The Final Six (The Final Six #1) - Alexandra Monir Page 0,34

the empty white space stretching ahead of us.

The wheels below us push forward, scraping off the pavement. Inhale, exhale, I instruct myself, though I can barely manage to take a full breath. The plane soars into the sky, the pilot steering us up a treacherously steep incline, and I grab Suki’s arm involuntarily, desperate for something, anything to hold on to. She squeezes my hand, her first friendly gesture since we became roommates.

“You’ll be okay,” she says, as our roles from this morning are reversed.

I try to smile. “Thanks. I just—I’m meant to be a scientist on the ground. You know? I hate heights, I hate drops . . . this daredevil stuff is not exactly my strong suit.”

“Well, someone must have thought you can do it,” Suki replies. “That’s why you’re here.”

A light flickers above our heads, followed by the sound of a chime echoing through the cabin.

“That’s our cue!” Lark shouts over the din of the aircraft. “We’re ready for our first parabola! Follow me to the Float Zone.”

The others spring out of their seats, all too eager for the real-life roller coaster ride ahead. Suki and I follow, my heart in my throat as we step into the Float Zone and Lark instructs us to lie on our backs. I lie down next to Suki with Leo on the other side of me. As my body touches the floor, I realize how close he is, his skin just inches from mine. I turn my head in the opposite direction, a flush burning my cheeks.

“When the plane curves to the forty-five-degree angle, you’ll feel a g-force of 1.8 times the Earth’s gravity on your body,” Lark calls across the floor. “The best thing you can do at this point is stay still. Don’t make any quick movements until the free fall.”

Oh, God. She wasn’t kidding about the force. I bite back a scream as the weight of gravity presses against my chest. The blood rushes from my head to my feet, and it feels as though someone is yanking my insides with a rope, dragging every part of me down to the ground.

The plane’s engine turns quiet.

“This is it!” Lark shouts. “Get ready for zero g’s!”

I grip the floor with my hands, bracing myself. The plane dips, and I gasp as the excess-gravity weight melts off my body. Then, in one breathlessly quick motion, the plane plummets into free fall. My screams are all I hear, my terror is all I know as our seven bodies rise up off the floor like the dead resurrected. We flail our arms and legs, grasping at air while the plane shifts yet again—and then we are floating. We are flying.

A giddy sensation bubbles in my stomach. Something is happening to me up here, something I didn’t expect. I am floating upside down, my feet touching the ceiling—and I don’t feel like I’m going to die, or even throw up. It’s just the opposite. I feel as though all the weight in my life has been lifted, and I am free.

The chamber echoes with our intermingled whoops, shrieks, and laughter as the seven of us somersault through the air and float backward over the passenger seats. Leo drifts toward me as the plane dives yet again, and the two of us smack into each other on the ceiling. I burst out laughing, and he grins, impulsively taking my hand and twirling me through the air.

“I have always wondered what it’s like to dance on the ceiling,” he says with a wink.

My stomach flips, and this time I’m not so sure it’s from the zero gravity. I watch as Leo floats over to Asher, and then I lift my arms like a bird, skimming across the air to the main cabin and back again.

After each parabolic dive, one or two of my teammates turns a shade of green and reaches for the barf bag—but strangely enough, it doesn’t happen to me. My body is stronger than I thought. And as we plunge into our last parabola, I find that I can’t stop smiling. It’s hard to believe something so extraordinary, so magical, came from this experience I was dreading.

Until the plane touches down, I am light as air. I am weightless.

Our team returns to ISTC campus disheveled and delirious from the adventures of the day, all of us craving the same three things: shower, food, bed. But as soon as we step off the elevator and onto the Hab floor, those simple plans