Crash Course
Page 3
‘Whatever you say, Mum,’ said Luke.
Soon Chung was punching 1CoolBoy into the computer’s terminal. Lights flickered into life on more panels and two joysticks rose out of the arms of Mum’s seat, one for each hand. She gripped hold of them, and Luke could feel a subtle change in the ship – Mum was back in control.
‘TWO MINUTES TO IMPACT…’ intoned the voice of the computer.
‘I’m going to need all the power you can give me, Mr Asimov,’ she said.
‘I’m afraid we’ve been at maximum power for a while, Captain, and that won’t do the engines any good at all,’ said Asimov. ‘I remember once on a –’
‘Any change in our course yet, Chung?’ said Mum. Luke could feel the deck juddering beneath his fee – the Buzz Aldrin was under colossal strain.
‘No, Captain,’ said Chung. ‘Something seems to be pulling us down.’
‘It’s a rogue moon,’ said Yuri. ‘The scanners think it’s the ship in the game, but that doesn’t matter. We’re probably caught in its gravitational field now.’
‘SIXTY SECONDS TO IMPACT…’ intoned the voice of the computer.
Chung did something to her terminal, and suddenly the forward view-screen shimmered. The Ishtreen mother-ship vanished and was instantly replaced by an image of what was really out there in space. The rogue moon filled the whole screen, its surface pitted with rocky craters, giving off a faintly evil glow.
Everyone on the bridge gasped at the sight – everyone except Mum. Luke could see her concentrating, fighting hard to save the ship and its precious cargo of humanity. Then suddenly he thought about what Yuri had just said.
‘There’s a way you can save us, Mum!’ he said. ‘You have to go for the old slingshot move, using the moon’s gravity to give us an extra boost of speed.’
‘I know what a slingshot move is, Luke,’ said Mum, turning to look at him in surprise. ‘But how in space do you? Plenty of pilots haven’t even heard of it.’
‘It’s something I came across a while back… in a stupid computer game,’ said Luke with a straight face. ‘You’d be amazed at what you can learn from them.’
‘Is that so?’ said Mum, raising an eyebrow. ‘I had no idea they were so educational.’
‘Er… I don’t want to interrupt,’ said Yasmin. ‘But could you like, hurry up and save us?’
‘Don’t worry, I’m just about to,’ said Mum. ‘Hold tight, everyone.’
‘TEN SECONDS TO IMPACT…’ intoned the voice of the computer. ‘NINE, EIGHT…’ Luke grabbed the arm of Mum’s seat as she fired the thrusters, getting the Buzz Aldrin lined up for its final approach. The ship screamed down towards the moon and skimmed just above the surface like a tiny fly circling a football. It went nearly all the way around… then the moon’s gravity kicked in and sent the ship whizzing safely off into space at over a thousand kilometres a second.
‘IMPACT AVOIDED WITH ONE SECOND TO GO,’ intoned the voice of the computer.
Cheers broke out on the bridge, and Mum gave Luke’s hand a squeeze. ‘Maybe you should show me this game of yours,’ she said, smiling at him. ‘Could the two of us play on your console thingy together?’
‘Sure,’ said Luke with a huge grin.
Maybe life on the Buzz Aldrin wasn’t so bad after all.
First published 2011 by A & C Black
Text copyright © 2011 Tony Bradman and Tom Bradman
Illustrations copyright © 2011 Si Clark
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This electronic edition Published in February 2013 by Bloomsbury Publishing
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eISBN 978-1-4081-6376-4
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