“Whatever it is, it seems to be up in the tunnel,” Garry said. “Let’s go.”
They hurried up the stairs. Reaching the top, Garry, who was in the lead, looked down the tunnel from which most of the sounds were coming. He saw Ben, Captain Eaton, Mr. Klecker, and Gino on or near the platform outside the flight deck, the door of which was closed.
Garry and Patch pulled their weightless bodies along the webbing of the tube. As they approached the men, they heard Ben saying:
“This is terrible! Poor Mac! And what’s going to happen to the rest of us?”
“What is going to happen?” Garry asked, as he and Patch came upon the scene.
Captain Eaton turned to them with a distraught look. “I’m sorry, boys. If I had hastened to get you back to the space station promptly, you would have survived this—this disaster.”
“Disaster?” Garry echoed, with a sinking feeling in his stomach.
“Yes,” Captain Eaton answered, his voice shaking. “Mac is already done for, and we shall soon follow after him.”
“What happened?” Patch asked Mr. Klecker.
The boys could see pain on the men’s faces.