by Anthology
As they walked across the steel surface, back to the air lock, Tom stuck out his hand.
"I'm glad you came back, Roger."
"Save it for the boys that fall for that stuff, Corbett," said Roger sarcastically. "I came back because I didn't want you and that Venusian hick to think you're the only ones with guts around here!"
"No one has ever accused you of not having guts, Roger."
"Ah--go blast your jets," snarled Roger.
They went directly to the power deck where Astro was waiting for them, the Geiger counter in his hand.
"All set to get rid of the rotten apple?" he asked with a smile.
"All set, Astro," said Tom. "What's the count?"
"She seems to have steadied around fourteen hundred ninety--and believe me, the ten points to the official danger mark of fifteen hundred is so small that we could find out where the angels live any moment now!"
"Then what're we waiting for," said Tom. "Let's dump that thing!"
"How?" snarled Roger.
Tom and Astro looked at him bewilderedly. "What do you mean 'how'?" asked Astro.
"I mean how are you going to get the tube out of the ship?"
"Why," started Tom, "there's nothing holding that tube assembly to the ship now. We cut all the cleats, remember? We can jettison the whole unit!"
"It seems to me," drawled Roger lazily, "that the two great heroes in their mad rush for the Solar Medal have forgotten an unwritten law of space. There's no gravity out here--no natural force to pull or push the tube. The only way it could be moved is by the power of thrust, either forward or backward!"
"O.K. Then let's push it out, just that way," said Astro.
"How?" asked Roger cynically.
"Simple, Roger," said Tom, "Newton's Laws of motion. Everything in motion tends to keep going at the same speed unless influenced by an outside force. So if we blasted our nose rockets and started going backward, everything on the ship would go backward too, then if we reversed--"
Astro cut in, "Yeah--if we blasted the stern rockets, the ship would go forward, but the tube, being loose, would keep going the other way!"
"There's only one thing wrong," said Roger. "That mass is so hot now, if any booster energy hit it, it would be like a trigger on a bomb. It'd blow us from here to the next galaxy!"
"I'm willing to try it," said Tom. "How about you, Astro?"
"I've gone this far, and I'm not quitting now."
They turned to face Roger.
"Well, how about it, Roger?" asked Tom. "No one will think you're yellow if you take the jet boat and leave now."
"Ah--talk again!" grumbled Roger. "We always have to talk. Let's be original for a change and just do our jobs!"
"All right," said Tom. "Take an emergency light and signal Captain Strong. Tell him what we're going to do. Warn him to stay away--about two hundred miles off. He'll know if we're successful or not within a half hour!"
"Yeah," said Roger, "then we'll send him one big flash to mean we failed! Bon voyage!"
Fifteen minutes later, as the Lady Venus drifted in her silent but deadly orbit, Tom, Roger and Astro still worked feverishly as the Geiger counter ticked off the increasing radioactivity of the wildcatting reaction mass in number-three rocket tube.
"Reading on the counter still's going up, Astro," warned Roger. "Fifteen-O-five."
"Hurry it up, Astro," urged Tom.
"Hand me that wrench, Tom," ordered Astro. The big cadet, stripped to the waist, his thick arms and chest splattered with grease and sweat, fitted the wrench to the nut and applied pressure. Tom and Roger watched the muscles ripple along his back, as the big Venusian pitted all of his great strength against the metal.
"Give it all you've got," said Tom. "If we do manage to jettison that tube, we've got to keep this part of the power deck airtight!"
Astro pulled harder. The veins standing out on his neck. At last, easing off, he stood up and looked down at the nut.
"That's as tight as I can get it," he said, breathing heavily.
"Or anyone else," said Tom.
"All the valve connections broken?" asked Astro.
"Yep," replied Roger. "We're sealed tight."
"That's it, then," said Tom. "Let's get to the control deck and start blasting!"
Astro turned to the power-deck control board and checked the gauges for the last time. From above his head, he heard Tom's voice over the intercom.
"All your relays to the power deck working, Astro?"
"Ready, Tom," answered Astro.
"Then stand by," said Tom on the control deck. He had made a hasty check of the controls and found them to be similar enough to those on the Polaris so that he could handle the ship. He flipped the switch to the radar deck and spoke into the intercom.
"Do we have a clear trajectory fore and aft, Roger?"
"All clear," replied Roger. "I sent Captain Strong the message."
"What'd he say?"
"The rebellion wasn't anything more than a bunch of badly scared old men. Al James just got hysterical, that's all."
[Illustration: A low muted roar pulsed through the ship]
"What did he have to say about this operation?"
"I can't repeat it for your young ears," said Roger.
"So bad, huh?"
"Yeah, but not because we're trying to save the ship."
"Then why?" asked Tom.
"He's afraid of losing a good unit!"
Tom smiled and turned to the control board. "Energize the cooling pumps!" he bawled to Astro over the intercom.
The slow whine of the pumps began to build to a shrieking pitch.
"Pumps in operation, Tom," said Astro.
"Cut in nose braking rockets," ordered Tom.
A low muted roar pulsed through the ship.
"Rockets on--we're moving backward, Tom," reported Astro.
And then suddenly Astro let out a roar. "Tom, the Geiger counter is going wild!"
"Never mind that now," answered Tom. "Sound off, Roger!" he yelled.
"Ship moving astern--one thousand feet a second--two thousand--four thousand--"
"I'm going to let her build to ten, Roger," yelled Tom. "We've only got one chance and we might as well make it a good one!"
"Six thousand!" yelled Roger. "Seven thousand!"
"Astro," bellowed Tom, "stand by to fire stern rockets!"
"Ready, Tom," was Astro's reply.
"Eight thousand," warned Roger. "Spaceman's luck, fellas!"
The silver ship moved through space away from the Polaris.
"Nine thousand," reported Roger. "And, Astro, I really love ya!"
"Cut nose braking rockets!" ordered Tom.
There was a sudden hush that seemed to be as loud as the noise of the rockets. The huge passenger ship, Lady Venus, was traveling through space as silent as a ghost.
"Nine thousand five hundred feet a second," yelled Roger.
"Stand by, Astro, Roger! Hang on tight, and spaceman's luck!"
"Ten thousand feet a second!" Roger's voice was a hoarse scream.
"Fire stern rockets!" bawled Tom.
[Illustration]
CHAPTER 16
Under the tremendous drive of the stern rockets, the silver ship suddenly hurtled forward as if shot out of a cannon. The dangerous tube slid out of the stern of the ship and was quickly left behind as the Lady Venus sped in the opposite direction.
"That's it," yelled Tom, "hold full space speed! We dumped the tube, but we're still close enough for it to blow us from here to Pluto!"
"I tracked it on the radar, Tom," yelled Roger. "I think we're far enough away to miss--"
At that moment a tremendous flash of light filled the radar scanner as the mass exploded miles to the rear of the Lady Venus.
"There it goes!" shouted Roger.
"Great jumping Jupiter," yelled Tom, "and we're still in one piece! We did it!"
From the power deck, Astro's bull-like roar could be heard through the whole ship.
Tom flipped a switch on the board and set the ship on automatic flight. Then, turning to the teleceiver, he switched the set on.
"Lady Venus to Polaris--" said Tom, "come in, Polaris--come in!"
" ... Strong here on the Polaris!" the officer's voice crackled over the speaker. "By the rings of Saturn, I should log you three space-brained idiots for everything in the book!" Strong's face gradually focused on the teleceiver screen and he stared at Tom coldly. "That was the most foolish bit of heroics I've ever seen and if I had my way I'd--I'll--well--" The captain's glare melted into a smile. "I'll spend the rest of my life being known as the skipper of the three heroes! Well done, Corbett, it was foolish and dangerous, but well done!"
Tom, his face changing visibly with each change in Strong's attitude, finally broke out into a grin.
"Thank you, sir," said Tom, "but Astro and Roger did as much as I did."
"I'm sure they did," replied Strong. "Tell them I think it was one of the--the--" he thought a moment and then added, "darndest, most foolish things--most--"
"Yes, sir," said Tom, trying hard to control his face. He knew the moment for disciplining had passed, and that Captain Strong was just overwhelmed with concern for their safety.
"Stand by the air locks, Corbett, we're coming aboard again. We're pretty cramped for space here on the Polaris."
Just then Astro yelled up from the power deck.
"Hey, Tom!" he called. "If Captain Strong is thinking about putting those passengers back aboard, I think you'd better tell him about the radiation. I haven't been able to flush it all out yet. And since we only have three lead-lined suits...." He left the statement unfinished.
"I get you, Astro," replied Tom. He turned back to the teleceiver and faced Strong. "Astro says the ship is still hot from radiation, sir. And that he hasn't been able to flush it out with the blowers."
"Ummmmh," mused Strong thoughtfully. "Well, in that case, stand by, Corbett. I'll get in touch with Commander Walters right away."
"Very well, sir," replied Tom. He turned from the teleceiver and climbed up to the radar deck.
"Well, hot-shot," said Roger, "looks like you've made yourself a hero this trip."
"What do you mean by that, Roger?"
"First, you run off with top honors on the space maneuvers, and now you save the ship and have Strong eating out of your hand!"
"That's not very funny, Roger," said Tom.
"I think it is," drawled Roger.
Tom studied the blond cadet for a moment.
"What's eating you, Roger? Since the day you came into the Academy, you've acted like you hated every minute of it. And yet, on the other hand, I've seen you act like it was the most important thing in your life. Why?"
"I told you once, Corbett," said Roger with the sneering air which Tom knew he used when he was on the defensive, "that I had my own special reasons for being here. I'm not a hero, Corbett! Never was and never will be. You're strictly the hero type. Tried and true, a thousand just like you all through the Academy and the Solar Guard. Strong is a hero type!"
"Then what about Al James?" asked Tom. "What about that time in Atom City when you defended the Academy?"
"Uh-uh," grunted Roger, "I wasn't defending the Academy. I was just avoiding a fight." He paused and eyed Tom between half-closed lids. "You'll never do anything I can't, or won't do, just as well, Tom. The difference between us is simple. I'm in the Academy for a reason, a special reason. You're here, like most of the other cadets, because you believe in it. That's the difference between you, me and Astro. You believe in it. I don't--I don't believe in anything but Roger Manning!"
Tom faced him squarely. "I'm not going to buy that, Roger! I don't think that's true. And the reasons I don't believe it are many. You have a chip on your shoulder, yes. But I don't think you're selfish or that you only believe in Manning. If you did, you wouldn't be here on the Lady Venus. You had your chance to escape back in the rocket tube, but you came back, Roger, and you made a liar out of yourself!"
"Hey, you guys!" yelled Astro, coming up behind them. "I thought we left that stuff back at the Academy?"
Tom turned to face the power-deck cadet. "What's cooking below, Astro? Were you able to get rid of the radiation?"
"Naw!" replied the cadet from Venus. "Too hot! Couldn't even open the hatch. It'll take a special job with the big equipment at the space shipyards. We need their big blowers and antiradiation flushers to clean this baby up."
"Then I'd better tell Captain Strong right away. He's going to get in touch with Commander Walters at the Academy for orders."
"Yeah, you're right," said Astro. "There isn't a chance of getting those people back aboard here now. Once we opened up that outer control deck to dump that tube, the whole joint started buzzing with radioactive electrons."
Tom turned to the ladder leading to the control deck and disappeared through the hatch, leaving Astro and Roger alone.
"What was that little bit of space gas about, Roger?"
"Ah--nothing," replied Roger. "Just a little argument on who was the biggest hero." Roger smiled and waved a hand in a friendly gesture. "Tom won, two to one!"
"He sure handled that control deck like he had been born here, all right," said Astro. "Well, I've got to take a look at those motors. We'll be doing something soon, and whatever it is, we'll need those power boxes to get us where we want to go."
"Yeah," said Roger, "and I've got to get a course and a position." He turned to the chart screen and began plotting rapidly. Down on the control deck, Strong was listening to Tom.
" ... and Astro said we'd need the special equipment at the space shipyards to clean out the radiation, sir. If we took passengers aboard and it suddenly shot up--well, we only have the three lead-lined suits to protect us."
"Very well, Corbett," replied Strong. "I've just received orders from Commander Walters to proceed to Mars with both ships. I'll blast off now and you three follow along on the Lady Venus. Any questions?"
"I don't have any, sir," Tom said, "but I'll check with Roger and Astro to see if they have any."
Tom turned to the intercom and informed the radar and power-deck cadets of their orders, and asked if there were any questions. Both replied that everything on the ship was ready to blast off immediately. Tom turned back to the teleceiver.
"No questions, sir," reported Tom. "We're all set to blast off."
"Very well, Corbett," said Strong. "I'm going to make as much speed as possible to get these people on Mars. The crew of the Lady Venus will take over the radar and power decks."
"O.K., sir, and spaceman's luck!" said Tom. "We'll see you on Mars!"
Tom stood beside the crystal port on the control deck and watched the rocket cruiser Polaris' stern glow red from her jets, and then quickly disappear into the vastness of space, visible only as a white blip on the radar scanner.
"Get me a course to Mars, Roger," said Tom. "Astro, stand by to blast off with as much speed as you can safely get out of this old wagon, and stand by for Mars!"
The two cadets quickly reported their departments ready, and following the course Roger plotted, Astro soon had the Lady Venus blasting through space, heading for Mars!
Mars, fourth planet in order from the Sun, loomed like a giant red gem against a perfect backdrop of deep-black space. The Lady Venus, rocketing through the inky blackness, a dull red glow from her three remaining rockets, blasted steadily ahead to the planet that was crisscrossed with wide spacious canals.
"Last time I was on Mars," said Astro to Tom and Roger over a cup of tea, "was about two years ago. I was bucking rockets on an old tub called the Space Plunger. It was on a shuttle run from the Martian south pole to Venusport, hauling vegetables. What a life! Burning up on Venus and then freezing half to death at the south pole on Mars." A
stro shook his head as the vivid memory took him back for a moment.
"From what I hear," said Tom, "there isn't much to see but the few cities, the mountains, the deserts and the canals."
"Yeah," commented Roger, "big deal! Rocket into the wild depths of space and see the greatest hunk of wasteland in the universe!"
The three boys were silent, listening to the steady hum of the rockets, driving them forward toward Mars. For four days they had traveled on the Lady Venus, enjoying the many luxuries found on the passenger ship. Now, with their destination only a few hours away, they were having a light snack before making a touchdown on Mars.