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dog’s pink tongue was naturally speckled with a few gray textured creases. Harry Wolf used it as a tool of investigation. The dog had found something of interest on the bottom of Sam’s shoes.
    Sam played with Harry Wolf and actually let him slither his tongue around Sam’s sweating hands.
    “Sometimes I love this dog and sometimes he is a real pain,” Sam said.
    “Down boy,” Theo said while the dog’s tongue licked at Theo’s outstretched hand in command mode.
    “Harry means no harm,” Ravi said.
    “He’s very excited tonight,” Sam said. “Must be the skeleton. Sick ‘em Harry. Sick ‘em good. You want food, boy? How about ribs?” Sam said. “You get it? Ribs!”
    “Don’t listen to Sam, boy,” Theo said as he placed his hand onto the muzzle of Harry snout. “You hear? Leave the bones alone, boy. They are not food. You hear? Not food.”
    Again, the dog’s tongue was a wonder of wetness and exploration all over the skin of the young men.
    “Oh, totally gross,” Ravi said.
    “Well, see you guys in the morning,” Sam said. “I’m getting the rest of my beauty sleep. If anything else exciting happens, don’t wake me…unless, like the skeleton does a dance or begins to fly or some little green alien girls finally materialize and shout surprise, we’re here to kiss your most gifted artist – which would of course be me – and I guess wake me only if they’re kind of hot looking. Okay?”
    “You’re unbelievable,” Ellie said. “Even in a time like this.”
    Sam chuckled. “I know. I have a one track mind!”
    Ellie let out a frustrated sigh. “Oh, when, oh when do we get home?”
    Ravi checked an app on his communication device. It had a running countdown to their scheduled return. “Thirty two days and about six hours and thirty-five minutes. Give or take a few minutes,” Ravi said.
    Before the classmates continued with their conversation, a red alert alarm started to blare.
    A voice repeated, “Code Red 1A. I repeat Code Red 1A.”
    “What the heck is going on?” Sam asked.
    “Hazmat lockdown,” Ravi said with a look to Sam. “Don’t you know you’re Code Reds yet?”
    “Sure. Sure. I knew that,” Sam defended.
    “A Code Red 1A automatically locks the lab. Air has stopped circulating and an emergency tank of oxygen has kicked in,” Ravi added.
    Sam looked to Theo for confirmation.
    “The little runt is right,” Theo said.
    “But why? What’s the cause?” Sam asked.
    “Not sure,” Theo said.
    “It might have something to do with the bones Theo discovered,” Ravi said.
    “Hey guys, the protocol also says no unnecessary crew interaction and only essential crew duties are allowed to continue,” Ellie said.
    “So?”
    “That means we have to head to our quarters and stay there until the Code Red is over,” Ellie said.
    “She’s right,” Theo said.
    “This really sucks,” Sam said.
    As the classmates headed back to their private sleeping quarters, they were left to wonder how a bunch of small and harmless bones may have caused a Code Red 1A lockdown. They were about to find out.

CHAPTER 5

SLEEPLESS & RESTLESS

In his personal quarters Theo longed for the Ark, his permanent space home. Even if it was just a bigger tin can than his present one, at least the Ark had a real rock-climbing wall.
    With thoughts of a better home, a restlessness excitement kept Theo wide-awake. While privately excited by his skeletal discovery, at the end of another long, hard day, all he wanted was a really hot shower and a breath of fresh air. They were luxuries he may never get again aboard Odyssey or even back on the plush fourteen-level Ark.
    Theo knew his discovery had the potential to prove many things long wondered about and never understood, never proven.
    Firstly, Theo knew we could now say that Earth was not alone and he also wondered if we knew less about the origins of life than we ever imagined. He also wanted to know what the creature looked like and were there