Gulping a cup of tea and a few sandwiches, the three cadets continued their advance toward the uncharted, unknown dangers of the asteroid belt that lay ahead of them.
Meanwhile, back on the Polaris, Jeff Marshall walked into the observatory quietly. He stood and watched Professor Sykes adjust the prisms of his telescopes, then settle himself to an hour of observation. Jeff knew that the professor would remain there for the next two hours. He felt safe in going to the storeroom and taking out the communications unit to work on it. But just to make sure, he called out, "Will you be needing anything, sir?"
"No, I won't!" barked Sykes. "If I did, I'd ask for it!"
"Yes, sir!" said Jeff. He turned away with a slight smile on his face and left the observatory. He walked quickly through the passageways of the ship until he came to the storeroom hatch. He glanced around quickly and then stepped into the quiet chamber. Pulling the cartons away from the bench, he took out the half-completed tangle of wires, and by the light of a small flashlight, he peered into the maze, trying to figure out where Roger had left off. He had traced the connections and was about to go to work when suddenly the overhead light was switched on, bathing the storeroom in light. Jeff whirled around to see Vidac, standing in the open hatch, staring at him.
"Well, Sergeant Marshall," he said, advancing toward the enlisted spaceman, "some secret experiment, no doubt!"
"Yes, sir," replied Jeff. "I've—I've been working on a new type of communications set."
Vidac stepped closer to the set and gave it a quick look. Suddenly, without warning, he picked up the delicate instrument, smashed it to the floor, and then trampled on it. He whirled around and faced Marshall.
"What's the meaning of this, Marshall?" he demanded.
Jeff was stunned by Vidac's violent action and could only stammer, "I have nothing to say, sir."
"Is Corbett or Manning or Astro in on this?" asked Vidac.
"No, sir," Marshall said quickly.
"I warn you, it won't go easy with you if I catch you shielding those cadets," snapped Vidac.
"No, sir," said Marshall, swallowing hard several times, "I am not shielding them."
"Very well, then. Tell me, what was the purpose of this 'experimental' communications set?"
"To make contact with amateur communicators back in our solar system, sir."
"I'll bet!" said Vidac coldly. "All right, pick up this piece of junk and get out of here. Any more experiments will take place in the observatory, and not unless I give my permission, is that clear?"
"Yes, sir," said Jeff. "I understand, sir."
Vidac turned and walked away without returning Jeff's salute. The enlisted spaceman looked down at the twisted mass of wire and metal and muttered a low oath. Then, picking up the pieces, he turned and walked wearily back to the observatory. All of Roger's effort was destroyed. But worse than that, now Vidac knew about the attempt to build the set.
* * * * *
"Watch out, Tom."
Roger's voice blasted through the intercom from the radar deck. "There's the biggest hunk of space junk I've ever seen bearing down on us!"
Tom flipped on the control-deck scanner of the rocket scout quickly, estimated range, angle, and approach of the onrushing asteroid, and called to Astro on the power deck.
"Emergency course change!" he bellowed. "One-quarter blast on the starboard jets, ten degrees down on the exhaust steering vanes! Execute!"
In the cramped space of the power deck, the giant Venusian quickly responded to his unit-mate's orders. Opening the induction valves leading to the reactors, the cadet shot full power into the radiation chambers, sending the little space scout into a long downward curve, safely out of the path of the dangerous asteroid.
"Whew!" breathed Roger over the intercom. "That was fast thinking, Tom. I wouldn't have had time to plot a course change. And with all that other stuff around here, we might have missed this one and hit two others!"
"Yeah," agreed Astro. "It must have been good, because I'm still here!"
"Got your radar sweeping ahead, Roger?" asked Tom. "Any sign of an opening in this stuff?"
"Radar's going all the time, Tom," replied Roger. "But I don't think we're going to find a passage large enough to take the whole fleet through."
"I'm afraid you're right," said Tom. "I guess we'd better get out of here. How much fuel do we have left, Astro?"
"Enough to hang around here for another fifteen minutes. But let's not cut it too fine. We might have to spend a little time looking for the fleet."
"I don't imagine Vidac would lose any sleep," sneered Roger, "if we got lost!"
"Well, fifteen minutes is fifteen minutes," said Tom, "so we might as well take a look."
Roger gave the course change to Tom and the small ship shot to another section of the asteroid cluster while the electronic finger of the radar probed ahead, searching for an opening through the mass of hurtling rock. Time and again in the past fifteen hours, the cadets had discovered what they thought to be a way through, only to find it too small for the massed flight of spaceships to maneuver safely. Now after the many hours of concentration the boys were tired and more than willing to return to the fleet.
"Time's up," Tom finally announced. "Plot a course back to the Polaris, Roger. Stand by for a course change, Astro. We're heading home!"
Tom's remark about heading "home" went unnoticed, since the three cadets had long since thought of the giant rocket cruiser as being their home, more than Space Academy or their real homes with their families.
After making contact with the Polaris, Roger quickly plotted an intersecting course that would put them alongside the command ship of the fleet in a few hours. Then, safely out of the dangerous cluster of flying meteors and asteroids, the three cadets gathered on the control deck and relaxed for the first time since the beginning of their scouting trip. They discussed their chances of contacting Space Academy with the communications set they had left hidden in the storeroom.
"How far did you get with the tube, Astro?" asked Roger.
"You'll be able to send out a message four hours after we get back," replied Astro between bites of sandwich.
"Too bad we don't have the tube with us," said Tom. "Now that we're alone we could vacuumize it without worrying about Vidac."
"I've already tried to make another one here," said Astro. "But these scouts don't have any kind of tools or equipment. We'll have to wait till we get back."
In a few hours Roger picked up the welcome outline of the Polaris on his scanner and, shortly after, the rest of the fleet. After receiving instructions from Vidac to return the scout to the freighter and come aboard, the three cadets made quick work of transferring to the jet boat and a short while later were waiting impatiently for the hiss of oxygen to fill the air lock of the Polaris. No sooner had the dial indicated the equal pressure with the rest of the ship than the inner portal opened to reveal Vidac waiting for them.
"Well?" he demanded at once. "Is there a way through the asteroid cluster?"
"No, sir," said Tom. "We searched practically the whole thing. There are a few openings, but none large enough to let the whole fleet through."
"I thought so," sneered Vidac. "You just blasted to the edge of the cluster and waited for enough time to pass and then came running back here!"
"Why, you—" growled Astro. He took a menacing step toward Vidac. The older spaceman didn't move.
"Yes, Cadet Astro?" said Vidac coldly. "Did you want to say something?"
Before Astro could speak, Tom stepped forward. "Regardless of what you may think, sir," he said, "we did search the belt and there wasn't any way through it."
"I have to accept your word, Corbett," said Vidac. He turned and started back down the companionway, then stopped and whirled around to face them again. "Incidentally, something happened while you were away. Jeff Marshall was found experimenting with a homemade communicator. Do you know anything about it?"
The three cadets were dumbfounded. Finall
y Roger shook his head. "No—no, sir," he muttered. "We don't know anything about it."
Vidac smiled. "All right. That's all. Make out a full report on the scouting mission and send it to me immediately."
When the lieutenant governor had disappeared, Roger turned to face Tom and Astro. "Well, what do we do now?"
Tom answered between clenched teeth. "We're going to see Governor Hardy!"
CHAPTER 10
"Now, now, boys," purred Governor Hardy, "I think you're jumping to conclusions. Personally I'm very much pleased with the way Lieutenant Governor Vidac is handling details. And as far as the asteroid cluster is concerned, we'll go under it, or over it, or whatever is the shortest route."
"Yes, sir," said Tom, "but—"
"No buts, Corbett," said Hardy, still smiling. "This is a great undertaking and we need the co-operation of every member of the expedition. In a few days we'll be arriving at Roald and the strain of this long trip will be over. Mr. Vidac is a capable man and I trust him implicitly, no matter how strange his methods may appear. I urge you to bury any differences you might have with him and work for the success of the colony. Now what do you say?"
Tom glanced at his two unit mates. Roger shuffled his feet and looked down at the deck, while Astro studied the bulkhead behind the governor's desk. "If that's the way you want it, sir," said Tom, "then I guess we'll have to play along."
"I guess you will," said Hardy, a slight edge creeping into his voice. "And if you tell me any more wild, unsubstantiated stories such as Vidac sending you to scout an unknown asteroid cluster in a poorly equipped rocket scout—well, I'll have to take stronger measures to ensure your co-operation. Do I make myself clear?"
"Yes, sir," chorused the cadets. They saluted and left the room.
"Well," said Tom, when they had reached the safety of their quarters, "I guess that just about does it."
"Yeah. We played our last card," grumbled Roger. "Either Hardy is the smoothest crook in the world, or Vidac really has him space happy."
"I wouldn't bet that it isn't a little bit of both," commented Astro.
The hatch suddenly opened and the cadets spun around nervously.
"Jeff!" they yelled in unison.
"Hello, guys," said the enlisted man glumly as he entered the room. He slumped on Tom's bunk. "I've got bad news."
"We already know," said Roger. "Vidac met us before we got out of the air lock. He couldn't wait to tell us."
"He asked us if we knew anything about it," said Tom. "We told him No."
"I lied myself," said Marshall. "I—I was going to do a little work on it, hoping to have it ready for you when you got back, but—" He stopped and shrugged his shoulders.
"Never mind, Jeff," said Tom. "If Vidac suspected we were building that communicator, he'd have found it sooner or later. The thing is, what are we going to do now?"
"I'll tell you in three words," growled Astro. The others looked at the big cadet. "Sweat it out," he said finally.
Tom nodded his head. "You're right, Astro. We're tied hand and foot to this guy for the next eleven months."
"How about Governor Hardy?" suggested Jeff.
"We just saw the illustrious governor," said Roger bitterly. "And the only question left in our minds is whether Hardy is working for Vidac, or Vidac for Hardy. No one could be as blind to what's going on as Hardy seems to be."
"Three words," said Tom half to himself. "Sweat it out!"
* * * * *
Like a gleaming diamond on the black velvet of space, the sun star Wolf 359 loomed ahead of the giant fleet, solitary and alone in its magnificence. With the Polaris leading the way for the mass of space vessels that stretched back and away, the pioneers and their families blasted through the last million miles that separated them from their new home in deep space.
Fifty-five billion miles from their own sun, they were about to establish a colony as their forefathers had done centuries before them. Like the first colony in the new world, then on the Moon, Mars, Venus, Mercury, Titan, and Ganymede, and hundreds of outposts in the asteroid belt, these Earthmen were braving new dangers and hardships, leaving the comfort of their homes to establish the first star colony. Inside each of the massive ships, Earthmen gathered around the scanners to look ahead across the abyss of space and gaze at their new home. Finally the momentous order came crackling through the teleceivers.
"Polaris to fleet! Single up for landing! Ships to follow the Polaris and touch down in order of their fleet numbers!"
On the control deck of the command ship, Vidac began barking orders to Tom. The three cadets had been reassigned to their original stations because of their intimate knowledge and sure handling of the giant ship.
"Prepare the ship for touchdown, Corbett!" yelled Vidac.
"Yes, sir," said Tom. He flipped on the intercom and barked orders to Astro below on the power deck.
"Stand by to reduce thrust to one-quarter space speed, Astro. Stand by forward nose braking rockets."
"Right," replied Astro.
"Hey, Roger!" yelled Tom. "How far are we from the surface?"
"Estimated distance to touchdown is two hundred thousand feet," answered Roger crisply.
"Reduce thrust to minimum, Astro," barked Tom, his eyes watching every dial and meter on the control board.
"Distance one hundred fifty thousand feet," reported Roger. "Looks like an open plain right below us. Maybe we'd better try for it, eh?"
"I guess so," said Tom. "Relay your scan down here to the control-deck scanner." Tom gave it a quick glance, saw that there was plenty of room on the plain Roger had mentioned to hold the entire fleet, and turned to Vidac. "Request permission to touch down, sir," said Tom.
"Granted," replied Vidac.
The curly-haired cadet turned back to the control board and once again checked his instruments. Behind him, Vidac and Governor Hardy watched the surface of Roald as the Polaris began to turn for her tailfirst landing.
"Cut all thrust at one hundred thousand feet, Astro," ordered Tom.
"Aye, aye," replied Astro.
"One hundred ten thousand feet," reported Roger. "One-O-seven, one-O-four, one hundred!"
Almost immediately, the blasting roar of the rockets was cut to a whisper and the ship began to drop toward the surface of the satellite.
Vidac jumped forward and grabbed Tom's shoulder. "What're you trying to do, Corbett? We're falling!"
"I have no data on the gravity of Roald," said Tom calmly. "The best way to find out is to check our rate of fall. I can then gauge the amount of braking power necessary."
Behind the two spacemen, Governor Hardy smiled. He stepped forward and tapped Vidac on the shoulder. "Whatever your difficulties coming out here with them, Paul, you've got to admit that they know how to handle this ship."
"Yeah," growled Vidac. "Too bad they don't know how to handle themselves as well."
Tom smarted under the sarcasm but concentrated on the task of getting the ship safely to the ground.
"Fifty thousand feet," reported Roger. "I'd say that the gravity of Roald is about 2.7 over Earth's, Tom."
"O.K., Roger," replied Tom. "Give her one-quarter thrust, Astro. We'll have to feel our way down."
As the rumble of the main rockets started again, Tom waited for the ship's descent to be checked, and sudden concern welled up within him as the ship failed to respond.
"Thirty-five thousand feet," reported Roger from the radar deck.
"Full thrust, Astro," called Tom, anxiously watching the approaching surface of Roald. He checked his instruments again and his heart jumped up into his throat. The needles of all the gauges and meters were dancing back and forth as though they were being flicked with invisible fingers.
Tom grabbed the intercom and shouted wildly. "Astro! Emergency space speed! We've got to get out of here!" Tom whirled around to face Vidac and Hardy. "You'd better call Professor Sykes up here, right away," he declared.
"Why? What's the matter?" stuttered Hardy.
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"Something's interfering with our whole electrical system, sir," replied the cadet.
"What's that, Corbett?" snapped Sykes, stepping quickly through the hatch into the control room. Tom was about to repeat his statement when suddenly the rockets blasted loudly, and the ship tossed and rocked, throwing everyone off his feet. Astro had applied emergency power to his reactors, sending the Polaris hurtling back into the safety of space.
"By the rings of Saturn," bawled Sykes, after he had adjusted to the sudden acceleration, "I'll have that space-brained idiot court-martialed for this!"
"It's not his fault, Professor," said Hardy, getting to his feet again. "If Corbett hadn't ordered emergency space speed, we'd all be smeared across that plain down there." He pointed to the scanner screen where the surface of Roald could be seen receding rapidly.
"Umph!" snorted Sykes, "let me take a look at that control board."
Quickly and surely, the professor tested every major circuit in the giant panel. Finally he straightened up and turned to face Hardy.
"Governor," he said quietly, "I'm afraid you'll have to forget about landing on Roald until I can find the reason for the disturbance."
"Then it's not caused by any malfunction aboard the ship?" Vidac broke in.
Sykes shook his head. "Whatever force field caused those instruments to react the way they did came from Roald. You'll have to stand off until I can go down and make a complete investigation."
"Well, what do you think it is?" asked Hardy.
"It might be one of a hundred things," replied the professor. "But I wouldn't attempt to land down there until we know what's causing the interference and can counteract it."
"Space gas!" exploded Vidac. "Is this another of your tricks, Corbett?"
"Tricks, sir?" asked Tom stupidly, so incredible did the lieutenant governor's question seem.
Tom Corbett Space Cadet Page 58
