Danger in Deep Space

by Carey Rockwell

  CHAPTER 2

  "All O.K. here on the relay circuit," yelled Astro through the intercomfrom the power deck.

  "O.K.," answered Tom. "Now try out the automatic blowers for the maintubes!"

  "Wanta give me a little juice for the radar antenna, Astro?" calledRoger from the radar deck.

  "In a minute, Manning, in a minute," growled Astro. "Only got two hands,you know."

  "You should learn to use your feet," quipped Roger. "Any normal Venusiancan do just as much with his toes as he can with his fingers!"

  Back and forth the bantering had gone for twelve hours, while the threemembers of the _Polaris_ unit tested, checked, adjusted, and recheckedthe many different circuits, relays, junction boxes, and terminals inthe miles of delicate wiring woven through the ship. Now, as dawn beganto creep pink and gray over the eastern horizon, they made theirlast-minute search through the cavernous spaceship for any doubtfulconnections. Satisfied there were none, the three weary cadets assembledon the control deck and sipped the hot tea that Manning had thoughtfullyprepared.

  _The three weary cadets assembled on the control deck_]

  "You know, by the time we get out of the Academy I don't think there'llbe a single _inch_ of this space wagon that I haven't inspected with mynose," commented Roger in a tired voice.

  "You know you love it, Manning," said Astro, who, though as tired as Tomand Roger, could still continue to work if necessary. His love for themighty atomic rocket motors, and his ability to repair anythingmechanical, was already a legend around the Academy. He cared for thepower deck of the _Polaris_ as if it were a baby.

  "Might as well pack in and grab some sleep before we report to CaptainStrong," said Tom. "He might have us blasting off right away, and I, forone, would like to sleep and sleep and then sleep some more!"

  "I've been thinking about what Alfie had to say," said Roger. "You know,about this being a great adventure."

  "What about it?" asked Astro.

  "Well, you don't give this kind of overhaul for just a plain, short hopupstairs."

  "You think it might be something deeper?" asked Astro softly.

  "Whatever it is," said Tom, getting up, "we'll need sleep." He rose,stretched, and walked wearily to the exit port. Astro and Roger followedhim out, and once again they boarded the slidewalk for the trip back tothe main dormitory and their quarters on the forty-second floor. A halfhour later the three members of the _Polaris_ were sound asleep.

  Early morning found Captain Steve Strong in his quarters, standing atthe window and staring blankly out over the quadrangle. In his left handhe clutched a sheaf of papers. He had just reread, for the fifth time, apetition for reinstatement of space papers for Al Mason and Bill Loring.It wasn't easy, as Strong well knew, to deprive a man of his right toblast off and rocket through space, and the papers in question, issuedonly by the Solar Guard, comprised the only legal license to blast off.

  Originally issued as a means of preventing overzealous Earthmen fromblasting off without the proper training or necessary physicalcondition, which resulted in many deaths, space papers had graduallybecome the only effective means of controlling the vast expanding forceof men who made space flight their life's work. With the establishmentof the Spaceman's Code a hundred years before, firm rules andregulations for space flight had been instituted. Disobedience to anypart of the code was punishable by suspension of papers and forfeitureof the right to blast off.

  One of these rules stated that a spaceman was forbidden to blast offwithout authorization or clearance for a free orbit from a centraltraffic control. Bill Loring and Al Mason were guilty of having brokenthe regulation. Members of the crew of the recent expedition to Tara, aplanet in orbit around the sun star Alpha Centauri, they had taken arocket scout and blasted off without permission from Major Connel, thecommander of the mission, who, in this case, was authorizedtraffic-control officer. Connel had recommended immediate suspension oftheir space papers. Mason and Loring had petitioned for a review, and,to assure impartial judgment, Commander Walters had sent the petition toone of his other officers to make a decision. The petition had landed onStrong's desk.

  Strong read the petition again and shook his head. The facts were tooclear. There had been flagrant disregard for the rules and there was noevidence to support the suspended spacemen's charge that they had beenunjustly accused by Connel. Strong's duty was clear. He had to upholdMajor Connel's action and suspend the men for a year.

  Once the decision was made, Strong put the problem out of his mind. Hewalked to his huge circular desk and began sorting through the day'sorders and reports. On the top of the pile of papers was a sealedenvelope, bordered in red and marked "classified." It was fromCommander Walters' office. Thoughtfully he opened it and read:

  To: CAPTAIN STEVE STRONG: Cadet Supervisor, _Polaris_ Unit Upon receipt of this communication, you are ordered to transfer the supervisory authority of the cadet unit designated as _POLARIS_ unit; i.e., Cadets Tom Corbett, Roger Manning, and Astro, and the command of the rocket cruiser _Polaris_, to the command and supervisory authority of Major Connel for execution of mission as outlined herein:

  1. To test range, life, and general performance of audio communications transmitter, type X21.

  2. To test the above-mentioned transmitter under conditions of deep space flight.

  3. This test to take place on the planet Tara, Alpha Centauri.

  This communication and all subsequent information relative to above-mentioned mission shall be classified as _topmost secret_.

  Signed: WALTERS, _Commandant_, Space Academy

  "So that's it," he thought. "A hop into deep space for the _Polaris_unit!" He smiled. "The cadets of the _Polaris_ unit are in for a littlesurprise in two ways," he thought. "One from the mission and one fromMajor Connel!"

  He almost laughed out loud as he turned to the small desk teleceiver athis elbow. He pressed a button immediately below the screen and itglowed into life to reveal a young man in the uniform of the enlistedguard.

  "Yes, Captain Strong?" he asked.

  "Call the cadets of the _Polaris_ unit," Strong ordered. "Have themreport to me here on the double!"

  "Aye, aye, sir."

  Strong started to turn the set off, but the enlisted man added, "By theway, sir, Al Mason and Bill Loring are here to see you."

  "Oh--well--" Strong hesitated.

  "They're quite anxious to know if you've reached any decision regardingtheir petition for reinstatement."

  "Mmm--yes, of course. Very well, send them in."

  "Aye, aye, sir."

  The teleceiver screen blackened. In a moment the door opposite Strong'sdesk slid back, and Loring and Mason stepped into the office. Theyshambled forward and stopped in front of the huge desk, obviously ill atease.

  Strong stood up, holding their petition in his hand, and glanced over itbriefly even though he knew its contents by heart. He motioned tonear-by chairs. "Sit down, please," he said.

  The two spacemen settled themselves uncomfortably on the edge of theirchairs and waited expectantly as Strong continued to look at the paper.

  Loring finally broke the heavy silence.

  "Well, Captain Strong, have you made a decision?" he asked. Loring was aheavy-set man, in his middle forties. He needed a shave, and when hetalked, his mouth twisted into an ugly grimace.

  "Hope it's in our favor, sir," suggested Mason. He was shorter thanLoring and, seated, his feet hardly reached the floor. His eyes dartednervously about the huge room, and he kept rolling a dirty blackspaceman's cap in his hands.

  "Yes, I've reached a decision," said Strong slowly. He faced the two menand looked at both of them with a steady cold stare. "I've decided tosustain Major Connel's action. You are both grounded for the next twelvemonths. Earth months!"

  "What?" shouted Loring, jumping to his feet. He banged his fist down onthe desk and leaned over, his face close to Strong's. "You can
't do thatto us!"

  Captain Strong didn't move. "I can," he said coldly. "And I have."

  "But--but--" Mason began to whine. "But space flight is all we know! Howwill we live?"

  Strong sat down and leaned back in his chair to get away from the foulodor of Loring's breath. He stared at the two men.

  "You should have thought of that before you stole a rocket scout fromthe expedition and made an unauthorized flight while on Tara," Strongreplied. "You're lucky you're not accused, tried, and convicted of theftof a Solar Guard spaceship!"

  "We had permission to take that flight," snarled Loring. "That MajorConnel is so blasted space happy he forgot he gave us permission. Thenwhen we came back, he slapped us in the brig!"

  "Do you have any proof of that?" asked Strong.

  "No! But it's our word against his!" He slammed his hat down on the deskand shook his finger in Strong's face. "You haven't any right to takeaway our papers just on the say-so of a lousy Solar Guard officer whothinks he's king of the universe!"

  "Take your filthy hat off my desk, Loring!" barked Strong. "And watchyour language!"

  Loring realized he had made a mistake and tried to backtrack. "Well, Iapologize for that. But I _don't_ apologize for saying he thinks he's--"

  "Major Connel has been in the Solar Guard for thirty years," said Strongemphatically. "He's been awarded the Solar Medal three times. No otherliving spaceman has achieved that! Not even Commander Walters! He rosethrough the ranks of the enlisted Solar Guard and was commissioned as anofficer of the Solar Guard in space during an emergency. He qualifieshigher than any other spaceman, and he has never been found to beunjust! He's one of the finest spacemen ever to hit the wide, deep, andhigh!" Strong stopped, choked for breath, and turned away. It wasn'toften he lost his temper, but something had to be said in defense of hisfellow officer, and particularly since that officer was Connel. Heturned back to face the two spacemen, and his voice was hard and coldagain.

  "You are hereby suspended from space flight for twelve Earth months. Anyfurther petition for appeal of this decision will be denied!"

  "All right! All right, Mr. Big!" snapped Loring. "Does this mean wecan't even ride as passengers?"

  "No rights under the Universal Bill of Rights of the Solar Alliance havebeen denied you, except that of actively participating in the flight ofa spaceship!"

  The signal bell of the teleceiver began to chime softly, and on the deskthe teleceiver screen glowed again. "Cadets Corbett, Manning, and Astroare here for their assignments, sir," announced the enlisted manoutside.

  Loring glared at Strong. "I suppose you're going to send some punk kidsout on the next trip to Tara and leave us experienced spacemen to rot onthe ground, huh?"

  Strong didn't see the door slide open to admit the three cadets whoentered quietly. His whole attention was focused on the ugly glaringfaces of Bill Loring and Al Mason.

  "Get this, Loring!" snapped Strong hotly. "The assignments of the_Polaris_ unit, whether it be to Tara or the Moon, has nothing to dowith your own breech of conduct. In any case, if they were to beassigned, they'd do a better job than you 'experienced' spacemen who aredisrespectful of your superior officers and break regulations! If eitherof you makes one more crack about the Solar Guard or Space Cadets, or_anything_ at all, I'll take you out on the quadrangle and pound somecommon courtesy into your heads! Now get out!"

  "All right, all right--" muttered Loring retreating, but with a sneer onhis lips. "We'll meet again, Mr. Bigshot Spaceman!"

  "I hope so, Loring. And if we do, I hope you've taken a bath. You evensmell bad!"

  From the rear of the room came a burst of laughter. Tom, Roger, andAstro, unobserved, had been listening and watching their skipper inaction. When Loring and Mason had left the room, they advanced to thedesk, came to attention, and saluted.

  "_Polaris_ unit reporting for duty, sir!" snapped Tom crisply.

  "At ease," said Strong. "Did you hear all of that?"

  "Yes, sir, skipper!" Roger smiled. "And believe me, you really gave itto those two space bums!"

  "Yeah," agreed Astro, "but I don't think even _you_ could do much forLoring. He's just born to smell bad!"

  "Never mind that," said Strong. "I suppose you heard the part about theassignments?"

  The three cadets assumed looks of pure innocence.

  "We didn't hear a thing, sir," said Tom.

  "You'll make a fine diplomat, Corbett," Strong laughed. "All right, sitdown and I'll give it to you straight."

  They hastily took seats and waited for their skipper to begin.

  "You've been assigned as cadet observers on a mission to test the rangeof a new long-range audio transmitter." Strong paused, then addedsignificantly, "The test is to take place in deep space."

  The three cadets only beamed their enthusiastic approval.

  "Tara," continued Strong, "is your destination--a planet like Earth inmany respects, in orbit around the sun star Alpha Centauri. You'll takethe _Polaris_ directly to the Venus space station, where the transmitterhas been given primary tests, outfit the _Polaris_ for hyperdrive, andblast off!"

  "Excuse me, sir," interrupted Tom, "but you say 'you'?"

  "I mean," replied Strong, "_you_, in the sense that I won't be goingalong with you. Oh, don't worry!" said Strong, holding up his hand as asudden look of anticipation spread over the faces of the three boys."You're not going alone! You'll have a commanding officer, all right. Infact, you'll have the nearest thing to the perfect commanding officer inthe Solar Guard!" He waited just long enough for each boy to search hismind for a suitable candidate and then added, "Your skipper will beMajor Connel!"

  "Major Connel!" the three cadets cried in unison.

  "You mean Major 'Blast-off' Connel?" uttered Roger unbelievingly.

  "That's who I mean," said Strong. "It's the best thing in the universethat could happen to you!"

  Roger stood up and saluted smartly. "I request permission to bedismissed from this mission on the grounds of incompatibility, sir," hesaid.

  "Incompatible to what?" asked Strong, amused.

  "To Major Connel, sir," replied Roger.

  "Permission denied," said Strong with a smile. "Buck up! It isn't sobad." Strong paused and stood up. "Well, that's it. It's close to elevenA.M. and you're to report to the major at eleven on the nose. Ihope you've got the _Polaris_ in good shape."

  "We were up all night, sir," said Tom. "She's ready to go."

  "She's in better shape than we are," said Astro.

  "Very well, then. Report to Major Connel immediately. Your papers havebeen transferred, so all you have to do is report."

  Strong rounded the desk and shook hands with each cadet. "This is animportant mission, boys," he said soberly. "See that you give MajorConnel all the support I know you're capable of giving. He'll need it. Idoubt if I'll see you before you blast off, so this is it. Spaceman'sluck to each of you!"