The Runaway Asteroid Part 11

"Right," said Mark. "Therefore the locking mechanism is not original to the asteroid's design. Is that where you're going, Zip?"

Zip smiled. "Keep going," he nodded.

"Whoever made this asteroid was far in advance of our science and it'll probably be a long time before we, or anyone else, learn how to alter their design. But the locking mechanism was most likely put in by the pirates, probably on short notice. It can't be too sophisticated a system. Again, since this is a dormitory and not a cell, the wiring is probably on this side of the door rather than in the hallway. Let's find where the pirates rewired the door. Whatever they can do, we can undo."

The Starmen leaped up and began to investigate the door and the walls near it very carefully. Now that they had some idea of what they were looking for, they hoped it would be easier to find an access panel of some kind which their previous general search had missed. Minutes pa.s.sed with no result. The walls had no apparent seams, and the door was set into the framework so closely that there seemed to be no s.p.a.ce between the door and the edge of the wall into which it slid.

"Try the floor," suggested Joe. Mark dropped down and scanned the floor minutely. Joe moved farther to the right and Zip to the left of the door, their fingers moving gently over the surface looking for some kind of irregularity.

St. George watched them with a mix of curiosity and amazement on his face. His men sat at the tables playing games, paying the Starmen little heed. Once in a while one looked up, then turned back to his game. Others napped on the sofas.

"Look here," said Mark. Zip and Joe came over to see what he had found.

"What do you see?" he asked them, sitting back on his heels.

"Where?" asked Joe.

"You find it-see if I'm right," answered Mark.

Joe pursed his lips and squinted. Zip watched carefully. George appeared almost impa.s.sive, but inside his heart was beating faster.

"I see it," observed Joe after a minute.

"What?" burst out St. George, then looked almost sheepish for showing his excitement.

"The light reflects off this patch here just a little differently from the rest of the floor. It's a perfect square about, oh, fifteen inches on a side."

"Right," said Mark.

"How do we open it-if it's a panel, that is?" asked Joe. He pushed the corners, tried sliding the panel in every direction, bounced the square with his fingers, all with no result.

"Let me try," said Mark. He laid his hand gently on top. In a few seconds there was a click and the square lifted up an inch, supported by a small, spring-loaded shaft in the center. Mark lifted the panel off and revealed a recess filled with finely detailed circuit boards.

Over and around them were a few dark wires that obviously did not belong to the original design.

Joe snorted. "How did you do that?"

"Well, I thought that it had to be some sort of radiation that would open it. There were no obvious signs of physical fasteners like screws.

So I figured it had to be magnetism, or light, or maybe heat. I thought body heat would be the easiest to try, so I laid my hand on it, concentrated, and made it warm, and it opened!"

"Good work, Mark, but let's not waste time! We're in a hurry now,"

urged Zip. "What do you see in there Joe?" By now George and several of his men had come over and were watching over the shoulders of the Starmen.

"Yeah, really simple circuit. I can disconnect it in a minute even without tools and we can be out the door." Joe reached in.

"Wait!" Zip grabbed Joe's wrist. "Is there any evidence that the circuit is tied into a larger system, like a master computer, that would tip anyone off that the door has been opened?"

Joe peered into the aperture and carefully traced the wiring.

"Sorry, Zip. Sorry, everybody," he said, chagrined. "You're right.

There is. But I can fix that too." He reached in and twisted two wires together. "Okay, that should bypa.s.s the door circuit and tell the master computer that the door is still closed. I can open the door now.

Are you ready?"

Zip stood up. "There are fourteen of us. We don't know where to go once we're free, so I'd like George to lead us. He's been through the asteroid. Take us somewhere, George, where we won't be found easily."

George shook his head in a big arc. "Now Zip, I haven't been on this chunk for over fifteen years. I'm not real sure where to go!"

"George, no one else has been on the asteroid at all. There's no one but you."

The asteroid miner looked down, dejected. "I don't like any of this.

But you're right. Okay. We'll go out the door and back to the elevators. We'll take the one on the left. I'll take us to a floor one level down, then through a huge storeroom. On the other side are other corridors. I've been through there, and there are places to hide and more elevators to get us other places on the asteroid. After that I'm not sure. Maybe I'll remember when we get there."

"Everyone got that?" said Zip. "Stay together and move quickly." No one had anything else to say. Zip turned to Joe.

"Let's go," decreed Zip. Joe removed one end of a black wire and touched it to another terminal. The door slid open.

Outside was a scene that none of the Starmen had expected. Two pirates, dressed in their gray and black uniforms, were seated opposite one another at a small table on the far side of the corridor. The one on the right was a well-muscled, large man with dark hair, weighing well over 200 pounds; the other was blond, of medium build. He was leaning on his elbow, pondering his next move in a board game. When the door slid open, they both looked up, utter surprise written over their faces.

Both the Starmen and the pirates froze for a split second, then both sides moved at once. Mark charged for the big man and Joe for the blond. Simultaneously the huge pirate bellowed and threw the table toward the charging Starmen, scattering the game pieces. Mark stopped the flying table without slowing his pace and slammed it hard back at the pirates, legs first. The blond man managed to evade the table, but the big pirate took two table legs on his left thigh and upper chest.

He groaned, and the laser pistol he had been drawing was caught behind the table. Mark quickly threw the table upside-down to his left, reached with both hands for the pirate's right arm, and pulled the man quickly down and toward himself. His right knee came up and caught the man in the solar plexus. The pirate went down with a whoosh of air and lay still. Mark picked up his pistol.

Meanwhile, the blond pirate had screamed for help in a panicky voice, turned, and was dashing down the corridor toward the elevators. Joe took hold of the table's leg nearest him and skated the table forcefully down the corridor after the escaping pirate. It caught the man behind his left ankle as he was running. In the low gravity, the pirate turned almost completely over, his pistol flying. Joe caught up with him and delivered a quick punch that rendered the man unconscious.

The entire fight had taken less than ten seconds.

Zip stepped into the corridor calmly. "Did either of them have a chance to set off an alarm?"

"I think this one did," responded Joe, pointing to the fallen pirate at his feet and picking up his laser pistol. "He had about five seconds while he was running to send an emergency call."

Zip grimaced. "That was stupid. I should have thought that they would have a guard. I just didn't think of it, with all the electronic gadgetry around here and their obvious need of manpower. My fault.

Sloppy thinking. But it's worse to stand here and feel badly about it.

We've got to disappear fast."

"This way!!" shouted George and began to run toward the elevator. The asteroid miner who had previously been so sedate and hesitant now led the way. The Starmen followed him and the ten others brought up the rear. George reached the elevator door and pressed the panel. In seconds a door opened and the men hurried in. Just as the last man rushed through the opening and the doors began to close, the elevator doors in the next shaft opened and a troop of pirates poured out, guns drawn. In front of them they saw their two comrades lying motionless in the corridor, table and chairs in full disarray.

"Come on!" commanded their leader, leaping forward and turning toward his men to enforce his order. His eyes opened wide as he saw the doors of the adjacent elevator closing on the escaped prisoners. The Starmen's last view of the scene was the pirate leader's shocked face, mouth agape, pulling his laser pistol up to fire. Then their doors sealed and they began to descend.

Almost instantly, it seemed, the door opened. The only light came from the interior of the elevator. It shone on an uncountable number of enormous crates, stacked three high and set in rows extending beyond the range of the minimal light. Though the walls of the room could not be seen, there was a distinct feeling that the open s.p.a.ce was huge-larger than a gymnasium, perhaps larger than a stadium. No one said a word. No one moved.

Suddenly Zip grabbed the laser pistol that Joe was carrying and leaped out of the elevator. He whipped around and fired at the control panel next to the large central elevator. The panel flared red for a second and then sparked like fireworks. Zip released the activation trigger on the pistol and stepped back. A few pops echoed in the darkness against a background of the soft sizzling sound of molten metal dripping down the wall.

Zip ran to the third elevator, calling out, "Move away from the elevator! Mark, destroy the controls!" Simultaneously Mark and Zip demolished the control panels of the remaining two elevators. When the controls were obliterated, the lights in the elevator went out and the fourteen erstwhile prisoners stood in the utter darkness of the immense chamber. The sole illumination was provided by the fading red glow of the superheated panels that had been their targets and a few bright orange dots in the gaping holes that remained.

"I don't know if that'll prevent the pirates from stopping at this floor, but every elevator on Earth I know about can't move beyond any floor where the controls are inoperable. George! Where do we go?" Zip asked.

"Does anyone have a light?" responded the asteroid miner. Just then a pale glow like early dawn rose around them and filled the chamber.

"What's that?" cried a frightened voice.

"Automatic lighting, probably," answered Joe. "When someone moves far enough away from the elevator, or when its light goes out, the automatic lighting goes on."

"Follow me," directed George. He led the procession to the right of the elevator shafts. On one side was a blank wall at least 25 feet high. On the other were row upon row of crates. Each box had a mark on it, but none of the Starmen could recognize its meaning. Far down the rows was the opposite wall of the chamber, at least 200 yards away.