"No one's sticking me with anything," Luna said, a hand on her hip and a defiant glare. "I hate needles. And besides that, why should I trust someone who resorts to murder as a tactic?"

"I didn't kill anyone," Admiral Jax replied.

"But your robots did."

"They're SEALs."

"But you gave the order."

The admiral remained stoic. "You have a valid point, but it won't get you out of this."

"Exactly what is this?" Callisto chimed in. "I don't know what kind of sick games you guys are playing, but you can count me out."

"I'm afraid," the admiral said, his expression calloused and unwavering, "once you walked through door number two, your decision was final. Now that you're here, we move on to the next step."

"We never had a choice," Phoenix replied. "It was do or die, and you know it."

Dr. Fairhaven wrapped her fingers around his bicep and squeezed. "Maybe we should at least hear what she has to say? They dragged us all this way; we might as well see why."

Phoenix glared at her. "Give me one good reason."

"The admiral said she had a story to tell. Aren't you the least bit curious to find out why they kidnapped us? There has to be a legitimate reason why they brought us here. I mean, look at this place. This isn't a back alley somewhere. This facility is serious business. I say we give her a chance to talk."

He searched Dr. Fairhaven's eyes for a reason to go along with her. She seemed intense, like she was afraid of something, but also amazed, like she was in awe. "Okay. So, we'll listen to her. I guess there's no harm in that... You can ease up on the arm. It's the only one I've got."

"Oh, sorry." The longer she gripped his bicep, the more her fingernails dug into his skin.

"Now that's the most reasonable thing I've heard," the admiral said. "Besides, no one is getting stuck with anything. Thanks to Dr. Lawson, we've converted the serum to gas form. All you have to do is breathe. Once we had it perfected as a liquid, it was easy to put it into a more flexible package... for a variety of reasons." He nodded calmly. The tension in the underground courtyard had eased a fraction. "Dr. Lawson, the floor is yours. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have other matters to attend to." He swiveled on his heels and headed down a corridor beyond the elevator, disappearing around a curve in the hall.

Dr. Lawson cleared her throat. Her eyes brightened. They had an intense quality about them. Penetrating. Disarming. "If everyone will follow me... this way."

She walked toward the lab area in the middle of the courtyard, her heels clicking on the marble floor, sounding louder in the expansive underground chamber. "This is where we'll begin. You may not realize it, but the project founders value and covet each of you based on your abilities. All of you will receive specialized care. Every step of the way, experts will monitor your progress. The admiral will leave nothing to chance."

Phoenix followed Dr. Lawson to a glass door. He watched her like a hawk, his gaze tracking her every move. She placed her palm on a scanner imbedded in the exterior wall. He observed as the light around her hand turned red and then flashed green, accepting her print. A second later, the passage opened, and they entered, the door sliding closed behind them, sealing with a hiss of air.

"What about this story of yours?" Phoenix asked, once again trying to settle his beating heart. None of this felt right. With all they'd been through, he wondered what might happen next. Nevertheless, he silenced his nervous thoughts with the same fortitude that helped him become a pilot. "I'd like to hear your story before we agree to anything."

The group of five stopped in an anteroom that led into a larger section of the laboratory.

"I can imagine your level of concern."

"Can you? Somehow, I doubt it."

Dr. Lawson smiled warmly. "You have nothing to fear. I selected you, Commander. All of you, I handpicked because of your specific skills and assets. It wasn't the admiral who brought you here. It was me. I will explain in the lab. Now, if you'll follow me."

She used another palm scanner at the laboratory entrance.

The door whisked open. Phoenix, Dr. Fairhaven, Callisto and Luna crept through the passage.

"This is tight security," Luna said. "Why all the layers? Who's going to find this place, let alone break into it?"

"Titan X is top secret," Dr. Lawson replied. "Only a select few know about the project. They all live and work in this facility, and another location in the states. But there are different levels of clearance, of course. The clearance you will receive is going to be of the highest level, but we'll take it in baby steps."

"Project Titan X," Callisto said. "So, this involves a mission to Titan?"

"Saturn's moon. That's partially correct. Did Admiral Jax tell you that?"

"Not exactly," Phoenix answered the question. "But he told us the one thing we had in common was NASA. All of us want to be astronauts. Throw in the project's name." He paused, bit his lip. "One plus one equals two. The real question is, why would anyone want to go to Titan?"

Dr. Lawson let the question hang in the air like it was an absurd thing to ask. She passed a white table in the center of the main lab. A female worker peered into a microscope, ignoring them as they continued the tour. Similar counter tops made of the same material encircled the outer walls. Beakers and test tubes rested on a table on the far side of the room. There were other large pieces of equipment that Phoenix couldn't identify, but everything looked sterile and organized. He imagined if they spilled something, it would trigger an alarm. Probably not, but the environment felt that controlled and precise.

"Titan is a step in the equation, but there's something else," Dr. Lawson said. "That something else comes first."

"And what is that?" Phoenix said.

"Ever heard of Arcturus?"

"Can't say that I have."

"Because it's top secret?" Dr. Fairhaven asked.

"It started that way. The intention was to go public and make it a global effort... but that never happened."

"What is Arcturus?" Luna said. "Isn't that the name of a star?"

Callisto added, "What is it, some crazy initiative to take man to another solar system? Have you discovered a habitable exoplanet?"

Dr. Lawson ignored the questions as she hand-palmed another scanner that accessed a rear section of the laboratory. She led everyone into the room. "Unfortunately, our mission is time sensitive, so we have to move fast. That's the reason we gathered you in such a rushed manner. I wish I could have approached you in a more personable way."

"You didn't answer my question," Luna said.

"The work we're doing here has astronomical implications," Dr. Lawson replied. "The serum actually benefits immune function, stamina and strength, as well as longevity of life."

"So, you won't tell us more about Arcturus?"

"In time, we will explain everything."

Phoenix walked past Dr. Lawson and leaned against the rear glass wall of the room, which gave a view of the chamber outside. On both sides, white walls extended to the ceiling with evenly spaced, circle shaped outlines, which reminded him of compartment doors.

"So, there are no side effects?" Callisto said. "With the serum?"

"None worth mentioning," Dr. Lawson replied.

Dr. Fairhaven stood near one of the white walls. "There are always side effects."

"I was treated with the first version of the serum. Not willingly, but I know firsthand what I'm talking about. I was the first. The original serum interacted with my DNA uniquely. I was the key to the initial discovery. Identifying my genetic markers, isolating them and replicating them. That's what I did. From there, I reverse engineered the serum. The government tried their hand at creating a serum of their own without me, but it didn't work out so well. So, the admiral brought me in. Their version had an unpleasant reaction with their first test subject. My version cured him. It will work on you, too."

Luna traced one of the thin outlines on the wall, remaining silent.

Callisto eased toward Phoenix but stopped... made eye contact with him.

"You said you were the first. What has the serum done for you?" Phoenix asked with a bit of a smirk.

Dr. Lawson lingered near the exit door as everyone settled into the room. "Well, Commander Drake, I'm glad you asked. I have increased strength, as I mentioned before."

"What, can you beat a one-armed man in arm wrestling?"

Her gaze narrowed, drifted over his missing limb. "We can fix that, you know?"

Phoenix pinched his brows. "What else?"

"I also heal a hundred times faster than the average man."

"You mentioned longevity of life. Just what do you mean by that?"

Dr. Lawson edged toward the exit door as everyone waited for her to reply. "Well, would you believe me if I told you I was ninety years old?"

Phoenix screwed his face into a grimace. "That's impossible. You don't look a day over thirty. You barely look twenty."

"We've accomplished the impossible, Commander." Dr. Lawson stepped through the open doorway, leaving them alone in the room. "Even by the most stringent standards, anyone would declare that I'm immortal." She palmed the handprint scanner and watched as the door closed, sealing Phoenix, Callisto, Dr. Fairhaven and Luna inside.

Phoenix rushed to the door and pounded on the glass. "What's going on? Dr. Lawson, let us out."

As she walked away, gas fogged into the room from vents in the ceiling. Before Phoenix gasped another word, he collapsed to the floor, choking, gagging, slipping into another cloud of unconsciousness. His limbs felt like heavy weights, and his vision faded to a blur as his thoughts floated away like a vapor of smoke on a sea of glass.