Chapter 5: The Trikes

Kaylin Nader lay on a wheeled flat board. She stared into a shield that covered the machine’s underside. A glowing, swirling energy field held the shield in place. She fixed a digital gun into the energy field, and released a ray into the energy layer. The glows and swirls faded, revealing a maze of mechanics. Kaylin selected a tool. Her thoughts raced, and she squinted into a face that peered into her workspace.

“Almost done?” Ethan asked.

“Honestly,” Kaylin said, rolling the board out from under the machine.

They paused for a few seconds to look at the three-wheeled machine. A plastic bubble covered the cockpit.

“I didn’t learn this at mechanic school,” she admitted. “The trike for the lunar colony was much, much simpler.”

She waved her hand over a section of trike, and a holographic built-in keypad appeared. She typed in a code: N377A. The bubble lifted, and Kaylin and Ethan peered into the cockpit, and then the four seats in the passenger unit.

“What’d you make a trike for the lunar colony for?” Ethan asked. “Why didn’t you say anything? I’m your brother, you know.”

Kaylin typed in the code again, and the bubble latched in place.

“It was short notice,” she said. “Blake Willard recommended our sister and brother-in-law go to the lunar colony before they have another kid.”