Asteroid Crisis: Star Challengers Book 3 by Kevin J. Anderson, Rebecca Moesta, June Scobee Rodgers Page B
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salsa and drank some soda. JJ ate a Moon Pie, one of her favorite treats. Moon, sweet Moon, she thought. Dyl guzzled an entire can of root beer, even though it wasn’t cold. If water and food were so scarce aboard the asteroid modules, they didn’t want to deplete any of the mission supplies.
“We’re off to the asteroids,” JJ said.
Mr. Zota said, “You should arrive just as the module reaches its target. Assist in the deflection mission, then signal me as soon as you know you’ve succeeded.”
“We’ll be back before you know it,” King said.
“You sound sure that we’re going to succeed,” Dyl said. JJ grinned. “Someone’s got to go kick some asteroids—might as well be us.”
Aboard the ISSC, each of the connected modules had seemed relatively spacious, with a contained volume larger than a school bus, plenty of room for the drifting astronauts and researchers to move around and perform their tasks. When JJ and Tony appeared inside the module for Asteroid Mission One, though, her first thought was how crowded the place would be if she had to spend two months here cooped up with other personnel.
Colonel Fox was the first to notice JJ and Tony arriving in their spacesuits. He turned, and his face lit up with surprise, then pleasure. “I was wondering when you cadets would be joining us, now that we’ve arrived at the asteroid.”
Even Dr. Kloor seemed pleased. “From past experience, I expected our young visitors to appear just as things were about to happen.”
JJ removed her helmet, and Tony did the same. The air in the module smelled stale, but Fox and Kloor were probably used to it. The travelers appeared tired and edgy, their nerves frayed.
“Boy, it looks like you’ve had a long trip,” Tony said.
JJ agreed. “I remember our long rover expedition on the Moon, Colonel Fox. You, King, and I went a little stir crazy being stuck in that vehicle, and that was for only a few days.”
“Indeed, we’ve had to become very good friends cooped up in this tin can for a month,” Fox said, “but I gave orders at the outset that no one was allowed to get cabin fever.” Though the British officers voice was matter-of-fact, JJ recognized it was a joke.
“Even after we finish at the asteroid,” Kloor added, “we’ll have another month before we get back home.”
“And two to six months more before the asteroids pass Earth,” Fox said.
After removing and stowing the components of their suits, JJ and Tony drifted forward to look out the windowport, where they could see a glinting bright star—the reflective surface of the approaching asteroid. From here, the Sun was much dimmer, farther away, although it still bathed the asteroid in a glow.
“Speaking from a defense perspective, there’s nothing wrong with an uneventful trip,” Kloor said, “it gave me a chance to catch up on my reading.”
Fox added, “We’ve been through the ship’s library, played games, and composed messages to our families. Thankfully, we can now implement our mission objective.”
On one of the module’s screens, Colonel Fox displayed the location of Earth and the orbiting International Space Station Complex, then a line that showed the trajectory of Asteroid Mission One, which was about to intersect the asteroid’s path. JJ saw the spinning animation of the solar system, watched the tiny dots of Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, and Jupiter gliding along their orbits at varying speeds. All of the planets seemed to follow circular paths, but the asteroid was in a highly elongated orbit.
“The Kylarn certainly sent that asteroid reeling,” JJ said. “Its orbit is pretty warped.”
“It’s called ‘eccentric,’” Dr. Kloor corrected.
“I have an uncle who’s eccentric,” Tony quipped. JJ smiled at the pun. She was glad she was with Tony.
“Even the planetary orbits aren’t perfect circles,” Fox explained. “They’re called ellipses. For a long time people believed that the Earth was the
“We’re off to the asteroids,” JJ said.
Mr. Zota said, “You should arrive just as the module reaches its target. Assist in the deflection mission, then signal me as soon as you know you’ve succeeded.”
“We’ll be back before you know it,” King said.
“You sound sure that we’re going to succeed,” Dyl said. JJ grinned. “Someone’s got to go kick some asteroids—might as well be us.”
Aboard the ISSC, each of the connected modules had seemed relatively spacious, with a contained volume larger than a school bus, plenty of room for the drifting astronauts and researchers to move around and perform their tasks. When JJ and Tony appeared inside the module for Asteroid Mission One, though, her first thought was how crowded the place would be if she had to spend two months here cooped up with other personnel.
Colonel Fox was the first to notice JJ and Tony arriving in their spacesuits. He turned, and his face lit up with surprise, then pleasure. “I was wondering when you cadets would be joining us, now that we’ve arrived at the asteroid.”
Even Dr. Kloor seemed pleased. “From past experience, I expected our young visitors to appear just as things were about to happen.”
JJ removed her helmet, and Tony did the same. The air in the module smelled stale, but Fox and Kloor were probably used to it. The travelers appeared tired and edgy, their nerves frayed.
“Boy, it looks like you’ve had a long trip,” Tony said.
JJ agreed. “I remember our long rover expedition on the Moon, Colonel Fox. You, King, and I went a little stir crazy being stuck in that vehicle, and that was for only a few days.”
“Indeed, we’ve had to become very good friends cooped up in this tin can for a month,” Fox said, “but I gave orders at the outset that no one was allowed to get cabin fever.” Though the British officers voice was matter-of-fact, JJ recognized it was a joke.
“Even after we finish at the asteroid,” Kloor added, “we’ll have another month before we get back home.”
“And two to six months more before the asteroids pass Earth,” Fox said.
After removing and stowing the components of their suits, JJ and Tony drifted forward to look out the windowport, where they could see a glinting bright star—the reflective surface of the approaching asteroid. From here, the Sun was much dimmer, farther away, although it still bathed the asteroid in a glow.
“Speaking from a defense perspective, there’s nothing wrong with an uneventful trip,” Kloor said, “it gave me a chance to catch up on my reading.”
Fox added, “We’ve been through the ship’s library, played games, and composed messages to our families. Thankfully, we can now implement our mission objective.”
On one of the module’s screens, Colonel Fox displayed the location of Earth and the orbiting International Space Station Complex, then a line that showed the trajectory of Asteroid Mission One, which was about to intersect the asteroid’s path. JJ saw the spinning animation of the solar system, watched the tiny dots of Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, and Jupiter gliding along their orbits at varying speeds. All of the planets seemed to follow circular paths, but the asteroid was in a highly elongated orbit.
“The Kylarn certainly sent that asteroid reeling,” JJ said. “Its orbit is pretty warped.”
“It’s called ‘eccentric,’” Dr. Kloor corrected.
“I have an uncle who’s eccentric,” Tony quipped. JJ smiled at the pun. She was glad she was with Tony.
“Even the planetary orbits aren’t perfect circles,” Fox explained. “They’re called ellipses. For a long time people believed that the Earth was the
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