The Space Pioneers

by Carey Rockwell

  CHAPTER 13

  The first real community problem came when it was learned that theentire supply of school study spools were lost in the crashed ships.There was talk among the colonists of sending a ship back to Earth atonce for replacements, but Vidac stepped in and took over. He called ameeting with the three Space Cadets, Jeff Marshall, and Professor Sykes,and told them of his plan.

  "I want you to make new study spools on every subject you can remember,"Vidac ordered. "Simple arithmetic, spelling, geography, celestialstudies, physics, in fact, everything that you learned in prepschool--and before that."

  "That may be all right for boys," grumbled Professor Sykes, stillsmarting under the refusal of his violent protest at being taken fromhis uranium studies and placed in charge of the school problem. "Butwhat about the girls? There are quite a few of them and they needspecial consideration."

  "What kind of consideration?" asked Vidac.

  "Well, whatever it is a girl has to know. Sew, cook, keep house, takecare of children and--and--" The professor sputtered, hesitated, andconcluded lamely, "A--a lot of things!"

  Vidac smiled. "Very well. I'll speak to a few of the mothers and see ifI can't get you some assistance. In the meantime, I want you, Corbett,Manning, Astro, and Marshall to do what you can about beginning thechildren's schooling."

  "All right," snorted Sykes, "but I can think of better ways to spend thenext two or three weeks."

  "And one more thing, Professor," continued Vidac. "I want it clearlyunderstood that you are responsible for the cadets. For what they do, or_don't_ do!"

  The faces of the three cadets began to flush under the sarcasm.

  "And I want you to pay particular attention to Manning," Vidac went on."He seems to have the biggest mouth in the unit."

  "Well, he'd better watch his step with me or he'll find himself in aspace hurricane!" Sykes said gruffly.

  Vidac turned to Roger, but the blond-haired cadet was staring down athis boots. Vidac suppressed a smile. A few days under the whiplashtongue of Sykes, who would be anxious to finish the project and returnto his own studies, and Manning would either buckle or flare up in openrevolt. The lieutenant governor considered the possibilities and noddedin satisfaction.

  "That's all, Professor Sykes," he said, rising and then turning to thecadets. "And I'd advise you boys to give the professor all the aid youcan."

  "Yes, sir," said Tom. "We understand. We'll do our best."

  "Dismissed," said Vidac.

  The three cadets and Marshall saluted sharply and filed out of the room.But Professor Sykes hesitated and turned to Vidac.

  "I'd like to speak to you a moment about the--ah--"

  "That's been taken care of, Professor," replied Vidac. "Nothing to worryabout."

  "Has the complete report been sent back?" asked Sykes.

  "I said it had been taken care of," answered Vidac coolly. "That's allyou have to know! Dismissed!"

  Sykes hesitated, nodded, and finally followed the cadets from the room.

  Vidac turned and flipped on the intercom. "I want Ed Bush in here and Iwant him fast!" he barked. Then, swinging his chair around, he gazed outthe window. He could see the entire city of Roald spread out before himand the sight filled him with pleasure. With the ownership of theuranium deposit and full control of the colony, mastery of the entiresatellite and possibly the star system itself was only one short stepaway.

  The door opened and Ed Bush hurried breathlessly into the room. "Yousent for me, boss?" he asked.

  Vidac swung around to face his lieutenant. "How much do you know aboutelectronics and astrophysics?" he snapped.

  "Why, as much as the average guy, I guess," answered Bush.

  "Well, you're going to learn more," said Vidac. He began to outline hisplan quickly. "I want you to hang around Sykes and the cadets on thisnew education project. They're going to make study spools for the colonykids. Manning will be in charge of electronics and astrophysics. Nowhere's what I want you to do...."

  While the lieutenant governor was outlining his plan to his henchman,the three cadets were entering their new quarters on the lower floor ofthe Administration Building.

  "Can you imagine that guy?" asked Astro. "Picking on Roger in front ofProfessor Sykes? He as good as told the professor to give Roger a hardtime!"

  As the big Venusian slammed one hamlike fist into the other, Tom nudgedhim in the ribs and then turned to Roger with a smile.

  "Don't worry about it, Roger," said Tom. "We've got a job to do. Gettingthe school system going here on Roald is important, and whether you likehim or not, Professor Sykes is the best man to handle it."

  "I realize that, Tom," said Roger. "But I don't know how long I can--"

  Jeff Marshall suddenly appeared in the doorway of their quarters."Professor Sykes wants to see us right away, fellows," he announced."And watch your temper, Roger. Just do the best you can, and theprofessor will leave you alone."

  "You said it," agreed Tom. "Nothing in the universe talks as loudly ashard work. Let's all show him."

  The three cadets followed the enlisted spaceman out of the room andheaded toward Sykes's quarters. Tom's thoughts were confused. He wasn'tsure of his feelings any more. So much had happened since theirdeparture from Space Academy. Then, suddenly, he realized that he hadn'tsent his second report to Captain Strong. He wasn't even sure whetherhis first report had gotten through. He turned to Astro and remarkedcasually, "I wonder what Captain Strong is doing right now?"

  "I don't know," replied Astro. "But I sure wish he was here!"

  "Say it again, spaceboy," growled Roger. "Say it again!"

  At that moment over fifty-five billion miles away, in his office high inthe Tower of Galileo, Commander Walters was talking with Captain SteveStrong and Dr. Joan Dale. The stern-faced, gray-haired commander ofSpace Academy frowned as he read a report Joan Dale had just given him.

  "Are you sure of this, Joan?" he asked.

  "I'm positive, Commander," replied the beautiful young doctor ofastrophysics. "The tests are conclusive. There is uranium on Roald!"

  "But I don't understand why it wasn't discovered before this?" musedStrong. "It's been nearly a year since the first exploratory expeditionout to Roald."

  "Samplings of the soil of Roald were taken from all sections of thesatellite, Steve," replied Joan. "On-the-spot tests were made by thescientists of course, but there were no indications of uranium then. Butcadets majoring in planetary geology tested the soil samples as part oftheir training. Several of them reported uranium findings. And I checkedall their examinations carefully, besides making further tests of myown. That report is the result." She indicated the paper on Walters'desk.

  "But you say the deposit is probably a large one," Walters protested."How could it have been missed?"

  "Not necessarily large, sir," said Joan, "but certainly of the purestquality."

  Walters looked up at Strong. "Well, Steve?"

  "Joan told me about it, sir," said Strong. "And since an investigationis probably the next step, I came over, hoping you'd let me go along."He paused and looked at Joan.

  "Steve would also like to see his crew of Space Cadets." Joan smiled."He hasn't received a report from them yet, and I think he's worriedthey might be involved in some mischief!"

  "No report, eh?" asked Walters.

  "No, sir," replied Steve. "I thought one would be waiting for me when Igot back from Pluto. But there wasn't any."

  "Ummmh!" mused Walters. He looked at his calendar. "About time for themto send in a second report too. Tell you what, Steve. They might behaving a tough time setting up things out there on Roald. Suppose youget things organized to investigate the uranium report. And if no wordcomes in from the cadets by the end of the week, then you can blastoff."

  "Thank you, sir," said Strong. "Will you excuse me, sir? I'd like to getto work right away."

  At Walters' nod, Strong saluted briskly and left the office. Waltersturned to Joan.

  "You know, I don't think he's ha
lf as interested in finding a biguranium deposit as he is in seeing those boys!"

  * * * * *

  In four separate soundproof cubicles in a small office in theAdministration Building on Roald, the three space cadets and JeffMarshall racked their brains to remember simple equations and formulas,knowledge learned years ago but long-since forgotten, for the morecomplicated subjects of space, time, and rocket travel. Now, trying torecall simple arithmetic and other elementary studies, the cadets andMarshall worked eighteen hours a day. Speaking directly intosoundscribers and filling what seemed to be miles of audio tape, thefour spacemen attempted to build a comprehensive library of a hundredcarefully selected subjects for the children of Roald. Professor Sykeslistened to the study spools as they were completed. He listenedcarefully, reviewed their work, edited it, and made notes for follow-upcomment. Then, at the end of the day, he would hold a final meeting withthem, outline what he wanted the next day, and reject spools that hefelt were not satisfactory. For older children's studies, the threecadets and Jeff had divided their work into four classifications. Rogercovered electronics, astrophysics, astrogation, and allied fields. Astrotook charge of rockets, missiles, power machinery, and applied uses ofatomic energy. Jeff's work was biological, bacteriological,mineralogical, and geological. Tom covered social studies, government,economy, and history.

  Resting as comfortably as possible, each of the four spacemen would sitand think. And when he had gone as far back as he could in his memory offormal education and acquired knowledge, he would begin to talk into thesoundscriber. Of all the spools, Tom's were edited the least. AndProfessor Sykes had unbent enough to compliment the curly-haired cadetfor his lucid thinking and acute memory. Astro's work needed the mostediting. The giant Venusian found it difficult to explain what he didwhen he repaired atomic power plants, or how he could look at a piece ofmachinery and know instinctively when it was out of order. He workedtwice as hard as the others, simply because Sykes made him do everythingover.

  On the other hand, Roger sailed along as smoothly as a jet boat. Hisgrasp of the fundamentals in his field made it easy for him to fill thestudy spools with important information. Jeff, too, found it easy toexplain the growth of plants, the function of bacteria, the formation ofplanet crusts, and other allied subjects.

  So, day after day, Tom, Astro, Roger, and Jeff Marshall spent theirwaking hours in the cubicles searching their minds for every lastprecious drop of knowledge they could impart to the children of Roald.

  Vidac's warning to Professor Sykes to keep an eye on Roger had beenforgotten by everyone in the concerted effort to do a good job. And whenthe cadets and Jeff left their work one night after a loud argumentbetween the professor and Roger over the best way to explain the theoryof captive planets, they thought nothing of it. The argument hadn't beenunusual. It had happened many times on the same score. Professor Sykeswas prone to favor dry, factual explanations. And the cadets believedsome of the theories needed explanations in terms a youngster couldunderstand. Sykes did not object to this method, but was wary of losingfacts and clarity in the method of instruction. In this particular case,Roger had given in to Sykes, but only after a heated argument. And whenthey went back to their quarters, there was none of the usualdiscussion. They were too tired. They fell asleep as soon as their headstouched their pillows.

  The next morning, still groggy, their heads filled with facts andfigures, buzzing with dates and explanations, they returned to theircubicles for more of the same. Sykes met them at the office door.

  "Well, Manning!" he snapped. "You still insist you know more, _and_ canteach better than I, eh?" He glowered at the cadet.

  "I don't understand, sir," said Roger.

  "You don't, eh?" screamed Sykes. "You came back here last night andchanged that spool to _your_ liking!"

  "I did what?" asked Roger, incredulous. Only a few moments before hecould hardly drag himself from his bunk. The idea of returning to theoffice before the required time was incredible. "I'm sorry, sir," hesaid, "but I only got out of bed a few minutes ago."

  Ed Bush and several colonists suddenly appeared and Sykes whirled aroundto face them.

  "Well! What do you want?" he demanded.

  "Governor Vidac said we could pick up some of the spools that wereready," said Bush.

  "Well, there isn't anything ready now," growled Sykes. "When I'mfinished, I'll let Vidac know." He turned back to Roger.

  "Well, Manning? What have you got to say for yourself?"

  "I don't know what you're talking about, sir!" answered Roger.

  "Cadet Manning," shouted Sykes, "do you remember our conversation lastnight on the subject of circular motion of captive planets around a sunstar?"

  "Yes, sir," said Roger.

  "And do you recall your childish manner of explaining it?" sneeredSykes.

  "Now just a minute, sir," said Roger, "I might be wrong--but--"

  "Quiet!" The professor was screaming now. He turned around and inserteda study spool in a soundscriber. Turning it on he waited, glaring atRoger. The blond-haired cadet's voice came over the machine'sloud-speaker clearly and precisely.

  " ... the idea of motion of one satellite around a mother planet, orplanet around a sun star, can best be explained by the use of a rocktied to the end of a rope. If you swing the rope around your head, therock will maintain a steady position, following a measured orbit. Theplanets, and their captive satellites, work on the same principle, withthe gravity of the mother planet substituted for the rope, and thesatellite for the rock...."

  Sykes stopped the machine, turned, and glared at Roger. "Do you denythat that is your voice?"

  Roger shook his head. "It's my voice all right but--"

  "_And_ do you deny that last night, before we left, it was decided thatmy explanation would be used?"

  Roger's face reddened. "No, sir," he said tightly.

  "Then how do you explain that _your_ voice with _your_ explanation isnow on the master spool?" screamed Sykes.

  "I--I--can't explain it, sir," said Roger, fighting to control histemper.

  "I can!" snapped Sykes. "You sneaked back in here last night andsubstituted your original recording--the one I threw out!"

  "But he couldn't have done that, Professor," interjected Tom. "He wasasleep all night!"

  "Were you awake all night, Corbett?" asked Sykes coldly.

  "No, sir," replied Tom.

  "Then you couldn't possibly know if he was sleeping or down hererecording, could you?"

  "No, sir," said Tom quietly.

  "Cadet Manning, this is the most disgusting, disgraceful performanceI've ever seen by a Space Cadet!"

  "Then you're calling me a liar, sir," said Roger quietly, "when I denythat I did it."

  "Can you explain it?" demanded Sykes.

  Roger shook his head and remained silent.

  "Get out!" screamed Sykes. "Vidac warned me about you! Go on! Get out! Iwon't work with a liar and a cheat!"

  Before anyone could stop him, Roger leaped forward and stood in front ofSykes, grabbing him by the front of his uniform. "I've had enough ofyour insults and accusations!" he shouted. "If you weren't an old man,I'd drag you out of that Solar Guard uniform and beat your ears off!You're so crazy, you make everyone around you nuts! If you have anycomplaints about my work, put them in writing and give them to thegovernor!"

  He turned and stalked out of the office.

  "Roger, wait!" called Tom, rushing after his unit mate with Astro at hisheels.

  The colonists began to whisper to each other excitedly, but Ed Bushmerely stood in the doorway and smiled!