Stand by for Mars!

by Carey Rockwell

  CHAPTER 10

  "The next event will be," Warrant Officer McKenny's voice boomed overthe loud-speaker and echoed over the Academy stadium, "the lastsemifinal round of mercuryball. _Polaris_ unit versus _Arcturus_ unit."

  As two thousand space cadets, crowded in the grandstands watching theannual academy tournament, rose to their feet and cheered lustily, TomCorbett turned to his unit-mates Astro and Roger and calledenthusiastically, "O.K., fellas. Let's go out there and show them how toplay this game!"

  During the two days of the tournament, Tom, Roger and Astro, competingas a unit against all the other academy units, had piled up a tremendousamount of points in all the events. But so had Unit 77-K, now known asthe _Capella_ unit. Now with the _Capella_ unit already in the finals,the _Polaris_ crew had to win their semifinal round against the_Arcturus_, in order to meet the _Capella_ in the final round forAcademy honors.

  "This is going to be a cinch," boasted Astro. "I'm going to burn 'emup!"

  "Save it for the field," said Tom with a smile.

  "Yeah, you big Venusian ape," added Roger. "Make points instead of spacegas."

  Stripped to the waist, wearing shorts and soft, three-quarter-lengthspace boots, the three boys walked onto the sun-baked field amid therousing cheers from the stands. Across the field, the cadets of the_Arcturus_ unit walked out to meet them, stopping beside McKenny at themid-field line. Mike waited for the six boys to form a circle aroundhim, while he held the mercuryball, a twelve-inch plastic sphere, filledwith air and the tricky tube of mercury.

  "You all know the rules," announced McKenny abruptly. "Head, shoulders,feet, knees, or any part of your body except your hands, can touch theball. _Polaris_ unit will defend the north goal," he said, pointing to awhite chalk line fifty yards away, "_Arcturus_ the south," and hepointed to a line equally distant in the opposite direction."Five-minute periods, with one-minute rest between. All clear?"

  As captain of the _Polaris_ unit, Tom nodded, while smiling at thecaptain of the _Arcturus_ team, a tow-headed boy with short chunky legsnamed Schohari.

  "All clear, Mike," said Tom.

  "All clear here, Mike," responded Schohari.

  "All right, shake hands and take your places."

  The six boys shook hands and jogged toward respective opposite lines.Mike waited for them to reach their goal lines, and then placed the ballin the middle of a chalk-drawn circle.

  Toeing the line, Tom, Roger and Astro eyed the _Arcturus_ crew andprepared for the dash to the ball.

  "All right, fellas," urged Tom, "let's show them something!"

  "Yeah," breathed Astro, "just let me get my size thirteens on thatpumpkin before it starts twisting around!"

  Astro wanted the advantage of the first kick at the ball while themercury tube inside was still quiet. Once the mercury was agitated, theball would be as easy to kick as a well-greased eel.

  "We'll block for you, Astro," said Tom, "and you put every ounce ofbeef you've got into that first kick. If we're lucky, we might be ableto get the jump on them!"

  "Cut the chatter," snapped Roger nervously. "Baldy's ready to give usthe go ahead!"

  Standing on the side lines, Warrant Officer McKenny slowly raised hishand, and the crowd in the grandstand hushed in eager anticipation. Asecond passed and then there was a tremendous roar as he brought hishand down and blew heavily on the whistle.

  Running as if their lives depended on it, the six cadets of the twounits raced headlong toward the ball. Tom, just a little faster thanRoger or Astro, flashed down the field and veered off to block theadvancing Schohari. Roger, following him, charged into Swift, the secondmember of the _Arcturus_ crew. Astro, a few feet in back of them,running with surprising speed for his size, saw that it was going to bea close race between himself and Allen, the third member of the_Arcturus_ unit. He bowed his head and drove himself harder, the roar ofthe crowd filling his ears.

  " ... Go Astro!... Go Astro!..."

  Pounding down for the kick, Astro gauged his stride perfectly and withone last, mighty leap swung his right foot at the ball.

  There was a loud thud drowned by a roar from the crowd as the ballsailed off the ground with terrific force. And then almost immediatelythere was another thud as Allen rose in a desperate leap to block theball with his shoulder. It caromed off at a crazy angle, wobbling in itsflight as the mercury within rolled from side to side. Swift, of the_Arcturus_ crew, reached the ball first and sent it sailing at an angleover Tom's head to bounce thirty feet away. Seeing Astro charge theball, Tom threw a block on Allen to knock him out of the play. The bigVenusian, judging his stride to be a little off, shortened his steps tomove in for the kick. But just as he brought his foot forward to makecontact, the ball spun away to the left. Astro's foot continued in aperfect arc over his head, throwing him in a heap on the ground.

  Two thousand voices from the stands roared in one peal of laughter.

  While Astro lay on the ground with the wind knocked out of him, Schohariand Swift converged on the ball. With Astro down and Tom out ofposition, the _Arcturus_ unit seemed certain of scoring. But again theball rolled crazily, this time straight to Roger, the last defender. Henudged it between his opponents toward Tom, who, in turn, kicked itobliquely past Allen back to Roger again. Running with the grace andspeed of an antelope, the blond cadet met the ball in mid-field, andwhen it dropped to the ground in front of him, sent it soaring acrossthe goal with one powerful kick!

  As the cadets in the stands sent up a tumultuous cheer for the perfectlyexecuted play, the whistle blew, ending the period and the _Polaris_unit led, one to nothing.

  Breathing deeply, Astro and Roger flopped down near Tom and stretchedfull length on the grass.

  "That was a beautiful shot, Roger," said Tom. "Perfectly timed!"

  "Yeah, hot-shot," agreed Astro, "I'm glad to see that big head of yoursis good for something!"

  "Listen, fellas," said Roger eagerly, ignoring Astro, "to go into thefinals against Richards and the _Capella_ unit, we've got to beat the_Arcturus_ crew, right?"

  "Yeah," agreed Tom, "and it won't be easy. We just happened to get thebreaks."

  "Then why don't we put the game on ice?" said Roger. "Freeze the ball!We got 'em one to nothing, that's enough to beat them. When the whistleblows and it's over, we win!"

  Astro looked at Tom, who frowned and replied, "But we've still got threeperiods left, Roger. It isn't fair to freeze this early in the game. Ifit was the last minute or so, sure. But not so early. It just isn'tfair."

  "What do you want to do?" snarled Roger. "Win, or play fair?"

  "Win, of course, but I want to win the right way," said Tom.

  "How about you, Astro?" asked Roger.

  "I feel the same way that Tom does," said the big cadet. "We can beatthese guys easily--and on the square."

  "You guys make it sound like I was cheating," snapped Roger.

  "Well," said Tom, "it sure isn't giving the _Arcturus_ guys a break."

  The whistle blew for them to return to the goal line.

  "Well," asked Roger, "do we freeze or don't we?"

  "I don't want to. But majority always rules in this unit, Roger." Tomglanced at Astro. "How about it, Astro?"

  "We can beat 'em fair and square. We play all out!" answered Astro.

  Roger didn't say anything. He moved to one side and took his positionfor the dash down field.

  The whistle blew again and the crowd roared as the two teams chargedtoward the ball. The cadets were eager to see if the _Arcturus_ crewcould tie the score or if the crew of the _Polaris_ would increase itslead. But after a few moments of play, their cries of encouragementsubsided into rumbles of discontent. In its eagerness to score, the_Arcturus_ unit kept making errors and lost the ball constantly but thecrew of the _Polaris_ failed to capitalize. The second period ended withthe score unchanged.

  As he slumped to the ground for the rest period, Astro turned on Rogerbitterly. "What's the idea, Manning? You're dogging it!"

  "You play yo
ur game, Astro," replied Roger calmly, "I'll play mine."

  "We're playing this game as a team, Roger," chimed in Tom heatedly."You're kicking the ball all over the lot!"

  "Yeah," added Astro. "In every direction except the goal!"

  "I was never clear," defended Roger. "I didn't want to lose possessionof the ball!"

  "You sure didn't," said Tom. "You acted as if it was your best friendand you never wanted to be separated from it!"

  "We said we didn't want to freeze this game, Roger, and we meant it!"Astro glowered at his unit-mate. "Next period you show us some action!If you don't want to score, feed it to us and we'll save you thetrouble!"

  But the third period was the same. While Tom and Astro dashed up anddown the field, blocking out the members of the _Arcturus_ crew to giveRoger a clear shot, he simply nudged the ball back and forth between theside lines, ignoring his teammates' pleas to drive forward. As thewhistle sounded for the end of the period, boos and catcalls from thegrandstand filled the air.

  Tom's face was an angry red as he faced Roger again on the side linesduring the rest period.

  "You hear that, Roger?" he growled, nodding his head toward the stands."That's what they think of your smart playing!"

  "What do I care?" replied the blond cadet arrogantly. "They're notplaying this game! I am!"

  "And we are too!" Astro's voice was a low rumble as he came up behindManning. "If you don't give us a chance, so help me, I'll use your headfor a ball!"

  "If you're so interested in scoring, why don't you go after the ballyourselves then?" said Roger.

  "Because we're too busy trying to be a team!" snapped Tom. "We're tryingto clear shots for you!"

  "Don't be so generous," sneered Roger.

  "I'm warning you, Roger"--Astro glared at the arrogant cadet--"if youdon't straighten out and fly right--"

  McKenny's whistle from the far side lines suddenly sounded, interruptingthe big cadet, and the three boys trooped back out on the field again.Again the air was filled with boos and shouts of derision and Tom's faceflushed with shame.

  This time, when McKenny's hand flashed downward, Tom streaked for theball, instead of Schohari, his usual opponent. He measured his stridecarefully and reached the ball in perfect kicking position.

  He felt the satisfying thud against his foot, and saw the ball shoot outhigh in front of him and head for the goal line. It was a beautifulkick. But then, the ball suddenly sank, its flight altered by the actionof the mercury. Running down field, Tom saw Swift and Allen meet theball together. Allen blocked it with his chest and caromed it over toSwift. Swift let the ball drop to the ground, drawing his foot back tokick. But again, the mercury changed the ball's action, twisting it toone side and Swift's kick caught it on the side. Instead of the ballgoing down field, it veered to the left, in the path of Astro. Quicklygetting his head under it, he shifted it to Roger, who streaked in andstopped it with his hip. But then, instead of passing ahead to Tom, whoby now was down field and in the open, Roger prepared to kick for thegoal himself.

  Tom shouted a warning but it was too late. Schohari came rushing inbehind him, and at running stride, met the ball squarely with his rightfoot. It sailed high in the air and over the _Polaris_ goal line justas the whistle blew. The game was tied.

  "That was some play, Manning," said Astro, when they were lined upwaiting for the next period to begin.

  "You asked for it," snapped Roger, "you were yapping at me to play, andnow look what's happened!"

  "Listen, you loudmouthed punk!" said Astro, advancing toward the smallercadet, but just then the whistle blew and the three boys ran out ontothe field.

  The _Arcturus_ crew swept down the field quickly, heading for the balland seemingly ignoring the _Polaris_ unit. But Schohari slipped and fellon the grass which gave Tom a clear shot at the ball. He caught it withthe side of his boot and passed it toward Roger. But Allen, at fullspeed, came in and intercepted, sending the ball in a crazy successionof twists, turns and bounces. The crowd came to its feet as all sixcadets made desperate attempts to clear the skittering ball with none ofthem so much as touching it. This was the part of mercuryball thatpleased the spectator. Finally, Schohari managed to get a toe on it andhe sent it down field, but Astro had moved out to play defense. Hestopped the ball on his shoulder and dropped it to the ground. Steadyingit there, he waited until Tom was in the clear and kicked it forty yardsto the mid-field stripe.

  The crowd came to its feet, sensing this final drive might mean victoryfor the _Polaris_ crew. The boys of the _Arcturus_ swarmed in--trying tokeep Tom from scoring. With a tremendous burst of speed, Tom reached theball ahead of Schohari, and with the strength of desperation, he slammedhis foot against it. The whistle blew ending the game as the ball rosein an arc down the field and fell short of the goal by ten feet. Therewas a groan from the crowd.

  But suddenly the ball, still reacting to the mercury inside, spun likea top, rolled sideways, and as if it were being blown by a breeze,rolled toward the goal line and stopped six inches inside the whitechalk line.

  There was a moment's pause as the crowd and the players, stunned by theplay, grasped what had happened. Then swelling into a roar, there wasone word chanted over and over--"_Polaris--Polaris--Polaris_...."

  The _Polaris_ unit had reached the finals of the Academy tournament.

  * * * * *

  During the intermission Charlie Wolcheck, unit commander of the_Capella_ crew, walked over to the refreshment unit behind thegrandstand where Steve Strong, Dr. Dale and Commander Walters weredrinking Martian water and eating spaceburgers.

  "Afternoon, Commander," saluted Wolcheck. "Hello, Joan, Steve. Looks asthough your boys on the _Polaris_ are going to meet their match thisafternoon. I've got to admit they're good, but with Tony Richardsfeeding passes to Al Davison and with the blocking of Scott McAvoy--"The young officer broke off with a grin.

  "I don't know, Charlie," Commander Walters said with a wink to Dr. Dale."From the looks of Cadet Astro, if he ever gets his foot on the ball,your _Capella_ unit will have to go after it with a jet boat."

  "Why, Commander," replied Wolcheck, laughing good-naturedly, "TonyRichards is one of the finest booters I've ever seen. Saw him make agoal from the sixty-yard line from a standstill."

  Steve Strong waved a Martian water pop bottle at young Wolcheck in agesture of friendly derision.

  "Did you happen to see the play in the first period?" he boasted."Manning took a perfect pass from Astro and scored. You're finished,Wolcheck, you and your _Capella_ unit won't even come close."

  "From what I hear and see, Manning seems to be a little sore that hecan't make all the scores himself," grinned Wolcheck slyly. "He wants tobe the whole show!"

  Strong reddened and turned to put the empty bottle on the counter, usingit as an excuse to hide his feelings from the commander and Joan. SoWolcheck had observed Manning's attitude and play on the field too.

  Before Strong could reply, a bugle sounded from the field and the groupof Solar Guard officers returned to their seats for the final game ofthe tournament between the _Capella_ and the _Polaris_ units.

  Out on the field Mike made his usual speech about playing fair and gavethe cadets the routine instructions of the game, reminding them thatthey were spacemen first, unit-members second, and individuals third andlast. The six boys shook hands and jogged down the field to take uptheir positions.

  "How about concentrating on the passes Richards is going to feed toDavison," Tom asked his unit-mates. "Never mind blocking out Richardsand McAvoy."

  "Yeah," agreed Astro, "play for the ball. Sounds good to me."

  "How about it, Roger?" asked Tom.

  "Just play the game," said Roger. And then added sarcastically, "Anddon't forget to give them every chance to score. Let's play fair andsquare, the way we did with the _Arcturus_ unit."

  "If you feel that way, Manning," answered Astro coldly, "you can quitright now! We'll handle the _Capella_ guys ourselves!"
r />   Before Roger could answer, McKenny blew the ready whistle and the threeboys lined up along the white chalk line preparing for the dash to thewaiting ball.

  The cadets in the stands were hushed. McKenny's hand swept up and thenquickly down as he blew the whistle. The crowd came to its feet,roaring, as Tom, five steps from his own goal line, tripped and fellheadlong to the grass, putting him out of the first play. Astro andRoger charged down the field, with Astro reaching the ball first. Hemanaged a good kick, but Richards, three feet away, took the ballsquarely on his chest. The mercuryball fell to the ground, spun in adizzy circle and with a gentle tap by Richards, rolled to Davison, whotook it in stride and sent it soaring for a forty-five-yard goal.

  The _Capella_ unit had drawn first blood.

  "Well, hot-shot," snarled Roger back on the starting line, "whathappened to the big pass-stealing idea?"

  "I tripped, Manning," said Tom through clenched teeth.

  "Yeah! Tripped!" sneered Roger.

  The whistle blew for the next goal.

  Tom, with an amazing burst of speed, swept down the field, broke strideto bring him in perfect line with the ball and with a kick that seemedalmost lazy, sent the ball from a dead standstill, fifty yards over the_Capella_ goal before any of the remaining players were within five feetof it, and the score was tied.

  The crowd sprang to its feet again and roared his name.

  "That was terrific!" said Astro, slapping Tom on the back as they linedup again. "It looked as though you hardly kicked that ball at all."

  "Yeah," muttered Roger, "you really made yourself the grandstand'sdelight!"

  "What's that supposed to mean, Manning?" asked Astro.

  "Superman Corbett probably burned himself out! Let's see him keep upthat speed for the next ten minutes!"

  The whistle blew for the next goal, and again the three boys movedforward to meet the onrushing _Capella_ unit.

  Richards blocked Astro with a twist of his body, and without stoppinghis forward motion, kicked the ball squarely toward the goal. It stoppedten feet short, took a dizzying spin and rolled away from the goal line.In a flash, the six boys were around the ball, blocking, shoving, andyelling instructions to each other while at the same time kicking at theunsteady ball. With each grazing kick, the ball went into even moremaddening spins and gyrations.

  At last Richards caught it with the side of his foot, flipped it toMcAvoy who dropped back, and with twenty feet between him and thenearest _Polaris_ member, calmly booted it over the goal. The whistleblew ending the first period, and the _Capella_ unit led two to one.

  During the next three periods, the _Capella_ unit worked like awell-oiled machine. Richards passed to Davison or McAvoy, and when theywere too well guarded, played brilliantly alone. The _Polaris_ unit, onthe other hand, appeared to be hopelessly outclassed. Tom and Astrofought like demons but Roger's lack of interest gave the _Capella_ unitthe edge in play. At the end of the fourth period, the _Capella_ teamled by three points, seven to four.

  While the boys rested before the fifth and final period, Captain Strong,having watched the play with keen interest, realized that Roger was notplaying up to his fullest capabilities. Suddenly he summoned a near-byEarthworm cadet, scribbled a message on a slip of paper and instructedthe cadet to take it directly to Roger.

  "Orders from the coach on the side lines?" asked Wolcheck as he noticedStrong's action.

  "You might call it that, Charlie," answered Steve blandly.

  On the field, the cadet messenger handed Roger the slip of paper, notmentioning that it was from Strong, and hurried back to the stands.

  "Getting fan mail already?" asked Astro.

  Roger ignored the comment and opened the slip of paper to read:

  " ... It might interest you to know that the winning team of themercuryball finals is to be awarded a first prize of three days' libertyin Atom City...." There was no signature.

  Roger stared up into the stands and searched vainly for some indicationof the person who might have sent him the note. The crowd hushed asMcKenny stepped forward for the starting of the last period.

  "What was in the note, Roger?" asked Tom.

  "The winning combination," smiled Roger lazily. "Get set for the fastestgame of mercuryball you've ever played, Corbett! We've got to pull thismess out of the fire!"

  Bewildered, Tom looked at Astro who merely shrugged his shoulders andtook his place ready for the whistle. Roger tucked the note into hisshorts and stepped up to the line.

  "Listen, Corbett," said Roger, "every time Richards gets the ball, hekicks it to his left, and then McAvoy feints as if to get it, leavingDavison in the open. When you go to block Davison, you leave Richards inthe clear. He just keeps the ball. He's scored three times that way!"

  "Yeah," said Tom, "I noticed that, but there was nothing I could doabout it, the way you've been playing."

  "Kinda late in the game for any new ideas, Manning," growled Astro."Just get the ball and pass it to me."

  "That's my whole idea! Play back, Astro. Move like you're very tired,see? Then they'll forget about you and play three on two. You just beready to kick and kick hard!"

  "What's happened to you, Roger?" asked Tom. "What was in that note?"

  Before Roger could answer, the whistle and the roar from the crowdsignaled the beginning of the last period. The cadets raced down thefield, Roger swerving to the left and making a feint at blockingRichards. He missed intentionally and allowed Richards to get the ball,who immediately passed to the left. McAvoy raced in on the ball, Tommade a move as if to block him, reversed, and startled the onrushingRichards with a perfect block. The ball was in the clear. Roger gave ita half kick and the ball landed two feet in front of Astro. The bigcadet caught it perfectly on the first bounce and kicked it on a lineacross the goal, seventy yards away.

  Up in the stands, Steve Strong smiled as he watched the score change onthe board: "_Capella_ seven--_Polaris_ five!"

  In rapid succession, the _Polaris_ unit succeeded in intercepting theplay of the _Capella_ unit and rolling up two goals to an even score.Now, there were only fifty-five seconds left to play.

  The cadets in the stands roared their approval of the gallant effortmade by the three members of the _Polaris_ crew. It had been a long timesince mercuryball had been played with such deadly accuracy at SpaceAcademy and everyone who attended the game was to remember for years tocome the last play of the game.

  McKenny blew the whistle again and the boys charged forward, but bynow, aware of the sudden flash of unity on the part of the opposingteam, the _Capella_ unit fought desperately to salvage at least a tie.

  Tom managed to block a kick by Richards, and the ball took a dizzy hopto the left, landing in front of Astro. He was in the clear. The standswere in an uproar as the cadets saw that the game was nearly over. Astropaused a split second, judged the ball and stepped forward to kick. Butthe ball spun away, just as Astro swung his leg. And at that instant,McAvoy came charging in from the left, only to be blocked by Roger. Butthe force of McAvoy's charge knocked Roger back into Astro. Instead ofkicking the ball, Astro caught Roger on the side of the head. Roger fellto the ground and lay still. He was knocked cold. Astro lost hisbalance, twisted on one leg unsteadily, and then fell to the ground.When he tried to get up, he couldn't walk. He had twisted his ankle.

  The _Capella_ unit members stood still, confused and momentarily unableto take advantage of their opportunity. Without a moment's hesitation,Tom swept in and kicked the ball before his opponents realized what hadhappened. The ball drifted up in a high arc and landed with severalbounces, stopping five feet from the goal.

  Suddenly Richards, McAvoy and Davison came alive and charged after Tom,who was running for the ball as fast as his weary legs would carry him.He saw Richards pull up alongside of him, then pass him. Then Davisonand McAvoy closed in on either side to block and give Richards a clearshot back down the field and a certain score.

  Richards reached the ball, stopped and carefully lined up his
kick,certain that his teammates could block out Tom. But the young cadet, ina last desperate spurt, outraced both McAvoy and Davison. Then, asRichards cocked his foot to kick, Tom jumped. With a mighty leapingdive, he sent his body hurtling headlong toward Richards just as hekicked. Tom's body crashed into the ball and Richards. The two boys wentdown in a heap but the ball caromed off his chest and rolled over thegoal line.

  The whistle blew ending the game.

  In an instant, two thousand officers, cadets and enlisted men went wildas the ball rolled across the goal line.

  The _Polaris_ crew had won eight goals to seven!

  From every corner of the field, the crowd cheered the cadets who hadfinished the game, had won it in the final seconds with two of themsprawled on the field unconscious and a third unable to stand on hisfeet.

  Up in the stands, Captain Strong turned to Commander Walters. He foundit hard to keep his eyes from filling up as he saluted briskly.

  "Captain Strong reporting, sir, on the success of the _Polaris_ unit toovercome their differences and become a fighting unit! And I mean_fight_!"