Odyssey Rising Read Online Free PDF Page A

bound blonde haired, crew cut Swede named Larson Jensen. He looked like he was standing guard. He was. There was a taser hanging from his belt.
    Ravi and Theo were both anxious and Harry Wolf wagged his tail and sat on his rump at attention by Theo’s feet.
    Theo took his security card and prepared to sweep it through the lock.
    Larson Jensen placed his arm in a blocking position. “Sorry. No access for anyone except Captain Barton.”
    “Seriously?” Theo asked.
    “Nobody but Captain Barton,” commanded the guard.
    “But, I made the find,” Theo said.
    “Just following the Captain’s orders,” Larson said.
    They waited in the hallway until Captain Barton, a bearded man, approached the group a few moments later. He was tall, with a little more gray than brown in his beard. He offered a handshake to Theo.
    “Nice job, Startling. Very nice,” Captain Barton said.
    Theo tried not to smile. “Thanks.”
    “No problem,” Captain Barton said. “Is Ed Lorre here yet?”
    “No sir,” Larson Jensen answered.
    “Then get him down here without delay,” Captain Barton ordered.
    “Yes sir.”
    Captain Barton looked at Sam. “Hey Suzuki, you have your camera?”
    “Yes sir,” Sam answered.
    “Then why don’t you suit up?”
    “Yes sir,” Sam answered.
    Despite his role in the discovery, Theo still was just a common grunt. He didn’t have any kind of seniority aboard Odyssey, nor did he have the top-level security.
    Sam shrugged. “Captain’s orders. Sorry buddy.”
    “No problem,” Theo said. Clearly, he was a little disappointed about his exclusion form the greeting party.
    Captain Barton and Sam went into the docking area prep room. The probe hadn’t arrived yet. At least there was a window by the door where Theo and Ravi watched as Captain Barton put a gray hazmat suit over his uniform.
    Thirty-two year old Ed Lorre jogged down the hallway toward the young classmates. He was huffing and puffing and still retained a paunch of a beer belly.
    “There’s the man of the hour! You lucky son of a gun! Too bad your Dad isn’t here in person,” Ed said to the brothers.
    “He’ll be on screen,” Ravi said.
    “Definitely. Well, gotta suit up,” Ed said. “And congratulations, man. This is history, my friend. Seriously.”
    “Thanks,” Theo said with a sheepish, humble smile and nod of his head. He really wasn’t used to all the attention. Frankly, he had always been in his father’s shadow.
    News of Theo’s discovery still spread like the common cold. Though most of the crew had been asleep and were still yawning, there was an excitement brewing in the room. This moment was a long time in the making.
    Through an observation window, all had a clear view of the probe approaching the shuttle with the backdrop of a billion stars. In flight Wet Willy was a thin silver speck against limitless blackness. It looked like a half moon motorcycle with four wheels in retracted flight mode. A plasma tail of argon white heat burned against the blackness.
    “That probe is a thing a beauty,” Ravi said.
    “It’s just a machine,” Theo said.
    “Yeah, but without it we wouldn’t have found the skeleton,” Ravi said.
    “Dork, there is no we in my discovery,” Theo said.
    “Well, we were both in the probe room,” Ravi said.
    “Just stop talking,” Theo said.
    “Sorry. I just…you know…”
    “…can’t shut up when you’re excited.”
    “Now is a very exciting time,” Ravi said.
    “Just try to chill,” Theo said.
    “Hey! There’s Willy! “Right on time,” Ravi commented.
    “It’s quite a piece of machinery,” Ellie said.
    “Yes, it is,” Theo commented.
    Ellie smiled. She had set her verbal trap.
    “But hey, didn’t Marisa Markov design it all by herself?”
    “Maybe,” Theo said with a tentative shrug.
    Moments later, Sam was in the prep room with Captain Barton and Ed Lorre. Just looking at the yellow hazmat suit made Sam sweat.
    Wet Willy made a safe and fairly gentle return to