, Five, Four, Three, Two…” A violent blast tore the planet apart on the video monitors. At first scientists had thought that it had happened before the launch had taken place, but they soon realized that the launch had come early. The early launch could not have caused this disaster though. Men and women alike began crying and one female tech cried out, “Those poor, brave men.” Apparently, the disaster had driven out the fact that it was an unmanned shuttle from everyone’s mind.
The Program Director’s voice came over the loud speaker, “This is a catastrophic outcome born from all our hard work and dedication; however, please remember that our mission did not actually include any crewmembers. So while the destruction of Pluto is regrettable, do not mourn for death that did not occur.” The change in the room was palpable, “It’s not like Pluto was even a real planet.” This statement evoked hesitant laughter from some of the technicians. It also had the effect of putting crying technicians back to work, analyzing the data from the launch. It unsettled Ambassador that despite the knowledge of the destruction of the moon on his own planet, he had not been able to prevent a similar occurrence on Earth.