“Right. I sprained my ankle when the ship landed and I was thrown against some machinery. I could hardly walk, but I wanted to make contact with the rest of you if it were possible. I then figured that the old gal might be able to help me. I worked her over so that I could operate her by remote control. I also made for her a command disk, so that when she moved near one of you or the flier she would give a radio signal to me. I laid down the gangplank myself over the pit, because I knew Katrinka would sink down in the dust. It nearly killed me getting about and using a hoist to lower the gangplank to the opposite bank, but I finally managed it.”
“Then you sent her out?” Patch asked.
“Yes. I used a small telescope to keep track of her. I couldn’t be sure where the rest of you had come down, but my plan was to start her moving about in a gradually enlarging circle. I was hoping that some of you would see her and come over to investigate. Once you had done that, I felt sure you would have the curiosity to follow her wherever she led you. And this you two fortunately did.”
“We nearly didn’t,” Patch said. “We thought Katrinka had been thrown clear of the Carefree after it had crashed and somehow had gotten accidentally activated as she had done once on the ship.”
They heard a rap on the outer air-lock door. Patch and Garry exchanged bewildered glances, but Ben did not seem very surprised.
“That must be the men from the settlement,” he said, limping over to the air lock and shoving the lever that opened the outer door. “I haven’t had time to tell you yet that I got through a message to them. You see, before I even thought of the trick with Katrinka, I was working on that damaged antenna dish that had prevented our sending an SOS after our collision in space. At first I didn’t have any replies, and I figured there must be interference from the Taurus Mountains beyond.”
“That must be why our SOS didn’t go through!” Patch said.
Ben went on: “I increased my transmitting power and finally got through. It’s been less than an hour ago that they said they would send over a Service flier rocket immediately.”
The two men who entered the air lock a few moments later were Commander Staples and his lieutenant, both members of the Space Service. They had been making a routine flight over the moon when they had been contacted by the mining scientists who had picked up Ben’s SOS.
The two men had arrived in a big space flier that could easily take care of Captain Eaton and the others. Ben and the boys were anxious to get started so that the long-drawn-out ordeal their friends had been undergoing could be ended as quickly as possible. Commander Staples said they could leave immediately.