Page 115 - English_Spark_5

They went to the canal bank to see if their sled was ready to go, and it was. The

sled looked like a plane without the wings.

They climbed into the front seat. Ramanujan pushed buttons in front of them.

Aarav and Harsh felt the sled’s engines throbbing. The next moment, the sled
moved forward at a high speed over the smooth sheet of ice, Ramanujan holding

tightly to the steering wheel.

They sped along at a hundred miles an hour. ‘‘We’ll be there in about ten
minutes,’’ Ramanujan said. The ship left in thirty minutes, which gave them

some spare time.

A few minutes later, Harsh noticed a bright streak against the sky. ‘‘There goes
another fuel rocket!’’ Harsh called out, pointing through the windshield. As

Ramanujan caught sight of it, he jerked up sharply in his seat, bumping the

shoulders of Harsh and Aarav on both sides of him.

‘‘That rocket’s too low!’’ he exclaimed. ‘‘It’s
not lifting! Something’s gone wrong!’’

Aarav felt chills run up his spine. He

was seeing the danger too, now.

The rocket was dropping ahead of
them. It was still quite a distance

away, but even Aarav knew that it

would make a terrible blast when
it struck the ice.

Ramanujan’s feet hit the brakes

of the sled and the runners dug
into the hard ice pack bringing

the sled to a skidding stop. The
riders were slammed forward.

Aarav and Harsh were in shock,
but not hurt.

runners — blades meant for sliding on smooth surface; skidding — sliding forward

without any control

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