On the Trail of the Space Pirates | Page 9

before the fair even
opens. So let's leave them alone."

"What are you afraid of?" drawled Roger, a mischievous gleam in his
eyes. "Just a little fun with those guys won't hurt." He stepped to the
side of the clearing and leaned over the fence separating the two areas.
"Tell me something, spaceman," he yelled to Wallace, who was busy
with some gear at the base of the ship, "you don't expect people to pay
to ride that thing, do you?" He smiled derisively and added, "Got
insurance to cover the families?"
"Listen, punk!" sneered Wallace, "get back over to your Solar Guard
space toy and keep your trap shut!"
"Now--now--" jeered Roger, "mustn't get nasty. Remember, we're
going to be neighbors. Never can tell when you might want to borrow
some baling wire or chewing gum to keep your craft together!"
"Look, wise guy, one more crack out of you, and I'll send you out of
this world without a spaceship!" snarled Wallace through grating teeth.
"Any time you'd like to try that, you know where I am," Roger snapped
back.
"Okay, punk! You asked for it," yelled Wallace. He had been holding a
length of chain and now he swung it at Roger. The cadet ducked easily,
hopped over the fence, and before Wallace knew what was happening,
jolted him with three straight lefts and a sharp right cross. Wallace
went down in a heap, out cold.
Luther Simms, who had been watching the affair from one side, now
rushed at Roger with a monkey wrench. With the ferocity of a bull,
Astro roared at the small spaceman, who stopped as if pulled up by a
string. Roger spun around, made an exaggerated bow, and smiling,
asked, "Next?"
At this point, aware that things were getting a bit thick, Tom strode
across the clearing, and grabbing the still smiling Roger, pulled him
away.

"Are you space happy?" he asked, "You know you goaded him into
swinging that chain, Roger. And that makes you entirely responsible
for what just happened!"
"Yeah," growled Astro. "Suppose he had hit you with it, then what?"
Roger, still grinning, glanced over his shoulder and saw Simms helping
Wallace to his feet. He turned to Astro, threw his arm over the big
cadet's shoulder, and drawled, "Why, then you'd have just taken them
apart to avenge me! Wouldn't you, pal?"
"Aw, stow it," snapped Tom. For a second Roger looked at him sharply,
then broke into a smile again. "O.K., Tom, I'm sorry," he said. "O.K.,
let's get back to work," ordered Tom.
Back at the Polaris, as they continued cleaning the hull of the ship,
Tom saw the two men disappear into their craft, throwing dirty looks
back at the three cadets as they went.
"You know, Roger, I think you made a very bad mistake," he said.
"One way or another, they'll try to even the score with you."
"And it won't be just a report to Captain Strong," added Astro darkly.
Roger, cocky and unafraid, broke out his engaging grin again and
shrugged his shoulders.
CHAPTER 3
"... And so we dedicate this capsule to the civilizations of the future.
Those who may dig this cylinder out of the ground in ages to come will
find within it the tools, the inventions, and the scientific wonders which
have made the era of the Solar Alliance one of peace and lasting
prosperity."
Captain Steve Strong paused, glanced at the huge crane and the
shimmering steel capsule that dangled at the end of a cable, then called
out, "Lower the capsule!"

The cheers of a hundred thousand people massed in the exposition
plaza greeted the order. The stereo camera and teleceiver scanners that
were sending the opening ceremonies of the Solar Exposition to all
parts of the Alliance moved in to focus on the capsule as it was lowered
into a deep, concrete-lined pit.
The three members of the Polaris unit, standing to one side of the
platform, joined in the cheers as their skipper shook hands with the
delegates and waved again and again at the roaring crowd.
"That was some speech, Tom," commented Roger. "I wonder who
wrote it for him?"
"He wrote it himself, Roger," replied Tom.
"Ah, go on," scoffed Roger.
"Sure he did," said Astro indignantly. "He sweated over it for nearly a
week."
"Here he comes," said Tom. The three cadets watched Captain Strong,
resplendent in his dress gold-and-black uniform, fight his way off the
platform, shaking hands with congratulating strangers along the way.
"Congratulations, Captain Strong," said Tom with a smile.
"That was swell!" Roger and Astro chorused their agreement.
"Thanks, boys," gasped Strong. "But let me tell you, I never want to do
that again. I was never so scared in my life!"
"Just making a speech?" asked