Chapter IV: Part 4

“What’s this?” Garry mumbled. “Time for my medicine?”

“Medicine nothing,” Patch replied. “This, son, is breakfast. Or would you prefer nice crisp bacon and fluffy scrambled eggs?”

“Aw, Patch, cut it out,” Garry pleaded. “You don’t have to make this any tougher than it is!”

Garry took the food pills, chewing them slowly to get what little flavor there was in them. Then he finished off with the water, which was little more than enough to wet his throat.

“Gee, the captain has really rationed the water, hasn’t he?” Garry whispered.

“He cut it back even further this morning,” Patch replied. “Know why? Because nobody came knocking on our air lock as he had hoped maybe they would. On top of that, I heard him say he was going to run another close inventory on all our life-supporting items to see how much is left.”

“Gosh, do you think he’s afraid _no_ one will be knocking any time soon?”

“I don’t know,” Patch replied, “but he has been frowning quite a bit this morning.”

The captain presently made it clear to all why he had been doing so much frowning.

“Frankly,” he said, “I thought those people at the mining settlement would have had plenty of time while we slept to pay us a visit. If our SOS reached them soon after we began sending, as it should have, they should have had a flier over here within a few hours’ time. Our chief essentials for staying alive are our food, water, air, and power supply which is necessary to keep us warm. It’s several hundred degrees below zero outside, in case you haven’t thought about it.”

They took another inventory, and the results were not very heartening.

“We’re using up much too much of our battery power,” Captain Eaton said. “That’s the weakest link in our chain of existence. I didn’t realize that yesterday when we had the lights on for reading. From now on until someone comes, we’ll have to do without light altogether except when necessary. That means we’ll have to do our reading by earthshine and our one flashlight. We may have some strained eyes, but that’s the best we can do. We’ll also have to reduce our heat a little to save on power that way too.”

“Captain, do you think we should check the condition of the battery in the outside transmitter?” Isaac asked.

“It’s supposed to have a useful life of seventy-two hours, operating automatically for a few minutes every half hour,” the captain said, “but the battery may have lost a lot of its power in storage. I think it would be a good idea to check it. It has a test meter on it, Isaac.”

“I’ll go out and check it, Captain,” Isaac said.

When he had pulled on one of the space suits, Isaac checked the air and pressure and went outside.

Garry and Patch watched him move in a light-footed gliding motion toward the spot where the antenna had been set up. He spent several minutes with the rig and then came back into the flier.

As he lifted his helmet off, he said with a shake of his head, “It’s quit sending, Captain. You were right. The battery must have been in bad shape to start with.”

“Not sending,” Captain Eaton muttered to himself, a dark worried frown on his face. “That means that if our SOS was not picked up earlier, it never will be, and no one will know where we are.”

Garry’s heart chilled at hearing this. What the captain really meant, but did not say, was that they were doomed to a slow death as their heat and air were depleted and they froze in the moon’s incredible cold. That would happen long before their food and water gave out.

Captain Eaton placed a fatherly arm around each of the boys and said, “Fellows, I wish there were something I could do. Believe me, if I could give my life to save you two, as Ben did, I would gladly do it. Do you believe that?”

“Yes, Sir, I do believe it,” Garry answered sincerely. “But can’t we really do something—anything at all? It—it’s better than waiting, isn’t it?”

“You’re trembling, both of you,” the captain said, “and I can’t blame you. If it’s any comfort to you, I think you’re the bravest two boys I ever knew. I would have been proud to have had a couple of sons like you.”

The captain pressed their arms affectionately. Garry knew how he felt about his helplessness to do anything.

“You ask if there’s anything we could do,” Captain Eaton said. “Of course we’re not giving up hope completely at this early stage, but things do look bad. We could ration ourselves severely and maybe prolong our existence a few days, but after that....”

Garry finished the gloomy sentence in his own mind.

16. A SAD PARTING

They _did_ wait—all the long day to follow.

And in all that time, no one came.

They did the same things that they had done the day before—reading by the light of the earth, which they feared they would never see again; reading until their eyes blurred and the battery had gone dead in their only flashlight.

Garry and Patch did not read much. Instead, they spent most of their time looking out over the cold gray dust, and up into the black sky, looking hopefully for some moving object against the bleak wilderness and wanting to be the first to spot it should it appear. But it never appeared, and bed-time came, but no one was in the spirit for sleep. And yet, since there was little else to do, everyone prepared for bed.

Garry and Patch lay awake in their adjoining seats, talking in low voices to each other.

“Garry, we’ve been through a lot of close calls since we left the orphanage,” Patch was saying, “but this looks like _it_, doesn’t it?”

“I don’t know, Patch. I just don’t know,” his friend replied with a troubled sigh. “It sure doesn’t look good. I won’t ever really give up hope, though. There’s still a chance that a rescue ship will come—maybe during the night.”

“But what if it doesn’t?” Patch asked. “What if it doesn’t come tonight or tomorrow—or the next night? How will we feel when we finally _know_ that we won’t be saved?”

“You shouldn’t think like that, Patch. It’ll make you miserable. You’ve got to keep hoping, even when it doesn’t make sense,” Garry said.

“It’s funny about Ben,” Patch went on. “I mean about what he did. He meant to save us, but it’s turned out that he’s made it worse for us. It would have been better if we had crashed along with the _Carefree_, because then it would have been over quickly.”

“You know the saying, Patch: ‘Where there’s life there’s hope.’ And I believe that.”

Patch said no more, and before long Garry heard him snoring softly. This made Garry feel better, and presently he too fell asleep.

Garry and Patch woke the next morning to the sound of subdued voices around them. For a brief moment Garry wondered if help had come during the night. He searched the faces he saw, and quickly his hopes were dashed. Instead of happy faces, they were haggard ones that showed the lack of sleep, and there were no new faces among them.

“No one came last night, did they?” Patch asked Captain Eaton.

The skipper shook his head and tugged at his beard that, by now, had become scraggly and untidy looking. The others moved in close, and Garry noticed all at once that he and Patch were the center of attention. He had a feeling then that something important was about to be said.

“Garry, Patch,” Captain Eaton said slowly, “you respect my judgment and my experience, don’t you?”

“Sure,” the boys answered together, puzzled looks on their faces.

“Well then, you do believe I would do the best I knew for all of us, don’t you?”

Garry and Patch nodded again.

“I’ve got something to say to the two of you,” the captain continued, “and it’s very important to me that you abide by my decision. Will you promise to do so if I tell you it will be to your best interests?”

The boys thought a moment, then nodded together, trusting the man they had come to admire and respect.

Just then Garry noticed the pair of space suits lying on the floor nearby, and they looked as if work had been done on them. They seemed to have been made smaller by the adjustable straps with which all such space suits were equipped.

“As you can see, fellows,” the captain said, “the rest of us didn’t sleep much, but we were grateful that the two of you could, because it gave us time to come to our decision.”

Garry and Patch watched the captain’s face intently, the suspense building up in them moment by moment. Garry had a hunch that he and Patch would not like what they were going to hear.

The captain took a deep breath and said, “I’ll come right out with it. The rest of us are forced to face the sad fact that rescue isn’t coming. But there’s no reason for everyone to perish. Garry, we decided that you and Patch....”

As his voice trailed off, Garry saw the picture. “You want us to take the space suits and—and go out there.”

“It wasn’t an easy decision to reach, Garry,” Mac spoke. “We may be sending the two of you to a worse fate than would happen to you here. But in that way there lies a _chance_ for you. Here the chances would be very little. We are all agreed on that.”

“But why us?” Garry protested. “Why not two of the rest of you? We thought we had become one of you by now. We should all have drawn lots to see who would go. It’s not democratic this way.”

“It’s because we’re kids, isn’t it?” Patch asked. “You’re packing us off like children to bed! We won’t leave you here!”

“Remember your promise, fellows,” Captain Eaton said. “This is the way we want it. Believe us, we really do—unanimously.”

“There’s even a chance you might make heroes of yourselves,” Isaac added. “You may find someone who can come and rescue us before it’s too late.”

“We realize it won’t be easy for you to leave us behind, and it won’t be easy to set out across unknown country for an unknown destination. It’ll take courage, gentlemen, plenty of courage, more courage than it will require for us to stay on here,” Mr. Klecker said.

Garry could find no further argument. The others were too much against him and Patch. They simply would not have it any other way. In the end the boys gave in, but they felt guilty for accepting what was seemingly the only way to survival.

Some time later the boys were ready to start out. The space suits still were a little large, but they would serve. Garry wore the luminous green suit, Patch the luminous orange one. The boots were so large that Garry and Patch had to wear them over their shoes. The helmets were big and bulky, but in the moon’s light gravity they were not too heavy.

When the boys were sealed in the suits completely, Captain Eaton ran a careful check on them—the air pressure and temperature, and the “walkie-talkie” radios that would enable the boys to talk to each other. Finally, the fellows were loaded down with all the supplies they could be expected to need. This included spare oxygen tanks, water bottles, and liquid food in tubes. These tubes could be squeezed through an opening in the helmet so that one in a space suit could take nourishment without opening his helmet.

Garry argued against taking nearly all of the spare supplies and leaving their friends with very little.

“You must take them,” Captain Eaton insisted. “If you do not have enough to get you to the settlement, there is no purpose in starting out at all. Now, no more arguments.”

There finally came the moment of parting, which everyone dreaded. Garry’s heart was heavy at the thought of leaving these people he had grown so fond of in such a short time. Very likely he and Patch would never see any of them again.

Garry could see that the men’s eyes were troubled and sorrowful. They didn’t seem to know just how to say farewell. Isaac and Gino gave a little nervous wave of their hands. Mr. Klecker shook hands formally. Mac gave them a warm pat on the back.

Captain Eaton walked slowly over to the air lock with the boys—slowly, as if he did not want to let them go. Garry and Patch had removed their helmets and held them in their hands. The captain had his arms around their shoulders, embracing them like a father.

“Well, don’t let’s be sissies about this,” the captain said with forced lightheartedness. “Let’s just pretend that you boys are going on a short trip and that you’ll be back in a little while. No sad words, no tears, eh?”

“That’s how we want it, Captain Eaton,” Garry answered, but his throat was so tight he could hardly speak.

“Whatever you do, don’t give up,” their older friend advised. “Take care of yourselves and don’t lose your heads if you meet a crisis. And don’t come back, whatever happens. It won’t help.”

The captain took a piece of paper from Mac and gave it to Garry. “Mac and I have plotted your course as nearly as we can from what we remember of this territory. We both had a course in lunar study at one time. Follow these landmarks closely. You will be heading straight for the mining settlement, and if, by chance, a search flier should be coming from that direction, try to catch their attention by waving. They will probably be looking for you, and your bright-colored suits will make you stand out pretty strong against the gray ground.”

Garry was studying the penciled map. “What is this gray part that you’ve shown here, Captain?”

“It’s an area of rugged rock formations,” the captain explained. “You’ve got to go through it, as there is no way around. You must proceed with extreme caution, because we haven’t any flashlights left to give you. And, owing to the fact that there is just a trace of air on Luna, the earthshine can’t penetrate into the shadows. You will literally have to inch yourselves along until you’re in the open again.”

The captain explained more of the dangers in this area and showed Garry and Patch other points on the map and what they stood for.

Finally, the boys had their last look at the man who had been the best friend to them that they had ever known. Garry studied the captain’s brave, forced smile, and he could see the elderly man’s efforts to keep himself under control.

Captain Eaton wiped his moist palm on his trousers and then pushed the button that swung open the inner door of the air lock.

“There’s something I must tell both of you before you go,” he said. “I made application for adoption of you two as my sons just before we had the accident. I have a friend in a high position back on earth who, I felt, could put through the papers quickly if they were approved. I never told you this, though, because I did not want to raise your hopes falsely in case the adoption was not approved. But I couldn’t let you go not knowing what I had tried to do.”

“We would have liked you for a father,” Patch said.

Garry was too choked up to say anything except, “Let’s go, Patch, before we change our minds and never go at all.”

“Yes, that is better,” the captain said. “Good-by, boys, and may God go with you.”

The boys pulled on their helmets, and Captain Eaton helped fit them tightly. Then he made a little farewell wave with his hand and motioned the boys into the air lock. A moment later the door swished shut. The outer door opened, and the bleak face of Luna beckoned to them. They stepped out into the gray dust, and the “snowshoe” plates added to the bottom of their boots kept them from sinking too deeply into the moon dust.

They were now on their own.

17. DARK PERIL

Because of the light moon gravity, the boys found that they could move easily in spite of the deep dust and of the equipment strapped to their backs. The equipment took up as much room as it would have on earth, but here it weighed only one sixth of its earth weight and so was not much of a burden.

In a short while they were out of sight of the flier. They had mounted a low-lying hill and crossed down the other side. It would still be a long time before they got out of the giant crater in which the flier had landed, but by the time they did get out they would be well along toward their destination.

“We seem to be making good time, Patch,” Garry said over his helmet radio.

“Yeah,” Patch replied. “It’s so much easier walking on the moon than it is on the earth, once you get the hang of it.”

“Just think, Patch. Captain Eaton really was going to try to adopt us,” Garry said. “And all the time we thought he didn’t care enough.”

“He’s one in a million, Garry. He would have been the grandest father a guy could ever have.”

“What do you mean he _would_ have?” Garry protested. “He _will_ be our father. We’re going to _save_ him, Patch. We’re going to save all of them.”

“I want to save them too,” Patch said earnestly. “I’d sure hate for us to make it and them not to.”

“Maybe we shouldn’t talk so much,” Garry advised. “It uses up more oxygen, and I don’t think we have a surplus of it.”

They slogged silently through the gray dust in the bouncy, light-footed motion that they had become accustomed to by now. Every once in a while Garry would glance about him at the forbidding countryside of this dead world. Sight of the desolation chilled his soul. He wondered at first why this was so. Then he supposed that it must be because there was so much absolute _deadness_ all about. For nothing could live in the numbing cold and the boiling-hot temperatures that came to this landscape periodically. No, he and Patch were the only living creatures from one horizon to the other, and this fact was enough to give anyone the shivers.

Finally Garry broke the long silence.

“Patch, do you notice we’re able to move along easier now?” he asked.

“It’s because the dust is thinning out, isn’t it?” Patch replied. “But I see the rocky country up ahead that the captain was telling us about.”

“Yes,” Garry said, “and from the way he talked, it’s going to be plenty rugged getting through there.”

They increased their speed, now that the going was easier.

Garry stole a look at the big green jewel of earth afloat in the black sea of space, for it alone seemed to lend an air of friendliness and security to the otherwise lonely, sinister surroundings. The walls of Hornfield Crater about them were jagged as sharks’ teeth as they reached up into the darkness. The stars seemed to Garry like sparkling snowflakes dusted across the entire vault of the sky. The nebulae were like misty clouds, and there was the long arch of a great comet crossing just above the horizon and standing out remarkably because of its being so different from everything else in the whole visible sweep of the heavens.

After a few hours of steady hiking, Patch suggested that they take a short break to rest and eat. Garry was ready for the same.

Garry checked their map and compared the markings on it to their true surroundings. “We seem to be still on course, Patch,” he said.

By now they had moved up on a higher plateau within the crater, and the dust had thinned so that solid rock could be felt underfoot. But not far beyond lay the wilderness of rock they had seen earlier at a distance. How huge and forbidding the region looked!

Garry stopped walking and plopped down in his tracks, heaving a sigh. Patch sat down beside him.

Garry took tubes of liquid food and a couple of water bottles from the pack he carried. He offered Patch his share and took some for himself.

Each boy unscrewed a plate that covered the mouth of his helmet. Behind this was a rubber disk with a self-sealing opening in the middle of it. All the boys had to do was thrust the tubes of food and water through these openings and take them between their lips. By squeezing the tubes, they forced the contents into their mouths.

“Got a napkin?” Patch joked, when they were through. “I’d like to wipe my mouth.”

“Sorry,” Garry answered, “but they haven’t figured out a way to do that yet.”

Patch climbed to his feet, screwing his outer mouthplate back on. “Well, that wasn’t exactly like carving into a steak, but I guess it’ll do until we can get something better,” he said.

They started out again, and soon approached the forbidding rocky region they had dreaded. The ground was rough and uneven. Garry looked ahead, and it was like staring into the mouth of a vast cavern.

“We’ve got to be careful, Patch,” Garry warned, as he slowed down and held back his friend. “There may be bad crevasses across our path, and they could be the end of us if we should fall in.”

Garry took the responsibility of going first. Patch was right behind, holding on to a strap on Garry’s suit.

It was like going into a dark underworld thriving with all kinds of unknown dangers. Although he was following very closely, Patch could barely see Garry’s outline ahead of him. Garry would carefully slide one foot ahead of him to be sure he had solid ground underfoot.

After what seemed a very long time, Patch complained: “This is giving me the willies, Garry. How much farther do you think we’ve got to go? Besides, this is slowing us down almost to a crawl.”

“I think I see a break up ahead,” Garry encouraged. “It seems we’re making a wide turn, and the farther we go the more earthshine I think I can make out.”

“Gee, I’d give anything I’ve got for a light of some kind,” Patch groaned.

“That’s about the only thing they couldn’t provide for us,” Garry said. “Remember we used up our flashlight when we cut down on our power supply in the flier.”

“I remember,” Patch returned.

Patch felt that Garry was slowly descending as he walked.

“Hey, where are you going?” Patch asked.

“There seems to be an incline going down,” Garry replied. “I sure hope it comes back up and doesn’t drop off so that we can’t cross to the other side.”

“Ugh,” Patch shuddered. “Don’t even _think_ about that. Remember, Captain Eaton told us not to come back.”

“Just keep up with me and go slowly,” Garry instructed. “We’ll find out what’s ahead in a few minutes.”

Down, down they went on a gentle slope.

“When are we going to start up?” Patch asked worriedly.

“I don’t know,” Garry replied, a little anxious himself.

Suddenly Garry moved too fast for Patch to keep up and lost contact with him. Patch lost his head momentarily and cried out, dashing forward to regain touch with Garry. In his haste, Patch tripped and fell on the jagged rocks. On the earth this would have been a bad fall, but the weaker gravity here saved him from serious injury. But the weaker gravity also gave him a longer sprawl and carried him down the slope.

As soon as Garry heard Patch’s frantic cry, he grabbed wildly in the darkness, hoping by chance to reach his friend. But his hands met only empty air.

Patch’s shrieks were cut off abruptly, and stark silence filled Garry’s ears.

“Patch!” Garry called, dread making him tremble all over. “Patch, where are you?”

He had a mad impulse to leap down the incline, grabbing desperately at anything within reach. But he knew this could be disastrous for both himself and Patch.

Slowly, Garry inched farther downward, heartsick as he considered the things that might have happened to his friend—a fall knocking him out or worse, or a tumble down a deep, treacherous pit.

“Patch!” he kept calling. “Patch!”

The frightening moments of anguish were relieved when Garry finally heard a faint voice.

“Patch, where are you?” Garry asked over and over, as he inched downward, ever downward.

“Here, Garry,” came the very weak voice.

Thinking Patch was still far off, Garry slid his feet with more urgent speed through the utter blackness. Then the toe of his boot kicked something soft.

“Garry, don’t!” came a low-pitched, terrified voice. “You’re kicking the hand I’m holding on by!”

Then Garry realized what had happened, and the thought of the costly mistake he had almost made sickened him for a moment. Patch’s radio antenna had evidently been damaged in his fall, making his call for help seem farther off than he really was.

Garry stooped down, his hands closing over the gloved hand he had nearly knocked from its precarious position.

“Garry!” Patch said, his voice still a little hysterical. “I’m hanging on a cliff of some kind, and my feet aren’t touching anything! Please, Garry, get me up before I let go! I feel my hands slipping!”

“Hold on, Patch! Try to keep holding! I’ve got to get a foothold or we both may go over!”

Garry quickly kicked loose dust from underfoot and brushed it some more with his gloved hands. Then he leaned over and reached for Patch’s clinging hands. He slid his own hands below Patch’s wrists, closing his fingers about those wrists for dear life.

“I’ve got a good hold, Patch,” Garry panted. “Brace your feet and help me as I try to pull you up. Ready?”

“Ready, Garry!” came Patch’s weak voice.

Making sure his feet were well anchored, Garry pulled with all his might. For an instant Patch’s body resisted him like a dead weight. Then, with an almost superhuman effort, Garry was able to hoist him up ... up ... up and over onto the ledge safely. Then both of them slumped exhaustedly on the rocky brink.

The boys were quiet for several seconds as they caught their breath in the pitch darkness and considered how close it had come to being all over for Patch.

“Garry,” his grateful friend managed to say finally, “I’ll make it up to you. If we ever get out of this alive, I’ll make it up to you.”

“Never mind that,” Garry said. “You didn’t lose anything when you fell? You’ve still got the extra oxygen tanks?”

A dead silence followed, and that silence caused Garry to feel a clutch of dread.

“You lost them, didn’t you?” he asked with a hopeless groan.

Garry heard a faint sob over his helmet receiver. Then Patch fairly wept out the words he next spoke: “Yes, yes, I did! Push me back in, Garry! Push me back in! We’re lost for sure now!”

18. STRANGE DISCOVERY

It took a long time for the boys to pull themselves together after experiencing this final fateful blow. Down into the depths with those precious air cylinders had gone whatever chance the boys had for escaping alive from the cruel moon and for saving their friends. Patch broke down and Garry felt just as badly himself, but he managed to hold back the tears.

“Garry,” Patch burst out, “we may as well go back and die with the others now! There’s no use at all in going on any farther!” His voice still sounded far off to Garry because of the damaged antenna.

“If we went back, then _they_ would no longer have any hope,” Garry argued. “We took everything else they had. We’ve got to leave them hope—even until the end. Besides, we couldn’t accomplish anything by going back. Maybe, Patch, there’s just the barest chance that we have enough oxygen to reach the settlement. Or enough to get out into the open again and wait to see if a rescue flier comes over.”

“I’m not moving, Garry!” Patch snapped in utter despair. “I’m not going, do you hear?”

“You _are_ going,” Garry said determinedly. “You’re going if I have to carry you! It’s no time to quit, Patch.”

“Then when _is_ it time?” Patch shot back. “You and your hopes, Garry! Always hoping, even when there isn’t a smidgin of a chance.”

“It may be only a smidgin,” Garry said firmly, “but sometimes that’s enough. Now stop being a quitter and get to your feet.”

There was only silence over Garry’s receiver for several tense seconds. Garry didn’t know what he would do if Patch chose to defy him again. He knew he could not really make his friend do anything his heart refused to do.

But Patch solved this latest problem himself. Garry heard rustling sounds as Patch climbed slowly to his feet.

“I’m sorry I talked rough, Patch,” Garry apologized. “I don’t think we’ve quarreled twice in all our lives, have we? But we’re in this thing together, and we’ve got to keep going, no matter how bad things look. We’ve just _got_ to, don’t you see?”

“We’re talking about keeping going,” Patch returned, “but we can’t even get across this crevasse. How do you propose to do that? Besides that, we can’t even see as well as moles in this darkness.”

“Let’s walk along the edge, first in one direction and then the other,” Garry said. “Maybe the crevasse narrows and disappears before too far!”

They began exploring the treacherous cliff edge, moving slowly and carefully along in one direction. Every once in a while they tested the width of the chasm. Garry would get down on hands and knees and reach out, feeling with his hand to see if he could contact the other side. Time after time this was done, but each time his hands met empty air.

After a tedious hour, Patch complained bitterly, “Can’t you see it’s hopeless, Garry? Gee whiz, what does it take to convince you?”

“Let’s try a few more times,” Garry replied doggedly. “Then if we still can’t find a way across, we’ll start going along the crevasse in the other direction.”

Patch did not reply to this, and Garry knew how bitter his friend must feel toward him after so many setbacks.

The next time Garry got down on his hands and knees and reached out, his probing hand touched hard, firm rock on the other side!

“Patch!” he shouted. “I’ve found a place where we can cross!”

Even Patch was heartened by this and made an enthusiastic comment. In the hope of finding the crevasse even narrower and safer farther along, Garry followed the ledge, and, sure enough, it grew narrower and narrower until it was a crack in the ground only a few inches across.

Making the crossing to the other side, the boys, in feeling their way along, found that the ground began to rise again. Garry still maintained the lead, with Patch holding onto him and following blindly only a step behind.

Up, up the slope they went, and before long they could see rays of light flickering down into their eyes.

Soon there was enough light so that they could see a little distance ahead. They quickened their steps, although it still required some care on their part to avoid the sharp-edged stones and rugged underfooting that still lay in front of them.

But the light grew steadily brighter and the trail flatter.

“Look, Patch, I can see the stars again!” Garry was soon able to say.

Then, scarcely before they realized it, they were completely out of the shadows of the rocky formation that had very nearly finished them. Above and behind them once more shone the big bright ball of earth floating among the stars.

“Good old earth!” Patch exclaimed, with new hope. “I never thought I’d see it again!”

“It’s a great sight!” Garry agreed.

“Garry,” Patch said, “we can see right over the top of the crater wall in the distance. We seem to be higher than we were when we started.”

“I’ve noticed that too,” Garry replied. “I’ll check the map again.”

Garry did so, then told Patch that they were still on course.

They moved on and presently stood at the raised edge of a gradually lowering basin that stretched out very far and flat ahead of them. They could see a break in the crater wall a few miles away, which the captain had pointed out to them on the map.

“It looks like we’ll have easy traveling for awhile,” Garry said, “and we’ll be right out in the open in case a flier comes over. They’ll be sure to see us unless they’re completely blind.”

“Garry,” Patch said in a thoughtful voice, “I’m sorry.”

“Huh?” Garry asked in surprise.

“I’m sorry for the way I acted. I lost my head completely. When I found out I’d lost the air cylinders over the ledge, I just seemed to go to pieces. It’s a good thing one of us knows how to keep his head.”

“Forget it, Patch,” Garry soothed. “It could have been me just as easy as you. Besides, that’s not important now. We’ve still got a long way to go, and time is running short.”

Suddenly, Patch ran past Garry in great haste and stood staring over the plain below, shielding his eyes with his hands.

Garry joined him. “Patch, what is it? Do you see something?”

“It’s impossible!” Patch gasped. “It’s completely impossible!”

“What?” Garry begged, his own excitement growing.

“Look! There’s somebody walking around down there or else I’m seeing things!”

Garry looked where Patch pointed, and he too found it hard to believe his eyes. There _was_ someone or something moving around.

“I see it!” Garry said. “Come on, let’s go down and get a closer look!”

“I just hope it isn’t in as bad shape as we are!” Patch exclaimed.

They hurried as fast as they dared over the bumpy ground, heading straight for the person or thing that was moving about in seemingly aimless fashion on the plain below.

“He sees us!” Patch said. “He’s coming toward us!”

Swiftly the distance closed between the boys and the lone stranger. And then Garry and Patch received the surprise of their lives.

“Katrinka!” they shouted together, not believing what they saw.

“It can’t be!” Patch cried in amazement. “Garry, we must be seeing a mirage or something! How could Katrinka...?”

“It’s Katrinka all right!” Garry said, as the robot drew close enough to be fully recognized. “But I don’t understand it. I don’t understand it at all! Katrinka crashed with the _Carefree_ and poor Ben! But even if she didn’t crash, how is it she’s wandering around out here on the moon?”

“And what could make her start moving toward us?” Patch asked, as the mystery deepened. “You’ll never make me believe she’s _really_ human, although at times it seemed that she was.”

The big robot stopped in front of the boys and remained still. Garry and Patch felt almost as if they should say “Hello,” because indeed it was like meeting an old friend.

After a few moments of remaining stock still, Katrinka turned and started shuffling off with great long strides.

“What’ll we do, Garry?” Patch asked. “Follow her? But that would be silly! She’s still an unthinking machine.”

“I don’t know, Patch. This whole thing seems very strange, although it may be that she was merely thrown clear when the _Carefree_ crashed and somehow her works were activated by the jolt. And yet I have the feeling that she almost knows what she’s doing, as if she wants us to follow her.”

“Now you’re talking spooky,” Patch said. “You don’t really believe that Katrinka can _think_!”

“I don’t know what to believe,” Garry replied. “But I sure would like to follow her a little way to see just what she’s going to do next.”

“But our air, Garry! We don’t have enough to waste on playing ‘follow the leader’!”

“Just a little way, Patch. Who knows—this might even lead to something important.”

“I think you’re way off base, Garry, but I’ll admit I’m curious too. Let’s go.”

Katrinka had already gained some distance on them while they were debating what to do, and she did not wait for them. They started running to catch up and presently did so. But the robot traveled at such a fast pace that they still had to move in long, antelopelike jumps to keep up.

Katrinka was definitely headed in one particular direction because she varied hardly any in her line of motion. She seemed to be going toward an area where the rocks rose high and ominous looking. It was much like the spot where the boys had had their recent harrowing experience.

“Garry, please,” Patch begged, panting for breath, “let’s call this crazy chase off! That athletic gal is running me ragged! Besides, she seems to be taking us straight into those rocky walls!”

“Well, there’s one thing certain,” Garry replied. “She’s _got_ to change direction pretty quick, or she’ll crash into something. Let’s stick it out a few more minutes.”

They drew closer to the shadowy outcropping. But the robot did not even slow her pace. The boys knew she was heading for a collision, but there was nothing they could do but watch.

Somehow she got past the first row of stones, tripping and nearly falling, then recovering automatically. But her luck was short lived. The path went downhill beyond this spot, and her big metal foot slammed against a boulder. The robot arched through the air and crashed headfirst into a rocky wall. It crumpled her metal cranium, spewing out wires and electronic parts.

The boys came running up and stood looking at the fallen giant.

“Poor old Katrinka,” Garry said. “She was almost like one of us. It’s nearly as if another one of us had died.”

“Yeah, I liked the old gal,” Patch replied. “She may have survived a crash on the moon, but it’s a cinch she’s reached the end of her rope now.”

Garry cast a look around to see what sort of area they had come into. His eyes followed the downhill trail ahead that Katrinka would still be following had she not had her accident.

What he saw brought a gasp of astonishment from him, and a nervous tremor coursed through his body.

“Patch, look!” he shouted. “The _Carefree_! There’s the _Carefree_ down there, half buried in moon dust!”

They rushed down the trail to get a closer look. The giant space ship was indeed buried half of her depth in pumice dust. The rear air lock was level with the ground, and extending from the air lock was a gangplank!

The boys moved up to the edge of the gangplank, looking it over in bafflement.

“Don’t tell me Katrinka put that down and walked out of the ship on it!” Patch challenged. “You can’t get me to believe that, Garry.”

“No, you’re right; she couldn’t possibly have done that on her own. She might have done it, Patch, but she would have had to be guided by an intelligent _human_ brain.”

“Garry, what are you saying? Are you trying to say that Ben might have survived that crash and rigged up Katrinka so that she could go out looking for us? Why, that’s fantastic!”

“We’ll soon find out if it’s so fantastic,” Garry said. “The ship is nearly undamaged, as you can see.”

“What are you going to do?” Patch asked, as Garry moved ahead.

“I’m going to walk that gangplank up to the air lock and see if Ben is inside.”

They could see that the gangplank had been put down because of the depth of the Lunar dust. It was obviously quite deep in this area, since the _Carefree_ itself was half buried in it. Deep, enormous dust pits were very common on the moon and were among the most dangerous obstacles to travel, because they never gave any indication of how deep they were until someone fell in and was suffocated.

Carefully, Garry, with Patch right behind him, stepped out on the narrow gangplank and moved slowly forward toward the air lock at the other end. It was a little unsteady underfoot, but it was rigid and did not sink beneath the boys’ light lunar weight. Besides, Garry felt pretty sure now that Katrinka had crossed it, and she was far heavier than both of them together.

Garry reached the air lock, his heart thumping rapidly with hope and expectation. He raised his gloved hand and began pounding on the outer door.

They waited. Five seconds, then ten, fifteen....

Garry’s hopes began to dim. It didn’t look as if there were anyone alive inside after all.

But then the air-lock door began to swing open. The boys scrambled inside, too tense and excited to speak to one another. They heard air swishing into the air lock. Then, after another half minute, the inner door swung open.

Standing there inside facing them was—Ben.

19. A NEW LIFE

“Ben!” Garry exclaimed jubilantly, rushing into the main part of the ship. “Is it really you?”

“I’m not a ghost,” Ben said with a grin, “if that’s what you mean.”

“How did you ever do it?” Patch asked, amazement written all over his chubby features. “I mean crash-land the _Carefree_.”

“First tell me how the others are,” Ben asked anxiously.

Garry told him that they were all right, at least for the time being.

Ben was limping as he moved about. Patch asked about this, and Ben said it would come out in his story. The boys had entered into the central tunnel of the _Carefree_, with its webbing network, and Garry noticed that Ben had laid down metallic sheets over the webbing so that it could be more easily stood upon.

Ben sat down on this and began his story.

“I had made plans to remain aboard the _Carefree_ before we even started working on the flier. When I found that the space taxi would hold only seven passengers safely, I knew someone had to stay behind. I was afraid the captain would realize that the flier would be overcrowded, but I guess he was too busy thinking about other things. The likely one to bow out was myself, because I felt that quite possibly I might be able to bring the _Carefree_ down in one piece. I knew this region of Hornfield was full of huge dust pits that could cushion the fall of a ship if she belly-landed in one of them just right. But don’t think I wasn’t scared even thinking of trying such a thing! Don’t get me wrong, fellows—I wasn’t out to make a hero of myself!”

“You must have had some control over the ship,” Garry said, “otherwise she would have crashed headlong onto the moon.”

“I had some control,” Ben explained. “As soon as I released the flier from the _Carefree_, I started my attempt to save the ship and myself as well. I donned a pressure suit and went into the flight deck. Remember, I had gone in there before, soon after the collision. I had noticed then that most of the instrument panel had been destroyed.”

“I remember too, Ben, that you helped build the _Carefree_,” Garry said, “so you must’ve known a lot about her.”

“I tore out the cover of the console and began working in the section beneath. With tools, I was able to get the braking jets to functioning. This slowed the ship down to a slow orbit around the moon and gave me time to work on the steering controls. I couldn’t do much with them, but I was able to move the ship a little to the port or starboard side, as I wished. I knew this was as far as I could go, but with some luck I felt there was a chance of bringing her down safely.”

“Why didn’t you try this before we all left the ship?” Patch wanted to know.

Ben shook his head. “Risk everybody’s life on some crazy plan of my own? No, it was too farfetched in the first place, and I guess I would not even have tried it myself unless I’d had to. The flier was much the safer route to safety, and that’s why getting it to go was my first concern. With you guys out of the way, I had no one’s life to risk but my own.”

“How did you manage to land as close to the flier as you did?” Garry asked.

“My first thought was to land near one of the settlements, because if I did make it, then I would immediately send out a search party for the rest of you. But I knew I _had_ to land in one of the vast dust pits on Luna, because the ship would be destroyed by friction if it skidded along the bare ground. I made one orbit of the moon as the ship slowed down more and more and lost altitude. I knew roughly in what area the flier would likely come down, and I remembered Hornfield Crater as one being full of dust pits. As the ship glided lower and lower, I figured this would be where I would try to bring her down. The pit we’re in now is a very large, long trough, maybe a quarter of a mile long and a hundred feet wide. I therefore had a pretty good chance of landing in it.”

“Gee, you had a lot of nerve to try something like that!” Patch exclaimed.

“I took one last look out where I hoped to come down,” Ben said, “and then went under the console into the working parts again. I cut out a few of the upper braking jets, and this caused the ship to nose down. I felt it plough into the dust as if into a big flour barrel. The ship heated up from the friction created, but it slowed her down rapidly, and she came to rest on this spot, half buried in pumice. Even so, I nearly missed the dust pit, landing only about thirty feet from the edge of it.”

“Now what about Katrinka?” Garry asked. “You did send her out, didn’t you?”

“Right. I sprained my ankle when the ship landed and I was thrown against some machinery. I could hardly walk, but I wanted to make contact with the rest of you if it were possible. I then figured that the old gal might be able to help me. I worked her over so that I could operate her by remote control. I also made for her a command disk, so that when she moved near one of you or the flier she would give a radio signal to me. I laid down the gangplank myself over the pit, because I knew Katrinka would sink down in the dust. It nearly killed me getting about and using a hoist to lower the gangplank to the opposite bank, but I finally managed it.”

“Then you sent her out?” Patch asked.

“Yes. I used a small telescope to keep track of her. I couldn’t be sure where the rest of you had come down, but my plan was to start her moving about in a gradually enlarging circle. I was hoping that some of you would see her and come over to investigate. Once you had done that, I felt sure you would have the curiosity to follow her wherever she led you. And this you two fortunately did.”

“We nearly didn’t,” Patch said. “We thought Katrinka had been thrown clear of the _Carefree_ after it had crashed and somehow had gotten accidentally activated as she had done once on the ship.”

They heard a rap on the outer air-lock door. Patch and Garry exchanged bewildered glances, but Ben did not seem very surprised.

“That must be the men from the settlement,” he said, limping over to the air lock and shoving the lever that opened the outer door. “I haven’t had time to tell you yet that I got through a message to them. You see, before I even thought of the trick with Katrinka, I was working on that damaged antenna dish that had prevented our sending an SOS after our collision in space. At first I didn’t have any replies, and I figured there must be interference from the Taurus Mountains beyond.”

“That must be why _our_ SOS didn’t go through!” Patch said.

Ben went on: “I increased my transmitting power and finally got through. It’s been less than an hour ago that they said they would send over a Service flier rocket immediately.”

The two men who entered the air lock a few moments later were Commander Staples and his lieutenant, both members of the Space Service. They had been making a routine flight over the moon when they had been contacted by the mining scientists who had picked up Ben’s SOS.

The two men had arrived in a big space flier that could easily take care of Captain Eaton and the others. Ben and the boys were anxious to get started so that the long-drawn-out ordeal their friends had been undergoing could be ended as quickly as possible. Commander Staples said they could leave immediately.

The boys pulled on their helmets, and the officers helped Ben get into a pressure suit. This was painful for Ben because of his swollen ankle. Then, with everyone dressed to go out onto the moon’s surface, Ben pushed the lever that opened the inner air-lock door. Once outside, they started in single file across the gangplank. Ben was in the middle and limped along slowly with his hands on the shoulders of the officer in front of him to steady himself.

On the way to the flier, they passed the smashed metal body of Katrinka. The officers looked at the strange robot with great interest, and Ben explained her to them.

“She won’t remain out here to die,” Ben said over his suit radio, as if he were talking about a human being. “When we return to the _Carefree_ one of these days, we’ll rebuild her, and she’ll be as good as new.”

The boys were glad to hear this because now they realized that every one of their little group on the _Carefree_ would survive the frightening adventure and that once again they would all be together, including their robot friend.

“Ben,” Patch asked, “will the _Carefree_ ever fly again?”

“That’s up to Captain Eaton,” Ben replied. “It will take a lot of money to put her in shape again, and that includes a powerful set of rockets to lift her into space. But knowing how much the captain likes her, I believe he’ll spare no expense making her space borne again.”

Commander Staples said to Ben: “I heard you mention Captain Eaton. Our radio picked up a spacegram that was addressed to a Captain Eaton. We tape those messages routinely, and I’ll be able to give it to him when we see him.”

The Service flier was a sleek, streamlined rocket with fins that were built to support the craft in the earth’s atmosphere, if need be. She also had powerful jets for lifting her up off the surface of any of the minor planets.

Commander Staples asked the boys to point out to him on a chart the approximate location of their flier, and Garry estimated the position as accurately as he could.

Then, with everyone belted down, the flier’s rocket roared into action, and the craft lifted into the dark sky. It was a very short trip, and the ship did not have to fly too high. Commander Staples’ assistant spied the flier and pointed it out to his superior. The ship circled the area in a gradually lowering spiral and came to rest about a hundred feet from the small grounded space taxi.

A few moments later, Ben and the boys were hurrying across the rough ground toward the flier. Garry’s heart was pounding so hard with joy and excitement that he could hear its thumping over his helmet receiver.

Those inside had evidently seen their rescuers arrive, because the outer door of the air lock was open to receive them.

Garry would never forget the old captain’s happy face when he saw the three of them enter. Nor would he forget the tears glistening in the corners of Captain Eaton’s eyes as he clasped the boys to his chest in a great bear hug that nearly squeezed the life out of them.

“Thank God for this great moment!” the old man said in a husky voice. “And Ben—even you, whom we had long ago given up for dead! What have I ever done to deserve a happy moment like this?”