Okay, Ben was hiding somewhere in the space center. Dan didn’t see him when he entered the hotel’s common area. Now was his chance to find PPMC, grab his hoverscooter, and get the heck out of dodge.

He double-checked the empty space and opened the door, poking his head into the hallway.

Dan muffled a cough and cleared his sore throat. He had never been in the center’s backstage area, so he took a moment to find his bearings. The first thing he saw was the Simulation Room. It was across the hall and behind a white door, taunting him like a clown did a child. What’s in there? his mind screamed.

Dan’s curiosity pulled him to Simulation, even though he was supposed to be escaping. An aerotrim at the back of the white and black room lured him in, and he nearly drifted to it, past the rest of the machines and a button in the wall. Dan felt like he had entered an astronaut playground.

He climbed into the aerotrim and strapped himself in. A holographic panel appeared in front of his face and provided him with two options for the simulation: Easy or Hard. Dan pressed Hard. Just how hard could it be?

Oh gosh! The aerotrim spun around and around at such a quick pace that Dan swore he was about to fly out of the seat. But he loved it. Once the machine slowed down, it unstrapped him and pushed him out. However, Dan struggled to his feet and did it again. After that round, he was a little disoriented and ended up punching the button in the room’s wall.

“Space Simulation booting up. Please remain calm,” announced a mechanical voice.

The lights in the room dimmed. Gravity lightened, and Dan gasped when he floated toward the ceiling, feet first. “Whoa! Whoa!” he yelled, waving his arms. His soles touched the ceiling, and he cautiously checked his surroundings.

All at once, galaxies, stars, nebulas, and even a planet or two appeared on every section of the astronaut playground. The machines remained glued to the floor, but Dan hovered helplessly like a kite, nervous and excited. He didn’t like space, so this was an anomaly for him. Regardless, that still didn’t mean he wanted to do his dad’s dumb space exploration.

Where did Dan go wrong? Why did his father want to get rid of him? Maybe he should let Professor Chenoa explain herself. No, Dan didn’t like space, and that was final. Hoverscooter, here he came!

He pushed off the wall and said, “Whoa,” as he floated to the opposite one. His back touched a swirling galaxy.

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At that moment, Dan’s excitement returned. He had been sprinkled with pixie dust. He was flying without the help of a machine!

A grin crossed his face, and he hopped off the galaxy, arms wide. “Whoo-hoo, look at me!” he laughed. “I’m flying!” Dan twirled and performed a midair somersault. “I bet no one else can do a midair somersault!” He almost forgot what he was doing until the Simulation Room’s lights turned on, and Professor Chenoa appeared in the doorway.

She carried something under her arm, and her glasses slipped halfway off her nose at the sight of Dan.

He chuckled nervously and flicked his wrist. “Hyah, Professor Chenoa.”

“Daniel Matton!” The way she bellowed his name reminded Dan of his mother. He heard sternness and sweetness in Chenoa’s voice. It was the kind of yell that said she wasn’t angry but flabbergasted.

Dan pulled a small joke on her. “And while you're down there, Professor, can you whip me up some scrambled eggs and a sausage biscuit?” His tummy rumbled just saying that.

“Ooooh!” Professor Chenoa pulled a lever halfway down, and Dan floated to her, his feet eventually touching the floor again.

Face reddening, he plopped onto his butt and set his hands in his lap, closing his eyes. “Go on. I’m ready for you to yell at me.”

“Yell at you? Why would I yell at you?”

Dan heard Chenoa shuffling and felt her intimidating presence. That made him feel smaller, so he scrunched his face and rolled his shoulders. He opened one eye and looked up to the towering woman.

She carried a gauntlet-like object under her arm. It was medium-sized, red, and had a dark red, V-shaped head. Dan opened his mouth to ask a question, but Chenoa beat him.

“This is the PPMC Gauntlet, Dan.” She untucked it and showed it off to him. A black screen in its center had “PPMC” on it. “I came to give it to you,” Chenoa included. “Ben said you like to play, so I suspected I would find you in here.”

“What’s the PPMC Gauntlet?” Dan questioned without even thinking.

“Ah, I’m glad you asked.” Chenoa winked and clicked her tongue. “Come with me, and I’ll explain everything. There’s a reason why your dad chose you as the Star of the PPMC Project.”

Only one thing came to mind after she said that. Dan gulped under his nervousness and excitement. “Does it have to do with geologic time?” PPMC: Precambrian, Paleozoic, Mesozoic, Cenozoic. That would make sense.

“In forms both big and small,” Dan repeated to himself as he followed Chenoa out of the Simulation Room and toward some capsule-like objects at the end of the hallway.

She winked again. “PPMC will help, too. Shall we, Dan? Go on.” They reached the capsules, and she booted him into one. Chenoa got in the one next to him.

“Teleportation process beginning,” announced a new mechanical voice.

Dan’s body glowed up, and his eyes widened.

“Stay calm, Dan, so that the AI can transport you to the right place,” Chenoa explained. “It won’t hurt. She’ll turn us into data and move us like that. It will be over before you know it.”

“In forms both big and small.” Dan hid behind his hands. A warm wave washed over his body while the robot started the countdown.

“In five, four, three, two, one...”

The warming sensation left just like that, and Dan shivered with a sudden chill.

“Welcome to PPMC,” announced the voice. “Scheduled for blast-off on Friday, August 5th, 3023–she has the power to travel to prehistoric times.”