On the Trail of the Space Pirates

by Carey Rockwell

  CHAPTER 19

  Ganymede, the largest moon of Jupiter, was an important way station ofthe Solar Alliance for all spaceships traveling between the outerplanets of Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto and the inner planets ofMars, Earth, Venus, and Mercury. The colony on Ganymede was more of asupply depot than a permanent settlement, with one large uraniumrefinery to convert the pitchblende brought in by the prospectors of theasteroids. Refueling ships, replenishing supplies, and having a smalltourist trade, it was a quiet colony, one of many spread throughout thesystem.

  With the Solar Guard search squadrons hopelessly out of range on theother side of the asteroid belt, the cadets' only hope of saving thetiny colony lay in the beacon hidden inside the hull of the _Polaris_.

  Leaving Wallace and half of his crew aboard the _Polaris_, Bull Coxinehad transferred the three cadets to the Avenger and thrown them into thebrig. As the ship accelerated toward the colony, Tom stared out of thesmall, barred viewport while Roger and Astro sprawled glumly on the hardbunks.

  Roger finally broke the heavy silence. "What do you suppose Coxine meantwhen he said he had three passes into Ganymede?"

  "Give you one guess, pal," snorted Astro.

  "He obviously expects us to give him the recognition signal," said Tom.

  Roger sighed. "That's what I figured. But I was hoping I was wrong."

  "At least we're all immune to truth drugs," said Astro hopefully. "Hewon't get the recognition code out of us that way."

  "That dirty space crawler wouldn't even bother with drugs," mutteredRoger. "They aren't enough fun. He likes to get what he wants the hardway."

  "Yes," agreed Tom. "We're in for a rough time, guys."

  They all looked at each other, fully aware of what lay in score forthem. Finally Astro growled, "I don't care what he does to me. I won'ttell him a thing!"

  "Same here!" exclaimed Roger.

  Tom merely nodded, his face a grim, expressionless mask.

  Suddenly three men led by Brooks, the radar operator, appeared in thepassageway outside the brig. Brooks stepped forward, opened the door,and gestured with the paralo-ray gun in his hand.

  "All right, you punks! Outside!"

  Astro started to lunge for the pirate, but Tom grabbed him by the arm."Take it easy, Astro. That won't get us any place."

  "You can say that again," sneered Brooks. "One crazy move like that,kid, and I'll freeze you solid as a cake of ice! Now come on! Move!"

  Tom, followed by Astro and Roger, walked slowly out of the brig, andguarded closely by the three pirate crewmen they were taken to the mainair lock.

  "All right," said Brooks. "The big ox and blondie, get in there!"

  One of the crewmen opened the air-lock portal while the other two jabbedAstro and Roger with ray guns. The two cadets stumbled into the chamberand the door was slammed behind them.

  "Lock it!" snarled Brooks.

  When the men had secured the portal, Brooks turned and pushed Tomroughly along the passageway. A moment later they reached the controldeck where Bull Coxine was hunched over his charts.

  "Here he is, Captain," said Brooks. "The other two are sealed up in theair lock like sardines!"

  Coxine nodded and faced Tom, a thin smile on his face. "I told you Iwould get the recognition signal, Corbett," he said. "And I will!"Coxine walked over to a large valve on the after bulkhead and tapped theneedle indicator right beside it. Satisfied, he turned back to thecadet.

  "In two hours," began Coxine, "we'll be within range of the Ganymedegarrison and its radar. It takes exactly eight turns on this valve tobleed the air out of the air lock where your two buddies are. So, everyfifteen minutes I'm going to ask you for the recognition signal, andevery time you say no, I'll turn the valve once. By the time we getclose enough to Ganymede to be picked up on their radar, you'll eitherhave given me the signal or your buddies will be dead!"

  Tom stood listening to Coxine, his blood boiling at the giant spaceman'scruelty. Suddenly he tore across the control deck and made a dive forCoxine's neck. But the big man met him coming on and with a powerfulslap of his hand sent the boy sprawling back across the deck.

  "You're a good man, Corbett," said Coxine, standing over the fallencadet, "but you're a _little_ man, and a good big man can lick a goodlittle man any time!"

  Brooks and the crewmen laughed loudly as Tom dragged himself to hisfeet.

  "Well, do I get the signal?" demanded Coxine. "Or do your buddies get alittle less air?"

  Standing unsteadily on his feet, with four paralo-ray guns trained onhis body, Tom thought quickly of Roger and Astro, alone in the darknessof the air lock, soon to be clawing their throats for air; of themerciless attack on the prison asteroid; of the helpless ships Coxinehad looted. All these things and more flashed through the curly-hairedcadet's mind as he weighed his life and the lives of his unit-matesagainst an attack that would devastate the small satellite of Jupiter.Tom could see through the pirate's demand for the recognition signal.Once inside the Ganymede radar screen, he could attack the Solar Guardgarrison and wipe it out before it could raise a ship in defense.

  "Well?" demanded Coxine, placing his huge hand on the valve.

  Tom knew that if he could stall long enough, the signal aboard the_Polaris_ might be picked up by the Solar Guard. Roger and Astro were ingood physical condition. They could conserve their energy as soon asthey discovered the trap. He had to stall and hope the signal would bepicked up in time.

  "The only thing I'll ever give you, Coxine," said Tom through clenchedteeth, "is a blast of a paralo-ray!"

  Coxine snarled in anger and turned the valve, shouting, "One more thing,_Mister Hero_! The minute the air lock is empty, _you_ take a swim inspace too!"

  Tom was prepared for that. He knew the pirate would not take defeat atthe hands of a Space Cadet easily. Tom was resigned to his fate. He wasready to accept anything if it would serve the purpose of ridding thesolar system of Bull Coxine.

  "Tie him to that chair," snarled the giant pirate captain. "And makesure he's secure, or you'll go swimming in space with him!"

  Tom was shoved roughly into the copilot's chair in front of the controlboard and tied down with a thick rope. He winced as the heavy line duginto his arms. After inspecting the job, Coxine dismissed Brooks and themen with a curt nod and returned to his charts.

  Tom sat in front of the control panel, his eyes sweeping the gauges anddials and at last fixing on the master acceleration lever. Two feet awaywas the lever that controlled all the power on the ship. If he couldonly reach it, he could stop the _Avenger_ dead, and possibly even putthe ship completely out of commission. But try as he might, he could notget his hands free.

  Coxine looked up at the astral chronometer and walked over to the valve."Well, Corbett," demanded the burly spaceman, "what's the recognitionsignal?"

  Tom only shook his head.

  "Must be pretty bad, sitting down there in the dark, hearing the oxygenfeed in slower and slower. You sure you won't change your mind?"

  Tom looked squarely at Coxine, hatred in his eyes, and he watched thepirate captain shrug his shoulders, turn the valve again, and return tohis charts.

  The young cadet watched the astral chronometer, seeing the red handsweep the seconds away, and the black minute hand inch around the dial.Over and over, the curly-haired Space Cadet refused Coxine's demand forthe recognition signal and then watched helplessly as the pirate gavethe air-lock valve another twist.

  Nearly two hours had passed and Tom knew that they would soon be inradar range of the Ganymede garrison. The pressure in the air lock mustnow be within ten units of zero. Suddenly, overhead, the audioceiverloud-speaker crackled into life.

  "Attention! This is Ganymede traffic control. Identify yourselfimmediately with authorized code!"

  Coxine glared at Tom and put his hand on the air-lock valve. "Last time,Corbett. Either you give me the Solar Guard recognition signal, or yourbuddies are finished!"

  Tom gulped. He had no assurance that Coxine would
release Roger andAstro, even if he did give him the signal. But he knew there was nochoice. He looked up at Coxine.

  "Do I have your word as an _Earthman_ that nothing will happen to them?"he asked quietly.

  Coxine laughed. "Sure. I'll give you my word. I'll even bring them uphere so they can see the show and then let you go afterward. But by thetime I'm finished with the Ganymede colony the Solar Guard will haveyour hides for handing out their secrets."

  Tom knew what the pirate said was true. He was taking a gamble now. Agamble that by this time his signal on the _Polaris_ had been picked upand a fleet of ships would be on their trail.

  "Attention! Attention! Identify yourselves immediately!" The voice fromthe Ganymede traffic-control tower came over the audioceiver again.Coxine's face twisted into a half-smile.

  "Well, Corbett, do I get the signal or don't I?"

  "Tell them you're a Solar Guard armed freighter." Tom's voice was low."You're assigned to operation 'Vista.'"

  "Vista?" said Coxine excitedly. "Is that the code word? Vista?"

  "Yes," said Tom. "Now open the valve!"

  Coxine gave the valve a number of turns in the opposite direction andjumped to the teleceiver. He flipped the key open and called Wallaceaboard the _Polaris_. "When they ask you for identification, tell themyou're working on operation Vista. That's the key word. Vista!"

  "Right!" answered Wallace.

  Coxine then turned to the audioceiver and spoke in confident, assuredtones. "Attention, Ganymede traffic control! This is armed freighter_Samson_, assigned on project Vista. Request clearance for approach andtouchdown on Ganymede spaceport!"

  "You are properly identified, _Samson_," replied Ganymede. "Proceed onyour present course. End transmission."

  "End transmission!" roared Coxine triumphantly.

  The giant pirate turned back to Tom, bellowing, "Thanks, Corbett. You'vejust given me the key to everything I ever wanted."

  "What do you mean?" asked Tom, suddenly frightened by the strange wildgleam in Coxine's eyes.

  "By the time I've finished with Ganymede, I'll have every ship on theirspaceport. A fleet big enough to hit any part of the Solar Alliance Iwant! Solar Guard or no Solar Guard!"

  "No! You can't!" gasped Tom.

  "Can't I?" snarled Coxine. "I'll show the Solar Guard something theynever saw before. Their own ships blasting them right out of space!"

  Coxine turned to the intercom, ordered Astro and Roger brought up to thecontrol deck, and then contacted Wallace aboard the _Polaris_.

  "Yeah?" answered the spaceman from the control deck of the rocketcruiser.

  "We're going in according to plan! Train all your guns on the SolarGuard defense installations and stand by!"

  "Ready any time you say the word," replied Wallace.

  Jumping back to the intercom, Coxine gave orders to the power deck forfull thrust, then ordered the radar bridge to relay the scanner image ofGanymede to the control deck.

  As the rocket ship surged ahead under the added thrust, Tom strainedagainst his ropes to watch the scanner and saw the clear image of thecolony. He could make out the outline of the uranium plant, theatmosphere booster stations and small buildings clustered around thespaceport. As they drew closer to the tiny colony, Coxine grabbed theintercom and the teleceiver microphones and barked crisp orders to boththe Avengers and the _Polaris_' power decks. "Full braking rockets!"roared Coxine.

  Tom braced himself against the sudden reverse pressure of the powerfulnose rockets, and then, in a moment, felt the _Avenger_ come to a deadstop. Watching the scanner again, he saw that they were directly overthe Solar Guard garrison. Coxine switched the teleceiver to the colonyfrequency and spoke sharply and confidently.

  "Attention! All citizens of Ganymede colony! This is Bull Coxine. Yourentire settlement is under my guns. Any attempt to raise ship and opposeme will be met with instant destruction! Every citizen is hereby orderedto assemble at the municipal spaceport within five minutes. All SolarGuard officers and men will do the same. You have five minutes tocomply, or I will open fire!"

  The giant spaceman flipped off the teleceiver before anyone on Ganymedecould answer. Pressing with all his might, Tom managed to see more ofthe scanner which suddenly showed the people of Ganymede scurrying outto the spaceport in panic. Coxine watched the activity on the scannerfor a second and then grunted his satisfaction.

  Suddenly the hatch was thrown open and Astro and Roger were pushed intothe room by two crewmen.

  Coxine turned to them, smiling thinly. "You owe your lives to your buddyhere. One more minute and you would've been walking with the angels.Now," he added to the crewmen, "tie them up so they can see the scanner.I want them to see how easy it is to knock off a Solar Guard garrison!"

  "Why you--" Astro lunged toward the pirate but was stopped in his tracksby a blast from a paralo-ray gun behind him. The big cadet stood rigid,motionless, every nerve and muscle in his body paralyzed. Coxine sneeredand turned back to the intercom while his men tied up the two cadets.

  Tom and Roger looked at each other and, without speaking, knew what theother was thinking. Their only hope was the beacon signal aboard the_Polaris_.

  After the men had tied Astro, they released him from the effects of theray charge and threw him down beside Roger.

  "How do you feel?" asked Tom.

  "Like I've been run through a set of gears," mumbled Astro. "How aboutyourself?"

  "O.K.," replied Tom. "Was it"--he paused--"was it tough in the airlock?"

  Roger smiled. "Not as tough as it must have been on you up here. Werealized what was going on as soon as we found out we were losing air."

  The blond-haired cadet shook his head and Tom noticed that both Rogerand Astro were weak from their ordeal in the chamber.

  At the control panel, Coxine was bawling orders to his crew. "Jet boatsone, two, three, four, and five! Stand by to blast off!"

  The three cadets looked at each other helplessly.

  "Russell, check in," continued the burly spaceman.

  "Russell here!" replied a voice on the intercom.

  "You're in charge of the party. I want you to do one thing, and onething only! Take the largest ships on the spaceport and blast off. Don'ttouch anything else! Just the ships. Those you can't get off the ground,leave. We'll blast them later!"

  "Aye, aye, sir."

  Coxine strode over to the teleceiver. Immediately the image of a man inthe uniform of a Solar Guard major appeared on the screen. His voiceechoed in the control room.

  "Hello, Coxine! This is Major Sommers! Come in, Coxine!"

  "Yeah--" replied Coxine. "Whaddya want?" The pirate captain steppedarrogantly in front of the teleceiver's transmitting lens, and from thelook on the officer's face, Tom knew he had seen Coxine on his ownscreen.

  "We've followed orders," said the major. "Our only request is that youdo not harm any of the citizens--"

  Coxine cut him off. "Stow that space gas! I'll do what I please! I'msending down a crew of men. They have certain orders. Any interferencefrom you and I'll open fire with everything I've got--right in themiddle of the spaceport."

  Tom gasped. The spaceport was now crowded with the citizens of the tinycolony.

  The major nodded gravely. "I understand," he said. "You may rest assuredno one will interfere with your men!"

  "Huh!" sneered Coxine. "You don't sound so high and mighty now thatyou're staring into the barrels of a dozen atomic blasters!" He snappedoff the teleceiver and roared with laughter.

  Tom felt a shiver run down his spine. He could imagine the frustrationof the Ganymede garrison, a crack crew of fighting men, forced tosurrender without firing a shot. And he had been the cause by givingCoxine the code recognition signal!

  Coxine snapped an order into the intercom and a moment later Tom saw thejet boats on the scanner, rocketing down to the surface of the smallsatellite.

  As, one by one, the small ships landed on the spaceport, the threecadets could see the crowds of colonists fan out, all
owing the jet boatsto come in without interference.

  Coxine strode up and down the control deck restlessly, but keeping hiseyes on the activity below. Suddenly he rushed to the scanner, staredhard, and then let out a roar of triumph.

  The three cadets saw the reason immediately. On the scanner were theunmistakable outlines of two Solar Guard heavy cruisers, fourdestroyers, and six scouts, hurtling spaceward at tremendous speed.Coxine spun around, balled his fists into tight knots, and shook them atthe three cadets.

  "I've won! I've won!" He roared with insane laughter and there was acrazed gleam in his eyes. "I've got the ships, the guns, the men, andthe secret of the adjustable light-key. By the time I'm finished withthe Solar Guard there won't be anything left of those crawlers but whatyou can hear on a story spool, and the Solar Alliance will be run by oneman!" He paused, his face grew hard and he tapped his chest menacingly."Me!"

  CHAPTER 20

  "I don't care if the blasted ship blows up!" roared Captain Strong tothe power-deck officer of the Solar Guard rocket cruiser _Arcturus_. "Iwant every ounce of thrust you can get out of this space heap!"

  The young Solar Guard captain turned back to the loud-speaker of theaudioceiver, turned the volume dial a fraction, and listened. The steadypronounced ping of Roger's signal beacon filled his ears.

  When Strong discovered that Coxine had outwitted him, he had gone aboardthe rocket cruiser _Arcturus_ of Squadron Ten and had continued onsearch patrol. He dared not break audio silence to warn the cadetsaboard the _Polaris_, lest he give away the position of the ship. Later,when the radar officer of the _Arcturus_ reported a steady signal overthe audioceiver, Strong at first dismissed it as some form ofinterference from space. But when Titan failed to report the arrival ofthe _Polaris_ on time, Strong investigated the strange sound. Taking abearing on the signal, he discovered it came from a position dangerouslyclose to the small Jovian colony of Ganymede. After repeated attempts toraise the _Polaris_ failed, and no distress signals had been received,Strong feared that Bull Coxine had won again. In a desperate effort tocatch the criminal, he took repeated bearings on the signal and orderedfull emergency space speed toward the small satellite of Jupiter.

  Contacting Commander Walters at Space Academy, Strong related hissuspicions and received permission to carry out a plan of action.

  "I want you to engage the enemy at all costs!" ordered Walters. "Blasthis space-crawling hide into protons! That's an order!"

  "Yes, sir!" replied Strong with grim determination. "There's nothing I'dlike better."

  Six hours later Strong received confirmation of his worst fears. He washanded a message that read:

  EMERGENCY:

  GANYMEDE GARRISON ATTACKED ZERO THREE HUNDRED HOURS BY TWO SHIPS. ONE VESSEL IDENTIFIED AS ROCKET CRUISER POLARIS. SEND AID IMMEDIATELY. ENTIRE COLONY AT MERCY OF COXINE. SIGNED, SOMMERS, MAJOR, SOLAR GUARD.

  Strong realized at once that the cadets had been forced to give therecognition code to the pirate. There wasn't any other way for thepirate to penetrate the defenses of Ganymede. And, thought Strongbitterly, to blast Coxine was to blast the cadets as well. Thecommander's words echoed again in his ears, "... blast him, Steve!That's an order!"

  Strong turned to his second-in-command. "Man all guns! Stand by toattack under plan S! We'll engage the enemy as soon as he's sighted!"

  The young officer saluted and turned away quickly. But not before he sawthe mist in Steve Strong's eyes.

  * * * * *

  Tom, Roger, and Astro watched the incredible scene taking place in frontof them with unbelieving eyes. Seven men were standing at rigidattention on the control deck of the _Avenger_. Wallace, Russell,Attardi, Harris, Shelly, Martin, and Brooks. In front of them, standingequally rigid, Bull Coxine was addressing them in a low restrainedvoice.

  "Raise your right hands and repeat after me."

  The men raised their hands.

  "I hereby pledge my life to Bull Coxine!"

  "... I hereby pledge my life to Bull Coxine...." repeated the men inunison.

  "To uphold his decisions, obey his orders, and fulfill his purpose ofdestroying the Solar Alliance and establishing a new governmentalorder!"

  The seven men repeated the words slowly and hesitantly.

  "All right," said Coxine. "From this day on, you are my chieflieutenants. You will command the ships of my fleet, and when we destroythe power of the Solar Guard and take over the Alliance, you will helpme rule our new order."

  The seven men looked at each other, raised a mild cheer, and waited asCoxine shook hands with each of them.

  "All right," said Coxine abruptly as he reached the end of the line."Get to your ships and prepare for full acceleration. We go into actionimmediately!"

  The men filed from the room silently, each with a worried look on hisface. Coxine failed to notice their lack of enthusiasm and turned to thethree cadets.

  "Some day, boys," he said, "you'll go down in history as being the firstwitnesses to the establishment of the new order."

  Astro glared up at the giant spaceman. "We'll be the witnesses to thebiggest bust in the universe when the Solar Guard catches up with you!"

  "Yeah," drawled Roger in his most casual manner. "You're the one that'llgo down in history, Coxine, as the biggest space-gassing idiot that everblasted off!"

  Tom suddenly guffawed. Though close to death, he couldn't help laughingat Roger's remark. The big spaceman flushed angrily and with the flat ofhis hand slapped the cadet across the face. Then, he turned to theteleceiver and opened the circuit to all the ships that were standing byin space around the _Avenger_, the ships of the Ganymede garrison.

  "Stand by for acceleration," he called. "We're going to show the SolarAlliance who's boss, beginning right now! I'll give you the target in afew minutes but head in the direction of Earth!"

  He faced the three cadets and sneered. "By the time I'm finished withLuna City, the only thing active will be radioactive!"

  Suddenly Gus Wallace could be heard screaming over the teleceiver, hisface a mask of fear and panic.

  "Bull! Bull!" he shouted. "The Solar Guard! We just spotted them!Squadrons! Heading straight for us! We've got to get out of here!"

  "What?" roared Coxine, turning to his radar scanner. The blips on thescreen verified the alarm. He shouted into the teleceiver, "Man yourguns! We'll wipe them out right now!"

  "But, Bull--" whined Wallace. "They'll blast us out of space!"

  Coxine roared into the mike. "The first one of you yellow crawlers thattries to run for it will be blasted by me! Man your guns, I said! Thisis our big chance! Wipe out the Solar Guard now and the Solar Allianceis ours for the asking! Fight, men! Fight!"

  Tom, Roger, and Astro looked at each other, mouths open, not knowingwhether they should laugh or not at the dramatic speech of the hugespaceman. But whatever the private feelings of the criminals, Coxine hadroused them to fever pitch and the boys could hear them racing throughthe _Avenger_, preparing to fight the squadrons of Solar Guard shipsbearing down on them.

  Coxine strapped himself in the pilot's chair and began barking orders tohis battle stations, whipping his men into action relentlessly.

  And then suddenly Captain Strong's voice, vibrant and firm, came overthe audioceiver, demanding the surrender of the pirate captain and hisfleet.

  "Never!" roared Coxine. "You'll get my surrender from the barrels ofevery blaster I have under my command!"

  "Then," replied Strong, "I have no alternative but to attack!"

  With a coldness that reached across the void of space and gripped theirhearts with icy fingers, the three cadets heard their skipper give hissquadrons the deadly order!

  "Fire!"

  Coxine snapped his order at almost the same instant and the three cadetsfelt the _Avenger_ shudder as her turrets began blazing away, returninground for round of the deadly atomic missiles.

  Racing from scanner to the control panel and back again, Coxine watchedthe batt
le rage around him. With speeds nearing that of light, exhausttrails cut scarlet paths through the black space, as the two opposingfleets attacked, counterattacked, and then regrouped to attack again.The rhythm of the blasters on the _Avenger_ had taken on a familiarpattern of five-second intervals between bursts. Gradually, one by one,the pirate ships were hit, demolished or badly damaged, but still theyfought on. Coxine, his eyes wild with desperation, now kept lining upships in his radar sights and firing, with no way of knowing which wasfriend and which was foe.

  Tom, Roger, and Astro watched the dogfight on the scanner in horrifiedfascination. Never before had they seen such maneuvering, as the giantships avoided collision sometimes by inches. Once, Tom tore his eyesaway from the scanner when he saw a rocket destroyer plow through theescaping swarm of jet boats after one of the pirate ships had been hit.

  Fire and change course, fire and change course, again and again, Coxineperformed the miracle of escaping the deadly atomic blasters aboard theSolar Guard ships.

  Suddenly the three cadets saw the outline of a rocket cruiser bearingdown on them. The white blip on the scanner came closer and closer tothe heart of the scanner. Just in time Coxine saw it and shouted for acourse change. But even as the _Avenger_ swung up and away from theattacking ship, the cadets saw the flash of flame from the cruiser'sturrets and a moment later felt the bone-rattling shudder of a nearmiss.

  The control deck suddenly filled with smoke. A flash fire broke out inthe control panel and the circuits sparked and flared. Tom was thrownacross the room and Roger landed on top of him.

  "Up ninety degrees! Full starboard thrust!" roared Coxine into theintercom. "Hurry, you space crawlers! We've got to get out of here!"

  Tom quickly realized that in the smoke and confusion Coxine couldn'tpossibly direct the ship back into the fight. There was only oneexplanation. He was deserting his fleet and trying to escape.

  And then, over the noise and confusion, Tom could hear the sound ofstruggling bodies and Coxine muttering an oath between his teeth.

  "I'll break you in two, you blasted space rat!"

  There were more sounds of struggle, and Tom and Roger heard Astro'svoice replying grimly:

  "Do it and then talk about it, big shot!"

  Slowly the smoke cleared from the control deck and Tom and Rogerstrained their eyes to see through the thick cloud. There, in front ofthem, stood Astro, torn strands of rope dangling from his arms, inmortal combat with Coxine. The two giants were holding each other'swrists, their feet spread wide, legs braced, grimacing faces an inchapart, struggling to throw each other off balance.

  _Astro and Coxine were locked in mortal combat_]

  Tom and Roger watched the two huge spacemen brace against each other,muscles straining and faces turning a slow red as they tried to forcethe other's hands back. Suddenly, with the speed of a cat, Coxine stuckout his leg and kicked Astro's foot from the deck, tripping him. Astrotumbled to the deck. In a flash, the pirate was on top of him, grippinghim by the throat. The Venusian grabbed at the hands that were slowlychoking the life out of him and pulled at the fingers, his face turningslowly from the angry flush of a moment before to the dark-gray hue ofimpending death!

  Still bound and tied by the heavy rope, the two cadets on the deck werehelpless, as Astro's strength slipped from his body.

  Tom turned to Roger desperately. "We've got to do something!"

  "What? I can't get loose!" The blond-haired cadet struggled against theropes until the blood ran down his wrists, but it was a hopeless effort.

  "Yell!" said Tom desperately. "Yell! Make a noise! Holler like you'venever hollered before!"

  "Yell?" asked Roger stupidly.

  "We've got to distract him!"

  Tom began to bellow, and immediately was echoed by Roger. They shoutedand screamed. They kicked their feet on the deck and tore against theirbonds.

  Astro's hands no longer fought the powerful fingers taking his life.There was no strength in the cadet's hands now, but in the split secondthat Coxine turned to look at Tom and Roger, he gave a mighty heave withthe last of his great strength and tore free of the pirate's grasp.

  The Venusian jumped up and ran to the farthest corner of the controldeck, gasping for breath. Coxine rushed after him, but Astro eluded himand stumbled to the opposite end of the control room, still trying tosuck the life-giving breath into his screaming lungs. Slowly hisstrength returned.

  Coxine made another headlong rush for the cadet, but this time Astro didnot attempt to get away. He stood squarely to meet the charge and hisright fist caught the pirate flush on the chin. Coxine staggered back,eyes wide with surprise. In an instant Astro was on him, pounding hismighty fists into the pirate's stomach and any place he could find anopening. Roaring like a wild animal, the cadet no longer fought for thehonor of the Solar Guard or his friends. He didn't look upon thecriminal in front of him as Coxine the pirate, but as a man who hadnearly taken his life, and he fought with the ferocity of a man whowanted to live.

  Again and again, Tom and Roger saw their unit-mate pound straight,powerful, jolting lefts and rights into the pirate's mid-section untilthey thought he would put his fist completely through the man's body.

  Just as Coxine looked as if he would fall, he suddenly charged in again.But his powerful strength restored, Astro stepped back and waited for anopening. Coxine threw a whistling right for Astro's head. The Venusianducked, shifting his weight slightly, and drove his right squarely intothe pirate's face. His eyes suddenly glassy and vacant, Bull Coxine sankto the deck, out cold.

  Breathing heavily, the cadet turned, wiped his face, and smiledcrookedly at Tom and Roger.

  "If I ever have to fight another man like that again," gasped Astro ashe loosened the ropes around his unit-mates, "I want to have both fistsdipped in lead before I begin!"

  He held up his hands. There was not a bit of flesh remaining on hisknuckles.

  As soon as Tom was free he grabbed the pirate's paralo-ray gun. "We'dbetter tie this crawler up!" he shouted.

  "We'll do that," said Roger. "You try to figure out how we're going toget off this ship!"

  Suddenly, behind them, the hatch burst open and Captain Strong rushedinto the room, followed by a dozen armed guardsmen.

  "Captain Strong!" yelled the three cadets together.

  The young captain's face lighted up with a smile. He rushed over to Tomand grabbed him by the hand, then turned to where Roger and Astro weretying up Coxine.

  Strong pointed his gun at the fallen pirate. "What happened to him?"

  Roger smiled and nodded toward Astro. "Coxine told Astro he reminded himof an ox he saw at a zoo once on Venus. Astro got mad--" Roger shruggedhis shoulders. "Poor Coxine, he didn't have a chance!"

  Astro blushed and looked up at Strong. "Never mind us, sir," said thebig cadet. "How did you get here!"

  Strong told them of having picked up the beacon signal. "That was quickthinking, boys," he said. "It was the end of Coxine. If we hadn'tstopped him now--" Strong shook his head.

  "But how did you get aboard the _Avenger_, sir?" asked Tom.

  "This was the only ship that wasn't a Solar Guard fleet vessel, so itwas easy to spot. We captured the _Polaris_ right off the bat, and afterwe searched it, figured you three were either dead, or aboard this one.I gave the order not to fire on you, since we wiped out Coxine's fleetbefore he could do any real damage. When we saw you accelerating, afterthat last near miss--which incidentally was intended to miss you--wecame alongside, forced the air lock open, and took over."

  "But didn't the crew offer any resistance?" asked Roger.

  "No, and from the story they tell me about Coxine wanting to establish anew order, or something like that, they were glad to surrender. Theythink he's crazy."

  When the enlisted men carried Coxine, still unconscious, off the controldeck, the three members of the _Polaris_ unit and their skipper watchedhim leave silently. All of them realized how close the Solar Alliancehad come to destruction at the hands of the insane pi
rate. FinallyStrong turned to his crew of cadets.

  "Well, boys," he said wearily, "we've recovered the adjustable light-keyand captured Coxine. I guess that finishes the space pirates!"

  "Yes, sir," said Tom quietly. "And this sure teaches me a lesson."

  "What's that?" said Strong.

  "Never to think that being a Space Cadet is a matter of learningsomething from a story spool. Being a Space Cadet is like being--" Hestopped. "Like nothing in the universe!"

  * * * * *

  THE TOM CORBETT SPACE CADET STORIES

  By Carey Rockwell

  STAND BY FOR MARS! DANGER IN DEEP SPACE ON THE TRAIL OF THE SPACE PIRATES THE SPACE PIONEERS THE REVOLT ON VENUS TREACHERY IN OUTER SPACE SABOTAGE IN SPACE THE ROBOT ROCKET