Professor Calculus returned from his preliminary inspection of the rocket. He spoke with a cold calculated tone in his voice.
"I've just made a superficial inspection of the damage to the rocket. My preliminary estimate is that it will take us at least a hundred hours to effect the necessary repairs. To that must be added the time for our return journey. We have oxygen supplies for a hundred hours at the most, which means that having used our last resources to re-launch the rocket, we shall run the risk of arriving on Earth as corpses."
Before anyone could speak Calculus continued.
"Captain, please come with me. It is now time to execute the two prisoners, and I need your assistance."
The Captain and Tintin looked shocked.
"Look here Cuthbert." The Captain stammered."I know what I said before about leaving those two Cro-Magnons on the Moon, but still. Tintin was right. We must be more chivalrous. Come on, let's try and fix this damn rocket as fast as we can, and those two E. coli can stand trial when we get back."
"I am the commander of this ship." Calculus said with a sudden harshness in his voice. "Now come with me at once. Those two are a liability. They are wasting our precious oxygen supplies. They serve us no purpose, and they need to be removed from this ship immediately."
The Captain and Tintin watched in horror, as Calculus grabbed two large plastic sacks and some elastic bands from a storage compartment. They followed him down into the hold, where without a moment's hesitation, he swiftly placed the sacks over Jorgen's and Wolff's heads and fastened them tightly with the elastic bands.
The two prisoners squirmed violently in their ropes, thrashing their heads about in panic. After several minutes though, they were completely still. The Captain undid the ropes, and then donned his spacesuit. The two dead prisoners were placed in the airlock with him. The outer door was opened, and the Captain flung the bodies, one by one, as far as he could, way past the tank, out onto the surface of the Moon. The bodies flew surprisingly far in the low-gravity environment, and they made little clouds of dust as they hit the ground.
Meanwhile back in the cabin, Tintin was sobbing. The Thompson twins lay inert in their bunks, the professor having administered them a sedative, so they would only use minimal oxygen, and wouldn't get in the way, while the others prepared the rocket for the return journey. The professor was arguing with Tintin, that Snowy must be removed from the ship just like the prisoners, as he was not human, and they ultimately had to think of their survival first. Calculus told him that even a small dog might use up to 60% of the oxygen of a full grown human. Tintin grudgingly agreed with the Professor, but was crestfallen, looking at his dear, at this point still unknowing little friend for the last time. When the Captain got back from the airlock and heard what was going on however, he roared with anger.
"All right you!" He screamed. "Cuthbert! Now I'm not going to refer to you as a four legged animal starting with a G again! But this little four legged animal right here is not going to be touched! Understood? You may be the commander of this vessel, but I swear to you, I will declare mutiny and take over command from you if I need to! Now I suggest we all get to work in fixing this two bit contraption at once, so we can finally go home!"
Tintin was tremendously surprised and pleased at how the Captain had come to the defense of Snowy. The professor sulkily demanded that Snowy at least be sedated like the Thompsons, to minimize oxygen consumption. To this they all agreed.
After Snowy had been injected with a sedative, and lay unconscious on the bunk next to Thomson. Calculus tried to apologize to Tintin.
"Look here Tintin." The professor said. "I'm sorry. I just...you know, I just thought we'd have to take any precaution necessary to ensure our safe return to earth."
"That's alright professor." Tintin said with an unusually cold and angry voice. "We'd better get to work now. Let's not mention it any further."
The rocket was prepared quickly and efficiently, and made it back to Earth without further issues. Before Tintin lost consciousness, just before landing back at the Space Center in Sprodj, he noticed the air had gotten rather thick, and breathing had become a bit uncomfortable. He wondered whether it had been worth killing the prisoners to get back.
After the rocket landed, Tintin quickly regained consciousness, and opened the hatch, just before Baxter and his team were getting ready to cut it open. Back on the ground, Tintin, the Captain and Calculus, each quietly went their separate ways, leaving Baxter standing there dumbfounded. All they wanted now, was to be alone.
THE END