On the Trail of the Space Pirates

  CHAPTER 7

  "Attention! Attention! This is Captain Maitland of the rocket cruiser_Orion_ reporting to Captain Strong at Space Academy. Come in, Strong!"

  High in the Tower of Galileo overlooking Space Academy, the Solar Guardofficer, his face showing the strain of the last three-weeks' futilesearch for Wallace and Simms, flipped on the teleceiver and replied,"Strong here. Go ahead, Maitland."

  Tom, Astro, Roger, and Commander Walters stood behind Strong and waitedtensely for the last report to come in. Maintland's voice crackledthrough millions of miles of space.

  "We've searched space quadrants A through D, sections twenty-one throughone hundred thirty-eight. Constant six-way radar sweep of the area. Nosign of Wallace and Simms."

  Strong sighed deeply and replied, "All right, Maitland. Thank you. Youmay return to base. End transmission."

  "End transmission!" signaled Maitland, and the crackling static died outin the quiet room.

  Walters stepped forward and placed his hand on Strong's shoulder. "Don'tlet it get you down, Steve," he said. "I saw the zone search you set upfor those two. No one could have done more."

  "Maybe not, sir," said Strong, getting up, "but we didn't catch them."

  "Not yet," frowned the commander grimly, "but we will! Well, there'snothing else to do here. That was the last patrol ship to report, so youmight as well close up shop."

  He turned to the cadets, who had been reassigned from the exposition asaides to Captain Strong in his search for Wallace and Simms. "You threecome with us," said Walters. "I've got an idea and I want all of you tohear it."

  Strong and the boys followed the commander out of the Academycommunications center down to his luxuriously furnished office.

  "Perhaps," said Walters, settling back in his chair and lighting anenormous pipe filled with red Venusian tobacco, "perhaps we have beenhunting the fox with the wrong kind of dogs."

  "Assuming that Wallace and Simms are the foxes in this case and theSolar Guard the hunting dogs, what would you suggest, sir?" askedStrong.

  Walters puffed several times and eyed Strong. "I was going to suggestthat you and the cadets become merchant spacemen for a while and take alook at some of the uglier places of the Solar Alliance. Go right intothe foxes' den dressed as foxes!"

  "Ummmmh," mused Strong. "It is an idea."

  "Give it a try, anyway," urged Walters. "Take that old freighter weconfiscated from the Titan smugglers, the _Dog Star_. Wander around fora few weeks and see what you can pick up. We have the advantage, sinceonly a few of us know _why_ we're looking for Wallace and Simms. Itmight make finding them a little easier."

  Strong looked at the cadets and then back at the commander. "It mightjust work, at that, sir," he said at last.

  "Work your way around to Venusport," said Walters. "Let it be known thatyou four are--well, willing to do just about anything for a credit."

  Strong and the cadets smiled. "All right, sir," said the young captain."We'll start right away."

  "No!" replied the commander firmly. "You'll start in the morning. Rightnow, I'm ordering you to hit the sack and get some rest. You're notgoing to catch those two with speed. You'll need brains and cleverness."

  "Very well, sir," said Strong as he stood up. "And I want to thank youfor giving us this assignment."

  "No question about it," answered the commander. "If you have a tough jobto do, you put your best team to work on it, and the job will get done!"

  It was difficult for the three cadets, who had been standing to one sidelistening, to suppress a smile. They saluted and followed Strong fromthe room. He left them at the slidestairs with orders to be ready toblast off at 0800 hours.

  Tom was silent as he climbed into his bed in the _Polaris_ unit'squarters on the forty-second floor. Roger and Astro fell asleep almostas soon as their heads touched their air-foam pillows, but thecurly-haired cadet lay with arms under his head, staring up at theceiling. He felt uneasy about the task that faced them. He wasn't afraidfor himself, or Roger, or Astro. Something he couldn't put his finger onbothered the young spaceman.

  He reviewed Wallace and Simms' entire operation. He remembered the twomen had struck him as not being too bright. Their success in stealingthe secret of the adjustable light-key, and their methods, plus theircomplete disappearance, just didn't add up. He made up his mind to speakto Captain Strong about it in the morning. As soon as the matter wassettled in his mind, he was asleep.

  * * * * *

  At exactly 0800 hours the three cadets and Captain Strong appeared atthe Academy spaceport dressed in the severe black tight-fitting trousersand jacket of merchant spacemen. Quietly eluding all friends andacquaintances, they entered the confiscated freighter that had beenprepared for space flight during the night and began acquaintingthemselves with the ship's equipment.

  When Astro reported the power deck ready and Roger cleared their course,Tom called the traffic-control tower for blast-off clearance.

  "Take it easy on the first hop," said Strong. "There's no hurry and Iwant to be sure we get this crate off in one piece." Smiling confidentlyat the control-deck cadet, he turned away to his quarters. He was awareof the effect that being left alone had on the cadets. He had learnedearly in his associations with Tom, Roger, and Astro that they boreresponsibility well, and a challenge to do a good job would assure himthe job would be done efficiently.

  "Stand by to raise ship!" Tom's voice crackled confidently over theship's intercom.

  Strong sat on an acceleration cushion and strapped himself in. He heardTom's voice counting off the seconds for blast-off.

  "... Five--four--three--two--one--_zero_."

  As the rockets burst into a loud roar, the freighter lurched from theground and thundered up into the atmosphere, pushing Strong deep intohis acceleration cushion. Minutes later, he felt the freedom offree-fall space. In a strange ship, the _Polaris_ crew had begun astrange mission.

  During the flight to Luna City, their first stop on the tour of thehangouts of outlawed spacemen across the solar system, Strong briefedhis cadets on a plan of action.

  "I think it'll be better if we split up into two teams. You work withme, Corbett, and Astro will team up with Manning. We'll operate likesimple tramp spacers. Our space papers have new last names, but the samefirst names, so there won't be any slip-ups when we speak to each other.From now on, if we happen to meet, you'll all call me Steve and I'llcall you by your first names. Is that clear?"

  The cadets nodded.

  "All right," continued Strong. "Now, when we arrive in a city, Tom and Iwill go to one section, while you two go to another. Visit thetoughest-looking places you can find. Talk, talk to anyone that wants totalk. Buy people drinks. Let it slip that you're not exactly on theright side of the space code. Then, if you feel you have a sympatheticlistener, mention Wallace and Simms. Say you have heard of the troublethey're in. Say you know them, that you're old friends, and hint thatyou have something that they need very badly. Just keep talking andpulling for information. Got that?"

  Again the three cadets nodded silently.

  "Wear your paralo-ray guns at all times and keep your belt communicatorshidden beneath your jackets," Strong warned. "If one team gets into atight spot, call the other right away. But don't call unless it'sabsolutely necessary!" Strong paused and glanced at the tele-scanner."We're getting close to Luna City. We'll touch down at the municipalspaceport and go through the regular routine of customs search just toestablish ourselves as tramp spacemen."

  "How long will we stay in each city, sir?" asked Tom.

  "Watch that 'sir,' Tom," snapped Strong. "Might as well begin to forgetit now."

  "O.K., Steve," replied Tom sheepishly.

  "To answer your question, we'll stay in each city only as long as theremight be something to be gained by staying. We'll live aboard the _DogStar_. But stay away from the ship as much as possible. If anyonequestions you, tell them you're looking for cargo. But in case they takeyou up on it and
offer you a cargo haul, you always want more money forthe job."

  Roger grinned. "That could be fun."

  "Be clever, but be tough. Some of the people you'll run into are themost ruthless men in the universe. They are just the ones that mightknow something about Wallace and Simms."

  Strong cautioned them against drinking rocket juice, suggesting theydrink Martian water instead. The briefing was interrupted by theautomatic warning beep from the tele-scanner informing them that theyhad passed the outer beacon on the approach to the municipal spaceporton the Moon. The four spacemen immediately began the routine task oflanding their ship safely on the satellite colony.

  An hour later, as gray-clad customs men finished searching the emptyship, Roger waited for final clearance at the air lock of the freighter.When the last of the men were leaving the ship, Roger stopped two ofthem.

  "Say, ground hogs," drawled Roger, "where's the best place to getsomething to eat?"

  The two men stopped and turned to face the cadet, their eyes cold andunfriendly. "Why don't you space drift blast out of here?" asked one ofthem.

  "Yeah," agreed the other, "your kind aren't welcome in Luna City."

  Roger shrugged his shoulders and turned away. The two customs officerscontinued down the gangway. "Those young punks," muttered one, "they getthemselves a berth on a crummy freighter and think they're real hotspace aces when they're nothing but wet fire-crackers!"

  Strong had appeared at Roger's side and heard the last remark.

  "What was that about, Roger?" he asked, nodding toward the disappearingcustoms men.

  Roger smiled. "Just seeing if I could get by."

  "They certainly gave us a good going over," said Strong grimly. "I thinkour disguise is perfect. Those fellows don't miss much."

  "I heard them talking, Steve," said Roger. "They recognized the ship andknow its reputation for smuggling."

  "Yes," agreed Strong. "And your remark will make them sure to watchevery move we make. But that's just what we want. News of that sort hasa way of getting around. And anyone interested in a ship with areputation for smuggling is someone we're interested in."

  Astro walked up, and with a brief nod Roger followed the big cadet downthe gangway. As they walked across the concrete surface of thespaceport, Tom appeared at Strong's elbow.

  "I'm ready to go, Steve," he said. "The ship's secure."

  "Very well, Tom," said Strong. "But from now on, keep your eyes and earsopen. It only takes one slip to make a dead spaceman!"