The door behind him whooshed open and Choi stepped inside. "Why are you not in your chair?" she demanded.

"What the! Hey!" Willard grabbed his boxers and held them up in front of his naked body. "I'm naked here!"

"I can see that," Choi said without a hint of embarrassment, interest or humor. "And you'll be naked and dead if you don't get in that chair."

"I know…I know. It's just—"

Choi stepped forward and reached out for Willard.

"What are you doing?" he asked in surprise.

Choi's hands came to rest on Willard temples. "Helping you relax," she said, standing intimately close to Willard's naked body.

Willard looked down and noticed two things—how close Choi was standing to him, and how attractive she looked her tight grey jumpsuit.

"Close your eyes," Choi said in a soft, almost seductive voice.

Willard closed his eyes and couldn't help but smile. His first experience in space was going well and getting better.

"Breathe deep," Choi said. "Listen to the sound of my voice."

Willard couldn't take his mind off the sound of her voice. All his worries and fears were disappearing and being quickly replaced by more primal thoughts. He felt Choi's hands rest gently on his naked shoulder. She squeezed him gently.

"Now then," she said, "there is only one thing left to do."

Willard raised his eyebrows, his smile expanding.

Choi leaned forward and put her lips next to Willard's left ear. "Sweet dreams," she whispered.

Willard felt the pressure on his shoulders intensify for just a second and then felt his body falling backward, pushed by Choi. A cold surface broke Willard's fall and he opened his eyes. Choi was standing above him, smiling slightly.

Willard looked confused. "You smile?"

Choi glanced down and Willard followed her eyes to his lap, which was already covered by liquid metal.

He was sitting in the chair.

Choi stepped forward, put her hand on Willard's forehead and held him back in the chair. He began to complain, but the liquid metal covered his mouth before he had the chance. She turned and left Willard encased in his liquid metal cocoon.

*   *   *   *   *

Twenty-five minutes after the crew had departed the space elevator and Choi confirmed the crew's readiness, the ship's auto pilot took over. Docking clamps released. The massive ship, which looked like a cross between a Navy Destroyer and a Bullet Train with massive amounts of shielding on the front and rear, drifted away from the elevator until it had put a few miles between the two.

A small hatch at the back of the ship opened, jettisoning what was essentially a nuclear warhead. A burst of light that looked like a distant star going super nova exploded from the backside. It was bright enough for Nancy Heintz to see from the rooftop greenhouse atop the GEC headquarters.