"Follow me," said Tara.

The three friends followed Tara to a room that appeared to be the command centre. Tara went up to a transparent touchscreen that was hovering midair and pulled out some files on the screen. Each file contained information about the mission to find Qarukkin Minninsha.

"This is all the information the academy has on the failed mission," said Tara.

The three friends stood around Tara and looked at the information on the screen. It was too much for their minds to comprehend.

"According to this information, the academy had been in talks with Neigh Glup about how to locate Qarukkin Minninsha. After pinpointing its location on a star map, the academy decided to send a team to search for the place. If found, it could become home to the Saguturian refugees, providing them with a safe haven. However, no one was willing to embark on a quest for a place that likely didn't exist. Jim Johnson volunteered to team up with Neigh Glup for the exploration. Unfortunately, Jim Johnson never reached Neigh Glup, who was midway on the trajectory to the destination. Neigh Glup waited and waited in the same spot in his trajectory in space, but there was no sign of Jim Johnson," said Tara.

"So, where is Jim Johnson?" asked Yasmin.

"A rescue team was sent to find him, but no one found him along the trajectory his ship was traveling," answered Tara.

"Black hole?" asked Danny.

"The academy surveyed for any danger that could be found on the journey, and their total count was zero," said Tara.

"Then what happened to my father?" asked Alex.

"That's the mystery," said Tara.

Alex had taken over the screen and was going through each file, scanning every bit of detail.

"The academy has its own spaceships?" inquired Alex as he saw photos of them on the screen.

"We have a few which are kept in the hangar," responded Tara. "They aren't your typical spaceship. They can travel through not only space, but also time."

The three friends were amazed by this.

"Darn," said Alex.

"What is it?" asked Yasmin.

"This file won't open," replied Alex. "It's password-locked."

"Someone is coming," said Tara. "We need to get out of here."

Tara took control of the screen and closed all the files. The four of them slipped out of the command centre before anyone could find them there.

"Now what?" asked Yasmin once they were back in the corridor.

"The academy is trying to hide some information about the mission," said Alex.

"I got the charted star map unloaded to my flash drive," said Tara.

"You're a genius," said Yasmin.

"How did you know someone was coming?" asked Alex.

"Telepathy, mind reading. I felt the presence of an extra mind coming towards us," explained Tara.

"You're an...," started Danny, but Alex covered his mouth with his hand.

"I am," answered Tara.

"You shouldn't call her that," Alex said to Danny, annoyed.

"Sorry," apologised Danny.

"I'm guessing you three are human," said Tara.

"Alex isn't. Well, he is half-human," said Yasmin.

"Saguturian?" Tara asked Alex. "Of course you are. Silly me. We all here at the academy know what your father is. However, I never expected his son to be half-human."

"What's that supposed to mean? Do you have any problem with humans?" asked Alex, irritated.

Alex wished he hadn't met this girl to begin with; she was causing him to lose his temper.

"No," said Tara nervously. "I guess your father wanted to give you a home, something a lot of us never had."

"You have a home here on this planet," said Yasmin.

"It's nice of you to say that, but we will never fit in. We will always be different, a freak," said Tara.

"Freak?" questioned Danny.

"That's what I was called on Oraelis," replied Tara.

"Oraelis? You lived on Oraelis?" asked Alex.

"I was born there. I came to Earth five years ago," said Tara.

"Welcome to Earth," said Yasmin.

"I've tried making friends, but I always worry about them finding out the truth about me," said Tara.

"You said there are spaceships at the academy," Alex said to Tara, trying to change the conversation.

"Yes," replied Tara.

"And you have the charted star map to Qarukkin Minninsha uploaded to your flash drive," Alex said to Tara.

"Yes," replied Tara. "You're not thinking what I am thinking you are."

"I am," Alex told Tara.

"What is he thinking?" Yasmin asked Tara.

"He wants to steal a ship and find his father," replied Tara.

"No, Alex. How can you even think of it?" Yasmin said to Alex, furious.

"All these years, we have been friends with Alex, and you haven't realised that he does dangerous things spontaneously," Danny told Yasmin.

"This is beyond dangerous; this is suicide. He doesn't even know how to fly a spaceship," said Yasmin angrily.

"I'm doing this without any of your help," said Alex. "Tara, give me the flash drive."

"I'm not aiding you on this suicide mission," replied Tara, backing away from him.

Tara suddenly realised that she was stuck in her spot, unable to move. She looked at Alex in horror. He had used his powers on her.

Yasmin and Danny rushed in front of Tara to protect her. Alex moved them away with his telekinesis. He was now standing in front of Tara. His hand reached into one of Tara's pockets, and he retrieved the flash drive.

Turning around, he headed away from everyone.

"He's going to get himself killed," said Tara as she shook her legs, which were free from the spot now.

"What do we do?" asked Danny.

"We help him," replied Tara.

"And get ourselves killed along with him," said Yasmin.

"No, we prevent him from getting himself killed," said Tara.

"Will you two stop arguing," yelled Danny. "Tara is right, we need to help him."

"Thank you, Danny," said Tara. "Plus, I am the only one who has been to space. I can help navigate through the journey."

"Fine," said Yasmin, irritated. "If something goes wrong, I'm blaming you; this was, after all, your stupid idea."

"I'm glad that we are on the same page," said Tara. "Now we need to find Alex before he leaves the planet without us."

The three of them rushed down the corridor toward Alex.

"Alex!" Danny yelled.

Alex turned around to find the three of them a short distance behind him. He stopped moving and waited for them to reach him.

"If you three are here to stop me, good luck with that because I am not changing my mind. This is my one chance to find and bring back my father," said Alex.

"We aren't here to stop you. We are here to help you not get yourself killed. Plus, you'll need someone who's been in space before," said Yasmin.

"May I add you're going the wrong way. The hangar is in the opposite direction," said Tara. "There is one slight problem. We will need the access code to the gate of the hangar."

"Great," said Alex. "How do we get the access code?"

"We could steal one of the ID badges from the guards," suggested Tara.

"They are robots. Why would they need ID badges?" questioned Danny.

"Not all guards are robots. If I am not mistaken, there is a guard in the command centre," replied Tara.

"You want us to go back to the command centre?" said Danny, nervously.

"Someone has to go there," said Tara.

"We'll all go," said Alex.

An expression of terror appeared on Danny's face.

The four of them headed back to the command centre. They stood against the wall near the entrance to the command centre and peeked inside. As Tara had assumed, there was a human guard in a chair, leaning back with his feet on a table.

"So what's the plan?" asked Alex.

"I'll distract the guard with my telepathy, and Alex, you will use telekinesis to get the ID card," explained Tara.

"What about the rest of us?" questioned Yasmin.

"You two will stay here and keep a lookout for anyone who might be approaching us," said Tara.

Yasmin wasn't liking Tara a bit. Tara didn't trust her at all. Why would she? Yasmin didn't have any powers. Yasmin was determined to prove herself to Tara.

Tara moved towards the entrance, gazing at the guard. Her eyes glowed blue, and the guard's eyes mirrored the same hue for a brief moment. Tara's mind was now linked with the guard's.

"Go to sleep," Tara said in a calming voice.

The guard fell asleep immediately.

"Alex now," Tara commanded.

Alex stood at the entrance and stretched his right arm out, pulling the ID badge off the guard's waist by moving his hand. The ID badge drifted towards him, but halfway through, he lost control of his powers, and the badge fell to the ground with a 'thud' sound.

Yasmin emerged from behind and rushed towards the badge. Kneeling down beside it, she quickly picked it up and exited the command centre.

"Thanks for the save," Alex whispered to Yasmin.

"I thought you knew how to use your powers," Tara said to Alex.

"I recently discovered my powers and came to the academy to learn how to use them properly, but that's not going to happen now," replied Alex.

"Let's get out of here," said Danny.

The four of them immediately left the place, following Tara towards the hangar.

"Where is my badge?" bellowed a voice from down the corridor.

"The guard's awake. We need to get to the hangar before he finds us," said Tara.

The four of them quickened their pace and were soon running towards the hangar.

"The door to the hangar is locked," said Yasmin, pulling at the door. "The ID badge."

Alex swiped the badge on the electronic lock-pad. The badge was accepted, and the door to the hangar opened.

"Unauthorised access to the ship hangar. Alert! Alert!" blared a voice through the loudspeaker.

"We're going to get caught," panicked Danny.

The four of them entered the hangar, and Tara pointed them towards a sleek and functional ship with advanced features, including wings and engines. Upon arriving at the ship, Tara took the badge from Alex, opened the door, and a ramp appeared. The four of them rushed inside until they reached the front, where the cockpit was located.

Alex took a seat in the pilot's seat.

"Which button?" Alex panicked as he started pressing all the buttons randomly.

Yasmin, who was calm and relaxed, flicked a small switch near the control wheel, and the ship jumped to life.

"Off we go," said Alex as the ship lifted off the ground.

The roof of the hangar opened, and the ship emerged into the open air.

"Alert! Alert! Unauthorised launch of a ship from the hangar," blared a voice through the loudspeaker.

"Everyone, strap into your seats. We're off to outer space," announced Alex.