Richard M. Elam

“ 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!” ”

“ Captain, this ship has become such a part of my life that I’d almost want to go down with her.”
“I feel the same way, Ben,” Captain Eaton replied. “Life will never be the same again without the Carefree. I don’t know how I’ll get along without her deck beneath my feet.”
“If we get out of this alive,” Mr. Klecker said, “we’ll just have to return to earth and spend the rest of our days there.”
“That’s true,” the captain agreed sadly. “Even a millionaire is allowed a space ship as grand as this only once in a lifetime. ”

“ Captain Eaton replied. “Can you tell us? Can you remember what did happen before you blacked out?”
Mac frowned, as if concentrating very hard. Then his face relaxed.
“I remember,” he said softly. “I was near the door when it hit us—whatever it was. If I’d been in the pilot’s chair I would have been a goner. But I had gotten up only a moment before to check the chart. The door was open. I heard a terrific roar and saw the whole console burst into a sheet of fire. At the same time I felt myself being blown backward and right through the door onto the platform. ”

“ 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.” ”

“ Captain Eaton stared off with a faraway look. “We’ll make up for lost time, boys. We’ll see as much of the universe as the old Carefree will carry us to. Yes, we’ll fix her up again if it takes the rest of my fortune. You’ll get your education among the stars, my sons, and you’ll be that much wiser because of it.”
Garry and Patch exchanged happy glances. Garry thought they were wiser already, just from knowing the grand skipper of the Carefree. ”

“ Captain Eaton frowned. “Am I getting too deep for you?”
“I don’t think so, Sir,” Garry replied. “The gravity you are talking about is the result of centrifugal action—the same action that makes a ball swing out on the end of a string when a person swings it around his head. It’s the same kind of artificial gravity they use on the manned space stations.” ”

“ All nonpassengers are requested to leave the ship.”
“That’s us,” Garry said unhappily.
How he envied Officer Mulroy on his coming trip into the deeps of space! He wanted to go so badly that his heart ached. But he realized that not for many years could his fondest dream come true.
Officer Mulroy noticed Garry’s reluctance to leave, and placed a friendly arm around his shoulder. “Don’t take it so hard, Garry,” he said. “Be the very best student you can. The years will go by fast, and then one day you will wake up to find that you are eligible to be a spaceman.” ”

“ Patch looked gloomily out of the front port of the flier. “We’re still no better off than we were before, though, Garry, but, I think we have stopped moving.”
Garry shook his head. “It just seems like we’re not moving because the stars and everything else around us are so still. We’re moving all right—and fast. This ship may still be moving after we’re dead, even if we could live for a hundred years, because there’s nothing ever to slow us down out here; that is, unless we happened to move into the gravity field of some planet, which would pull us down.” ”

“ 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.” ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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.” ”

“ Mac was guiding the craft into a slowly descending spiral. This would give the flier’s braking rockets time to reduce speed to safe level for the touchdown.
The Carefree was not in sight, although Garry searched the starry sky through the plastic walls of the flier. He was glad he could not find her. He would not have liked to see her crash.
Down below, Garry could see the huge dish of a giant crater. It was within this area that Mac was circling. As if anticipating Garry’s question, Mac explained: “Ben suggested that we try landing on the floor of this crater, which is called Hornfield. ”

“ Patch asked Mr. Klecker.
The boys could see pain on the men’s faces.
“The Carefree collided with an Explorer satellite,” the butler replied. “It destroyed the flight deck while Mac was on duty. It looks as if he had managed to close the door before he was swept off into space. The collision knocked us off course, and we’re plunging into space—toward where, no one knows. We can’t so much as lift a finger to bring her under control, and our antenna disk has been damaged so that we can’t even send an SOS.”
“Oh, no!” was all Garry could say, sickened at the sudden fateful turn of events. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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! ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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.” ”

“ After this period, everyone began to get restless, with a desire to get up and stretch his legs, as they could have done if they were back on the Carefree.
“I know how you feel, fellows,” Captain Eaton said sympathetically, as he noticed how tired everyone had become of just sitting around. “I’d like to take a romp myself outside in a space suit, but without knowing how soon we’ll be rescued and having no surplus of supplies, I don’t think we should use up our oxygen that fast. Everyone agree?” ”

“ 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. ”

“ The idea of the future did not interest him now, but only the present, because the queen of the spaceways was about to blast off, and he wanted so desperately to remain aboard her.
“Let’s go, Garry,” Patch said. “We don’t want to get Officer Mulroy into trouble by us being caught aboard at blast-off.”
20
“That’s right,” Officer Mulroy said with a smile. “Being a stowaway on a rocket is really a serious matter. You see, for every pound of pay load on a rocket, there must be many more pounds of fuel, so if an extra person remained aboard, the ship might not be able to reach its destination.” ”

“ Yes, this is a sad day for an old man who has lost at the same time the dearest things to his heart—one of his best friends and a funny-looking space ship that had come to be even homier than his earthly home.”
Garry noticed how much the conversation kept returning to Ben. He guessed that the unselfish spaceman would be on their minds for a long time to come.
“I wonder where they went down, Captain?” Mac asked. “I didn’t even see the Carefree, once Ben cut us free.” ”

“ Garry said. “We’re weightless and would never be able to get about. It’s funny how I wanted so terribly to go into space, but now that I’m out here I’m not enjoying it. I guess it’s because I’m afraid of what’s coming.”
Garry wondered what they should do. Should they turn themselves in and take their chances on being believed that their being aboard the Orion was due to an accident? But if they did this, then Mr. Mulroy might be held responsible for not seeing that the boys had left the ship. And yet, Garry realized, he and Patch could not stay in hiding indefinitely. ”

“ Gino had lost his usual cheery smile and could only stare numbly at the closed door of the flight deck, where their friend had been the victim of such a cruel act of fate.
Garry looked around at the ship’s company. Everyone was accounted for except Isaac.
“Where’s Mr. Newton?” he asked.
“Poor Isaac is completely crushed,” Captain Eaton replied. “He had just changed shifts with Mac at the pilot’s chair only a few moments before the accident. He’s blaming himself for the whole thing. It seems he overlooked the position of the satellite that hit us. ”

“ 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.” ”

“ 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. ”