“Oh, no!” was all Garry could say, sickened at the sudden fateful turn of events. Actually, he was thinking more of poor Mac than he was of their own grim outlook. He remembered how much the likable Scotsman wanted to return to the heather of his own land after his stint in space. Now he would never see Scotland again. Garry absently watched Ben squirting a thick liquid around the cracks of the flight-deck door, probably as a safeguard against air escaping from the ship. “Ben has been outside in a pressure suit to look over the damage,” Captain Eaton said. Patch turned away from the others, hanging his head in grief and despair. Captain Eaton put an arm around Garry’s shoulder, but there was a helpless look on his face that seemed to show the uselessness of saying anything. Gino had lost his usual cheery smile and could only stare numbly at the closed door of the flight deck, where their friend had been the victim of such a cruel act of fate. Garry looked around at the ship’s company. Everyone was accounted for except Isaac. “Where’s Mr. Newton?” he asked. “Poor Isaac is completely crushed,” Captain Eaton replied. “He had just changed shifts with Mac at the pilot’s chair only a few moments before the accident. He’s blaming himself for the whole thing. It seems he overlooked the position of the satellite that hit us. He missed it on his last check, and Mac did not see it in time. Isaac’s gone off somewhere.” It was indeed a dark moment aboard the once-happy vessel. Things had happened so swiftly that everyone appeared to be still in shock. No one spoke again for several minutes. Everyone just stood around idly, as if not knowing what to do next and not really caring. Ben was the first to try to rally everyone’s deadened spirits. He had just finished sealing the cracks in the door. “It’ll be some time before we can tell which way the ship is heading. The collision changed our course completely. Even when we do find out, there’s nothing we can do to control the _Carefree_. She’s just a runaway. But I still think there’s hope for us.” All eyes turned upon Ben questioningly. “That flier you two arrived in, Garry,” Ben continued. “I’ve only had a quick look inside it, and the console seemed in pretty bad shape from your and Patch’s efforts to start the engines. However, if I’m lucky and we have time before the _Carefree_ hits another satellite or something, I may be able to fix it up so that we can escape in it.” “It’s our only hope,” Captain Eaton replied. “I suggest you get right on the job, Ben, and call on anyone you need to help you. Meanwhile, we’ll sweat out the flight, although I must say I feel like a duck in a shooting gallery because of all the flying objects whirling out there all around us.” “If we are able to escape in the flier,” Mr. Klecker said, “we can use its radio to send for help.” Ben shook his head. “The radio was removed for some reason. There’s only the empty compartment it came out of.”