Engineers monitored consoles at Mission Control at the Johnson Space Center in Texas.
Kara monitored the radio nets for transmissions from the Magellan capsule.
"Magellan five, this is Mission Control. Do you read me?" Kara said into the microphone of her headset. Nothing but static from her headset. She looked concerned.
Howard, her fifty-five-year-old boss, walked up to Kara's console with his fourth cup of coffee in hand. "Any word from Magellan?" he asked, then took a sip of coffee.
"No," Kara said with a depressed tone.
"Okay, let me know the minute you hear something," he replied.
"I will," she said.
Howard walked away, disappointed.
At Richard's office at NASA Headquarters, he worked on some paperwork at his office. His phone rang, and he picked it up. "Richard," he answered the call.
"It's me, Howard, at JSC. We still haven't heard a peep from Magellan five," he said from the receiver.
Richard sighed over the disappointing news. "Okay. Let me know the minute you hear something," he said.
"I will," Howard replied.
Richard hung up his phone and looked out his window. He wondered if this was going to be the end of humanity.
In a universe far, far away, the Stardonia Spacecraft Tow Ship zoomed through another galaxy. It came upon a lime green with a yellow landmass planet called Limetonia.
Inside the Stardonia Spacecraft Tow Ship, Biggka and Redka relaxed inside their ship. The "Aliens Attack" movie was over, and the Stardonia Space Knights defeated the threatening aliens.
Redka pressed a button on the HVD, and the ending credits disappeared. He pressed another button on the console, and the HVD slid back inside the console.
Biggka pressed a button on the OSPS. "Turn left forty-five degrees after passing past Limetonia. Proceed for another sixteen billion miles," the female voice said from the OSPS.
Biggka looked out his window and saw Limetonia at his one o'clock position.
"We're right on track," he told Redka.
It wasn't too long before their tow ship passed by Limetonia.
Biggka turned the control stick to the left.
The tow ship made a 45-degree turn to the left toward another galaxy.
Meanwhile, back on the asteroid.
The buggy hovered with the two lanyards secured to pieces of space junk in the middle of the asteroid.
Todd, Ricky, and Scoota all knelt and looked underneath the front of the buggy. They saw a bar from a piece of space junk wrapped around a part of the buggy's linkage.
They all stood up and looked at each other.
"Now what?" Ricky asked.
Scoota thought for a second; then, his eyes widened with an idea. He opened up a pocket on his spacesuit and removed a Ginsu-looking knife. "I'll cut it loose," Scoota said while holding up the knife.
Scoota got underneath the buggy with his Ginsu- looking knife. He cut on the bar wrapped around the buggy linkage.
Todd and Ricky knelt and watched Scoota.
A piece of space junk whooshed over the buggy by a couple of feet, and the buggy rocked.
They all looked up and watched the space junk while it flew away.
"That was close," Todd said.
"A little too close if you ask me," Ricky added. Scoota nodded in agreement.
Scoota went back underneath the buggy and continued to cut on the space junk bar.
Two more pieces of space junk whooshed over the buggy by a couple of feet. The buggy rocked.
A loud bam, bam, bam while the asteroid shook. A massive piece of space junk bounced off the asteroid's side and tumbled down to Earth.
Scoota cut through the bar and freed the Space Buggy.
Scoota got out from underneath the buggy.
"Let's secure the cable," Scoota said.
They walked to a section of wire behind the buggy. He knelt and taped the wire to space junk.
Down at Earth in China, the space junk that bounced off the asteroid was now a fireball. It zoomed out of the sky toward the Great Wall of China.
The space junk fireball slammed into a section of the Great Wall with a loud kaboom. When the dust settled, a massive section of the historic wall was gone.
In the field in the middle of China, the three Chinese missiles on trucks remained pointed at the sky.
A Chinese private, eighteen years old, guarded one of the missile trucks.
He looked up at the sky and could see the asteroid while it flew across, looking like a large bright star.
He got scared, and he ran off toward the tents.
The private ran over to the most enormous tent. He stood outside and snapped to attention. "Sir, danger lurks amongst us!" the private yelled at the tent's flaps.
The General, forty-five years old, stepped outside his tent. He looked around the field and didn't see any signs of danger. "What danger?" the General asked and was a little perturbed that the private interrupted him. He was about to slap the young kid when the Private pointed to the asteroid in the sky.
The general looked up where the private pointed. His eyes widened with concern, and he unclipped his cell phone off his belt and made a call. "Sir. The asteroid is within firing range; what will I do?" the General asked into his cell phone.
At the President's palace in Beijing, the Chinese President, with his cell phone to his ear. He sat at his desk and stared at his computer monitor. It showed a picture of the destroyed great wall.
"Destroy it!" he yelled into his cell phone. He slammed the picture down on his desk, and his eyes welled up at the sight of part of the Great Wall destroyed.
Back in the field, the General pointed at the asteroid in the sky while clipping his cell phone back to his belt.
"Fire the missiles!" the General yelled out at the top of his lungs.
The private looked proud while watching his fellow soldiers run from their tents to the field. “I'll be promoted!” he thought, puffing out his chest.
Soldiers ran up to the missile trucks and started the firing sequences.
The three missiles launched from the trucks and zoomed up to the sky toward the asteroid.
The soldiers jumped for joy, thinking they had saved humanity from extinction.
The General grinned ear to ear, believing he saved the world.
The three Chinese missiles ascended to outer space from Earth.
At the Space Spy Agency Peek A Boo We See You room, Johnson sat at his console and watched over his radar screen. The screen showed the "Asteroid 18, 874 Miles Per Hour - 275 Miles From Earth – Few Days Until We End Up Like The Dinosaurs" message.
"Wilbur, the asteroid is two hundred and seventy- five miles away," Johnson screamed.
Up in space on the top of the middle section of the asteroid, Scoota Duct taped another section of cable to a piece of space junk.
Todd and Ricky also had a roll of Duct tape in hand and helped tape other sections of the cable. They decided to triple up on this section of cable.
Todd's stomach growled. "I'm hungry. Can we take a break?" he asked.
Ricky's stomach growled. "Yeah. I'm also hungry," he added.
"That sounds good," Scoota said.
They all sat down on a piece of space junk and opened up their pockets on their suits. They each removed a tube of food and held onto their rolls of Duct tape with their other hand. The other end was taped around a section of cable.
Todd looked at his tube. "I got roast beef," he said, then opened up his tube and squeezed his meal into the eating port of his helmet.
Ricky looked at his tube. "I got chicken," he said, then opened up his tube and squeezed his meal into the eating port of his helmet.
Scoota looked at his tube. "I got something called turkey," he said, cautious about eating earthling food.
"Turkey is good, especially around Thanksgiving," Todd said. He squeezed more roast beef into his mouth.
Scoota looked at the tube and decided to give it a try. He opened it up and squeezed his meal into the port in his helmet. He munched on it, a little hesitant at first. Then once he tasted it, he liked it. He squeezed more into his port.
They sat there and stared at the Moon.
"What happened to the astronauts?" Todd asked while he stared at the Moon.
“Probably lost forever," Ricky said.
Todd, Ricky, and Scoota looked worried about the astronauts.
"My rescue ship will get here soon and help us," Scoota said.
"I hope so," Todd said but looked doubtful.
Ricky nodded in agreement, and he also looked doubtful.
After five minutes of eating, they placed their empty tubes back in their suit pockets.
"I could use a few more minutes of rest," Scoota said.
Todd and Ricky nodded in agreement while they relaxed and held onto their rolls of Duct tape. They both closed their eyes.
Scoota looked off at the stars. He looked in the direction Stardonia was located. He thought about Litta. He missed his sweetheart.
Off in the faraway galaxy on the planet Stardonia, it was nighttime, and Litta stood out in the backyard of her home. She had her Space Pad in her hand while staring up at the stars. She pressed buttons and looked at the screen where the "Calling Scoota" message appeared.
Back on the top of the asteroid, a strange ring sounded from Scoota's pocket on his spacesuit.
He opened up the pocket and removed his space pad. He saw the "Call From Litta" message on the screen. He got up and walked a few feet away to be alone. He pressed some buttons and answered his call.
"Hi, Litta."
Litta's hologram appeared, and she looked worried. "Are you still safe?" she asked.
Todd and Ricky saw her hologram and thought it was the most remarkable device in the world.
"I'm fine. I'm helping the earthlings get his asteroid, which I created, away from their planet. If I don't, then all the earthlings will die when the asteroid impacts their planet," he told Litta.
"Is the rescue ship there yet?" she asked. "No."
Litta looked like she was going to cry. "I'm worried about you, Scoota," she said, holding back her tears.
"Don't worry. I'll be fine. I'll call you when I'm on my way home," he told her.
"You better!" Litta said, then her hologram disappeared.
Scoota placed his space pad back in his spacesuit. He turned around and saw Todd near him. "Was that your girlfriend?" he asked Scoota.
"Yes. Her name is Litta."
"I want a girlfriend. Her name is Lucy. But she doesn't want me as a boyfriend," Todd said and looked rejected. He looked over at Ricky for him to reply.
Ricky wanted to say that he liked Betty but kept his mouth shut.
"Well then, she must not be brilliant to miss out on having a great guy like you as a boyfriend. You'll find another one," Scoota said and placed an arm around Todd's shoulder.
They all closed their eyes and soon fell asleep.
Back on the planet Stardonia, Litta's eyes welled up as she worried that Scoota would never make it back home.