“We’re off course for the space station,” Tom replied grimly. “Way off, in fact.
That means both our ship’s instruments and steering mechanism were affected.”
He added thoughtfully, “Our suits seem to be functioning okay, though. Let’s see if our jets work all right.”
Both boys triggered their suit jets and found themselves able to move freely in any direction at will.
“That proves it,” Tom radioed to his pal. “We’ll have to-”
Tom broke off as a yell from Bud came over his suit radio. “Watch it, skipperl Meteor coming from one o’clock!”
Tom stepped up his jet power barely in time to dodge the whizzing meteor. It flashed past at blinding speed, almost grazing the hull of the rocket ship!
“Whew!” Tom gasped weakly in relief. “Thanks, Bud, for the warning!” But there was no time to waste. “Bud, you and I will have to locate the space outpost with this sextant and guide the ship there,” he radioed.
“Roger!”
Tom radioed orders to the ship’s crew to follow the two boys. Then, after estimating the
DESTINATION OUTPOST 53
proper course to the sky wheel from the computer reading, Tom and Bud started ahead through the awesome darkness of space.
Inside the cargo rocket, Bob Jeffers switched the automatic pilot to manual control and gunned the steering motors. But the ship failed to respond!
Meanwhile, the space-suited figures of Tom and Bud were already dwindling from view in the darkness far ahead.
“Hold it, skipper!” Bob Jeffers cried over the radio. “Hey! I said, hold it! We can’t move out of orbit!”
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