Through a window of the taxi, Garry was watching the corridor for signs of the returning men. “I guess you’re right, Patch,” he said. “We’ll give ourselves up when those men return.” “I don’t think we should wait until then,” Patch objected. “It will go a lot easier for us if we give ourselves up voluntarily instead of looking as if we had been caught.” Once again Garry agreed, but, as he was reaching for the button to open the door, he heard a click. “What was that?” Patch asked in alarm. “What did you do?” “Nothing,” Garry said. “Something was operating all by itself.” A soft purring sound began to be heard inside the craft, and Garry felt the little ship vibrating ever so softly. “Patch,” Garry said tensely, “I don’t like this.” He tried the door button, but it would not work. “What’s happening?” Patch asked, and there was fright in his voice. A movement outside in the dock caught the boys’ eyes. Through the wide front port of the ship, they watched a big door slide open, revealing a dark air-lock tunnel—a tunnel large enough to hold the craft which they were occupying! “Garry,” Patch repeated, “what’s happening!” Garry slumped into one of the seats, fear numbing his heart. “Now I know what kind of ship this is, Patch,” he murmured. “It’s remote controlled, guided by an operator inside the space station. We’re heading straight out into space, Patch!” 4. ADRIFT IN THE DEEPS Trapped within the space taxi, Garry and Patch watched the darkness of space enlarge before their eyes as the ship emerged from the air-lock tunnel of the space station. The stars about them were countless lights, some packed so closely together that they trailed across the sky like distant streaming veils. But the boys had no eye for their beauty at this time. “Garry,” Patch asked in a dismal voice, “what’s going to happen to us?” “As long as they have control of the ship, I guess we’ll be all right,” Garry replied. “Maybe they are just sending the ship out on a practice run or possibly to pick someone up.” “Pick someone up?” Patch asked, puzzled. “I was thinking of satellite workers or repairmen. The skies out here are flooded with satellites, you know. They must have men working on them all the time,” Garry explained. Garry heard a hissing sound. He found a slit in the wall from which it was coming. Near the opening was a gauge. “That’s an oxygen mixture coming in,” Garry said. “It’s probably automatic. It turns on whenever the air pressure drops or becomes fouled.” “That’s something in our favor,” Patch said grudgingly. Garry found his feet beginning to lift weightlessly off the floor. His body sagged off balance, and he had to hold onto a handle on one of the seats. “Garry, what’ll we do?” Patch exclaimed frantically. “We’re going weightless!”