Chapter Two

"I'm in the back," Jakk called. Mila picked her way through the debris. Scattered bits of metal littered the dirty lab floor. The overhead lights were turned off to conserve power: Jakk was slightly paranoid about power failures. A faint light came from the console lights in the back. Mila climbed over what looked like an ancient Class B rover and landed with a thump in front of the wrecked probe. Jakk was bent over the console, tapping it's surface.

"Oh gosh." Mila stared at the fried rover. "You really did it this time, didn't you?"

Jakk gave a snort of protest. "Well, I was trying to re-calibrate the sensors, when suddenly it went all whacko on me!"

Mila leaned over Jakk, examining the console from over his shoulders. "Did you try rebooting it?"

"Yes, yes," sighed Jakk. "I ran it through a few programs. Nothing."

"So you're saying it's manual," Mila reached into her back pocket and pulled out her yellow work gloves.

"That's why I called you in." Jakk explained.

"Then, let's get started." Mila slipped on her gloves and reached for a hoverpad. She laid the body-sized panel down on the floor, where it hovered a few inches above the ground. She laid down on it gently, the pad dipping slightly to compensate for her added weight.

"Mila, before you go in there, I think you should know something first," Jakk peered over at her.

"Make it quick. I can see lots of outward damage," Mila snapped. Her hands were already itching to rewire the rover.

"Well, the whole reason I was trying to recalibrate Ralph's sensors was--"

"Wait a minute. 'Ralph'?" Mila's attention turned back to Jakk.

"Yeah. Ralph." Jakk shifted uncomfortably in his chair. "From it's initials. R. A. L. F. Rover Alpha Lunar Five."

Mila smirked. "Continue."

"I was recalibrating Ralph's sensors because it picked up a reading from the Other Side."

There was dead silence in the room. Mila slowly slid out from under the rover and sat up. "Did you just say, 'from the Other Side'?"

Jakk's hazel eyes were still fixed on the screen, but Mila could see the tightness in his forearms. "Yes." His voice was so soft, Mila could barely hear it. "It was so faint and quick, I barely caught it. At first, I thought I was imagining things. Been stuck in the lab too long. But then, a few minutes later, there it was again."

Mila got up from the hoverpad and walked over next to Jakk. She pulled up a chair from behind her and sat down next to her friend. "What kind of reading was it?"

Jakk massaged his forehead with the bottom of his palms. "From what I can tell, it was a signal."

"Did you get a lock on the coordinates?"

"I have a general locate."

"Then you know what that means." A grin split Mila's face. She stood up, kicking the chair away with her right foot.

"The last time I saw that look, I spent three days filling out rover regulation forms," Jakk sighed.

Mila's smile got even wider. "Grab your tablet Jakk, we're going on a signal hunt!"

"But breakfast first!" Jakk insisted.