It took all of Drake’s strength to keep from running back to the engine room and searching for Captain Buff. But he knew he had caused enough trouble. Now he needed to do what he was told, so he stayed on the bridge. As the seconds slowly ticked by the anxious space traveler paced back and forth while he waited for the captain to return.
“You’re alive,” a gruff voice called from the doorway.
“Captain Buff,” Drake spun around to find a man in an officer’s uniform.
The young space traveler’s joy turned to shock when he noticed blood streaming from the captain’s hair, down into his gray beard.
“Here, sit down,” Drake guided Buff by the arm to a nearby chair. “Are you alright?”
“The ship is in bad shape. The engines are overheating and the computers may shut them down.”
Drake raced to the infirmary and rummaged through the medical cabinets for whatever bandages he could find. Back at the bridge, Buff was slumped down in his chair and mumbling. Drake couldn’t understand what he was trying to say.
“Let me see your head,” Drake wiped the blood away and found a large gash on the captain’s head. He wrapped the wound but watched as the bandage turned red with fresh blood. He added a second bandage and held it tight to stop the bleeding. He breathed a sigh of relief after the second bandage showed no sign of soaking through. Next, Drake helped the captain to his quarters and laid him on his bed. Then he covered the injured man with a blanket.
“Can I get you anything?” Drake studied the captain’s pale face. When Buff finally spoke, it was nothing but gibberish.
“I will check back in a little while Drake tried to reassure him, hoping the captain could still understand.
Drake wandered back to the bridge. Not knowing what to do, he sat and stared out at the stars. Sometime later warning alerts squawked, and flashing alarms turned the bridge red. A deep rumble shook the entire ship.
Drake’s whole body jolted as he woke from the nightmare. His eyes scanned the bridge monitors and found nothing had changed since he dozed off. While his future was doubtful, at least he was still alive. When Drake looked out the window instead of a cluster of distant stars, he saw a large glowing object approaching. It took him a few minutes to realize the ship was traveling toward one of Dridish’s two moons. The moon grew larger and larger with each passing minute.
Drake ran to the captain’s cabin where he found Buff asleep.
“Captain Buff, Captain Buff, wake up.”
The captain woke with a start, stared into Drake’s eyes for a moment, and then when back to sleep.
Drake darted for the comms station and grabbed the headset. He hoped there might be a moon base with someone who could rescue the crippled spacecraft.
“Help. Is anyone there?” The panicked boy called over and over, but no one answered.
Meanwhile, the moon grew so bright, Drake worried the ship would crash into it at full speed. To his left one of the monitors began to flash a warning message that there was danger ahead and that the ship was correcting its course. While Drake knew the spaceship was in bad shape, he figured the computers were automatically steering away from the moon.
With no other options, Drake whispered a short prayer and watched as the moon filled the front window.
At the last minute the moon seemed to move down. Of course, he knew the ship was moving, not the moon. Next, he watched as the horizon appeared and black space beyond.
“It’s working. We’re not going to crash,” Drake muttered with a sigh of relief.
Then something happened he never expected. As the ship drew dangerously close to the moon, Drake felt himself drifting out of his seat. As he floated in midair, he felt a little dizzy at first, but quickly recovered. With his hand he pushed off the ceiling and propelled himself up to the deck. He guessed the moon was affecting the ship’s gravity field.
“It must have something to do with the ship being flung around the moon like a slingshot,” he said out loud.
With the slightest push, Drake floated out of the bridge and down the passageway to check on Captain Buff. In the cabin he found the captain floating in midair, but still asleep. Drake decided he had better get the captain back into his bed. If the ship’s gravity field recovers, the captain could end up on the floor. Drake grabbed a spare bed sheet and, after he guided the captain back to his bed, tided him down with the sheet. Drake floated back to the bridge. As soon as he reached the bridge, he felt himself being pulled to the deck. A few seconds later he was lying flat on his back. The ship’s gravity had recovered. As he stood up, he felt like his body was twice as heavy. It took him double the effort to get to his feet. Even though he has been weightless for a short time, it had a strange effect on his body. After a few minutes on his feet everything was back to normal.
Looking out the window, he found the moon had disappeared. Checking out of the rear-facing portal, he could see the moon growing smaller and smaller. But now he wondered where the ship was heading. Was it back on course for Turbora? He studied the navigation monitor for clues. He wasn’t sure, but the star map looked different, and a message flashed, “Course correction needed.”
Drake worried the disabled ship was now racing off into deep space. Where he would end up, he could only guess.