4. ADRIFT IN THE DEEPS
Trapped within the space taxi, Garry and Patch watched the darkness of space enlarge before their eyes as the ship emerged from the air-lock tunnel of the space station. The stars about them were countless lights, some packed so closely together that they trailed across the sky like distant streaming veils. But the boys had no eye for their beauty at this time.
“Garry,” Patch asked in a dismal voice, “what’s going to happen to us?”
“As long as they have control of the ship, I guess we’ll be all right,” Garry replied. “Maybe they are just sending the ship out on a practice run or possibly to pick someone up.”
“Pick someone up?” Patch asked, puzzled.
“I was thinking of satellite workers or repairmen. The skies out here are flooded with satellites, you know. They must have men working on them all the time,” Garry explained.
Garry heard a hissing sound. He found a slit in the wall from which it was coming. Near the opening was a gauge.
“That’s an oxygen mixture coming in,” Garry said. “It’s probably automatic. It turns on whenever the air pressure drops or becomes fouled.”
“That’s something in our favor,” Patch said grudgingly.