The rest of the morning and most of the afternoon took place just as the first day did. The only differences were that Danny had remained on his rounds the entire day, and hardly set a foot on the command deck, unless it was do assist someone. Nicholas found himself flying the shuttle on his own.
He hardly got up from his seat. Not only did he not want to disappoint Danny any further, but he was simply overwhelmed by the immense beauty and endlessness of the universe around him. Stars seemed to come in every size, every color and every direction. They passed by the moon that afternoon, which proved just how quickly the shuttle could actually fly.
If it had not been for what happened near the end of the afternoon, Nicholas would have forgotten all about his and Danny's strained relationship.
A computer started whining, catching everyone's attention. Nicholas looked over his shoulder.
Melissa turned in her chair and looked at him. "We have a problem, Nicholas," she said worriedly.
"What is it?" Nicholas asked.
"The radars are detecting a large mass of some kind of space debris coming up. But I can't make out what it is exactly—!"
Nicholas turned back to the controls and looked at his radar once Melissa sent him the feedback. "It looks like green polka-dots," he muttered.
"You think it's an asteroid field or something?" Arthur guessed.
"I dunno; this doesn't look like the asteroid fields I've seen on normal radars before. Why are they green instead of—!"
Suddenly, the entire ship filled with loud alarm wails. Everyone looked up in shock. "What the heck's goin' on?" Lancer exclaimed. "I've never heard a shuttle alarm like that before, never mind go off when there's just an asteroid field!"
The back door suddenly slid open and Danny walked in swiftly. "What's going on?" he asked urgently, headed for the pilot's seat. "Status report, Dr. Krahn."
"The radars have detected some kind of debris ahead, Sir," Melissa replied. "Like an asteroid field."
"But it's showing up as green on the computers," Arthur added as Danny sat down and buckled himself in. "I didn't think asteroid fields recorded like that."
"That's because they don't," Danny replied, staring out the window.
"Then what is it?"
Danny pulled out a pair of enhanced vision binoculars and held them up to his eyes. He stared across the field of stars before the ship and remained silent for a few moments.
Everyone stared at him worriedly as the alarms continued to wail. Nicholas held the controls tightly in his grasp.
After a minute or two, Danny put down the binoculars and looked on. "That's not an asteroid field," he said softly. "Those alarms wouldn't have gone off if it was just an asteroid field."
"What is it, then?" Lancer asked.
"It's a field of ectoranium debris."
"Ecto what?"
"Ectoranium," Arthur repeated. "It's an anti-ghost substance. The asteroid that threatened to destroy Earth fifteen years ago was made of that stuff."
Lancer sighed and sat back in his seat. "Well, if it's just that, we could grab a sample of them as we pass by," he said. "We could land on one and bring it back for Dr. Johnson—!"
"—We will not be landing on anything anti-ghost," Danny interrupted sternly. He grabbed the radio and held it up to his mouth. "Attention shuttle crew; this is your captain speaking," he announced over the intercom. "I need all of you to buckle down immediately and stay where you are. We are about to pass through a field of ectoranium debris, which can damage the ship. Please remain calm and stay where you are until I give the order to get back up."
The words damage the ship made everyone incredibly anxious. "Captain Fenton, Sir, what did you mean by damage the ship?" Lancer asked worriedly.
Danny flipped a few switches. "It's just the way the shuttle was designed, Lancer," he replied. "Anything anti-ghost could damage it." He looked at Nicholas. "Steer her through gently."
"Through that?" Nicholas asked meekly and nervously. "Are you sure?"
"You have the controls. I saw how you manoeuvred the flight simulation testing at NASA, and if you could do it there, you can do it here. Just don't panic."
Nicholas looked at him for a split second before turning his eyes away and staring at the field of glowing asteroids before them. "Easy for you to say," he muttered.
Danny was not pleased with those words. He frowned at him. "At least that stuff won't kill you," he muttered behind his teeth.
Nicholas looked at him again before turning away once more.
"Just stay on course, use the computers as side-view mirrors, and stay calm."
Everyone fell incredibly silent after that moment. The only time Danny spoke was when he contacted NASA and told them of what they had to pass.
Nicholas could feel his heart pound rapidly against his rib cage. His hands began to shake the further he entered the field. He tried taking deep breaths, all the while trying to stay as calm as he could.
Danny neither looked at him nor at anyone else. He only kept his eyes on the field before him, back against his chair and hands clutching the arms of the seat tightly.
A small piece of a glowing green asteroid hit the top of the shuttle, bouncing harmlessly off of it. Nicholas cowered at the sound echoing above them before looking at his captain.
Danny inhaled painfully and shut his eyes tightly for a moment before opening them and staring out the window. "Stay calm," he said very softly.
Nicholas swallowed with difficulty and tried not to panic. Now, he knew why Danny wanted him to steer calmly; if the shuttle suffered anti-ghost damages, there was a chance that Danny would be able to feel the pain as well.
For the next few minutes or so, Nicholas was able to control his anxiety to a certain degree and was able to evade any small chunks of ectoranium. But the further they entered the field, the larger the pieces became. Some were even the size of a house.
"Holy cow, that one must be the size of my dad's Ferrari!" Lancer gasped as they watched one pass by.
"Is it just me, or are they getting bigger?" a woman wondered aloud.
"Bigger and closer," Melissa gasped. "Captain, there's a huge piece straight ahead!"
"I see it," Danny replied solemnly.
Nicholas stared in sheer horror at the giant piece of ectoranium before them. It was nearly the same size as the shuttle, and from Nicholas' point of view, there was absolutely no way he would be able to go around it in time.
Danny leaned forward a little. "Dr. Stevenson, go around it," he said calmly.
Nicholas did not budge; his hands had turned to ice and had frozen in place on the controls.
"Dr. Stevenson, you have enough time to go around it."
The red-haired man stared in fear at the asteroid that loomed closer and closer.
Danny looked at him. "Go around it," he repeated, a little firmer than before.
"I… won't have enough time," Nicholas replied fearfully.
"If you do it now, you will. Now turn."
Nicholas inhaled shakily.
Danny frowned. "Dr. Stevenson, turn now," he ordered sternly. "That's an order."
"I… can't."
"Yes, you can. Turn now."
Nicholas remained as immobile as he had been before.
Danny leaned towards him. "I can't phase through that," he whispered behind his teeth. "So turn now!"
"I can't," Nicholas replied.
The asteroid loomed over them. Someone in the back gasped. "Nicholas, just do what he says!" Lancer exclaimed worriedly.
Nicholas could feel his heart beating in his ears. It was so loud, he could hardly hear Lancer's words.
"Dr. Stevenson, turn the shuttle now!" Danny ordered loudly.
The asteroid came closer…
"Turn it NOW!"
… And closer…
Nicholas could no longer budge, and he was certain that he could not breathe either. Nothing in his body responded to the commands he tried giving it.
Melissa cried in fright and covered her eyes. Danny looked back at her and then bared his teeth. Reaching over as far as he could, he grabbed Nicholas' controls, pried the man's hands from them and switched the commands over to his. He grabbed his steering rods and pulled back on them as hard as he could.
Immediately, the shuttle tilted upwards as sharp as it could go. The crew shouted in surprise and fright and held onto their seats, afraid that not even their seatbelts could hold them in place.
Nicholas shut his eyes tightly and clenched his teeth. He heard a loud groan as the shuttle's belly scrapped over the asteroid of ectoranium. The alarms flashed red, announcing that damage had come to the shuttle.
Danny groaned loudly in pain, feeling the tremor pass through the ship and into his body, but kept pulling back on the controls as hard as he could.
Within several seconds, he had managed to avoid collision, save the scrape along the bottom of the ship, and flew over the asteroid. He darted passed the rest of the ectoranium field and managed to evade every other asteroid until he had exited the field. Once here, he got back on course and slowed the ship down.
He let go of the controls and placed his hands over the dashboard, hanging his head between them. He panted loudly and heavily.
Slowly, one by one, the astronauts in the room unbuckled themselves and looked around. No one dared to say a word.
Nicholas undid his seat belt yet remained in his former position until he dared to look at his captain.
Danny continued to pant until he turned his head and grabbed the radio. He held it up to his mouth. "Attention all astronauts," he said tiredly in the receiver. "We have now passed the ectoranium field. You are clear to get up and resume your duties." He put the radio down and pressed a finger against his ear. "Houston, this is shuttle B-614," he announced. "We have cleared the field and are back on track. Mission has resumed."
"Roger that, B-614," a young man's voice announced. "Houston out."
Danny let go of his ear piece and continued to hang his head between his arms. Slowly he got up. His legs shook weakly for a few seconds. He remained in his slouched position over the dashboard.
Nicholas stared worriedly at him, afraid to hear him speak. Everyone else seemed to be holding their breath as well.
Danny panted some more before finally speaking. "What were you thinking?" he said dryly.
Nicholas bit his lip nervously and looked at his hands. "I—!"
"What the heck was going through your brain?" Danny snapped loudly, raising his head and glaring at his co-pilot. After watching Nicholas lean back in fright, he bared his teeth and squeezed his fists. "Do you know how much danger you just put everyone in? Do you know how much damage may have been brought onto the shuttle? I gave you an order and you didn't follow it! You had enough time to turn, but you didn't! WHAT WENT WRONG?"
Everyone was incredibly silent. Lancer, Arthur and everyone else stared at the two pilots in shock, afraid to speak.
Danny spread out his arms. "What, did you expect Danny Phantom to come and rescue you or something?" he exclaimed. "That was an asteroid of ectoranium, Doctor! It can't be touched by ghosts! Coming in contact with the stuff for too long could even destroy them! There was no way through it, so you had to go around it! But you didn't!"
Nicholas stared at him in fear, and even felt a bit of shame settle in his heart.
Danny breathed loudly through his teeth, and it was at that moment that Nicholas noticed tears filling the man's eyes. The Captain pointed at him. "We could have all died because of your close-call, Doctor," he said as his voice began to falter. "No one would have been able to go home! I gave you an order, but you didn't do as you were told! You're not very good at following orders, are you?"
Nicholas could still hear anger in the man's voice, but the more Danny shouted, the more Nicholas realized that fear was the dominant feeling.
Danny stared at him in silence for a few seconds before putting down his arm and turning on his heels. "Stay on course!" he ordered to everyone present. "Don't concern yourselves about the damage! It'll get repaired! Fly the shuttle, but don't call for me until I've finished some business!"
The door slid open, giving him passage, and then closed right behind him. Everyone watched him leave before turning and looking at Nicholas in shock and then concern.
Nicholas tried to ignore the stares. He played with his fingers, wondering what he should do.
Lancer was the first to speak. "You… you really are on his bad side, aren't you?" he said quietly, staring at his friend in uneasiness.
Nicholas looked at him for a moment before sighing heavily and burying his face in his hands.