Together We Will Return to the Colony

Synopsis

The Orion travels through a desert, but progress is slow, as sand keeps getting into the engine room, forcing them to stop while Shingo and Chako clean it. When they're on the move again, they have lunch together, but food and water supplies are starting to get low. To cheer them up, Sharla shows everyone a desert flower that she found, made of crystallized sand, but Howard, getting frustrated and afraid, grabs it and smashes it on the floor. Adam realizes that Sharla has been sharing her water ration amongst everyone else, and tells Luna, but Sharla promises Luna that she's ok. They become caught in a sandstorm, and the gravity control unit becomes unstable, and then shuts down. Kaoru manages to bring the Orion safely to a halt, but before Shingo and Chako can effect repairs, the Orion starts sinking in quicksand. The children grab what they can and prepare to evacuate. They all jump off the ship together and run for solid ground, but Sharla slips and falls back on the ship. Howard runs back to save her, and Bell follows, with a rope around his waist for safety. Howard gets a grip on Sharla, but because of his safety rope, Bell can't reach them, and they both fall, vanishing into the quicksand and leaving Bell just holding Howard's jacket. The Orion vanishes after them. (Source: Wikipedia)