6 Race against time

Chapter Six RACE AGAINST TIME. The Odin probe appeared on the scanner. Roshni watched anxiously as they hurtled toward it. They might make it in time… but it would be close! The Beagle beeped a little tune as it rocketed along. "That slingshot move sped us up, but I think we might have overdone it," said Ollie. His eyes

were wide. "We're going too fast!" "Beagle, we need to slow down," Roshni warned. The Beagle whined back at her. It clearly didn't want to slow down. It was too excited! "I know you're having fun, but remember the mission!" she said. With a sad-sounding beep, the Beagle turned on the retro-rockets. The velocity counter stopped flashing wildly and started to show actual numbers again. Gradually, their speed dropped until they were hovering at a standstill, right beside the gleaming Odin probe. Ollie glanced at the mission timer. "Fifteen minutes left. Can you fix the probe in that time?"

"If I'm fast," Roshni replied. She was already pulling her helmet back on. "Wish me luck!" Ollie grabbed her a tool kit from a compartment overhead. Roshni tucked it under her left arm, holding the antenna in her hand. She kept her right hand free to hold on to the Beagle. She stood in the airlock and closed the inner doors. She was just reaching for the outer door switch when she remembered her safety tether! That was a close one, she thought, as she clipped it in place. "You okay in there?" came Ollie's voice through her helmet speaker.

"All ready," she said. "I didn't know we could talk to each other." "Yeah, I think the intercom uses the safety tether as a communications cable," Ollie explained. Knowing that she'd be able to stay in contact with Ollie made Roshni feel more confident. She opened the outer doors. The probe was right there, hanging in space only a few yards away. Maybe this would be easier than she'd dared to hope. Keeping a careful hold on the antenna and the tool kit, she pushed herself away from the Beagle.

The probe came within reach. Roshni grabbed one of the stronger-looking struts. Once she was sure she was secure, she moved the antenna into place. She could see exactly what had happened. The antenna was held on by a sort of grip, and it was buckled and twisted where a meteor must have struck it. She'd have to replace it. Luckily, the tool kit had a spare. "You always make sure we have what we need, don't you, Beagle?" she said fondly. Ollie was watching her through the window, nervous as a cat in a lightning storm. "Ten minutes," he said. Roshni focused her mind like never before. She took a wrench from the tool kit and undid the bolts holding the grip that had connected the antenna to the probe.

It was cracked—no wonder the antenna had floated off! Once she'd unscrewed it, the broken grip started to spin away. Roshni caught it and placed it in the tool kit. Don't want to leave any litter behind, she thought. Next, she attached a new grip and bolted it on.