Chapter One

It was silent in the small cabin until a voice vibrated loud and clear from the speakers. It counted slowly backwards from ten and had nearly reached zero. James closed his eyes and held onto Rover as tightly as he could. When they had first climbed into the rocket, James had refused to hold on to the big black toy dog, to show he wasn’t afraid. But as the rumbling of the engines pressed on his ears, James gripped the toy in a desperate bear hug. He was terrified.

Below him the special padded chair vibrated violently. The engines had almost reached full power. The countdown had reached one. The nine year old boy took a huge breath and squeezed his eyes shut tight. ‘Zero, ignition!’

The rocket exploded upwards, forcing its way upwards and out of Earth’s atmosphere. James thought back to the times that scientists had helped him practice the launch in machines that whizzed around.

This felt worse. This felt much worse.

Pressure crushed down and noise surrounded him. His stomach wanted to heave but it was being squashed down to his toes.

All his life scientists had told James how smart he was. But what good were brains when they felt like they were being rattled apart? His eyes flew open. He needed something to take his mind off the strain. He caught sight of a logo and tried to remember what the letters stood for.

‘ASP, Australian Space Program. FOTM, Families on the Moon …’ he told himself in the little voice inside his head.

He got as far as ‘SIS, Schooling in Space …’ before the blackness overcame him and he passed out.

It was quiet when James opened his eyes again. He blinked several times, trying to make sense of his surroundings. Then his mother’s smiling face appeared in front of him.

She unbuckled the safety harness. ‘Time to wake up sweetheart. You are gonna love this!’ she chuckled. It was only then that he realised his mother’s feet weren’t touching the floor of the space craft! She hovered just above him. They were in the zero gravity of space. With the harness undone, James floated upwards. He laughed as he waved his arms about and tested how his limbs moved in the weightlessness of the cabin. Sharing his enjoyment, his mother pushed him gently towards the one small window to the void outside their ship.

‘Come see the view’ she laughed.

They hovered side by side at the porthole. James’ breath escaped to form mist on the glass as he caught his first sight of Earth from space. It was incredible! The Earth looked like a marble except for the white strands of cloud that drifted across its surface. They watched as a storm travelled over the Great Wall of China.

Suddenly the spell was broken. The quiet was interrupted a voice blurted loudly from the speakers. It was Dr Perfect – James’ dad.

As James listened to his father, he was suddenly reminded that the three members of his small family where out here alone in space. The thought gave him a thrill and sent a shiver down his spine. Before he could stop himself, James reached out to touch his mother on the shoulder. He needed to know she was close.

His mother didn’t even notice the light brush of his hand. Her attention was on the voice coming from the speaker.

‘Alice, I need you to come and give me the calculations for the next course correction’ said his dad.

And before James had time to think, he was being pulled by his mother towards the cockpit.

‘Well Alice, look who is awake,’ said his father cheerfully as they entered through the small hatch.

His mother took her seat and they got straight to work.

James watched as his mother and father called numbers and technical information to one another. It really was little wonder that James had the brain of a genius. After all, both his parents were geniuses as well. They were both doctors of science and his family were the perfect guineapigs for ASP.

For the next half an hour his parents tapped constantly on the ship’s computer systems. Their efforts turned the ship so that it was now pointed at the moon’s surface.

As the pale disc swung into view through the cockpit’s forward display, James was once again faced with the emptiness of its landscape. Compared to the colourful and active vision of the Earth they had just enjoyed, the Moon seemed dead. James knew his parents would take good care of him on this moon colonisation experiment but that empty surface caused him to shiver again.

His fear made him remember Rover. Where was the soft cuddly toy? Rover had not been in his arms when he woke up. So James left his parents to their work and propelled himself back into the living quarters to look for the fluffy toy.

James searched in the small area that would be their relaxation space for the next week. The toy wasn’t too hard to find. He had been packed tightly into a locker. It held all the toys James had been allowed to bring. As James tugged on his stuffed friend’s paw the entire contents of the locker were flung into the open space of the living quarters.

Stuffed animals floated helplessly around him. For once, James was glad his pets weren’t real. He dove around after them enjoying the novelty of tidying in space.

When the last toy had been rounded up he slammed down the locker hatch to secure them all once more. Then out of the corner of his eye, James noticed a flash of movement outside the porthole. He swam his way over to investigate.

Still some distance off, (though heading straight for him) was the strangest machine James had ever seen. It was round and blinked with tiny lights all over its surface. He pushed the intercom with more force than needed and shouted to his parents; ‘Mum, Dad, there is a satellite heading straight for us!’ ‘Don’t be silly James, the computer would have warned us,’ scolded his father. How frustrating! His parents never believed him. He tried again. ‘It might not be on the radar, but it sure is outside! I’m looking at it right now! Come and see for yourself’. His mother’s head appeared around the hatch way. ‘What’s the matter James?’ she called impatiently. ‘Come and see for yourself,’ James snapped. His mother scooted over to him at the view port and peered out into the vastness of space. ‘Oh my Goodness!’ she exclaimed. Then she hit the intercom button just as hard as James had. ‘There is something heading for us, change course NOW!’ she screamed. James reached out for his mother again. Just then the right side rockets fired with a sudden burst and the shuttle lurched to the left. James and his mother were thrown around their quarters.

James knew his dad was trying to move their rocket out of the way. But it was too late. The alien object struck the hull with an ear splitting crash.

Chapter Two

For a few moments the shuttle span out of control. James wanted to be sick. The ceiling and walls whirled around him.

Finally the room stopped spinning as his dad brought the craft under control and the space ship was once more flying steadily towards the moon. James balance himself against his mother and watched with her as the brightly lit object sped away towards Earth. In a stunned quiet, he listened as his father called the incident into mission control.

‘It came at us out of nowhere … didn’t even show up on the radar’. The reply from mission control crackled over the distance. ‘We will look out for it Dr Perfect, you need only to look after that family of yours. Are you going to take a space walk to check damage?’ ‘Wouldn’t miss the opportunity for the world.’ His mother grinned and gave James an excited squeeze.

She was suited up and ready to go in a matter of minutes. James stood and watched with envy as she waved from the air lock. He saw her minutes later as she worked her way around the outside of the ship. Streams of air shot out behind her as she used her jets to move herself to the exact place where the satellite had hit. After a while though, her slow careful movements bored him.

James lost interest and logged onto the ship’s computer. There was no point trying to work on paper in space. The weight restrictions didn’t allow for books anyway, so James did all his school work at his computer. It was funny to think of the teacher who had programmed this lesson as being so very far away. Science was his favourite subject. He had a bunch of experiments set up in the shuttle’s lab just for him to monitor.

But today James needed to finish his art project. Digital art was usually fun; only for this project he was restricted to three colours. It seemed a good choice then to paint the moon’s surface. He was so engrossed in his work, that his mother startled him when as she entered the small room.

Sometimes his mother would stick out her tongue at James in fun. He knew he had a habit of poking it our when he was concentrating hard. This time there was no smile for James and no games. His mother stomped through to the cockpit with a worried frown.

James crept along and snuck into the cockpit behind her. His parents talked in hushed voices. Listening carefully, James could just make out that they were discussing the damage the collision had caused.

He knew he shouldn’t really be eavesdropping. He was almost sorry he had been so curious when he overheard his father reporting to the ground crew back on Earth;

‘There was no air escaping, so there was no hull breach, but some of the heat shields are beyond repair.’ It sounded bad. Then to make James even more anxious, his mother’s worried voice added her share. ‘We should have no problem landing on the moon but this baby isn’t going to make it back into the Earth’s atmosphere as it is.’

In the short silence that followed James could hear a rustling of papers somewhere beyond his sight.

What was going on? Was the space craft so badly damaged they were stuck out here in the loneliness of space?

Then came the muffled, distant reply from mission control. ‘The Moon Base has enough resources to get you back to Earth when it’s time to come home. We recommend you continue with the mission as planned.’

James breathed a sigh of relief. Everything was going to be alright. They would get to the moon! He was only dimly aware of the rest of the conversation and his parents signing off the communication with Earth.

He should have crept away then. If he had, he wouldn’t have heard the rest of his parent’s quiet conversation. ‘Why didn’t you tell them about the stabilisers?’ he heard his father ask. ‘There’s no need to worry them, I fixed the damaged parts and they will hold.’ Her words may have been reassuring, but James could hear the concern in her voice. Suddenly he knew they were in for a bumpy landing in a few days time.

James was so busy over the next few days that he had no time to worry about the mysterious satellite or the landing. He worked on his experiments and completed projects on star maps. He wrote about his experiences in a personal log each day. It was peaceful inside the cabin. James was not looking forward to the noise and shaking that his parents had warned him to expect as they landed on the moon.

And he could put off the thought for only so long. He remembered the landing practice back on Earth and pictured the site ASP had chosen. It was in a crater, a small distance from the squat structure of the Moon Base. Through its large windows that kept the air inside, the scientists would watch as their shuttle landed.

The landing day seemed to creep up on him. Taking off in the shuttle had been awful and now the landing was going to be bad too. James felt really sick.

Before he knew it, he was already strapped into his chair and he knew his parents were in the cockpit tapping away at the controls. He could picture them calling numbers to one another, focused on job they had to do. James had to be brave like them.

At first it was still calm and quiet. Then James could hear the engine noise changing. Thrusters fired. The cabin began to shake. ‘It’s just the stabilisers, honey, they are a little loose,’ came his mother’s reassuring voice through his head set.

James wasn’t comforted by her words as his chair vibrated underneath him. In the lockers above his head he could hear objects rattling lose. The whole cabin seemed to be rocking and heaving, swishing his breakfast in his already churning stomach. Finally James could feel their speed slowing. His ears felt full and he knew this meant they were descending. It was uncomfortable, but everything seemed to be going well.

Then, from somewhere below him there came a horrible low grinding noise. James felt his heart tighten in his chest. It had suddenly gone eerily quiet. And then they were falling. The speed crushed in on his head and he was pushed deep into his chair. The air around him erupted with sound as their space ship crashed onto the moon’s surface.

The next thing he knew, James seemed to be floating on the ceiling. Were they back in space? Was he in zero gravity again? But when he looked down he could see himself still buckled into the chair, a heavy cabinet lay covering half his face. ‘Then I must be dead’ he thought. He wondered at how calm he felt and he watched his mother climb into the living quarters as though she was moving in slow motion. Surely this was a movie of something happening to someone else?

Their living quarters were barely recognisable. The sturdy table that had been bolted to the floor was pushed over at an angle. Lockers lay scattered, ripped from the walls, their objects spewed on the floor. His mother picked her way through it all towards where his body lay. She might have been calling his name – he wasn’t sure. The sound seemed to come to him through a thick soup.

His mother bent over the boy lying below where James now floated and she put two fingers to his throat where his pulse should beat strongly.

Now the words drifted upwards through the fog and James could hear what she was saying. ‘No … James … no!’

Chapter Three

There was no hurting and no fear. James simply floated above the scene and watched it happen.

His mother heaved at the cabinet and it toppled off his head onto the floor. A trickle of red snaked its way down the side of his face. And yet, up here, on the ceiling, he could feel no pain.

Below him his mother was going frantic. She tried several timed to thump his chest into action. Clearly it was having no effect. Then she did something so unexpected, James watched with fascination.

Not far from where his body lay quietly and unmoving, a damaged control panel was spitting out sparks into the room. Without seeming to think, his mother ripped open the panel and reefed out two long, flickering wires and touched them to the chest of the boy in the chair.

That was when the pain came. James felt himself stretch and thin, being sucked forcefully back into his body.

A great heaving breath was pulled into his lungs and his heart gave a mighty throb.

He jerked and his eyes flew open. He was sitting in the chair. He took another huge breath and coughed so hard his ribs ached. His head was exploding in bright white lights. ‘Oh thank God!’ cried his mother at his side. ‘My head hurts!’ he cried. ‘I’m so sorry, I didn’t know what to do … I just couldn’t remember!. All I could think was that doctors use electricity to start hearts!’

She hugged him tightly. Seeing that he was going to be alright, his mother seemed to regain some of her calm.

‘I think you are going to be OK,’ she said ‘but we have to move.’ He was so tired, and didn’t want to go anywhere. He had little choice when his mother unbuckled his harness and urged him to his feet.

James clung to his mother as she helped him climb over the wreckage into the cockpit. Among the upturned equipment and protruding wires, James spotted his father, face down on the controls.

His mother must have sent he fear in his eyes. ‘He’s going to be OK,’ his mother said calmly and she gave him a quick squeeze for comfort. Then she gently shook his father until he roused. ‘We need to check the systems.’ James stood and watched, frozen with fear as his mother went to work. He wished he had her calm. He tried to concentrate on what his mother was saying.

‘The landing gear failed to open and the engines jammed,’ she explained. ‘The ship is crushed on one side and there is a small hole in the hull. It’s not a bad leak but the air pressure is dropping steadily.’

James wasn’t sure who she was reporting to. His father seemed to be blinking in confusion. Perhaps she was merely thinking out loud?

She turned from the computer to instruct him. ‘James, go and get into your suit now.’

He wanted to do what she said. But he could see his mother was now struggling with wires and cables that were tangled around his father.

‘Timothy, we have to get to our suits,’ she said to his father, her voice more insistent.

James could tell her calm was slipping. His dad had passed out again and was clearly trapped under the console. He was afraid, yet he wanted to help and he felt a strange tingling building up in his body.

His mother had managed to reef her own chair out of the way but could not budge the metal strap that had pinned his dad down. James could see her panting with the effort, but her strong hands were having no effect.

‘Let me try,’ he said in a small voice. ‘James you can help me by going and getting in your suit!’ ‘I think I see how I can -’. ‘I can’t budge it! I don’t see how you could do any better!’ His mother sat back on her heels and wiped the perspiration off her forehead.

James leant over her. He could feel a powerful force racing through his system and didn’t know if it was panic or something else. It was a powerful force that demanded action. So he reached over and snapped the metal strap in half.

He wasn’t sure who was more surprised. He sat beside his mother in stunned silence staring at the broken piece of metal.

Then the debris shifted and his father started to slide out of his chair. ‘Quick!’ yelled James diving forwards to catch him. Together, James and his mother managed to jostle the tall man’s unconscious form into the living quarters.

With the air thinning, it was becoming difficult to breath. James was first to climb into his suit and he helped his mother shrug on hers. The limp body of his father was more difficult to suit up.

Now, they needed to get to the Moon base.

James knew from the maps he had studied that it wasn’t so far away. But it might as well have been on the other side of the galaxy if they had no way to reach it.

While James breathed in the stale tasting air form his oxygen tanks, his mother thought aloud. Every word she said came loud and clear into his helmet.

‘The air lock is functional, but the outside hatch is facing the ground now’. She looked about the cabin examining equipment and checking systems. ‘I guess our exterior radio is down or the Moon base would have contacted us by now.’

James stared at the cabin wall.

He was smart.

Maybe he could help think of a way out? He was concentrating so hard the he didn’t notice the tingling return to his body. His eyes itched. One hand rose to rub them until he remembered his helmet. He blinked swiftly instead and squeezed his eyes shut for some relief. His eyes were playing tricks on him. For just a second the wall had looked all wavy and thin. James focused on the wall. It was thinner! He could see right through it.

‘Mum, look at that!’ he shouted. ‘What?’ snapped his mother, clearly distracted by her own thoughts. James looked back and the wall was as it had been earlier. It was solid and most definitely not see-through. ‘The wall just went all thin for a second.’ Through the shine on her helmet James could just make out his mother’s blank expression. He tried again. ‘I could see rescue crews outside trying to reach us on the radio.’ She blinked at him with disbelief.

He gave up.

‘Try a different channel on the radio,’ he suggested. She looked at him doubtfully but started turning the dials on her radio. ‘Moon Base, This is Perfect One, do you read me, over?’ There were cheers on the air waves. It was a relief to hear the voices of the rescue team.

‘We read you Dr Perfect, and it sure is good to hear from you. Is everyone on Perfect One safe? Over’ ‘Timothy is out. He has a broken leg. And we’re leaking air. We need a way out. The hatch is in the dirt, over’.

Once again James was left to stand watching as his mother took control of the situation. He was amazed at the way she calmly assessed the situation while he felt panic welling up inside.

‘What about the cargo hatch Alice? Over’ ‘No Good, it’s blocked with equipment from this side, we’d have to move it all, and there isn’t enough time.’

Not enough time? James couldn’t stand there watching his mother talk the problem over any more. He felt the uneasiness of standing still build up inside him again. He needed to do something. He was going to start moving those boxes now! Some of them were full of very heavy equipment, he knew. But surely he could drag most of them out of the way?

He had to try.

It must have been the lower gravity because the boxes seemed light now. James worked as swiftly as he could. From the minute he had started, the tingling began in his arms and legs again. He ignored it and had a path cleared in what seemed like no time at all. It felt good to be doing something to help. James was sure his mother and the scientists would be really grateful.

When he got back to the living quarters, his mother was still discussing the best possible action with the Moon Base Rescue Team outside.

‘Mum, I cleared the cargo hatch. We can get out of here,’ he cut in excitedly. ‘James I know you want to help, but we just don’t have time to move it -’ ‘No mum, I’ve DONE it! We can get out the cargo hatch now.’ Why didn’t she understand? The rescue crew didn’t miss a beat and continued their discussion. ‘We can see the leak and we’ll plug it from here. It will give you more time, over’ What was the use in doing anything when no one believed him? Well he would show them!

He opened the cargo air lock, stepped inside and the turned the outer hatch. Minutes later, he was standing with the Moon Base Rescue Crew.

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