End of Days (30 page)

“Like most little boys.”

“Joshua told me you know more about space travel than almost anybody in the world.”

“It’s been my lifelong study. But this is as close as I’ve ever come,” Sheppard replied. “Standing beside a rocket.”

“What stopped you?”

“Bad eyes and a heart murmur.” His gaze went up the
rockets to the very top. “But enough of my sad story. I think it would be excellent for me to meet with the head of the orbital team.”

“You are,” Billy said.

“No, I mean the adult who’s in charge … no offence … I hope you understand.”

“I’m not offended,” Billy said, “and I do understand why you’d think that. But I
am
the one in charge. I’m the closest thing to an adult who’ll be going into space.”

“But that’s impossible! They can’t just send children into space and hope they’ll survive, let alone have the skills to do what needs to be done!”

“We’ve been training, and remember, these aren’t ordinary children. Besides, we’ll have Joshua and you here on the ground to help us.”

“Yes, but you’ll need somebody up there, with you, to help make all the difficult decisions. I couldn’t possibly be able to give you that level of direction from the ground. If only I could …” Sheppard stopped talking. He took a deep breath. “Please bring me to see Joshua. I have something I need to talk to him about.”

“Daniel, what you are offering is generous and kind and—”

“And incredibly stupid,” Parker said, cutting Fitchett off.

“I wouldn’t use that word,” Fitchett said, “but it is foolhardy and heroic.”

“No, I’m sticking with ‘stupid,’ ” Parker said. “Do you think I spent the last seventeen years of my life stopping
people from killing you so that you could kill yourself?”

“I’m not trying to kill myself.”

“You’re talking about being blasted into space, and you don’t see the dangers involved?” Parker questioned.

“He is right. It will be dangerous for somebody of your age and health, especially since you’ve received no training,” Fitchett said.

“Who do you think helped write the training manuals?” Sheppard asked. “I know the procedures and routines better than anybody on the planet, and certainly better than anybody who’ll be going up on this mission. Who could you possibly have who knows more about the space station?”

“I’m not arguing about any of that—you are the expert—and that’s why we brought you here, to offer advice … from
down here,”
Fitchett said.

“And what if they can’t hear that advice?” Sheppard asked. “You know as well as I do that the impacts are going to produce electromagnetic disturbances that might make radio communication problematic. And what if your surface communications towers are damaged or destroyed? It could be months before you’d be able to venture to the surface to repair them. What then?”

“Even if we could never communicate with them—and that will not be the case—they could survive,” Fitchett argued.

“Their chances of survival would be greatly enhanced by the information I can provide. You went to a lot of trouble to involve me—you must have understood how essential my input could be.”

“The children have been trained and equipped to do
whatever needs to be done, even without communication from the ground,” Fitchett reiterated.

“But if anything did become a problem I could be right there to help. How could that be anything but good?”

“You know the reasons why we chose to send only young people.”

“Yes, I understand that I’d be consuming valuable space and limited resources. I know that there are dangers. But I also know that having me up there could be critical to the mission’s success. I think I should be part of it.”

“I fully appreciate your offer, Daniel, but—”

“I want him to come with us,” Billy said quietly. He got up and walked over to Fitchett’s side. “I’m the leader, and leaders get to make decisions. I think having him come would produce benefits greatly outweighing the negatives.”

He put his hand on Sheppard’s shoulder.

“Besides, sometimes it’s just important to make somebody’s dreams come true.”

The door closed and the elevator started up. Sheppard felt a familiar queasy feeling in the pit of his stomach, but he worked hard not to show it, especially since he was aware that Parker not only knew his fear of elevators but was there watching. The elevator shook and shimmied as it rose. Billy and Fitchett were watching him, too, and they were the last people he wanted knowing about any weakness. It wasn’t too late for them to change their minds—and maybe it would be better if they did. Was he crazy to do this?

The elevator came to a stop and the door opened to reveal the technicians on the platform, waiting to help strap them in and then seal the hatch. Soon there would be no going back.

Inside the ship the other nineteen crew members were already in position. And already launched, already in space, were the other four ships. They had all watched on the
monitors from the control room as the rockets had, one after the other, lifted off, one hour between the launches.

Parker moved over to Sheppard’s side and stood facing him. “Nice suit. Lucky they had one in your size.”

“Lucky I’m small enough to fit into kid-sized suits.”

“You know, it isn’t too late. You don’t have to go up,” Parker said.

“I don’t see that I have much choice. I’m certainly not riding in that
elevator
again.”

Parker laughed. “I’m going to miss you.”

“After seventeen years of being my babysitter, I thought you might be glad to finally be done with me.”

“You have a point there. It’s just hard when the little birdie grows up and leaves the nest.” He paused. “It’s been an honour to know you and to serve under you.” Parker stepped back and offered Sheppard a salute.

“It’s been
my
honour. And thank
you
 … for everything.”

Sheppard was trying hard not to cry, and then he noticed tears welling up in Parker’s eyes as well. Sheppard threw his arms around his friend and the two men hugged.

“We’ll talk … you know that,” Sheppard said.

“Sure. And who knows, Daniel, maybe things will settle down earlier, and I’ll still be around in ten years or so to help you out of the descent shuttle.”

“That would be nice.”

“In the meantime, don’t take any unnecessary chances, and do what the kid tells you to do. Remember, you’re not in charge anymore.
He
is.”

“I’ll remember. I’ve certainly had my chance to make the decisions. I … I’d better get inside now.”

Sheppard turned and walked away, helmet tucked under his arm. He stopped at the door, turned, and waved goodbye. Parker had already slipped on his dark glasses and gave just the slightest nod of his head in response. No more emotions. He was back in control again.

Sheppard ducked down ever so slightly and entered the ship. He was scared but he wasn’t afraid.

Joshua Fitchett and Billy stood side by side.

“You have the people you need to do whatever you need done,” Fitchett told Billy.

“I have faith in them.”

“Just remember, you’re the leader, and they expect you to lead. Even Dr. Sheppard will be with you only as an adviser, not to be in charge.”

“I know. I’m glad he’s coming with us.”

“I think you made the right decision … that’s why you’re the leader. I have complete faith in you … you know that.”

“I know,” Billy said. “Do you know I’m going to miss you?”

“We’ll be communicating so much that you’re going to be sick of hearing my voice and seeing my face.”

“I don’t know if I’ve said this before, but thank you for everything,” Billy said.

“No need for thanks. Just fulfill your destiny.”

“I’ll try,” Billy said.

“No, don’t try.
Succeed
. Have no doubts, because I have none.”

He held out his hand and the two men shook. Then Fitchett turned and walked away, at full speed, as always. Billy watched as he entered the elevator and the door slid shut, leaving him alone on the platform. It was time.

Billy squirmed restlessly in his seat. He was strapped in place, more lying down than sitting. Sheppard was directly beside him. On the other side was Christina. Her calm confidence was contagious. They all listened in on their headphones as the control booth continued to give orders, making checks and cross-checks.

Sheppard reached out a gloved hand and tapped Billy on the leg.

“I guess it’s too late for either of us to change our minds,” he said.

“Do you want to?” Billy asked.

“No. This is where I want to be. I need to thank you.”

“Thank you for volunteering to come. We’re going to need you.”

“I’ll be there … assuming I don’t die of a heart attack during liftoff.”

“I understand being afraid.”

“I think ‘terrified’ might be a better word. Are you?”

Billy shook his head. “I
know
we’ll be fine. I had to personally promise Parker that I’d take care of—”

A voice came over the speaker.
“This is the command centre. Do you read me?”

“We read you,” Billy replied.

“We are about to commence launch sequence.”

“Everything’s good here,” Billy said. “We’re ready.”

Almost immediately he could feel an increase in vibrations as the rocket was fed more fuel. This was the moment of truth. There was no time for a mistake or a repair or a repeat. They had one shot, one chance to leave before the fragments hit.

“All systems are go … guidance system released … we have commit to launch … 9 … 8 …
7
 … 6 …”

With each number of the countdown the vibrations and the noise increased, growing stronger and louder and more powerful.

“We have ignition … 4 … 3 … 2 … 1 … we have liftoff!”

Billy felt a growing pressure on his chest, but had they lifted off? He was vibrating, shaking so strongly that he felt sure he would have been tossed out of his chair if he hadn’t been strapped in … but were they rising?

“The rocket has cleared the tower … I repeat, it has cleared the tower!”

The pressure on his chest pushed him into his seat with incredible force. He tried to lift his hand, but he couldn’t. With great effort he turned his head so that he could see the others strapped in around him. They were motionless, trapped by the same forces that were holding him in place.

Unable to move, unable to see beyond the confines of the cabin, Billy closed his eyes and tried to imagine the flight of their ship. He saw in his mind the first four ships lifting off before them. He pictured them already out of the atmosphere, free of Earth’s gravity, sailing through open
space toward the moon and the protection it offered against the fragments.

There was a loud thud and his eyes popped open as the whole ship seemed to jump. He knew what it was—the booster rockets, fuel spent, had dropped away.

“Altitude three kilometres … trajectory is perfect.”

The vibrations continued to get stronger, and the whole ship seemed to rattle and shake. If it went on like this, the whole ship would disintegrate and—no, it was lessening … the noise, the vibration, the pressure on his chest … everything.

Billy lifted his hand and reached out and touched Sheppard. He turned to face Billy, a small smile visible through the screen of his helmet, and he gave a thumbs-up. He had survived the launch—they’d all survived the launch.

“This is mission control … you are free of Earth’s upper atmosphere … you are officially in space.”

Billy undid the straps on his harness and felt his body begin to rise from the seat, weightlessly. He pulled himself from seat to seat, checking on everybody, making sure that they were all fine. At each seat he was greeted with a smile and a nod.

“Billy, this is Joshua. Can you hear me?”

“Loud and clear.”

“We’re going to be locking down communications in just a few minutes,” he said. “It could be a while before we talk again, and I was wondering if you could do me a favour.”

“Just tell me what,” Billy replied.

“Can you confirm the first impacts? Can you go to your port-side window and describe what you see?”

Billy pushed off, directing himself toward the small window, swimming weightlessly across the capsule. Looking out, he saw the curving outline of Earth, all blues and greens and browns, white mist, clouds obscuring parts of the planet below. He could make out the oceans and the continents … there was the coast of North America, the British Isles, the Mediterranean Sea surrounded by Europe on the top and Africa on the bottom. It was all so unreal, like looking at a big map. It seemed so calm, so peaceful, so quiet. He could see before his eyes the slow but unmistakable rotation of the ground beneath the cloud cover. It was … it was … 
so
beautiful.

He looked up from the Earth, up above the horizon and into the blackness, and he saw it, a thick cloud staining space. And then the leading edge of that cloud started to glow. It became red and then orange and then bright white as the first fragments entered the atmosphere, which was desperately trying to protect the planet below. It became brighter and brighter as more fragments plunged through, and then a large plume of red shot up from the Earth as the first chunk crashed into the ground below. It was followed by another, and another, and another, and a whole swath of the planet disappeared. And as he watched, the swath became larger, browns and reds replacing greens and blues.

“Billy, what do you see?” Fitchett asked.

“I see it happening … the fragments hitting.”

“Can you describe it?”

“It’s almost beyond words. I’m watching the end.”

“No,” Fitchett said. “Not the end … it’s the beginning.”