Sabotage in Space

  CHAPTER 10

  "It will take weeks to repair it!"

  Professor Hemmingwell stood on the main deck of the giant spaceshipstaring sadly at the mess of wires and tubes, controls and gauges,switches and filaments, all shattered and useless.

  "When did it happen?" demanded Connel.

  "Less than half an hour ago," replied Dave Barret. "ProfessorHemmingwell and I were down at the far end of the hangar. The men hadjust left for the day and we were planning the work for tomorrow."

  "Then what happened?" demanded Connel. "Wait, don't answer yet!" Hestopped himself and turned to a Space Marine standing nearby. "You! Canyou work an audio recorder?"

  "Yes, sir," replied the Marine.

  "Then get a machine up here on the double and take down everythingthat's said."

  "Yes, sir," said the Marine and left the ship. Connel silently beganinspecting the wreckage. It was ten times as serious as the firstsabotage attempt.

  Barret, Commander Walters, Professor Hemmingwell, and Captain Strongwatched the major, their teeth clenched, eyes clouded with anger. Wherethe destruction of the first unit could have been called an accident,here was tangible evidence of a deliberate attempt to stop the wholeproject. The Space Marine, accompanied by Firehouse Tim Rush, returnedfive minutes later with the audio recorder and set it up for operation.

  Connel took the small needlelike microphone in his hand and spoke intoit as the reel of sound tape unwound slowly.

  "This is a preliminary inquiry into the sabotage of the control deck ofspaceship XX, Operation Space Projectile," he said. "This is Major LouConnel, interrogator!" He paused and nodded to Barret who steppedforward. "My first witness will be Dave Barret." Holding the microphoneclose to the young engineer's mouth, Connel said, "Tell us everythingyou know of this incident."

  Barret spoke slowly and carefully, describing how he and ProfessorHemmingwell had been at the other end of the hangar when the explosionhad occurred. Professor Hemmingwell had immediately run out of thehangar to inform Commander Walters, leaving Barret alone to check thedamage. "Then you and Commander Walters and the Space Marines showed up,sir," he concluded. "That's all I know."

  "All right," said Connel and turned to the professor. "Your statement,Professor Hemmingwell."

  "It happened just about the way Dave said," Hemmingwell began. "Exceptfor one thing. I cannot see why there weren't any guards at their poststhis afternoon. We were without any men at the entrances for nearly anhour. Anyone could have slipped into the hangar and planted the bomb."

  "Why weren't the entrances guarded?" snapped Connel, looking directly atFirehouse Tim Rush.

  "Cadets Manning and Astro left their posts without leave, sir," reportedthe stocky little spaceman.

  Captain Strong took an involuntary step forward, his face drained of allcolor. Connel looked at him, steely-eyed. "Did you hear that, Strong?"he growled.

  Strong nodded. "I--I did," he stammered.

  "So those two idiots not only stole a rocket scout, but they left theirposts."

  Strong could only shake his head in utter disbelief. Commander Walterslooked at him pityingly.

  "I knew they had taken the scout," said Walters, his voice hard andtight. "But I didn't think they were foolish enough to leave theirposts."

  "Well, they did, sir," declared Rush. "They left about four hours beforethey were to be relieved. I was making the rounds when I discovered thatthey were gone. I put two other men on guard right away, but the doorswere unguarded for at least an hour. Anyone could have walked in withoutthe slightest trouble."

  Connel turned back to Walters. "This is the end! Those two cadets aregoing up before a general court-martial."

  "Commander," protested Strong, "you can't--!"

  "Shut up, Steve!" barked Connel. "There's a limit to how long you candefend your unit. Face it, man, those three boys have gone off theirrockers. They're too cocky. This is the last straw." He turned awayfrom the young Solar Guard officer and faced the others. "Let's get onwith the interrogation. Firehouse! What have you got to say about this?"

  The tough little enlisted guard stepped up and reported clearly andrapidly and without pause. When he was finished, Connel turned to theguards that had replaced Roger and Astro and each one repeated the storytold by Firehouse Tim.

  Over and over, Connel heard the same story. No one seemed to have beenaround the ship when the explosion took place. And it seemed that theonly time when a saboteur could have gotten into the hangar and plantedthe bomb was during the hour the doors were unguarded.

  Finally, the interrogation was over and Connel declared, "One thing toremember when you are dealing with sabotage is this: if the saboteurfails, he might return. If our enemy does not know the extent of thedamage, then he might return and make another attempt. So, not a wordabout this to anyone. And that includes your mothers."

  "Major, there is one thing I'd like to add," said Barret, steppingforward.

  "What's that?" asked Connel.

  "It's about the cadets," said Barret. "I talked to them just before theyblasted off in the scout. They had a lot to say about your takingCorbett with you on the trip to Mars. They seemed disgruntled anddissatisfied."

  Steve Strong whirled on the young engineer. "What did they say?" hedemanded.

  "Simply that they didn't feel that they were getting a fair deal withTom being taken off guard duty, since he was actually responsible forthem having it in the first place.

  "They said that!" exclaimed Strong. "But how could that--" He suddenlyclosed his mouth and turned away, frowning.

  "But how could what, Steve?" asked Walters.

  "Nothing, sir," said Strong. "You have already reprimanded me too oftenas it is for speaking up in their behalf."

  Walters lifted his eyebrows. "It appears to me that you're getting alittle touchy!" he barked. "Watch yourself, Steve. Don't let yourfeelings for those boys get out of hand."

  "Blast it!" exclaimed Professor Hemmingwell. "While you continue talkingabout those stupid cadets, you're just wasting my time. There's plentyof work to do and precious little time to do it in." He turned toBarret. "Come on, Dave, let's get this mess cleared away."

  "Yes, sir," said Dave Barret.

  As Hemmingwell and Barret turned their attention to the wrecked controlpanel, Connel, Walters, and Strong climbed out of the ship and left thehangar. On the slidewalk, headed back to the Academy, Commander Walterslooked at Connel inquiringly.

  "What now, Lou?" he asked.

  "I have an idea, Commander," said Connel. "I'm going to spend the restof the night listening to this audiotape over again. Then I'm going todo a little digging around."

  "All right," said Walters. "And I suppose you'll want to talk to Manningand Astro when they get back."

  Connel looked at Captain Strong grimly. "I want to talk to them sobadly, I would crawl on my hands and knees to get to them right now."

  Strong flushed angrily but said nothing, and as soon as the threeofficers arrived at the Academy grounds, he excused himself. He walkedslowly and thoughtfully along, looking at the dormitories with unseeingeyes and hearing with deaf ears the noise of the cadets getting readyfor bed. He could not believe that Roger or Astro had abandoned theirposts, or that Tom would run off to disappear on Mars, just for the sakeof disappearing. In all his years at the Academy, Strong had never metthree boys who so exemplified the true spirit of Space Cadets. Somethingwas wrong somewhere. But what?

  Strong paused outside the huge recreation hall, watching the cadets.Tony Richards and the _Capella_ unit walked by, and returning theirsalutes, Strong could only see Tom, Roger, and Astro.

  A figure dressed in the black-and-gold uniform of an officer in theSolar Guard walked toward him. Strong's eyes lighted up withrecognition.

  "Joan!" he exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"

  "Looking for you," she said. She had some papers in her hand and heldthem out to him.

  "What's this?" he asked, glancing at them in the light reflected fromthe hall, a
nd then back to the serious face of the brilliant youngphysicist, Dr. Joan Dale, who, in spite of being a woman, had beenplaced in charge of the Academy laboratories, the largest and mostcomplete in the entire Solar Alliance.

  "Steve," she began, "I was in charge of the psychograph tests taken ofall the workers at the projectile operation after the first mishap--"

  "How did you know about the second?" Strong interrupted quickly,remembering Connel's admonition about keeping the incident quiet.

  "I was ordered to go over the graphs again, to look for any possibleclue in a worker's mental make-up that would lead him to a criminalact." She paused and looked up at him squarely. "Do you suspect me too?"

  "I'm sorry, Joan," said the young captain. "But this whole business isgetting me down. Tom, disappearing on Mars, Roger and Astro walking offguard duty and stealing a scout, and now this latest sabotage attempt."He sighed and shook his head. "I'm tired I guess."

  She smiled. "I understand, Steve, and regardless of what Major Conneland Commander Walters have said, I'll bet my last credit there's a goodreason for what the boys have done."

  Strong looked down at the pretty physicist and smiled. "Thanks, Joan,"he said. "Now, what about these papers?"

  "It's about the report on Pat Troy," she replied. "When we asked him ifhe was working with anyone other than the professor, he lied."

  She produced a sheet of paper from among those she held and handed it toStrong. The young captain took it and scanned it quickly. The paper wasordinary graph paper with a series of small, wavy lines on it in redink. Near the bottom of the paper, there was a jagged peak in the wavyline. "What does this mean?" he asked, pointing to the peak.

  "That was his reaction when he was asked if he worked for anyone else."

  "Does that mean it's a lie?"

  "Yes. All the waves that you see," she continued, pointing to the line,"represent answers to questions about his personal life. Does he shavein the morning? Does he brush his teeth at night, and so forth. They'recomparison questions to show his reaction when he tells the truth. Thatpeak indicates a lie."

  "Then," said Strong thoughtfully, "he might be the saboteur."

  "Or know who it is," said Joan.

  "I've got to get this information to Connel right away!" said Strong."Can I have this paper?"

  "Yes. I made copies. I was just going to take one to the commander whenI saw you."

  "I'll try to locate Major Connel and you go on and tell the commanderwhat you've found. And Joan--" Strong hesitated.

  "Yes?"

  "Put in a good word for the cadets, will you?" Strong pleaded. "BothConnel and Commander Walters are all set to blast them right out of theservice."

  "I'll do what I can--" Suddenly Dr. Dale stopped, her eyes widening withfright. She pointed down the walk behind Strong.

  Steve turned around and gasped. Connel was striding toward them grimly,followed by four guards carrying a stretcher covered by a blanket.Strong quickly recognized the outline of a human form beneath theblanket.

  "Major," exclaimed Steve, "what--who--?"

  "It's getting thicker by the hour, Steve!" said Connel in a low voice."This is the first time in the history of the Academy that there hasbeen what looks like"--he paused and turned to look at the draped bodybeing carried past them--"an attempt at murder," he finished.

  "Murder!" said Strong. "But--"

  "Who is it?" demanded Joan.

  "A little man who can tell us a great deal if and when he regainsconsciousness! Pat Troy!"