"Blast off!"
Without any preliminaries, Kit Barnard's order sent the _Good Company_
hurtling spaceward. Astro had just enough time to throw himself into an
acceleration chair before the ship shot away from the Deimos spaceport
toward the wreckage of the _Space Lance_.
"Braking rockets!" roared Kit. "Hit them hard, Sid."
The ship bucked under the force of the counter-acceleration, and the
veteran spaceman fought to keep her under control. He snapped out
another order. "Cut all rockets!"
The ship was suddenly quiet, hanging motionless in space in the middle
of the still-twisting wreckage. The huge bank of atomic motors, the
largest single unit on the ship, had already begun to swing around the
small moon Deimos in an orbit, while other shattered remains of the once
sleek ship began a slow circle around the motors themselves.
Astro was struggling into a space suit when Sid and Kit joined him in
the air lock. Quickly the three spacemen clamped their space helmets
closed and adjusted the oxygen nozzles. Then, after testing their suit
intercoms, they closed the inner-portal air lock, reduced the air
pressure, and opened the thick pluglike outer portal. They stared out at
the gruesome spectacle of torn hull plates, twisted spars, and broken
pieces of equipment floating gently in the velvet space, outlined
against the reddish hue of the planet Mars.
"Astro! Kit!" shouted Sid through the suit intercom. "Look, there's
Sticoon! Over there near that tube." Following Sid's pointing finger,
Astro and Kit turned toward an exhaust tube that had been ripped in half
by the explosion. The Martian spaceman's body floated next to it, limp
and broken. Astro shuddered. If Sticoon was dead, then there was little
hope for Tom. The big Venusian fought back tears.
Maneuvering themselves away from the ship with the aid of the small jet
packs strapped to their shoulders, they reached the dead spaceman. Sid
carried him back to the ship while Astro and Kit remained to search the
wreckage for Tom.
By now, three small jet boats and two rocket scouts had blasted off from
Deimos, bringing emergency rescue equipment. More than a dozen men
poured out of the ships and joined in the search. The work was carried
on in silence. No one spoke.
Astro and Kit worked side by side, pushing their way gently through the
twisting mass that was once a proud spaceship, to the heart of the
spiraling wreckage, down toward the bank of atomic motors that was
attracting all the lesser pieces. Suddenly Astro paled. He gripped the
veteran's arm and gestured toward a large section of the ship on the
other side of the motors that they had not seen before.
"By the stars," Kit gasped, "it's the air lock! All in one piece!"
"If Tom managed to get in there, or if he was in there when the ship
exploded, maybe he has a chance."
"You're right, Astro," said Kit hopefully.
[Illustration]
"But we can't open it out here," said Astro. "If Tom is inside, we have
to take it down to Deimos. If we open it here, and he doesn't have a
space suit on, he'd suffocate."
"He'd freeze solid before that," said Kit, not mentioning the
possibility that Tom might very well be frozen already, since the
ship's heating units had been torn away from the air lock.
Quickly Astro hailed the members of the emergency crews that had
rocketed up from Deimos and told them of the possibility that Tom was
inside the chamber. They all agreed, since they had failed to find the
cadet anywhere.
[Illustration]
Kit and Astro immediately took charge of getting the bulky boxlike
chamber back to Deimos where it could be opened safely. Two of the jet
boats were jockeyed into position on either side of the chamber and
several lengths of cable were stretched between them, forming a cradle
for the chamber. Since the jet boats were equipped with foldaway wings,
which, when extended, would enable them to fly at slower speed through
atmosphere, they hoped to make a glider landing at the Deimos spaceport.
Astro would not let anyone handle the boats but Kit and himself, and
only by threat of physical violence was he able to keep the regular
pilots out of the control chairs on the speedy little ships. He might
suffer for it later when the officers reported his actions, but the big
Venusian was beyond caring. If Tom was not safe inside the vacuum
chamber, he felt there wasn't much use in being a cadet any longer.
Fleetingly he thought of Roger, who didn't stand a chance of reaching
Ganymede on a single solo hop from Earth in a ship the size of the
_Space Knight_. The _Polaris_ unit seemed doomed.
With Kit Barnard in one jet boat, Astro strapped himself into the
control chair of the other, and intercoms on, they gently fed power into
their ships. Coordinating perfectly in their maneuvers, they headed back
to the spaceport with their strange cargo.
Slowly and gently, Kit and Astro circled lower and lower until the two
jet boats were directly over the Deimos spaceport. They circled wide and
shut off power together, coming down in a long, easy glide. Keeping the
cables taut between them, so the chamber wouldn't touch the concrete
strip, the two spacemen made perfect landings, coming to a stop directly
in front of the control tower. Astro was out of his ship in a flash and
almost immediately Kit was beside him. They took no notice of the stereo
reporter who was focusing his camera on their efforts to force open the
portal on the chamber. Nor did they notice the immense crowd, standing
behind police lines, watching and waiting in silence.
"A cutting torch!" bellowed Astro to the emergency crew below. "Get me a
cutting torch."
In an instant the torch was handed to him, and ripping the space gloves
off his hands, the big cadet began cutting into the tough metal side of
the chamber.
The seconds ticked into minutes. The crowds did not move, and only the
low comments of the stereo reporter talking over an interplanetary
network could be heard above the hiss of the torch as Astro bent to his
task. A half hour passed. Astro didn't move or turn away from the
blinding light of the torch as he cut into the section of the chamber
where the portal locks would be. He did not notice that the _Good
Company_ and the emergency fleet had returned to the spaceport, nor that
Sid was now beside him with Kit.
An hour passed. It seemed to the big cadet that the metal he was
cutting, alloyed to protect spacemen against the dangers of the void,
was now threatening to cost Tom's life, if indeed he still survived. No
one could live long under such conditions unless they had a fresh supply
of oxygen. Kit tried to take the torch away from Astro, but the giant
Venusian would not let him have it. Again and again, the tanks of fuel
supplying the torch were emptied and quickly replaced with fresh ones.
There was something awe-inspiring about the big cadet as he crouched
over the torch, its white-hot flame reflected in his grim features.
Everyone around him watched in silent fascination, aware that this was a
rare exhibition of devotion toward a comrade. They all were certain
that Astro would reach Tom--or die in the attempt.
* * * * *
"Touchdown!" Captain Strong called into the ship's intercom. "Secure
stations."
The rocket cruiser _Polaris_ had just settled on the blast-stained
concrete of the Titan spaceport after a blazing flight nonstop from
Earth. A Solar Guard cruiser, the most powerful class of spaceship in
the Solar Alliance, the _Polaris_ was also equipped with hyperdrive, a
well-guarded secret method of propulsion, enabling Solar Guard ships to
travel through space faster than any other craft known. Many commercial
shipping companies, including those entered in the race to Titan, had
pleaded for the use of hyperdrive on their ships but were summarily
refused. It was one of the strongest weapons in the entire Solar
Alliance.
As Commander Walters released the straps holding him securely in his
acceleration chair and stepped up beside Strong, the Solar Guard captain
gestured toward the teleceiver screen on the bulkhead.
"We're being met by the local officials, sir," he said.
"Ummm," was the commander's laconic reply as he studied the screen.
"There's Captain Howard."
"He doesn't look any too happy, sir," commented Strong.
"How would you feel if you had just spent seven years building up the
mine operations here on Titan and then have something like this happen
to you?"
Strong shook his head. "You're right, sir. I forgot that Howard asked
for this duty."
"It's strange how a man will take to a place," mused Walters. "The
first time he returned to the Academy, after a tour of duty here on
Titan, he looked like a man who had just fallen in love." Walters
chuckled. "And in a way I guess he had. He put in for immediate
permanent duty here and went back to school to learn all about the
mining operations. He, more than anyone else in the Solar Guard, is
responsible for our success here."
"Well, are you ready to leave the ship, sir?" asked Strong.
"Yes," replied the commander, but he continued to stare at the
teleceiver screen. Strong waited respectfully and finally Walters turned
back to him, shaking his head. "The spaceport looks pretty deserted,"
was his only comment.
Strong had already noticed the desolate appearance of the ordinarily
buzzing spaceport and it troubled him more than he would show. He knew
that unless the defect in the force fields was corrected soon, the
outer-space colony would have to be abandoned to the deadly methane
ammonia atmosphere. And to Strong, who had seen the dead satellite
before the Solar Guard had discovered crystal there, it was like seeing
an old friend sick with a deadly disease. In addition, the hundreds of
thousands of colonists would have to be relocated if the force fields
could not be repaired and the effect on the economy of the whole Solar
Alliance would be disastrous.
Walters and Strong were met at the air lock by Captain Howard. "I'm
awfully glad to see you, sir," he said, coming to attention and saluting
smartly. "Hello, Steve. Welcome to Titan."
"Glad to be here, Joe," said Strong.
"We came out as soon as we received your report that you had started
evacuation," said Walters. "Have you discovered anything new?"
Howard shook his head. "Not a thing, Commander," he replied. "We've done
just about everything but take the force-field projectors apart, but so
far we haven't found a thing wrong."
"Any word on the race, Joe?" asked Strong.
Howard looked surprised. "By the stars, I almost forgot. One of the
ships is trying to make it to Ganymede without stopping at Deimos for
refueling. And another blew up."
Strong gasped. "Which one?"
"_Space Lance_," said Howard. "Exploded over Deimos right after
blast-off. _Knight_ is the one that's trying the long solo hop. Haven't
received any word from him yet."
"But what about the crew of the _Space Lance_?" demanded Strong with a
glance at Walters.
"The pilot, Sticoon, was killed, and they haven't found Cadet Corbett
yet." And then understanding flashed in Howard's eyes. "Say, that's one
of the boys in your unit, isn't it, Steve?" he asked.
"Yes," said Strong grimly. He turned to Walters. "Have I your permission
to contact Deimos for the latest details, sir?"
"Of course, Steve. Go ahead."
Strong turned quickly and climbed into a nearby jet boat. The enlisted
spaceman at the controls sent the tiny vessel skimming across the broad
expanse of the spaceport toward the control tower.
Walters and Howard watched him leave. "I hope nothing has happened to
that boy," said Walters. "Corbett is one of the finest cadets we have."
"I'm afraid it doesn't look too good, sir," Howard answered.
"Well, what about the other ship, _Space Knight_?" asked Walters. "Cadet
Manning is on that one. Any report on where they are?"
"Nothing, sir," replied Howard. "We just heard that he was by-passing
Deimos and going on right through to Ganymede, hoping to get a jump on
the other two."
"Did Cadet Manning make that report?" asked Walters.
"No, sir. It was the pilot. Quent Miles. There was no mention of Cadet
Manning, sir."
Walters shook his head. "Certainly is strange," he mused aloud. Then he
barked, in his usual brusque manner, "Well, we've got this problem here
to worry about now. All mining operations have stopped, I suppose?"
"Yes, sir. The men won't work unless they have a guarantee that their
wives and children are safe."
"Can't blame them," said Walters, surveying the quiet spaceport.
The two Solar Guard officers climbed into another waiting jet boat and
shot away from the _Polaris_ toward the tower.
Inside the shimmering crystal control tower, Steve Strong paced up and
down behind the enlisted spaceman trying to contact the Deimos spaceport
across the millions of miles of space.
"This is Titan spaceport calling Deimos spaceport! Come in, Deimos
spaceport."
There was a flood of static, and then, very faintly, the voice of the
tower operator on Deimos answered. "This is Deimos spaceport. Go ahead,
Titan."
"Transmitting request for information by Captain Steve Strong of the
Solar Guard," the Titan operator called into the microphone.
"Information concerning explosion of rocket ship _Space Lance_. Please
give details on survivors."
There was a momentary pause and the loud-speaker crackled with static.
The voice of the Deimos operator broke through. "Captain Sticoon dead.
Cadet Corbett believed trapped in air-lock chamber. They have just cut
through the chamber. It will be a few minutes before I can give you any
further information."
"Very well, Deimos. I will hold this channel open."
Walters and Howard entered the room. "Any word, Strong?" asked the
commander. Strong shook his head.
The loud-speaker over the control panel crackled into life again.
"Ganymede station to Titan spaceport! Come in, Titan!"
The three Solar Guard officers looked at each other in surprise as the
Titan operator acknowledged the call. "This is Titan. Go ahead,
Ganymede."
"We have just received word that the rocket ship _Space Knight_ is
within five minutes of a touchdown this spaceport. Will probably blast
off again immediately after refueling. Acknowledge, Titan!"
"I read you, Ganymede!" replied the Titan operator.
"What is your estimated time of arrival at Titan?"
The Ganymede operator was silent a moment, then announced a time that
made Strong and Walters blink in amazement. "It is based on his speed
from Earth to this point, Titan."
"Very well, Ganymede. End transmission," said the Titan man, closing his
key.
Captain Howard stared at Strong and Walters in amazement. "I can't
believe it." Strong shook his head. "It's fantastic!"
"I know it is, gentlemen," said a voice in back of them. "But
nevertheless the Ganymede station confirms it."
Strong, Walters, and Howard spun around to look into the smiling face of
Charley Brett.
Before anyone could say anything, the voice of the Deimos operator broke
the stunned silence. "Deimos to Titan, I have your information now. Are
you ready, Titan?"
"Go ahead, Deimos," said the Titan man.
And then, as Strong held his breath, the metallic voice from the
loud-speaker reported on the final result of the tragic explosion over
Deimos.
[Illustration]