Chapter 15

‘Alpha Base to Scout One. Come in, Scout One.’

Nash lifted the receiver in the bus. ‘Scout One to Alpha Base. Over,’ he said.

‘How are you faring out there, Scout One?’ Nash recognised Commander Best’s voice on the comms. It had taken considerable convincing for her to stay in the dome to recover, but eventually she had relented.

In the Maxi-Rover were George, Alex, Nash, Raj, and KC. They had Orson’s list of required parts with them. Having worked with his dad repairing Misty for some time now, Nash was almost an apprentice engineer himself. He knew what circuit boards, wires, attachments, and parts Orson needed so he hoped it was simply a matter of searching for and finding the right ones.

‘All good,’ Nash replied. ‘We’re almost at the recovery site now. Over.’

‘Excellent,’ Commander Best said. ‘See you back here soon. Over and out.’

George pulled Maxine up beside the abandoned shuttle, Xenon. It had landed on Mars ten years ago and had been temporary housing for two astro-explorers. Plagued with bad luck and accidents, however, the crew had been forced to abandon the planet and journey home in a smaller craft.

Already dressed in their space suits, Nash and Raj pulled their helmets on and set off on foot towards the shuttle, red dust swirling around them. It was an eerie feeling stepping inside the spacecraft shell. Everything was in good condition, although much of the seating and the wall panels were missing as they had taken by the colony for building materials.

‘This place is creepy,’ Raj said. ‘Let’s find those parts and get out of here.’

Nash checked his list and began searching the ship for the items. It took them almost an hour, but they were able to locate every part they needed except one.

‘That last one is tricky,’ Nash said. ‘It’s an oscillator and it should be in the engine room below.’ While Raj waited in the bridge, Nash clambered down a set of metal stairs and made his way towards the main engine. After a brief search, he found the oscillator. He used his spanner to release the bolts holding it in. As he did so, Raj shouted in a panicked voice, ‘Nash! We’ve got a problem.’

The shuttle rocked violently from side to side.

‘What’s going on up there?’ Nash asked through the comms.

Rapid footsteps sounded above then Raj poked his head down into the engine room. ‘Hurry! There’s a dust storm coming.’

‘Give me a minute,’ Nash grunted, giving the spanner another turn.

‘Nash!’ George shouted over the comms. ‘Can you hear me?’

‘Yes,’ Nash replied. His tongue poked out of the corner of his mouth as he concentrated. ‘I’ve got one more bolt to go.’

‘We can’t wait much longer,’ George said. ‘The storm is showing on the scanner, and we can see it in the distance. It’s a big one. Get to the bus right away.’

‘Raj, you go,’ Nash said. ‘I’ll come as soon as I get the oscillator.’

‘No way.’ Raj was adamant. ‘I’m not going anywhere without you.’

One more turn and the final bolt dropped out. The oscillator came free. Nash reached out to catch it, but it dropped to the floor.

‘Drat!’ he gasped, bending down to pick the part up.

Buffeted by the wind, the shuttle bumped left and right. The oscillator slid across the floor. Nash chased after it.

‘Hurry, Nash!’ Raj called. ‘We’re about to get smashed.’

The oscillator rattled further away. Nash crawled after it on his hands and knees, swiping at it frantically before finally catching it. ‘Yes!’ he cheered.

He bolted up the stairs and was greeted by Raj, who gave him a triumphant hug, then they both ran out the shuttle door. From the corner of his eye, Nash saw an enormous red dust cloud heading towards them. The wind whipped around them, threatening to tear the bag of spare parts from Nash’s hands. He pressed on, racing across the coarse ground towards Maxine.

George had the windscreen wipers and the lights on, and the engine revving. He beeped the horn furiously while KC and Alex screamed at Nash and Raj to run. The boys made it into the bus and fell on the floor, gasping for air. Raj shut the door behind them while George slammed his foot on the accelerator. ‘Seatbelts on!’ he shouted. Maxine lurched forward, but George was in such a panic he stalled the engine. ‘Now’s not the time to be temperamental, Maxine!’ he roared.

Nash threw himself into a seat and clipped his belt up, staring in horror out the window. The dust cloud bore down on them, towering hundreds of metres into the air, and darkening the landscape around them. Nash had never seen anything like it.

‘That’s the biggest dust storm I’ve ever seen,’ Alex said, with fear in his eyes.

Nash gulped. If Alex is scared, this must be bad.

George turned the key in the ignition. The bus roared into life. Smoke poured out the exhaust and with a jolt, the vehicle took off again. They raced the dust storm all the way back to the colony, barely staying ahead of it. As they approached the dome, George beeped the horn and shouted into the comms, ‘Open the gates!’

The gates seemed to take forever to part. When they did, Maxine shot through the gap, the gates closing behind them seconds before the full force of the storm hit, quickly blanketing the dome in red dust.

‘Woohoo!’ Everyone cheered.

Nash slumped in his seat with relief. Now, let’s hope these parts fit.