Chapter II: Part 2

Captain Eaton turned around on the webbing so that he could lead the way along the tunnel into the living quarters of the _Carefree_. His slim, agile legs swung free in the zero gravity as he made the turn. Glossy black space boots covered his feet.

The captain showed Garry where to pull a lever which closed a series of air-lock doors between the _Carefree_ and the taxi.

The ship’s master and the boys pulled themselves along the tunnel. Then Captain Eaton stopped and said, “Hold on tightly, fellows. We’re going round and round for a few turns.”

He pushed a lever beneath the webbing, and Garry felt the tube begin to revolve slowly.

“Hey, what’s happening?” Patch called out.

“I had to set the tunnel in rotation so that it could catch up with the rest of the ship, which is always turning. As soon as you’ve become used to the spinning, we’ll go into the ship.”

When the boys said they thought they could navigate, the captain pointed to an open hatch that had appeared in the wall near them.

“We’ll turn around and back down these stairs,” the skipper said. “As we descend, the gravity will become stronger, so that by the time we’re at the bottom we’ll be nearly at our earth weights.”

Garry and Patch followed their new friend down the stairs, moving carefully and holding onto the railing, for they still felt giddy from the rotation of the central tube. By the time they were at the bottom, their heads had begun to clear.

That is, they _thought_ their heads had begun to clear. But no sooner had they gotten this impression than they became giddy all over again at the sight that met their eyes. For it was just as if they had entered a tropical paradise! There were real flowers in bloom all about, and aquariums full of live fishes were set into the surrounding walls.

The boys were too surprised to say anything. All they could do was just stare and stare in disbelief.

6. A _CAREFREE_ WORLD

“How do you like my garden, fellows?” Captain Eaton asked. “It helps keep me from getting homesick. I used to have a most luxuriant garden back on earth.”

“I can’t believe it!” Garry burst out. “It’s just as if we were outdoors on a summer day, it’s so real.”

“There’s a goldfish pond, Garry,” Patch said, “with lily pads floating on top and a bench beside it.”

“I never saw so many kinds of flowers,” Garry said, “and shrubs too.”

“The flowers and shrubs serve a double purpose,” Captain Eaton explained. “They not only provide homelike pleasure to me and my friends, but they also help keep the air in the _Carefree_ supplied with oxygen.”

“I remember,” Garry replied. “Plants in light breathe exactly opposite from the way we do. They breathe in carbon dioxide and breathe out oxygen.”

Patch stooped down, examining the roots of a shrub. “Hey, the roots aren’t growing in soil! How can they live?”

“The plants grow in richly fertilized liquid,” the captain answered. “In that way, they can be placed much closer together. Besides, some of the water making up the fertilized liquid comes from waste products within the ship. There are other reasons too.”

Captain Eaton led the way along the aisle that ran beside the colorfully lighted aquariums. He stopped in front of a twenty-gallon tank which was in the process of being cleaned by two men.

One of them was very tall, over six and a half feet. He was very thin and appeared to be in his late fifties. But the oddest thing about him, which made Garry and Patch stare at him in surprise, was the fact that he was in the full dress of a butler, complete with newly starched white shirt and neatly pressed coat and trousers! Although he was holding a bucket that was catching water from a draining aquarium, his clothing wasn’t in the least mussed.

Captain Eaton saw the boys staring at the tall gentleman and said, “Boys, I want you to meet Mr. Klecker, the Eaton family butler for many years. When I decided to set out into space on my permanent cruise, he would not think of being left behind. Klecker, this is Garry and this is Patch. They will be our guests for awhile.”

Mr. Klecker looked at them with heavy-lidded eyes. Then, bowing, he said in a deep stately voice, “Pleased, young gentlemen.”

“Glad to know you, Mr. Klecker,” Garry said.

“Me too,” Patch added.

The other person attending to the fish tank was a young man. He rose from a squatting position and smiled at the boys. He had crew-cut black hair and the kind of happy features which indicate a friendly nature. He wiped his damp hands on his trousers and offered a palm to Garry first, then to Patch.

“Hi, boys. I’m Ben Dawes. Glad to have you aboard,” he said. “It sure is a surprise meeting fellows as young as yourselves out here in space.”

“It’ll probably be more of a surprise, Ben, to know that they are alone,” the captain said.

“Not really!” Ben said. “Say, I’ll bet you two have a long story explaining that!”

“We do,” Garry answered, “and we’ll tell you when we have lots of time.”

“Ben is my right-hand man, whom I wouldn’t part with for all the millions I own,” Captain Eaton said proudly. “He could build a space ship out of a safety pin if he had to. He had a big hand in designing the _Carefree_, and he knows every bolt and rivet in her.”

It was interesting to Garry to hear that the captain was a millionaire. That probably explained how he could afford to take such a leisurely cruise through space in something akin to a flying palace.

“While Klecker and Ben are changing the water in this aquarium,” Captain Eaton said, “how would you like to meet the rest of my friends?”

“We would, Sir,” Garry replied, “but are you sure you don’t have things to do?” It was hard for Garry to believe that as important a person as a millionaire would be willing to devote so much time to a couple of orphans who were lost in space.

“Here my time is my own,” Captain Eaton said. “Back home there were hundreds of little details that always had to be attended to, and as I grew older the grind began to keep me in a state of tension and boredom. That’s when I made up my mind that I would spend the rest of my life the way that I wanted to—without constant interruption and without ever hurrying. I sold everything I owned and came into space. That was four years ago.”

“Why are you so interested in space, Captain?” Garry asked.

“In my early days I had a very keen interest in space travel. I became a space cadet, but after only four months’ service I was hurt, and my injury was such that I had to give up any thoughts of a future in the Space Service. But my keen interest in space stayed with me through the years, and I never gave up hope of returning to the spaceways. So, you see, my hope was realized, and here I am as carefree as the name of my ship.”

“Then you never plan to return to earth, Captain Eaton, ever?” Garry asked.

“No, I don’t think so. In the first place, the _Carefree_ was built in space and could not stand the atmospheric friction of an earth return. Of course, I could get back if I really wanted to. But I don’t believe I want to. My simple life out here is very satisfying. I never had any children, and my wife is now dead. No, no close relatives. It takes a little money to survive out here and pay my friends aboard ship, but it does not take too much. Yes, this is the good life, and it is enough for me.”

As Captain Eaton paced the boys by a couple of steps, Garry had to marvel at the youthful stride of their host. His body was as lean and spare as a man half his age, and Garry was sure he must have kept himself in good condition all his life.

As the trio left the garden and moved into the next section, Garry and Patch heard a fine tenor voice singing a lusty aria from an opera. A quick study of their surroundings told Garry that they were in the galley.

As the fragrance of good food reached the boys’ noses, they suddenly remembered how hungry they were. They hadn’t eaten since they left the orphanage!

“That’s Gino you hear,” Captain Eaton explained.

The boys presently saw a short, fat little Italian throwing a huge, flat wad of dough into the air. He stopped when he saw the boys and grinned so widely that his eyes disappeared and his mouth seemed as broad as that of a jack-o’-lantern.

Captain Eaton exchanged names so that everyone quickly knew everyone else. Gino was the ship’s cook, and his full name was Gino Spondini.

Gino kept tossing the dough into the air, and each time he tossed it up it became thinner and bigger.

“You _bambini_ chose a good day to come to the _Carefree_,” Gino said. “This is a special day for good food, only once every two weeks, eh, Captain?”

Captain Eaton nodded. “Unfortunately, there isn’t a grocery store just around the corner, and so we fill our food room and deep freeze only a few times a year from the commissary satellite which supplies food to all the manned satellites around earth. But when we do have an exceptionally good meal, we enjoy it even more.”

“I don’t know what you’re making, Gino,” Garry said, “but I’m hungry enough to eat it raw.”

Gino looked shocked. “You don’t know pizza when you see it? Where have you been all your life, _bambino_?”

“Gino makes the best pizza pie in the world—or should I say the best in the solar system?” the captain said. “Now, boys, shall we move on and meet the others?”

They left the galley and proceeded on to the next section within the _Carefree_, leaving Gino singing another operatic air. The boys wondered if they could hold out until lunch time.

“Up ahead of us,” Captain Eaton said presently, after passing through a short hallway, “is the dormitory. Since the dorm is used solely for sleeping, we made it small so that we could give more area over to the other parts of the ship where we spend more of our time.”

Garry found the dormitory indeed small and quite simple. There were three-tiered bunks along the walls, with ladders leading up to the second and third levels.

The captain smiled. “Patch, you seem to be looking over those bunks carefully to see if you find any that aren’t made up.” Patch blushed. “Yes, Sir. I was wondering if....”

“If we have room for you two? Well, breathe easily, for we do have extras. The ship will sleep twelve, and special cots can be set up to accommodate more when necessary.”

“They look cozy,” Garry said, “but how do you know when to sleep out here in space, without any real night or day?”

“We observe a twenty-four-hour day just as they do on earth. Scientists have found out that space travelers get along much better if they keep the same hourly habits to which they are accustomed. We even simulate the appearance of night, turning down the lights and observing quiet. You’ll find out that you get sleepy at just the right time and that you wake the ‘next morning’ feeling just as refreshed as you did on earth.”

Suddenly, they heard a stirring in one of the top bunks. A deeply tanned man with a thick shock of auburn hair raised up sleepily.

“Oh, it’s you, Captain,” the man said with a yawn. Then he perked up. “Who is it with you, Sir?” The man’s accent was a thick Scottish brogue.

“We have guests, Mac,” the captain replied. “These are Garry and Patch. Fellows, meet Mr. McIntosh, pilot, navigator, engineer, and what have you. He likes to be called Mac.”

“Hi, fellows, glad to have you aboard,” Mac said cordially, then yawned again.

“Sorry we woke you, Mac,” the captain said.

“I’m just about due to relieve Isaac upstairs, Sir. That’s all right.”

“I was just showing the boys the ship. We’ll move on so you can get dressed.”

As they left the dormitory to pass into another hallway, Captain Eaton asked, “You’ve heard of Isaac Newton, haven’t you, boys?”

“Oh yes, Sir,” Garry responded eagerly. “He was one of the very greatest scientists. He died a long time ago.”

The captain winked at them. “Well, we’re going to meet him,” he said.

7. A SHOCK IN THE NIGHT

Captain Eaton’s announcement that Garry and Patch were about to meet Isaac Newton, the great scientist, filled the boys with astonishment.

“We’re going back to the central tube,” the skipper said, “and from there to the navigation room.”

They climbed a steep staircase, as they had done earlier. Garry felt the comfortable feel of artificial gravity leaving him as they went higher. The light-headed, floating sensation of zero gravity was returning.

The captain shoved a lever so that the central tunnel would start revolving. When a doorway appeared in the tube, the three climbed through. Then the rotation of the tunnel was stopped. The captain then led the boys along the stationary axle of the _Carefree_, in the direction opposite from where they had first entered the ship. The three pulled themselves along the webbing as their legs swung free, weightlessly. They reached a platform outside a door at the nose of the ship. Holding onto the platform rail, Captain Eaton fished into a cabinet built into the platform and came out with two pairs of slippers.

“You can attach these magnetic-soled slippers to your shoes, fellows,” their host said. “Because of the zero gravity in the navigation room, we have to use gravity plates. The rest of us wear these attached to our boots all the time because we are always going back and forth up here, and they are light and comfortable.”

After the boys had donned the slippers, Captain Eaton pressed a button, the door slid open, and the three of them walked through.

Garry and Patch found themselves in a domed room, which had a wide front port that looked out into space. Below the port extended a long instrument panel, or console, with two seats in front of it, one of which was occupied.

“This is the flight deck!” Garry said. “It’s the part that looked like a big eye on the front of the ship.”

The pilot turned around in his swivel seat. He was a huge, muscular man with rugged features that suggested he might once have been a vigorous athlete.

“Boys, meet Isaac Newton,” Captain Eaton said.

Garry could not help but laugh, because this Isaac Newton looked nothing whatsoever like pictures of the great scientist. But then Garry remembered that he was being impolite, and he apologized.

“That’s all right,” Isaac Newton said good naturedly. “Everybody who ever heard of that scientist laughs. I’ve been defending my name ever since I was a kid. That’s how I got to be a professional fighter, which I was until I got tired of bashing people and the good captain took me on as his chauffeur. I stayed on with him, and he said I could come into space with him if I wanted to. I’ve picked up navigation since I’ve been out here.”

“How did you get a name like Isaac Newton?” Patch asked.

“Well, naturally my father was named Newton,” Isaac explained, “and he was also a science teacher. He wanted me to be a scientist too, and thought he was helping me by giving me the name of one of the greatest scientists of all time. But, as I said, I got into so many fights because of being teased about my name that I had more practice as a fighter.”

He laughed, showing a two-tooth vacancy in the front of his mouth. “Funny thing is that I might’ve been a scientist if I hadn’t been given the name of one!”

With that, Isaac Newton turned back to check on how the ship was running. The captain went over to converse with him, and this gave the boys an opportunity to look around the navigation room.

Of particular interest was a huge chart on the back wall near the entrance. On the map were countless globes of various sizes, and running through the globes were long curving lines.

“What’s that, do you suppose?” Patch asked his friend.

Garry looked closely at the printed names beside the round symbols.

“Hermes—Vanguard II—Adonis—Derelict Space Ship _Oberon_,” he read. “These seem to be objects floating about in space,” he said, “and the lines through them must be their orbits.”

“You’re very observant, Garry.”

Garry looked back and saw that Captain Eaton had come over.

“That’s exactly what they are, and we have to know exactly where each one of them is at all times,” the captain said. “If we missed keeping up with one, we might run into a collision orbit with it, and then it would be quickly over for all of us. Some of the objects are asteroids, some man-made satellites, some large meteor fragments whose orbits we have already plotted. And a few are derelicts, or empty shells of what were once proud space liners. Any one of them could destroy the _Carefree_ if it should hit us. In fact, a meteor as large as an orange could wreck us because of the terrific velocity at which it would strike.”

“Gee,” Patch said, “you must be anxious all the time about being hit by something.”

“No. It’s a risk, of course, but space is so very, very huge that actually there is little chance of being hit by anything any larger than a grain of sand. But of course there is always the chance that someday the big, unexpected one will come. Still, we don’t worry about it because it would keep us from enjoying our life in space.”

Captain Eaton showed the boys some of the other things in the room. He explained the purpose of the various dials and switches on the console—facts that the boys would have given anything to know when they were so desperately trying to steer the space taxi. The skipper of the _Carefree_ told them that usually there was only one pilot on duty but that, in case of tricky navigation or on other special occasions, both Mac and Isaac or Ben would be on together. The captain added that he was quite a pilot himself and liked to take over the controls now and then.

Suddenly chimes were heard over a loud-speaker.

“That’s the signal for us to get ready for lunch,” Captain Eaton said. “Let’s go, fellows, and wash up.”

“Tell Mac to shake a leg and get up here to relieve me, will you, Captain?” Isaac asked. “I’m starved. It’s been a long shift.”

“I will, Isaac,” the captain promised, and pushed the button which opened the door.

A few minutes later, Garry and Patch sat down to the best meal they had had in a long time. Not even Thanksgiving at the orphanage could beat this, Garry told his friend. The boys had their first taste of pizza pie, and they were hoping it would not be their last, especially if Gino was the one who prepared it. They were sure he was the best chef in all the solar system.

After lunch the patient Captain Eaton spent most of the afternoon showing the boys more of the ship. They saw the gym and swimming pool and the library filled with many recording tapes and films. There were also books for those who preferred reading instead of reclining in a soft contour chair and listening to tapes over earphones.

As they passed from one section to another, Garry noticed that the indirect daylight effect, that filled every part of the _Carefree_, was fading steadily but slowly. He asked the captain about this.

“It’s an automatic control that helps put us in the mood for night,” the skipper said. “Remember my telling you about how much better man works in a properly spaced twenty-four-hour day? Soon now, the main lights will be very low, with only an occasional lamp making things bright. It is just like the coming of night back at home. You will see.”

The space travelers had only a light snack for dinner because of the big meal earlier in the day. Soon afterward, the boys began to yawn and get sleepy as they watched the artificial daylight continue to fade. They were looking forward to sleeping lying down for a change.

“Your minds are telling you it’s time for bed, eh?” Captain Eaton said with a laugh. “Well, so is mine. I still haven’t shown you the observatory, which is my favorite spot aboard ship. But that can wait until tomorrow. Let’s go to the dorm and get you two settled before the fellows in there are ready to turn out the lights.”

The boys found all the people they had met today getting ready for bed. That is, all but two of them.

“Mac is on pilot duty, isn’t he, Captain?” Garry asked. “But where is Ben?”

Captain Eaton was pulling off his shiny boots. He may have been the boss of the _Carefree_, with all the say-so, but he was not too proud to share the same sleeping quarters with those whom he called his “friends.”

“There are always two on duty at night, Garry,” Captain Eaton replied to Garry’s question. “One acts as pilot, while the other makes the rounds several times a night to be sure that the automatic controls are functioning properly. We all take turns sharing these duties.”

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.

“Say, this is nice and warm!” Garry said. “And we’ve got it all to ourselves!”

A little way back from the pool’s edge, Mac and Isaac were lifting weights. This exercise was to help them keep in good physical trim.

Garry and Patch swam and splashed to their hearts’ content. It was the most fun they had had in a long time. They knew no one would ever believe their story of swimming in a pool in deep space! It was almost too difficult for them to believe themselves. But they did not care if they were never believed.

They frolicked in the water for about an hour and then climbed up on the pool’s edge to catch their breath for a few minutes.

“Boy, I could spend twenty-four hours a day in there,” Patch said, flicking water from his face.

“I could too, almost,” Garry agreed. “But I would be satisfied if I could spend twenty-four hours a day aboard the _Carefree_ doing anything. Gee, it’s going to be hard leaving here to go back to the orphanage.”

“Yeah,” Patch said sourly. “Gee whiz, Garry, why can’t they let a couple of guys live the way they want to?”

“We can someday, when we are old enough,” Garry said. “But the only way we could get around having to go back now would be for Captain Eaton to adopt us.”

“Say, that’s the answer!” Patch replied excitedly. “Why don’t we ask him?”

“I don’t think it’s as easy as that, Patch. In the first place, I don’t think _we_ should ask _him_. He knows how much we like the _Carefree_, and he may have thought of adoption. But he should be the one who suggests it.”

“Maybe we could drop a hint or something,” Patch said.

“I don’t think they’d let him adopt us, Patch. Don’t forget, when they find out where we are, they’ll think we stowed away aboard the _Orion_, and that would ruin any chances we might have had.”

“But we didn’t deliberately stow away!” Patch protested.

“I know that, but how can we get them to believe us? I don’t think they’d even consider adoption at this time, and I think Captain Eaton must feel that way too.”

Patch sighed. “Maybe later, then. Maybe someday Captain Eaton will want us back. Gosh, I hate to leave here, though.”

“Life won’t be the same any more,” Garry said. “Nothing can ever be as exciting as the adventure we’ve had.”

They heard footsteps approaching and looked up to see Captain Eaton coming their way. Missing now was his usual sunny smile. He carried a piece of paper in his hand.

“Well, fellows, the answer has come,” Captain Eaton said, and his voice was laden with dejection. “I radioed that you two had been picked up, and they’ve already replied.”

Garry hated to ask, “Wh—what did they say?”

“Just as I suspected. We must return to the Von Braun Space Station.”

“I was hoping we had a _few_ more days at least,” Patch groaned.

“I think that the sooner we straighten this matter out, the better it will be for everyone,” Captain Eaton replied. “And another thing, you boys are still A.W.O.L. from the orphanage, you know. However, it will take a couple of days for us to work out a navigation plan and get a clearance approach to the station. Sorry, fellows. I wish you could have stayed on with us indefinitely, but....”

As the captain’s voice trailed off, Garry had a flicker of hope. The captain was looking at them as if debating something in his mind. Would he bring up the subject of adoption?

But, saying nothing further, the captain turned and began walking toward the outer door of the gym.

Then he seemed to think of something else and came back. The boys held their breath hopefully. Would he mention adoption now?

“There’s something else they told me that I thought you’d want to know,” the captain said. “I told them the story of your being stowaways accidentally, just as you told me. They checked back and found that the elevator attached to the _Orion_ was defective, as you said, and they are convinced of the truth of your story. As a result, Officer Mulroy has been cleared of any negligence.”

“I’m glad to know that, Sir,” Garry said.

Once more the captain left them, but this time for good.

“Well, that’s that,” Patch commented unhappily. “No adoption. When he came back I thought he....”

“I was hoping too,” Garry replied, “but we’ve got to go back, and that’s all there is to it.”

Mac and Isaac came over, still breathing hard from their exercises.

“We couldn’t help but overhear the bad news,” Mac said. “We’re going to hate to see you fellows go.”

“Yes, that’s right,” Isaac added.

“Thanks,” Garry replied. “We were getting to like this old ship.”

“In a way I’d almost like to go with you,” Mac said, with a faraway look in his eyes.

Garry guessed that the Scotsman was a little homesick. His hunch proved correct, because Mac began to reminisce about his homeland. He described the heather on the hillsides, the flowing streams, and the green vales. And yet, Mac admitted finally that space was still a good second home to him, and he enjoyed his life in the deeps.

Isaac had no home he would rather live in than the _Carefree_. As he talked about his good friends aboard ship and the kindly captain, Garry noticed the softness of the big man’s eyes.

Garry had heard that Isaac was really quite a sentimental fellow. Whenever he learned of a tragedy over the TV, it would depress him. Later, the boys were to learn that Isaac had a secret liking for good poetry.

Both Mac and Isaac seemed genuinely sorry that the boys were having to leave. It made Garry and Patch feel good that they were so popular, but it made them a little sad, too.

The next morning Garry and Patch woke earlier than the others and were heading toward the washroom.