Sabotage in Space

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  SABOTAGE IN SPACE

  THE TOM CORBETT SPACE CADET STORIES

  By Carey Rockwell

  STAND BY FOR MARS!

  DANGER IN DEEP SPACE

  ON THE TRAIL OF THE SPACE PIRATES

  THE SPACE PIONEERS

  THE REVOLT ON VENUS

  TREACHERY IN OUTER SPACE

  SABOTAGE IN SPACE

  THE ROBOT ROCKET

  Frontispiece]

  A TOM CORBETT Space Cadet Adventure

  SABOTAGE IN SPACE

  By CAREY ROCKWELL

  WILLY LEY _Technical Adviser_

  GROSSET & DUNLAP _Publishers_ New York

  COPYRIGHT, 1955, BYROCKHILL RADIO

  COPYRIGHT ROCKHILL RADIO 1955

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVEDILLUSTRATIONS BY LOUIS GLANZMAN

  PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

  +--------------------------------------------------------------+| Transcriber's Note || || Extensive search has failed to uncover any evidence of || renewal of copyright of this work. || |+--------------------------------------------------------------+

  ILLUSTRATIONS

  _Frontispiece_

  Tom shot a hard right to his opponent's stomach 13

  Tom swerved the jet car in front of the runaway truck 81

  The men inside were tough-looking and steely-eyed 89

  Tom saw that the Space Marines were watching the passengersvery closely 137

  "He's hanging on to the cleat over the main tube!" 185

  "The projectiles blew Devers' ship into rocket dust!" 209

  SABOTAGE IN SPACE

  CHAPTER 1

  "_Bong-g-g! Bong-g-g! Bong-g-g!--_"

  With a hollow booming sound reminiscent of old eighteenth-andnineteenth-century clock towers, the electronic time tone rang out fromthe Tower of Galileo, chiming the hour of nine. As the notesreverberated over the vast expanse of Space Academy, U.S.A., the lightsin the windows of the cadet dormitories began to wink out and theslidewalks that crisscrossed the campus, connecting the variousbuildings, rumbled to a halt. When the last mournful note had rolledaway to die in the distant hills, the school was dark and still. Theonly movement to be seen was the slow pacing of the cadet watchofficers, patrolling their beats; the only sound, the measured clickingof their boots on the metal strips of the slidewalks.

  On the north side of the quadrangle near the Tower, a young watchofficer paused in front of one of the dormitories and scanned thedarkened windows of the durasteel and crystal building. Satisfied thatall was in order, he continued on his lonely way. A moment later ashadowy figure rose out of the bushes opposite the dormitory entranceand stepped forward quickly and cautiously. Pausing on the slidewalk tostare after the disappearing watch officer, the figure was illuminatedby the dim light from the entrance hall. He was a young man wearing theroyal-blue uniform of a Space Cadet. Tall and wiry, with square featurestopped by a shock of close-cropped blond hair, he stood poised on theballs of his feet, ready to move quickly should another watch officerappear.

  After a quick glance at his wrist chronometer, the young cadet dartedacross the slidewalk toward the transparent crystal portal of thedormitory. Hesitating only long enough to make certain that the innerhallway was clear, he slid the portal open, ducked inside, and sprinteddown the hall toward a large black panel on the wall near the foot ofthe slidestairs. On the panel, in five long columns, were the nameplates of every cadet quartered in the dormitory and beside each platewere two words, IN and OUT, with a small tab that fitted over one of thewords.

  Out of the one hundred and fifty cadets in the dormitory, one hundredand forty-nine were marked IN. The slender, blond-haired cadet quicklymade it unanimous, reaching up to the tab next to the name of RogerManning and sliding it over to cover the word OUT. With a last finallook around, he raced up the slidestairs, smiling in secret triumph.

  In Room 512 on the fifth floor of the dormitory, Tom Corbett and Astro,the two other cadets who, with Roger Manning, made up the famed_Polaris_ unit of the Space Cadet Corps, were deep in their studies.Though the lights-out order had been given over the dormitoryloud-speaker system, the desk lamp burned brightly and there was ablanket thrown over the window. The boys of the _Polaris_ unit weren'talone in their disobedience. All over the dormitory, lights were on andcadets were studying secretly. But they all felt fairly safe, for thecadet watch officers on each floor were anxious to study themselves andturned a blind eye. Even the Solar Guard officer of the day, in chargeof the entire dormitory, was sympathetic to their efforts and made agreat deal of unnecessary noise while on his evening rounds.

  His brown curly hair falling over his forehead, Tom Corbett frowned inconcentration as he kept the earphones of his study machine clampedtightly to his ears and listened to a recorded lecture on astrophysicsas it unreeled from the spinning study spool. As command cadet of the_Polaris_ unit, Tom was required to know more than merely his particularduty as pilot of a rocket ship. He had to be familiar with every phaseof space travel, with a working knowledge of the duties of all his unitmates.

  Astro, the power-deck officer of the unit, paced back and forth betweenthe bunks like a huge, hulking bear, muttering to himself as he tried tomemorize the table of reaction times for rocket motors. Though the hugeVenusian cadet was a genius at all mechanical tasks, and able to workwith tools the way a surgeon worked with instruments, he had greatdifficulty in learning the theories and scientific reasons for all thethings he did instinctively. Suddenly Astro stopped, looked at hischronometer, then turned to Tom.

  "Hey, Tom!" he called. "Where's that jerk, Manning?"

  "Huh?" replied Tom, lifting one of the earphones from his ears. "Whatdid you say, Astro?"

  "Where's Manning?" reiterated Astro. "It's ten minutes after lightsout."

  "He was going to get those study spools for us, wasn't he?" mused Tom.

  "He should've been back by now," grunted the Venusian. "The libraryclosed an hour ago. Besides, he couldn't have gotten those spools. Everyother cadet in the Academy is after them."

  "Well, he's a pretty resourceful joker," sighed Tom, turning back to thestudy machine. "When he goes after something, he gets it by hook orcrook."

  "It's the crook part that bothers me," grumbled Astro. "Besides, if theO.D. catches him out of quarters, he'll be doing his studying while he'spolishing up the mess hall."

  Suddenly the door to the room burst open and slammed closed. Tom andAstro whirled to see their missing unit mate lounging against thedoorframe, grinning broadly.

  "Roger!"

  "Where've you been, blast you?"

  Tom and Astro both jumped forward and spoke at the same time. Theblond-haired cadet merely looked at them lazily and then saunteredforward, pulling six small study spools from his pockets.

  "You wanted these study spools, didn't you?" he drawled, giving his unitmates three apiece. "Be my guest and study like mad."

  Tom and Astro quickly read the titles of the spools and then looked atRoger in amazement. They were the ones the unit needed for theirend-term exams, the ones all the cadets needed.

  "Roger," Tom demanded, "how did you get these spools? The library wasout of them this afternoon. Did you take them from another unit'squarters?"

  "I did not!" said Roger stoutly. "And I don't like your insinuationsthat I would." He grinned. "Relax! We have them and we can breezethrough them in the morning and have them bac
k where they belong by noontomorrow."

  "Where they belong!" Tom exclaimed. "Then you have no right to them."

  "Listen, hot-shot!" growled Astro. "I want to know where you got thesespools and how."

  "Well, if that isn't gratitude for you!" muttered Roger. "I go out andrisk my neck for my dear beloved unit mates and they stand aroundarguing instead of buckling down to study."

  "This is no joke, Roger," said Tom seriously. "Now for the last time,will you tell us how you got them?"

  Roger thought a moment and then shrugged his shoulders. "All right," hesaid finally. "When I went down to the library to see if it was our turnfor them yet, I found that we were still twenty-seventh in line."

  "Twenty-seventh?" gasped Astro.

  "That's right, spaceboy!" snorted Roger. "So I tried to con that littlespace doll of a librarian into moving our names up on the list, but justthen an Earthworm cadet came in with an order from Tony Richards of the_Capella_ unit, an order for the very spools we needed."

  "You mean, you took them from an Earthworm?" queried Tom.

  "Well, I didn't take them exactly," replied Roger. "I waited for him outon the quadrangle and I told him he was wanted in the cadet dispatcher'soffice right away and that I would take the spools on up to Tony."

  "And you brought them here!" howled Astro.

  "Yup." Roger grinned. "Do you think that squirt will know who I am? Notin a million years. And by the time Tony and the others do find out whohas them, we'll be finished. Get it?"

  "I get it, all right, you crummy little chiseler," growled Astro. "Tom,we gotta give these back to Tony."

  Tom nodded. "You're right," he said.

  "Now wait a minute!" said Roger angrily. "I went to a lot of trouble toget these things for you--"

  "Look, Roger," Tom interrupted, "I would rather have one night withthose spools than a two-week leave in Atom City right now. But the_Capella_ unit is having a tough time making the Spring passing lists.They need those spools more than we do."

  "Yeah," said Astro. "We could probably take the tests now and pass, butthey really have to study. I'm for getting them back to the _Capella_unit right now. How about you, Tom?"

  The young cadet nodded and turned to Roger who stood there, frowning."Roger," said Tom, "both Astro and I really appreciate it. But youwouldn't want the _Capella_ unit to flunk out of the Academy, wouldyou?"

  Roger gnawed at his thumbnail and then looked at his two unit matessheepishly. "You're right, fellas," he said. "It was kind of a dirtytrick. Give me the spools. I'll take them back to Tony right now."

  "Wait a minute!" exclaimed Astro. "It's after hours. We're not supposedto be out of the dorm."

  For a second the three boys looked at each other hesitantly. Then, asthough they had telepathically conveyed their individual decisions toeach other, they turned toward the door. Tom opened it and stepped outinto the hall cautiously, then turned back and nodded. Roger and Astrofollowed him quickly.

  As Roger closed the door behind him, he murmured, "There's no reason forall of us to go. I was the one who took the spools, so I should bringthem back. Why should you two guys risk getting caught?"

  Astro punched him in the shoulder fondly. "We always work together,don't we?" he declared. "If one's gonna get into trouble, we allshould."

  "Let's go," urged Tom in a sharp whisper, and they all raced silentlytoward the slidestairs.

  Seconds later, the three cadets of the _Polaris_ unit were down in themain hallway of the dormitory building, tiptoeing toward the frontportal. Pausing only to look into the O.D.'s office to make sure theofficer wouldn't spot them, they reached the portal and ducked out.Pausing again to scan the immediate area for any watch officers, theydarted across the slidewalk and into the shadows of the shrubbery.

  Quickly and soundlessly, they raced across the green lawn of thequadrangle toward the dormitory where the _Capella_ unit was quartered.Once they sprawled headlong on the turf and lay still as a watch officersuddenly appeared out of the darkness at the base of the Tower ofGalileo. But he walked past without seeing them and they continued onacross the quadrangle.

  Reaching another clump of shrubbery right opposite the _Capella_ unit'sdormitory, the boys stopped and discussed their final move.

  "This is getting ridiculous," whispered Roger. "I shouldn't have let youtwo come with me. But I'm going the rest of the way myself."

  "We came this far, Roger," asserted Tom. "We'll go the rest of the wayand help you explain."

  "And you've got a space-blasting lot to explain."

  The three cadets whirled as a familiar voice snarled out of the darknessbehind them. They saw three figures, all in cadet uniforms, wearing theinsigne of the _Capella_ unit. In the forefront was Tony Richardsscowling angrily.

  "Tony!" gasped Tom. "What are you doing out here?"

  "We were on our way over to your dorm, Corbett," growled Tony Richards."We saw you three sneaking across the quadrangle."

  "Coming to pay us a visit, fellas?" asked Roger blandly.

  "You know blasted well why we were coming," snapped McAvoy, the secondmember of the _Capella_ crew.

  Davison, the third member of the unit, stepped forward. "Give us backour study spools," he demanded.

  "Take it easy," said Tom in a calm voice. "We were bringing them back toyou."

  "I'll bet," snapped McAvoy.

  "Relax," growled Astro. "Tom said we were returning them. We admit itwas a dirty trick, but you haven't lost much time. Half an hour maybe."

  "Don't try to cover for Manning, Astro," said Tony heatedly. "It's ashame you two guys are stuck with a bad rocket like Manning in yourunit."

  "Bad rocket!" exclaimed Roger.

  "Now, wait a minute, Tony," Tom said, advancing toward thebroad-shouldered cadet. "We are returning the spools, and we apologizefor yanking them from the Earthworm. But that doesn't mean we'll listento that kind of talk about Roger."

  "He stole them, didn't he?" retorted Davison.

  Roger stepped forward. "Davy, my boy," he said in a low controlled tone,"I don't like that remark. I've got a notion to make you eat that word."

  "I don't think you can, Manning," replied the angry cadet.

  Tom stepped between them quickly. "Listen, fellows, we don't want anytrouble. Here are the spools." He held them out.

  "That's what I mean, Corbett," said McAvoy sarcastically. "Manning getsyou in trouble and then you and the big boy have to bail him out."

  "We've apologized," retorted Astro angrily. "You're getting the spoolsback. So no more cracks about Roger."

  "I can take care of myself, Astro," said Roger.

  "Here, take the spools and get back to your dorm," growled Tom. Hehanded the pile of spools over, but as Tony extended his hands, one ofthe spools dropped to the grass. No one made a move to pick it up.

  "There are the spools," said Tom icily. "Now beat it."

  "Let's go," said Davison, leaning over to pick up the spool. "The air isbeginning to stink around here."

  Red-faced, Roger stepped forward and put his foot on the spool just asDavison reached for it. "That's enough, Davison," he snarled.

  "Why, you dirty space crawler--" Davison straightened up and swungwildly. Roger ducked the blow easily, then spun the heavy-set cadetaround and pushed him back into the bushes.

  Tony Richards stepped forward and Astro turned to him threateningly, butTom quickly shoved them aside and faced Richards.

  "Listen, Tony," he said. "We're all out after hours, and if a watchofficer spots us, we've had it. We don't want any trouble." He glancedat Davison, who was being restrained by McAvoy. "We apologize. Now getout of here before we're all logged."

  Richards nodded and started to turn to his unit mates when suddenlyDavison jerked free and lunged at Roger. The blond-haired cadet was notcaught unawares. He stepped aside and threw a quick jolting rightstraight to the _Capella_ cadet's jaw. Davison staggered back and fellto the ground. He shook his head, jumped to his feet again, and chargedback with a roar.
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  Both Tom and Astro and Tony Richards and McAvoy grabbed at theirrespective unit mates and tried to restrain them. In the struggle tokeep Roger and Davison apart, Astro accidentally pushed Richards to oneside.

  "What in blazes--!" yelled Richards. He suddenly released Davison andgave Astro a shove that sent the big cadet sprawling. And then, withoutwarning, McAvoy swung at Tom. The curly-haired cadet saw the blow cominga fraction of a second too late and caught it on the side of his head.He fell back into the bushes.

  Roger yelled in anger at the sudden attack, and grabbing Davison by thefront of his tunic, slammed a hard right into the cadet's stomach.Richards grabbed Roger, holding him around the head and neck, as McAvoyswung at him viciously. Seeing their unit mate pommeled, Tom and Astrocharged back and the battle was on. The two units forgot about the watchofficers and the strong possibility of being caught and slugged it outin the darkness of the quadrangle. The fight seemed to be the climax ofa long-standing feud. The _Polaris_ crew had first come to grips withRichards and his unit mates when they were assigned to the old rocketcruiser _Arcturus_. When the ship was scrapped, the cadets weretransferred to the _Capella_, but the rivalry continued stronger thanbefore. Time and time again, the two crack units had competed for hourson the athletic fields, in space flight tests, and in the classroom. The_Polaris_ unit had constantly come out ahead, often by no more than afraction of points, but their superiority was clear, and the _Capella_unit could not repress its resentment and jealousy.

  Tony Richards and Tom had squared off and were boxing with lightninglikethrusts of their fists, each waiting for an opening. In back of them,Roger and Davison were simply hammering away at each other'smid-sections, and Astro and McAvoy were rolling around on the groundlike bears, growling and tugging. It was brute strength against brutestrength.

  Tom danced away from Richards' rapierlike left, weaved low, and shot ahard right to his opponent's stomach that left him gasping. Richardsdoubled over and stepped in to bring up a solid right, then hesitated.Richards was through. The blow to the mid-section had taken all thefight out of him. Tom refused to pursue his advantage while the othercould not fight back. His anger cooling rapidly, Tom realized that thewhole fight was nothing more than a misunderstanding. As Richards sankto the grass helpless and gasping for breath, Tom turned to break up theother two fights. But Roger was just finishing his battle with Davison.Feinting to the mid-section and pulling Davison's guard down, Rogerhooked his left cleanly to the jaw, following immediately with ahaymaker right. Davison dropped to the turf, out cold.

  Meanwhile, Astro had rolled on top of the last cadet of the _Capella_unit, and with his great strength, clamped McAvoy's arms to his side.Face to face, the two cadets glared at each other. The muscles tightenedin Astro's arms, and beads of sweat popped out on his face.

  "Give up!" demanded the Venusian, tightening his grip.

  _Tom shot a hard right to his opponent's stomach_]

  Slowly McAvoy sagged under the pressure Astro was applying and his facebegan to redden.

  "He'll break his back," whispered Roger to Tom.

  Tom nodded and stepped forward. "Let him go, Astro. He's finished."

  Astro did not let go. His face was white with anger. McAvoy bent furtherback. "Give up," demanded Astro.

  "Grab him," said Tom to Roger. "Get him off Mac before he breaks hisback."

  Tom and Roger jumped to Astro's side and each grabbed one of thepowerful arms encircling McAvoy. It took all their strength to break theviselike hold the giant Venusian had on the other cadet, but slowly theypulled the muscular arms back and McAvoy slumped to the grass.

  The three victorious cadets paused and looked down at the beaten_Capella_ crew, then looked at each other.

  "Well," sighed Roger, "I suppose that the least we can do now is getthem back to their dorm."

  Tom and Astro nodded. As the three boys started forward they werestopped by a voice behind them--a voice that roared like an atomicblast.

  "_Stand to!_"

  Whirling around in surprise for the second time within a space of tenminutes, Tom, Astro, and Roger saw a menacing sight standing behindthem, his balled fists jammed on his hips, his booted legs widespread,and his massive head thrust forward. It was Major Lou Connel, morefamiliarly known as "Blast-off" Connel, a Senior Line Officer of theSolar Guard and the sternest disciplinarian in the whole Academy. Behindhim stood a short, thin man, whom none of the boys recognized.

  Connel stepped forward slowly and menacingly, glaring at the three boys.

  "Out a little late, aren't you, boys?" he asked with a mildness thatsent a chill down their spines.

  "Y-yes sir," replied Tom, a slight tremor in his voice.

  "On official business, I presume?" The major's voice was still as smoothas silk.

  Tom gulped and then shook his head. "N-no, sir," he quavered.

  Connel's eyes widened in mock horror. "Why, Corbett," he exclaimed,"didn't anyone ever tell you the rules of Space Academy? Or perhaps youdidn't know what time it was?"

  Tom bit his lip. He knew that he and his unit mates were caught in ahopeless trap and that Connel was simply baiting them. "I knew what timeit was, sir," he said. "We're out after hours."

  Suddenly there was a movement in the brush behind Tom as McAvoy stumbledto his feet. Richards also sat up groggily.

  "Major!" It was the man behind Connel who spoke. "Who are they?"

  As though in answer, Davison stood up too and the three members of the_Capella_ unit were suddenly and horribly aware of the presence ofConnel. They immediately braced themselves, their faces white withsudden fear.

  "So!" Now the major's voice began to roar again. "Fighting, eh? Well,now we really have something here."

  "Sir," began Richards tremulously, "if you'll let us explain--"

  "I'll let you explain all right," thundered Connel. "Out after hours,fighting, you'll have a great time explaining to an inquiry."

  "An inquiry!" Tom exclaimed involuntarily.

  "Did you expect anything less?" roared Connel. "You are all under arrestand confined to quarters."

  The six cadets all trembled but said nothing, standing at rigidattention, eyes straight ahead.

  "Return to your quarters immediately."

  As one, the cadets wheeled and marched off. Tom, Astro, and Roger walkedacross the quadrangle back to their dorm, and the _Capella_ unit tookthe slidewalk that led to their quarters. Connel watched them go, aferocious scowl on his craggy features.

  "Little rough on them, weren't you, Major?" asked the man who stoodbeside the Solar Guard officer.

  "Rules are meant to be obeyed, Professor Hemmingwell," retorted Connelstiffly.

  "Perhaps you're right," mused the stranger. "But what's this about aninquiry?"

  "A trial, Professor. A trial conducted by the cadets themselves to seewhether or not the accused should be kicked out of the Academy."

  "Kicked out?" exclaimed the professor. "You certainly do believe indiscipline."

  "These boys are to be Solar Guardsmen," replied Connel shortly. "If theycan't obey orders now, they never will."

  "Well, it's all very unimportant really, Major," Hemmingwell said witha shrug. "We have many more vital things to think about now than merecadets. Shall we go? Commander Walters is waiting for us."

  As the little man in civilian clothes walked away, Connel stifled ablistering retort. True, his mission here at the Academy was of greatimportance. But cadets were important too. And he was afraid. The_Polaris_ unit was in grave trouble, grave enough to cause expulsionfrom the Academy.