Chapter 4

The next morning, as both family member and invited press, I sat in the front row of the VIP viewing room.

Tens of millions of viewers across the country were watching this unprecedented launch through my live stream.

Fifteen minutes to ignition. The big screen cut to a close-up inside the hibernation pod.

Ervin lay there, face bloodless, monitoring electrodes stuck all over him.

That was when the door slammed open.

Ervin's mother and Summer Fox came storming in, hair wild, a few security guards trailing behind them, unable to hold them back.

"You can't launch. Stop it, now!"

Ervin's mother jabbed a finger at my face and started screaming.

"Joy Swanson, you murderer! Not being able to give him a child wasn't enough. Now, for ten million dollars, you're going to send your living husband into outer space to die!"

"A poisonous woman with a heart that rotten. Why don't you go die yourself?"

At those vicious accusations, every camera in the room swung toward me.

I didn't panic. I simply pulled two documents out of my bag.

"Take a good look. This is the brain-death diagnosis issued by Downtown General Hospital. And this one, an eight-million-dollar loan-shark payment demand in Ervin's name!"

My eyes were red, my voice cracking but landing hard.

"If I weren't out of options, who would ever send the man she loves into space? I'm taking this money to pay off the rotten debts he left on the company!"

"As for you, Assistant Fox."

I turned a cold look on Summer.

"This eight-million-dollar hole, you and Ervin dug it together. And now you come running in here, playing the grieving lover?"

"Are you afraid that if he dies, the loan sharks will sell you off to the Southeast region to settle the debt?"

The words were out, and the flashbulbs went off like mad, all aimed at Summer.

She went white, stammering, unable to get out a single sentence.

"All units, attention. Three minutes to launch. Prepare to move the hibernation pod into the rocket payload bay."

A cold countdown prompt came suddenly over the speakers.

And at that razor's edge, a gasp swept through the whole room.

"Look at the screen. The vegetable moved!"

My head snapped up toward the screen.

Inside the pod, Ervin, who was supposed to be in a deep coma, suddenly wrenched his eyes open.

He stared in terror at the mechanical arms closing in around him, pounding wildly on the pod lid.

Ervin's mother lunged toward the screen, half-scrambling in her excitement.

"My son's awake, he's not sick! Stop the launch! Stop it!"

The next second, Dr. Finch's voice came through the feed, fevered and thrilled:

"Incredible. The ultra-low-temperature environment actually stimulated the brain stem's neural pathways to reconnect. This is nothing short of a miracle!"

"Stop the launch sequence, halt the countdown immediately."

Hearing that, Ervin's mother pointed at my face and burst out laughing in triumph:

"Heaven has eyes. My son's blessed with luck, and your wicked scheme has fallen apart."

"When my son gets out, I'll not only throw you out without a cent, I'll put you in prison to work a sewing machine for the rest of your life!"

Inside the pod, Ervin went limp with relief.

Watching their petty, gloating faces, I grabbed the microphone and made myself sound flustered.

"Dr. Finch, what do you mean? You're not sending him to Mars anymore?"

"Send him to Mars? That would be a criminal waste!"

Dr. Finch's eyes were bloodshot, his whole face lit with the mania of a research fanatic.

He snatched the broadcast microphone, his voice ringing through the entire hall:

"All medical teams, attention. Transfer the volunteer to the S-class lab immediately."

"A research specimen this rare, of course we keep him for deep observation, fully conscious, the whole way through. For the good of humanity!"