First Family in Space by Matthew Vimislik

Author:Matthew Vimislik [Bean, Raymond]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: 9781782025672;9781782025757;9781782025719;9781496536174;9781496536211;9781496536259;9781496536297;fiction;Stone Arch Books;Curious Fox;Out of This World;space;moving house;science fiction
Publisher: Capstone
Published: 2016-10-14T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 8

LIKE A TRANSFORMER

When the space station appeared in the distance, we were still on the night side of Earth. The lights on the station made it appear yellow against the black space.

“It looks like a molecule,” Apollo said.

“Wow! Look who’s been paying attention in science class,” Dad said. Apollo always complained about school, even though he usually did pretty well.

“So, what’s a molecule?” I asked Apollo.

“A molecule is a group of atoms joined together,” Mom interrupted. “Atoms are the building blocks of the objects around us. The ship, your helmet, the seats are all made up of atoms. They make up everything we know in the world,” she said, slowing the speed of the ship.

Apollo typed something into his phone and showed me. A picture of a molecule displayed on the screen.

“It does look like a molecule,” I said, looking at the screen, then the space station. I snapped a picture and sent it to Allison and Tia.

“Mrs. Sosa designed it like that,” Mom replied. “Each circular area that you see is a room, and each of the small tubes connecting the circular spaces is a hallway. On the station, we call the circular rooms pods and the hallways tubes. Every pod is connected to another by one or more tubes.”

“How does it travel through space?” Apollo asked. “The shape seems kind of weird.”

“The shape it’s in now is perfect for orbiting. When it’s time to move the station, it can change into another shape that’s better for traveling.”

“It’s like a Transformer!” Cozzie said. “Like in the movies.”

“It is a lot like a Transformer,” Apollo said.

Mom pressed a button on the ship’s control panel that opened a large hatch on one of the space station’s pods. She slowed our speed even more, so it felt like we were in a hovering helicopter. Once our entire ship was safely inside, the hatch quickly closed.

Mom parked beside three other spaceships. I was surprised that we landed so softly. She turned off the engines and pressed a button that opened a panel on the top of the ship like a gigantic sunroof.

For a split second I held my breath, thinking I wouldn’t be able to breathe. “It’s safe to breathe, Starr,” Mom said.

I inhaled deeply, taking my first breath of space air. It wasn’t any different from the air on Earth. I wondered how there was oxygen on the station.

“How?” I asked. “Didn’t all the oxygen just go out when the hatch opened?”

“When the hatch opens, the air inside the station is kept in by a force field.” She took off her helmet, unbuckled, and floated gently up out of her seat. I took my helmet off too. It felt so good to finally get it off.

“Can I unbuckle now?” Apollo asked.

“Be my guest,” Mom said, rising up out of the ship.

Cozzie unbuckled next. He rose up from his seat, looking down on me, and started laughing, “Look at your hair!” he shouted.

Dad turned to look at me and started laughing too. I glanced down toward my shoulders, where my hair should be, and noticed it was gone.

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