"Now, now, boys," purred Governor Hardy, "I think you're jumping to
conclusions. Personally I'm very much pleased with the way Lieutenant
Governor Vidac is handling details. And as far as the asteroid cluster
is concerned, we'll go under it, or over it, or whatever is the shortest
route."
"Yes, sir," said Tom, "but--"
"No _buts_, Corbett," said Hardy, still smiling. "This is a great
undertaking and we need the co-operation of every member of the
expedition. In a few days we'll be arriving at Roald and the strain of
this long trip will be over. Mr. Vidac is a capable man and I trust him
implicitly, no matter how strange his methods may appear. I urge you to
bury any differences you might have with him and work for the success of
the colony. Now what do you say?"
Tom glanced at his two unit mates. Roger shuffled his feet and looked
down at the deck, while Astro studied the bulkhead behind the governor's
desk. "If that's the way you want it, sir," said Tom, "then I guess
we'll have to play along."
"I guess you will," said Hardy, a slight edge creeping into his voice.
"And if you tell me any more wild, unsubstantiated stories such as Vidac
sending you to scout an unknown asteroid cluster in a poorly equipped
rocket scout--well, I'll have to take stronger measures to ensure your
co-operation. Do I make myself clear?"
"Yes, sir," chorused the cadets. They saluted and left the room.
"Well," said Tom, when they had reached the safety of their quarters, "I
guess that just about does it."
"Yeah. We played our last card," grumbled Roger. "Either Hardy is the
smoothest crook in the world, or Vidac really has him space happy."
"I wouldn't bet that it isn't a little bit of both," commented Astro.
The hatch suddenly opened and the cadets spun around nervously.
"Jeff!" they yelled in unison.
"Hello, guys," said the enlisted man glumly as he entered the room. He
slumped on Tom's bunk. "I've got bad news."
"We already know," said Roger. "Vidac met us before we got out of the
air lock. He couldn't wait to tell us."
"He asked us if we knew anything about it," said Tom. "We told him No."
"I lied myself," said Marshall. "I--I was going to do a little work on
it, hoping to have it ready for you when you got back, but--" He stopped
and shrugged his shoulders.
"Never mind, Jeff," said Tom. "If Vidac suspected we were building that
communicator, he'd have found it sooner or later. The thing is, what are
we going to do now?"
"I'll tell you in three words," growled Astro. The others looked at the
big cadet. "Sweat it out," he said finally.
Tom nodded his head. "You're right, Astro. We're tied hand and foot to
this guy for the next eleven months."
"How about Governor Hardy?" suggested Jeff.
"We just saw the illustrious governor," said Roger bitterly. "And the
only question left in our minds is whether Hardy is working for Vidac,
or Vidac for Hardy. No one could be as blind to what's going on as Hardy
seems to be."
"Three words," said Tom half to himself. "Sweat it out!"
* * * * *
Like a gleaming diamond on the black velvet of space, the sun star Wolf
359 loomed ahead of the giant fleet, solitary and alone in its
magnificence. With the _Polaris_ leading the way for the mass of space
vessels that stretched back and away, the pioneers and their families
blasted through the last million miles that separated them from their
new home in deep space.
Fifty-five billion miles from their own sun, they were about to
establish a colony as their forefathers had done centuries before them.
Like the first colony in the new world, then on the Moon, Mars, Venus,
Mercury, Titan, and Ganymede, and hundreds of outposts in the asteroid
belt, these Earthmen were braving new dangers and hardships, leaving the
comfort of their homes to establish the first star colony. Inside each
of the massive ships, Earthmen gathered around the scanners to look
ahead across the abyss of space and gaze at their new home. Finally the
momentous order came crackling through the teleceivers.
"_Polaris_ to fleet! Single up for landing! Ships to follow the
_Polaris_ and touch down in order of their fleet numbers!"
On the control deck of the command ship, Vidac began barking orders to
Tom. The three cadets had been reassigned to their original stations
because of their intimate knowledge and sure handling of the giant ship.
"Prepare the ship for touchdown, Corbett!" yelled Vidac.
"Yes, sir," said Tom. He flipped on the intercom and barked orders to
Astro below on the power deck.
"Stand by to reduce thrust to one-quarter space speed, Astro. Stand by
forward nose braking rockets."
"Right," replied Astro.
"Hey, Roger!" yelled Tom. "How far are we from the surface?"
"Estimated distance to touchdown is two hundred thousand feet," answered
Roger crisply.
"Reduce thrust to minimum, Astro," barked Tom, his eyes watching every
dial and meter on the control board.
"Distance one hundred fifty thousand feet," reported Roger. "Looks like
an open plain right below us. Maybe we'd better try for it, eh?"
"I guess so," said Tom. "Relay your scan down here to the control-deck
scanner." Tom gave it a quick glance, saw that there was plenty of room
on the plain Roger had mentioned to hold the entire fleet, and turned to
Vidac. "Request permission to touch down, sir," said Tom.
"Granted," replied Vidac.
The curly-haired cadet turned back to the control board and once again
checked his instruments. Behind him, Vidac and Governor Hardy watched
the surface of Roald as the _Polaris_ began to turn for her tailfirst
landing.
"Cut all thrust at one hundred thousand feet, Astro," ordered Tom.
"Aye, aye," replied Astro.
"One hundred ten thousand feet," reported Roger. "One-O-seven,
one-O-four, one hundred!"
Almost immediately, the blasting roar of the rockets was cut to a
whisper and the ship began to drop toward the surface of the satellite.
Vidac jumped forward and grabbed Tom's shoulder. "What're you trying to
do, Corbett? We're falling!"
"I have no data on the gravity of Roald," said Tom calmly. "The best way
to find out is to check our rate of fall. I can then gauge the amount of
braking power necessary."
Behind the two spacemen, Governor Hardy smiled. He stepped forward and
tapped Vidac on the shoulder. "Whatever your difficulties coming out
here with them, Paul, you've got to admit that they know how to handle
this ship."
"Yeah," growled Vidac. "Too bad they don't know how to handle themselves
as well."
Tom smarted under the sarcasm but concentrated on the task of getting
the ship safely to the ground.
"Fifty thousand feet," reported Roger. "I'd say that the gravity of
Roald is about 2.7 over Earth's, Tom."
"O.K., Roger," replied Tom. "Give her one-quarter thrust, Astro. We'll
have to feel our way down."
As the rumble of the main rockets started again, Tom waited for the
ship's descent to be checked, and sudden concern welled up within him as
the ship failed to respond.
"Thirty-five thousand feet," reported Roger from the radar deck.
"Full thrust, Astro," called Tom, anxiously watching the approaching
surface of Roald. He checked his instruments again and his heart jumped
up into his throat. The needles of all the gauges and meters were
dancing back and forth as though they were being flicked with invisible
fingers.
Tom grabbed the intercom and shouted wildly. "Astro! Emergency space
speed! We've got to get out of here!" Tom whirled around to face Vidac
and Hardy. "You'd better call Professor Sykes up here, right away," he
declared.
"Why? What's the matter?" stuttered Hardy.
"Something's interfering with our whole electrical system, sir," replied
the cadet.
"What's that, Corbett?" snapped Sykes, stepping quickly through the
hatch into the control room. Tom was about to repeat his statement when
suddenly the rockets blasted loudly, and the ship tossed and rocked,
throwing everyone off his feet. Astro had applied emergency power to his
reactors, sending the _Polaris_ hurtling back into the safety of space.
"By the rings of Saturn," bawled Sykes, after he had adjusted to the
sudden acceleration, "I'll have that space-brained idiot court-martialed
for this!"
"It's not his fault, Professor," said Hardy, getting to his feet again.
"If Corbett hadn't ordered emergency space speed, we'd all be smeared
across that plain down there." He pointed to the scanner screen where
the surface of Roald could be seen receding rapidly.
"Umph!" snorted Sykes, "let me take a look at that control board."
Quickly and surely, the professor tested every major circuit in the
giant panel. Finally he straightened up and turned to face Hardy.
"Governor," he said quietly, "I'm afraid you'll have to forget about
landing on Roald until I can find the reason for the disturbance."
"Then it's not caused by any malfunction aboard the ship?" Vidac broke
in.
Sykes shook his head. "Whatever force field caused those instruments to
react the way they did came from Roald. You'll have to stand off until I
can go down and make a complete investigation."
"Well, what do you think it is?" asked Hardy.
"It might be one of a hundred things," replied the professor. "But I
wouldn't attempt to land down there until we know what's causing the
interference and can counteract it."
"Space gas!" exploded Vidac. "Is this another of your tricks, Corbett?"
"Tricks, sir?" asked Tom stupidly, so incredible did the lieutenant
governor's question seem.
"Yes, _tricks!_" roared Vidac. "Get out of the way. I can take this ship
down." He sat down in the pilot's chair and called Roger on the radar
bridge. "Notify all the other ships they are to stand off until we have
made a secure touchdown!"
"Yes, sir!" replied Roger.
"Professor," whispered Tom, "do something!"
Sykes looked at Tom a moment and then turned to leave the control deck.
He paused in the hatch to call back in a low voice, "What can you do
with a madman?"
Helplessly, Tom turned to appeal to Governor Hardy but changed his mind
and stood beside Hardy, crossing his fingers.
At the controls Vidac gripped the acceleration lever and called into the
intercom, "Stand by for touchdown. Power deck, cut all thrust!"
"Power deck, aye, sir," reported Astro.
As the main rockets were cut out again and the _Polaris_ slipped back
through space toward the surface of Roald once more, Tom stood behind
Vidac with Hardy and watched the instruments begin their strange
gyrations again. The cadet glanced at Hardy, whose face was impassive.
"Sir," asked Tom quietly, "isn't there something we can do?"
"Keep quiet, Corbett," snapped Hardy. "That's what you can do!"
"Yes, sir," replied Tom. He turned away to climb into the nearest
acceleration chair and strap himself in. He knew it was possible for the
_Polaris_ to land successfully. He felt sure he could have made a
touchdown on the satellite without trouble, but his first thought had
been for the safety of the others aboard the ship. Now it was out of his
hands and he grudgingly admired the way Vidac was handling the giant
rocket cruiser.
"Twenty-five thousand feet to touchdown," reported Roger.
So far, Vidac had kept the ship dropping at a steadily decreasing rate.
But the tension on the control deck mounted as the surface of Roald
loomed closer and closer.
"Fifteen thousand feet," reported Roger.
Governor Hardy walked to a near-by acceleration chair and strapped
himself in.
"Ten thousand feet!" yelled Roger.
"Power deck, give me three-quarters thrust!" ordered Vidac. Tom heard
the whine of the rockets on the power deck increase with a sharp surge.
"Seven thousand feet," reported Roger.
Vidac remained cool, staring at the control board. Tom wondered what it
was he was watching, since there wasn't one instrument that registered
properly.
"Five thousand feet!" screamed Roger. "Spaceman's luck!"
[Illustration: _The_ Polaris _landed safely on the surface of the
satellite_]
Immediately Vidac ordered Astro to apply full thrust to the main
rockets. The great ship bucked under the sudden acceleration, and Tom
could feel the tug of war between the cruiser's thrust and the
satellite's gravity. The ship continued to drop at slightly lessened
speed, but still too fast to land safely.
Tom waited for Vidac to order emergency thrust to counter the pull of
the satellite. They were dropping too fast. He watched Vidac and waited
for the only order that would save the ship. If he doesn't do it now,
thought Tom, it will be too late.
"Vidac!" yelled Tom. "Emergency power! We're falling too fast!"
Vidac didn't answer. "Vidac!" screamed Tom again. "Emergency power!"
The man didn't move. He sat in front of the control panel as though
paralyzed. Tom slipped off the straps of the acceleration chair and
raced to the intercom. Vidac made no attempt to stop him.
"Astro! Full emergency thrust! Hit it!"
In immediate reply, a jolting burst of power blasted through the tubes,
jerking the ship convulsively and throwing Tom to the deck. A loud,
crashing sound filled the ship, followed by a strange stillness. Dimly
Tom realized that the rockets had been cut and they were safely on the
surface of the satellite.
He picked himself up and turned to face Vidac. The lieutenant governor
was unstrapping himself from the pilot's chair. His face was ashen. He
stalked out of the control deck without a word.
"Touchdown!" screamed Roger from the radar deck. "We made it. We're on
Roald!"
Tom heard the blond-haired cadet, but his unit mate's excitement did not
register. He was staring at the open hatch. "He lost his nerve," said
Tom aloud, half to himself and half to Governor Hardy who was
unstrapping himself from the acceleration chair. "He quit cold!"
"He certainly did," said Hardy. "And if it wasn't for your quick
thinking, we'd be spread all over this satellite!"
Roger tumbled down the ladder from the radar deck. "Nice work, Tom," he
shouted, slapping his unit mate on the back. He followed Tom's gaze past
Hardy to the empty hatch.
"Say, can you imagine a guy like that suddenly losing his nerve?" asked
Roger.
"No," replied Tom. "If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes I wouldn't
believe it!"
"This will go on your official record of course," said Hardy. "I'll see
that you're rewarded in some way, Corbett."
"Thank you, sir," said Tom. "But if you could just assure me that my
reports back to the Academy will get through, I'll be very happy."
"You mean they're not being sent?" asked Hardy, seemingly quite
concerned.
"No, sir," replied Tom. "At least I don't think so. And this is the
first time I've had a chance to tell you."
"Well," said Hardy, "there's a lot to be done now that we've arrived,
Corbett. I'll take this matter up with Vidac as soon as I get a chance."
He turned and walked off the control deck.
"Well, I'll be a space monkey!" exclaimed Roger.
"Yeah," agreed Tom, "I'll be two of them!"
[Illustration]