"That's right," sneered Winters. "Professor Sykes has disappeared and
Vidac wants to talk to you!"
The burly spaceman stood in the open door of the cadets' quarters, legs
spread apart, hands on the paralo-ray guns strapped to his side. Tom,
Roger, and Astro eyed the man sleepily.
"Say that again," said Tom.
"I said Vidac wants to talk to you!" Winters shouted. "Now pile out of
those bunks before I pull you out!"
Astro sat up and looked at Winters. His voice rumbled menacingly. "I'll
give you five seconds to get out of here," he said quietly. "And if you
don't, I'll ram those ray guns down your throat! One--two--three--"
Winters tried to match Astro's withering gaze and finally backed out the
doorway. "Vidac wants to see you on the double, and that means,
_double!_" He disappeared from view.
Tom and Roger were already out of their bunks and pulling on their
uniforms.
"What do you think?" asked Roger, looking at Tom.
"I don't know, Roger," said Tom, "but I don't like the looks of it."
Astro jumped lightly to the floor. "I kinda wish Winters had tried
something," he said with a smile. "I need a little early-morning
exercise."
"Good thing he didn't," commented Roger dryly. "We're in enough trouble
without you mauling one of Vidac's pet boys."
Tom listened halfheartedly to the chatter of his unit mates. He was
thinking ahead to their meeting with Vidac. Since Roger's argument with
the professor, they had continued their work, but under a severe strain.
They had finally finished the series of study spools the night before,
and Tom felt sure that Vidac had waited until the work was finished
before he called them on the carpet. And then, too, there was the
disappearance of Professor Sykes that Winters had mentioned. The young
cadet felt there was trouble ahead.
A few moments later the three cadets presented themselves to Vidac in
his office in the Administration Building.
The lieutenant governor was seated behind his desk and appeared to be
very tired. Tom saluted smartly and stepped forward.
"_Polaris_ unit reporting, sir," said Tom.
"Where is Professor Sykes?" demanded Vidac abruptly without even
acknowledging the salute.
"Why, I--I don't know, sir," replied Tom.
"How about you, Manning? Astro?" asked Vidac, turning to the other
cadets. "You have anything to say?"
"We only heard about it ten minutes ago, sir," volunteered Roger.
"I'll bet!" snapped Vidac. He got up and stepped around his desk to face
the cadets. "You three were the last ones to be seen with the professor.
What happened last night?"
"We finished the study spools and left him in the office, sir," said
Tom. "Then we went for a swim in the pool and had a bite to eat before
hitting the sack. That's all."
"Did anyone see you in the pool?" asked Vidac.
"I doubt it, sir. We didn't notice anyone around," said Astro. "It was
pretty late."
"Did anyone see you at the mess hall when you went to get a bite?"
pursued Vidac. "Surely there must be someone who can substantiate your
story."
The three cadets looked at each other. "I guess not, sir," said Roger.
"It was pretty late. After midnight."
Vidac eyed them curiously. "And you're sure you saw no one, and that no
one saw you?"
"We can't be sure that no one saw us, sir," said Tom, "but I doubt it.
As Roger said, it was after midnight."
Vidac whirled and sat down again. He pressed a small button on his desk
and waited, silently considering the cadets, his eyes cool and level.
The door opened and Governor Hardy walked in, followed by several men.
Tom suddenly realized that it was the first time they had seen the
governor in nearly six weeks.
"Have you found Professor Sykes?" he demanded.
Vidac shook his head, then turned to the other men. Tom, with a sudden
sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach, recognized them as the
colonists who had been with Ed Bush when Roger had his last argument
with the professor.
"Did you hear Cadet Manning threaten Professor Sykes?" asked Vidac.
"Yes, sir," replied one of the colonists.
"What did he say?" asked Vidac. "Repeat it for Governor Hardy."
The colonist quoted Roger's threat almost word for word and Tom noted
grimly that the witness made the most of the fact that he and Astro had
followed Roger out of the office after the argument. The implication
was clear that they were part of the threat.
Vidac then turned to Ed Bush. "Bush, did you see the cadets last night?"
"Yes, sir," said Bush.
"Where?" demanded Vidac.
"Leaving the swimming pool with the professor."
"With the pro--!" exclaimed Tom.
"Shut up, Corbett!" barked Vidac, and then turned to Astro. "Did you say
you went swimming _alone?_"
"We did!" exclaimed the Venusian. "We left the professor at the office.
We did not see him again after that. He did not go swimming with us."
Vidac turned to Winters. "Did you see the cadets last night, Winters?"
"Yes, sir," replied the spaceman. "I had the graveyard watch and I was
in the galley having a cup of coffee. I saw the cadets enter the galley
just as I was leaving."
"Were they alone?" asked Vidac.
"No, sir," said Winters. "Professor Sykes was with them."
"That's a lie!" shouted Roger. "We were alone!"
Vidac merely looked at Roger and then turned back to Winters. "Then what
happened?"
"Well," said Winters, "they got into an argument, the cadets and Sykes.
It was about the movement of a captive planet, or something like that.
Anyway, there was a scuffle, and all of a sudden the big cadet"--he
indicated Astro--"picked up the professor and carried him out of the
galley. The other two followed."
"Didn't the professor put up a fight?" asked Vidac.
"Oh, yes, sir," said Winters. "But he didn't have a chance against the
three cadets."
"Why didn't you do something about it?" Governor Hardy suddenly broke
in.
"I tried, sir," replied Winters calmly. "I ran after them, but they all
piled into a converted jet boat and blasted out of there."
"Then what did you do?" asked Vidac.
"That's when I came to get you, sir," said Winters. "And we started
looking for them." Winters paused. "Ah--pardon me, sir, but can I go
now? I've been up all night and I'm pretty tired."
Vidac nodded and Winters left the room.
"You mean you've been up all night looking for the cadets?" asked Hardy.
"Weren't they in their quarters?"
"No, sir," replied Vidac and turned to the cadets. "Well," he demanded,
"what have you got to say for yourselves?"
The three cadets were silent.
"I must warn you," continued Vidac, "this is a serious matter and
anything you say may be used against you. But on the other hand, if you
speak freely and are willing to co-operate, I will do what I can to
lessen your punishment."
Hardy suddenly stepped forward and slammed his fist on Vidac's desk.
"None of that! There'll be no favors to criminals!" He turned to the
cadets angrily.
"What did you do with the professor?" he demanded.
The cadets kept silent.
"Where did you take him?" he shouted.
Neither Tom, Roger, or Astro batted an eyelash. They kept their eyes
front and their lips tight.
"I warn you, you'll spend the rest of your lives on a prison rock if you
don't answer!"
Tom finally turned and looked straight at the governor. "May I speak,
sir?"
"Only if you tell me what you did with Professor Sykes," replied Hardy
angrily.
"You have not asked us, sir," said Tom coolly, "to tell our side of
the story. You are accusing us of a crime and have already assumed that
we are guilty. We are not."
[Illustration: _Bush pulled a paralo-ray gun from his belt and said,
"All right, march!"_]
"Do you deny it?" asked Hardy.
"We deny everything," said Tom flatly.
Hardy whirled around to face the colonists, Vidac, and Bush. "I want it
clearly understood by everyone here that Space Cadets Tom Corbett, Roger
Manning, and Astro, in the face of testimony given by eyewitnesses as to
their argument with Professor Sykes, and their later abduction of the
professor, do now conspire to withhold information which might help save
the professor's life!" He turned to Vidac. "I want them arrested and
held for investigation of their activities last night. Confine them to
their quarters."
Vidac stood up and nodded his head to Bush. "Take them away. Keep a
guard outside their quarters at all times."
"Yes, sir," said Bush. He pulled a paralo-ray gun from his belt and
cocked it. "All right, march!"
The cadets of the _Polaris_ unit spun on their heels in unison and
marched from the room in perfect order.
* * * * *
"Attention! Attention! This is Captain Strong in rocket cruiser _Orion_
calling central communications control, Roald! Come in, Roald! _Orion_
to Roald! Come in!"
Aboard the space cruiser, Captain Steve Strong tried again and again to
contact the star colony. For nearly five days, blasting through space at
emergency speed, the Solar Guard captain had tried to contact the
satellite, but to no avail. He snapped off the audioceiver and slumped
back in his chair, a worried frown on his face.
When the second report from the _Polaris_ unit had failed to come in,
Strong had received permission from Commander Walters to blast off
immediately for Roald. Walters agreed that it would be better for the
captain to go alone, since the uranium discovery must be kept an
absolute secret. Working by remote control relays from the control deck,
Captain Strong handled the ship as easily as a jet boat and he kept the
atomic reactors wide open.
He stared into the astrogation prism and sighted on the cold light of
the sun star Wolf 359. Still unable to see the satellite circling the
star, the captain's thoughts were on the past rather than the future. He
still couldn't find any reasonable explanation for his suddenly having
been taken off the Roald colony project and sent on the minor mission to
Pluto. He had often thought about the man who had replaced him, Paul
Vidac. Strong had heard the name before and associated it with something
unpleasant. He couldn't put his finger on what it was, since he had
never met the man. Certainly there was nothing illegal about him. His
record had been carefully checked, or he would never have been put in
the position of trust he held now. Still there was a persistent notion
in Strong's head that something was wrong.
The young captain turned and walked the deck of the huge empty ship,
still deep in thought. He considered the fact that no reports had come
through to the Academy from the colony at all. Not merely from the Space
Cadets, but from the expedition itself. Only the sketchiest details had
been audioed back during the trip and absolutely nothing since their
scheduled arrival on the satellite. A sudden cold wave of fear gripped
the space officer. He wondered if they had arrived safely!
He shook off the horrible thought. There must be a simple, logical
explanation for it all. Establishing a star colony was no easy matter.
Communications could be easily disrupted for any number of reasons.
Strong forced himself to forget it. It was still a long way to the
satellite and there was no point in worrying about a fact until it was
established to be a fact. He stretched out on a bunk and moments later
was asleep, while the giant ship hurtled through the dark void toward
its destination with a thousand electronic hands and eyes to guide it
safely across the immense gulf of space.
[Illustration]