Biff had become a close friend of the young Shannons, having made trips with them to other ports in space. Sue liked Biff because of his quick smile and gentle patience. Steve liked him because he was all that Steve would like to be some day himself—a fearless, bold spaceman.
They finished up their tour of the dome. They saw the room where giant machines made oxygen out of chemicals and blew it through the building so that there was fresh air to breathe all the time. And they saw the astronomy hall far up on top of the dome where scientists could see the heavens through the thin atmosphere much clearer than they could from Earth.
“Isn’t it about time for the fuel rocket to be shot off, Biff?” Steve asked.
Biff nodded. “I think it’s just about time,” he said. “We’ll suit up and go outside to see.”
In the dressing room they put on their space suits. As though they were his own children, Biff carefully checked the young Shannons’ air tanks, built-in heaters, and their helmet radios for talking to one another. Finally Biff rubbed gelatin on their helmets so that they would not frost over in the cold that was a hundred degrees below zero.
Outside they found space-suited figures gathered around the fuel rocket cannon. The cannon was pointed toward a shiny ball high up in the purple-black sky.
“Look, Sis, there’s the space ship toward which they’re going to shoot the fuel rocket,” Steve said.
“I see it!” Sue cried, her eyes dancing excitedly.
“They have to line up the cannon with the ship just right or the rocket won’t reach it,” Biff said.
“Won’t the rocket hit the ship?” Steve asked.