“The Lunar Surface”

An intense passage from the handbook precedes this chapter, warning about the danger of journeying onto the lunar surface without protection. The handbook explicitly forbids children from ever going out of the airlock and reminds adults to check their suits multiple times before exiting.

“Lunar Day 189, Evening”

Dash explains his theory to Kira, telling her that it’s likely that Holtz sent his phone out into the solar array using a robot. Kira suggests that they go retrieve it together, and Dash hesitates, telling her he wants to wait and try to find his other connection first. He won’t reveal who it is, and they make a plan to regroup that evening if he can’t find another option.

Unfortunately, Dash isn’t able to talk to Zan, even though he sees her from across the room. At one in the morning, Dash and Kira meet at the air lock and get each other dressed in the space suits. They test their suits, making sure they can communicate via the audio. When they first exit onto the lunar surface, Dash feels “a sense of euphoria” (273) as they bound out together. On their way toward the solar array, Dash pauses to look up at the huge robot arm that extends over them.