“Whatever happened to them?” Tucker asked. “Did they move far away or did they go back through?”
“If you would have asked me twenty years ago,” Quinn said, “I would have told you no, they didn’t go back. But the Androski opened back up, and they got ahold of the ship about fifteen years ago.”
Rey looked quickly at him. “You said they were dangerous.”
“They are and there are plenty of them still around. But there’s always a chance some tried to go back,” Quinn replied. “We’ll never know, will we?”
“No, we won’t.” Rey caught a glimpse of Finch. He stood off to the side at the edge of the perimeter, staring up to the sky.
After excusing herself, she walked over to him. “Everything okay?”
“Oh, yes, thank you. Just thinking and looking. Tell me…were you always the type at a party that went off by yourself or in a corner to talk to one person?”
“I didn’t make it a habit to go to parties outside of my family. But if I did, I preferred smaller groups. You?”
“Yes. I was asking because you and I seem to venture off.”
“Are you having second thoughts?” Rey asked.
“Not at all, just looking up. Wondering how many ships have gone through the Androski.”
“I don’t recall any in our lifetime being lost.”
“Just us,” Finch said. “Which is a good thing. I mean, anywhere in the future that we go, we won’t be like some alien life appearing. We won’t be a surprise. They’ll know us. Like Tucker, they’ll expect one day for a ship to appear. I do.”
“Do you believe that?” Rey asked.
“Absolutely I do. As long as we go to the future, they’ll know us. Tales from generation to generation.”
“Are you scared?” Rey questioned.
“I am nervous. Not about handling this, but nervous about where we will end up,” Finch replied.
“Any guesses?”
“Like you, I haven’t a clue. But,” Finch said, “we will know tomorrow.” He looked up again to the sky. “Tomorrow will tell.”
SIXTEEN
The last of the fresh supplies were loaded onto the ship. Even though they had food to last a while, Quinn wanted to give them a jump so they could save the long-term surplus.
There was excitement mixed with a certain sadness in the air.
Curt, Sandra, and Ben stood outside the ship, now relocated away from the Genesis village for a better takeoff.
“And this is one of my tablets.” Sandra handed it to Nate. “Should you need something, just hit search. The database on this is amazing.”
“You don’t need it?” Nate asked.
“The Lola has two. I’m good. Make sure you keep a log.”
“I will.”
She embraced him.
“Well, buddy.” Curt held out his hand to Finch. “This is it.”
“Not goodbye.” Finch shook Curt’s hand then brought him in for a quick embrace. “You lead the team. Don’t give up on finding what’s out there.”
“I have no plans to give up. I’ll search here, you”—he pointed to the sky—“go there. You’re okay with going back through the Androski.”
Finch nodded. “I have Nate trained on restarting the engines the second we get through.”
“Well, you’ll be ready, unlike last time.”
“I’ll be ready.” Finch turned to Ben. “Be careful.”
“Is that a comment geared toward the hatred this new Earth has for me?”
“It is. Maybe you should come with us to change your luck.”
“No, no.” Ben shook his head. “With my luck, I’ll lose a limb.”
“We better go.” Finch turned his head. “Rey, we’re ready.”
She emerged from the ship, having secured the new supplies. “Did Quinn leave?”
“Didn’t you say goodbye?” Finch asked.
“I did, but it was quick.” She walked to Curt and hugged him. “Don’t settle. Explore this place.”
“I got the same advice from Finch,” Curt said.
“And Ben.” Rey faced him.
“Don’t tell me to be careful and don’t get hurt,” Ben said.
“I was going to tell you to find love.”
“Really?”
“No, I was gonna tell you to not get hurt.” Rey hugged him. “Thank you for everything. For being the one who believed in me.” She kissed him on the cheek. “I’m gonna say bye to Sandra.”
Finch nodded and stepped back to the ship’s door as Rey walked toward Sandra and Nate. He sucked at goodbyes and just wanted to get going. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to see his friends for a little more, just that dragging it out made things worse.
As he stepped onto the Omni, Finch heard the beeping of a horn and looked up to see a solar buggy.
It was driven by Commander Merks.
Tucker got out, along with Sam. Finch figured they were saying goodbye, until he saw them lift bags out of the back.
“Glad we caught you,” Tucker said. “Let me put these inside and I’ll get the rest.”
“You’re dropping off supplies?” Finch asked.
“Yep, along with me. I kind of figured you could use my help. A full team is always best. I have a tiny bit, tiny bit of medical training. So…here I am.”
“You just got here,” Finch said. “Your team. Quinn.”
“I wanna try to go back, Finch, I do. You’ll have me?” Tucker asked.
“Of course.”
Sam approached.
“You dropping off or staying?” Finch asked him.
“Last I knew, you didn’t have an engineer or a co-pilot,” Sam replied, then looked at Curt. “Of course, no one can replace The Clutch.”
Curt smiled. “I’m sure you’ll be great.” He shifted his eyes to Finch. “I feel much better knowing you have a trained co-pilot with you.”
Finch leaned into him and whispered, “Me too.”
“Hey!” Tucker poked his head out of the door. “I’m thinking since this is a new mission, we should be called Omni-5, what do you think?”
With a tightly closed mouth, Finch shook his head.
“Thought I’d ask.” Tucker slipped back into the ship.
“You sure you’re ready for that guy?” Curt asked.
“Um…” Finch glanced to the ship. “No.”
He laughed about it but the truth was, he wasn’t sure he was ready for any of it. But his choice was made.
He had approached the Androski dozens of times before going through. Getting there and returning to Earth wasn’t a problem, it
