Airlock (5 page)

“Couldn't we push ourselves back into orbit?” said Josh. “Maybe a jet of air from the opposite side of the station would do it?”

“We'd need to use every last bit of air we've got,” said Amira. “Which means, even if it worked, we'd die.”

“Couldn't we produce a push some other way?” said Josh. “I mean, this station has engines. It can move around.”

Parker checked one of the flickering readouts on the wall. “The main engine block is still in one piece,
but there's nowhere near enough power left in it to get us free of the Earth's pull. It's down to a few per cent. We mustn't lose heart. The shuttle will already be on its way.”

“Then get it here!” cried the Commander, beads of sweat running down his forehead. “Get it here, for goodness' sake!”

The two technicians helped Parker to rig up a communications circuit using Amira's mini-screen wired into what was left of the station's electronics. Eerie creaks and groans echoed from other parts of the station.

“It's getting cold in here,” muttered Josh.

“Yes,” said George. “I should think most of the systems are dead. There's very little power left. We must try to breathe slowly and steadily, to conserve the remaining air.”

Amira's mini-screen flickered and hissed. Parker boosted its signal as far as it would go. “This is
Berners-Lee
station, calling rescue shuttle. Do you read me? This is
Berners-Lee
.”

A voice crackled from the mini-screen. “We read you,
Berners-Lee
. This is the MaxiBoost shuttle
Adventurer
. You're very faint. What's your situation?”

“Very bad and getting worse,
Adventurer
. We need immediate help! Are you on your way? I repeat, we need immediate help!”

“Confirm,
Berners-Lee
, we are
en route
,” crackled the voice. “Don't worry. We're at full speed. Everything's at maximum. We'll be with you in just ninety minutes.”

George felt as if his stomach had turned to water. A terrible, empty feeling suddenly swallowed him up.

Less than an hour, Amira had said. The shuttle wouldn't arrive in time. It would be too late. They'd all be dead.

Out of the corner of his eye, George spotted Dwayne slinking away along the corridor. Dwayne was heading back to the crew cabins again. This time, George was determined to find out what he was up to.

“George, where are you going?” whispered Josh.

“I'm not going to let Dwayne out of my sight for a second,” said George. “All this could have been his fault. You stay here, try to help the others come up with a survival plan.”

Keeping his distance, George crept along, staying close to the wall. It wasn't difficult for him to remain out of sight, because so few lights were working now. George's footsteps were hidden by the sounds of distant alarms and automated warning voices.

Ahead of him, Dwayne could only be spotted when he passed through patches of light shining dimly from one surface or another. Now and again he threw a glance over his shoulder. George froze, concealed in shadow, until Dwayne moved on.

Soon, they arrived at the crew quarters. Most were still in one piece, although the temperature here was even lower than elsewhere, and the lights were flickering, making the room feel much darker than before.

Dwayne sneaked into his cabin.

George crept up as close as he dared and listened. There was a rustling sound, and the noise of a locker being opened. Was Dwayne about to signal to someone? Was he retrieving some sort of spy equipment? Maybe something that would help him escape the station? Maybe even a weapon, with which to control the station's survivors?

George thought that the best idea would be to catch Dwayne by surprise. That way, Dwayne would be off his guard and George might be able to snatch away whatever Dwayne was holding.

He silently counted to three, then leapt into the cabin.

“Hold it!” he yelled.

Dwayne squealed in fright. He scrambled up onto his bunk, his legs bicycling in mid-air, clutching the item from his locker to his chest.

At once, George realised that Dwayne definitely wasn't the saboteur. Clutched to Dwayne's chest was not a communicator or a weapon, but a small and slightly grubby rectangle of material.

“You frightened the life out of me,” cried Dwayne. Then he noticed that George had spotted the piece of material. He went as red as a slice of pickled beetroot.

“Is that why you've kept coming back here?” said George.

“Yes,” said Dwayne, in a tiny voice. “It's… my snuggly. I've had it since I was a baby.” His head dipped and tears began to slide down his cheeks. “I'm so scared. You'll all laugh at me now because I need my snuggly.”

George sat down beside him. “No we won't,” he said. “You're not the only one who's frightened, you know. We all are.”

Dwayne glanced at him. “Why are you being nice? I ripped your baseball cap. I'm always mean and sneaky with everyone.”

George shrugged his shoulders and thought for a moment. “Yes, I suppose you are always mean and sneaky. But that doesn't mean it has to stay that way. Nobody's going to laugh at you.”

He stood up. “Come on, we've got to get back to the others.”

Dwayne stuffed his snuggly into his pocket, and wiped his eyes on his sleeve. They started to make their way out of the cabin. At that moment, the station began to shake. Things fell off bunks and shelves all around the crew quarters.

“I think we've just reached the outer layer of Earth's atmosphere,” said George. “It's going to start getting very bumpy now. We'd better hurry.”

They were about to leave when George felt something hit the side of his foot. A badly packed travel bag had tumbled across the floor beside him, and a mini-screen had tumbled out of the bag and landed next to where he was standing. He picked it up, read what was on it, and realised he'd found something very important indeed.

The two of them hurried back to the others as fast as they could. The station was beginning to shudder alarmingly.

“They'll have come up with a plan by now,” said George. “Just you wait and see. They're all clever people and they'll be working together, as a team, to get us out of this.”

They arrived at the corridor to find everyone in the middle of a fierce argument. Everyone had a different idea about what they should do, or not do, or could do.

Commander Ferguson was pacing back and forth like a caged lion. “So much for the rule book! So much for regulations! We've followed procedure. And it's got us nowhere!”

Panic was setting in. George decided that they needed something to snap them out of it, something to focus their attention.

“You may be interested to know …” he shouted.

Everyone stopped talking and looked at him. The station trembled and shook under their feet. When he saw he'd got their attention, George continued: “You may be interested to know that we can now identify the saboteur. We know who caused all this.” He held up the mini-screen he'd found. “I have proof.”

“Who was it then?” barked the Commander.

George turned to a figure who was huddled in a corner. “I'm afraid it was you, Mr Snodbury.”

“W-what?” cried Mr Snodbury. “What proof could you possibly have?”

George held up the mini-screen. “This is yours, Mr Snodbury. It fell out of your travel bag. It's got instructions on it for causing an overload in a fusion reactor.”

“How dare you!” declared Mr Snodbury loudly. “I've never been so …” His words tailed off and he slumped like a deflating balloon. He hung his head in his hands. “You're right,” he wailed. “It was me. What have I done? I never thought it would be this bad. They told me the station would only be without power for a few days. They never said there'd be an explosion.”

“Who said?” growled Commander Ferguson. “Who are you working for?”

“MaxiBoost Spaceways,” said Mr Snodbury. “They offered me a huge amount of money. And I took it. They said they wanted this station to go wrong, so MegaZone Corporation would look bad and MaxiBoost would get the contract to build space stations instead. They told me it would only cause a power failure, I swear! I never wanted all this to happen. They said nobody would get hurt.”

“What about Ash?” interrupted Amira. “I've read about those backpacks countless times. They're foolproof.”

“That had nothing to do with me, honestly! That must have been a one in a million faulty pack. They said everyone would be fine. But now they've left me here to die, the miserable so-and-so's.”

“To get you out of the way,” said Parker, “and hide the fact that you were working for them.”

With a yell of rage, Commander Ferguson grasped Mr Snodbury by the collar and hauled him to his feet.

“You worm!” he roared. “Give me one good reason I shouldn't tear you limb from limb!” “Because that won't help!” cried George. “Time is running out. We have to work together. We have to think!”

The Commander pushed Mr Snodbury aside with an angry grunt. “What's there to think about? Life support is all but gone, every system in this station is
wrecked and the rescue shuttle will miss us by half an hour!”

A couple of sudden tremors added to the shuddering motion all around them.

George stepped right up to the Commander. “You might be giving up,” he said, “but I'm not.” He turned to Amira. “Can you work out how long we've got now?”

After a few calculations, Amira said, “The station will break apart in about twenty minutes.”

“OK,” said George. “Let's think. Is there anything we can use to get clear of the station?”

“Nothing,” said Parker. “The two escape pods were destroyed in the first explosion, remember. And the only spacesuit we've got is the one the Commander used.”

“Will whopping great chunks of this place hit the Earth?” said Josh.

“No,” said Parker. “When the station breaks up, most of it will burn away as it falls. I expect it'll look like a shower of meteorites from the ground.”

“Most of it?” said George. “Will some parts of the station stay intact?”

“Maybe a few sheets of metal,” said Parker.

Josh suddenly perked up. “What about the main engine housing? Those things are made of micro-bonded carbon fibre. I read it in the technical manual on the way up this morning.”

George and Amira stared open-mouthed at Josh, amazed that he had remembered such useful information.

Parker thought for a moment. “I suppose the container holding the main engine is the toughest part of the station. Yes, I expect it would probably reach Earth in one piece. But if it fell in one of the oceans, it would sink to the bottom, and if it hit land it would smash apart instantly. By the time it reached ground level, it would be falling at several hundred kilometres an hour.”

“But perhaps we could hide inside it?” said Josh. “At least we'd survive the fall.”

“And then either drown or get squished,” said Amira. “No thanks.”

The rattling and rocking of the station was becoming ever more violent. The corridor was feeling even colder. Everyone's breath was beginning to steam. Very soon, the reverse would happen, and
the temperature would rise sharply. The outer hull of the station would heat up to melting point as it tore through Earth's atmosphere.

Mr Snodbury curled up into a ball. “I'm sorry,” he mumbled. “I'm so sorry.”

“Why did you do it?” said George. “Just for the money?”

“I wanted to leave teaching,” sniffed Mr Snodbury. “I've always wanted to run my own gardening centre. But I never had the cash. And now look what I've done. I've destroyed this magnificent space station and killed innocent people. Even with all our technology, space is still a dangerous place. Remember that project we did on the twentieth-century Apollo missions? They had little more than a giant tin can and a pocket calculator, but they got to the Moon and back. From Apollo 11 to
Berners-Lee
, a story of great achievement. And I've just ruined it. I'm glad I can't go back to Earth – I don't deserve to go back! I couldn't face telling everyone what I've done.”