Part 4

When everyone had climbed into his bunk and pulled the covers up, Captain Eaton called out from his own bunk, “Check?”

There came answering “checks” from all the fellows, and the next moment Garry found the room plunged in darkness.

Within only a few minutes’ time, Garry began hearing the quiet breathing of those around him already in deep sleep. But he was too excited to drop off just yet. As he lay there staring into the darkness, he wondered if such a thrilling adventure as this could really be happening to him and Patch. Why, only a few hours ago they were in despair for their very lives. Now a whole new experience had been opened to them. It was almost as if the _Carefree_ had been sent by Providence to him and Patch alone.

As Garry’s thoughts roved, his eyelids began to feel heavy and the clutch of sleep was groping for him. He finally drifted off into slumber, only to wake—he didn’t know how many hours later—with a parching thirst. He sat upright in his bunk and threw back the covers that cloaked him like a sweat-box. He found that he was breathing heavily and then suddenly remembered the end of a nightmare he had been having.

As he sat in the quietness and darkness, he began to relax, and his heartbeats slowed to normal. But he was still very thirsty. He remembered that there was a water fountain in the hallway outside the dormitory.

Slowly and carefully, so as to make no noise to disturb the others, Garry left his third-level bunk and made his way down the metal ladder to the floor. A dim night light, kept burning all the time, showed the way to the door. Garry pressed the button, and the door slid open silently.

Garry went out into the faintly lighted hallway. He shivered as he made his way along the corridor. It was not that he was cold but that it was so creepy and lonesome with everything so quiet. The fountain was like a white ghost crouching against the wall a couple of dozen feet away. Garry made his way toward it. He leaned over it, pressed the lever, and felt the icy stream against his dry lips.

“Boy, that’s good,” he said to himself, and he drank and drank as though he hadn’t had water in all his lifetime.

When he finally got his fill, he rubbed his sleeve across his mouth and turned to start back toward the dormitory.

Then it seemed that all the blood flowed out of his head in one wild rush. His heart began to thump rapidly, and his legs went weak.

It was due to a startling sight that faced him.

8. GARRY HAS A SCARE

A huge woman was lumbering toward him down the dim corridor. There was something strange and unreal about her face and her awkward movements that gave Garry chills.

Garry started running. He slammed into the water fountain, bruising his side. But he kept moving, and so did the woman stalker.

Garry knew that the corridor was in the shape of a square and that if he kept turning corners he would arrive back at the dormitory. He wondered why a woman should frighten him, and it embarrassed him when he thought what the others would say when they found out. But the creature was so hostile—and somehow monstrous in her looks—that Garry was sure she meant to attack him.

As he ran, Garry did not even look back to see if his adversary were still in pursuit. Finally, he turned the last corner and saw the dormitory straight ahead at the end of the corridor. He looked back around the corner in the direction from which he had just come. He’d outdistanced her. She wasn’t even in sight.

By now his nerves were a little calmer, although his heart still drummed faster than usual. He began walking briskly, every now and then casting a look back over his shoulder.

There was the dormitory at last. He felt a little silly now, as he reached for the button to open the door. He decided that he would not tell the others of his run and his fright lest they tease him about the incident. He would just tell them that he had _seen_ the strange woman but would not reveal the embarrassing circumstances. He still wondered who she could be, especially since Captain Eaton had not even mentioned her before.

Just as Garry pressed the door button, he heard a metallic clanking behind him.

There was the woman, coming very fast, the dim lights revealing the dark hollows of her eyes. Garry saw her tight-lipped mouth, her hugeness—fully as tall as Mr. Klecker and almost as broad, it seemed.

The unexpectedness of it caused Garry to cry out for the first time. As the door of the dormitory slid back, he scrambled inside, hurriedly pressed the button closing the door, then sank back against it, panting.

The bright lights went on in the room. Garry’s eyes blurred in the sudden sharp brilliance. When they came into focus, Garry saw everyone sitting straight up in their bunks, their eyes squinting and staring at him in amazement.

After a few tense moments, Captain Eaton asked from his bunk, “Garry, what’s the matter?”

“A woman—a big woman’s out there!” he blurted. “She was after me!”

Garry heard the men begin to laugh.

“Garry, that’s Katrinka,” the captain explained. “She wouldn’t hurt a thing. She _couldn’t_. She’s not _built_ that way.”

“Not _built_ that way?” Garry echoed. “What do you mean? She’s built pretty strong I think!”

Captain Eaton chuckled. “She’s a robot, Garry.”

“A robot!” Garry said. “So that’s why she looks so different!”

“Yes, I made her as lifelike as possible,” Captain Eaton went on, “but I’m afraid I’m no Michelangelo as a sculptor.”

“You _built_ her?” Garry asked in surprise.

“Yes. We needed someone to do our chores—you know, the things that men dislike doing in the nature of housework and cleaning up. But she’s quite controllable, Garry. She wouldn’t have harmed you. Something must have slipped in her mechanism so that she became activated. It happens once in awhile. I’ll go take a look at her.”

“You don’t have to go far, Sir,” Garry said, rubbing away the sweat that had gathered on his forehead. “She’s right outside the door.”

As the captain climbed from his bunk and slipped into his robe, Garry avoided the eyes of the others in the dormitory. He had done just what he had hoped he would not do—shown his fear of a harmless robot. He knew they must think him squeamish, but they were not laughing now.

Patch seemed to have been the only one who was not aroused by the excitement. Garry could see that he was still asleep in his bunk.

Captain Eaton passed Garry, opened the door, and went outside. Garry followed a few steps behind.

The robot still looked menacing to Garry. It stood, big and dark and unmoving, in the dimness of the corridor.

Captain Eaton faced Katrinka and spoke in a clear, loud voice: “Closet! Closet!”

Garry heard a humming sound coming from the robot. It shuffled about slowly on its ponderous feet and started walking away.

“She’s obeying!” Garry gasped.

“Yes, she’s all right,” Captain Eaton replied. “Probably just a crossing of the wires in her mechanical brain that activated her. Maybe a slight lurch of the ship did it. I’ll look her over thoroughly in the morning.”

“I don’t see how you did it,” Garry said, still amazed. “How can a machine like that take orders like a person, just as if it had a brain like us?”

“Katrinka’s brain is made up of electrical impulses in certain codes,” Captain Eaton replied. “There is a code disk for everything that she is able to do. For instance, there is one for making up the bunks, every step in that operation. There’s one for washing the dishes, mopping the floor, and so on. When I have the time, I make her even smarter by adding new codes and duties.”

“But all you said was the word ‘closet,’ and off she went,” Garry said.

“That was the code for her heading for the closet down the corridor where she stays when we have no need for her. When she goes inside the closet, an automatic switch will cut off her mechanism, and she will remain dormant until we need her. Just as if I gave you an order to go somewhere and your muscles would carry you to that place, so it is with Katrinka. The code words I give her activate the wires that control her movement in a certain way, whatever that activity is.”

Garry nodded. “I understand it, but it sure must be a complicated thing the way she works.”

“It’s complicated, all right,” Captain Eaton agreed. “Katrinka represents many years of scientific study, long before I ever thought of venturing into space. It was a hobby of mine, in between my duties as a teacher and head of a space shipping corporation. My first models were very clumsy and crude, but I have developed them over the years and have finally come up with Katrinka, my finest yet. Many people are interested in her—manufacturers and the government too.”

The next morning Garry told Patch about Katrinka, and Captain Eaton gave them permission to watch him check out the robot.

After breakfast the three went to the closet where the robot was kept. The captain pressed the door button, and the door slid open, revealing the hulking monster that had frightened Garry the night before. Even now, Garry felt chills along his spine.

Captain Eaton spoke one word, “Follow,” and then turned on his heel, heading on down the corridor. The boys tagged along and were amazed to see and hear Katrinka clomping behind.

“She _is_ following, Garry!” Patch said.

“Yeah, and I still don’t understand it,” his friend replied, with a shake of his head.

“Why, that’s the easiest command of all I’ve given her to do,” Captain Eaton said. “The word ‘follow’ activates a sort of radar device in her and makes her follow the closest moving object. I believe that was what happened when she chased you last night, Garry. Something slipped, causing her to follow that particular action.”

The captain chuckled. “She could have pursued you all night, but she never would have come closer than three feet.”

The _Carefree_’s skipper entered a doorway leading off the corridor. “Here’s my workshop. I’ll have a look at Katrinka’s workings now,” he said.

The shop was untidy, cluttered from top to bottom with electronic parts, tools, and metal plates.

Captain Eaton gave Katrinka the command to stop and then with a screw driver removed a large plate from her back. He nosed about inside the robot for several minutes, making adjustments within the complicated network of wires and miniature parts. Then he replaced the plate.

“Just a couple of wires got too close,” he said. “She won’t be chasing you any more, Garry.”

“That’s a relief,” Garry replied with a nervous smile. “I wouldn’t want to go through that again, even if she _is_ harmless!”

“I’ll show you how I build commands into her system,” the captain said. “Let’s have a simple command, fellows.”

“I know,” Garry replied. “Have her lift up Patch.”

Patch backed off hastily. “Oh no you don’t!” he objected.

The master of the _Carefree_ laughed. “Be a sport, Patch. She’s very gentle. She won’t hurt you,” he said.

Patch thought a moment, then replied, “Okay, if you promise it will be all right.”

“I promise,” the captain said, and he set to work.

He brought out tools and equipment of every kind. Then he removed some plates from various parts of the robot’s body. But instead of tinkering around inside, as he had done before, he opened up a big chart and began working from it, using pencil and paper.

“What are you doing, Captain?” Garry asked after a few moments.

“This is a map of Katrinka’s system, like the diagram of a radio or TV,” was the reply. “I have to figure out what connections I must bring together. You see, I must give her several actions that make up the command we have given her. There must be the action of walking over to Patch, of bending certain parts that serve as her muscles, and finally the action of lifting him up. Then I must activate these through the use of spoken words.” The captain worked for about an hour. The last thing he did was to take a small disk out of stock and drill holes in it at very carefully measured positions. Then he slipped the disk into place inside the robot.

“Now let’s try her out,” the captain said.

Captain Eaton faced the robot and spoke in a loud clear voice: “Lift.”

Patch remained where he stood, but Garry could see that he was a little nervous as Katrinka began lumbering toward him. The robot stooped over and lifted the boy in her big metal arms. She stood motionless, holding him in a firm grip as Patch began to struggle impatiently after about fifteen seconds.

“Tell her to put me down, Captain,” Patch begged.

The captain winked at Garry mischievously. “My goodness, Patch, I forgot to give her a command to release you!”

Patch began struggling vigorously, but he could not escape the robot’s iron grip.

“Hey, somebody, get me out of this!” Patch cried, his face reddening from his exertions.

Seeing that his fun had gone far enough, Captain Eaton barked out, as if he were a military commander: “Atten-tion!”

The robot’s arms slipped straight down to her sides, and her body stiffened rigidly. Patch tumbled unharmed to the floor.

Patch sat up. He turned and looked up at Garry and the captain. Fear still showed in his eyes, but, as he saw the playful smile on the captain’s face, a grin spread over his own.

The captain laughed out loud. Then Garry joined in.

Finally, Patch himself began laughing, having enjoyed the harmless experiment even if the captain _had_ played a little joke on him.

9. SATELLITE ZONE

Although Ben seemed to be one of the busiest persons aboard the _Carefree_, he still took time out to chat with the boys early that afternoon.

“Have you been at the orphanage all your lives?” Ben asked Garry and Patch.

“Almost that long,” Garry replied.

“Our parents were good friends,” Patch added. “All four of them were killed at one time in a rocket-plane crash near Salt Lake City. We were only three then and were placed in the orphanage at the same time.”

“How long have you been in space, Ben?” Garry asked.

“Oh, about eight years now, off and on. I started when I was in my teens. I was a sort of cabin boy aboard the old Mars exploration ship, the _Jules Verne_. We spent a year there. Boy, what a life! It was like living in a deep freeze. Since then I’ve traveled to Venus, Luna—the moon, you know—and there’s no counting the trips I’ve made among the satellites.”

“How did you get in with Captain Eaton and the _Carefree_?” Patch wanted to know.

“A few years ago I took time to go to school and learn space-ship engineering and design,” Ben replied. “My teacher was Captain Eaton—or Professor Eaton, as he was called then. He was also a millionaire and president of Space Shipping Incorporated. He helped build the sturdiest ships ever to fly the solar system. I graduated stone broke and had to go back to flying the spaceways.

“I thought I’d never be an engineer or designer, but then Professor Eaton got in touch with me and said he was going to design a space ship for his own use. He said I was the best pupil he had ever taught and asked if I would work with him on the project. Of course I jumped at the idea. We assembled the ship out here in space, and I’ve been with him ever since.”

“Captain Eaton is a grand person, isn’t he?” Garry asked.

A fond look came into Ben’s dark eyes. “He’s the wisest, kindest, and most generous person I’ve ever known or heard about. You may think he selfishly spends all his money for his own enjoyment as he cruises the spaceways, but that isn’t the case. He gives far more than he spends out here to charities and churches back on earth. And he has built countless scientific libraries, but he’s too modest to let them be named after himself.”

“The _Carefree_ is such a big ship, Ben,” Patch said, “that I don’t understand how it can be run by so few men.”

“It’s due to the captain’s genius,” Ben explained. “Practically everything you can think of is automatic, and our batteries are constantly recharged by sunlight. Of course, once in a while something goes wrong, and we have to dock at a repair satellite. And we also have to refuel about every six months at a service station. But we don’t use very much fuel ordinarily because we mostly just cruise about in the ‘satellite zone,’ as it’s called.”

Ben had to go back to work, and the boys joined Captain Eaton in the library, where he was waiting for a TV newscast to come on.

Garry and Patch got the shock of their lives at the first feature to come over the telecast. For the subjects were _themselves_.

They quickly discovered that they were the most celebrated missing persons on earth. The orphanage had first reported their absence, and then Mr. Mulroy had given his version of their disappearance. It seemed that Mr. Mulroy was in very hot water because he had not made sure that the boys had gotten off the _Orion_ before the blast-off. In fact, he was in such hot water that he faced court-martial unless Garry and Patch were found.

“Well, I guess the vacation is over, Patch,” Garry said sadly. “We can’t let Mr. Mulroy be court-martialed for what we did.”

“We’ve got to tell them where we are, haven’t we?” Patch replied. “Although I’d give _anything_ to stay aboard the _Carefree_—that is, if Captain Eaton would have us.”

“I’d like nothing better than to have you two stay on,” the captain said. “But you must consider Mr. Mulroy and all the police forces who are working to uncover the mystery of your disappearance. Right, fellows?”

“Yes, Sir,” they both agreed reluctantly.

“We must make full use of the time left you to finish seeing the marvels of the _Carefree_. I said I’d show you the observatory today. What do you say we go there now? I’ve got some double-star photos I want to check on.”

The boys liked the idea and went with their host along the zero-gravity tunnel toward the observatory.

The observatory was a “bubble” attached to the _Carefree_’s center tube or axle, just a short distance from the air lock through which Garry and Patch had first entered the ship. The observatory was such that it never rotated with the tube or the rest of the ship. In this way its telescopes could always keep focus on objects in space.

Three pairs of magnetic shoes clicked along the metal floor of the observatory as Captain Eaton led the boys to the reflector telescope, whose big six-inch eye was pointed out into space. Captain Eaton looked over a camera which was attached to the eyepiece of the telescope. Then he unfastened the camera and took it off.

“The picture has been exposed long enough,” the skipper said. “It takes a pretty long time for a photograph to be made in the heavens, you know. But when you give it full exposure, it shows you much more than your naked eye can do.”

Garry studied a satellite chart on the wall. “I didn’t know there were so many satellites whirling around the earth. So many different kinds and sizes too!” he said.

“Yes, there are many more than one would imagine,” the captain agreed. “Here, let me show you some of them on the chart. The pictures you see are exactly the way each satellite looks, and they are all drawn in proportion.”

Garry and Patch studied the chart with its multitude of different shapes and sizes. There were satellites that resembled drums and others like round balls. Some were torpedo shaped, and some were circular and flat like “flying saucers.” There were giant satellites, wherein people lived and worked, and many of them were in the shape of huge revolving wheels. Some of them had no regularity at all, appearing to Garry to resemble more than anything else huge space insects, bristling with antennas and sun mirrors.

“As you probably know, fellows,” Captain Eaton said, “the Von Braun Space Station is our largest satellite of all. But there are a few others that approach it in size. For example, here is Quartermaster 10, the biggest of the depot satellites that furnish supplies to men who live in the world of the artificial moons. Here is a big fueling satellite, and over here is another big one—Spaceharbor—which is really a network of smaller moons joined together. This is a shipyard satellite where space ships are built and repaired. The _Carefree_ was built in Spaceharbor.”

“Gee, with so many of those things orbiting earth every minute of the day, it seems that space ships are always in danger of hitting one of them,” Patch remarked.

“That is a very real danger,” Captain Eaton said, “especially for us, since we usually cruise in that area above earth called the ‘satellite zone.’ For this reason, every person on pilot duty is responsible for knowing the position of every satellite within dangerous range of the _Carefree_. This requires constant study and figuring of orbit paths. It really is the biggest job the pilot has to do, because generally the _Carefree_ is on automatic pilot and runs itself, you might say.”

“What are some of these smaller satellites?” Garry asked.

“Well, there, there, and there are some of the observation satellites called ‘Tiros.’ They are used to photograph part of the earth for different reasons. Some of the reasons are prediction of weather, mapping, and for military purposes to see that the countries of the world do not start arming themselves for aggression.”

“The Tiros moons were first put into orbit in the 1960’s, weren’t they?” Garry asked.

Captain Eaton nodded. “Also these, Garry—the Transit satellites, which are used for navigation, both in space and on earth. This odd-looking little moon over here is one I’m sure you’ve heard about. It is WAS, which means weather-alteration satellite. Know what it does?”

“Sure,” Garry replied. “It’s used to seed storm clouds with chemicals. If the seeding works, hurricanes and tornadoes can be broken up before they cause damage. I believe they were first put into orbit in the late 1960’s.”

“Very good,” the captain complimented. “Of course there are many other kinds of man-made moons, some too technical to explain. But, in spite of their great number and complexity, each has its use, and they are a tribute to man’s great achievements in the world of science. One of our big jobs aboard the _Carefree_ is to see that they remain in orbit, doing their duty for the people of earth. If we should ever change their orbit, for instance by colliding with one of them, we not only would destroy their usefulness but we would, in all likelihood, destroy the _Carefree_ as well.”

Garry did not even want to think about the possibility of such a disaster.

After the visit to the observatory, the captain asked the boys if they would care to try out the swimming pool.

“Hey, would we!” Garry and Patch said together.

A few minutes later, as they were heading down the corridor toward the gym, they passed Mr. Klecker walking along stiffly—in full dress of course—and carrying a stack of books.

“Hello, gentlemen,” the tall man greeted them cordially, and the boys returned his greeting.

As he passed, Patch whispered to Garry, “Bet those books are about the circus.”

Garry smiled and nodded.

The boys had learned that Mr. Klecker had a hobby. He was very much interested in the circus of the old days. He had many books on the subject, and whenever he talked to anyone it was about the circus.

Garry and Patch had heard from the others that Mr. Klecker still looked after the captain as if he were serving him in his mansion. He would lay out his clothes for him and attend to other small details. Once in awhile Mr. Klecker would be called on to assist in things of a mechanical nature, but he hated to get out of his full dress and don greasy coveralls.

The boys proceeded to the gym. They were anticipating a good time. But something of a decisive nature was to happen which would have an important bearing on their future life aboard the _Carefree_.

10. THE LADY GOES WILD

“Beat you into the pool,” Patch called a little while later.

He dashed out of the dressing room and dove, with hands outstretched, into the water. Garry followed right behind, tumbling into the spray left by Patch’s dive.