The Space Pioneers

by Carey Rockwell

  CHAPTER 10

  "Now, now, boys," purred Governor Hardy, "I think you're jumping toconclusions. Personally I'm very much pleased with the way LieutenantGovernor Vidac is handling details. And as far as the asteroid clusteris concerned, we'll go under it, or over it, or whatever is the shortestroute."

  "Yes, sir," said Tom, "but--"

  "No _buts_, Corbett," said Hardy, still smiling. "This is a greatundertaking and we need the co-operation of every member of theexpedition. In a few days we'll be arriving at Roald and the strain ofthis long trip will be over. Mr. Vidac is a capable man and I trust himimplicitly, no matter how strange his methods may appear. I urge you tobury any differences you might have with him and work for the success ofthe colony. Now what do you say?"

  Tom glanced at his two unit mates. Roger shuffled his feet and lookeddown at the deck, while Astro studied the bulkhead behind the governor'sdesk. "If that's the way you want it, sir," said Tom, "then I guesswe'll have to play along."

  "I guess you will," said Hardy, a slight edge creeping into his voice."And if you tell me any more wild, unsubstantiated stories such as Vidacsending you to scout an unknown asteroid cluster in a poorly equippedrocket scout--well, I'll have to take stronger measures to ensure yourco-operation. Do I make myself clear?"

  "Yes, sir," chorused the cadets. They saluted and left the room.

  "Well," said Tom, when they had reached the safety of their quarters, "Iguess that just about does it."

  "Yeah. We played our last card," grumbled Roger. "Either Hardy is thesmoothest crook in the world, or Vidac really has him space happy."

  "I wouldn't bet that it isn't a little bit of both," commented Astro.

  The hatch suddenly opened and the cadets spun around nervously.

  "Jeff!" they yelled in unison.

  "Hello, guys," said the enlisted man glumly as he entered the room. Heslumped on Tom's bunk. "I've got bad news."

  "We already know," said Roger. "Vidac met us before we got out of theair lock. He couldn't wait to tell us."

  "He asked us if we knew anything about it," said Tom. "We told him No."

  "I lied myself," said Marshall. "I--I was going to do a little work onit, hoping to have it ready for you when you got back, but--" He stoppedand shrugged his shoulders.

  "Never mind, Jeff," said Tom. "If Vidac suspected we were building thatcommunicator, he'd have found it sooner or later. The thing is, what arewe going to do now?"

  "I'll tell you in three words," growled Astro. The others looked at thebig cadet. "Sweat it out," he said finally.

  Tom nodded his head. "You're right, Astro. We're tied hand and foot tothis guy for the next eleven months."

  "How about Governor Hardy?" suggested Jeff.

  "We just saw the illustrious governor," said Roger bitterly. "And theonly question left in our minds is whether Hardy is working for Vidac,or Vidac for Hardy. No one could be as blind to what's going on as Hardyseems to be."

  "Three words," said Tom half to himself. "Sweat it out!"

  * * * * *

  Like a gleaming diamond on the black velvet of space, the sun star Wolf359 loomed ahead of the giant fleet, solitary and alone in itsmagnificence. With the _Polaris_ leading the way for the mass of spacevessels that stretched back and away, the pioneers and their familiesblasted through the last million miles that separated them from theirnew home in deep space.

  Fifty-five billion miles from their own sun, they were about toestablish a colony as their forefathers had done centuries before them.Like the first colony in the new world, then on the Moon, Mars, Venus,Mercury, Titan, and Ganymede, and hundreds of outposts in the asteroidbelt, these Earthmen were braving new dangers and hardships, leaving thecomfort of their homes to establish the first star colony. Inside eachof the massive ships, Earthmen gathered around the scanners to lookahead across the abyss of space and gaze at their new home. Finally themomentous order came crackling through the teleceivers.

  "_Polaris_ to fleet! Single up for landing! Ships to follow the_Polaris_ and touch down in order of their fleet numbers!"

  On the control deck of the command ship, Vidac began barking orders toTom. The three cadets had been reassigned to their original stationsbecause of their intimate knowledge and sure handling of the giant ship.

  "Prepare the ship for touchdown, Corbett!" yelled Vidac.

  "Yes, sir," said Tom. He flipped on the intercom and barked orders toAstro below on the power deck.

  "Stand by to reduce thrust to one-quarter space speed, Astro. Stand byforward nose braking rockets."

  "Right," replied Astro.

  "Hey, Roger!" yelled Tom. "How far are we from the surface?"

  "Estimated distance to touchdown is two hundred thousand feet," answeredRoger crisply.

  "Reduce thrust to minimum, Astro," barked Tom, his eyes watching everydial and meter on the control board.

  "Distance one hundred fifty thousand feet," reported Roger. "Looks likean open plain right below us. Maybe we'd better try for it, eh?"

  "I guess so," said Tom. "Relay your scan down here to the control-deckscanner." Tom gave it a quick glance, saw that there was plenty of roomon the plain Roger had mentioned to hold the entire fleet, and turned toVidac. "Request permission to touch down, sir," said Tom.

  "Granted," replied Vidac.

  The curly-haired cadet turned back to the control board and once againchecked his instruments. Behind him, Vidac and Governor Hardy watchedthe surface of Roald as the _Polaris_ began to turn for her tailfirstlanding.

  "Cut all thrust at one hundred thousand feet, Astro," ordered Tom.

  "Aye, aye," replied Astro.

  "One hundred ten thousand feet," reported Roger. "One-O-seven,one-O-four, one hundred!"

  Almost immediately, the blasting roar of the rockets was cut to awhisper and the ship began to drop toward the surface of the satellite.

  Vidac jumped forward and grabbed Tom's shoulder. "What're you trying todo, Corbett? We're falling!"

  "I have no data on the gravity of Roald," said Tom calmly. "The best wayto find out is to check our rate of fall. I can then gauge the amount ofbraking power necessary."

  Behind the two spacemen, Governor Hardy smiled. He stepped forward andtapped Vidac on the shoulder. "Whatever your difficulties coming outhere with them, Paul, you've got to admit that they know how to handlethis ship."

  "Yeah," growled Vidac. "Too bad they don't know how to handle themselvesas well."

  Tom smarted under the sarcasm but concentrated on the task of gettingthe ship safely to the ground.

  "Fifty thousand feet," reported Roger. "I'd say that the gravity ofRoald is about 2.7 over Earth's, Tom."

  "O.K., Roger," replied Tom. "Give her one-quarter thrust, Astro. We'llhave to feel our way down."

  As the rumble of the main rockets started again, Tom waited for theship's descent to be checked, and sudden concern welled up within him asthe ship failed to respond.

  "Thirty-five thousand feet," reported Roger from the radar deck.

  "Full thrust, Astro," called Tom, anxiously watching the approachingsurface of Roald. He checked his instruments again and his heart jumpedup into his throat. The needles of all the gauges and meters weredancing back and forth as though they were being flicked with invisiblefingers.

  Tom grabbed the intercom and shouted wildly. "Astro! Emergency spacespeed! We've got to get out of here!" Tom whirled around to face Vidacand Hardy. "You'd better call Professor Sykes up here, right away," hedeclared.

  "Why? What's the matter?" stuttered Hardy.

  "Something's interfering with our whole electrical system, sir," repliedthe cadet.

  "What's that, Corbett?" snapped Sykes, stepping quickly through thehatch into the control room. Tom was about to repeat his statement whensuddenly the rockets blasted loudly, and the ship tossed and rocked,throwing everyone off his feet. Astro had applied emergency power to hisreactors, sending the _Polaris_ hurtling back into the safety of space.

 
; "By the rings of Saturn," bawled Sykes, after he had adjusted to thesudden acceleration, "I'll have that space-brained idiot court-martialedfor this!"

  "It's not his fault, Professor," said Hardy, getting to his feet again."If Corbett hadn't ordered emergency space speed, we'd all be smearedacross that plain down there." He pointed to the scanner screen wherethe surface of Roald could be seen receding rapidly.

  "Umph!" snorted Sykes, "let me take a look at that control board."

  Quickly and surely, the professor tested every major circuit in thegiant panel. Finally he straightened up and turned to face Hardy.

  "Governor," he said quietly, "I'm afraid you'll have to forget aboutlanding on Roald until I can find the reason for the disturbance."

  "Then it's not caused by any malfunction aboard the ship?" Vidac brokein.

  Sykes shook his head. "Whatever force field caused those instruments toreact the way they did came from Roald. You'll have to stand off until Ican go down and make a complete investigation."

  "Well, what do you think it is?" asked Hardy.

  "It might be one of a hundred things," replied the professor. "But Iwouldn't attempt to land down there until we know what's causing theinterference and can counteract it."

  "Space gas!" exploded Vidac. "Is this another of your tricks, Corbett?"

  "Tricks, sir?" asked Tom stupidly, so incredible did the lieutenantgovernor's question seem.

  "Yes, _tricks!_" roared Vidac. "Get out of the way. I can take this shipdown." He sat down in the pilot's chair and called Roger on the radarbridge. "Notify all the other ships they are to stand off until we havemade a secure touchdown!"

  "Yes, sir!" replied Roger.

  "Professor," whispered Tom, "do something!"

  Sykes looked at Tom a moment and then turned to leave the control deck.He paused in the hatch to call back in a low voice, "What can you dowith a madman?"

  Helplessly, Tom turned to appeal to Governor Hardy but changed his mindand stood beside Hardy, crossing his fingers.

  At the controls Vidac gripped the acceleration lever and called into theintercom, "Stand by for touchdown. Power deck, cut all thrust!"

  "Power deck, aye, sir," reported Astro.

  As the main rockets were cut out again and the _Polaris_ slipped backthrough space toward the surface of Roald once more, Tom stood behindVidac with Hardy and watched the instruments begin their strangegyrations again. The cadet glanced at Hardy, whose face was impassive.

  "Sir," asked Tom quietly, "isn't there something we can do?"

  "Keep quiet, Corbett," snapped Hardy. "That's what you can do!"

  "Yes, sir," replied Tom. He turned away to climb into the nearestacceleration chair and strap himself in. He knew it was possible for the_Polaris_ to land successfully. He felt sure he could have made atouchdown on the satellite without trouble, but his first thought hadbeen for the safety of the others aboard the ship. Now it was out of hishands and he grudgingly admired the way Vidac was handling the giantrocket cruiser.

  "Twenty-five thousand feet to touchdown," reported Roger.

  So far, Vidac had kept the ship dropping at a steadily decreasing rate.But the tension on the control deck mounted as the surface of Roaldloomed closer and closer.

  "Fifteen thousand feet," reported Roger.

  Governor Hardy walked to a near-by acceleration chair and strappedhimself in.

  "Ten thousand feet!" yelled Roger.

  "Power deck, give me three-quarters thrust!" ordered Vidac. Tom heardthe whine of the rockets on the power deck increase with a sharp surge.

  "Seven thousand feet," reported Roger.

  Vidac remained cool, staring at the control board. Tom wondered what itwas he was watching, since there wasn't one instrument that registeredproperly.

  "Five thousand feet!" screamed Roger. "Spaceman's luck!"

  _The_ Polaris _landed safely on the surface of thesatellite_]

  Immediately Vidac ordered Astro to apply full thrust to the mainrockets. The great ship bucked under the sudden acceleration, and Tomcould feel the tug of war between the cruiser's thrust and thesatellite's gravity. The ship continued to drop at slightly lessenedspeed, but still too fast to land safely.

  Tom waited for Vidac to order emergency thrust to counter the pull ofthe satellite. They were dropping too fast. He watched Vidac and waitedfor the only order that would save the ship. If he doesn't do it now,thought Tom, it will be too late.

  "Vidac!" yelled Tom. "Emergency power! We're falling too fast!"

  Vidac didn't answer. "Vidac!" screamed Tom again. "Emergency power!"

  The man didn't move. He sat in front of the control panel as thoughparalyzed. Tom slipped off the straps of the acceleration chair andraced to the intercom. Vidac made no attempt to stop him.

  "Astro! Full emergency thrust! Hit it!"

  In immediate reply, a jolting burst of power blasted through the tubes,jerking the ship convulsively and throwing Tom to the deck. A loud,crashing sound filled the ship, followed by a strange stillness. DimlyTom realized that the rockets had been cut and they were safely on thesurface of the satellite.

  He picked himself up and turned to face Vidac. The lieutenant governorwas unstrapping himself from the pilot's chair. His face was ashen. Hestalked out of the control deck without a word.

  "Touchdown!" screamed Roger from the radar deck. "We made it. We're onRoald!"

  Tom heard the blond-haired cadet, but his unit mate's excitement did notregister. He was staring at the open hatch. "He lost his nerve," saidTom aloud, half to himself and half to Governor Hardy who wasunstrapping himself from the acceleration chair. "He quit cold!"

  "He certainly did," said Hardy. "And if it wasn't for your quickthinking, we'd be spread all over this satellite!"

  Roger tumbled down the ladder from the radar deck. "Nice work, Tom," heshouted, slapping his unit mate on the back. He followed Tom's gaze pastHardy to the empty hatch.

  "Say, can you imagine a guy like that suddenly losing his nerve?" askedRoger.

  "No," replied Tom. "If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes I wouldn'tbelieve it!"

  "This will go on your official record of course," said Hardy. "I'll seethat you're rewarded in some way, Corbett."

  "Thank you, sir," said Tom. "But if you could just assure me that myreports back to the Academy will get through, I'll be very happy."

  "You mean they're not being sent?" asked Hardy, seemingly quiteconcerned.

  "No, sir," replied Tom. "At least I don't think so. And this is thefirst time I've had a chance to tell you."

  "Well," said Hardy, "there's a lot to be done now that we've arrived,Corbett. I'll take this matter up with Vidac as soon as I get a chance."He turned and walked off the control deck.

  "Well, I'll be a space monkey!" exclaimed Roger.

  "Yeah," agreed Tom, "I'll be two of them!"