CHAPTER 3
"Blast off--minus--five--four--three--two--one--_zero_!"
As the main drive rockets blasted into life, Tom fell back in his seatbefore the control panel of the _Polaris_ and felt the growing thrust asthe giant ship lifted off the ground, accelerating rapidly. He kept hiseyes on the teleceiver screen and saw Space Academy fall away behindthem. On the power deck Astro lay strapped in his acceleration cushion,his outstretched hand on the emergency booster rocket switch should themain rockets fail before the ship could reach the free fall of space. Onthe radar bridge Roger watched the far-flung stars become brighter asthe rocket ship hurtled through the dulling layers of the atmosphere.
As soon as the ship reached weightless space, Tom flipped on the gravitygenerators and put the _Polaris_ on her course to Venus. Almostimmediately the intercom began to blast.
"Now hear this!" Major Connel's voice roared. "Corbett, Manning, andAstro! I don't want any of your space-blasted nonsense on this trip! Getthis ship to Venusport in the shortest possible time without burning outthe pump bearings. And, Manning--!"
"Yes, sir," replied the blond-haired cadet.
"If I so much as hear one wisecrack between you and that overgrownrocket jockey, Astro, I'll log both of you twenty-five demerits!"
"I understand, sir," acknowledged Roger lazily. "I rather appreciateyour relieving me of the necessity of speaking to that space ape!"
Listening to their voices on the control deck, Tom grinned and waitedexpectantly. He wasn't disappointed.
"Ape!" came a bull-like roar from the power deck. "Why, you skinnymoth-eaten piece of space junk--"
"Cadet Astro!"
"Yes, sir?" Astro was suddenly meek.
"If you say one more word, I'll bury you in demerits!"
"But, sir--"
"No _buts_!" roared Connel. "And you, Manning--!"
"Yes, sir?" chimed in Roger innocently.
"Keep your mouth shut!"
"Very well, sir," said Roger.
"Corbett?"
"Yes, sir?"
"I'm putting you in charge of monitoring the intercom. If those twospace idiots start jabbering again, call me. That's an order! I'll be inmy quarters working." Connel switched off abruptly.
"You hear that, fellows?" said Tom. "Knock it off."
"O.K., Tom," replied Roger, "just keep him out of my sight."
"That goes for me, too," added Astro. "Ape! Just wait till I--"
"Astro!" Tom interrupted sharply.
"O.K., O.K.," groaned the big cadet.
Glancing over the panel once more and satisfying himself that the shipwas functioning smoothly, Tom sighed and settled back in his seat,enjoying the temporary peace and solitude. It had been a tough year,filled with intensive study in the quest for an officer's commission inthe Solar Guard. Space Academy was the finest school in the world, butit was also the toughest. The young cadet shook his head, remembering asix-weeks' grind he, Roger, and Astro had gone through on a nuclearproject. Knowing how to operate an atomic rocket motor was one thing,but understanding what went on inside the reactant pile was somethingelse entirely. Never had the three cadets worked harder, or more closelytogether. But Astro's thorough, practical knowledge of basic nucleonics,combined with Roger's native wizardry at higher mathematics, and his ownunderstanding of the theory, had enabled them to pull through with agrade of seventy-two, the highest average ever made by a cadet unit notspecializing in physics.
As the ship rocketed smoothly through the airless void of space towardthe misty planet of Venus, Tom made another quick but thorough check ofthe panel, and then returned to his reflections on the past term. It hadbeen particularly difficult since they had missed many valuable hours ofclassroom work and study because of their adventure on the new colony ofRoald (as described in _The Space Pioneers_), but they had come throughsomehow. He shook his head wondering how they had made it. Forty-twounits had washed out during the term. Instead of getting easier, thecourses of study were getting more difficult all the time, and in hisspeech on the parade grounds, Commander Walters had promised--
"Emergency!"
Roger's voice over the intercom brought Tom out of his reverie sharply.
"All hands," continued the cadet on the radar bridge hurriedly, "secureyour stations and get to the jet-boat deck on the double! Emergency!"
As the sharp clang of the emergency alarm rang out, Tom did not stop toquestion Roger's sudden order. Neutralizing all controls, he leaped forthe hatch leading below. Taking the ladder four steps at a time, Tom sawMajor Connel tear out of his quarters. The elder spaceman dived for theladder himself, not stopping to ask questions. He was automatic in hisreliance on the judgment of others. The few seconds spent in talk couldmean the difference between life and death in space where you seldom gota second chance.
Tom and Connel arrived on the jet-boat deck to find Astro alreadypreparing the small space craft for launching. As they struggled intospace suits, Roger appeared. In answer to their questioning looks, heexplained laconically, "Unidentifiable object attached to ship on finparallel to steering vanes. Thought we'd better go outside first andexamine later."
Connel nodded his mute agreement, and thirty seconds later the tiny jetboat was blasting out of the escape lock into space.
Circling around the ship to the stern, the jet boat, under MajorConnel's sure touch, stopped fifty feet from the still glowing, exhausttubes. He and the three cadets stared out at a small metallic boxlikeobject attached to the underside of the stabilizer fin.
"What do you suppose it is?" asked Astro.
"I don't know," replied Roger, "but it sure doesn't belong there. That'swhy I rang the emergency on you."
"You were absolutely right, Manning," asserted Connel. "If it'sharmless, we can always get back aboard and nothing's been lost except alittle time." He rose from the pilot's seat and stepped toward thehatch. "Come with me, Corbett. We'll have a look. And bring theradiation counter along."
"Aye, aye, sir!"
Tom reached into a near-by locker, and pulling out a small, rectangularbox with a round hornlike grid in its face, plunged out of the hatchwith Major Connel and blasted across the fifty-foot gap to thestabilizer fin of the _Polaris_.
Connel gestured toward the object on the fin. "See if she's hot,Corbett."
The young cadet pressed a small button on the counter and turned thehorn toward the mysterious box. Immediately the needle on the dial abovethe horn jumped from white to pink and finally red, quivering againstthe stop pin.
"Hot!" exclaimed Tom. "She almost kicked the pin off!"
"Get off the ship!" roared Connel. "It's a fission bomb with a timefuse!"
Tom dove at the box and tried to pull it off the stabilizer, but MajorConnel grabbed him by the arm and wrenched him out into space.
"You space-blasted idiot!" Connel growled. "That thing's liable to gooff any second! Get away from here!"
With a mighty shove, the spaceman sent Tom flying out toward the jetboat and then jumped to safety himself. Within seconds he and the youngcadet were aboard the jet boat again and, not stopping to answer Astro'sor Roger's questions, he jammed his foot down hard on the accelerationlever, sending the tiny ship blasting away from the _Polaris_.
Not until they were two miles away from the stricken rocket ship didConnel bring the craft to a stop. He turned and gazed helplessly at thegleaming hull of the _Polaris_.
"So they know," he said bitterly. "They're trying to stop me from evenreaching Venus."
The three cadets looked at each other and then at the burly spaceman,bewilderment in their eyes.
"What's this all about, sir?" Roger finally asked.
"I'm not at liberty to tell you, Manning," replied Connel. "Though Iwant to thank you for your quick thinking. How did you happen todiscover the bomb?"
"I was sighting on Regulus for a position check and Regulus was deadastern, so when I swung the periscope scanner around, I spotted thatthing stuck to the fin. I didn't bother to think about
it, I justyelled."
"Glad you did," nodded Connel and turned to stare at the _Polaris_again. "Now I'm afraid we'll just have to wait until that bomb goesoff."
"Isn't there anything we can do?" asked Tom.
"Not a blasted thing," replied Connel grimly. "Thank the universe weshut off all power. If that baby had blown while the reactant wasfeeding into the firing chambers, we'd have wound up a big splash ofnothing."
"This way," commented Astro sourly, "it'll just blast a hole in the sideof the ship."
"We might be able to repair that," said Tom hopefully.
"There she goes!" shouted Roger.
Staring out the windshield, they saw a sudden blinding flash of lightappear over the stern section of the _Polaris_, a white-hot blaze ofincandescence that made them flinch and crouch back.
"By the craters of Luna!" exclaimed Connel.
Before their eyes they saw the stabilizer fin melt and curl under theintense heat of the bomb. There was no sound or shock wave in the vacuumof space, but they all shuddered as though an overwhelming force hadswept over them. Within seconds the flash was gone and the _Polaris_ wasdrifting in the cold blackness of space! The only outward damage visiblewas the twisted stabilizer, but the boys realized that she must be ashambles within.
"I guess we'll have to wait a while before we go back aboard. Theremight be radioactivity around the hull," Roger remarked.
"I don't think so," said Tom. "The _Polaris_ was still coasting when weleft her. We cut out the drive rockets, but we didn't brake her. She'sprobably drifted away from the radioactivity already."
"Corbett's right," said Connel. "A hot cloud would be a hundred milesaway by now." He pressed down on the acceleration lever and the jet boateased toward the ship. Edging cautiously toward the stern of thespaceship, they saw the blasted section of the fin already cooling inthe intense cold of outer space.
"Think I'd better call a Solar Guard patrol ship, sir?" asked Roger.
"Let's wait until we check the damage, Manning," replied Connel.
"Yeah," chimed in Astro grimly, "if I can help it, I'm going to bringthe _Polaris_ in." He paused and then added, "If I have to carry her onmy back."
As soon as a quick check with the radiation counter showed them that thehull was free of radioactivity, Major Connel and the three cadetsre-entered the ship.
While the lack of atmosphere outside had dissipated the full force ofthe blast, the effect on the inside of the ship, where Earth's airpressure was maintained, was devastating. Whole banks of delicatemachinery were torn from the walls and scattered over the decks. Theprecision instruments of the inner hull showed no signs of leakage, andthe oxygen-circulating machinery could still function on an auxiliarypower hookup.
Completing the quick survey of the ship, Major Connel realized that theywould never be able to continue their flight to Venus and instructedRoger to contact the nearest Solar Guard patrol ship to pick them up.
"The _Polaris_ will have to be left in space," continued Connel, "and amaintenance crew will be sent out to see if she can be repaired. If theydecide it isn't worth the labor, they'll junk her here in space."
The faces of the three cadets fell.
"But there's no real damage on her power deck, sir," said Astro. "Andthe hull is in good shape, except for the stabilizer fin and some of thestern plates. Why, sometimes a green Earthworm unit will crack a fin ontheir first touchdown."
"And the radar deck can be patched up easy, sir," spoke up Roger. "Withsome new tubes and a few rolls of wire I could have her back in shape inno time."
"That goes for the control deck, too!" said Tom doggedly. Then, after aquick glance at his unit mates, he faced Connel squarely. "I think itgoes without saying, sir, that we'd appreciate it very much if you couldrecommend that she be restored instead of junked."
Connel allowed himself a smile in the face of such obvious love for theship. "You forget that to repair her out in space, the parts have to behauled from Venus. But I'll see what I can do. Meantime, Roger, see ifyou can't get that patrol ship to give us a lift to Venusport. Tell theC.O. I'm aboard and on urgent official business."
"Yes, sir," said Roger.
"And," continued the spaceman, noticing the downcast looks of Tom andAstro, "it wouldn't hurt if you two started repairing as much as youcan. So when the maintenance crew arrives, they won't find her in such amess."
"Yes, sir!" chorused the two cadets happily.
Connel returned to his quarters and sat down heavily in the remains ofhis bunk, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. Somehow, word had gotten outthat he was going to check on the secret organization on Venus andsomeone had made a bold and desperate attempt to stop him before hecould get started. It infuriated him to think that anyone wouldinterrupt official business. As far as Connel was concerned, nothingcame before official business. And he was doubly furious at the dangerto the three cadets, who had innocently hitched a ride on what wasalmost a death ship. Someone was going to pay, Connel vowed, clenchinghis huge fists--and pay dearly.