"Yeow!"
Astro's bull-like roar echoed through the _Good Company_. Tom and Kit
jumped around in their seats to stare dumfounded at the half-stripped
cadet climbing through the hatch into the power deck, followed by Sid.
Sweating, his body streaked with grease, the belt of rocketman's tools
swinging from his hips, Astro pounded the two spacemen on the back. "We
did it!" he roared, turning to hug Sid who was equally grimy and naked
to the waist.
"Did what?" demanded Kit.
"You know that by-pass feeder you said wouldn't hold a pressure of more
than D-18 rate?" said Astro eagerly.
When Kit nodded, Astro roared triumphantly, "Well, it'll hold more than
D-18 rate now!"
"What do you mean?" demanded Kit.
Astro's involved and detailed reply in engineering terms was almost
gibberish to Tom, but he understood enough of the unit construction to
sense that Astro had done something extraordinary.
"And he did it all himself, too," said Sid quietly. "I didn't do any
more than hold the tools."
"But I still don't understand," protested Kit. "The by-pass won't take
more than D-18."
"We built another one," said Astro proudly. "Since you were making a
small unit, you naturally built a small by-pass feeder. We made a big
one." Astro grinned. "I admit that it looks a little lopsided, with that
tank joint on the side nearly twice as big as the whole cooling unit,
but if you'll cut your motors and give me fifteen minutes to change that
line, I'll give you a reactant feed at D-30 rate."
[Illustration]
"D-D-30," stammered Kit. "You're space happy!" He glanced over at Sid.
"Is that right, Sid?" he asked, almost hesitantly.
The youth nodded. "It'll work, Kit. And believe me, I didn't have a
thing to do with it. It was his idea and I thought he was nuts too. But
he can holler louder than I can and--well, he's bigger'n I am and--" Sid
shrugged his shoulders. "He went and did it."
"I want to see that thing for myself!" exclaimed Kit, jumping out of his
seat. "Take over for a while, Tom."
Tom slid under the controls of the sleek ship, and while Astro, Sid, and
Kit went below to the power deck, he began to figure their speed at a
D-30 rate. He used a pencil at first, scribbling on a piece of paper,
but the answer he reached was so fabulous, he put the ship on automatic
gyro control and climbed to the radar deck where he checked the figures
on the electronic calculator. When the result was the same, he let out a
whoop.
When he returned to the control deck again, Astro, Kit, and Sid were
already working the master control panel, adjusting some of the controls
to take the enormous increase in speed. Kit grinned up at Tom. "Here we
go, Tom," he said. "This is going to be the fastest ride you've ever had
next to hyperdrive."
"Then it really works?" yelled the cadet.
"It not only works, but from the looks of that thing, we'll use very
little more fuel. So now it's our turn to by-pass a fuel stop! We're
going right on through to Titan!"
* * * * *
"You're whistling into the wind, Barnard!" Quent Miles' voice was harsh
and derisive as it crackled over the audioceiver. "You could never catch
up with me in a hundred light years! This race is in the bag for yours
truly!"
Across the vast distance of space that separated the two speeding ships,
Tom, Astro, and Kit Barnard listened to Miles' bragging voice and smiled
at each other. All Kit ever wanted was a fair chance, and now, thanks to
Astro and Sid, he had better than a fair chance. With their added speed,
Tom calculated that the two ships would arrive at the Titan spaceport at
about the same time. Only scant minutes separated their estimated times
of arrival.
"How much farther do you think that wagon of yours will hold out,
Barnard?" continued Miles over the audioceiver. "You'll burn it up or
shake it apart. This race is in the bag!"
"All right, Miles," interrupted Tom. "We'll do our talking at the Titan
spaceport. Now let me talk to Roger."
"You mean, Manning?" asked Miles, after an almost imperceptible pause.
"Yes, I mean Manning!" snapped Tom.
"Can't oblige, Corbett," said Quent Miles. "Your pal took it on the lam
back at Ganymede. He ran out on me. As far as I know, he's still there.
Didn't you see him when you stopped for refueling?"
"We didn't stop," said Tom. "What do you mean, he got off at Ganymede?
He's supposed to stay with you throughout the race."
"I gotta go now, Corbett," came Miles' abrupt reply. "I'm hittin' rough
stuff here, a swarm of meteors. See you on Titan. Be down there to
welcome you in."
"Wait! What about Roger?" Tom called frantically into the audioceiver,
but Quent Miles did not answer. The young cadet slammed the microphone
down on the table. "That blasted Roger!" he cried hotly. "When I get my
hands on him, I'm going to--"
"Take it easy, Tom," said Astro, putting a hand on the cadet's shoulder.
"You know how Roger is. Wait until he has a chance to explain before you
blast him."
"I suppose you're right, Astro," replied Tom. "But why in the stars
would he leave the ship?"
"Whatever he's done, I'm sure Roger has a good explanation," replied the
big Venusian. But inwardly he couldn't help feeling that Roger, somehow,
had gotten into another scrape which would, in the end, reflect on the
whole unit. Neither Tom nor Astro cared much for their own individual
reputations, but they were concerned about the record of the unit. Roger
had managed to pull himself out of some narrow scrapes, but there was
always the first time for everything. Leaving his post as monitor in the
race was as serious as anything he had done so far.
"Heads up, Tom!" Kit called out. "Meteor storm in our course. We've got
to change our heading."
"Aye, aye, sir," replied the young cadet, pushing aside his concern over
his unit mate and concentrating on routine flight operations.
On and on, the sleek ship plummeted through the black depths of space
beyond Jupiter, heading for the planet Saturn and her magnificent rings
of different colors, and to her largest satellite with its deadly
methane ammonia gas atmosphere, the crystal-bearing moon, Titan.
* * * * *
"They are approaching the spaceport, sir," called the Titan
control-tower operator, and Strong jumped to the radarscope to stare at
the two blips on the screen. Only a mile separated them, with Quent
Miles' _Space Knight_ ahead.
"Five minutes to touchdown," reported the operator.
"Come on, Kit," muttered Strong through clenched teeth. "Pour it on,
boy. Give her the gun!"
The two blips drew closer to the heart of the scope. First one and then
the other shooting ahead for brief seconds as they began deceleration.
"You can see them outside, now, sir," said the operator, and Strong
jumped to the door, stepping out on the observation platform that looked
out over the spaceport. He searched the skies above him, and then,
faintly, he could see the exhaust trails of the two ships as they
streaked over the field, beginning their deceleration orbits around the
satellite.
Behind him, Strong heard the voice of the tower operator ordering Ramp
Four and Ramp Five cleared for the two ships, and the mobs of people on
the spaceport surged back. Strong noted the irony of the situation. The
people of Titan were not out to greet a hero of space, but were waiting
for the next evacuation rocket ship.
The ramps were cleared and within minutes the two ships reappeared over
the horizon, nosing upward over the spaceport in an arc, their braking
rockets blasting loudly as they prepared to land.
Then, feeling that his heart would stop, Captain Strong saw Quent Miles'
black ship touch the surface of the spaceport first. Kit Barnard had
lost the race. By seconds to be sure, but he had lost the race.
A weak cheer arose from the crowds and then quickly died out. To them
the race was futile and the prize empty. How could the winning company
ship crystal, when soon, none would be mined?
Strong raced across the field and boarded the _Good Company_ to find
Kit, Tom, Astro, and Sid sitting glumly on the control deck. There was a
quick smile of greeting on the two cadets' faces when they saw their
unit commander, but their smiles died away. Abruptly Kit Barnard was on
his feet looking past Strong to someone entering the hatch behind him.
"Congratulations, Quent!" said Kit, extending his hand. "That was a
great race."
"Thanks," replied Miles. "But I never figured it would end any other
way. You put up a great fight, Barnard. Yes, sir! A great fight!" He
turned to Captain Strong and chortled. "Good race, eh, Strong?"
The Solar Guard officer shook hands with the winner and then asked,
"Where is Cadet Manning?"
"Say, I want to make a complaint about that!" exclaimed Miles. He looked
at Tom and Astro. "It was bad enough to have to be bothered with these
kids, but when they behave the way that kid Manning behaved, I've got a
right to be sore!"
"When did Manning leave the ship?" asked Strong.
"As soon as we made touchdown on Ganymede. He left the ship after
sleeping all the way out, made a couple of nasty cracks, and the last I
saw of him, he was heading over toward the deep-space section of the
spaceport."
"You're sure of that?" asked Strong.
Quent Miles sneered. "I just said that's what happened, didn't I?"
"Yes, that's what you said," Strong replied. "And I'll have to take your
word for it until Manning can answer for himself."
"How did you manage to make it from Earth to Ganymede without refueling,
Quent?" asked Kit slowly. "And what have you got in your ship to get
that kind of speed?"
Miles' lips curled in a twisted grin. "That's my secret, spaceman," he
said, turning away. "Well, I've got to report to my boss. Great race,
Kit. Too bad there couldn't be more than one winner." He laughed and
swaggered out of the ship.
"I'd like to brain that guy," growled Tom.
"All right, Corbett, Astro, pack your gear and report to the control
tower for reassignment," snapped Strong. He turned and with a nod of
sympathy to Kit left the control deck.
"Let's go, Astro," sighed Tom. "We'll see you later, Kit. You too, Sid.
And--" They looked at each other, but there was nothing more that could
be said. The race was finished.
When Tom and Astro had finished packing their gear and left the ship,
Sid turned to Kit. "I'm going to take a look at the _Space Knight_!" he
announced.
"Better not, Sid." Barnard shook his head. "Miles is a rough customer.
He might not like visitors around his 'secret' on the power deck."
Sid's face was set. "I'm going," he repeated and ducked through the
hatch.
His face showing his disappointment at having lost the race, Kit paced
the deck for a moment and then he strode purposefully toward the hatch,
calling:
"Hey! Wait, Sid. I'm coming with you."
In the control tower at the far end of the spaceport, Tom and Astro
entered the station commander's office in time to overhear the last of
Commander Walters' orders to Captain Strong.
" ... might as well give the boys a rest before we begin our
investigations, Steve." He looked up as the door opened. "Oh, here they
are now."
"Cadets Corbett and Astro reporting, sir." Tom and Astro saluted
smartly.
"Stand easy, boys," said Walters, rising to face them. "I don't know how
much you've heard of this emergency on Titan, but you can be briefed on
details later. For the moment, all you have to know is that your
assignment here is concerned with a detailed checking-out of the whole
force-screen machinery. Take a twenty-four-hour rest and then report
back here ready for the hardest work you'll ever do in your lives."
"Yes, sir," said Tom.
"Where is Manning? Didn't he think it necessary to report to me?"
Walters looked at Strong. "Well, Steve? It's your unit?"
"It seems he got off the _Space Knight_ at Ganymede, sir," replied
Strong reluctantly. "Captain Miles said the last he saw of Manning he
was walking toward the deep-space section of the spaceport."
Walters' eyes suddenly became very bright and hard. "He got off, did he?
Well," he snapped, "this is just about the end of the line for Cadet
Roger Manning!"
"I'm sure Roger has a good explanation, sir--" began Tom.
Walters glared at the cadet. "None of that, Corbett. Manning is a bad
rocket and the sooner I get rid of him the better off the Academy and
the _Polaris_ unit will be. Now take your twenty-four-hours' leave and
report back here ready to work."
"Yes, sir," replied Tom. He and Astro saluted and turned to leave the
office but were stopped by the sudden appearance of Sid and Kit. Sid's
face was aglow. Kit was scowling.
"You know what we found on the _Space Knight_?" exclaimed Sid, unable to
hold back.
"What?" asked Tom.
"Almost a full tank of reactant!" replied the young engineer. "And the
after burners showed about as much wear as if the ship had jumped from
Earth to Venus."
"What's that, young man?" snapped Walters, stepping forward quickly.
"What are you talking about?"
Kit Barnard faced the commander and began to explain.
"We were both curious about Quent Miles' ship, sir," he said. "We
wondered what kind of equipment he had to get that kind of speed, so we
went aboard and looked her over. She looks as if she just made a routine
flight. Hardly any of her baffling has been eaten away and her motors
are cooling fast, and I'd swear by the stars there isn't anything on
that ship to give her the kind of speed she made out here."
"Hm-m! There's something funny about this," mused Walters.
Strong stepped forward quickly. "Would you like me to investigate, sir?"
he asked eagerly.
"Of course not," snapped Walters. "What's the matter with you? We've got
a whole planet full of people about to lose their homes and you want to
take time off to investigate pure speculation!"
"I'm sorry, sir." Strong's face flushed at the rebuke.
"Carry on! Work with Joe Howard."
"Yes, sir."
Strong saluted and started for the door. He passed Tom, Astro, Sid, and
Kit without so much as a glance. His jaw was set like a rock.
Tom Corbett shuffled uncomfortably, embarrassed at the rebuke Strong had
just suffered from Walters. It was not like the commander to flare up so
quickly. The situation on Titan must be extremely serious. He and Astro
ducked out of the room quickly.
"Come on, Astro," muttered the young cadet. "Let's get a bite to eat.
I'm starved."
"I was," said the giant Venusian. "But I lost my appetite."
"Boy, do I wish I had Roger here now!"
"Yeah, me too!"
[Illustration]