Lance Dean did something to the rocket that the woman didn’t understand. Then, the door popped open.

“Welcome to my bigger boat,” Dean said. “Or should I say, space ship.”

Kara walked into the cockpit. She knew, she was rescued.

“Do you see the over-ride, here?” Dean asked.

“Yes.”

“We’re lucky. Somebody setup Freedom 1 to launch without mission control. All we have to do is press the red button.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

Dean made sure the door was closed. He strapped in, and the woman did the same.

“How do we know this ship is ship-shape?” Kara asked.

“We don’t,” Dean said. “I would give us 20 percent odds that we’ll be okay when we exit the atmosphere, but I’m not going to stick around and be a rocket mechanic.”

He pushed the red button, and the booster fired.

“This missile was put together by engineers who got a C in calculus and a D- in astrophysics,” Dean said.

The Rocket achieved lift-off. Kara looked out their window.

The earth was turning red. It was dead.

“We’re passing through the ionosphere,” Dean said. He pushed the green button, and the rocket separated. “Now, we wait until the on-board computer plots us a course to Mars.”

“How long will our trip take?”

“6 Months. Would you like to explore the ship?”

“You don’t have to ask,” Kara said suggestively.

They floated into the bowels.

“There’s the captain’s quarters.”

“Captain, Lance Dean, and there’s the bedroom,” Kara offered.

They floated inside.

Lance noticed a gravity button next to the ceiled door. He pushed it.

The woman fell onto the bed and the ship jolted. “I don’t weigh that much,” she said.

“Oh—that’s just the booster taking us to Mars,” Dean assured her.

“You can take me now, if you want.”

“We have 6 months to do that. Why don’t we play scrabble instead?”

“But I’m not a good speller.”

“Excellent.”

The End of Their First Adventure