The Space Pioneers

by Carey Rockwell

  CHAPTER 12

  "What do you want?" growled Ed Bush. He stood at the air lock of the_Polaris_, a brace of paralo-ray guns strapped to his side. "Why ain'tyou out growing corn?"

  Hyram Logan smiled. He held out the books and study spools the cadetshad given him on the trip out. "I wanted to return these to the cadets.They lent them to my son. He wants to be a Space Cadet when he's oldenough."

  "I can think of a lot better things he could be," sneered Bush. Hejerked his thumb toward the entrance port of the giant spaceship. "Allright, get aboard. You got a half-hour."

  Logan entered the cruiser quickly and made his way to the cadets'quarters. Tom was asleep. Roger and Astro were playing a game ofcheckers. When Logan entered, the two cadets quickly forgot their gameand turned to greet the farmer.

  "Hiya, Mr. Logan!" said Astro. "You saved me from doing a wicked deed."

  Logan stared at the big cadet, puzzled. "How's that again, Astro?"

  Roger laughed. "He's joking, sir. I was about to clean him out in a gameof checkers."

  Logan sat wearily on the side of the nearest bunk. "I wish all I had tolose was a game of checkers."

  He quickly filled in the details of the meeting between Vidac and thefarmers. Tom had awakened by this time and heard the last of the olderman's story. He turned to his unit mates.

  "Well, it looks as though we're right back where we started," he said."And here I thought Vidac was O.K. after the way he worked during thepast ten days setting up Roald City."

  "I've been talking to some of the other men," said Logan bitterly. "Theyfeel the same way I do. Something's got to be done about this!"

  "But what?" asked Roger.

  "And how?" chimed in Astro.

  "Force, by the stars!" yelled Logan. "And when I say force, I meanthrowing Vidac and Hardy and his crew out!"

  "You can't do a thing like that, sir," said Tom. "It would be playingright into their hands. Remember, Vidac and Hardy represent the SolarAlliance here on Roald. If you tried force, you would be charged withrebellion against the Solar Alliance!"

  "Well," snorted Logan, "what have _you_ got in mind?"

  "When the enemy is in full control, Mr. Logan," said Tom quietly, "thebest thing to do is draw back and regroup, then wait for the rightmoment to attack. Vidac wants you to revolt now. He's expecting it, I'msure. But if we wait, he can't get away with making you mortgage yourland holdings or your profits. Somewhere along the line he'll slip up,and when he does, that's when we start operating!"

  Meanwhile, in his luxurious office in the Administration Building, Vidacsat behind a massive desk, talking to Tad Winters.

  "Now that the land boundaries have been established, and the colonistshave their little pieces of dirt," he said, "we can go right to work.I've told the farmers that they'll have to sign over half of theirprofits to get chemicals to farm with. They're already talking aboutrevolt, which is just what I want them to do. Let them rebel. We canthrow them into the brig, send them back to Earth, and take over theirproperty in the name of the City of Roald!"

  "Which is you," said Tad Winters with a smile. "That's the smartest ideayou've ever had, boss!"

  "In a short while," continued Vidac, "the entire satellite will be mine.Ships, houses--and--"

  Suddenly the door opened and Ed Bush hurried into the room."Boss!--boss!" he shouted breathlessly. "Logan is spilling everything tothe Space Cadets!"

  "What?" cried Vidac. "How did that happen?"

  "He came to the _Polaris_," whined Bush. "Said he had some books andstuff he wanted to return, so I let him aboard. Luckily I followed himand listened outside the door."

  "What did they talk about?" demanded Vidac.

  "Logan told them about the meeting with the farmers the other night. Hewanted to get the colonists together to start a rebellion, but Corbettconvinced him it would be the wrong thing to do."

  "What?" yelled Vidac. He rose and grabbed Bush around the throat. "Youdirty space crawler! You've ruined everything. All my plans messed up,because you let a hick and a kid outsmart you!"

  "I'm sorry, boss," Bush whined. "I didn't know."

  "Get out of here!" Vidac snarled. "I should have known better than tojeopardize the whole operation by signing on a couple of space jerkslike you two! Get out!"

  The two men left hurriedly and Vidac began to pace the floor. He wasacutely aware that his scheme was out in the open. All of the carefulplanning to keep the cadets off balance and unsure of him until he couldmake his move was lost. He regretted not having gotten rid of thembefore, out in space, where unexplained accidents would be accepted. Hehad placed too much confidence in Bush and Winters and hadunderestimated the cadets. Something had to be done--and fast! But itcouldn't be anything obvious, or his plans of taking over Roald wouldfail.

  The buzz of the teleceiver on his desk interrupted his train of thoughtand he flipped open the small scanner.

  "Professor Sykes to see you, sir," reported his aide in the outeroffice.

  "Tell him to come back later," said Vidac. "I'm busy."

  "He says it's very important," replied the aide.

  "All right--all right, send him in," snapped Vidac and closed the key onthe teleceiver irritably. A second later the door opened and ProfessorSykes entered hurriedly. He was dirty and dusty from his ten-day stay inthe desert wastes of the satellite.

  "Vidac!" cried Sykes excitedly. "I've just made the most tremendousdiscovery in the history of the Solar Alliance!"

  Vidac eyed the professor calculatingly. He had never seen the old manexcited before. "Sit down, Professor," he said. "You look as if you justwalked through the New Sahara on Mars. Here, drink this!" Vidac offeredthe professor a glass of water and waited expectantly.

  Sykes drank the water in one gulp and poured another glass before takinghis seat. He began digging into his pouch and pulling out sheets of whatappeared to be exposed film. He rummaged around for his glasses, andafter adjusting them on his hawklike nose, began to sort the sheets offilm.

  "When the instruments on the _Polaris_ went crazy out in space," beganSykes nervously, "I knew there was only one thing that could cause sucha disturbance. Radioactivity! As soon as we landed, I began to look forthe source. At first I used a Geiger counter. But I couldn't get anaccurate count. The counter was as erratic as the instruments. So Itried film. Here is the result." He handed the exposed film to Vidac."This film was protected by lead sheeting. It would take a deposit ofpitchblende richer than anything I've ever heard of to penetrate thelead. But look at it! The film is completely exposed. The only thingthat could do that is a deposit of uranium at least seventy-five percent pure!"

  Vidac studied the films closely. "Where is this strike?" he askedcasually. "Is it on land that has been parceled out to the colonists?"

  "I don't know whose land it's on. But I'm telling you this! It's goingto make someone the richest man in the Solar Alliance!"

  Sykes fumbled in his pouch again and this time brought out a dirty pieceof paper. "This is a report giving the location and an assay estimate.It has to be sent back to the Solar Council right away. Havecommunications with Earth been established yet?"

  Vidac shook his head and reached out for the report. "If what you say istrue," he said coolly, "we can always send it back on the _Polaris_."

  He took the report and read it over. He recognized immediately thedanger of Sykes's discovery. He laid the film and the report on his deskand faced the professor. "And you are absolutely sure of your findings?"

  Sykes snorted. "I've been working with uranium all my life. And I shouldknow a deposit like this when I see one!"

  Vidac didn't answer. He turned to the teleceiver and flipped it on."Send Winters and Bush in here right away," he told the aide.

  "You going to send those two back with this report?" asked Sykes."Personally I'd feel a lot safer if you'd send those Space Cadets and myassistant, Jeff Marshall. They may be young, but they can be dependedon."

  "I'd rather send men _I_ can depend on, Professor,
" said Vidac. "As yousay, the cadets are still quite young. And this report is too importantto take chances."

  The door opened and Winters and Bush entered.

  Vidac stuffed the report and the exposed film into a dispatch case andquickly sealed it. He handed it over to Winters. "Guard this with yourlife," said Vidac seriously.

  "Wait a minute," said Sykes. "Aren't you going to tell Governor Hardyabout this?"

  "This is so important, Professor," said Vidac, "that I think we shouldget it off at once. There's plenty of time to tell the governor."

  "Well, all right." Sykes got up and stretched. "After almost two weeksin that desert, I'm ready for a nice clean bed and something to eatbesides synthetics." He turned to Winters and Bush. "That pouch is worthmore than any man ever dreamed of. Be sure you guard it well!"

  "You can depend on us, Professor," said Winters.

  "Yeah," said Bush. "Don't worry about a thing."

  The three spacemen watched the professor leave. As soon as the doorclosed, Vidac grabbed the pouch out of Winters' hand. His face hardenedand his eyes were narrow slits.

  "You messed up one operation for me, but luck has given us anotherchance. If you mess this one up, I'll dump you into space for a longswim. Now listen to me!"

  The two spacemen crowded close to Vidac's desk.

  "Sykes has just made the biggest discovery in the universe. It's worthbillions! The cadets are in our way, and as long as the professor isalive, so is he! We're going to wipe them out. I want you to take theprofessor to that asteroid we spotted a few days ago and keep him there.I'm going to accuse the cadets of getting rid of the old man, so we caneliminate the cadets, the professor, and keep the uranium secret forourselves. His report says it's located at section three, map eight.That's the property given to Logan. After we get rid of the cadets andthe professor, we'll have plenty of time to bounce old Logan. This isthe sweetest operation this side of paradise. And it's all mine!"

  "But what kind of proof will you have that the cadets did something tothe old man?" asked Winters. "Getting rid of Space Cadets is a prettytricky job."

  "Tomorrow I'll assign the cadets to work with the professor again. Thatjerk, Manning, has a sharp tongue. I'll set up something that will getthem into an argument in the presence of some of the colonists. WhenSykes disappears right after that, we'll have witnesses to prove thatManning was gunning for the old man!"

  "But how do you know that Manning will get mad enough?" asked Bush.

  Vidac smiled. "I know Manning. And besides, I know what I'm going to do,to _make_ Manning blast his tubes!"