"
Zip came over the joined the conversation. "If they helped us get from
the warehouse area to this hangar, why aren't they helping us get into
the spaceships?"
"Maybe there're only two of them-the two I saw last night," suggested
Mark. "Maybe they're caretakers or something like that, and not
spacemen. Maybe they don't know much more than we do how to get into
these beauties."
"Well, whatever the reason, I guess we're on our own, at least for the
time being."
"Looks like some sort of laser here," said Joe, picking up an object
that resembled a flashlight. It had two dials on it with signs of
calibration, and a button that was probably intended to activate it.
"If it is a laser, and if these dials move the power from low to high,
who knows which end is which?"
"Take it into the power plant and aim it at the floor. An instrument
that small can't have too much power and won't hurt a half mile of
solid iron. See what happens," suggested Mark.
Joe shrugged. "Okay." He went over to the door through which they had
come a half hour before. He was back in a few minutes.
"It's a laser, all right. This dial here changes the intensity of the
beam from low to high, and this one-well, watch. There's a barrel of
powder over here. Talcum or something." He reached in, took a handful
of the dust, and dropped it back into the barrel.
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