This is the mid season/book finale. If you have gotten this far into reading the book, thank you.


    KYLE''S P.O.V


    4 Years ago, Michael''s house.


    Noise bounced around the living room as Lucas and I took turns playing a new flight simulator on TV.


    This was another one of those hangout days where Michael invited Lucas and I over to play games, have fun and whatnot. It''s become a big part of our schedules, and the 3 of us looked forward to our hangouts.


    Lucas was on the couch next to me, controller in hand and Laser focused on the TV. The game we had chosen to play this week was a new combat flight simulator, where you are tasked with flying a fighter jet, and the goal is to win the game.


    Michael was sitting in a chair adjacent to us, making remarks on our flying skills.


    Lucas was masterfully evading missiles and gunfire, his flying skills in the game was near wizardlike in style.


    “Are you planning on becoming a fighter pilot or something?” Michael asked, amazed at Lucas’s skills.


    “Preferably not,” He said, eyes still locked on the TV.


    “That''s good, because there is something I need to talk to you guys about…” Said Michael, gesturing for Lucas to pause the game.


    Lucas paused the game and we both turned our attention to Michael.


    “I''ve been selected to fly on one of the future EX missions… I really don''t know how to feel about it.” He explained to us.


    “Doesn''t your brother care more about that stuff?” Lucas asked him.


    “He''s really upset that I was chosen for it, he was expecting to be chosen.” Michael said.


    “I guess that''s understandable, he''s the favorite child according to what you''ve said,” I said to Michael.


    “I have been trying to hand this off to my brother anyway. Like Lucas said, he would love to do it. But my dad is forcing me to do this,” Michael said to us.


    “Sorry to hear that.” Lucas said.


    “I was kinda hoping… you guys would join the C.S.A *(Carlin Space Agency) and come with me on the mission.” He asked us quietly, looking towards us for a response.


    “I''d love to do that… Just think, exploring strange new worlds, seeing what space has to offer.” Lucas said.


    I breathed out a deep sigh, as I knew my answer. “I can''t.”


    When Michael heard this, he was heartbroken.


    “After the accident, I haven''t been able to see out of my left eye,” I reminded him, “They will never let me go to space with my visor cracked… the G-forces alone could make the crack worse, and that could kill me.”


    Michael looked down at the floor and closed his eyes, you could tell he regretted asking the question.


    “They might have a spot open for ground staff, the medical requirements are much more lax for that.” Lucas pointed out.


    “Hey, that''s not a bad idea,” I said.


    Michael popped out of his momentary depression when I said that, “Really?” He asked.


    “That depends on what I''d be doing, if I could get a spot on working in mission control, probably.” I responded, “My background in I.T. could be useful.”


    “Yes, yes! That''s great!” Michael blurted, “Do that!”


    “Pffff, so you get excited by Kyle joining in and not me?” Lucas said in a confused yet joking tone.


    “What, no-” Michael said in defense.


    “...right,” Lucas replied, squinting his eyes at Michael.


    4 years later; Present day.


    It was a week after we had that fateful conversation that Lucas and I would officially sign up to work for the C.S.A. Lucas was put on the crew roster for the EX-5, along with Michael. I was kept on the ground, in charge of spacecraft data analysis.


    That was until today, where I, Kyle Raymond, and my supervisor, Conrad Carlin, will be stealing a decommissioned spacecraft to find out what happened to our friends and loved ones.


    And we are doing it right now. Not tomorrow, not in a week, it''s being done tonight.


    This is what was crossing through my mind as I ever so quickly got closer to the storage building, a giant cube that was on the outskirts of the launch complex.


    If this all works out, I thought, what are we even gonna find? A debris field? Bodies? What if we don''t find anything? This all could be for nothing.


    There was an unfortunate amount of time to rethink my past and current decisions, the walk to the storage building was a long one. These buildings, Assembly, the main hangers, and the storage, were all spread out over large distances. Great for contemplation, I guess.


    I would be driving a shuttle car to make this trip quicker, however I don''t have access to those. Why would a guy working for mission control need to drive all around the C.S.A. property?


    And besides, once Conrad finishes his security meeting, he will be able to drive us and the flight suits back to the adastra.


    I reached the storage building''s entrance door. The only thing stopping me from entering was the ID card reader.


    I swiped it against the reader box, and it buzzed red at me. I frowned and swiped it again.


    It buzzed red a second time.


    “Work you little piece o-” I murmured, swiping my card for a 3rd time. Finally, it decided to work. 3rd time''s a charm really is true, isn''t it?


    I slid my way into the building, going from the bright outdoors to the dark interior.


    There was a switch, presumably for lights, near the door. With the flip of the switch, the large overhead lights turned on with a .


    The inside of the building was that of a cavernous warehouse, large shelves lined one half of the floor, with boxes and pallets lining the other half.


    According to the research I''d previously done, the adastra suits were kept somewhere in the rows of shelves.


    I narrowed it down to row 3. All I knew was the suits were located somewhere in the 40ft (13m) long row of shelves, packed to the brim with pallets and boxes.


    I pulled a ladder up to the one shelf. I climbed up and began my search. Most boxes had old reports and files, while others had models of different projects.A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    Shortly after I began looking, I stopped. To me, something felt off… almost as if I was being watched by someone. I couldn''t shake the feeling, but I resumed looking through the boxes anyway.


    45 minutes later.


    Time was running out, and Conrad''s meeting would be ending soon.


    Frantically searching through box after box, I finally found what I needed. A large container labeled ‘ADASTRA.’


    I scurried back down the ladder with the container in tow, and carefully set it down upon the concrete floor.


    With a click I threw the top of the container open to reveal its contents, the adastra flight suits.


    Inside were 4 dull orange colored space suits, each of different size.


    I laid each suit on the ground, inspecting them for potential damage.


    Each suit still held the surname of the previous wearer on the breastplate. Grissom, White, Chaffee and Laika, the 4 original test pilots of the Adastra. They are legends on Aureon, being the first protogens to return to space after our arrival onto this planet.


    Unfortunately none of them still work for the agency, they left shortly after the initiation of the EX (Exploration) mission program. They were concerned about space exploration and what we might find doing it. Everyone thought they were crazy for thinking so, but I can fully understand now.


    Chaffee''s suit was the smallest of the 4. I was concerned it would still be too big for me, but there was no use to be upset with the matter. Meanwhile Laika’s suit seemed to be the closest in size for Conrad.


    The remaining suits were put back in the container. I closed the container and put it back onto the shelf, likely to not be noticed for another 15 years.


    With both flight suits and their respective helmets slung over my shoulders, I made my way for the door.


    I dropped the suits near the door while I waited for Conrad to show up.


    12 or 13 minutes later, Conrad zoomed up to the door in a small shuttle car.


    I carried everything outside as he quickly ushered me to get in. I opened up the door and threw the suits in, and quickly followed.


    “How are we doing on time?” Conrad asked.


    I flipped up my watch, “We are doing good, we''ll be cutting it close getting that hyperspace cell.”


    “Okay… I haven''t heard back from the controllers yet. They should be done by now though.” Conrad said, turning the shuttle car towards the assembly building.


    “Once we get to the assembly building, we put on the suits and get the hyperspace cell. After we do that we won''t be popular with security,” I said, “If possible, we can take this shuttle car back to the adastra’s hangar.”


    “I''d prefer that,” said conrad.


    We pulled up to the backside of the assembly building, and Conrad hesitantly stopped the car.


    “Alright put this on,” I said, handing one of the suits to Conrad.


    He gave the suit a quick glance. “This thing is ancient,” He remarked, “wait… This is Laika’s suit.. THE Valentina Laika suit.”


    “Yep..” I said as I grabbed my suit as well.


    “I had a poster of her on my wall as a teen…” he said, marveling at the suit.


    “That figures,” I told Conrad as I put my suit on.


    After a few minutes, we were both fully suited up.


    We grabbed the helmets and got out of the small shuttle car. “Just act normal,” Conrad said as we approached the door.


    “Act normal? We look like walking carrots..” I protested.


    “Nevermind then?” He said, swiping his ID card against the door.


    Once it buzzed, we threw the door open and went inside.


    Inside, the assembly building was still deserted like it had been the week previously.


    Little work had been done to the EX-6 spacecraft, its fuselage now sat much closer to the floor, but nothing else seemed to be any different.


    “Where is everyone?” I asked, looking around in confusion.


    “All the assembly workers responsible for the EX-6 were reassigned to other projects… the new workers for it have yet to arrive.” He said, gazing towards the unpainted fuselage.


    “Geez… a lot really has changed,” I quietly said.


    I mean, really. More security, the rushed style of the soon to be EX-6 mission, the sudden and abrupt attempt to indirectly stop Conrad and I from using the adastra… and now this, the replacement of the assembly crew.


    All there is to ask is why, why is Pruitt doing this? What are his motives behind all of this? Ever since the EX-5 disappeared, he has acted rather erratic.


    Conrad, too, had changed. Though, to a bit more positive of a light compared to his father. Of course though, I still didn''t understand his motives either.


    Conrad and I approached a pair of large blast doors. It was kind of pathetic considering they offered little protection against what sat behind them. Conrad stopped short of the door and froze. “There should be security here,” he said slowly.


    “Then where are they?” I asked.


    ..I don''t know,” Conrad said as he unlocked the doors and heaved them open, allowing us through.


    The room we entered was a bit smaller than the main assembly space, but it still was big.


    Well, it was big, besides 1 thing. It was taken up mostly by a large machine. It was a dull gray color, with many control panels surrounding it.


    The machine itself was a giant energy converter. The device it was converting energy for was the hyperspace cell. The process took months to fully charge the hyperspace cell. This cell in particular had only been charging for a couple weeks, and its energy output might be lower than desired.


    We cautiously approached and stopped short of the machine.


    “I''ll shut off the power, and you grab the hyperspace cell.” I directed.


    Conrad nodded, and I approached one of the control panels. The panel displayed some rather worrying information.


    “The Hyperspace cell is only 15% of maximum capacity,” I warned Conrad, who was waiting to grab it.


    “Is that enough?” He asked worriedly.


    “It''s only enough power to get us there… it''ll be a 1 way trip.” I told him.


    “Well it''s not too late for us to stop, kyle. It''s your call.” he said, looking towards me.


    I went silent for a couple moments. My decision had already been made a week ago.


    “We aren''t turning back,” I said as I shut off the power to the machine. “Let''s go!”


    Conrad snatched the hyperspace cell from the clutches of the machine, triggering a loud buzzing noise.


    We both ran past the blast door, and continued running through the machinery in the assembly building.


    “I expected this to have taken much longer!” I shouted, trying to get my breath at the same time.


    “We are almost there!” Conrad said as we approached the door we had entered from.


    Our escape was flawless, almost perfect. As we got ever so close to the door, I saw something in the corner of my eye.


    A flash of something large with dark gray fur. Its arm, perhaps, was striking something.. or someone, on the floor, whatever it was striking was obscured by machinery. I immediately stopped running, sliding to a stop. “S-someone''s here!” I yelled at Conrad, who had stopped shortly after I did.


    “Ignore them!” He shouted, picking his pace back up again.


    I looked back at what I''d seen, but nobody was there.


    I immediately booked it for the door, stopping to open it to let Conrad through. He went out the door, still holding the hyperspace cell tightly.


    I followed closely behind, but lingered for a couple moments in the doorway. I scanned behind me one last time in search of the figure. They were completely gone. The only thing left in its place was a pair of shoes poking out from behind machinery. The best I could tell was that it belonged to a security guard… an unresponsive security guard.


    I turned my head back around and continued to run for the shuttle car. Conrad was already getting into the driver''s seat as I approached.


    “What is it? What did you see!” He asked as he desperately tried to start the car.


    “There is a guard on the floor-” I said, getting into the passenger seat.


    “What?” Conrad asked in confusion, “It can''t be the same guy you saw, could it?”


    “It can''t be,” I said, trying to catch my breath.


    Finally, Conrad got the shuttle car started. Immediately, he slammed on the accelerator, sending us into our seats.


    As we quickly put distance between us and the assembly building, I peaked my head out the window and looked behind us.


    A figure, perhaps the one I had seen, was standing outside near the door we had left through. They were tall in appearance, with a sharp visor and squat, metal covered legs.


    They remained motionless, and quietly stared on at us as we made our getaway.


    I slid my head back into the car, “...who was that?” I asked with a shudder in my voice.


    “I really don''t want to know,” Conrad replied.


    We both sat without talking during the ride to the hangar building. We weren''t quite sure of what had just happened. Whoever that was, they weren''t friendly. Were they trying to help us? Would we have been their next victim had we not gotten away?


    “Uh, Kyle,” Conrad said, tapping my shoulder.


    “Huh?” I replied.


    Conrad pointed in front of us as we got closer to the rows of hangars. The Adastra''s hangar door was wide open. The spacecraft itself was stopped halfway out of the hangar, with an unattended towing tractor attached to the front landing gear. It appears they stopped towing it once the alarms went off.


    My concern over the mysterious figure was quickly replaced by that of us being too late to take the Adastra.


    “Hurry!” I yelled into Conrad''s ear.


    The shuttle car came to a screeching halt a couple yards away from the Adastra''s hangar. Conrad grabbed the hyperspace cell and we both ran up to the spacecraft.


    I furiously began unlocking the small hatch on the heatshield where the hyperspace cell would be inserted. I swung the hatch open, and Conrad immediately shoved the cell into its compartment and twisted it, locking the cell into place. He slammed the hatch shut and ran for the adastra''s entrance hatch.


    “GET IT ON THE TAXIWAY!” He yelled as he extended the entry ladder.


    I hopped into the towing tractor and started it frantically. After a couple moments the tractor was ready, slowly I began to move the adastra out onto the taxiway that resides in front of the hangars.


    Once the adastra was in the clear and was facing straight down the taxiway, I unhooked the tractor and parked it near the hangar wall.


    I turned to run for the spacecraft, but I didn''t move. I was forgetting something…


    Michael''s hoodie!


    I immediately sprinted as fast as I could back into the hanger. Right in the back of the hanger, the hoodie was still folded neatly on the table, just as I had left it a couple hours previously.


    Just as I grabbed the hoodie, the metal door I''d used to get into the hanger for the past week was violently swung open, revealing a small group of security guards.


    “There he is!” yelled one of the guards, raising an energy rifle at me.


    “GET ON THE GROUND!” Shouted another.


    I wasn''t listening to anything they asked me to do. With the hoodie clutched against my chest, I began running through the hangar towards the awaiting Adastra.


    One of the guards must have hit the button that shuts the large outward doors to the hangar, as they quickly began to slide shut.


    I continued running as fast as my short legs could take me.


    The guards continued yelling at me, but it didn''t matter. I got what I needed. I dove for the hangar doors, hitting the outside pavement with a thud as I rolled onto the ground.


    The doors fully shut as I raised myself off the ground, thwarting the guards'' attempt to stop me.


    It wasn''t over as more security began running out from other buildings.


    Not wasting a second further, I climbed up the Adastra''s entry ladder, and retracted it as I reached the top.


    With the entry hatch closed as well, I joined Conrad in the cockpit as he activated various systems.


    “What took you so long!” Conrad asked as he flipped through various circuit breakers.


    “I had to get something- I said, strapping myself into the pilot seat. After fumbling around for a couple moments, I put on my helmet and attached life support hoses to my flight suit.


    Conrad sighed, “Are the turbopumps spooled up yet?” He asked, making his way to the flight engineer''s seat.


    I leaned forward and inspected the engine gauges in front of me.


    “Engine 1 turbopump is fully spooled up,” I said, “Engine 2 pump rpm still rising,”


    “Alright, Engine 1 start,” Conrad said.


    With the flip of a switch, Engine 1 choked, unwilling to start.


    Conrad tried again, dumping even more rocket fuel into the Engine. The engine finally got the message and roared to life, causing the whole spacecraft to lurch to one side.


    “Engine 2 ready to start!” I shouted over the noise of the first engine.


    Conrad nodded and ignited engine 2. It had a much easier time and roared with power after the first attempt to start it.


    “Get us to the runway!” Conrad shouted as he strapped himself into a seat.


    “About that-” I said, looking out the windscreen. Security vehicles had already blocked off any paths leading to a runway.


    “We have to take off from this taxiway!” I shouted back at Conrad as I lowered the Adastra’s flaps.


    “You''re joking-” he said with concern.


    “Nope,” I said, resting my hand on the throttle lever.


    “Kyle, this is a taxiway. A very SHORT taxiway.” he reminded me.


    Before I could push the throttles forward, the Adastra was struck by something.


    TING!


    “What-” Conrad said.


    I looked out ahead of us, and saw a lone security guard at the end of the taxiway. He was holding an energy rifle, pointed right at us.


    ZWIP!


    The guard fired again, sending another bead of energy hurtling past the Adastra.


    “What''s he doing!” Conrad yelled back at me.


    “Well, he''s gonna have to get out of the way,” I said, shoving the engine throttles to their max setting.


    The engines screamed the loudest I''ve ever heard, sending a cacophony of noise into my ears.


    The Adastra quickly went barreling down the taxiway, powered by a pair of unrestrained rocket engines.


    PAK! Another shot hit the adastra, this time it hit the windscreen in front of me.


    That guard was trying to shoot me, wasn''t he? The guard continued to stand unphased by the spacecraft that was quickly traveling towards him, he continued shooting in a feeble attempt to stop us.


    The Adastra''s speed continued to rise. When it seemed fast enough, I took the control column in front of me with both hands and pulled it back, sending the Adastra’s nose pointing to the sky.


    The guard dove to the ground as the spacecraft finally left the taxiway and clawed for altitude.


    I released my grip on the control column, and raised the gear.


    We did it. We just stole the Adastra.