COSMIC STORM 83
“Boy, this stuff sure restores the circulation, Chow!” Tom said with a grateful grin.
He was just drinking the last mouthful when an alarm bell shrilled in the compartment. An instant later Tom and his friends felt a slight jerk and the space station began to whirl 1
“Hang on, everybody!” Tom cried.
The mammoth wheel began to spin faster. Bud and the two crewmen, caught by surprise, were thrown from their seats. Chow hit the deck with a resounding thump. Tom grabbed onto a bulkhead fitting just in time to keep himself erect.
Within seconds, the station was twirling at a dizzy rate. The cocoa mugs had been wrenched from the men’s hands, splashing hot liquid in all directions.
Fortunately, all other objects in the lounge were securely fastened down against any such emergency.
Bud, Chow, and the two crewmen clung desperately to whatever they could reach-but not before all of them had been painfully banged.
The whirling continued for several minutes. Then Ken Horton’s voice came over the intercom loud-speaker:
“Hear this, everybody! The blow is almost over and jet equalizers are being fired from the wheel spokes to counteract the whirling… . Repeat: It’s almost over! Just hold fast for another few moments.”
The twirling had already slowed perceptibly.
84 COSMIC ASTRONAUTS
Soon it ceased altogether. Tom, Bud, and the others struggled to their feet, then slumped into the nearest seats.
“Jumpin’ gophers 1” Chow groaned. “That was worse ‘n ridin’ a locoed bronc!”
“What caused the whirling, skipper?” asked one of the rocket crewmen, who had spent little time at the space station. His previous duty had consisted mostly of cargo shuttle service.