  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. |
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