Chapter 34
Whoa! I guess I didn’t realize how humongous this lab really is when we were here earlier for the field trip. But now, with no one here working, it seems mighty mega super humongous. And quiet. Too quiet. It’s really pretty darn creepy in here.
“Hey, guys,” I say, “let’s hurry up and do this. I need to be home before my parents get back from the art fair.”
“Sure thing,” says Rand-El. “This place is even more awesome than I remember. Your parents must be pretty awesome themselves to be in charge of all this.”
Yeah, they must. My mom I guess I can understand, but who would have thought that my goofball of a dad was this important?
As we make our way over to the robot, we pass huge stacks of metal sheeting and Plexiglas. We pass bins filled with electronic parts and wiring, and shelves stacked with tools and hardware and space helmets of all shapes and sizes. There are also machines, big and small, to cut, bend, and shape the metal. You could build a battleship in here. Or a giant robot whose propulsion system we need to do a report on.
“Okay, I’m pretty sure the propulsion system is in the feet, so let’s start there.”
“Just be careful. And don’t touch anything.”
“Sure. And then we can write a report based on staring at a giant metal foot. That should land us a pretty sweet grade.”
“Hey! There’s some kind of access panel on the back of the foot. Let’s take a look inside.”
“Uh… I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“C’mon, Kelv. It’s a great idea. What’s the problem? If we aren’t even going to check this thing out, what was the point of sneaking in here in the first place?”
My thoughts exactly. My only goal now is getting back to the LIV space without getting caught, which seems less likely by the minute.
“What’s that? Who touched something they weren’t supposed to?”
“No, that’s not it. Look! It’s the robot’s dome! It’s starting to close!”
“What the heck is going on?”
“The station is going through the fire drill protocol.”
“But doesn’t that mean—”
“Yup. The inner doors are sealed and we’re stuck in here.”
“But doesn’t that also mean—”
“Yup. The outer air lock doors are going to open up and suck all the oxygen out of the lab.”
“But that means—”
“Yup. We’ll be sucked out into space right along with the oxygen.”
Suddenly I’m not so worried about being grounded anymore. I glance around the lab in a panic and notice Mippitt at one of the storage shelves. He’s holding a helmet in each hand.
“Quick, everybody—take a helmet! And grab on to something heavy so we don’t get sucked out the air lock when it opens!”
I look around frantically for something to grab hold of. Mippitt is waving us over to the giant robot, where he has his arm locked around the access door handle on the back of the foot. Yes!
The rest of us hurry over to Mippitt just as the enormous air lock doors begin to open. The problem, besides the fact that we’re seconds from being sucked out into the vast darkness of space, is that there’s only one handle.
Hey! This just might work, as long as the air lock doesn’t stay open too long! The pull toward the open doors is getting stronger, but everyone seems to be holding on okay. And the robot hasn’t budged! The only way this massive piece of metal is going out those doors is if it decides to walk over there itself!
