CHAPTER 16
"Well, fellows," said Tom, stifling a yawn, "it looks like we did it.But I could use some more sleep. That five hours was just enough to getstarted on!"
"Yeah," agreed Roger sourly, "but where does this Venusian lummox getoff grabbing all the credit." He looked at Astro. "If I hadn't built thefuses for your little firecrackers--"
"_Firecrackers!_" yelped Astro. "Why, you skinny space fake! If I hadn'tbuilt those nuclear reactors, _you_ wouldn't have anything to set off!"
Connel appeared in the small messroom of the _Polaris_, his hands fullof papers and drawings. "When you've finished congratulating each other,I'd like to say a few things!" he snapped.
"Congratulate _him_?" exclaimed Roger. "Skipper, his head's so thick,the noise on the power deck can't even reach his eardrums!"
"Just one more word, Manning," growled Astro, "and I'll take a deepbreath and blow you away!"
"_One more word out of either of you_," roared Connel, "and I'll throwyou both in the brig with Mason and Loring!"
Suddenly he glared at the five spacemen. "Who's on prisoner watchtoday?" he asked.
The four cadets and Mr. Shinny looked at each other then at Roger.
"Uhhh--I am, sir," Roger confessed.
"I had a sneaking suspicion you would be!" said Connel. "Cadet Manning,one of the first things an officer of the Solar Guard learns is to carefor the needs of his men and prisoners before himself. Did you knowthat, Cadet Manning?"
"Uhhh--yes, sir. I was just going to--" mumbled Roger.
"Then go below and see that Mason and Loring get their rations!"
"Yes, sir," said Roger. He got up and collected a tray of food.
"All of you report to the control deck in five minutes for briefing,"said Connel and followed Roger out of the door.
"How do you like that?" said Astro. "We break our backs for the guy andwe're no sooner finished then he starts the old routine again!"
"That has nothing to do with it, Astro," said Tom. "Put yourself in hisposition. We've only got one or two things to think about. He'sresponsible for it all."
"Just like he was when I sailed with him twenty-five years ago," saidShinny. He swallowed the remains of his tea and reached for a plug oftobacco. "He's all spaceman from the top of his head to the bottom ofhis space boots."
"I'm rather inclined to agree with you, Tom," said Alfie mildly."Leadership carries with it the greatest of all burdens--responsibilityfor other peoples' lives. You, Corbett, as a control-deck cadet, woulddo well to mark Major Connel's pattern of behavior."
"Listen," growled Astro, "if Tom ever turned out to be a rocket busterlike Connel--I'd--I'd--"
"Don't worry, Astro," Tom said, laughing. "I don't think there'll beanother Major Connel in a million light years!"
Shinny laughed silently, his small frame shaking slightly. "Say itagain, Tommy. Not in the whole universe will there ever be another likeold 'Blast-off' Connel!"
On the deck below the messroom, Roger, balancing a tray carefully on onehand, opened the electronic lock of the brig and then stepped backquickly, leveling a paralo-ray gun.
"All right, Mason, Loring," he yelled, "come and get it!" The door slidopen, and Loring stuck his head out. "Any funny business," Roger warned,"and I'll stiffen you so fast, you won't know what hit you!"
"It's about time you showed up!" growled Loring. "Whaddaya trying to do,starve us to death?"
"That's not a bad idea!" said Roger. Loring took the tray. Rogermotioned him back inside the brig and slammed the door shut. He lockedit and leaned against the grille.
"Better eat it while you can," he said. "They don't serve it so fancy ona prison asteroid."
"You'll never get us on a prison asteroid," whined Mason.
"Don't kid yourself," said Roger. "As soon as we get the reactor unitsset, we're going to send this hunk of copper back to Earth and then takeyou back. They'll bury you!"
"Who's going to do all that?" snapped Loring. "A bunch of punk kids anda loudmouthed Solar Guard officer?"
"Yeah," retorted Roger.
"_Cadet Manning!_" Connel's voice roared over the intercom. "You wereordered to report to the control deck in five minutes! You are alreadyone minute late! Report to the control deck on the double and _I meandouble!_"
Loring and Mason laughed. "Old 'Blast-off' Connel's really got yournumber, eh, kid?"
"Ah, rocket off, you pinheaded piece of space junk! It didn't take himlong to dampen _your_ tubes!"
Connel roared again. "_Blast your hide, Manning, report!_"
"Better raise ship, Manning," said Loring, "you might get another nastydemerit!"
Roger turned away and raced to the control deck. He entered breathlesslyand stood beside his unit-mates while Connel eyed him coldly.
"Thank you, Cadet Manning," said Connel. "We appreciate your beinghere!"
"Yes, sir," mumbled Roger.
"All right," barked Connel, "you know your assignments. We'll take thejet boats as before and go out in pairs. Tom and myself, Astro andRoger, and Shinny and Alfie. We'll set up the reaction charges on Juniorat the points marked on the chart screen here." He indicated the charton the projection. "Copy them down on your own charts. Each team willtake three of the reaction units. My team will set up at points one,two, and three. Astro and Roger at four, five, and six. Alfie and Shinnyat seven, eight, and nine. After you've set up the charges, attach thetriggers for the fuses and return to the ship. Watch your timing! If wefail, it'll be more than a year before Junior will be in the sameorbital position again. How much time do we have left, Corbett?"
Tom glanced at the clock. "Exactly two hours, sir," he said.
"Not much," said Connel, "but enough. It shouldn't take more than anhour and a half to set up the units and get back to the ship to blastoff. All clear? Any questions?"
There were no questions.
"All right," said the officer, "put on your space gear and move out!"
Handling the lead-encased charges carefully, the six spacemen loaded thejet boats and, one by one, blasted off from the _Polaris_ to positionsmarked on the map.
Working rapidly, each of the teams of two moved from one position toanother on the surface of the desolate satellite. Connel, referringconstantly to his watch, counted the minutes as one by one the teamsreported the installation of a reactor unit.
"This is Shinny. Just finished installing reaction charge one at pointseven ..."
"This is Manning. Just finished installing reaction charge at point four..."
One after the other, the teams reported. Connel, with Tom piloting thejet boat, finished setting up their units at points one, two, and threeand headed back to the _Polaris_.
"How much time, sir?" asked Tom as he slowed the small craft for alanding.
"Less than a half hour, Corbett," said Connel nervously. "I'd bettercheck on Shinny and Alfie." He called into the audiophone. "Major Connelto Shinny and Higgins, come in Shinny--Higgins!"
"Shinny here!" came the reply. "We're just finishing up the last unit.Should be back in five minutes."
"Make it snappy!" said Connel. "Less than a half hour left!"
"We'll make it," snorted Shinny.
"Coming in for a touchdown," said Tom. "Better strap in, sir!"
Connel nodded. He laced several straps across his lap and chest,gripping the sides of the seat. Tom sent the jet boat in a swoopingdive, cut the acceleration, and brought the small ship smoothly insidethe huge air lock in the side of the _Polaris_.
"I'd better get right up on the control deck and start warming up thecircuits, sir," said Tom.
"Good idea, Tom," said Connel. "I'll try and pick up Manning and Astro."
Tom left the officer huddling over the communicator in the jet boat.
"Major Connel to Manning and Astro, come in!" called Connel. He waitedfor a moment and then repeated. "Manning--Astro, come in! By the ringsof Saturn, come in!" There was the loud roar of an approaching jet boat.Shinny guided the ship into the _Polaris_ with
a quick violent blast ofthe braking rockets. The noise was deafening.
"Belay that noise, you blasted space-brained idiot!" roared Connel. "Cutthat acceleration!"
Shinny grinned and cut the rockets. The jet-boat catapult deck wasquiet, and Connel turned back to the communicator.
"Come in, Manning--Astro! This is Major Connel. Come in!"
On the opposite side of the airless satellite, Roger and Astro were busydigging a hole in the hard surface. Near by lay the last of theexplosive units to be installed. Connel's voice thundered through theirheadset phones.
"Boy, is he blasting his jets!" commented Roger.
"Yeah," grunted Astro. "He should have to dig this blasted hole!"
"Well, this is where it's got to go. If the ground is hard, then it'sour tough luck," said Roger. "If we stick it anywhere else, it mightmess up the whole operation."
Astro nodded and continued to dig. He held a small spade and jabbed atthe ground. "How much--time--have we got left?" he gasped.
"Twenty minutes," replied Roger. "You'd better hurry."
"Finished now," said Astro. "Get the reactor unit over here and set thefuse."
Roger picked up the heavy lead box and placed it gently inside the hole.
"Remember," Astro cautioned, "set the fuse for two hours."
"No, you're wrong," replied Roger. "I've set the fuses each time,subtracting the amount of time since we left the _Polaris_. I set thisone for twenty minutes."
"You're wrong, Roger," said Astro. "It's maximum time is two hours."
"Listen, you Venusian clunk," exploded Roger, "_I_ built this thing, soI know what I'm doing!"
"But, Roger--" protested Astro.
"Twenty minutes!" said Roger, and twisted the set-screw in the fuse."O.K., it's all set. Let's get out of here!"
The two cadets raced back to the jet boat and blasted off immediately.Once in space, Astro turned to Roger.
"Better check in with Major Connel before he tears himself to pieces!"
"Yeah," agreed Roger. "I guess you're right." He flipped on the audiocommunicator. "Attention! Attention! Manning to Major Connel. Am makingflight back to _Polaris_. All installations complete."
"_Remember," Astro cautioned, "set the fuse for twohours._"]
"What took you so long, Manning?" barked Connel in reply. "And whydidn't you answer me?"
"Couldn't, sir," said Roger. "We had a tough time digging a hole for thelast unit."
"Come back to the _Polaris_ immediately," said Connel. "We're blastingoff in fifteen minutes."
"Very well, sir," said Roger.
Presently the jet boat circled the _Polaris_ and made a landing run forthe open port. Roger braked the small craft and brought it to restalongside the others.
"That's it, spaceboy," he said to Astro. "All out for the _Polaris_express back home!"
"Just be sure you give me a good course, Manning," grunted Astro,heaving his huge frame out of the small cabin of the jet boat, "and I'llgive you all the thrust you want!"
Astro secured the jet boats while Roger closed the air-lock hatch,shutting out the last view of the rugged little planetoid. Roger threwthe landscape a mocking kiss.
"So long, Junior! See you back home!" The two cadets climbed the ladderleading to the control deck.
Seated in front of the control panel, Tom watched the sweeping hand ofthe solar clock. Connel paced nervously up and down behind him. Shinnyand Alfie stood to one side also watching the great clock.
"How much time, Corbett?" asked Connel for the dozenth time.
"Junior gets his kick in the pants in ten minutes, sir," replied Tom.
"Fine," said Connel. "That gives me just enough time to notify SpaceAcademy to get ready to receive Junior's signal. You know what to do?"
"I don't have to do anything, sir," answered Tom, nodding to the solarclock over his head. "In nine minutes and twenty seconds, the reactorunits go off automatically at one-second intervals."
Roger and Astro entered the control deck and came to attention. Connelreturned their salute and put them at ease.
"All right, our work here is done," said Connel. "No point in hangingaround any longer. Tom, you can blast off immediately."
"Yes, sir," replied Tom.
Connel climbed the ladder to the radar bridge to contact Space Academy.Astro, Roger, Shinny, and Alfie went to their posts and began quickpreparations for the blast-off. One by one, they checked in to Tom onthe control deck.
"Power deck, ready to blast off!" reported Astro.
"Radar bridge, all set. Clear trajectory forward and up," said Roger.
"Energize the cooling pumps!" bawled Tom into the intercom.
The great pumps began to wheeze under the strain of Astro's suddenswitch to full load without the usual slow build-up. Tom watched thepressure needle rise slowly in front of him and finally reached out andgripped the master switch.
"Stand by to raise ship!" he yelled. "Blast off minusfive--four--three--two--one--_zeroooooo!_"
He threw the switch. The great ship shivered, vibrated, and thensuddenly shot away from the precious satellite. Tom quickly adjusted forfree fall by switching on the synthetic-gravity gyro generators and thenannounced over the intercom,
"Major Connel! Cadet Corbett reporting. Ship space-borne at exactlythirty-one, sir!"
"Very well, Corbett," replied Connel. "Space Academy sends the crew a'_well done!_' Everything's set back home to take over the beam as soonas Junior starts on his way back. How much time until zero blast-off onthe satellite?"
Tom glanced at the clock. "Less than two minutes, sir!"
"All right," said Connel over the intercom, "everybody to the controldeck if you want to see Junior do his stuff!"
In a moment the six spacemen were gathered around the magnascope waitingfor the final act of their great effort. Breathlessly, their eyesflicking back and forth from the solar clock to the magnascope, theywaited for the red hand to sweep around.
"Here it comes," said Tom excitedly. "One second--twoseconds--three--four--_five!_"
On the surface of the planetoid, giant mushrooming clouds appearedclimbing into the airless void. One by one the reactor units exploded.Connel counted them as they blew up.
"One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight--" he paused. Juniorbegan moving away from them. "Nine!" shouted Connel. "What happened tonine?"
"Roger," shouted Astro, "you made a mistake on the timer!"
"But I couldn't. I--I--"
Connel spun around, his eyes blazing, breathing hard. "What time did youset the last one for, Roger?" he demanded.
"Why, twenty minutes to blast-off time, sir," answered the blond-headedcadet.
"Then it won't go off for another forty minutes," said Connel.
"But, sir--" began Roger, and then fell silent. The room was quiet.Everyone looked at Roger and then at Connel. "Honestly, sir, I didn'tmean to make a mistake. I--" pleaded Roger.
Connel turned around. His face suddenly looked very tired. "That's allright, Roger," he said quietly. "We've all been working pretty hard. Onelittle mistake is bound to show up in an operation like this." Hepaused. "It's my fault. I should have checked those fuses myself."
"Does it make so much difference, sir?" asked Astro.
"A lot of difference, Astro," said Connel. He sat down heavily.
"But how, sir?" asked Tom.
"It's very simple, Tom," answered Connel. His voice was strangely quiet."Junior spins on its axis in two hours, just as Earth spins intwenty-four hours. I thought we had the explosions timed so at theproper moment we'd push Junior out of his orbit around Tara, and thegreater orbit around Alpha Centauri, by utilizing both speeds, plus theinitial thrust. But by being one blast short, forty minutes late, theexplosion will take place when Junior is forty minutes out ofposition"--he paused and calculated rapidly in his mind--"that's aboutforty-eight thousand miles out of position. When it goes off, instead ofsending Junior out into space, it'll blast it right into its own sun!"
&nbs
p; "Isn't there something we can do, sir?" asked Tom.
"Nothing, Corbett," answered Connel wearily. "Instead of supplying theSolar Alliance with copper, in another week Junior will be hardly morethan a molten piece of space junk." He looked at the teleceiver screen.All ready, Junior was falling away.
"Stand by for full acceleration, hyperdrive," said the big officer in ahoarse whisper. "We're heading home!"