CHAPTER 3: EINSTEIN-ROSEN BRIDGE
Cape Canaveral, Florida. 6 months later ?
Kevin paced back and forth in the hallway outside of the medical unit at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. He was waiting for Jake to finish with his pre-flight physical. He hoped to catch Jake before he was transported to the shuttle that was scheduled to launch in four hours. There was so much that Kevin wanted to tell him, but he didn't get the chance to talk to Jake the night before at his family's Christmas party.
Kevin heard voices inside of the room. The door slid open, and Jake and the doctor both walked out together. "Now, Commander, remember all of the training that you have gone through. It may save your life out there if some unforeseen emergency should happen."
Jake reached out and shook the doctor's hand. "I will, doctor. Thanks again."
"You be careful out there, and good luck," the doctor said as he walked back into the unit. The door slid shut behind him.
Jake turned and saw Kevin leaning on the opposite wall with his arms folded. "What are you doing here this early?"
"I'll walk you to the transport," Kevin said, putting his hand on Jake's shoulder. "I came by because we didn't get a chance to talk last night."
"What do you want to talk about?"
"Jake, you know that I love you, right?"
"Of course I do."
"Well, I just don't remember the last time I told you, so I wanted to let you know before you took off."
"Why did you want to tell me now?"
"I don't know. I just thought that I should."
Jake could tell that there was something bothering Kevin. He stopped, turned, and looked at the man who had been his father for nearly twenty-five years. "What's bothering you?"
"What? Oh, nothing I just needed to tell you that I love you."
"C'mon, Dad. I can read you like a book and can tell when something is bothering you."
Kevin was stunned and flooded with emotion. That was the first time Jake had called him "Dad" in a long time. "Jake, promise me that you will be careful out there, okay? And if you don't find this so-called wormhole, you will land on Mars, do a quick search, and come home. I don't know if I could handle it if I lost you."
Jake felt his emotions rise to the surface again. The last two days were the most he had cried since his aunt's death. Shouldn't he be out of tears by now? "You think something might go wrong up there too, huh?"
Kevin gave Jake a puzzled look. "What do you mean? You don't know if this will work either?"
"Honestly, I don't, but don't let my crew know. This theory that Skip has come up with just seems too outrageous. How do we know the shuttle will even hold together once we enter the wormhole? And, how do we know if the original crew is even alive on this theorized planet on the other side? There are so many things we don't know, and yet, we're still going."
Kevin stopped walking and turned to look at Jake. "If you think that this mission is going to fail, why did you accept to command this mission?"
"I don't know. I think I did it mostly because ?" Jake paused and lowered his head. "Well, if there's even the slightest chance of bringing my dad back home alive, I would give anything in this world to do it. Even if my dad is dead, and I find his remains on Mars or on some other world, to bring him home for a proper burial would bring closure to all of those years of wondering what had happened to him."
"I know what you mean," said Kevin.
Kevin and Jake began to walk down the long hallway again. There was a long silence between the two until they reached the doors that led to the transport. Jake was about to punch in the code to open the doors when Kevin grabbed his arm. "Before you go, Jake, I want to say a prayer with you."
"C'mon. You know I don't believe in God anymore."
"I know, but it will help me feel better."
Kevin prayed with Jake. He felt a little foolish standing in the hallway praying, but he didn't care. He wanted God to watch over Jake and bring him home safely. He also prayed that Jake would find Adrian alive and bring him home. As soon as he said this, he heard Jake sniffle, as if he was beginning to cry.
Kevin finished the prayer and looked at Jake. Jake had his thumb and index finger on his eyes, rubbing the tears away. "Are you okay, son?"
Jake looked up and gave Kevin a hug. Kevin hugged him back, not wanting to let go. Jake pulled away. "Yeah, I'm okay. It's just that ? when you prayed to find my dad and bring him home safely, I had a weird sensation come over me that I have never felt before."
Kevin smiled and said, "You know what that was, don't you?"
Jake frowned. "Oh, don't go telling me that it was the spirit or Holy Ghost type of thing. I won't believe it anyway."
The door that led to the transport slid open, and Skip stood there with an impatient look on his face. "Jake, there you are. We've been waiting for you. C'mon, we've got to get prepped."
Jake turned around and looked at Kevin. He smiled. No more words needed to be said. He turned back and followed Skip to the transport.
Kevin watched as his son walked to the transport. Oh, how he loved that boy. He could remember when he was six years old as if it was yesterday. He remembered how they used to shoot hoops together, toss the football and baseball around, and water ski whenever they had the chance.
As the transport sped away toward Mars II, Kevin felt a flurry of emotions flood within him. On one hand, he felt good about Jake's ability to return home safely. Yet, on the other, he had an uneasy feeling that this mission was the beginning of something bigger than he or Jake, or for that matter - bigger than anything humanity had ever faced - but he couldn't quite figure it out.