The Silver Spear slowed quickly, and moments later a huge airlock door opened in one of the poles of the asteroid.

Zimbardo piloted the ship into the airlock, through the stone tunnel that led into the interior of the asteroid, and then touched down.

" The line crossed the field and passed through a second airlock.

"When I first came upon the asteroid, the airlock was open.

Went through one of the airlocks into the building portion here, where we are now, and just explored.

Mark looked up and saw that the figures had vanished! 10: Both Sides Move THE GREAT AIRLOCK on the pirates' asteroid opened.

" Over a dozen space-suited men spilled out of the airlock.

"Joe, Mark-I'm going through the airlock to see what's out there.

In front of them was a huge panel that could open to permit spacecraft to pass through the airlock, and on either side of it were sets of doors to allow men through.

These doors entered a hallway that proceeded to the outside of the asteroid and allowed passage without the major airlock's having to be emptied.

Zip opened the door into the airlock and they passed through and closed the door behind them.

They looked around, but could see no evidence that there was an airlock adjacent to where they were standing!

Joe then piloted the ship through the airlock to a point where it hovered just above the asteroid.

They went back through the airlock and shut the door.

The men went through the ship's airlock, made the brief walk across the surface of the asteroid, and entered the dome.

The dome contained a small airlock leading to a ladder that descended about 15 feet into the asteroid.

The Starmen were outside, having sped through the airlock with the first news that the ships from Ceres were at hand.

They opened the airlocks to pass through the manufacturing center, and then into the airless launching pad.

Operations officers began connecting portable power systems to various parts of the complex to reestablish the lights and get the airlocks working again.

He was able to operate life-support systems, lights, airlocks, and so forth in his own section without drawing much power.

He strode across the tarmac and passed through the airlock and hailed the young men.

" "We'll have to find some way to open the airlock from the outside when we're not so rushed," responded Zip.

With Joe trying to support the larger of the two Starmen, the two of them walked slowly across the quad to the airlock that led to the launching pad.

He came through the airlock, discarded his helmet, and hurried to the small group that was waiting for him.

"The Captain's got a team replacing the huge airlock on the surface of the asteroid, and the temporary power supply packets are being reloaded on the ships.