Leo had been begging for weeks. “Just once,” he kept saying. “Let me fly the short-range pod by myself.” Ari finally gave in. “One hour. Stay away from the Kestrel Belt.” Leo had promised.
When the Signal Went Quiet
Forty minutes after Leo’s pod should have turned back, his signal blinked out. Ari was in her ship and launching before she’d even finished pulling on her flight suit.
Twelve Minutes
OXYGEN: 12 MINUTES REMAINING. Rocks the size of houses tumbled past her window in every direction. An asteroid belt like the Kestrel Belt isn’t actually as crowded as it looks in movies, real asteroids in our own solar system’s main belt are often millions of kilometers apart, but Ari’s belt was a dense, unusually young one, still full of debris that hadn’t spread out yet.
A Voice in the Static
OXYGEN: 9 MINUTES. “Ari… don’t… it’s not safe…” Leo’s voice, thin and scared.
Deeper Into the Storm
OXYGEN: 6 MINUTES. A jagged boulder clipped her wing. FUEL: 4% REMAINING.
Through the Needle’s Eye
OXYGEN: 3 MINUTES. She cut the engines, held her breath, and dove beneath a massive asteroid. Then, silence. She’d made it through.
What Leo Was Protecting
OXYGEN: 0. Leo wasn’t hurt. He sat curled protectively around something small, warm, and impossibly bright, a creature half made of starlight. “I found it stuck between two rocks. I couldn’t leave it.”
“Okay,” Ari said, pulling them both into a hug. “Let’s get our new friend somewhere safe.” Some rescues, she thought, go both ways.
Your Turn Now
- Why did Leo’s pod stop responding?
- What was Leo protecting when Ari found him?
- Are asteroids in a real asteroid belt usually packed close together?
(Think about it: 1. He flew into the dangerous, debris-packed Kestrel Belt. 2. A small creature made of starlight he found stuck between rocks. 3. No, real asteroids are usually millions of kilometers apart, much farther than movies show.)
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