As his voice trailed off, Garry saw the picture. “You want us to take the space suits and—and go out there.”
“It wasn’t an easy decision to reach, Garry,” Mac spoke. “We may be sending the two of you to a worse fate than would happen to you here. But in that way there lies a chance for you. Here the chances would be very little. We are all agreed on that.”
“But why us?” Garry protested. “Why not two of the rest of you? We thought we had become one of you by now. We should all have drawn lots to see who would go. It’s not democratic this way.”
“It’s because we’re kids, isn’t it?” Patch asked. “You’re packing us off like children to bed! We won’t leave you here!”
“Remember your promise, fellows,” Captain Eaton said. “This is the way we want it. Believe us, we really do—unanimously.”
“There’s even a chance you might make heroes of yourselves,” Isaac added. “You may find someone who can come and rescue us before it’s too late.”
“We realize it won’t be easy for you to leave us behind, and it won’t be easy to set out across unknown country for an unknown destination. It’ll take courage, gentlemen, plenty of courage, more courage than it will require for us to stay on here,” Mr. Klecker said.
Garry could find no further argument. The others were too much against him and Patch. They simply would not have it any other way. In the end the boys gave in, but they felt guilty for accepting what was seemingly the only way to survival.
Some time later the boys were ready to start out. The space suits still were a little large, but they would serve. Garry wore the luminous green suit, Patch the luminous orange one. The boots were so large that Garry and Patch had to wear them over their shoes. The helmets were big and bulky, but in the moon’s light gravity they were not too heavy.
When the boys were sealed in the suits completely, Captain Eaton ran a careful check on them—the air pressure and temperature, and the “walkie-talkie” radios that would enable the boys to talk to each other. Finally, the fellows were loaded down with all the supplies they could be expected to need. This included spare oxygen tanks, water bottles, and liquid food in tubes. These tubes could be squeezed through an opening in the helmet so that one in a space suit could take nourishment without opening his helmet.