“This is a map of Katrinka’s system, like the diagram of a radio or TV,” was the reply. “I have to figure out what connections I must bring together. You see, I must give her several actions that make up the command we have given her. There must be the action of walking over to Patch, of bending certain parts that serve as her muscles, and finally the action of lifting him up. Then I must activate these through the use of spoken words.” The captain worked for about an hour. The last thing he did was to take a small disk out of stock and drill holes in it at very carefully measured positions. Then he slipped the disk into place inside the robot. “Now let’s try her out,” the captain said. Captain Eaton faced the robot and spoke in a loud clear voice: “Lift.” Patch remained where he stood, but Garry could see that he was a little nervous as Katrinka began lumbering toward him. The robot stooped over and lifted the boy in her big metal arms. She stood motionless, holding him in a firm grip as Patch began to struggle impatiently after about fifteen seconds. “Tell her to put me down, Captain,” Patch begged. The captain winked at Garry mischievously. “My goodness, Patch, I forgot to give her a command to release you!” Patch began struggling vigorously, but he could not escape the robot’s iron grip. “Hey, somebody, get me out of this!” Patch cried, his face reddening from his exertions. Seeing that his fun had gone far enough, Captain Eaton barked out, as if he were a military commander: “Atten-tion!” The robot’s arms slipped straight down to her sides, and her body stiffened rigidly. Patch tumbled unharmed to the floor. Patch sat up. He turned and looked up at Garry and the captain. Fear still showed in his eyes, but, as he saw the playful smile on the captain’s face, a grin spread over his own. The captain laughed out loud. Then Garry joined in. Finally, Patch himself began laughing, having enjoyed the harmless experiment even if the captain _had_ played a little joke on him. 9. SATELLITE ZONE Although Ben seemed to be one of the busiest persons aboard the _Carefree_, he still took time out to chat with the boys early that afternoon. “Have you been at the orphanage all your lives?” Ben asked Garry and Patch. “Almost that long,” Garry replied. “Our parents were good friends,” Patch added. “All four of them were killed at one time in a rocket-plane crash near Salt Lake City. We were only three then and were placed in the orphanage at the same time.” “How long have you been in space, Ben?” Garry asked. “Oh, about eight years now, off and on. I started when I was in my teens. I was a sort of cabin boy aboard the old Mars exploration ship, the _Jules Verne_. We spent a year there. Boy, what a life! It was like living in a deep freeze. Since then I’ve traveled to Venus, Luna—the moon, you know—and there’s no counting the trips I’ve made among the satellites.”