The Final Six (The Final Six #1) - Alexandra Monir Page 0,20
group cheers as the Johnson Space Center sign looms before us. The campus is vast as a city and protected like a fortress, with barricades on all sides to hold back the rising tides. We pass dozens of numbered buildings and bunkers before the trolley stops at the largest one, Building 9. Twin flags soar above it, one featuring the American Stars and Stripes for NASA, the other bearing the international logo of the ISTC.
Dr. Takumi jumps off the trolley first, and we follow him to the front steps as the photographers and reporters on our tail clamor for one last good shot.
“Wave good-bye,” Dr. Takumi instructs as the twenty-four of us gather before him and General Sokolov. “This is the last time anyone outside of training camp will get to see you until the first round of eliminations.”
First round? My palms begin to sweat.
I glance at my fellow finalists, gauging their reactions. Some of them are beaming for the cameras and waving, while others can’t hide their nerves. But as I scan the group, I realize I’m looking for someone in particular—the American from the videoconference. The girl whose sadness struck me that day.
When I finally spot her, I notice she is mouthing something to the cameras, her dark eyes urgent. What is she trying to say? I take a step closer to her, just as the doors to Building 9 fly open and Dr. Takumi beckons us inside.
This is it. My pulse quickens as we follow Dr. Takumi, leaving the old world behind.
Six
NAOMI
I TURN AROUND FOR ONE LAST LOOK BEFORE THE DOORS CLOSE behind us, cutting me off from any semblance of normal life. I can feel the gravity of this place pulling me farther away from Sam and my parents, and for a moment my feet refuse to move. And then a girl with chin-length dark hair and a nose ring elbows me in the ribs, muttering, “Hurry up,” and I force myself into motion, following the pack of finalists down a long hallway.
Dr. Takumi and General Sokolov bring us to a halt in front of the elevator bay, where framed, autographed photos of astronauts from the past adorn the walls. I move closer, my heartbeat picking up speed at the image of Sally Ride upside down in zero gravity, at Scott Kelly and Mikhail Kornienko stepping into the Soyuz. It’s surreal to think we’re standing within the same walls where, ages ago, these legends were made. I wonder what they would think of the Europa Mission—if they, too, would balk at the risks.
“Armstrong shouldn’t have to share a wall with that guy,” Beckett Wolfe comments to no one in particular, making a face at the portrait of Yuri Gagarin hanging beside Neil Armstrong’s. “There was just no one at his level in those days.”
I cringe, dying to correct him but not quite in the mood to draw attention to myself. Thankfully, there are other finalists here eager to school him.
“You do know Yuri Gagarin was the first human in space, right?” interjects a boy I recognize from the TV segment on the Twenty-Four. Jian from China, I remember. The pilot.
“Sure, but the goal of the space race was to get to the moon,” Beckett says, drawing out the word to prove his point. “Not to just chill out in orbit. That’s why we won.”
“Yuri Gagarin was a hero.” General Sokolov steps in, narrowing her eyes at Beckett. “I’d hardly refer to his landmark achievement as ‘chilling out.’”
That shuts Beckett right up. I meet Jian’s eyes, and we exchange a grin. I have a feeling this will be the perfect place for the First Nephew to overcome his superiority complex.
The general leads half of us into one of the oversize elevators and up to the third floor, where we reconvene with Dr. Takumi and the rest of the finalists in a stark white corridor, with signs pointing the way to the Space Center Auditorium. I recognize the gray-carpeted theater as soon as we walk inside, with its array of flags framing a curved stage. This is the setting of every historic NASA press conference I’ve seen on-screen—only this time the audience seats are empty, waiting for us to fill them. A group of adults in ISTC uniforms mills about onstage, a hush falling over them as we enter with Dr. Takumi.
“Take your seats in the first two rows,” he instructs us, before sweeping up the steps and onto the stage.