Tony leaned forward, resting his arms on the table, voice calm, and he had that signature smile.
"Why? You don't want to?"
Susan blinked, thrown slightly by the bluntness of the question.
Tony didn't wait for her to answer. His eyes were steady, his voice quieter now.
"We're going to be the first in human history to get that close to the sun. Not just orbit it, not just wave from a satellite. I'm talking proximity deep enough to study raw cosmic radiation at its source. Not the filtered kind that slips through our atmosphere, but the real thing. The kind that shaped stars. The kind that might have shaped us."
He let that hang for a moment.
"And up there, anything can happen. Maybe the containment systems fail. Maybe some radiation breaches the shield. Maybe someone gets exposed. I'm not betting on 'maybe it'll be fine' when we're outside Earth's safety net. I need someone who understands what happens to the human body when it's pushed past nature's limit. Someone who's already thinking about how to stop cellular decay before it starts. Someone who's not afraid to look at a genetic anomaly and ask, 'What can we do about it?'"
Susan leaned back slightly, arms folded. The wind picked up just enough to tug at her collar, but she didn't break eye contact.
"And you think that someone's me?"
Tony gave a slow nod.
"I know it's you. You didn't just study this stuff. You chased it down when everyone else was busy chasing glory. You didn't do it for money or recognition. You did it because you actually gave a damn. That matters more than anything else. I know everything you've chased so far... That's why I chose you for this mission."
He continued.
"I've got engineers, physicists, pilots, and AI running half the systems. What I don't have is someone with your instincts. Someone who can look at a problem with a human body in zero gravity, under stress, maybe even mutated, and find the thread that keeps them alive. That's why I want you with us. Not behind a desk or reading lab reports from home. Up there. Front lines. Because if something goes wrong, I don't want the second-best person on this planet guessing what to do."
Susan didn't answer right away.
She looked out over the edge of the rooftop. The city stretched out beneath them, alive and moving, but small compared to what he was talking about. Space. The edge of the sun. Radiation that could tear atoms apart. And a ship called Starfire being built to meet it head-on.
She glanced back at him. Tony wasn't grinning anymore. This wasn't a stunt or a vanity project. He was serious. And he trusted her.
"I'll think about it," she said finally.
Tony nodded, "It's a big decision. Take your time. And if you want to visit the site, just let me know."
The waiter arrived right on cue, placing their dishes on the table with quiet precision. Grilled salmon for Susan, a pepper-seared chicken bowl for Tony. The scent of citrus glaze and roasted herbs filled the air as the city's sounds faded behind the subtle ambiance of the rooftop.
Susan picked up her fork and gave Tony a quick side glance.
"You always spring space missions on people before lunch?"
Tony grinned as he sliced into his chicken. "Only when the person I'm asking might save all our lives."
She shook her head, half amused, half still processing. "You really don't know how to ease into things, do you?"
"I find small talk highly overrated," Tony said, chewing thoughtfully. "Besides, there are only so many ways to say 'your research saved a bunch of people from spontaneous combustion' before it gets weird."
Susan arched an eyebrow. "And here I was hoping this was just a casual power lunch."
Tony raised his glass. "Casual power lunch… with a side of existential science and future space drama."
They ate for a while in companionable silence. Susan couldn't help noticing that Tony didn't rush anything. He wasn't performing. No ego games. Just… present. Focused. Still carrying the weight of something unspoken, but hiding it under sharp edges and wit.
"So the Expo," she said between bites. "Big show, huh?"
Tony leaned back slightly. "Bigger than ever. But not in the usual fireworks-and-dancers way. This time, it's real. Real projects, real scientists. No celebrity fluff pieces. I want to put people like you at the front."
Susan looked genuinely surprised. "You're planning to put research front and center?"
"Research, ethics, people. The whole structure of the scientific world has been skewed by corporate bidding. We fix that by showing the public what science can actually do, when it's not bought."
She smiled. "So you're reforming the world while building a spaceship."
Tony lifted his glass again. "Multitasking."
They clinked glasses. Just water and fizz, but it felt like more than a toast.
As they finished the last of their meal, Tony pushed his plate aside and looked at her, that glint back in his eye.
"So… want to see where Starfire's being built?"
Susan blinked.
"Wait. Like… now?" She asked in shock. Everything was happening too fast for her to digest.
"Uummm... Yeah," He nodded. "Unless you've got other plans. Brunch with human biology? Afternoon yoga?"
She grinned, catching the mood. "I have a meeting with a protein analysis at three, but it's flaky. Might not show."
Tony stood, sliding his jacket over one shoulder. "Then let's go. I've got a ship standing by."
Susan grabbed her bag, adjusting her blazer. "I didn't bring anything."
"You won't need anything," Tony said as they stepped toward the elevator. "You're with me."
She glanced sideways at him as the elevator doors opened.
"This is your version of a second date?"
Tony looked at her with that same signature smile. "Only if we survive the sun together."
...
[Location: Private Stark Airstrip – Outside Manhattan]
[Time: 3:15 PM]
The car pulled through a private gate just outside the city, winding past layers of automated security and clean, empty tarmac. Susan had expected a simple jet or a helicopter.
What she got was not familiar.
Her eyes widened as they came to a slow stop.
In the middle of the runway sat a craft that didn't look like anything she'd ever seen, not in the military, not in aerospace journals, not even in concept leaks.
It was matte-black, almost bone-white in certain angles, depending on how the light hit it. Seamless hull. No visible engines. The wings weren't really wings; they were curved blades of alloy that pulsed faintly at the edges, like they were folding space rather than pushing through it.
The Stark logo was there, subtle and almost invisible.
Susan stepped out slowly, eyes scanning the craft. "Is that a… plane?"
Tony walked ahead, backpack slung casually over one shoulder. "Technically? It's a Variable-Vector Atmospheric Orbiter with Grav-Null repulsors and a dual-mode arc engine. All running on a clean energy source."
She gave him a flat look. "So… a plane."
He smirked over his shoulder. "A very cool plane."
They walked up the fold-down ramp. The interior was just as matte white with soft white lighting, curved alloy walls, and a cockpit interface that looked more like a command center than a pilot's seat. No switches. Just hard-light projections, motion recognition, and two flight chairs.
Tony gestured toward one. "Pick your seat. Pilot or co-pilot. Either way, you'll feel cooler than you should."
Susan hesitated for a second, then dropped into the co-pilot's seat, fingers brushing over the smooth surface of the console. It responded instantly, lighting up and syncing to her vitals.
"Welcome, Sir…" Hermes' voice echoed softly. "It would seem you have a guest."
"Yup! Susan Storm. She might be joining us soon. Well, set the course to our desert base," Tony ordered.
"Affirmative," Hermes replied.
"AI?" She asked.
"Yeah," Tony said as he leaned back on his seat. The engines didn't roar. They hummed, barely audible. The entire plane lifted without a single tremble.
Susan's eyes widened again. "No turbulence?"
"No atmosphere drag," Tony said. "Grav-null tech. We're gliding on a synthetic gravity channel until we're clear of standard flight lanes."
The jet angled upward, slicing through clouds like they were fog.
As the city fell away behind them, Susan looked out the side view.
The sky darkened into a deep blue.
She leaned back in her seat and said, almost to herself, "This doesn't feel real."
Tony glanced over. "Neither did you saying yes."
She gave him a look. "I didn't say yes."
"You got in the plane."
"I said maybe."
"You buckled your seatbelt."
"I'm considering."
Tony grinned, leaned back, and let the AI take over. "That's closer than most people ever get."
[Three Hours Later – Above the Sahara Desert]
Susan sat forward in her seat, watching the terrain change. Then her eyes narrowed.
"Wait… what's that?"
Below, the ground was shifting.
Not sand.
Metal.
Distorting surroundings.
Flat panels of alloy and steel stretched out, disappearing into cliffs and craters. A massive complex. Geometric. Clean. Not a single light visible from the sky.
"It's cloaked," Tony said. "You wouldn't see it on satellite. You wouldn't hear it on radar. But it's real."
As they descended, towers shifted from the sand... antenna arrays, energy dispersal units, kinetic dampeners. The jet gently set down on an invisible platform, its grav-locks engaging with a click.
---
[Leave some reviews & Power stones as usual]
If you like my work, you can support me on>: www.patr eon.com/XcaliburXc
[Read 15 advance chapters] + [Shazam: 11 chapters early access] [No double billing]