Chapter 2

Screeching and clanking permeated the cabin as every loose object began to fly and tumble around the out-of-control vehicle.

Ethan held on tight to the seat back in front of him. He felt his stomach starting to do flip-flops. Oh please, no, he thought. Don't let this happen.

"Mavis, I think I'm gonna blow chunks." He put his hand over his mouth as if that might stop it from happening, but it was like a boulder rolling downhill. There was no stopping it. He threw up as the now shorting, out of control regulators continued to play havoc with the gravity fields. Electric arcs continued to jump from the short circuit in the instrument panel.

"My book!" Mavis watched her diary sail away across the bus, its pages flapping wildly.

"Everybody hang on, I think I almost got it!" Garth lied, having no idea why this was happening.

"Garth! Make it stop! Please!" Tasha screamed as she held onto the seat in front and closed her eyes. It was like they were on some unpredictable roller coaster ride that wouldn't end.

Outside, Earth and the Transway gyrated wildly as Garth tried to fix the problem.

Alex looked over at Jody whose eyes closed tight as he held onto the seat back. His face contorted into a grimace, showing the fear he was experiencing.

"Jody, it's gonna be okay. Garth'll get it back soon." He tried to comfort him, but inside he felt just as much fear and angst.

"Mr. Garth! Have you tried to parallel the polarity inverters?" Yavi shouted and ducked as a weightless backpack came flying at her head.

"That's it, Garth! Parallel the inverters and then reduce the coil magneto current!" Farhad heard her and realized the solution as well.

Garth strained to reach the proper controls on the instrument panel that would align the inverters. He was able to move the correct knob with considerable strain and watched as the twin indicators aligned themselves. He then moved the lever reducing the magneto current. Finally, the tumbling began to subside, the noise level decreased and he regained control. However, most of the gravity was still off. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

Okay, okay, we're all right. His eyes scanned the dead instrument panel as his mind raced through the checklist. We still have life support and some gravity. Man, that was scary. The kids!

He quickly undid his harness and went back to see how everyone was, bouncing softly on the floor runner. Tasha and Mavis were crying, so was Jody. Alex was already up and helping to comfort everyone.

"Tasha, you okay?" He put his arm around her shoulder.

She continued to keep her eyes shut and grip the seat in front.

"It's all right now. Garth got it back. We're gonna' be okay."

She opened her eyes, loosened her grip and looked at him.

"I... I'm okay. I don't need anybody's help," she shrugged off his comforting hold on her.

"Why don't you see how your buddy Jody's doing? He looks like he needs some help."

Alex looked to the seat in front and saw that Jody was bent over with his head in his hands, crying. He grasped his shoulder.

"Jody? How're you doin'? You hurt or anything?"

"N... n... no, I'm all right, but I'm a little scared." Jody responded, his voice a little shaky and whimpery as he stared out the window trying not to show his anguish.

So am I, Alex thought, but he couldn't let Jody or anybody else see it.

"It's all right, Jodes." Alex turned around to Farhad. "Far?"

Farhad looked at his busted Pocket Pal. The flip screen was completely broken off and the case was cracked in several places.

"My Pocket Pal is destroyed, Alex."

"We'll get you a new one. Don't worry."

"You don't understand. I had a whole year's worth of work in there; formulas, figures, notes... gone, all gone."

"Farhad, it's not gone. It's all on disk chip, right? So when we get home you'll transfer it and everything will be fine. Okay? What's important is that you're all right. That we all are." Yavi said as she tried to comfort him.

"Yes, yes of course Yavi. You're right," replied Farhad managing a weak smile. Yavi smiled back stronger.

"Everyone all right? Is anyone hurt?" Garth stood in the middle and called to the group.

Mavis turned to her brother." Ethan? Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm all right... I guess." Ethan looked at the mess he had made of himself and the seat around him. He was more embarrassed than anything.

She pulled a handkerchief from her pocket and handed it to him. "Here. I'm sorry I don't have more."

"That's okay. Thanks Sis." He began to wipe his face.

Garth patted Alex on the shoulder as he stowed loose items.

"Thanks Alex, I knew I could count on your help." Then looking to the rest of the group. "Listen up. I'm going to try to find out where we are and call for a rescue. We're gonna be okay. Help is never far, so don't worry. We'll be at Folden Station before you know it. Alex, come up front as soon as you can."

"All right, Garth," said Alex as he went from seat to seat checking on his friends.

Garth sat down in the pilot's seat and surveyed the damaged panel.

This isn't supposed to happen. He put on the headset and looked over at the COM panel. Damn! There was no indicator light to tell him it was functioning; still, he played with channel selector and flipped the hyper-band switches. For that matter, most of the entire panel was inoperative.

"All right Garth, how bad are we?" Alex stepped up next to Garth and kneeled beside him holding on to the support rails in the light gravity.

"Look for yourself. Emergency power is on and holding. Gravity is minimal but stable. COM's out. Auto nav is all but destroyed. It's like the bus ate itself up. I've never seen anything like it."

"Is there anything to maneuver with?" asked Alex.

"Minimal at best... Maybe enough to dock with something... If there was actually some-thing to dock with."

The truth was he had no idea what to do at this point. This had never happened to him or anyone else for that matter. They could drift for days before anyone found them. Garth looked over at Alex noticing the worry on his face. He figured that maybe now wasn't the time to tell him about the other space disasters in history that people had escaped from. He patted his knee.

"Don't worry my friend, we'll make it. I need you to handle things in back."

"All right, Garth, but... what should I tell everyone?"

"Tell em..." Garth hesitated, not really sure what Alex should tell them, but his face gave him the obvious answer.

"Tell em the truth. Right? That's the only thing they should hear. We're not dealing with a bunch of Agro-droids back there."

"Aye aye, Captain." Alex turned and walked to the back.

Garth thought about the way he'd treated Alex back at Truffa and the stupid thing he'd said. He realized now just how much he needed him.

Everyone's eyes were on Alex anticipating his words as he stood at the front of the aisle.

"Okay, I not gonna lie to you. Garth says things aren't looking that good. The COM is out, so we can't talk to anybody. So are the autonav and the finder beacon."

"What you're really saying Alex, is that we're in deep do-do. It figures. Leave it to a Chrysler transport to break down." Tasha rolled her eyes.

"I don't think it has anything to do with Chrysler," replied Alex.

Jody was lightly banging his head on the seat back in front of him, and then plastered his face and hands on the window.

"Do we know where we're headed? I can't see the Transway anymore," asked Jody as he craned his neck around, looking out the window.

"We're headed nowhere, that's where." Ethan started to get excited. "Alex, whata' we gonna do? Are we sure there's an emergency food supply on board? You know we're gonna get hungry soon? I think maybe we should check to make sure it's okay."

Mavis turned to her brother, "Take it easy, Ethan. We'll scrounge up enough to keep you going."