In outer space by Jupiter, the Stardonia Tow Ship zoomed toward Jupiter.
Inside the Tow Ship, Redka pressed a button on the OSPS.
"You are four hundred and eighty-four million miles from your destination. Keep flying past the Jupiter planet, which is to your left," the female voice emitted from the OSPS.
Biggka and Redka looked out their window and saw Jupiter and the Europa Moon.
On top of the asteroid, twenty minutes had passed, and Todd, Ricky, and Scoota woke up. They looked around and saw it was still a long haul back to the front of the asteroid.
Todd, Ricky, and Scoota got up and walked and climbed over space junk.
"Hey boys, are you all right?" Lance called out from the radio net.
Todd, Ricky, and Scoota stopped and glanced out toward the Moon.
"Is this the astronauts?" Todd asked.
Todd, Ricky, and Scoota stopped and looked around the area for the Magellan capsule.
"It's us. Jake, Lance, and Clint," Clint replied from the radio net.
Todd, Ricky, and Scoota jumped up and down for joy. "Where are you?" Todd asked.
“Oh, I'd say we're about fifty thousand miles away," Lance replied from the radio net.
"Did you say fifty thousand miles away?" Ricky said.
"Yeah, give or take a few thousand," Jake added.
"Where did you go?" Todd asked.
There were a few seconds of silence. "We don't know. We woke up on the Moon, then somehow, we’re back in space heading to Earth," Clint said.
"Who cares since you're on your way back," Ricky added.
"Scoota and I installed the engines ourselves," Todd bragged.
"But something smacked into the asteroid, and we lost the Space Buggy," Scoota added.
"Where are you now?" Clint asked.
"We're walking back to the front of the asteroid," Todd said.
"Very good. We'll meet you at the Lunar Module," Jake said.
"We're going home!" Todd said while he jumped up and down, all excited.
Ricky joined him.
"Come on, guys; we still need to hurry up and get to the front," Scoota said. Then he walked and climbed over space junk.
Ricky and Todd stopped jumping up and down, and they walked and climbed over space junk and followed Scoota.
In outer space between the Moon and Earth, the Magellan capsule and Lunar Module zoomed toward Earth.
The engine sputtered, and the capsule slowed down. The engine sputtered some more, and the capsule stopped.
Inside the Magellan capsule and Lunar Module, Jake, Clint, and Lance looked baffled when they realized their engine had quit. Lance flipped switches on the console. Jake turned knobs on the console, and the engine didn't fire. Then Clint looked at the fuel gauge, and he tapped on it.
"We ran out of fuel," he said while tapping on the fuel gauge again.
Jake and Lance looked at the gage and couldn't believe their bad luck.
"Mission Control will have a field day with this one," Jake said.
Clint and Lance nodded in agreement.
On top of the asteroid, Todd, Ricky, and Scoota continued walking across space junk.
“Okay, boys, we have another problem," Clint said from the communications net.
Todd, Ricky, and Scoota stopped walking. "What's wrong?" Todd asked.
There was a moment of silence. "Well, it appears we have run out of fuel," Jake said.
Todd, Ricky, and Scoota looked like they wanted to cry at any moment.
"What do we do now?" Ricky asked while he held back his tears.
Scoota looked at the boys. "We have to complete the mission alone," Scoota added.
Todd and Ricky looked depressed.
"We're sorry, boys. But we know you can finish saving Earth," Lance said.
"How will you get back home?" Ricky asked. There were a few seconds of dreadful silence.
"I don't know how that can happen now," Lance said.
"We'll never be able to go home?" Todd asked. There were another few seconds of silence. “Sorry, boys. But we're also in the same boat.
We'll never get back home either," Clint said over the radio net while he fought to show he was about to burst into tears.
Todd and Ricky looked homesick, and Scoota noticed.
"Don't worry, my friends. You'll be taken care of on Stardonia after my rescue ship shows up. Just think of all the different galaxies you'll get to see," Scoota said while placing an arm around Todd and Ricky.
Todd and Ricky looked down at Earth and still wanted to go home. But coming to the realization that would never happen, they knew they didn't have a choice.
It took a few seconds. "A rescue ship. Did you say rescue ship?" asked Lance from the radio net.
"Yes."
They walked and climbed over space junk to the front of the asteroid.
In outer space between the Moon and Earth, inside the Magellan capsule and Lunar Module, Jake, Lance, and Clint looked worried.
"Okay, who will break the news to Mission Control?" Clint asked.
"How do we tell them that another alien spaceship will come to rescue us?" said Jake.
"We don't. They'll think we're loony," said Clint.
Jake and Lance looked at each other. "Since you're the highest-ranking one here, you should have the honors, Clint," Lance said.
Clint frowned, as he was not looking forward to this call. He floated over to the microphone. "Mission Control, this is Magellan five."
A few seconds passed. "Magellan five, this is Mission Control," Kara said from the speakers.
"Ah yeah. Mission Control, we have another problem," Clint said with some hesitation.
There was a long moment of silence on the communications net. "Now what?" Kara replied with a frustrated tone.
"We ran out of fuel," Clint confessed.
There were a few seconds of silence. "That's just great," Kara responded and waited a few seconds. "I guess you'll just drift back to Earth and arrive after mankind has been destroyed," Kara added, a little mad.
"We talked with the boys and the alien. They installed the engines on the asteroid and are heading back to the Lunar Module. I guess they'll have to fly it out of Earth's orbit," Lance said.
"Understand," Kara said, then turned off their communications.
Back on Earth at Mission Control, Kara ran her hands through her hair in frustration. "Howard," she yelled out.
A few seconds later, Howard rushed over to her console. "What's going on?" he asked and knew this wouldn't be good news.
"The Magellan capsule ran out of fuel. They're drifting between Earth and the Moon," Kara told him.
Howard ran his hand through his hair in frustration. He picked up the phone on Kara's console and called Richard.
On the Moon inside the control cave in the Mountain, Raa and Taa monitored the radio transmissions from the console.
"Well, it appears we have run out of fuel," Jake's message to the stowaways came across the radio waves.
Raa and Taa looked concerned. "Run and get the Man," Taa told Raa.
Raa got up from the console and ran out of the cave.
Four minutes later, the Man in the Moon ran into the cave and up to the console.
"Ah yeah. Mission Control, we have another problem," Clint said with some hesitation. There was a long moment of silence on the radio transmission that replayed on the Moon.
"Now what?" Kara replied with a frustrated tone. "We ran out of fuel," Clint confessed as his radio transmission replayed on the Moon.
The Man in the Moon looked baffled. "Who filled up their fuel tanks?" he asked.
Taa and Raa looked at each other, then rolled their eyes. "Daa and Doo," Taa replied.
The Man in the Moon rolled his eyes, displeased, as he knew those two messed up. "Okay, let's get the refueling ship ready to save them again," the Man in the Moon replied.
Taa and Raa jumped up from their seats and ran out of the cave.
The Man in the Moon walked out of the cave.
Off in outer space, the Stardonia Tow Ship zoomed between Jupiter and Mars.
Down on Earth in the Oval Office of the White House, President Barnaby sat at his desk and talked into his phone.
"They ran out of fuel, Richard?" he said into the phone.
"Yes, sir. They're drifting between the Moon and Earth," Richard said from the phone.
"And the boys and that alien?"
"Upon the asteroid. They apparently installed the engines and are heading back to the Lunar Module to fly the asteroid out of orbit," Richard said.
"I hope they fly the asteroid out of orbit before the Russians and Chinese blow it up with their nukes." President Barnaby said. He pondered for a few seconds. "Keep this a secret. We can't afford for the news media to catch wind of this," President Barnaby told Richard, then hung up the phone.
President Barnaby got up from his desk and looked out his window. His eyes welled up at the thought of those two boys not surviving. But then he realized that if they do not survive, humanity will not survive.
On top of the asteroid, Todd, Ricky, and Scoota walked and climbed over space junk.
Scoota's eyes widened when he thought of an idea.
He immediately removed his Space Pad and punched in a phone number.
Upon the surface of the Moon, the Moonies refueled their spaceship on the surface. It was another saucer-shaped spaceship with a bubble canopy like the one the astronauts toured but bulkier because it contained a refueling tank. The Man in the Moon walked up with Taa and Raa in their spacesuits. They got inside the ship, and the engine started up with a whine.
The ship slowly lifted off the surface of the Moon. It zoomed away toward Earth.
Near Mars, inside the tow ship, Biggka and Redka relaxed and glanced out the windows and watched while their ship approached Mars.
"Scoota reporting. Help is immediately needed. I repeat. I need help!" Scoota's voice came over the speakers.
"Should we answer him?" Redka asked.
"Come in tow ship. We are in danger and need your help," Scoota pleaded.
Biggka sat straight up. "We have to know that he said he's in danger. A Space Knight can never ignore a fellow knight in danger," Biggka replied, then he pressed the "Transmit" button on the console.
"Junior Grade Knight Scoota, this is Medium Grade Knight Biggka. We heard your transmission for help. Please provide us details."
"I'm on an asteroid of space junk orbiting the Earth. I'm with two young earthlings, and our astronaut's spaceship got hit by space junk and is on the way back. Their capsule ran out of fuel. I need you to refuel them and help these young Earthlings get off this asteroid."
"Copy your dilemma Scoota," Biggka replied.
"I also promised the Earthling that I would fly this asteroid out of here. Otherwise, it will destroy the Earth," Scoota added.
"I'm impressed, Scoota. We thought you were joyriding around the universe. We didn't know you were saving a planet," Redka said.
On top of the asteroid, Todd and Ricky looked in awe at Scoota's Space Pad when they saw the hologram of Biggka and Redka in the tow ship.
"You know, the work of a Stardonia Space Knight is never done," Scoota fibbed a little and didn't want to tell them that he caused the asteroid's formation.
"We're on our way, Scoota," Biggka's hologram replied, then it disappeared.
"Let's keep on going," Scoota said.
They walked and climbed over space junk and headed to the front of the asteroid.
At the orbit around the Moon, the Moonie's refueling ship zoomed away and raced toward Earth.
In outer space between Mars and Earth, the Stardonia tow ship raced toward Earth.
In the Magellan capsule and Lunar Module, Clint, Jake, and Lance frantically flipped switches and turned knobs and dials in a last attempt to start the engine.