“I have been thinking about it, Mark,” answered Zip. “I’ll want more time later to sift through my impressions, but there are too many questions here to deal with at the pace we’re going.” “Of course, but think! Who made this place? How big is the complex? When and why did they abandon it? Where are they now?” “Yes--and above all, what else will we find in here?” Just then the screech of tortured metal sounded loudly throughout the chamber. Everyone turned and stared back at the elevators, where the sound was coming from. A spot on the left door of the central elevator began to glow red, then orange, then white. Iridescent metal began to spew forth in chunks. Then a spherical mechanism about the size of a basketball shot through the hole. A few bright green and yellow lights the size of small coins lit up its dull silver surface. Zip’s blood ran cold. “It’s an airbot!” he cried. Zip had never seen an airbot before, but he knew what it was: an aerial reconobot, an armed robotic flying device which, among other uses, could be programmed to track down fugitives, drawn by their body heat. Zip and Mark lifted their laser pistols and fired simultaneously. Their beams lit up red dots on the surface of the flying ball but scattered harmlessly, as the Starmen assumed they would. The airbot quickly oriented itself to the escapees and began to fly toward them. 9: A Vision in the Night “RUN! Go! Scatter! Move!” shouted Zip frantically. He ran forward to the closest aisle between the stacks of crates, wheeled right, and sped down the narrow space. He heard the quiet, efficient “zzap” sound of the airbot’s disabling beam, but apparently not directed toward him yet. Desperation powered his legs and they pumped at peak speed. He didn’t know where the others were or what they were doing. Someone else was racing behind him but he didn’t stop to find out who it was. It was not cowardice that inspired his flight, but the desire to preserve the team. Scattering and flying gave a slight hope that some of the men might escape the relentless search of the airbot--or at least put off the inevitable. The rotation of the asteroid provided artificial gravity, but it was low enough to enable the men to move quickly, covering a lot of distance as they ran.