Chapter Three

Overload

The lights flickered. George felt a rush of fear as the entire station shook again.

“W-what’s happened?” cried Mr Snodbury, terrified. “Is that normal?”

“Number 2 reactor has overloaded,” said Parker. “Your students were right.”

The lights dimmed and flared. Technicians began to run from screen to screen. The doors to the Control Centre slid open and a team of scientists rushed in.

George and his friends were too scared to speak. Finally, George turned to Jane Parker. “Is there anything we can do to help?”

“Stay there, and try to stay calm,” said Parker. She dashed across to a machine that was emitting a high-pitched alarm signal. Ian Ash was already there, and together they tried to work out what had gone wrong.

Commander Ferguson barked into a communicator fixed to the sleeve of his uniform. George could hear his voice echo along the space station’s corridors.

“This is the Commander. Full emergency procedure. Technical staff to workstations. All departments report in. This is not a drill. I want this done by the book!”

By now, Mr Snodbury was dabbing so much sweat off his face that his handkerchief was wringing wet. George, Josh and Amira looked at each other, frightened by the way that the station’s staff were clearly so worried. Even Dwayne was looking nervous.

“Are you OK?” whispered George.

Josh and Amira nodded, with grim expressions on their faces.

The lights returned to their normal brightness. Technicians called out figures and readings to each other. The floor wasn’t shaking any more.

Commander Ferguson called over to Ash and Parker. “Report!”

“Overload in reactor 2, Commander,” said Ash. “I think we’ve got it under control.”

The Commander turned and was surprised to see George’s group huddled in a corner.

“What are those people still doing here? You children, go to your cabins, and stay there until further notice. We’ve had an emergency situation, but now the emergency is under control. There’s nothing to panic about. Our normal routine will continue shortly. There is no cause for concern. None whatsoever. Is that clear? All of you, is that clear?”

George and his friends didn’t answer. They were stunned into silence by what they could see through the Control Centre’s many large windows. Josh, who had turned ghostly white, pointed at the window with a shaking finger, unable to speak. Commander Ferguson turned to see what he was staring at.

From the left-hand side of the station, drifting slowly into view, came pieces of twisted metal and shards of shattered solar panels. Some were very large, while others were little more than shreds and scraps. They gradually rotated, weightless in space, moving past the Control Centre’s windows and off into the distance, shining like metallic dust in the light from the sun. Behind them, the curve of the Earth glowed blue and bright.

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Parker gasped and clapped her hands to her mouth.

“What…?” croaked the Commander, hardly able to believe his eyes.

“That noise we heard must have been an explosion,” gasped Josh. “And a big one.”

“The overload must have been huge,” said Amira. “Think of all those poor people that were out there!” She buried her face in her hands.

Commander Ferguson’s voice cut across everyone’s thoughts. “Parker! Escort those children to the canteen and keep them there! Ash! Take over in here! I’m going to assess the damage.”

“Aye, sir,” called Ash. He hurried over to the Commander’s touchscreens. Parker ushered George’s group out of the room, as the Commander swept past them. He marched out into the corridor.

They hadn’t got far before they found their way blocked. An emergency seal, striped red and yellow, had inflated across one of the walkways. A uniformed man was working close by.

“What’s happened here?” barked Commander Ferguson.

“The explosion tore a section of the hull open, sir,” said the uniformed man. “The reactor controls in corridor B-6 weren’t damaged, but walkways B-9, B-10 and B-11 all blew out. These pressure seals will be fine for a while, sir, but they can’t last too long. You can get around this blockage by going through the kitchens.”

The Commander thought for a moment. “I’m going to inspect the reactor. See why it overloaded. Doesn’t make sense.”

He marched off in one direction, while Parker, Mr Snodbury and Dwayne went in the direction of the canteen. Josh and Amira were about to head for the canteen too, when George held them back, pressing a finger to his lips to urge them to be quiet.

“Let’s follow the Commander,” he whispered. “We need to find out what’s going on.”

“He’ll be furious if he sees us,” hissed Amira.

“I’m not sure I want to get into any more trouble with the Commander,” muttered Josh. “I’m scared enough as it is.”

“We’re here to discover all we can about the station, aren’t we?” said George. “I’m scared too, but I don’t want to sit around with nothing to do but read the toilet instructions. I think we ought to do something to help.”

“Like what?” whispered Amira.

“Well, er, we don’t know that yet, do we?” said George. “We’ll just have to see.”

With that, he headed off in the direction the Commander had taken. With worried expressions clouding their faces, Josh and Amira took a fleeting look over their shoulders and followed him. They made their way through the station’s cramped kitchens, and emerged into a corridor which was cloaked in darkness apart from a line of blue emergency lights set into the floor.

“It’s cold in here too,” said Josh.

“Maybe the heating system’s been damaged as well?” said Amira.

George had reached the far end of the corridor. He turned and put a finger to his lips to silence his friends. Then he pointed around the corner. Josh and Amira crept up behind him.

They all pressed themselves into the shadows, peeking slowly around the corner to see what was going on at the control panels outside the room that housed fusion reactor number 2, the one which had overloaded.

Commander Ferguson was there, talking to Ian Ash. Ash was speaking in a low voice. George and his friends screwed up their faces in concentration, trying to overhear the men’s conversation. Once they did, they almost wished they hadn’t.

“It’s far worse than we thought, sir,” said Ash. “Three of this reactor’s four fusion chambers exploded. If the fourth had gone too, this area where we’re standing would have been vaporised. As it is, the control panels here weren’t damaged. They’re working normally, although I can’t understand how. Sir, I estimate that twenty-five per cent of the entire station has been destroyed.”

The Commander stared at Ash in horror. “A quarter of the station, man? Gone?”

“Yes, sir. All the labs and the docking ports. The emergency seals kicked in straight away, but we still lost a huge volume of our atmosphere. There are power outages all over the station. And …”

“And what, Ash?” demanded the Commander.

“Sir, the labs are where most people work. So …”

The Commander was quiet for a second or two. The colour seemed to drain from his face. “How many of the crew did we lose?”

Ash sighed. “Apart from the Control Centre staff,” he said at last, “I think there are less than a dozen of us left. All the rest are… floating out there. There isn’t even anything we can do to retrieve them.”

“Keep a grip, Ash,” growled the Commander. “We’ve got to play this by the book. Follow proper procedures.” He ran a trembling hand across his forehead, then straightened up and pulled his uniform straight. “What’s the outlook?”

“Bad, sir,” said Ash. “Atmosphere, power, all life support systems are damaged.”

“Prepare both the escape pods, just in case.”

“They went up too, sir, they were next to the docking bays. I’ve followed the rule book, Commander, so I’ve called to Earth for a rescue ship. But …”

“But what?” cried the Commander.

“Well, sir, it’s MaxiBoost who run the shuttles, and they’re insisting that all the correct forms have to be filled in back on Earth before they’ll even send for the refuelling truck.”

Commander Ferguson slammed his fist into the nearest wall. “Those blasted MaxiBoost fools!” he spat. “They’ve gone too far this time! Get it sorted! I want that rescue ship on its way!”

He stormed off, Ash following in his wake.

George, Josh and Amira emerged from the shadows. George’s heart was thumping.

“This is terrible,” wailed Josh. “This trip was supposed to be a reward for coming top of the class. Now it looks like we might never get home again!”

“Try to keep calm,” said Amira.

“Not easy,” muttered George. “Especially when you realise what caused that explosion.”

The other two were puzzled. “They don’t know what caused it yet,” said Amira.

“I think I do,” said George. “Look at these control panels, the ones which operate what’s left of the reactor. Ash said they’re working fine.”

“So?” said Josh.

Amira suddenly remembered something she’d read on her mini-screen, technical information about the station. “Oh no,” she whispered.

George nodded his head. “An accidental overload would have fused all these controls. They’d be useless. But here they are, undamaged. The overload could only have been caused by the controls being set that way. That explosion wasn’t an accident at all. It was sabotage. Someone did it deliberately.”