“He must have half the sand of Mars on him,” Ted commented.
Suddenly his mother came up to the door and looked in. “Jill’s getting worse!” she said. “Ted, you and Randy must go out after the doctor.”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
News for Randy
Ted was not keen to venture out into the dust storm, but thoughts of his sister lying desperately ill quickly drove all hesitation from his mind. He and Randy climbed into their space suits, and as they approached the front-door air lock, Ted was relieved to find that he could begin to see through the thinning dust.
“It’ll be over in a few minutes now,” Randy said.
But if Ted expected any easy time of it outdoors, he was mistaken. The storm still had a lot of fight left in it. The wind struck them relentlessly, turning them around and blinding their gaze with whirling dust. They could not even thrust through it to the boat. Ted signaled to Randy that they would have to stand close to the house until the storm had subsided even more.
At last the wind died to gusts. The air was clearer now, and the stars were once again visible overhead.
“I think we can make it now,” Ted said.
They ran over to the boat and climbed in. As Ted dropped a pellet into the tank, Randy said, “Look at these scratches on the boat! That sand must cut like a file!”