Zero 'g' (6 page)

Henry smiled. “Well
, I
just so happen to have a parachute handy. I think I know of a way
we can get back inside.”

Carly nodded
. “OK,
let’s do this.”

Chapter
Seven

The
four of them
noticed a small window broken in the NASA building and squeezed
inside with the parachute.

The
y found themselves
on the ceiling of an office in the middle of chaos. Not much had
changed since Carly had been in the building except that there were
a lot more people floating around in the air. The level of alarm
around them was so strong that it put Carly on edge immediately.
People were panicking and screaming, and it was hard to focus on
moving around when there was so much going on around them. The
child who was in her care just continued to huddle against her. He
seemed frightened by all the screaming, and she had to wonder where
the kid’s parents were. How did he find himself in the NASA
building alone? She couldn’t imagine Rose in a similar situation,
and it was in that moment that she was suddenly struck with fear.
She had no idea what had happened to her mother and daughter. Were
they OK? She wasn’t sure what she would do if anything had happened
to them. She was powerless, however, for the time being. She
couldn’t exactly float across the city to find them. She needed to
get a handle on things here and try to put a stop to what was
happening if she could. That was the best way to make sure that her
family would be safe. Carly couldn’t allow herself to think about
Rose, or she would go insane. Her mother would do everything in her
power to keep Rose safe—Carly knew that much. There was no need to
worry; she would get to them as soon as she could. In the meantime,
she had a few lives already in her hands.

There were so many items floating in the air from the
offices. Carly had to dodge a massive desk that floated
right
toward her. As she
turned around, a pencil almost took out her eye. “Oh, my God, be
careful, guys. It’s dangerous in here.”

Henry tried to avoid a chair that
smashed into his shoulder. He cried out in pain.

“
So
, does anyone have
any idea what all this is?” Linus asked.

Carly nodded. “If I had to guess
, I would think that Earth has somehow lost its
gravity. It only will get worse if we aren’t able to do something
to stop it. I have an idea, but I first need to find something to
allow me some mobility. I’ll be right back.”

The boys watched as she floated away from them and down a
hallway. They heard some commotion that sounded like Carly was in a
utility closet. It wasn’t long before she
returned
, dragging a suit
behind her.

“
What happened?”

“
It was floating on the ceiling. I don’t think it
works
,” Carly
answered.

“
How did you know it was
there?” Henry asked.

Carly blushed unconsciously
. “I work as a janitor here in the building. It was in one
of the closets I used for storage. I’ve seen the suit many times. I
never thought I would have the opportunity to wear it. I thought
that one of us would be able to move around easily,
though.”

All of them were depressed as the plan to walk with the
suit had failed. Carly was at a loss as to what to do
next
. She had thought the plan
would work for sure, and now they were back where they had
started…well, at least she was.

Linus looked like he was deep in
thought.

“
What’s up
, Linus? Do
you have an idea? I’m willing to hear anything at this point,”
Carly said.

“
Yeah, I think I do have an
idea. We should still be able to use the suit.”

“
How?”
she
asked.

“
The
se suits can be
used only if there is some gravity present, right? Well, I may know
of a place where there is some gravity.”

“
What are you talking
about?”

“
I think I have an idea.
But I’m going to need to get to my house. I know how I can get the
suit to work; I know where to find gravity.”

“
Seriously?” Carly said
, looking in surprise at Linus. She’d thought she would
have to figure out things all on her own. She was relieved to know
that she wasn’t alone. Together, they should be able to come up
with a solution to get the gravity back before any more people had
to die.

“
I may be young
, but
I’m no less of a genius then everyone else in this room. I actually
made a moonlike environment in my room; it mimics the moon, so it
has gravity in it.”

“
You’re kidding
me.”

“
No, I’m not,” Linus said
with a laugh.

“
That’s great news,” said Henry, “because I think I know how
to get the gravity back. I think I can do this
, but I’m going to need help from the both of
you. You know aerodynamics, Carly, and Linus, well, you’re one of
the most skilled hackers I know.”

Carly smiled
. “Well,
let’s get going then. I’m up for saving the world.”

Linus looked around the room where he was floating.
“So
, why do you think this all
has happened? What could have caused the gravity to
disappear?”

Henry thought about the conversation he had overheard
between his father and Bill once again. He hoped that his father
wasn’t responsible for what was happening. He didn’t even want to
think about the consequences of that. He had heard enough to know
that his father wasn’t up to any good
, but he hadn’t heard the whole story, so he couldn’t be
sure if it was linked. He knew his father had been working on the
antigravity rocket, so that could have been where the problems
began. He knew he had to get to his father’s office to determine
more about what was going on. There could be a solution to all of
it, but he wouldn’t know for sure until he got to the office. If he
was lucky, his father would be there, and they could work together
on a solution. That was the best possible scenario; he just hoped
his father was still alive.

“
I have no idea what could have happened. I know NASA is
currently working on a few secret projects. It was probably one of
those where someone was dabbling in something they had no business
in
,” Carly said. By the look
on her face, Henry had to wonder if she knew more than she was
letting on. She worked at NASA, after all, and might have been
privy to some information.

Henry felt ill just thinking about it. Things were bad,
really bad
, and he wasn’t sure
what was going to happen. He knew he had to try and do something
about the problem. It would be the same thing his father would do,
if he wasn’t already doing it. Henry wondered where his father was
in the building and if he was still alive. Would he have been in
his office working when the world started falling apart?

“
OK
, team, let’s go,”
Carly said, breaking Henry out of his thoughts.

From the NASA building, the trio
and the little boy dangling off of Carly’s hand headed
out of the building once again and made their way toward Linus’s
house and his mysterious moon room. They had to continue to use the
parachute; it was really their only method of transportation at
that point.

As they made their way on their newest
adventure
, they saw horror and
dismay all around them. It wasn’t easy traveling a large distance
without gravity. They often had to dodge large objects to avoid
being crushed. They floated by an area where they saw an airplane
inside an apartment building. The sight horrified Carly as she
wondered how many people in there had died a painful death. Flames
were still spewing out of the building.

Suddenly
, Henry
screamed, “Watch out!”

Carly turned as a rocket soared right by
them
, causing a back draft
that sent them spinning through the air. She slammed into a
building, knocking the wind right out of her.

“
Are you all right?” Linus
had floated to her and pulled her away from the
building.

“
Who on
earth would be
launching rockets right now and for what reason?”

Linus shook his head
.
“I don’t know.”

All around them
, it
seemed there was just chaos and destruction. It was daunting to
see. A part of Carly just wanted to give up. Really, what was the
point? How could they possibly get through this alive? Would the
three of them really be able to stop what was happening around
them?

“
Carly, are you
OK?”

She looked at Linus
,
who had a concerned look on his face. She couldn’t fail them all.
She looked over Linus’s shoulder and saw him hanging on to David.
She had to remain strong, even though it appeared as if all was
lost.

“
You guys really need to
get moving. We have to get out of this area.”

“
What’s wrong?”
she
cried out.

He turned away from them. When he turned
back
, he looked alarmed. “The
White House is heading right for us. If we don’t move now, it’s
going to crush us.”

“
Oh
, no!” Linus grabbed
Carly by the hand and pulled with all his might. They floated from
the building to where Henry was. She turned in the direction he was
pointing and saw that in fact the White House was floating toward
them.
We are going to be
crushed
, Carly
thought.

“
Move it
, guys.” She
pulled David into her arms, and they moved through the air as
quickly as possible. The massive white structure brushed past them,
almost taking out Carly’s ankle as she floated by.

“
Oh
, man, that was so
close. Carly, it almost hit you. If you were a few seconds behind,
it would have taken you out.”

“
Gee
, thanks for the
reminder.” Carly’s hands were shaking, and she thought she might
have a panic attack. That had been a little too close for comfort.
They were basically floating around in a war zone. How were they
going to make it to Linus’s house? She wasn’t sure how much farther
they had to go, but considering they had been almost hit by a
rocket and the White House, she wasn’t sure what more they could
survive. She hoped she wasn’t putting all these kids’ lives in
danger by being outside. Maybe it would have been better to stay
inside and wait for help. She took a deep breath. But what if help
never came?

“
We should probably get going. We still have a ways to
go
,” Henry called
out.

“
Thank you for saving me,”
she said to Linus.

He blushed deeply. “It was
nothing.”

Henry got them all hooked back on
to the parachute, and they made their way to Linus’s
house. After some time, they came across an old motorcycle floating
near them.

“
Do you think we can use
it?” Linus asked.

They all surrounded the bike and examined it. It ran on
what was once called petrol
,
and surprisingly, the engine roared to life.

“
This is awesome. We should be able to get there in no time.
But
I hope we won’t lose all
air from Earth’s atmosphere, as this motorcycle requires an
air-fuel mixture,” said Henry.

They all climbed on the motorcycle and headed off down the
street. They didn’t seem to be gaining much
steam
, due to the lack of
gravity. In fact, the motorcycle was painfully slow.

“
Hey
, guys, I have an
idea,” Carly said. Henry turned the bike off, and she jumped off.
Carly tied the parachute to the exhaust of the
motorcycle.

“
This is going to work
,
but we are going to have to drive the motorcycle backward. Do you
think that you can handle that, Henry?”

He chuckled
. “Well, I
guess there is only one way to find out.”

They all got back on the bike
, and Henry proceeded to turn the bike on and gun it
backward. They needed to be going at a fast clip in order for it to
be effective. Henry managed to drive the motorcycle by looking at
the rearview mirror.

“
Linus
, can you help me
with navigation here?”

“
Sure thing
,
buddy.”

Linus bark
ed out
directions. “OK, Henry, turn right.”

Henry rotate
d the
handlebars of the motorcycle to the right, thinking the motorcycle
would go in the right direction, but instead, it went in the same
direction it was going before.

“
No! No! What are you doing? I said right
, not straight.”

“
I turned right
! We
have to find out some other way to change the direction of the
motorcycle,” said Henry.