The light of thousands of stars out there seemed to burn into the boy’s brain. Would the decisive moment never come?
Presently Ted saw the blackness of space blurred for only the briefest instant as the _Moonstone_ drove past, its rockets streaming tongues of flame! The side jets spurted against the hull of the _Shooting Star_, causing it to rock. Ted felt the floor tilting beneath him, and he had to grab a wall rail for support. A glimpse he caught of his parents and Jill showed that they were having the same trouble.
As the ship steadied itself and drove on an even keel again, Ted grinned weakly. “We—we made it,” he managed to say.
The faces of Jill and her mother were still chalky with fright, but Dr. Kenton’s was as calm as if he had known the _Shooting Star_ would come through the peril all right.
They heard the voice of Commander Grissom over the speaker informing the passengers that the danger was past. Dr. Kenton then cut off the speaker.
“I never want to go through an experience like that again!” cried Mrs. Kenton, taking a seat.
“I don’t think we need ever fear this happening again,” Dr. Kenton said. “It’s quite a rare occurrence.”
“They’re rare too, fortunately,” he answered. “I don’t see why we can’t expect an uneventful trip from now until we reach our home on Mars.”
Hearing this confident remark, the children were interested in the space ship again. “We didn’t finish our tour!” Jill burst out.
“Would you like to see the garden?” Dr. Kenton asked.
“The garden?” Ted asked, puzzled. “What good is a garden on a space ship?”
“Come along and you’ll see,” Dr. Kenton said and started for the door. Mrs. Kenton said she preferred to stay in the suite and collect her shattered nerves, but the children, of course, were eager to go.
“Haven’t you two wondered how you’re able to breathe in the ship?” their father asked as they walked down the corridor.
“I know how,” Ted said. “The air is pumped through the ship from compressed-air chambers.”
“Mostly oxygen and nitrogen,” Ted answered.
“The _Shooting Star_ uses oxygen, with helium instead of nitrogen to dilute it,” Dr. Kenton said. “That’s so that, in case a meteor penetrates the ship, the rapid decompression won’t cause us to get bubbles in our blood, which is a dangerous condition called ‘the Bends.’”