Sweat ran down my temples, but there was nowhere for it to go. I started to back away from PPMC's hatch, but I bumped into Dad. "I'm scared, Dada," I said.

Dada nodded. "I know, but everything is going to be fine. I promise. It's really not that hard, Dan. I've done this seventeen times."

"True, but I'm not an astronaut."

"Do you remember what Chenoa told you?" Dada asked. "You don't have to be an astronaut in order to fly PPMC."

"And I'm always true to my word," Chenoa added.

Without warning, I coughed again.

Chenoa gave me a concerned look. "Are you sure you're feeling all right?"

"I'm fine! Don't be such a worrywart!" I argued. "I can't wait to get spaghettified. It's been on my list of 'Things I Want to Do Before I Die' for a long time now. Or was it my list of 'Death Plans'? Ugh." Embarrassed, I slapped my hand to my helmet. That was currently the best face palm I could do.

Chenoa quickly surrendered to me. "Gee, sorry to make you mad. I just don't want to send you up if you're getting sick."

"I'm not! Just get me strapped into the cockpit, so we can get this stupid launch over with," I said. Of course, I did not know how much of what I said was actually true. I think I was getting sick, but PPMC was waiting for me. It was too late to turn back.

Chenoa sighed. "If you say so. Come on. Follow your dad and I," she said.

One at a time, we boarded PPMC and climbed a small ladder up to her cockpit. It was way overcomplicated. I had never seen so many switches and buttons in my life. At the front of it was PPMC's dashboard, or her instrument panel. It looked like the one I worked with during the simulation. Buttons covered it, and there was a large screen in the center of it. That was her time machine.

Directly in front of it were two seats. One was for the pilot, and one was for the co-pilot. I guessed I was the co-pilot. Above the dashboard were the letters P-P-M-C. The ship smelled brand-new, reminding me of dear old Betsey. I missed her already. I noticed PPMC's mechanical hand dusting off the pilot seat.

Wait, why the pilot seat? I wondered. I thought I was the co-pilot.

At the sight of me, PPMC stopped what she was doing and said, "Ah, Dan! Welcome aboard! I'm just getting your seat ready."

"But that's the pilot seat!"

"Oh, it's not like that at all," PPMC quickly told me. "I just thought you'd be most comfortable in this seat vs. the other one."

Still!

Chenoa took a moment to go over the time machine one last time with me before she and PPMC strapped me in, even though I remembered how it worked from the simulation. You just selected the time period you wanted to travel to and pressed Go. Easy.

Chenoa, though, said something new. "You don't have to go back to the wormhole in order to travel to the Paleozoic, Mesozoic, and early Cenozoic Eras. You just pull up the geologic time scale and press the button for the next era. PPMC will spin, and she'll stop when you reach it."

During Chenoa's lecture, I noticed PPMC's hand hovering behind my head.

Chenoa gave me a gentle smile. "All right, now that we have that cleared up, it's time to strap you into your seat, Dan the Man."

My knees knocked together. I wanted to disappear in the darkest corner of the spaceship.

Dada tried to hug me, but I pulled away. I was still angry at him for tricking me into the project. Also, I was too cool for hugs.

To make the task easier, Chenoa took the PPMC Gauntlet off my forearm, and she handed it to her hand. PPMC tucked it into a compartment under her dashboard. When she returned, she and Chenoa helped me into my seat. They lifted my legs, bent my knees, and strapped me in. I now faced PPMC's windshield, and I looked up to the vast blue sky outside. It was hard to believe that just overnight, I was on the other side of it. We were down to T-minus thirty minutes.

I was so uncomfortable. Already, my hands and feet started to tingle. I felt like I was sitting in a torture chair. I could not move. "Dada! Dada!" I yelled.

He was quickly by my side. I felt him take my hand. I wanted to turn my head and look at him, but I couldn't.

Dada explained, "I know it's uncomfortable, Dan, but as soon as PPMC becomes a starship, you'll be able to take off all this gear. Don't be scared. She's going to take care of you."

Oh, I wasn't scared. I was terrified.

Dada stayed with me for a few minutes, but then Chenoa called him. "Ben, it's time. We'll soon have to remove the retractable arm from the ship."

"All right, Dan, it's down to you and PPMC," Dada said in a gentle voice–the gentlest I've ever heard him. "I love you, son."

"'I love you'?" Dada never said that to me! It was so weird to hear that. I wanted to say "I love you back", but it felt so babyish.

So instead, I said, "Sure, Dada."

"Oh, Daniel. Would it kill you to say 'I love you' for once?"

"Well, you're not that much different."

I heard Dada sigh. "Oh, Dan. Fine then, I'll leave you alone. Goodbye."

"Goodbye, Dada," I replied in a slightly irritated voice. You don't need to pretend you care about me.

Dada patted my hand and let go. I heard him walking away from me, but then Chenoa took his place.

"Professor Julian will call you to help you with the blast off process. I don't want you to worry about the black hole. You passed the test, so there's no way you can't pass it again. You are going to see some amazing animals, son. I honestly wish I could go instead."

"Well, I don't mind switching places," I quickly stated.

Chenoa chuckled. "You have quite the sense of humor, don't you? This project isn't meant for me, Daniel. It's meant for you. You're doing something that no teenager has ever done before. I'd be pretty excited. Now good luck, and I'll see you later." She also patted my hand goodbye. She and Dada left the cockpit, leaving me all alone with just a starship to guide me.

***

"I'm so bored," I said ten minutes later. I swear, ten minutes felt like a million years. I'd much rather play Portals and Aliens than have an itch I couldn't scratch. That was me stuck in my seat.

The microphone in my helmet turned on. Just like Chenoa said, it was Professor Julian who called me. "Daniel Matton, do you read me? This is Professor Julian Krebs Lexington."

"I read you, Professor. I'm just waiting for the countdown."

"Hang in there. You have to wait a little bit longer. Project PPMC, twenty minutes until blast off. Over." Without warning, he hung up.

That did not help my anxiety. "Wait, Professor! No, we are not 'over'! Come back!"

Julian did not call back until ten more minutes passed.

By then, I was so bored that I came up with a random song to hopefully pass the time. I dubbed it "I'm So Bored". "I'm so bored. I'm stuck in a cockpit. Oh, I'm so bored. Three mad scientists–yes, three mad scientists are sacrificing me. I'm so booorred!"

PPMC did not approve of my singing skills. She told me, "Dan, don't ever go into chorus."

"Well, what else am I supposed to do?" I argued.

"Just keep your mouth shut."

Finally, Professor Julian called me back. "Hello, Dan. Do you read me?"

Oh, it felt so nice to hear his voice. "I read you, Professor, and please don't go away this time."

Julian did not call to comfort me, though, but to give an update of where we were with the blast off process. "We have moved the retractable arm away from PPMC and are down to T-minus ten minutes until blast off. Over." Then he shut off again.

That made me mad, and I shouted for him. "Julian! I refuse for you to leave me! Come back!"

PPMC chuckled. "Sorry, Dan, but you're stuck with me now."

It felt like a dawg gone eternity until Julian decided to give me another update. I had almost dozed off when my microphone beeped. "Daniel Matton? Are you still with me?"

I yawned. "Yes, Professor."

"Excellent! We are almost at countdown! PPMC is blasting off in T-minus five minutes. Over."

I started to panic, especially when all the lights in PPMC's cockpit turned on. It looked like a disco. Her engine roared to life.

I thought quickly. An idea popped in my brain. "Hold on! I have five minutes! Then that's enough time to... Oh." I was about to say "run", but then I realized I had no chance of escaping. Not unless I could turn into the Hulk and rip those straps right off me. "I'm doomed," I whimpered.

***

Four minutes later, and Julian contacted me for a fourth time. "Daniel Matton, are you ready for blast off?"

"No, but I know I have no choice."

"You're right about that, son. We're at T-minus one minute until blast off."

I tightly shut my eyes. I expected for the whole ship to blow up right there.

It literally felt like PPMC suffered from a spazz attack. She shook so much; it was ridiculous.

"T-minus thirty seconds until blast off," Julian announced.

I yelled into the microphone, "Professor, you, Chenoa, and Dada owe me!"

"Prepare to blast off, Daniel Matton."

"You owe me!"

PPMC's spazz attack grew worse. I already felt a little bit sick to the stomach. I opened one eye, but I quickly shut it again. Before I knew it, the countdown started.

Julian sounded beyond excited. "In T-minus five, four, three, two, one–"

"Blast off!" PPMC shouted.

Boom!

PPMC roared goodbye to 5022 and lifted into the sky, in a perfectly straight line. Up, up we went, like those ships someone saw in Star Wars and Star Trek.

Very slowly, I opened my eyes. The only goodbye sight I had was an everlasting sky.

PPMC was gentle with her ascent. It was definitely more comfortable going up than being on the ground. She had finally gotten over her spazz attack. It took us about 8 ½ minutes to reach outer space.

Julian radioed me a few minutes into the launch. "Do you read me, Dan the Man?"

I rolled my eyes. "Yes, Professor." It wasn't like I was going anywhere anytime soon.

"Perfect! I just want to let you know that PPMC's solid fuel boosters have detached."

I took that the wrong way. "Wait, what? Are you saying she's going to blow up?"

"No! No! That's supposed to happen. She's preparing to drop her external tank as we speak. As soon as she does, she will transform into a starship. Understand? Over."

"We are not 'over'!" I screamed. Oh, I wanted to punch something so bad.

PPMC and I reached the mesosphere, the third layer of Earth's atmosphere. There are five: the troposphere, the stratosphere, the mesosphere, the thermosphere, and finally the exosphere. The world grew darker by the second. Less sunlight meant stars. I started to see some.

They blinked hello to us.

PPMC and I reached the exosphere in a matter of minutes. I could see the moon and stars, as well as the Milky Way. I knew Earth was behind us–a beautiful blue and green ball floating in outer space.

PPMC announced, "Welcome to the exosphere, Dan the Man! I've just dropped my external tank, which means it is time for me to transform!"

I had one last conversation with Julian before she could do her business. "You're doing great, Dan, considering you've never done this before. Unfortunately, this is the last time I'm able to communicate with you. Once PPMC transforms, it will be just you and her. Your dad and Professor Chenoa are here, and they wish you luck. Your dad says to remember that your mother is always with you. We're going to miss you, but you can do this. You are ready."

"Thank you, Professor. That means a lot. Over," I said.

"Over," Julian responded back.

And that was the last time I heard from him, Chenoa, and Dada. It was a bittersweet moment.

PPMC leveled herself out. A television screen came down from her ceiling. She turned it on so I could see what was happening. There she was, floating in the exosphere, with Planet Earth behind her.

Her whole body grew longer and larger. Everything tripled in size around me: her cockpit, windshield, and dashboard. A second pair of wings emerged from either side of her bow, right behind the hatches where she kept her hands, and her nose grew long and pointy. She pulled her space shuttle engines inside her stern, replacing them with her starship ones. She had the shape of a surfboard, only bigger and more high-tech. The transfiguration was quick, painless, and mind-boggling.

PPMC cheered. "Success!"

She took her hand and pressed a button on her instrument panel for artificial gravity. She gave her new engines a boost. The force knocked me up against my seat.

PPMC moved at incredible speed. Like a cannon, she shot out of the exosphere and into outer space, our first destination. We flew in a blanket of never-ending stars and galaxies. PPMC wasted no time to make our first jump to light speed. Like what someone saw in Star Wars, she pulled up a switch on her panel. That time, my body lurched forward. We moved faster than the speed of light, away from Earth and towards deep space–the home of the black hole.