CHAPTER 18
"Fire at will! Fire at will!"
Aboard the command ship, Captain Strong roared the order to the rest ofthe fleet, and the individual ship commanders of the Solar Guard vesselsbroke formation and rocketed into the mass of Nationalist ships, firingsalvo after salvo of space torpedoes. But it was a losing battle. Timeand again, Strong and Tom saw Solar Guard ships hemmed in by three andfour Nationalists' vessels, then blasted into oblivion.
Strong had ordered Tom to maneuver the command ship at will, seekingtargets, yet still keeping from being a target, and the young cadet hadguided the powerful ship through a series of maneuvers that had evensurprised the experienced Solar Guard officer.
"Where's the rest of the fleet?" roared Strong. "Why aren't they hereyet?"
"I don't know, sir," replied Tom, "but if they don't show up soon, therewon't be much left to save!"
"Bandits dead ahead," droned the voice from the radar bridge calmly,"trying to envelop us."
Tom's hand shot out for the intercom to relay orders to the power deckand glanced quickly at the scanner. He almost cheered. "Steve--I mean,Captain Strong. The rest of the fleet! It's coming in! Attacking fromtop-side!"
"By the craters of Luna, you're right!" yelled the young Solar Guardcaptain, as he saw the white blips on the scanner screen. "O.K., it'stime to stop running and fight!"
The Solar Guard reinforcements swooped down on the fighting ships withdazzling speed, and the sky over the jungle belt of Venus base was sothick with zooming, firing, maneuvering ships that observers on theground couldn't tell one ship from another. For an hour the battleraged. During the seesawing back and forth it seemed as if all shipsmust be blasted into space junk. Finally the superior maneuvering andover-all spacemanship of the Solar Guard vessels began to count heavily,and the Nationalist ships began to plunge into the jungle or drifthelplessly out into space. Reforming, the Solar Guard ships encircledthe enemy in a deadly englobement pattern, and wheeling in greatco-ordinated arcs through space, sent combined volleys of torpedoescrashing into the enemy ships. The space battle was over, a completeSolar Guard victory.
Strong called to the remaining ships of his fleet, "Take formation K.Land and attack the enemy base according to prearranged order. The enemyfleet is destroyed, but we still have a big job to do."
"What happens now, sir?" asked Tom, relaxing for the first time sincethe space battle had begun.
"We try to destroy their base and put an end to this rebellion asquickly as possible," replied Strong coldly.
One by one, the ships of the Solar Guard fleet landed around the rim ofthe canyon base. Troop carriers, that had stood off while the spacebattle raged, disgorged hundreds of tough Solar Guard Marines, eachcarrying shock rifles, paralo-ray pistols, and small narco grenadesthat would put an enemy to sleep in five seconds. A half-hour later,after the last Nationalist ship had been blasted out of the skies, therim of the canyon was alive with Solar Guardsmen waiting to go intoaction. Many had comrades in the Solar Guard ships lost in the spacefight and they were eager to avenge their friends.
"How many ships did we lose, sir?" asked Tom, after the squadroncommanders had made their reports to Captain Strong.
"Forty," said Strong grimly. "But the entire Nationalist fleet was wipedout. Thank the universe that their radar was knocked out, or we wouldhave been completely wiped out."
"Thank Astro and Major Connel for that, sir," said Tom with the firstsmile on his face in days. "I knew none of those green jokers could stopthose two!"
"I've got to report to Commander Walters and the Solar Alliance, Tom.You take a squad of men and move out. Your job is to find Astro, Roger,and Major Connel."
"Thank you, sir!" said Tom happily.
* * * * *
Down in the canyon, Major Connel had waited as long as he dared forAstro to return with news of Roger. From his position, the toughspaceman could not tell how the gigantic space battle had ended until hesaw the Solar Guard troop carriers land on the rim of the canyon above.Satisfied, he decided that it was time to move.
_The Solar Guard troops landed on the rim of the canyon_]
He stood up, careful not to expose himself, since fighting had brokenout among the workers. Every street, shop, and corner would bringdangers, and having stayed alive this far, Connel wanted to reach theSolar Guard forces and continue the fight alongside his friends. Astrowas nowhere in sight when the major moved cautiously down a sidealley, and he was beginning to think that Astro had not escaped from thebase with Roger, when he saw the big cadet suddenly appear around acorner running as hard as he could. A few seconds later three green-cladNationalist guards rounded the corner and pounded after him.
Astro saw Connel and ducked behind an overturned jet car, yelling, "I'munarmed! Nail them, Major!"
In a flash Connel dropped to the pavement, and firing from a kneelingposition, cut the Nationalists down expertly. When the last of the enemywas frozen, Connel rushed to Astro's side.
"What about Roger?" he asked.
"I couldn't reach him," replied Astro. "The sick bay's in the mainadministration building and that's so well guarded it would take a fullcompany to break in."
Connel nodded grimly. "Well, the best thing for us to do is get more menand then tackle it."
"Yes, sir," said Astro. "I think we'd better head for the canyon wallson the west. The Marines are pouring down that side."
"Let's go," grunted the major, and led the way down the narrow lane. Butwhen they reached the open area beyond the repair shops they saw thatthe Nationalist guards had thrown up barriers in the streets and werepreparing defenses against frontal assault.
"Maybe we'd better stay where we are, sir," the big cadet said, afterscanning the Nationalist defenses. "We'd never be able to get throughnow."
"Ummmh," mused Connel. "You're right. Maybe we can be of more usestriking behind the lines."
Astro grinned. "That's just what I was thinking, sir." He pointed to anear-by barrier set up in the middle of the street. "We could pick offthe men behind that--"
"Look out!" roared Connel. Behind them, five Nationalist guards hadsuddenly appeared. But they were more surprised than Astro and Connel,and the big cadet took advantage of it by charging right into them.
It was a short but vicious fight. There was no time to aim or fire aparalo-ray gun. It was a matter of bare knuckles and feet and knees andshoulders. One by one, the green-clad men were laid low, and finally,Connel, out of breath, turned to grin at Astro.
"Feel better," he gasped, "than I've felt in weeks!"
Astro grinned. One of Connel's front teeth was missing. Astro leanedagainst the wall and pointed to the canyon wall where the columns ofSolar Guard Marines were making their way down into the base under heavycovering fire from above. "Won't be long now!"
"Come on," said Connel. "They'll probably send scouts out ahead of thosecolumns and we can make contact with them over there." He pointed towarda high tangle of barbed wire set up in the middle of the near-by street.Astro nodded, and exchanging his broken ray gun for one belonging to afallen Nationalist, raced to the edge of the barrier with the major.They crouched and waited for the first contact by the Marines.
"They shouldn't be too long now," said Connel.
"No more than a minute, sir," said Astro, pointing to a running figuredarting from one protective position to another.
"You, there!" shouted a familiar voice. "Behind that barrier!"
Astro glanced at Connel. "Major, that sounds like--!"
"Come out with your hands in the air and nothing will happen to you!"the voice called again.
"By the stars, you're right!" yelled Connel. "It's Corbett!"
Astro jumped up and yelled, "Tom! Tom! You big space-brained jerk! It'sme, Astro!"
Behind the corner of a house, Tom peered cautiously around the edge andsaw the big cadet scramble over the tangle of barbed wire with Connelright behind him. Tom held up his hand for the squad in back of him
tohold their fire and stepped out to meet his friends. "Major! Astro!"
The three spacemen pounded each other on the back while the patrol ofMarines watched, grinning. "Where's Roger?" asked Tom finally.
Astro quickly told him of the heavily guarded administration building.
"Is he all right?" asked Tom.
"No one knows," replied Connel. "We haven't been able to get any news ofhim at all."
"I'm going after him," said Tom, his jaw set. "No telling what they'lltry to do with him when they see their goose is cooked."
"I'll go with you," said Astro.
"No, you stay here with Major Connel," said Tom. "I think it would bebetter if just one tried it, with the rest creating a diversion on theother side."
"Good idea," said Connel. He turned to the rest of the patrol. "Men,there's an injured Space Cadet in the sick bay of the main building.He's the third member of the _Polaris_ unit and has contributed as muchto victory in this battle as any of us. We've got to get him out of thehands of the Nationalists before something happens to him. Are youwilling to try?"
The Marines agreed without hesitation.
"All right," said Connel, "here's what we'll do." Quickly the majoroutlined a plan whereby Tom would sneak through the lines of theNationalists around the administration building, while the rest of themcreated a diversionary move. It was a daring plan that would requiresplit-second timing. When they were all agreed as to what they would doand the time of the operation was set, they moved off toward theadministration building. The rebellion was over, defeated. Yet theNationalist leaders were still alive. They were desperate men and Rogerwas in their hands. His life meant more to Tom Corbett and Astro thanthe smashing victory of the Solar Guard, and they were prepared to givetheir own lives to save his.