"Nikolas!" His grandfather bellowed back. It sounded like he was in the cab of his hovertruck steering through a thunderstorm. "I'll be there in an hour."
"An hour?" Nick slowly looked to the machine and his body felt electric with panic. He bugged his eyes at Xanthus, over-expressing his words, "You're coming here, Grand. You'll be here in an hour, you say?"
Xanthus's mouth dropped.
"The machine," Grand said. "Is it safe?"
"Machine?" Nick's voice rose. "Funny you ask. Right. The uh—the uh—Viachron. That is the question you have asked me." He had to grab the table to keep his hand from shaking. Lecture upon lecture was given by Grand to protect the machine at all costs. At no time did he tell Nick to bolt a telescope on its shell, wire a car battery to it, and plug it into a wall socket.
"Yes," Grand said. "The Viachron. Is it safe? You haven't let anyone get to it, touch it."
"Touch it?" Nick's eyes flicked to the machine. "No one's stolen it if that's what you mean. Sure. Yeah. It's fine. Totally fine."
"I found the key, Nikolas! After all this time we can go home. I'll be home shortly. You and Tim are to pack some things. We're leaving tonight."
"The key? What key? And did you say we're leaving?"
"The—the key I've been looking for all these years. Sorry. I never told you the truth behind my archeological digs."
There was a tap at the door.
"SpaceNow is here!" Xanthus whispered, taking a step toward Nick.
"Who?" Grand said.
"Uh, um, well," Nick stuttered in his attempt to explain it away. "Ok… so… you see Grand… goodbye!" He hung up, knowing when he was defeated.
Nick felt guilt and desperation wrestling each other. He knew how much was riding on this moment, but he also knew Grand would hit the roof when he saw how many holes had been drilled into the Viachron. Truth was, Nick didn't have a choice. This was his destiny. No. Their destiny. His friends needed this to work. They had to get off the planet. Nick gave Xanthus a confident smile and approached the door.
"You're not still going through with it?" Daniel protested as Nick walked to the machine and flipped it over.
"You can't ignore Daniel," Tim took a step closer to Nick. "He is smarter than probably everyone in Colorado. You can't blow him off."
KNOCK. KNOCK. KNOCK.
An annoyed tone called through the door, "SpaceNow representative. Hello? No one answered your front door."
Nick hesitated and then found the extension cord and unraveled it. "We're getting out of here."
Xanthus folded his hands, shrugging. "Ok, Daniel. Nick always comes through. Besides. Do you have a better way out of the camp?"
Tim's brow rose with exasperation. "Why would any of you think moving to the moon is worth the risk of this machine blowing up?"
"You know why!" Nick's voice boomed as the tips of his ears began to burn. The picture had replayed in his mind a hundred times over the last year. His last gasp of breath. The eyes staring out with an expression of "help". His best friend.
Jermaine Coltman.
Why else did Tim think he wanted to leave Earth?
Nick felt Helen move next to him, taking a united stance. "Look. If you two don't have the guts, stay behind," she said. "Nick, Xanthus and I are getting out of here. I could care less what you guys do."
Tim frowned at Helen's declaration. Nick knew he would do anything to stay on Helen's good side, but he also didn't want to die.
Nick felt something close to a transformation come over him and he smiled, "We're good. I got this." He raised his hand confidently. "Seriously. I got this."
"No use trying to flee now," Daniel relented with a sigh. "The machine is so powerful that I wouldn't make it past the city limits before it incinerated us all."
KNOCK. KNOCK. KNOCK. KNOCK. KNOCK. KNOCK. The knuckles hammered against the door in frustration.
Nick made his way to the door, but before he opened it, he looked over his shoulder. "Remember our job titles, ok? They have to believe we're a real company. Daniel. Science Advisor. Xanthus. Marketing. Helen. Security Director. Tim. Medical Director. Me. CEO."
KNOCK. KNOCK. KNOCK. The bangs were short and final.
Nick tapped the unlock button and the door slid open. There stood a woman with thinning, gelled hair. She wore a black turtle neck, blue jeans pulled up high, and what seemed like brand new white tennis shoes.
"Cheryl Miller, SpaceNow Representative of the New Life Colony Contest. You have a machine to demonstrate?"