“Patch!” Garry called, repeating the name over and over. Patch had blacked out, but after a few minutes he came back to consciousness. “Wh—what happened?” Patch asked in a weak voice. “We’re in space, Patch,” Garry replied. “They’ll probably think we’re stowaways and send us to jail. Maybe Officer Mulroy will get in trouble too.” But this was the least of Patch’s worries right now. He put his hand to his head, complaining, “Gee, I feel terrible. Everything’s going around! And I had the worst nightmare all night long!” Garry had to grin at this. “We haven’t been here all night, just a few minutes. It just seems like a long time.” Patch fumbled loose his upper straps and struggled to a sitting position, but fell back down onto his contour seat. “Wow, I can’t make it!” he said thickly. “There’s no use trying to get up,” Garry said. “We’re weightless and would never be able to get about. It’s funny how I wanted so terribly to go into space, but now that I’m out here I’m not enjoying it. I guess it’s because I’m afraid of what’s coming.” Garry wondered what they should do. Should they turn themselves in and take their chances on being believed that their being aboard the _Orion_ was due to an accident? But if they did this, then Mr. Mulroy might be held responsible for not seeing that the boys had left the ship. And yet, Garry realized, he and Patch could not stay in hiding indefinitely. Sooner or later they must be found out. If they did not turn themselves in, and they were discovered, they would surely be regarded as stowaways. Then a new fear came to Garry. What if his and Patch’s combined weight was over the ship’s allowable limit? What if their being aboard would keep them from reaching the space station and, instead, cause the earth’s gravity to pull the _Orion_ back down? In that case the two of them could possibly cost the space-ship line a new rocket worth millions, not to mention the lives of all the persons aboard in case a safe landing could not be made! Garry was occupied with these grave thoughts until he heard the public-address system saying: “We are now in braking orbit.” Garry knew this meant that the ship had reached the vicinity of the space station and was beginning to circle the station while the braking rockets were cut in. This procedure would slow down the _Orion_ so that she would be moving at the same orbital speed as the space station. Then it would be easy for her to slip into dock. Garry and Patch felt the tug of the ship’s gradually diminishing speed, but this was not nearly as rough as the blast-off had been. As the _Orion_ moved into dock, the boys felt their weight returning. This was due to the station’s rotation and artificial gravity. “Well, it looks like the ship has made it all right,” Patch said, relieved. “They must not have had a full load.”