This latest bad news filled Garry with a new dread. But he refused to
give up hope. He remembered that Ben was working in the flier, trying to
put it in shape.
“Captain Eaton,” he asked, “do you think Ben will have the flier ready
by the time we begin falling to the moon?”
“I couldn’t even guess at that. If there’s not too much wrong with the
flier, he may get it repaired in short order. But a major repair—I just
don’t know. I guess the next thing now is to inform the men of our
course and get Ben’s estimate of the flier’s damage.”
The three of them joined Ben and Mr. Klecker in the flier a few moments
later. The small rocket ship was still held fast to the bigger
_Carefree_, their two air locks joined as if they were one ship.
When Captain Eaton had told the men that they were headed for the moon,
whether they liked it or not, Ben replied, “Well, Captain, I suppose
we’ve just _got_ to get the space taxi in shape in mighty short order. I
don’t imagine the _Carefree_ will bounce very well on the moon’s hard,
rocky surface.”
“Do you really think you can get it repaired in time, Ben?” Captain
Eaton asked gravely.
“How much time do you think you can give me?” Ben asked.
“I’ll have to do some more calculating before I can estimate exactly how
long it will be before we go into final fall,” was the reply, “but,
offhand, I would say you’ve got no longer than six hours.”
Ben looked at the damaged control panel of the flier and shook his head.
“Impossible,” he said, “but I’ll do it. I’ve _got_ to do it.”
“Everyone on the ship will be at your disposal, Ben,” Captain Eaton
said. “Call for anyone and anything at all that you need in order to
hurry those repairs. Ben, there’s no one else I’d rather trust with the
lives of us all than you. You can’t let us down.”
“That confidence means a lot, Captain,” Ben replied, his expression
showing the appreciation he felt. “Mac gave his life for the ship. I’d
do no less if it meant saving the _Carefree_ and all you guys.”
“I know you mean what you say, Ben,” Captain Eaton said, “but we won’t
call on you to go that far. Just get the flier in shape so that we can
escape in it and not share the _Carefree_’s fate in crashing on the
moon.”
Ben shook his head sadly. “I hadn’t thought of the _Carefree_ plunging
to her destruction. But we _know_ that’s got to happen, don’t we,
because there’s no way of saving her. Captain, this ship has become such
a part of my life that I’d almost want to go down with her.”
“I feel the same way, Ben,” Captain Eaton replied. “Life will never be
the same again without the _Carefree_. I don’t know how I’ll get along
without her deck beneath my feet.”
“If we get out of this alive,” Mr. Klecker said, “we’ll just have to
return to earth and spend the rest of our days there.”
“That’s true,” the captain agreed sadly. “Even a millionaire is allowed
a space ship as grand as this only once in a lifetime. I couldn’t afford
another.”
Ben seemed to realize that precious time was going to waste as they
talked, and he began getting his tools together.
“I know everyone wants to help,” he said, “but I think that Kleck and I
can work better together by ourselves just now. There’ll be less
confusion. I’ll be sure to call on anyone else if he’s needed.”
Mr. Klecker had donned some old clothes, but he did not look comfortable
in them.
Ben listed more tools and equipment he would need, and Captain Eaton
gave the list to Garry.
“Take this to Isaac, will you, Garry, and ask him to round these up as
quickly as possible. I’ve got to get back to the observatory and see how
much time there is to zero hour.”
“Isaac has taken Mac’s loss pretty badly, Captain,” Ben said. “Do you
think he’ll be working at top efficiency?”
“I think it will do him good to have something to do,” the captain
replied. “He’ll be of no use to himself, or us either, if he just keeps
on brooding.”
Captain Eaton and the boys left the flier and went their separate ways
to take care of their respective duties. Garry and Patch went to the
dormitory and found Isaac Newton sitting on one of the lower bunks, his
head in his hands. They stood beside the bunk for several moments,
waiting for Isaac to look up, but he did not seem to know that there was
anyone else around.
“Isaac,” Garry then said, “Ben needs a few things for the repair of the
flier. The captain thought you could round them up for us.”
Isaac still did not look up.
“Isaac, we’re headed for the moon,” Patch said urgently. “We’ve _got_ to
get the flier repaired within six hours, or we’re all goners!”
Finally, Isaac looked up, his gentle eyes red. “It’s all my fault,” he
said. “It’s all my fault that Mac is dead! I didn’t tell him about the
satellite, and I should have. I ought to be shot like a soldier for
neglecting his duty.”
“You shouldn’t blame yourself, Isaac,” Garry said gently. “Anyone could
have made the same mistake.”
Isaac shook his head, as if pulling himself together, and held out his
hand. “Let me have the list.”
He looked it over, climbed to his feet, and started out of the
dormitory.
“Gee, he _is_ taking it hard, isn’t he?” Patch asked.
Garry nodded. “I can imagine how he feels. How many times have you made
a mistake that you’d give anything in the world to correct if you could?
But with us, our mistakes have never cost a person his life.”
Isaac came back into the room. “One of the things on this list is the
sealer gun. It must still be up there by the flight-deck door that was
sealed to prevent the air leaking out. Will you fellows get it?”
“Sure, Isaac,” Garry replied. “Come on, Patch.”
As they pulled themselves along the center tunnel, Patch remarked,
“Isaac didn’t want to go back up there. That’s why he asked us to get
the sealer gun.”
“I think you’re right,” Garry replied. “But it will save him some time
just the same.”
Reaching the platform in front of the flight deck, the boys stepped up
onto the magnetized area. All at once Garry was struck by the awesome
silence of this part of the ship. Along with this was the remembrance of
the tragedy that had taken place beyond the door in front of them, and
he had a lonesome, shivery feeling.
Patch seemed to feel it too.
“Let’s hurry up and get out of here,” he said. “It’s kind of spooky here
all by ourselves.”
“I don’t see the sealer gun anywhere, do you?” Garry asked.
“No. Maybe somebody carried it away with them.”
There was a well of darkness beneath the platform. Both boys glanced at
one another. They knew that was the next place to look.
“It may be down there someplace,” Garry said. “We’ll have to take a
look.”
“How could it be down there?” Patch argued, not enjoying the prospect.
“There’s no gravity here in the tube. Things don’t _fall_ in here like
they do in the rest of the ship.”
“It may have been shoved off in that direction,” Garry said. “That could
easily have happened in all the excitement up here. Time’s wasting,
Patch. If you’re scared, I’ll poke around down there.”
“It’s not that I’m exactly scared,” Patch protested weakly.
Garry held onto the railing and swung his feet off the
magnetized-platform floor so that he floated weightlessly in the air.
Then he began pulling himself down into the darkness, using the metal
lattice-work that extended below the platform.
“How can you see down there?” Patch called from above. “Want me to get a
light for you?”
“I’ll feel around a little first,” Garry answered. “I may put my hand
right on it.”
With one hand holding onto the metal stripping, Garry fanned his free
arm back and forth along the floor. All he felt was cold smooth metal—at
first.
Then, suddenly, he felt something soft to his touch. A chill raced up
his backbone, ending in a prickle at the top of his head. He swallowed,
then courageously began feeling around again on the object, trying to
identify it. His hand touched flesh, warm flesh, and he could trace the
outline of five fingers. He felt that chill again, but he fought to keep
his nerves under control.
“Hey, What’s going on?” Patch called. “Have you found something?”
Garry pulled himself back up to the platform and hung onto the rail,
shaking.
“Garry,” Patch said, “you’re white as you can be!”
“I found something all right, Patch. There’s a _person_ down there,”
Garry whispered.