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.