“Right,” said Mark. “Therefore the locking mechanism is not original to the asteroid’s design. Is that where you’re going, Zip?” Zip smiled. “Keep going,” he nodded. “Whoever made this asteroid was far in advance of our science and it’ll probably be a long time before we, or anyone else, learn how to alter their design. But the locking mechanism was most likely put in by the pirates, probably on short notice. It can’t be too sophisticated a system. Again, since this is a dormitory and not a cell, the wiring is probably on this side of the door rather than in the hallway. Let’s find where the pirates rewired the door. Whatever they can do, we can undo.” The Starmen leaped up and began to investigate the door and the walls near it very carefully. Now that they had some idea of what they were looking for, they hoped it would be easier to find an access panel of some kind which their previous general search had missed. Minutes passed with no result. The walls had no apparent seams, and the door was set into the framework so closely that there seemed to be no space between the door and the edge of the wall into which it slid. “Try the floor,” suggested Joe. Mark dropped down and scanned the floor minutely. Joe moved farther to the right and Zip to the left of the door, their fingers moving gently over the surface looking for some kind of irregularity. St. George watched them with a mix of curiosity and amazement on his face. His men sat at the tables playing games, paying the Starmen little heed. Once in a while one looked up, then turned back to his game. Others napped on the sofas. “Look here,” said Mark. Zip and Joe came over to see what he had found. “What do you see?” he asked them, sitting back on his heels. “Where?” asked Joe. “You find it--see if I’m right,” answered Mark. Joe pursed his lips and squinted. Zip watched carefully. George appeared almost impassive, but inside his heart was beating faster. “I see it,” observed Joe after a minute. “What?” burst out St. George, then looked almost sheepish for showing his excitement. “The light reflects off this patch here just a little differently from the rest of the floor. It’s a perfect square about, oh, fifteen inches on a side.” “Right,” said Mark. “How do we open it--if it’s a panel, that is?” asked Joe. He pushed the corners, tried sliding the panel in every direction, bounced the square with his fingers, all with no result. “Let me try,” said Mark. He laid his hand gently on top. In a few seconds there was a click and the square lifted up an inch, supported by a small, spring-loaded shaft in the center. Mark lifted the panel off and revealed a recess filled with finely detailed circuit boards. Over and around them were a few dark wires that obviously did not belong to the original design. Joe snorted. “How did you do that?”