The tank neared the ship. A few feet of it projected onto the ramp. The geepees stopped; their efforts lost momentum. They looked bewildered. The tank rolled backward. The geepees shook, buzzed and looked around, primarily at Docchi. He didn't wait any longer. He leaped into the ship. "Close the passenger lock!" he shouted. Jordan looked up questioningly from the controls. "Vogel, the engineer," explained Docchi. "He must have seen the geepees on scanning when they entered the main dome. He's trying to do what Cameron should have done, but didn't have enough sense to do." The passenger lock swung ponderously shut behind him. "Now what?" Jordan asked, worried. "First, let's see what you can get on the telecom," said Docchi. The angle was impossible, so close to the ship, but they did manage to get a corner of the tank on the screen. Apparently it was resting where Docchi had last seen it, though it was difficult to be sure because the curve of the ship loomed so large. "Maybe we'd better get out of here," suggested Jordan nervously. "Without the tank? Not a chance. Vogel hasn't got complete control of them yet." That seemed to be true. The geepees were nearly motionless, paralyzed. "What shall I do?" asked Jordan. "Give me full power on the radio," said Docchi. "Burn it out if you have to. I think the engineer is at the wrong angle to broadcast much power to them. Besides, the intervening structure is absorbing most of his signal." He waited until Jordan had complied. "The tank must be placed in the ship," he added. Geepees were not designed to sift contradictory commands that were nearly at the same level of urgency. Their reasoning power was feeble, but the mechanism was complicated enough. In that respect they resembled humans. Borderline decisions were difficult. "More power," whispered Docchi. Sweating, Jordan obeyed. Marionettes. This string led toward a certain action. Another, intrinsically more important, but suddenly far less powerful, pulled for something else. Circuits burned within electronic brains. Micro-relays fluttered under the stress. Choice.... Stiffly the geepees moved and grasped the tank. The quality of decision, in this case, was strained. Inch by inch the tank rolled up the ramp. "When it's completely on, raise the ramp," Docchi whispered to Jordan in an even lower voice. One geepee wavered and fell. Motionless, it lay there. The remaining four were barely equal to the task. "Now," said Docchi. The freight ramp began to rise. The tank picked up speed as it rolled into the ship. "Geepees, save yourselves!" shouted Docchi. They leaped from the ramp. Jordan breathed deeply. "I don't think they can hurt us now." Docchi nodded. "Get me ship-to-asteroid communication, if there's any radio left." "There is." Jordan made the adjustment. "Vogel, we're going out. Give us the proper sequence and save the dome some damage." There was no reply.