7 Lost in the stars

Chapter Seven LOST IN THE STARS. Roshni was spinning head over heels, as if she were on a crazy fairground ride that she couldn't escape. The stars wheeled around her. "Don't panic," she said aloud to herself. "Whatever you do, don't panic." But it was very hard not to, with her stomach doing somersaults and the Beagle drifting steadily away.

Every time she flipped over, she saw the same things pass by. She glimpsed the Beagle, the Odin probe, Jupiter, and the comet fragments about to crash into it. It was making her feel dizzy. If only there were some way she could stop spinning, or something she could grab hold of! What was it Ollie had said? Imagine you're in a beautiful rain forest. Take deep breaths… Well, it had worked before, hadn't it? She took a deep breath—and suddenly she realized she was in even more danger than she'd known. The only air she had to breathe was the air in her suit tanks. She didn't even know how much of it was left after her first space walk. An hour? Or only a few minutes?

"I'm not going to panic," she whispered. "I'm a Secret Explorer. I'll find a way out of this, somehow…" It didn't seem like things could possibly get any worse. But they did. She saw the airlock doors on the Beagle close. Roshni felt cold all over. Now I'll never get back inside… But just as she was on the verge of giving up hope, they opened again. There was Ollie standing in the airlock, wearing the second space suit!

With one hand, he was waving to Roshni. In his other hand, he was holding something like a long rope. Where did he find that? Roshni wondered. She hadn't seen a rope on board the Beagle. Ollie spun the rope's end around and let go of it. It came uncoiling toward Roshni, wobbling and wavering through space. She lost sight of it as she spun all the way over yet again. As she came back around, she saw the rope was getting closer. On her next flip, it was closer still.

After one more spin, it would be close enough to catch! She reached out, her hand open as she turned another full circle. There was the rope, drifting right by her head. She grabbed the rope, wrapped it around her waist and tied it securely. "Phew!" she sighed. Ollie backed into the airlock, where red warning lights were furiously blinking. Roshni watched as he took hold of the rope with both hands and began to pull. Slowly but surely, Ollie hauled Roshni back toward the airlock.

The moment she was all the way inside, Ollie punched the door control and the outer doors slid shut. The airlock's red warning lights turned green. Roshni gave him a huge, slightly awkward hug. It wasn't easy to hug someone when you were wearing a big, bulky space suit! Ollie hugged her back as best he could.