Treachery in Outer Space | Page 3

intercom, 'Give me an upshot on the ecliptic!' or 'Give me a starboard
shot!' and Astro would come through because he knows I always know
what I'm talking about."
"Not always, hot-shot!" growled Astro. "How about the time we went
out to Tara and snatched that hot copper asteroid out of Alpha
Centauri's mouth? You said the time on that reactor blast should be set
at--"
"Is that so?" snapped Roger. "Listen, you big overgrown hunk of
Venusian space gas--" Roger got no further. Astro grabbed him by the

shirt front, held him at arm's length, and began tickling him in the ribs.
The three freshmen cadets backed out of the way, glancing fearfully at
the giant Venusian. Astro's strength was awesome when seen for the
first time.
"Lemme go, you blasted space ape!" bellowed Roger, between fits of
laughter.
"Say uncle, Manning!" roared Astro. "Promise you won't call me names
again, or by the stars, I'll tickle you until you shake yourself apart!"
"All right--un-un-uncle!" managed Roger.
Astro dropped his unit mate on a bunk like a rag doll and turned back
to Tom with a shrug of his shoulders. "He'll never learn, will he?"
Tom grinned at Duke. "Astro's like a big overgrown puppy."
"Someone ought to put him on a leash," growled Roger, crawling out of
the bunk and rubbing his ribs. "Blast it, Astro, the next time you want
to show off, go play with an elephant and leave me alone."
Astro ignored him, turning to Coglin. "As much as I gas Roger," the
giant cadet said seriously, "I'd rather ride a thrust bucket with him on
the radar deck than Commander Walters. He's the best."
Tom smiled. "That's what I mean, Duke. Astro believes in Roger, and
Roger believes in Astro. I believe in them, and they in me. We've got to,
or we wouldn't last long out there in space."
The three fledgling spacemen were silent, watching and listening with
awe and envy as the Polaris crew continued their indoctrination. They
considered themselves lucky to have been drawn by these famous
cadets for their hazing. The names of Corbett, Manning, and Astro
were becoming synonymous with great adventure in space. But, with
all their hairbreadth escapes, the Polaris unit was still just learning its
job. The boys were still working off demerits, arguing with instructors
on theory, listening to endless study spools, learning the latest

advanced methods of astrogation, communication, and reactor-unit
operation. They were working toward the day when they would discard
the vivid blue uniforms of the Space Cadet Corps and don the
magnificent black and gold of the Solar Guard.
Tom was aware of the eager expressions on the faces of the
Earthworms and he smiled to himself. It was not a smile of smugness
or conceit, but rather of honest satisfaction. More than once he had
shaken his head in wonder at being a Space Cadet. The odds against it
were enormous. Each year thousands of boys from all the major planets
and the occupied satellites competed for entrance to the famed
Academy and pitifully few were accepted. And he was happy at having
two unit mates like Roger Manning and Astro to depend on when he
was out in space, commanding one of the finest ships ever built, the
powerful rocket cruiser Polaris.
As Roger and Astro continued to talk to the fledglings, Tom sipped his
tea and thought of his own first days at the Academy. He remembered
his fear and insecurity, and how hard he had fought to make what was
then Unit 42-D a success, the unit that eventually became the Polaris
unit. And how each assignment had brought him closer to his dream of
becoming an officer in the Solar Guard.
He got up and walked to the window and looked out across the
Academy campus, over the green lawns and white buildings connected
by the rolling slidewalks, to the gleaming crystal Tower, the symbol of
man's conquest of space. And beyond the Tower building, Tom saw a
spaceship blasting off from the spaceport, her rockets bucking hard
against thin air as she clawed her way spaceward. When it disappeared
from sight, he followed it with his mind's eye and it became the Polaris,
his ship! He and Roger and Astro were blasting through the cold black
void, their own personal domain!
A loud burst of laughter behind him suddenly brought Tom back to
Earth. He smiled to himself and shook his head, as though reluctant to
leave his dream world. He glanced out of the window again, this time
down at the quadrangle, and far below he recognized the squat,
muscular figure of Warrant Officer Mike McKenny drilling another

group of newly arrived cadet candidates. Tom saw the slidewalks begin
to fill with boys and men in