Chapter 1 Earth Date: Friday Time: 8:45 p.m. White smoke billowed all around me and two spotlights illuminated the rocket as I lowered my helmet's visor and climbed the ladder to the cockpit. I glanced up at the stars twinkling high above and then looked down toward the ground where a large digital clock showed the words Earth Date: Friday , Time: 8:45 p.m. I drew in a deep breath knowing that this was something I had to do. It was my job. People were counting on me.
After authenticating my handprint on the digital pad, I pulled open the door latch and crawled into what could only be described as the smallest of compartments where three small portholes provided a glimpse of the outside world. I typed in the number sequence to turn on the computer. Now all that was left was to slip the flash drive into the USB slot and flip on the switch. The moment I did it a beam of light pierced the night sky. Then another and another. I closed my eyes imagining myself somewhere else. Anywhere else. Sitting on a beach, hiking through a forest, staring up at skyscrapers .
even being in class would be better than this. Plunk! I looked around. Something had just hit the window. "Stop throwing the golf balls, Tommy!" a father scolded his young son as they made their way around the rocket and moved onto the next Putt-Putt hole. Soon they were drowned out by the loudspeakers around the mini-golf park that played Beethoven's Fifth Symphony in sync with the laser light show. I sighed. This was the way I spent every Friday night. Dressed as an astronaut at our family's UFO-themed mini-golf park while a mediocre but very bright light show played for the customers.
It was all a throwback to the 1980s when the town was inundated with reports of strange lights in the sky and became the temporary UFO capital of the world. For some weird reason only known to my parents, they believed that their weekly light show was an unofficial part of the Gulf Breeze tradition. As if the laser light shows at Galaxy Golf ranked up there with the fireworks at Disney World. It was all pretty ridiculous . especially if you considered the fact that there were usually only a couple of customers playing mini-golf on any given night. But Dad said the show had to go on, even on nights when no one was there. Once the grand finale ended with a battle between the strobe lights from the rocket ship and the gift shop rooftop, I grabbed the flash drive and slipped it inside my pocket. It was when I popped open the hatch that I saw them.
Several of my classmates standing by the base of the rocket. None of them had visited the park in years. Not since it had gone from THE place to have your birthday party in third grade to the most uncool place for anyone in middle school to be seen at. "See!" Carter Philips pointed at me. "Told you guys that he was still doing it. Our very own Alex the astro-nut.".