As the captain climbed from his bunk and slipped into his robe, Garry avoided the eyes of the others in the dormitory. He had done just what he had hoped he would not do—shown his fear of a harmless robot. He knew they must think him squeamish, but they were not laughing now. Patch seemed to have been the only one who was not aroused by the excitement. Garry could see that he was still asleep in his bunk. Captain Eaton passed Garry, opened the door, and went outside. Garry followed a few steps behind. The robot still looked menacing to Garry. It stood, big and dark and unmoving, in the dimness of the corridor. Captain Eaton faced Katrinka and spoke in a clear, loud voice: “Closet! Closet!” Garry heard a humming sound coming from the robot. It shuffled about slowly on its ponderous feet and started walking away. “She’s obeying!” Garry gasped. “Yes, she’s all right,” Captain Eaton replied. “Probably just a crossing of the wires in her mechanical brain that activated her. Maybe a slight lurch of the ship did it. I’ll look her over thoroughly in the morning.” “I don’t see how you did it,” Garry said, still amazed. “How can a machine like that take orders like a person, just as if it had a brain like us?” “Katrinka’s brain is made up of electrical impulses in certain codes,” Captain Eaton replied. “There is a code disk for everything that she is able to do. For instance, there is one for making up the bunks, every step in that operation. There’s one for washing the dishes, mopping the floor, and so on. When I have the time, I make her even smarter by adding new codes and duties.” “But all you said was the word ‘closet,’ and off she went,” Garry said. “That was the code for her heading for the closet down the corridor where she stays when we have no need for her. When she goes inside the closet, an automatic switch will cut off her mechanism, and she will remain dormant until we need her. Just as if I gave you an order to go somewhere and your muscles would carry you to that place, so it is with Katrinka. The code words I give her activate the wires that control her movement in a certain way, whatever that activity is.” Garry nodded. “I understand it, but it sure must be a complicated thing the way she works.” “It’s complicated, all right,” Captain Eaton agreed. “Katrinka represents many years of scientific study, long before I ever thought of venturing into space. It was a hobby of mine, in between my duties as a teacher and head of a space shipping corporation. My first models were very clumsy and crude, but I have developed them over the years and have finally come up with Katrinka, my finest yet. Many people are interested in her—manufacturers and the government too.” The next morning Garry told Patch about Katrinka, and Captain Eaton gave them permission to watch him check out the robot.