"He probably is," mused Roger, "but he still won't fail that manual."
From the hallway behind them, a loud blasting yell was suddenly heard, echoing from somewhere on the lower floors. Tom and Roger waited, their eyes wide and hopeful. There was only one person at Space Academy capable of making such a noise.
"He made it!" Tom exclaimed.
"Of course he made it," said Roger casually.
Astro tore into 42-D with a mad rush.
"Yeeeoooooowwww!" He grabbed the two cadets and picked them up, one in each hand. "I made it—hands down—I handled those rocket motors like they were babes in arms! I told you that all I had to do was touch them and I'd know! I told you!"
"Congratulations, Astro," said Tom with a wide grin. "I knew you'd do it."
"Put me down, you oversized Venusian jerk," said Roger, almost good-naturedly. Astro released the smaller cadet and faced him.
"Well, hot-shot, I promised you something when I got back, didn't I?"
"Make it later, will you, and I'll be glad to oblige." He walked toward the door. "I've got to go down and collect a bet."
"What bet?" asked Astro.
"With Tony Richards."
"But I thought you were afraid to bet on me!"
"Not at all, Astro. I just wanted to make you mad enough to ensure my winning."
"That sounds like you were more worried about your bet than you were about Astro passing," snapped Tom.
"You're exactly right, spaceboy," purred Roger, standing in the doorway.
"That's our boy, Manning," growled Astro. "The great team man!"
"Team?" Roger took a step back into the room. "Don't make me laugh, Astro. For your information, tomorrow morning I'm putting in for a transfer to another unit!"
"What!" exclaimed Tom. "You can't trans—"
"Yes, I can," interrupted Roger. "Read your Academy regs. Anyone can request a transfer once the unit has passed its manuals."
"And what excuse are you going to use," snapped Astro bitterly. "That you can't take it?"
"A personality difference, Astro, my boy. You hate me and I hate you. It's a good enough reason, I think."
"It's just as well, hot-shot," replied Astro. "Because if you don't transfer, we will!"
Roger merely smiled, flipped his fingers to his forehead in an arrogant gesture of farewell and turned to leave again. But his path was blocked by the sudden appearance of Captain Steve Strong. The three cadets quickly braced.
The Solar Guard officer strode into the room, his face beaming. He looked at each of the boys, pride shining out of his eyes, and then brought his hand up and held it in salute.
"I just want to tell you boys one thing," he said solemnly. "It's the highest compliment I can pay you, or anyone." He paused. "All three of you are real spacemen!"
Tom and Astro couldn't repress smiles, but Roger's expression never changed.
"Then we passed as a unit, sir?" asked Tom eagerly.
"Not only passed, Corbett"—Strong's voice boomed in the small room—"but with honors. You're the top rockets of this Earthworm group! I'm proud to be your commanding officer!"
Again Tom and Astro fought back smiles of happiness and even Roger managed a small grin.
"This is the fightingest group of cadets I've ever seen," Strong continued. "Frankly, I was a little worried about your ability to pull together but the results of the manuals showed that you have. You couldn't have made it without working as a unit."
Strong failed to notice Roger's face darken, and Tom and Astro look at each other meaningfully.
"My congratulations for having solved that problem too!" Strong saluted them again and walked toward the door, where he paused. "By the way, I want you to report to the Academy spaceport tomorrow at eight hundred hours. Warrant Officer McKenny has something out there he wants to show you."
Tom's eyes bugged out and he stepped forward.
"Sir," he gasped, scarcely able to get the question past his lips, "you don't mean we're—we're going to—"
"You're absolutely right, Corbett. There's a brand-new rocket cruiser out there. Your ship. Your future classroom. You'll report to her in the blues of the Space Cadets! And from now on your unit identification is the name of your ship! The rocket cruiser Polaris!"
A second later, Strong had vanished down the corridor, leaving Tom and Astro hugging each other and clapping each other on the back in delirious joy.
Roger merely stood to one side, a sarcastic smile on his face.
"And now, as we prepare to face the unknown dangers of space," he said bitingly, "let us unite our voices and sing the Academy hymn together! Huh!" He strode toward the door. "Don't they ever get tired of waving that flag around here?"
Before Tom and Astro could reply, he had disappeared. The big Venusian shrugged his shoulders. "I just don't understand that guy!"
But Tom failed to reply. He had turned toward the window and was staring out past the gleaming white Tower of Galileo into the slowly darkening skies of evening to the east. For the moment, the problems of Roger Manning and the unit were far away. He was thinking of the coming morning when he would dress in the blues of a Space Cadet for the first time and step into his own ship as command pilot. He was thinking of the morning when he would be a real spaceman!
CHAPTER 8
The campus of Space Academy was quiet that evening. Only a few cadets were still out on the quadrangle, lounging around in the open before returning to their quarters for bed-check.
On the forty-second floor of the dormitory building, two thirds of the newly formed Polaris unit, Tom and Astro, were in heated argument.
"All right, all right, so the guy is brilliant," said Astro. "But who can live with him? Not even himself!"
"Maybe he is a little difficult," replied Tom, "but somehow, we've got to adjust to him!"
"How about him adjusting to us? It's two against one!" Astro shambled to the window and looked out moodily. "Besides, he's putting in for a transfer and there's nothing we can do about it!"
"Maybe he won't now—not after that little speech Captain Strong made this afternoon."
"If he doesn't, then, blast it, I will!"
"Aw, now take it easy, Astro!"
"Take it easy, nothing!" Astro was building up a big head of steam. "Where is that space crawler right now?"
"I don't know. He never came back. Wasn't even down at mess tonight."
"There, that's just what I mean!" Astro turned to Tom to press his point. "It's close to bed-check and he isn't in quarters yet. If the MP's catch him outside after hours, the whole unit will be logged and there goes our chance of blasting off tomorrow!"
"But there's still time, Astro," replied Tom lamely.
"Not much there isn't. It just shows you what he thinks of the unit! He just doesn't care!" Astro paced the floor angrily. "There's only one thing to do! He gets his transfer—or we do! Or—" he paused and looked at Tom meaningfully, "or I do."
"You're not thinking, Astro," argued Tom. "How will that look on your record? Every time there's a trip into deep space, they yank out your file to see how you operate under pressure with other guys. When they see that you asked for a transfer from your unit, that's it!"
"Yeah—yeah—I know—incompatible—but honest, Tom—"
The curly-haired cadet felt his big friend weaken and he pressed his advantage.
"It isn't every day that a unit gets a ship right after finishing ground manuals. Captain Strong said he waited for four months after manuals before getting his first hop into space."
"Yeah—but what do you think it's going to be like out in space with Manning making sour cracks all the time?"
Tom hesitated before answering his Venusian friend. He was fully aware that Roger was going to play a lone hand. And that they would never really have unity among them until some drastic measure was taken. After all, Tom thought, some guys don't have good hearts, or eyes, a defect to prevent them from becoming spacemen. Roger is just mixed up inside. And
the handicap is just as real as if he had a physical flaw.
"Well, what do you want to do?" asked Tom finally.
"Go see Captain Strong. Give it to him straight. Tell him we want a transfer."
"But tomorrow we blast off. We might not have another chance for months! Certainly not until we get a new astrogator."
"I'd rather wait and have a guy on the radar bridge I know isn't going to pull something behind my back," said Astro, "than blast off tomorrow with Manning aboard."
Again Tom hesitated. He knew what Astro was saying was the truth. Life, so far, at the Academy had been tough enough, but with mutual dependence and security even more important out in space, the danger of their constant friction was obvious.
"O.K.," he relented, "if that's the way you really want it. Come on. We'll go see Captain Strong now."
"You go," said Astro. "You know how I feel. Whatever you say goes for me too."
"Are you sure you want to do it?" asked Tom. He knew what such a request would mean. A black mark against Roger for being rejected by his unit-mates and a black mark against Astro and himself for not being able to adjust. Regardless of who was right and who was wrong, there would always be a mark on their records.
"Look, Tom," said Astro, "if I thought it was only me I'd keep my mouth shut. But you'd let Manning get away with murder because you wouldn't want to be the one to get him into trouble."
"No, I wouldn't," said Tom. "I think Roger would make a fine spaceman; he's certainly smart enough, and a good unit-mate if he'd only snap out of it. But I can't let him or anyone else stop me from becoming a spaceman or a member of the Solar Guard."
"Then you'll go see Captain Strong?"
"Yes," said Tom. If he had been in doubt before, now that he had made the decision, he felt relieved. He slipped on his space boots and stood up. The two boys looked at each other, each realizing the question in the other's mind.
"No!" said Tom decisively. "It's better for everyone. Even Roger. He might find two other guys that will fit him better." He walked from the room.
The halls were silent as he strode toward the slidestairs that would take him to the nineteenth floor and Captain Strong's quarters. Passing one room after another, he glanced in and saw other units studying, preparing for bed, or just sitting around talking. There weren't many units left. The tests had taken a toll of the Earthworms. But those that remained were solidly built. Already friendships had taken deep root. Tom found himself wishing he had become a member of another unit. Where the comradeship was taken for granted in other units, he was about to make a request to dissolve his because of friction.
Completely discouraged, Tom stepped on the slidestairs and started down.
As he left the dormitory floors, the noise of young cadet life was soon lost and he passed floors containing offices and apartments of the administration staff of the Solar Guard.
As he drew level with the floor that was Galaxy Hall, he glanced at the lighted plaque and for the hundredth time reread the inscription—
"… to the brave men who sacrificed their lives in the conquest of space, this Galaxy Hall is dedicated…"
Something moved in the darkness of the hall. Tom strained his eyes for a closer look and just managed to distinguish the figure of a cadet standing before the wreckage of the Space Queen. Funny, thought Tom. Why should anyone be wandering around the hall at this time of night? And then, as the floor slipped past, the figure turned slightly and was illuminated by the dim light that came from the slidestairs. Tom recognized the sharp features and close-cropped blond hair of Roger Manning!
Roger was still standing in front of the Space Queen!
Quickly changing over to the slidestairs going up, Tom slipped back to the hall floor and stepped off. Roger was still standing in front of the Space Queen!
Tom started to speak, but stopped when he saw Roger take out a handkerchief and dab at his eyes.
The movements of the other boy were crystal-clear to Tom. Roger was crying! Standing in front of the Space Queen and crying!
He kept watching as Roger put away the handkerchief, saluted sharply and turned toward the slidestairs. Ducking behind a glass case that held the first space suit ever used, Tom held his breath as Roger passed him. He could hear Roger mumble.
"They got you—but they won't get me with any of that glory stuff!"
Tom waited, heart racing, trying to figure out what Roger meant, and why he was here alone in Galaxy Hall. Finally the blond cadet disappeared up the moving stair.
Tom didn't go to see Captain Strong. Instead, he returned to his room.
"So quick?" asked Astro.
Tom shook his head. "Where's Roger?" he asked.
"In the shower." Astro gestured to the bathroom, where Tom could hear the sound of running water. "What made you change your mind about seeing Captain Strong?" asked Astro.
"I think we've misjudged Roger, Astro," said Tom slowly. And then related what he had seen and heard.
"Well, blast my jets!" exclaimed Astro, when Tom had finished. "What's behind it, do you think?"
"I don't know, Astro. But I'm convinced that any guy that'll visit Galaxy Hall by himself late at night—and cry—well, he couldn't be entirely off base, regardless of what he does."
Astro studied his work-hardened palms.
"You wanta keep it this way for a while?" he asked. "I mean, forget about talking to Captain Strong?"
"Roger's the best astrogator and radar man in the Academy, Astro. There's something bothering him. But I'm willing to bet that whatever it is, Roger will work it out. And if we're really unit-mates, then we won't sell him out now, when he may need us most."
"That's it, then," said Astro. "I'll kill him with kindness. Come on. Let's turn in. We've got a big day ahead of us tomorrow!"
The two boys began to prepare for bed. Roger came out of the shower wearing pajamas.
"All excited, spacemen?" he drawled, leaning against the wall, brushing his short hair.
"About as excited as we can get, Roger," smiled Tom.
"Yeah, you space-blasting jerk!" growled Astro good-naturedly. "Turn out the lights before I introduce you to my space boot."
Roger eyed the two cadets quizzically, puzzled by the strange good humor of both boys. He shrugged his shoulders, flipped out the light and crawled into bed.
But if he could have seen the satisfied smile of Tom Corbett, Roger would have been even more puzzled.
"We'll just kill him with kindness," thought Tom, and fell fast asleep.
CHAPTER 9
The three members of the Polaris unit stepped off the slidewalk at the Academy spaceport and stood before Warrant Officer McKenny.
"There she is," said the stubby spaceman, pointing to the gleaming spaceship resting not two hundred feet away. "Rocket cruiser Polaris. The newest and fastest ship in space."
He faced the three boys with a smile. "And she's all yours. You earned her!"
Mouths open, Tom, Roger and Astro stood gaping in fascination at the mighty spaceship resting on the concrete ramp. Her long two-hundred-foot polished beryllium steel hull mirrored the spaceport scene around them. The tall buildings of the Academy, the "ready" line of space destroyers and scouts, and the hundreds of maintenance noncoms of the enlisted Solar Guard, their scarlet uniforms spotted with grime, were all reflected back to the Polaris unit as they eyed the sleek ship from the needlelike nose of her bow to the stubby opening of her rocket exhausts. Not a seam or rivet could be seen in her hull. At the top of the ship, near her nose, a large blister made of six-inch clear crystal indicated the radar bridge. Twelve feet below it, six round window ports showed the position of the control deck. Surrounding the base of the ship was an aluminum scaffold with a ladder over a hundred feet high anchored to it. The top rung of the ladder just reached the power-deck emergency hatch which was swung open, like a giant plug, revealing the thickness of the hull, nearly a foot.
"Well," roared the red-clad spaceman, "don't you want to climb aboard
and see what your ship looks like inside?"
"Do we!" cried Tom, and made a headlong dash for the scaffold. Astro let out one of his famous yells and followed right at his heels. Roger watched them running ahead and started off at a slow walk, but suddenly, no longer able to resist, he broke into a dead run. Those around the Polaris stopped their work to watch the three cadets scramble up the ladder. Most of the ground crew were ex-spacemen like McKenny, no longer able to blast off because of acceleration reaction. And they smiled knowingly, remembering their reactions to their first spaceship.
Inside the massive cruiser, the boys roamed over every deck, examining the ship excitedly.
"Say look at this!" cried Tom. He stood in front of the control board and ran his hands over the buttons and switches. "This board makes the manual we worked on at the Academy look like it's ready for Galaxy Hall!"
"Yeeeooooooww!" Three decks below, Astro had discovered the rocket motors. Four of the most powerful ever installed on a spaceship, enabling the Polaris to outrace any ship in space.
Roger stuck his head through the radar-bridge hatch and gazed in awe at the array of electronic communicators, detection radar and astrogation gear. With lips pulled into a thin line, he mumbled to himself: "Too bad they didn't give you this kind of equipment."
"What'd you say, Roger?" asked Astro, climbing alongside to peer into the radar bridge.
Startled, Roger turned and stammered, "Ah—nothing—nothing."
Looking around, Astro commented, "This place looks almost as good as that power deck."
"Of course," said Roger, "they could have placed that astrogation prism a little closer to the chart table. Now I'll have to get up every time I want to take sights on stars!"
"Don't you ever get tired of complaining?" asked Astro.
"Ah—rocket off," snarled Roger.
"Hey, you guys," yelled Tom from below, "better get down here! Captain Strong's coming aboard."
Climbing back down the ladder to the control deck, Astro leaned over his shoulder and asked Roger, "Do you really think he'll let us take this baby up for a hop, Manning?"
Tom Corbett Space Cadet Page 7
