Free White Sands by Nicholas Sansbury Smith Page A

second to look at them in the rearview mirror. “I really don’t want to repeat—”
    A sudden boom cut her off midsentence. Paula slowed the car to follow a black . . . something streak across the skyline.
    “Woah,” Jeff said. He watched it disappear under the glare of the sun.
    “Is that a military jet?” David yelled over the thunderous noise.
    Paula shook her head. “Hard to tell, but I thought the air force traveled in squadrons.”
    Another blast shook the car as the unidentified ship changed its trajectory. Jeff raised his hand over his eyes to shield them from the glare. This was no air force jet. One of the few things he liked about visiting his dad was getting to see the newest military tech—jets that transformed into other jets, rockets that went completely invisible, and drones with guns larger than his whole body. This was not one of them. This was something different—something bigger and more sophisticated.
    “I bet that’s one of NTC’s new prototypes!” Paula yelled.
    The ship disappeared again in the thick cloud cover. David was already looking back at his tablet.
    Jeff searched the sky, trying to catch sight of the aircraft again, but after a few minutes the sound faded away and was replaced by the hissing wind.
    “I hope you get to see that one up close during your visit. Then again, even with his security clearance, I doubt your dad will be able to get you into the hangar,” Paula said.
    The annoying ping of the turn signal filled the vehicle as Paula pulled her gaze from the sky. The car began to accelerate just as a deafening horn blared from behind the vehicle.
    Slamming the brakes, Paula let out a cry. “What the hell!”
    Jeff jolted forward in his seat, the belt tightening around his chest painfully. He caught a glimpse of two black Humvees racing by them at what he guessed were speeds in excess of one hundred miles an hour.
    A cloud of dust quickly consumed their sedan. Paula sucked in several anxious deep breaths before turning to the backseat. “Are you guys okay?”
    Jeff clutched his belt and looked over at David who was whimpering. The tablet’s screen had shattered against the car door.
    “You okay, little bro?” Jeff asked.
    David held up his shattered tablet up and whimpered, “It’s broken.”
    Jeff could see a new set of words scrolling across the cracked screen. GAME OVER .
    Peering back up at Paula, Jeff saw the tops of NTC buildings in the distance, their metal surfaces shifting in the heat waves. The buildings quickly vanished in a trail of dust as the Humvees sped onward.
    With his heart fluttering inside his chest, Jeff couldn’t help but think that maybe this trip to White Sands was going to be more exciting than he thought.

CHAPTER 2
    M ICHAEL Fitz propped his robotic leg up on his desk and leaned back in his chair. The mechanical sound of his joints wasn’t loud enough for anyone to notice, but he swore that he could hear the clicking in his head. The limb had never felt like part of him. Even the flesh covering it was fake, and the artificial nerves had never really worked properly. Most of the time the leg was numb.
    The intercom on Michael’s desk coughed to life and the voice of the NTC watch commander, Alexander Blair, replaced the clicking he knew wasn’t really there.
    “Michael, I’m afraid I have some bad news. Your family just got to Gate 1, but we are redirecting them to the civilian zone.”
    Michael pulled his leg off the table and scooted up to the com. Running a hand through his thinning hair he said, “What? Why? Normally they get to come straight to the restricted part of the base.”
    “Sorry, Michael. We have a situation. All civilians are to be redirected. Access to the spaceport has been cut off. You can see them when your shift is over.” Static replaced the man’s voice for a few seconds before Blair continued. “Not sure what’s happening, but these orders came from the top. Don’t get too comfortable. We may need