CHAPTER 19
"Never mind, Manning!" shouted Quent Miles as he jumped past Roger'sbody. "We've got to find Corbett. Take the starboard ladder; I'll takethe port. Search all the way aft to the exhaust tubes if you have to!"
Ross nodded quickly, hefted his ray gun, and moved down the oppositeladder.
Tom watched both of them come down like twin devils, hands holding theray guns as steady as rocks. The cadet hid behind the open door leadingto the lower cargo holds. Ross was the nearer of the two, walking like acat, slowly, ready to spring or fire at the slightest movement. Tomquickly saw that if he jumped Ross, Quent would be on him in seconds.His only chance lay in their passing him, giving him the opportunity toreturn to the control deck and search for a ray gun for himself. And ifthat failed, at least he could call Commander Walters.
Ross crept closer. Tom crouched tensely. Should Ross see him, Tom wouldhave to make an attempt to knock him out and get the ray gun beforeQuent could do anything.
"Careful, Quent!" called Ross as he moved toward the open hatch.
"You too," replied his brother. "This kid is plenty smart."
Tom breathed a silent prayer. Ross was now opposite the door. Should theblack-suited spaceman decide to look behind it, Tom would be at hismercy.
Ross stopped beside the door and hesitated a moment.
"Hey, Ross!" Quent called, and Ross turned away from the door. "I thinkI hear something down inside the hold. Slip down the ladder a little wayand cover me. I'll go down inside and look around. He must be down heresomewhere, and if you guard the door, he can't get out."
Ross grinned. "Like flushing quail in Venus jungles," he said, movingaway from the door and down into the hold where the lead boxes filledwith uranium pitchblende were stored.
Tom could scarcely suppress a loud sigh of relief at his narrow escape.After a moment he peered cautiously around the edge of the door, andseeing the way clear to the control deck, ran back to the ladder. Hepaused at Roger's inert form and bent over, his lips close to theparalyzed cadet's ear.
"I'm going to try and find a ray gun," he whispered quickly. "If Ican't, then I'm going to try and get in touch with Commander Walters orthe Solar Guard patrols."
He patted the blond-haired cadet on the shoulder and raced up theladder to the control deck. Once inside, he barred the door to the restof the ship and began a frantic search of the many lockers and drawers.But it was fruitless. He could find no ray gun or weapon of any kind.Desperate, knowing that Ross and Quent would return to the control deckwhen they had searched the rest of the ship, Tom turned and scrambled upthe ladder to the radar deck.
Again, barring the door behind him, he sat before the audioceiver andbegan calling the _Polaris_.
"This is Cadet Corbett aboard rocket ship _Space Knight_ in quadrantfour, chart C for Charley. Corbett aboard spaceship _Space Knight_ inquadrant four, chart C for Charley! Come in, Commander Walters! Comein!"
Tom spun the dials on the audioceiver desperately, ranging over everycircuit and repeating his cry. "This is Cadet Corbett! I am being heldprisoner with Cadet Roger Manning aboard the spaceship _Space Knight_ inspace quadrant four, chart C for Charley...."
Suddenly the hum of the generators stopped and the glow of the tubes inthe audioceiver died. Without a second's hesitation, Tom spun around andlunged for the door leading back to the control deck.
"They must have shut off the power," he decided. "When they didn't findme down below, they guessed that I came this way."
He raced through the control deck and down the ladder to the starboardcompanionway. If he could only get to the ship alongside!
He chided himself for not thinking of it before and darted toward theair lock that coupled the two ships together in space.
He turned a corner in the companionway and saw the door to the couplingchamber ahead. It was open. He dashed inside.
"Greetings, Corbett!" sneered Ross Miles. He stood just inside thedoorway, the ray gun leveled at Tom.
"We figured you'd get around to thinking about the other ship sooner orlater," said Quent behind him, jamming the ray gun in his back. "So wejust came here and waited for you."
"Go get the other one, Quent," said Ross. Jerking Tom sideways into thecoupling chamber, he rammed his gun into the curly-haired cadet'sstomach. "I'll get this guy fixed aboard the other ship, and then setthe firing chambers so they'll blow up."
"What are we going to do with Manning?" asked Quent.
"We'll figure that out later. Hurry up! Corbett probably called theSolar Guard."
"That's right, I did, Miles," said Tom. "They're probably closing in onyou right now."
"Is that so?" snarled Quent. "Well, it's too bad you won't be alive tosay hello to them."
* * * * *
"I want every pound of thrust you have on that power deck, Astro,"roared Commander Walters into the intercom. "We just received word froma freighter that picked up an S O S from Tom aboard the _Space Knight_."
Steve Strong and Kit Barnard sat in the pilot and copilot's chairs onthe control deck of the _Polaris_ and watched the needle of theaccelerometer climb as Astro poured on the power in answer to Walters'command.
"If I know Astro," said Strong, "you'll probably get the fastest rideyou've ever had short of hyperdrive, Kit."
Kit Barnard gulped as he watched the needle. "I see what you mean," hesaid.
Walters strode up and down the deck behind the two veteran spacemen, ascowl on his face. "By the stars," he rumbled, "this is the mostincredible thing I've run up against in all my years in space!"
He paced up and down several times silently. "To think that two mencould--_would_--jeopardize the safety and lives of thousands of peoplefor--a--a uranium mine! It's beyond my comprehension."
"Excuse me, sir," said Sid, Kit Barnard's young assistant, coming downthe radar-bridge ladder. "This report just came in from Titan spaceportcontrol."
Walters took the message and read it quickly. He grunted and handed itto Strong. "They've found the mine and the leak," he said. "The screensare working again."
"Then you'll call off the evacuation operations, sir?" asked Strong.
"Right." Walters turned to Sid. "Son, send a message back to Titancontrol and tell Captain Howard to stop all evacuations as soon as hehas enough oxygen to provide for the citizens of Titan. And then standby for a general order to all units in this area."
"Yes, sir," said Sid, climbing back up to the radar bridge quickly.
The three men on the control deck fell silent as the ship hurtledthrough space. Each of them prayed silently for Tom and Roger's safety.
On the power deck below, Astro opened every valve and adjusted thefiring chambers to their emergency maximum, forcing the giant shipfaster and faster through space. And when he had done all he could, hepaced up and down the deck, snapping a greasy wiping rag against histhigh again and again. His face showed the concern he felt for Tom andRoger, and at the same time, there was a questioning look in his eye.The auxiliary loud-speaker of the audioceiver overhead spluttered withstatic. He stopped to listen.
"This is Lieutenant Frazer aboard the Solar Guard cruiser _Hydra_ toCommander Walters!" crackled an unfamiliar voice. "Come in, CommanderWalters!"
Astro stared at the loud-speaker and held his breath.
"This is Walters on the _Polaris_. Go ahead, Frazer!"
"I am in command of a squadron of ships on space maneuvers in quadrantfive, sir. Shall I abandon my orders and proceed under your generalemergency alert to search quadrant four?"
"How many ships do you have with you, Lieutenant?" asked Walters.
"Three heavy cruisers and a rocket destroyer, sir," replied the voiceacross the gulf of space. "And I am fully armed, sir."
"Proceed to quadrant four, Lieutenant, and seize the vessel _SpaceKnight_." There was a pause, and then Astro's blood ran cold as he heardthe words, "and if necessary open fire!"
On the control deck, Captain Strong turned to Walters quickly.
"But Tomand Roger, sir," he protested.
Commander Walters glared at Strong and turned back to the audioceiver."Proceed to quadrant four," he said coldly. "Seize the vessel _SpaceKnight_, and if there is any resistance, open fire!"
* * * * *
"Did'ja hear that!" yelled Quent on the control deck of the _SpaceKnight_.
"_Proceed to quadrant four and seize the_ Space Knight!"]
"I heard," replied Ross grimly. "With a whole squadron sweeping thisquadrant we won't make it."
"What are we going to do?" asked Quent.
"We're staying right here."
"What?"
"Right here," said Ross. "Get Corbett off the other ship and set thefuses in the firing chambers to blow up after we cast off."
"But I don't see--"
"Don't ask questions!" snapped Ross. "Do as I tell you."
"O.K." Quent spun away and headed for the coupling locks that held thetwo ships together. Ross turned back to the ladder and flipped his raygun on neutralizing charge, releasing Roger from the effects of theparalo ray.
The blond-haired cadet staggered to his feet shakily. "Where's Tom?" hesaid, clenching his teeth to keep them from rattling. "If you've doneanything to him--!"
"Take it easy, Manning," growled Ross. "Just get up on the control deckand behave."
Roger glared at the spaceman, and realizing it would be useless to jumphim in his weakened condition, started up the ladder. Ross followed at acareful distance.
A few minutes later Quent appeared on the control deck, forcing Tomahead of him. "All right," he growled. "What do I do now?"
"Did you cast off the other ship?" asked Ross. And when Quent nodded, hejerked his head toward Tom and Roger and barked, "Cover them!"
As Quent stood before the two cadets, his gun leveled, Ross strode tothe audioceiver and flipped it on. "This is Quent Miles to CommanderWalters aboard the _Polaris_," he called. "Come in, Walters."
Tom and Roger looked at each other, puzzled.
"If you can hear me, Walters, this is Quent Miles. I'm surrendering toyou. And you alone! Call off your squadrons and come alongside in the_Polaris_ by yourself. If you hear me, Walters, you better do what Isay, or you'll never see Manning and Corbett again." He flipped theaudioceiver off and grinned at his brother. "When Walters comes aboard,he's going to get a nice surprise."
"Like what?" demanded Tom.
Ross grinned wickedly, looking very much like the devil incarnate. "Youheard Walters' order to open fire, didn't you?" he said. "It seems thatSpace Cadets aren't worth much as hostages. But what do you think itwill be like with a full-fledged commander in our hands, eh? And arocket cruiser like the _Polaris_ to run around in."
"You wouldn't dare kidnap Commander Walters!" exclaimed Tom.
"Oh, no." Ross laughed. "Listen, punk, with a murder charge hanging overour heads, and a couple of million credits' worth of pitchblende in theholds, both of us would do anything! And don't you forget it!" He turnedto his brother. "Come on over here, Quent, and I'll tell you what we'regoing to do."
When the two spacemen were out of earshot, Tom turned to Roger. "How doyou feel, Roger?"
"As if I'm going to shake myself apart," replied the radar-deck cadet,his teeth still chattering from the effects of the paralo ray.
"Well, hold on just a little bit longer, boy, because the next fewminutes might spell the difference between getting out of here and--"
Tom was cut off by a sudden blast from the loud-speaker of theaudioceiver.
"This is Commander Walters!" came a clear voice. "I accept yourproposal, Miles. But I warn you, if anything has happened to thoseboys--"
"No, Commander!" yelled Tom. "It's a trap!"
" ... you will suffer for it," the voice continued.
"No use, Tom," said Roger. "The set was only on reception."
The two boys looked at each other and then across the control deck tothe grinning faces of the twins, Quent and Ross Miles.
CHAPTER 20
"Ease her up a little more, Steve!"
Commander Walters stood at the viewport watching the mighty _Polaris_slide alongside the black ship toward the coupling devices that wouldlock the two ships together in space.
"A little more!" said Walters. "About twenty feet!"
"Short burst on the main jets!" Strong called into the intercom.
"Aye, aye!" shouted Astro from below.
The giant ship inched along, the skins of the two ships barely touching.
"That's it!" shouted Walters. "The magnetic coupling links are in place.We're locked together!" He turned to Strong and Barnard. "Secure shipand come with me."
"Are you going to leave anyone on the ship, sir?" asked Strong as he cutall power.
"No, I want everyone with me," replied Walters. "No telling what Milesmight try. As soon as we get aboard, spread out and search the ship.Find Tom and Roger if you can and then come up to the control deck."
"Aye, aye, sir," acknowledged Strong.
Walters turned to the audioceiver and spoke sharply into the microphone."This is Walters, Miles. We're alongside and preparing to board yourship. I warn you not to try any tricks. I've accepted your surrender andhold you to it on your honor as a spaceman!" He paused, waiting foracknowledgment, then called again. "Are you there, Miles?"
There was a crackle of static over the loud-speaker and Miles' voicerang out on the control deck of the _Polaris_. "I'm here, Walters. Comeon aboard!"
Walters turned to Strong and Kit. "Let's go. You know your jobs, sosearch the ship and report on the control deck." He strode toward thecoupling locks that held the two ships together in space.
Aboard the black ship, Quent and Ross Miles smiled at each other. "Youknow what to do, Quent?" said Ross.
The brother nodded. "All set!" he said.
"Get going then. And don't make a move until you hear me draw theirattention!"
"Right!"
The two brothers shook hands and Quent turned away, hurriedly leavingthe control deck. Ross walked over to Tom and Roger, who watched thescene with anxious eyes.
"I really hate to do this, boys," he said, "but as you can see, thingsare pretty tight!" With that, he suddenly brought the butt of his raygun down hard on Roger's head. The blond-haired cadet slumped to thefloor. Tom leaped at the spaceman, but before he could close with him,Ross stepped back quickly and brought the gun down sharply on his head.The cadet slumped to the deck.
Quickly Ross propped them up against the bulkhead. Then, after a fastlook around the control deck for any last thing he might have forgotten,he walked casually over to the control station and sat down. Secondslater Walters and Strong stepped inside.
"I arrest you for murder, willful destruction of Solar Guard property,and illegal operation of a uranium mine, Quent Miles!" said Walters. Thespaceman shrugged and said nothing.
Strong bent over the unconscious forms of the two cadets and tried tobring them to, but they failed to respond.
"Better leave them alone, Steve," said Walters. "We have to get amedical officer for them. They look as if they've been bumped prettyhard."
Strong stood up abruptly and walked over to Miles, who lounged casuallyin his chair. Ignoring Walters, the Solar Guard captain stood in frontof the black-suited spaceman, his jaw within an inch of the other man'sface.
"If anything serious has happened to those two boys, Miles," he said ina cold, flat voice, full of menace, "I'll tear you apart!"
Miles paled for an instant and then grinned uneasily. "Don't worry aboutit, Strong. They're pretty tough kids."
Kit Barnard suddenly burst into the control room. "I've searched thecargo holds, Commander," he said. "Nothing there but lead boxes. Didn'tfind the boys--" Barnard stopped suddenly at the sight of the twounconscious cadets. "Tom! Roger!" he cried.
"They were slugged, Kit," said Strong. "You go back to the _Polaris_ andsend out an emergency call. Find the closest ship with a medicalofficer aboard and arrange for a meeting o
ut here in space. We'll beready to blast in five minutes."
"O.K., Steve," replied Kit, turning to the door and then stopping toglare at Miles. "And save a piece of that space rat for me!"
Under Barnard's steely look, Miles rose to his feet and stepped backhesitantly. Then, suddenly, he jumped up on the chair, scrambled to thetop of the master control panel, and crouched there tensely.
Strong, Walters, and Kit were momentarily stunned by his strange action.It seemed like a senseless and futile effort to get away. There was noway Miles could get out of the control deck or off the ship.
Beyond the reach of anyone on the control deck, Miles began to laugh.
Walters turned beet red with anger. "This is stupid, Miles!" he roared."You can't get away and you know it!"
"That all depends on where you're standing, Walters!" said a voice fromthe hatch.
The three spacemen whirled at the sound of the voice and were dumfoundedby the appearance of Quent Miles, standing to one side of the hatch,holding an automatic paralo-ray rifle, trained on them.
"Stay right where you are," he said softly. "The first man that movesgets frozen solid!"
Walters, Strong, and Kit were too stunned to make a move. They couldonly stare in open disbelief at Quent Miles.
"Come on down, Ross!" called Quent. "And if anyone tries to stop him,I'll let all three of you have it!"
Ross climbed down from the control panel and stripped the threehelpless spacemen of their weapons. He threw them out of the hatch andthen went to stand by his brother. As they stood side by side, Strongand Walters couldn't help but gasp at the identical features of the twomen.
"You can never hope to get away, either of you," growled Walters, whenhe finally regained his composure.
Quent laughed. "We're doing more than just hope, Walters."
"Just for your information," Ross chimed in, "we're changing ships andtaking the cargo with us." He backed toward the hatch slowly. "Come on,Quent." The two brothers stepped back through the doorway, Ross keepinghis rifle leveled at the three men.
Safely outside, Quent slammed the heavy door closed. Then, with a rocketwrench, he worked on the outer nuts of the door used in emergency toseal off the ship by compartments.
"All set!" said Quent, stepping back. "They can't get out now untilsomeone comes and loosens up those nuts."
"Get down below and start transferring that cargo to the _Polaris_,"ordered Ross, slinging the rifle over his shoulder. "I'll get on theaudioceiver and tell that cruiser squadron to go back."
Quent laughed. "You know, Ross, this is terrific," he chortled. "We notonly get away, but we get ourselves a Solar Guard rocket cruiser.Nobody'll be able to touch us in that ship."
"Nobody but me, Miles!" said a voice behind them. The two brothers spunaround to see Astro, stripped to the waist, a heavy lug wrench in hishand, legs spread apart, ready to spring.
"Had me fooled there for a while, Ross!" he growled. "I saw your brotherback at the Academy and thought it was you. But he didn't have the splitear lobe, the one I gave you. Remember?"
Ross slowly reached for the rifle that was slung over his shoulder.
"Don't do it, Ross!" warned Astro. "Get your hands off that rifle orI'll ram this wrench down your throat!"
Ross lowered his hand again slowly.
"Who is this guy, Ross?" asked Quent, licking his lips nervously. "Howdoes he know about us?"
Ross kept his eyes on Astro, glaring at the cadet in hot fury. "I methim on a deep spacer, five years ago, when you were laid up in thehospital," he said between his teeth. "This punk was a wiper on thepower deck. I was his petty officer."
"We got into a fight," snarled Astro, "when he wanted to send me into afiring chamber without letting it cool off first."
"There are two of us now, Astro!" said Ross.
Astro nodded slowly. "That's right. Two of you!" Suddenly he dove towardthe two men, arms outstretched. With one mighty swipe of the wrench heknocked Quent unconscious. Ross was hurled against the bulkhead by theimpact but managed to stay on his feet. Desperately he tore theparalo-ray rifle from his shoulder, but before he could level it, Astrowas upon him, wrenching it out of his grasp. Pushing Ross away, hecalmly broke it in two and threw the pieces to one side. Then he facedthe black-clad spaceman squarely.
"I was a kid when I first saw you, Ross," he said between his teeth. "Soyou had me fooled like everyone else. When your brother showed up at theAcademy with his ears in good shape, I thought it was a curiouscoincidence two guys should look so much alike. And on Titan, when youhad me hauling up those boxes, you wore your hat all the time, alongwith the oxygen mask, so I didn't think anything of it. But now I know!"
All the while Astro talked, the two men circled each other like twowrestlers, each waiting for his opponent to make a mistake.
"So you know!" sneered Ross. "All right, wiper, come on!"
The black-suited spaceman suddenly dove straight at Astro and the cadetcaught the full force of his body in his stomach. He sprawled on thedeck, gasping. Miles was on top of him in a second, hands at Astro'sthroat.
Fire danced in the cadet's brain as Ross Miles' steely fingers closedaround his windpipe. Slowly, with every ounce of strength he had in hisbody, Astro grasped Miles' wrists in his hands and began squeezing. Thefingers around the muscular wrists were the fingers of a boy filledwith hate and revenge. Slowly, very slowly, as the seconds ticked awayand the wind whistled raggedly in his throat, Astro increased theenormous pressure.
Now he felt the fingers around his throat begin to relax a little, andthen a little more, and he kept tightening the pressure of his mightyhands. Expressions of surprise and then pain spread across Miles' faceand he finally relaxed his grip around Astro's throat. He struggled tofree himself from the viselike grip but it was hopeless.
Astro continued to apply pressure. He forced Miles up from his chest andthen up on his feet, never relenting. Miles' face was now twisted inagony.
They stood on the deck, face to face, for almost a minute in silentstruggle. There seemed to be no end to the power in the cadet's hands.
Suddenly Ross Miles slumped to his knees and sprawled on the deck asAstro let him go. The black-clad spaceman had fainted.
* * * * *
"They got a couple of hard bumps, but they'll be all right," announcedthe medical officer, straightening up. "But that man outside, RossMiles, is going to stand trial with a broken wrist!" He turned toStrong. "What do you feed these cadets?"
Strong smiled and replied, "These are special types we train to takecare of space rats!"
Tom and Roger lay stretched out on emergency cots set up on the controldeck of the _Polaris_. They grinned weakly at Astro, who hovered overthem solicitously.
"This is the first time we've ever wound up an assignment on our backs,you big Venusian hick!" said Roger. "And I suppose I'll have to thankyou for saving my life!"
Astro grinned. "Wasn't much to save, Roger."
"Listen you!" Roger rose on one elbow, but the medical officer pressedhim gently back on the cot.
"Did you ever find out how Bill Sticoon's ship was sabotaged, CaptainStrong?" asked Tom.
"We sure did, Tom," said Strong. "One of Brett's confederates sluggedthe Solar Guard officer in charge of monitoring the race on Deimos andtook his place. If it hadn't been for a brash stereo reporter that kepttaking pictures of everything and everyone, the impersonator wouldn'thave been caught."
"And to think that I wanted to give that reporter a few lumps!" Tomexclaimed.
"Did you find out anything about the crash of Gigi Duarte's ship, sir?"asked Roger.
"Yes. Ross confessed that he was in Luna City and planted a time bomb onGigi's ship when the French Chicken came in for refueling."
"Say," exclaimed Roger, "I just happened to think! With Milesdisqualified, Kit wins the race!"
Seated in the pilot's chair, Kit turned to Roger and waved a paper."Here's the contract, Roger. Signed, sealed, and with onl
y the crystalto be delivered."
"There's only one thing bothering me now," sighed Tom.
"What's that, Tom?" asked Strong.
"Do you think I could get a three-day pass before we go back to class atthe Academy?"
Strong and Kit looked at each other, puzzled. "With sick leave, you'llhave plenty of time," said Strong. "Why a three-day pass especially?"
Tom settled deeper into the cot. "Well, sir," he said, grinning, "Ifigure it'll take just about three days for Astro and Roger to argue itout about who did the most to catch Ross and Quent Miles. And I don'twant to have to listen to it!"
TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES:Standardized PunctuationCorrected " where necessaryList of Illustrations: Changed quadrant five in caption to quadrant four to match storyPage 16: Changed oufit to outfit (Printer Error)Page 19: Changed jet-car to jet car for consistencyPage 59: Changed well to we'll (Printer Error)Page 106: Changed Corbet to Corbett (Printer Error)Page 144: Changed I'll met you to I'll meet you (Printer Error)Page 149: Changed come alone with to come along with (Printer Error)Page 196: Changed quadrant five in caption to quadrant four to match story
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