The idea of stretching out comfortably with a good book and plenty of
spare time did not seem so satisfying after several hours. After this
period, everyone began to get restless, with a desire to get up and
stretch his legs, as they could have done if they were back on the
_Carefree_.
“I know how you feel, fellows,” Captain Eaton said sympathetically, as
he noticed how tired everyone had become of just sitting around. “I’d
like to take a romp myself outside in a space suit, but without knowing
how soon we’ll be rescued and having no surplus of supplies, I don’t
think we should use up our oxygen that fast. Everyone agree?”
Everyone did.
Then to while away the hours that were beginning to drag slowly along,
the captain suggested that they talk among themselves and exchange
stories. This activity occupied the group for some time. Garry was glad
that poor Ben was not mentioned again to further depress everyone.
Finally, all became “talked out,” just as they had become “read out”
before that. And by this time some were ready for a nap and began dozing
in their seats.
Garry watched the captain settle back in his seat, sighing tiredly.
“I suppose I should be grateful for being alive,” he said, “but I feel
almost as if I had died myself. Yes, this is a sad day for an old man
who has lost at the same time the dearest things to his heart—one of his
best friends and a funny-looking space ship that had come to be even
homier than his earthly home.”
Garry noticed how much the conversation kept returning to Ben. He
guessed that the unselfish spaceman would be on their minds for a long
time to come.
“I wonder where they went down, Captain?” Mac asked. “I didn’t even see
the _Carefree_, once Ben cut us free.”
“None of us saw her,” the captain replied, “and I’m glad. I hope they
never find her remains on the moon, because I would feel compelled to go
to the site of the crash and I would not want to do that. No, it’s
better this way.”
Before long, someone mentioned food. There was some mild enthusiasm from
the others, but not much. Everyone knew that all there was to eat were
capsules that would provide nourishment but little enjoyment.
Gino made a face when the capsule bottle was passed to him and he shook
two of the pellets out into his hand.
“To think that I would ever have to make a meal of these things,” he
said sadly, “I, who at one time or another, have served up the grandest
dishes ever put together.”
All ate silently. Since the additional talk about Ben, it was as if cold
water had been poured over their spirits.
After the brief meal the captain suggested that the lights be turned
down and everyone try to get a “night” of sleep.
“I think all of us are brain fagged and bored after all that has
happened,” he said. “Maybe there’ll be someone knocking on our air-lock
door before we wake up.”
No one objected to the idea, as it seemed to be the only thing left for
them to do.
When everyone was settled down for the “night,” Captain Eaton cut off
all lights within the flier. It was still not very dark in the flier
because outdoors it was brighter than the brightest moonlight night on
earth, owing to the brilliant glow of earthshine.
“If our rescuers do not show up some time tomorrow,” Captain Eaton said,
“we had better start cutting back on our battery power. That will mean
no lights inside, except use of the flashlight in the cabinet, and less
warmth. I have a feeling that our batteries will play out before any of
our other supplies do.”
When Garry woke the next “morning,” he heard some of the others stirring
about. Patch was standing over him with two tablets and Garry’s personal
water bottle which squeezed the liquid into one’s mouth.
“What’s this?” Garry mumbled. “Time for my medicine?”
“Medicine nothing,” Patch replied. “This, son, is breakfast. Or would
you prefer nice crisp bacon and fluffy scrambled eggs?”
“Aw, Patch, cut it out,” Garry pleaded. “You don’t have to make this any
tougher than it is!”
Garry took the food pills, chewing them slowly to get what little flavor
there was in them. Then he finished off with the water, which was little
more than enough to wet his throat.
“Gee, the captain has really rationed the water, hasn’t he?” Garry
whispered.
“He cut it back even further this morning,” Patch replied. “Know why?
Because nobody came knocking on our air lock as he had hoped maybe they
would. On top of that, I heard him say he was going to run another close
inventory on all our life-supporting items to see how much is left.”
“Gosh, do you think he’s afraid _no_ one will be knocking any time
soon?”
“I don’t know,” Patch replied, “but he has been frowning quite a bit
this morning.”
The captain presently made it clear to all why he had been doing so much
frowning.
“Frankly,” he said, “I thought those people at the mining settlement
would have had plenty of time while we slept to pay us a visit. If our
SOS reached them soon after we began sending, as it should have, they
should have had a flier over here within a few hours’ time. Our chief
essentials for staying alive are our food, water, air, and power supply
which is necessary to keep us warm. It’s several hundred degrees below
zero outside, in case you haven’t thought about it.”
They took another inventory, and the results were not very heartening.
“We’re using up much too much of our battery power,” Captain Eaton said.
“That’s the weakest link in our chain of existence. I didn’t realize
that yesterday when we had the lights on for reading. From now on until
someone comes, we’ll have to do without light altogether except when
necessary. That means we’ll have to do our reading by earthshine and our
one flashlight. We may have some strained eyes, but that’s the best we
can do. We’ll also have to reduce our heat a little to save on power
that way too.”
“Captain, do you think we should check the condition of the battery in
the outside transmitter?” Isaac asked.
“It’s supposed to have a useful life of seventy-two hours, operating
automatically for a few minutes every half hour,” the captain said, “but
the battery may have lost a lot of its power in storage. I think it
would be a good idea to check it. It has a test meter on it, Isaac.”
“I’ll go out and check it, Captain,” Isaac said.
When he had pulled on one of the space suits, Isaac checked the air and
pressure and went outside.
Garry and Patch watched him move in a light-footed gliding motion toward
the spot where the antenna had been set up. He spent several minutes
with the rig and then came back into the flier.
As he lifted his helmet off, he said with a shake of his head, “It’s
quit sending, Captain. You were right. The battery must have been in bad
shape to start with.”
“Not sending,” Captain Eaton muttered to himself, a dark worried frown
on his face. “That means that if our SOS was not picked up earlier, it
never will be, and no one will know where we are.”
Garry’s heart chilled at hearing this. What the captain really meant,
but did not say, was that they were doomed to a slow death as their heat
and air were depleted and they froze in the moon’s incredible cold. That
would happen long before their food and water gave out.
Captain Eaton placed a fatherly arm around each of the boys and said,
“Fellows, I wish there were something I could do. Believe me, if I could
give my life to save you two, as Ben did, I would gladly do it. Do you
believe that?”
“Yes, Sir, I do believe it,” Garry answered sincerely. “But can’t we
really do something—anything at all? It—it’s better than waiting, isn’t
it?”
“You’re trembling, both of you,” the captain said, “and I can’t blame
you. If it’s any comfort to you, I think you’re the bravest two boys I
ever knew. I would have been proud to have had a couple of sons like
you.”
The captain pressed their arms affectionately. Garry knew how he felt
about his helplessness to do anything.
“You ask if there’s anything we could do,” Captain Eaton said. “Of
course we’re not giving up hope completely at this early stage, but
things do look bad. We could ration ourselves severely and maybe prolong
our existence a few days, but after that....”
Garry finished the gloomy sentence in his own mind.