Maxie kept on trying to get Gizmo on the radio. Scrummage and Yargal waited nervously. And at last they heard his voice. Which should have been a huge relief. But wasn’t, because he said:
‘I’ve lost the Captain!’
‘What?!’ wailed Yargal.
‘How?!’ spluttered Scrummage.
‘He unclipped his lifeline.’
‘Why did you let him do that?’ cried Maxie.
‘Splattering sick buckets! You did it on purpose!’ cried Scrummage. ‘So that you can be captain!’
‘I did not. How dare you!’
Yargal sobbed and flailed her tentacles hysterically. ‘Do something, someone!’
‘Calm down!’ snapped Maxie. ‘We have to find him.’
They urgently looked through the vision screens around the command bridge, hoping they could locate Harvey. They couldn’t.
‘Gizmo, can you still see him?’ asked Scrummage.
‘He’s about fifty metres away from the left-hand engine.’
Maxie switched the flight desk monitor to Space-Scan. There were two slowly moving blips – one was just drifting along and the other was gently turning backward somersaults.
‘That’s him!’ she cried. ‘Computer, lock onto the captain, and bring him back onboard!’
‘Don’t be silly!’ snapped the computer. ‘I can’t transport a person who’s revolving round like a Catherine wheel! He’ll get all scrambled and end up with his ears on his knees, or his feet on back to front, or his fingers up his nose … or even worse.’
‘What are we going to do?’ cried Yargal.
The crew exchanged horrified looks. But no one had a clue.
Which was a shame, because Harvey’s fate was in their hands.
Harvey watched the Toxic Spew drift further and further away.
It was the first time he’d seen it properly from the outside. He hadn’t realised how grubby and battered and tatty it was. He could just make out what was left of its name, in massive yellow capital letters:
O SPEW.
Yup, O Spew! he thought. I couldn’t have put it better.
It can be very peaceful drifting about in space, just kicking back and watching the stars and planets against the pitch-black of a deep space sky. But not if you’ve lost all contact with your ship and you’re suddenly overwhelmed by the dreadful fear that you might never, ever get to go home.
This is it, thought Harvey in despair. Forever! Mum’s never going to cook me bangers and mash again, or double chocolate birthday cake with chocolate icing, chocolate buttons and mini marshmallows. No more birthdays … no more football with the Highford All Stars … no more Dad cheering at the match …
‘NOOOOOOOO!!’ he screamed.
But in space, no one can hear you scream.
Unless they’ve got a radio in their helmet of course.
‘OOOOOWWW!’ Gizmo’s eardrums nearly exploded inside his head.
‘Oooops! Sorry!’
‘Don’t worry, Captain. We’ll soon get you back onboard.’
‘How?’
‘Um … ’ said Gizmo. I have absolutely no idea, he thought. But he wasn’t going to tell Harvey that. ‘Don’t you worry about minor details like that,’ he said. ‘Leave it to us.’
Back on the command bridge, Maxie slowly steered the Toxic Spew around so that they could at least see Harvey through the vision screens.
‘There he is!’ cried Yargal. They watched helplessly as Harvey floated away, gradually getting smaller and smaller …
‘I know he’s the captain, but he seems so tiny and helpless!’ sobbed Yargal snotting strings of sticky tears out of her nostrils.
‘There must be something we can do!’ said Maxie desperately.
‘Like what?’ said Scrummage.