The Final Six (The Final Six #1) - Alexandra Monir Page 0,28

if the Athena fuel leak costs us our supplies. Or we could make it to Europa with no problem, only to get killed by the environment or . . . something else.” She takes a deep breath. “I just think we need to be a little more realistic.”

“What, are you scared?” Beckett jeers.

“We should all be scared,” Naomi says under her breath. I can tell there’s more to her words than she’s letting on, but before I can ask, Lark jumps in.

“Look, risk is an inherent part of space travel, but that doesn’t mean those worst-case scenarios will actually happen. I know the fuel leak sounds alarming, but SatCon is keeping a sharp eye on it twenty-four hours a day—and moving up the launch date ensures the Final Six should make it to Mars in time so salvage the supply ship.” She looks at us intently. “If there was ever a mission destined for success, it’s this one. Europa is the first time we’ve had the collective brainpower of all the international space agencies together on one project. You can trust that they’re making this mission as safe as it can possibly be.”

“No matter what happens, it’s still got to be better than staying on Earth and waiting to die,” I remark. Suki and Asher both nod in agreement, but Naomi gives me an incredulous look.

“You can’t be serious.”

“I am. And if you don’t know what I mean”—I smile sadly—“consider yourself lucky.”

She furrows her brow, about to say something more when Lark clears her throat.

“How about we end our first night on a lighter note? I want to see us become a real team, which means we need to start getting to know each other fast. Why don’t we go around the table and share a little something about ourselves?”

When no one volunteers, Lark says, “Okay, I’ll go first. I was born and raised in Huntsville, Alabama, home of the US Space and Rocket Center. That’s what got me interested in space from an early age, and I studied engineering at MIT before joining NASA straight out of college. My first spaceflight was actually the final trip to the International Space Station, but when Dr. Takumi offered me the chance to help him develop the ISTC, I retired from space travel to join him here.”

“You were on the last ISS mission?” Naomi stares at Lark. “So then you were here training when the news broke about the Athena crew. Did you know—”

“And that’s enough about me,” Lark cuts her off, with a short laugh. She turns to our teammate sitting to her right. “Katerina?”

“Um, some of you might have seen me on the final Olympics,” Katerina says with a fleeting smile. “But what most people don’t know about me is that I’m really good at math. That’s part of what made me so strong on the ice—instead of being nervous, I would focus on the number of rotations and the geometrical angles I needed to hit to land the perfect jumps.”

As we continue around the table, I learn that Suki was the youngest-ever engineering student in her university’s history, after skipping multiple grades in pre-tsunami Singapore, while Naomi tells us about her prizewinning radio telescope invention. The more my teammates list their accomplishments, the more beads of sweat I can feel forming on my brow. How am I supposed to compete with this group?

By showing Dr. Takumi and General Sokolov that I’m just the swimmer and diver they need to survive Europa, I remind myself, recalling Elena’s words. If what she overheard was true, then I’m just as integral to this mission as the academics . . . maybe even more.

Beckett is the last of our teammates to speak, and when it’s his turn, he glances around the table at each of us, like he knows something we don’t. “Interesting, isn’t it, that each of us has the exact same strength as someone else on this team? Suki and Naomi have the same engineering and science background, Asher and Katerina are both math prodigies—and me and Leo are the swimmers.” He cocks his head. “You would almost think we’re all being pitted against each other.”

Lark tries to laugh off his theory, but it’s too late. The six of us are already looking at each other differently. And at the thought of another swimmer here, all the food I just ate threatens to come rising to the surface. That was supposed to be my ace in the hole. What if he’s