The great educational exhibits had long been closed and only a few
sections of the amusement park of the big exposition remained open. The
giant solar beacon, its brilliant colors changing every second,
maintained a solemn solitary watch over the exhibition buildings, while
here and there groups of fair visitors wandered wearily back to their
hotels.
There was a sudden flurry of activity at the space-ride concession. Gus
Wallace and Luther Simms tumbled out of the shack and raced into their
ship. Once inside the ancient craft, they secured the hatch and turned
toward each other smiling broadly. Wallace stuck out his hand.
"Put 'er there, Simms. We did it!"
The two men shook hands heartily.
"By the craters of Luna," said Simms, "I thought we'd never make it! And
if we did, that it wouldn't be there!"
"But it was, Simms! It was! And now we've got it!"
"Yeah," agreed the other. "I never worked so hard in all my life. But
it's worth it. Are we going to set the Solar Guard back on its ear!"
Wallace laughed. "Not only that, but think of what the boss will say
when we show up with it!"
"You know, Wallace," said Simms, a sly look on his face, "we could take
it and use it ourselves--"
"Don't even think a thing like that!" snapped Wallace.
"Oh, of course not," said Simms hurriedly. "It doesn't pay to cross the
boss. There's enough here for all of us."
"You know," mused Wallace, "there's only one thing I regret."
"What's that?" asked his partner.
"That I didn't get a chance to kick the space dust out of that punk,
Cadet Manning!"
"Forget him," said Simms, waving his hand. "You'll meet him again
someday. Besides, why think about him, when you've got the whole
universe at your finger tips?"
"You're right. But someday I'm going to catch him and tear him apart!"
snarled Wallace. "Come on. We've got to change over to atomic drive on
this baby. I don't want to hang around here any longer than I have to."
"Yeah," said Simms. "Be pretty stupid if we're caught now!"
The two men climbed down into the power deck and began the job of
refitting the freighter from chemical to atomic drive. Having already
outfitted the vessel with atomic engines, it was a simple matter to
change the exhaust, reset the feed lines, and emplace the protective
lead baffles. In an hour the two spacemen were ready to blast off.
"There she is," said Simms, standing back to survey their work. "As fast
as anything in space, except the Solar Guard cruisers on hyperdrive."
"O.K.," said Wallace. "Let's get out of here!"
Minutes later, in a jet car speeding along the main highway toward the
exposition grounds, Captain Strong, Mike Hawks, and the three cadets of
the _Polaris_ saw a rocket ship blast off. They watched it disappear
into the dark space above.
"That might be they," said Strong to Hawks. "I'd better alert the patrol
ship near the space station and tell them to pick them up."
"That couldn't be Wallace and Simms, sir," said Astro.
"How do you know, Astro?" asked Strong.
"That was an atomic-powered ship. The wagon Wallace and Simms have is a
chemical job. I know the sound of her jets almost as well as I do the
_Polaris_."
Hawks looked at Strong.
"You can depend on Astro's opinion, Mike," said Strong. "He was born
with a rocket wrench in his hand and cut his teeth on a reactor valve."
They soon reached the outskirts of the exposition grounds and were
forced to slow down as they wound their way through the darkened
streets. In the amusement section, the last of the whirlaway rides and
games of chance had closed down and only the occasional roar of a caged
animal in the interplanetary zoo disturbed the night.
Hawks drove the low, sleek jet car around the fair, taking a short cut
through the outdoor mercuryball field and pulled up in front of the
_Polaris_.
The five spacemen turned toward the concession site across the promenade
and stopped, aghast.
"Gone!" exclaimed Strong. "Astro, you made a mistake! It was their ship
we saw blasting off. It's too late to warn the space-station patrol.
Wallace and Simms could be anywhere in space now!"
"But, sir," protested Astro, "I'm certain that an atomic-powered ship
blasted off. And their old freighter was a chemical burner!"
"Well," said Hawks resignedly, "they're not here."
"Come on," said Strong, getting out of the jet car. "Let's take a look
around."
Strong and Hawks hurried across the street to the empty lot and the
three cadets followed.
"Take it easy, Astro," said Tom, when he saw the big Venusian gripping
his fists in frustration. "Anyone could make a mistake."
"That's just it," said Astro. "I'm not mistaken! Those jokers must have
changed over from chemical fuel to reactant drive!"
"But why?" asked Roger. "That would cost more than they could make in
ten years of hauling passengers on joy rides!"
Astro whirled around and faced the two cadets. "I'm telling you the ship
that blasted off from here was an atomic drive. I don't know any more
than that, but I _do_ know that!"
There was a sudden shout from Strong and the three boys hurried to the
shack. The Solar Guard captain and the exposition commissioner were
standing inside and playing the beam of an electric torch around the
walls.
"Looks as though you were right about the atomic drive, Astro," said
Strong. He flashed the light into one corner where a tangled jumble of
lines lay on the floor. "That's feed-line gear for a chemical burner,
and over there"--he played the light on some empty cartons--"is what's
left of the crate's lead baffling it shipped in. They must have changed
over to atomic drive recently."
Astro accepted the statement with a nod. It wasn't in the nature of the
big cadet to boast. Now that the secret of the ship had been resolved,
he turned, like the others, to the question of why?
"I think the best thing we can do," said Strong, "is to spread out and
search the whole area. Might find something to indicate where they
went." Commissioner Hawks nodded his head in agreement.
While Tom, Roger, and Astro searched outside, Strong and Hawks went
through the drawers of the dusty desk standing in one corner.
"Nothing here but a record of the flights they made, bills for chemical
fuel delivered, and the like," said Hawks at last. "They were losing
money on the operation, too. Think they might have just gotten fed up
and pulled out?"
Strong was rummaging around in one corner of the shack. "I'd go along
with that, but for one thing, Mike," he said. "Take a look at this." He
held up a small cloth bag. "There's dirt in the bottom of this bag. And
there are about fifty more bags in that corner."
"Dirt!" exclaimed the commissioner.
"Yep," said Strong grimly. "So we found out who was dumping the dirt.
But we still haven't found out why."
"Or where it came from," said Hawks.
Strong tossed the bag into the corner. "Well, I guess I'd better make a
report to Commander Walters."
Hawks moved to the corner where the pile of chemical feed-line equipment
lay on the floor. "Want to take a look at this stuff? Might be something
important in it."
Strong thought a moment. "We can have the cadets do that. I want to get
this report off to Walters right away, and issue an order to pick up
Wallace and Simms."
"On what charges, Steve?" asked the commissioner. "I mean, what's wrong
with what they've done?" The commissioner's question was based on one of
the cardinal rules among all Solar Guard officers of authority. "Has the
man committed any crime?"
Steve realized this and answered slowly. "They've changed over to
reactor drive without a license or permission. That's a violation of the
space code, section twenty-one, paragraph A. That is punishable by a
suspension of space papers, and if the intention proved to be willful
neglect of the code, a year on a penal asteroid. I think we can get them
on that."
The captain stepped to the door and called the cadets.
"Find anything?" he asked, when they entered the shack.
"Nothing, sir," replied Tom. "Except more evidence that they changed
over to atomic drive."
"That's enough" said Strong. "I'm going to send a report to Commander
Walters. Is the teleceiver on the _Polaris_ hooked up, Roger?"
"Yes, sir," replied Roger. "But Astro will have to start up the
auxiliary generators to give you power."
"Very well, then," said Strong. "Corbett, you give Astro a hand on the
power deck. And while we're gone, Manning, you go through that feed-line
junk there in the corner and see if there's anything important in it!"
"Aye, aye, sir," replied Roger.
Strong and Hawks, followed by Tom and Astro, left the shack and hurried
to the _Polaris_.
On the power deck, Tom and Astro made the necessary connections on the
generator, and in a few minutes, as power surged through the ship,
Strong flipped on the teleceiver.
"Attention! Attention! This is Captain Strong on the _Polaris_ calling
Commander Walters at Space Academy! Earth emergency circuit, priority
B--"
In a few moments the Solar Guard officer's call had been picked up by a
monitor station on Earth and relayed directly to Space Academy.
Commander Walters was roused out of bed, and when he appeared on the
teleceiver screen, Strong saw he was still in sleeping dress.
"Sorry to disturb you, sir," said Strong, "but something has come up
here at the exposition that needs your immediate attention."
"That's quite all right, Steve," said the commander with a smile. "What
is it? Manning get into more trouble?"
"No, sir," answered Strong grimly. "I wish it were as simple as that."
He quickly related the details of the strange dirt cloud and his
suspicions of Wallace and Simms. Walters' expression grew serious.
"I'll get out an emergency bulletin on them at once, Steve. Meantime,
you have full authority to head an investigation. Use any service you
need. I'll confirm my verbal order with official orders at once. Get on
this thing, Steve. It sounds serious."
"I will, sir, and thanks!" said Strong.
"End transmission!"
"End transmission," returned Strong, flipping off the teleceiver and
turning to the ship's intercom. "Attention, power deck! Corbett, you and
Astro go back to the shack and give Roger a hand. I'm going to work with
the commissioner here setting up search operations."
"Aye, aye, sir," replied Tom from the power deck.
The two cadets hurriedly closed the power units and left the ship.
"Did you hear what Captain Strong said, Astro?" asked Tom. "Search
operations."
"I wonder what's up," the big Venusian remarked. "They don't set up
search operations unless it's awfully serious!"
"Come on," urged Tom. "Maybe Roger's found something."
They entered the shack together and Tom called out, "Say, Roger, Captain
Strong just spoke to Commander Walters at the Academy and--"
The curly-haired cadet stopped short. "Astro, look!"
"By the rings of Saturn!" exclaimed the big cadet.
The two cadets stood gaping at a huge hole in the middle of the room.
The wooden floor was splintered around the edges of the opening and
several pieces of the chemical feed-line equipment lay close to the
edge, with trailing lines leading down into the hole. They heard a low
moan and rushed up to the hole, flashing their lights down into it.
"Great galaxy!" yelled Tom. "Astro, look! It's a shaft! It must be a
thousand feet deep!"
"And look!" bellowed Astro. "There's Roger! See him? He's hanging there!
His foot's caught in that feed-line cable!"
The big cadet leaned over the hole and shouted, "Roger! Roger! Are you
all right?"
There was no answer from the shaft. Nothing but the echo of Astro's
voice.