Under the tremendous drive of the stern rockets, the silver ship
suddenly hurtled forward as if shot out of a cannon. The dangerous tube
slid out of the stern of the ship and was quickly left behind as the
_Lady Venus_ sped in the opposite direction.
"That's it," yelled Tom, "hold full space speed! We dumped the tube, but
we're still close enough for it to blow us from here to Pluto!"
"I tracked it on the radar, Tom," yelled Roger. "I think we're far
enough away to miss--"
At that moment a tremendous flash of light filled the radar scanner as
the mass exploded miles to the rear of the _Lady Venus_.
"There it goes!" shouted Roger.
"Great jumping Jupiter," yelled Tom, "and we're still in one piece! We
did it!"
From the power deck, Astro's bull-like roar could be heard through the
whole ship.
"Gimme an open circuit, Tom," said Astro. "I want to operate the air
blowers down here and try to get rid of some of that radiation. I have
to get into the control chamber and see what's going on."
Tom flipped a switch on the board and set the ship on automatic flight.
Then, turning to the teleceiver, he switched the set on.
"_Lady Venus_ to _Polaris_--" said Tom, "come in, _Polaris_--come in!"
" ... Strong here on the _Polaris_!" the officer's voice crackled over
the speaker. "By the rings of Saturn, I should log you three
space-brained idiots for everything in the book!" Strong's face
gradually focused on the teleceiver screen and he stared at Tom coldly.
"That was the most foolish bit of heroics I've ever seen and if I had my
way I'd--I'll--well--" The captain's glare melted into a smile. "I'll
spend the rest of my life being known as the skipper of the three
heroes! Well done, Corbett, it was foolish and dangerous, but well
done!"
Tom, his face changing visibly with each change in Strong's attitude,
finally broke out into a grin.
"Thank you, sir," said Tom, "but Astro and Roger did as much as I did."
"I'm sure they did," replied Strong. "Tell them I think it was one of
the--the--" he thought a moment and then added, "darndest, most foolish
things--most--"
"Yes, sir," said Tom, trying hard to control his face. He knew the
moment for disciplining had passed, and that Captain Strong was just
overwhelmed with concern for their safety.
"Stand by the air locks, Corbett, we're coming aboard again. We're
pretty cramped for space here on the _Polaris_."
Just then Astro yelled up from the power deck.
"Hey, Tom!" he called. "If Captain Strong is thinking about putting
those passengers back aboard, I think you'd better tell him about the
radiation. I haven't been able to flush it all out yet. And since we
only have three lead-lined suits...." He left the statement unfinished.
"I get you, Astro," replied Tom. He turned back to the teleceiver and
faced Strong. "Astro says the ship is still hot from radiation, sir. And
that he hasn't been able to flush it out with the blowers."
"Ummmmh," mused Strong thoughtfully. "Well, in that case, stand by,
Corbett. I'll get in touch with Commander Walters right away."
"Very well, sir," replied Tom. He turned from the teleceiver and climbed
up to the radar deck.
"Well, hot-shot," said Roger, "looks like you've made yourself a hero
this trip."
"What do you mean by that, Roger?"
"First, you run off with top honors on the space maneuvers, and now you
save the ship and have Strong eating out of your hand!"
"That's not very funny, Roger," said Tom.
"I think it is," drawled Roger.
Tom studied the blond cadet for a moment.
"What's eating you, Roger? Since the day you came into the Academy,
you've acted like you hated every minute of it. And yet, on the other
hand, I've seen you act like it was the most important thing in your
life. Why?"
"I told you once, Corbett," said Roger with the sneering air which Tom
knew he used when he was on the defensive, "that I had my own special
reasons for being here. I'm _not_ a hero, Corbett! Never was and never
will be. You're strictly the hero type. Tried and true, a thousand just
like you all through the Academy and the Solar Guard. Strong is a hero
type!"
"Then what about Al James?" asked Tom. "What about that time in Atom
City when you defended the Academy?"
"Uh-uh," grunted Roger, "I wasn't defending the Academy. I was just
avoiding a fight." He paused and eyed Tom between half-closed lids.
"You'll never do anything I can't, or won't do, just as well, Tom. The
difference between us is simple. I'm in the Academy for a reason, a
special reason. You're here, like most of the other cadets, because you
believe in it. That's the difference between you, me and Astro. You
believe in it. I don't--I don't believe in anything but Roger Manning!"
Tom faced him squarely. "I'm not going to buy that, Roger! I don't think
that's true. And the reasons I don't believe it are many. You have a
chip on your shoulder, yes. But I don't think you're selfish or that you
only believe in Manning. If you did, you wouldn't be here on the _Lady
Venus_. You had your chance to escape back in the rocket tube, but you
_came back_, Roger, and you made a liar out of yourself!"
"Hey, you guys!" yelled Astro, coming up behind them. "I thought we left
that stuff back at the Academy?"
Tom turned to face the power-deck cadet. "What's cooking below, Astro?
Were you able to get rid of the radiation?"
"Naw!" replied the cadet from Venus. "Too hot! Couldn't even open the
hatch. It'll take a special job with the big equipment at the space
shipyards. We need their big blowers and antiradiation flushers to clean
this baby up."
"Then I'd better tell Captain Strong right away. He's going to get in
touch with Commander Walters at the Academy for orders."
"Yeah, you're right," said Astro. "There isn't a chance of getting those
people back aboard here now. Once we opened up that outer control deck
to dump that tube, the whole joint started buzzing with radioactive
electrons."
Tom turned to the ladder leading to the control deck and disappeared
through the hatch, leaving Astro and Roger alone.
"What was that little bit of space gas about, Roger?"
"Ah--nothing," replied Roger. "Just a little argument on who was the
biggest hero." Roger smiled and waved a hand in a friendly gesture. "Tom
won, two to one!"
"He sure handled that control deck like he had been born here, all
right," said Astro. "Well, I've got to take a look at those motors.
We'll be doing something soon, and whatever it is, we'll need those
power boxes to get us where we want to go."
"Yeah," said Roger, "and I've got to get a course and a position." He
turned to the chart screen and began plotting rapidly. Down on the
control deck, Strong was listening to Tom.
" ... and Astro said we'd need the special equipment at the space
shipyards to clean out the radiation, sir. If we took passengers aboard
and it suddenly shot up--well, we only have the three lead-lined suits
to protect us."
"Very well, Corbett," replied Strong. "I've just received orders from
Commander Walters to proceed to Mars with both ships. I'll blast off now
and you three follow along on the _Lady Venus_. Any questions?"
"I don't have any, sir," Tom said, "but I'll check with Roger and Astro
to see if they have any."
Tom turned to the intercom and informed the radar and power-deck cadets
of their orders, and asked if there were any questions. Both replied
that everything on the ship was ready to blast off immediately. Tom
turned back to the teleceiver.
"No questions, sir," reported Tom. "We're all set to blast off."
"Very well, Corbett," said Strong. "I'm going to make as much speed as
possible to get these people on Mars. The crew of the _Lady Venus_ will
take over the radar and power decks."
"O.K., sir, and spaceman's luck!" said Tom. "We'll see you on Mars!"
Tom stood beside the crystal port on the control deck and watched the
rocket cruiser _Polaris_' stern glow red from her jets, and then quickly
disappear into the vastness of space, visible only as a white blip on
the radar scanner.
"Get me a course to Mars, Roger," said Tom. "Astro, stand by to blast
off with as much speed as you can safely get out of this old wagon, and
stand by for Mars!"
The two cadets quickly reported their departments ready, and following
the course Roger plotted, Astro soon had the _Lady Venus_ blasting
through space, heading for Mars!
Mars, fourth planet in order from the Sun, loomed like a giant red gem
against a perfect backdrop of deep-black space. The _Lady Venus_,
rocketing through the inky blackness, a dull red glow from her three
remaining rockets, blasted steadily ahead to the planet that was
crisscrossed with wide spacious canals.
"Last time I was on Mars," said Astro to Tom and Roger over a cup of
tea, "was about two years ago. I was bucking rockets on an old tub
called the _Space Plunger_. It was on a shuttle run from the Martian
south pole to Venusport, hauling vegetables. What a life! Burning up on
Venus and then freezing half to death at the south pole on Mars." Astro
shook his head as the vivid memory took him back for a moment.
"From what I hear," said Tom, "there isn't much to see but the few
cities, the mountains, the deserts and the canals."
"Yeah," commented Roger, "big deal! Rocket into the wild depths of space
and see the greatest hunk of wasteland in the universe!"
The three boys were silent, listening to the steady hum of the rockets,
driving them forward toward Mars. For four days they had traveled on the
_Lady Venus_, enjoying the many luxuries found on the passenger ship.
Now, with their destination only a few hours away, they were having a
light snack before making a touchdown on Mars.
"You know," said Tom quietly, "I've been thinking. As far back as the
twentieth century, Earthmen have wanted to get to Mars. And finally they
did. And what have they found? Nothing but a planet full of dry sand, a
few canals and dwarf mountains."
"That's exactly what I've been saying!" said Roger. "The only man who
ever got anything out of all this was the first man to make it to Mars
and return. He got the name, the glory, and a paragraph in a history
book! And after that, nothing!" He got up and climbed the ladder to the
radar deck, leaving Astro and Tom alone.
Suddenly the ship lurched to one side.
"What's that?" cried Tom.
A bell began to ring. Then another--and then three more. Finally the
entire ship was vibrating with the clanging of emergency bells.
Astro made a diving leap for the ladder leading down to the power deck,
with Tom lunging for the control board.
Quickly Tom glanced about the huge board with its many different gauges
and dials, searching for the one that would indicate the trouble. His
eye spotted a huge gauge. A small light beside it flashed off and on.
"By the moons of Jupiter, we've run out of reactant fuel!"
"Tom!--Tom!" shouted Astro from the power deck. "We're smack out of
reactant feed!"
"Isn't there any left at all?" asked Tom. "Not even enough to get us
into Marsopolis?"
"We haven't enough left to keep the generator going!" said Astro.
"Everything, including the lights and the teleceiver, will go any
minute!"
"Then we can't change course!"
"Right," drawled Roger. "And if we can't change course, the one we're on
now will take us straight into Mars's gravity and we crash!"
"Send out an emergency call right away, Roger," said Tom.
"Can't, spaceboy," replied Roger in his lazy drawl. "Not enough juice to
call for help. Or haven't you noticed you're standing in the dark?"
"But how--how could this happen?" asked Tom, puzzled. "We were only
going at half speed and using just three rockets!"
"When we got rid of that hot tube back in space," explained Astro
grimly, "we dumped the main reactant mass. There isn't a thing we can
do!"
"We've got one choice," said Tom hollowly. "We can either pile out now,
in space suits and use the jet boat, and hope for someone to pick us up
before the oxygen gives out, or we can ride this space wagon right on
in. Make up your minds quick, we're already inside Mars's gravity pull!"
There was a pause, then Astro's voice filled the control deck. "I'll
ride this baby right to the bottom. If I'm going to splash in, I'll take
it on solid ground, even if it is Mars and not Venus. I don't want to
wash out in space!"
"That goes for me, too," said Roger.
"O.K.," said Tom. "Here we go. Just keep your fingers crossed that we
hit the desert instead of the mountains, or we'll be smeared across
those rocks like applesauce. Spaceman's luck, fellas!"
"Spaceman's luck, both of you," said Astro.
"Just plain ordinary luck," commented Roger, "and plenty of it!"
The three boys quickly strapped themselves into acceleration seats, with
Tom hooking up an emergency relay switch that he could hold in his hand.
He hoped he would remain conscious long enough to throw the switch and
start the water sprinkler in case the ship caught fire.
The _Lady Venus_ flashed into the thin atmosphere from the void of space
and the three cadets imagined that they could hear the shriek of the
ship as it cut through the thin air. Tom figured his speed rapidly, and
counting on the thinness of the atmosphere, he estimated that it would
take eleven seconds for the ship to crash. He began to count.
" ... One--two--three--four--five--" he thought briefly of his family
and how nice they had been to him " ... six--seven--eight--nine--ten--"
The ship crashed.
[Illustration]