Tom Corbett's first day at Space Academy began at 0530 hours with the
blaring of the _Cadet Corps Song_ over the central communicators:
"_From the rocket fields of the Academy
To the far-flung stars of outer space,
We're Space Cadets training to be
Ready for dangers we may face._
_Up in the sky, rocketing past
Higher than high, faster than fast,
Out into space, into the sun
Look at her go when we give her the gun._
_From the rocket fields of the_...."
Within sixty seconds, the buildings of the Academy rocked with the
impact of three thousand voices singing the last stanza. Lights flashed
on in every window. Cadets raced through the halls and across the
quadrangle. The central communicator began the incessant mustering of
cadets, and the never-ending orders of the day.
" ... Unit 38-Z report to Captain Edwards for astrogation. Unit 68-E
report to Commander Walters for special assignments."
On and on, down the list of senior cadets, watch officers, and the newly
arrived Earthworms. Units and individuals to report for training or
study in everything from ground assembly of an atomic rocket motor, to
the history of the founding of the Solar Alliance, the governing body of
the tri-planet civilization.
Tom Corbett stepped out of the shower in Section 42-D and bellowed at
the top of his voice.
"Hit the deck, Astro! Make use of the gravity!" He tugged at an outsized
foot dangling over the side of an upper bunk.
"Uhhhh-ahhhh-hummmmm," groaned the cadet from Venus and tried to go back
to sleep.
Philip Morgan stepped into the shower, turned on the cold water,
screeched at the top of his voice, gradually trailing off into countless
repetitions of the last verse of the Academy song.
"Damp your tubes, you blasted space monkey," roared Astro, sitting up
bleary-eyed.
"What time do we eat?" asked Tom, pulling on the green one-piece
coverall of the Earthworm cadet candidates.
"I don't know," replied Astro, opening his mouth in a cavernous yawn.
"But it'd better be soon. I like space, but not between my backbone and
my stomach!"
Warrant Officer McKenny burst into the room and began to compete with
the rest of the noise outside the buildings.
"Five minutes to the dining hall and you'd better not be late! Take the
slidestairs down to the twenty-eighth floor. Tell the mess cadet in
charge of the hall your unit number and he'll show you to the right
table. Remember where it is, because you'll have to find it yourself
after that, or not eat. Finish your breakfast and report to the
ninety-ninth floor to Dr. Dale at seven hundred hours!"
And as fast as he had arrived, he was gone, a flash of red color with
rasping voice trailing behind.
Exactly one hour and ten minutes later, promptly at seven o'clock, the
three members of Unit 42-D stood at attention in front of Dr. Joan Dale,
along with the rest of the green-clad cadets.
When the catcalls and wolf whistles had died away, Dr. Dale, pretty,
trim, and dressed in the gold and black uniform of the Solar Guard, held
up her hand and motioned for the cadets to sit down.
"My answer to your--" she paused, smiled and continued, "your
enthusiastic welcome is simply--thank you. But we'll have no further
repetitions. This is Space Academy--not a primary school!"
Turning abruptly, she stood beside a round desk in the well of an
amphitheater, and held up a thin tube about an inch in diameter and
twelve inches long.
"We will now begin your classification tests," she said. "You will
receive one of these tubes. Inside, you will find four sheets of paper.
You are to answer all the questions on each paper and place them back in
the tube. Take the tube and drop it in the green outline slot in this
wall."
She indicated a four-inch-round hole to her left, outlined with green
paint. Beside it, was another slot outlined with red paint. "Remain
there until the tube is returned to you in the red slot. Take it back to
your desk." She paused and glanced down at her desk.
"Now, there are four possible classifications for a cadet. Control-deck
officer, which includes leadership and command. Astrogation officer,
which includes radar and communications. And power-deck officer for
engine-room operations. The fourth classification is for advanced
scientific study here at the Academy. Your papers are studied by an
electronic calculator that has proven infallible. You must make at least
a passing grade on each of the four classifications."
Dr. Dale looked up at the rows of upturned, unsmiling faces and stepped
from the dais, coming to a halt near the first desk.
"I know that all of you here have your hearts set on becoming spacemen,
officers in the Solar Guard. Most of you want to be space pilots. But
there must be astrogators, radar engineers, communication officers and
power-deck operators on each ship, and," she paused, braced her
shoulders and added, "some of you will not be accepted for any of these.
Some of you will wash out."
Dr. Dale turned her back on the cadets, not wanting to look at the
sudden pallor that washed over their faces. It was brutal, she thought,
this test. Why bring them all the way to the Academy and then give the
tests? Why not start the entrance exams at the beginning with the
classification and aptitude? But she knew the answer even before the
thoughtful question was completed. Under the fear of being washed out,
the weaker ones would not pass. The Solar Guard could not afford to have
cadets and later Solar Guard officers who could not function under
pressure.
She began handing out the tubes and, one by one, the green-clad
candidates stepped to the front of the room to receive them.
"Excuse me, Ma'am," said one cadet falteringly. "If--if--I wash out as a
cadet--as a Solar Guard officer cadet"--he gulped several times--"does
that mean there isn't any chance of becoming a spaceman?"
"No," she answered kindly. "You can become a member of the enlisted
Solar Guard, if you can pass the acceleration tests."
"Thank you, Ma'am," replied the boy and turned away nervously.
Tom Corbett accepted the tube and hurried back to his seat. He knew that
this was the last hurdle. He did not know that the papers had been
prepared individually, the tests given on the basis of the entrance
exams he had taken back at New Chicago Primary Space School.
He opened the tube, pulling out the four sheets, printed on both sides
of the paper, and read the heading on the first: ASTROGATION,
COMMUNICATIONS, SIGNALS (_Radar_)
He studied the first question.
" ... What is the range of the Mark Nine radar-scope, and how far can a
spaceship be successfully distinguished from other objects in space?..."
He read the question four times, then pulled out a pencil and began to
write.
Only the rustle of the papers, or the occasional sigh of a cadet over a
problem, disturbed the silence in the high-ceilinged room, as the
hundred-odd cadets fought the questions.
There was a sudden stir in the room and Tom looked up to see Roger
Manning walk to the slot and casually deposit his tube in the
green-bordered slot. Then he leaned idly against the wall waiting for it
to be returned. As he stood there, he spoke to Dr. Dale, who smiled and
replied. There was something about his attitude that made Tom boil. So
fast? He glanced at his own papers. He had hardly finished two sheets
and thought he was doing fine. He clenched his teeth and bent over the
paper again, redoubling his efforts to triangulate a fix on Regulus by
using dead reckoning as a basis for his computations.
Suddenly a tall man, wearing the uniform of a Solar Guard officer,
appeared in the back of the room. As Dr. Dale looked up and smiled a
greeting, he placed his finger on his lips. Steve Strong, Captain in the
Solar Guard, gazed around the room at the backs bent over busy pencils.
He did not smile, remembering how, only fifteen years before, he had
gone through the same torture, racking his brains trying to adjust the
measurements of a magnascope prism. He was joined by a thin handsome
young man, Lieutenant Judson Saminsky, and finally, Warrant Officer
McKenny. They nodded silently in greeting. It would be over soon. Strong
glanced at the clock over the desk. Another ten minutes to go.
The line of boys at the slots grew until more than twenty stood there,
each waiting patiently, nervously, for his turn to drop the tube in the
slot and receive in return the sealed cylinder that held his fate.
Still at his desk, his face wet with sweat, Astro looked at the question
in front of him for the fifteenth time.
" ... Estimate the time it would take a 300-ton rocket ship with
half-filled tanks, cruising at the most economical speed to make a trip
from Titan to Venusport. (a) Estimate size and maximum capacity of fuel
tanks. (b) Give estimate of speed ship would utilize...."
He thought. He slumped in his chair. He stared at the ceiling. He chewed
his pencil....
Five seats away, Tom stacked his examination sheets neatly, twisted them
into a cylinder and inserted them in the tube. As he passed the line of
desks and headed for the slot, a hand caught his arm. Tom turned to see
Roger Manning grinning at him.
"Worried, spaceboy?" asked Roger easily. Tom didn't answer. He simply
withdrew his arm.
"You know," said Roger, "you're really a nice kid. It's a shame you
won't make it. But the rules specifically say 'no cabbageheads.'"
"No talking!" Dr. Dale called sharply from her desk.
Tom walked away and stood in the line at the slots. He found himself
wanting to pass more than anything in the world. "Please," he breathed,
"please, just let me pass--"
A soft gong began to sound. Dr. Dale stood up.
"Time's up," she announced. "Please put your papers in the tubes and
drop them in the slot."
Tom turned to see Astro stuffing his papers in the thin cylinder
disgustedly. Phil Morgan came up and stood in back of Tom. His face was
flushed.
"Everything O.K., Phil?" inquired Tom.
"Easy as free falling in space," replied the other cadet, his soft
Georgian drawl full of confidence. "How about you?"
"I'm just hoping against hope."
The few remaining stragglers hurried up to the line.
"Think Astro'll make it?" asked Phil.
"I don't know," answered Tom, "I saw him sweating over there like a man
facing death."
"I guess he is--in a way."
Astro took his place in line and shrugged his shoulders when Tom leaned
forward to give him a questioning look.
"Go ahead, Tom," urged Phil. Tom turned and dropped his tube into the
green-bordered slot and waited. He stared straight at the wall in front
of him, hardly daring to breathe. Presently, the tube was returned in
the red slot. He took it, turned it over in his hands and walked slowly
back to his desk.
"You're washed out, cabbagehead!" Manning's whisper followed him. "Let's
see if you can take it without bawling!"
Tom's face burned and he fought an impulse to answer Manning with a
stiff belt in the jaw. But he kept walking, reached his desk and sat
down.
Astro, the last to return to his desk, held the tube out in front of him
as if it were alive. The room was silent as Dr. Dale rose from her desk.
"All right now, boys," she announced. "Inside the tubes you will find
colored slips of paper. Those of you who have red slips will remain
here. Those who find green slips will return to their quarters. Blue
will go with Captain Strong, orange with Lieutenant Saminsky, and purple
with Warrant Officer McKenny. Now--please open the tubes."
There was a tinkling of metal caps and then the slight rustle of paper
as each boy withdrew the contents of the tube before him.
Tom took a deep breath and felt inside for the paper. He held his breath
and pulled it out. It was green. He didn't know what it meant. He looked
around. Phil was signaling to him, holding up a blue slip. Tom's heart
skipped a beat. Whatever the colors meant, he and Phil were apart. He
quickly turned around and caught Astro's eye. The big Venusian held up a
green slip. Tom's heart then nearly stopped beating. Phil, who had
breezed through with such confidence, held a blue slip, and Astro, who
hadn't even finished the test, held up the same color that he had. It
could only mean one thing. Failure. He felt the tears welling in his
eyes, but had no strength left to fight them back.
He looked up, his eyes meeting the insolent stare of Roger Manning who
was half turned in his seat. Remembering the caustic warning of the
confident cadet, Tom fought back the flood in his eyes and glared back.
What would he tell his mother? And his father? And Billy, his brother,
five years younger than himself, whom he had promised to bring a flask
of water from the Grand Canal on Mars. And his sister! Tom remembered
the shining pride in her eyes when she kissed him good-bye at the
Stratoport as he left for Atom City.
From the front of the room, McKenny's rasping voice jarred him back to
the present.
"Cadets--staaaaaaaand _to!_"
There was a shuffle of feet as the boys rose as one.
"All the purple slips follow me," he roared and turned toward the door.
The cadets with purple slips marched after him.
Lieutenant Saminsky stepped briskly to the front of the room.
"Cadets with orange slips will please come with me," he said casually,
and another group of cadets left the room.
From the rear of the room Captain Strong snapped out an order.
"Blue slips will come with me!"
He turned smartly and followed the last of Lieutenant Saminsky's cadets
out of the room.
Tom looked around. The room was nearly empty now. He looked over at
Astro and saw his big friend slumped moodily over against his desk.
Then, suddenly, he noticed Roger Manning. The arrogant cadet was not
smiling any longer. He was staring straight ahead. Before him on the
desk, Tom could see a green slip. So he had failed too, thought Tom
grimly. It was poor solace for the misery he felt.
Dr. Dale stepped forward again.
"Will the cadets holding green slips return to their quarters. Those
with red slips will remain in their seats," she announced.
Tom found himself moving with difficulty. As he walked through the door,
Astro joined him. A look more eloquent than words passed between them
and they made their way silently up the slidestairs back to their
quarters.
Lying in his bunk, hands under his head, eyes staring into space, Tom
asked, "What happens now?"
Sprawled on his bunk, Astro didn't answer right away. He merely gulped
and swallowed hard.
"I--I don't know," he finally stammered. "I just don't know."
"What'll you do?"
"It's back to the hold of a Venusport freighter, I guess. I don't know."
Astro paused and looked at Tom. "What'll you do?"
"Go home," said Tom simply. "Go home and--and find a job."
"Ever think about the enlisted Solar Guard? Look at McKenny--"
"Yeah--but--"
"I know how you feel," sighed Astro. "Being in the enlisted section--is
like--well, being a passenger--almost."
The door was suddenly flung open.
"Haul off them bunks, you blasted Earthworms!"
McKenny stood in the doorway in his usual aggressive pose, and Tom and
Astro hit the floor together to stand at attention.
"Where's the other cadet?"
"He went with Captain Strong, sir," answered Tom.
"Oh?" said Mike. And in a surprisingly soft tone he added, "You two
pulled green slips, eh?"
"Yes, sir," they replied together.
"Well, I don't know how you did it, but congratulations. You passed the
classification tests. Both of you."
Tom just looked at the scarlet-clad, stumpy warrant officer. He couldn't
believe his ears. Suddenly he felt as if he had been lifted off his
feet. And then he realized that he _was_ off his feet. Astro was holding
him over his head. Then he dumped him in his bunk as easily as if he
had been a child. And at the same time, the big Venusian let out a loud,
long, earsplitting yell.
McKenny matched him with his bull-like roar.
"Plug that foghorn, you blasted Earthworm. You'll have the whole Academy
in here thinking there's a murder."
By this time Tom was on his feet again, standing in front of McKenny.
"You mean, we made it? We're really in? We're cadets?"
"That's right." McKenny looked at a clip board in his hand and read,
"Cadet Corbett, Tom. Qualified for control deck. Cadet Astro. Power
deck."
Astro took a deep breath and started another yell, but before he could
let go, McKenny clamped a big hand over his mouth.
"You bellow like that again and I'll make meteor dust out of you!"
Astro gulped and then matched Tom's grin with one that spread from ear
to ear.
"What happened to Philip Morgan?" asked Tom.
"What color slip did he have?"
"Blue."
"Anything besides green washed out," replied Mike quickly. "Now let's
see, you have a replacement for Morgan in this unit. An astrogator."
"Greetings, gentlemen," drawled a voice that Tom recognized without even
looking. "Allow me to introduce myself to my new unit-mates. My name is
Manning--Roger Manning. But then, we're old friends, aren't we?"
"Stow that rocket wash, Manning," snapped Mike. He glanced at the clock
over the door. "You have an hour and forty-five minutes until lunch
time. I suggest you take a walk around the Academy and familiarize
yourselves with the arrangement of the buildings."
And then, for the first time, Tom saw the hard little spaceman smile.
"I'm glad you made it, boys. All three of you." He paused and looked at
each of them in turn. "And I can honestly say I'm looking forward to the
day when I can serve under you!"
He snapped his back straight, gave the three startled boys a crisp
salute, executed a perfect about-face and marched out of the room.
"And that," drawled Roger, strolling to the bunk nearest the window, "is
the corniest bit of space gas I've ever heard."
"Listen, Manning!" growled Astro, spinning around quickly to face him.
"Yeah," purred Roger, his eyes drawn to fine points, hands hanging
loosely at his sides. "What would you like me to listen to, Cadet
Astro?"
The hulking cadet lunged at Manning, but Tom quickly stepped between
them.
"Stow it, both of you!" he shouted. "We're in this room together, so we
might as well make the best of it."
"Of course, Corbett--of course," replied Manning easily. He turned his
back on Astro, who stood, feet wide apart, neck muscles tight and hands
clenched in hamlike fists.
"One of these days I'll break you in two, Manning. I'll close that
fast-talking mouth of yours for good!"
Astro's voice was a low growl. Roger stood near the window port and
appeared to have forgotten the incident.
The light shining in from the hallway darkened, and Tom turned to see
three blue-clad senior cadets arranged in a row just inside the door.
"Congratulations, gentlemen. You're now qualified cadets of Space
Academy," said a redheaded lad about twenty-one. "My name is Al Dixon,"
he turned to his left and right, "and these are cadets Bill Houseman
and Rodney Withrop."
"Hiya," replied Tom. "Glad to know you. I'm Tom Corbett. This is
Astro--and Roger Manning."
Astro shook hands, the three senior cadets giving a long glance at the
size of the hand he offered. Roger came forward smartly and shook hands
with a smile.
"We're sorta like a committee," began Dixon. "We've come to sign you up
for the Academy sports program."
They made themselves comfortable in the room.
"You have a chance to take part in three sports. Free-fall wrestling,
mercuryball and space chess." Dixon glanced at Houseman and Withrop.
"From the looks of Cadet Astro, free-fall wrestling should be child's
play for him!"
Astro merely grinned.
"Mercuryball is pretty much like the old game of soccer," explained
Houseman. "But inside the ball is a smaller ball filled with mercury,
making it take crazy dips and turns. You have to be pretty fast even to
touch it."
"Sounds like you have to be a little Mercurian yourself," smiled Tom.
"You do," replied Dixon. "Oh, yes, you three play as a unit. Competition
starts in a few days. So if you've never played before, you might go
down to the gym and start practicing."
"You mentioned space chess," asked Roger. "What's that?"
"It's really nothing more than maneuvers. Space maneuvers," said Dixon.
"A glass case, a seven-foot cube, is divided by light shafts into
smaller cubes of equal shape and size. Each man has a complete space
squadron. Three model rocket cruisers, six destroyers and ten scouts.
The ships are filled with gas to make them float, and your power is
derived from magnetic force. The problem is to get a combination of
cruisers and destroyers and scouts into a space section where it could
knock out your opponent's ships."
"You mean," interrupted Astro, "you've got to keep track of all those
ships at once?"
"Don't worry, Astro," commented Roger quickly. "You use your muscles to
win for dear old 42-D in free-fall wrestling. Corbett here can pound
down the grassy field for a goal in mercuryball, and I'll do the
brainwork of space chess."
The three visiting cadets exchanged sharp glances.
"Everybody plays together, Manning," said Dixon. "You three take part in
each sport as a unit."
"Of course," nodded Roger. "Of course--as a unit."
The three cadets stood up, shook hands all around and left. Tom
immediately turned to Manning.
"What was the idea of that crack about brains?"
Manning slouched over to the window port and said over his shoulder, "I
don't know how you and your king-sized friend here passed the
classifications test, Corbett, and I don't care. But, as you say, we're
a unit. So we might as well make adjustments."
He turned to face them with a cold stare.
"I know this Academy like the palm of my hand," he went on. "Never mind
how, just take it for granted. _I know it._ I'm here for the ride. For a
special reason I wouldn't care to have you know. I'll get my training
and then pull out."
He took a step forward, his face a mask of bitterness.
"So from now on, you two guys leave me alone. You bore me to death with
your emotional childish allegiance to this--this"--he paused and spit
the last out cynically--"space kindergarten!"