Free Airlock by Simon Cheshire Page A

slightly green.
    â€œAre you feeling spacesick again, Mr Snodbury?” asked Amira.

    Mr Snodbury simply shut his eyes and nodded.
    The shuttle’s engines changed tone. Since the spacecraft had left Earth, George had heard a steady, low, pulsing rumble vibrating gently through the ship. Now, as the shuttle turned and manoeuvred, the rumble rose slightly in pitch.
    The huge space station
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glided into view. It was about the size of a block of flats. It was a long, curving structure of steel, wrapped in solar panels. At one end was a bulbous section out of whichstuck huge nozzles. At the other end was a box-like section covered in large windows.
    It was the most amazing thing George had ever seen. He had studied countless images of it in his school books but to see it in real life was a completely different experience. He held his breath, hardly daring to move or blink.
    Mr Snodbury still had his eyes shut.
    â€œDon’t miss this, Mr Snodbury,” said Amira. “Look, you can see people moving around inside! The station is parked in geostationary orbit at the moment.”
    Mr Snodbury opened one eye. “Geo… what?”
    â€œGeostationary orbit,” explained Amira. “It’s when an object is exactly the right distance away from the Earth, so that the pull of the Earth’s gravity keeps it in balance.”
    George demonstrated using empty packed lunch bags to represent the Earth and the space station. “The balance of distance and gravity keeps the station in position above a particular place on the Earth’s surface. Clever, isn’t it?”
    â€œG-G-Gravity,” muttered Mr Snodbury. “B-Balance… Excuse me!”
    He dashed for the toilets. George, Josh and Amira shrugged and went back to watching the huge space station get closer and closer.
    There were several dozen passengers on today’s shuttle flight. Most were scientists and technicians arriving at
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to work. The return trip, due to leave for Earth in an hour’s time, would be full of other scientists and technicians going back home.
    George and his friends were going to stay on the station for the rest of the week. This had been their reward for getting the best results in their year’s Science class. Amira, as always, had come top of the class and probably knew more about the ship than any member of the crew, while Josh was still amazed that he had passed the exam, never mind coming in the top four.
    The shuttle slid into position beside the station. Now George and his friends could no longer see the stars – their whole view was of the solar panels along the station’s hull.
    A tunnel-like extension emerged from the side of the shuttle and clamped into place around the sliding door which formed the station’s main entrance. A hollow KA-KLANG sounded throughout the shuttle.
    â€œDocking Port A sealed,” said the calm voice of the stewardess. “You may now move about the cabin, ladies and gentlemen.”
    Passengers began to stand up and retrieve their luggage from the overhead compartments. Voices began to chatter up and down the cabin. A man in a MaxiBoost Spaceways uniform walked along the aisles between the seats, handing out bright blue baseball caps with the MaxiBoost logo on the front. George, Josh, Amira and Dwayne put theirs on and grinned at each other.
    â€œI feel like a real space technician now,” said George.
    Dwayne snatched George’s cap off his head, ripped the tab at the back so it wouldn’t stay on properly, then plonked it back on George’s head.
    â€œNow you can feel like a twit,” he sniggered.
    For a moment, George was too shocked to react. The cap slid down over his eyes.
    Mr Snodbury appeared, making his way along the aisle, clutching at the backs of seats as he went. He didn’t look quite so green now. He was more a sort of yellowy-white.
    â€œCome on, everyone,” he said, unsteadily,