CHAPTER 19
"I don't know what you're talking about!"
Shouting angrily, Barret sat in one of the pilot's chairs, flanked byRoger and Astro, while Connel and Tom stood in front of him firingquestions.
"Barret," said Connel, "I have enough evidence on you now to send you toa prison asteroid for ten years at least!"
"On what charge?" demanded the young man.
"Trying to kill an officer of the Solar Guard."
"Where is your proof?" demanded Barret.
"Right there!" snorted Major Connel, pointing to the sleeping figure ofProfessor Hemmingwell.
"What do you mean?" demanded Barret.
"He'll swear that you deliberately sent this ship into full drive whileI was out on the hull checking the rings."
"He can't," protested Barret. "He was on the bridge! He couldn't haveseen a thing!"
Tom shook his head gently. "Barret, after what you've done to his shipand the projectile operation," he said, "Hemmingwell will swear toanything."
"It's a frame-up!" shouted Barret.
"And what do you think you did to us?" snarled Roger.
Barret flushed and turned away. "You can't scare me," he muttered. "Goahead. Let him swear to whatever he wants."
Connel stepped back grimly and turned to Astro and Roger. "All right,boys," he said. "Take him below and see if you can't get some differentanswers out of him." The hardened spaceman turned his back and walked tothe viewport.
"Why, you dirty space rat!" screamed Barret. "You wouldn't dare!"
"Oh, wouldn't he!" retorted Roger. "Listen, pal, he figures we owe youplenty for what you did to us, and he's just giving us a chance to payyou back!" He faced Barret grimly. "Mister, you're going to get theworks! Come on, Astro!"
As the giant Venusian advanced on Barret, the man shrank back in hischair, eyes widening in sudden fear. When Astro stretched out his hugehand and grabbed him by the front of his jacket, he screamed in fright.
"All right, all right!" he cried out. "I'll talk! Devers did it! He mademe do it! He's responsible for the whole thing!"
"Turn on that audiograph, Corbett!" shouted Connel.
Tom snapped on the machine and brought the microphone over to Barret,holding it in front of his trembling mouth.
"All right, talk!" Connel growled. "And tell it all."
Barret had hardly uttered the first stumbling words when Roger let out ashout of alarm. "Hey! The scanner!" he cried.
They all turned to the teleceiver screen. To their horror, they saw amenacing shape blasting toward them. They recognized it instantly--aspace torpedo!
Astro dove through the power-deck hatch while Roger raced for theradar-bridge ladder. Tom hurled himself into the copilot's chair, andwith Connel beside him in the command position, he waited for Astro tosupply power. Suddenly the ship trembled violently and then shot forwardas, far below, the jet exhausts screamed under the full thrust of allthe atomic reactors. Tom rode the controls hard and kept his eye on thescanner screen.
"It's a magnetic gyrofish!" he cried as he saw the torpedo curve afterthem. "Roger, can you plot her for me?"
"Working on it now, Tom!" yelled Roger over the intercom.
"How in blazes did that thing get out here?" muttered Connel.
"We'll have to worry about that later, I'm afraid, sir," replied Tom."We're going to have our hands full getting away from her. With thatmagnetic warhead, she'll follow us all over space unless we can throwher off."
"Which will take some doing!" grunted Connel, frowning in deep concern.
"Hey, Tom!" Roger's voice called over the intercom. "It's blasting onmaximum thrust now. We have a pretty good chance. Use that idea weworked out. Make a series of left turns and always on the up-plane ofthe ecliptic!"
"Right!" said Tom, clutching the master manual-control lever andbeginning to fly the giant ship through space by "feel."
"What in blazes are you doing, Corbett?" shouted Connel in sudden alarm.
"Just hang on and watch, sir," replied Tom, keeping his eyes on thescanner where he could see the space torpedo trailing them. Over andover, Tom kept slamming the ship into sharp left turns, while thetorpedo followed in an ever-narrowing circle.
"All right, Tom!" yelled Roger again. "Give it the same thing on theright and the down-plane of the ecliptic!"
"Check!" answered Tom, reversing his controls and sending the shipcorkscrewing through space on an opposite course.
Connel grabbed the arms of his chair and gasped, "You kids are spacehappy!"
"Those gyros are so perfect, sir," said Tom, working the controlsquickly and smoothly, "that the only way you can throw them off balanceis to confuse them."
"Confuse them!" exclaimed Connel.
"Yes, sir," said Tom. "It's a theory Roger and I worked out together. Nogyro is perfect, and if you can get it bouncing back and forth inextreme turns, it will be thrown out of balance. Then all we have to dois make the torpedo miss once and it won't come back."
"Heaven help us all!" was Connel's groaning reply.
"On the ball, Tom!" cried Roger. "She's closing in on us!"
"I see her," replied Tom calmly. "Hang on, everybody. I'm going to turnthis ship inside out!"
Jerking the controls, Tom threw the ship into a mad, whirling spin,subjecting the vessel to the most severe strain tests it would everundergo. The hull groaned and creaked, and badly fitted equipment toreloose and clattered across the deck. Suddenly the young cadet leveledthe ship.
"Nose braking rockets, Astro!" he called.
"Braking rockets, aye!" acknowledged the Venusian over the intercom.
On the power deck, Astro jammed the forward drive closed and slammedopen the nose rockets. The ship trembled, bucked, and finally came to ashuddering stop before it started a reverse course, acceleratingquickly.
"Here it comes!" yelled Roger.
As Connel and Tom watched tensely, the space torpedo loomed large andmenacing on the scanner, and then, as they held their breaths, itwhistled past the silvery hull of the ship, with less than two feet tospare!
Sighing deeply, Tom brought the ship back to level flight. "We're O.K.now, sir," he said. "Her gyros are out. She won't come back."
"By the craters of Luna!" Connel suddenly exploded. "The Solar Guardspends a fortune to develop a foolproof space torpedo and two hot-shotcadets come along and get away from the blasted thing! Why haven't youtold this to anyone before?"
"Why--er--" stammered Tom, "we've never had the chance to prove it,sir."
Behind them, the power-deck hatch suddenly opened and Astro stepped in."Nice work, Tom!" he called.
"And as for you, you Venusian ape," roared Connel, "don't you realizethat you can blow a reactor tube by throwing so much power into a shipwithout energizing the cooling pumps first?"
Astro smiled. "Not if you open the by-pass, sir," he said, "and feeddirectly off the pump reservoir. The gas cools the tube and at the sametime expands itself and adds to the power thrust."
At Astro's easy reply Connel could only stand openmouthed inamazement. Again, one of the three cadets of the _Polaris_ unit haddeveloped a revolutionary procedure that even top rocket scientistswould be proud to call their own.
Winking at Tom, Astro turned away and suddenly noticed Barret sprawledon the deck, unconscious.
"What happened to him?" asked the big Venusian.
"Oh, I forgot all about him," said Tom. "Guess he didn't get into anacceleration chair in time. Better get some more water."
"We haven't time for him now!" snapped Connel. "Strap him in good andtight. We've got to find out where that torpedo came from."
As though in answer to the major's order, there was a sudden call overthe ship's intercom.
"Radar bridge to control deck, check in!" There was a note of alarm inRoger's voice.
Tom jumped to the control panel to reply.
"Control deck, aye!" he snapped into the microphone.
"There's a spaceship to starboard!" called Roger
. "Distance twentymiles, fifteen degrees up on the plane of the ecliptic. And I swearshe's maneuvering to fire another torpedo!"
"Stand by action stations!" roared Connel, diving into his chair beforethe control panel. Tom strapped in next to him, while Astro made aheadlong dash for the power deck.
"Yes!" shouted Roger. "She's fired a torpedo!"
"Raise her! Raise her!" bellowed Connel. "Tell them who we are!" Heturned to Tom. "Go into your act, Corbett," he said, "and make it good!"
As Tom manipulated the controls again, the silver ship plunged throughspace, turning and gyrating in the same series of maneuvers it hadperformed to escape the first torpedo. But this time the distanceseparating them was not as great and the torpedo closed in quickly.
"Can't you raise that ship yet, Manning?" Connel roared into theintercom.
"I just have, sir," replied Roger in a strained voice. "But it's--"
"Let me talk to that lame brain of a skipper," interrupted Connel. "Bythe stars, I'll teach him to--"
"It's no use, Connel," said a gruff voice over the control-deckloud-speaker. "Even if you duck this torpedo, I've got ten more!"
"Who is this?" roared Connel.
"Don't you know, Connel? Why, I'm surprised!"
The teleceiver screen glowed into life and Tom and Connel stared inhorror as they recognized the images of three men. The one in theforeground smiled mockingly and said, "Remember me, Connel?"
"Devers!" Connel roared.
"And the other two behind him--" stuttered Tom. "Cag and Monty!"
"Why, you dirty space crawler," cried Connel, "I'll get you if it's thelast thing I do!"
"No, you won't, Major." Devers laughed. "The last thing you'll do iskiss a space torpedo. Then no more Major Blast-off Connel, no morewhimpering Professor Hemmingwell, and most important, no more projectileship!"
And as Devers laughed loudly, Tom threw the ship into another violentturn and cried, "It's no use, Major. I can't duck this one!"
"All hands brace for torpedo!" warned Connel.
Suddenly there was an explosion aft. The ship lurched and shudderedviolently, spinning through space, and as Tom fought the controls,everything went black. The ship drifted helplessly, out of control.
CHAPTER 20
"Turn on the lights! Cut in the emergency batteries!"
Connel's bull-throated roar carried through the ship as he stood on thepower deck with Astro and shouted to Tom on the control deck. The spacetorpedo had destroyed the stern of the vessel, and if it hadn't been forAstro's quick action in sealing off the aftersection of the ship, allthe air might have been lost and the crew dead of suffocation.
A moment later the emergency lights glowed weakly and Connel and the bigVenusian cadet began a quick inspection of the ship. The power deck wasa total loss. The ship would never get under way again.
Up on the radar bridge, Roger was about to turn on the radar scannerwhen Tom appeared and stopped him.
"Wait a while, Roger," he said. "We may need the power for somethingelse."
"What, for instance?" snorted Roger.
"That ship is still out there, probably closing in for the kill."
"A blasted lot we can do about it," Roger growled.
"I've got a plan that might work," said Tom half-heartedly. "It's aboutthe only thing I can think of, unless Connel and Astro have a betteridea."
"What is it? Whatever it is, it's better than sitting here like a deadduck, waiting for that rat to come in and finish us off!" said Roger."Look, I've just got to see what he's doing out there." He flipped onthe scanner switch and while he waited for the set to warm up he turnedback to Tom. "What's your idea?"
"Well," began Tom, "the only thing we've got on board that we can use tofight back with are those projectiles."
"How can we fight with projectiles?" demanded Roger. "They don't carrywarheads!"
"No," agreed Tom. "But they're big and heavy. They pack a wallop if theyhit anything."
Roger's eyes brightened suddenly. "Say, I think--"
The scanner began to beep and Roger turned his attention to the screen.Tom leaned over his shoulder and watched eagerly. They both saw Devers'ship flying in a slow circle around them.
"Probably looking to see which would be the best way to let us have it!"snarled Roger.
At that moment Major Connel climbed into the radar bridge, followed byAstro.
"Time to go," announced the officer.
"Go where?" demanded Roger.
"We have to abandon ship," declared Connel. "The power deck is shot.We'll never get under way, and we're just sitting ducks if we stayaboard."
"What's to prevent Devers from picking us off while we're outside?"asked Roger.
"Nothing," said Connel. "But he'll have a harder job and maybe he won'tget all of us."
"Then, sir," said Tom with a glance at Roger, "I have an idea."
"Let's have it," said Connel.
"The projectiles, sir," replied Tom.
"What about them?"
"We can still fire them off the emergency batteries, sir."
"Will you get to the point, Corbett?" growled Connel. "Devers is liableto send another torpedo our way any second and--" Connel suddenlystopped and his eyes widened. "A torpedo!" he gasped.
"Exactly, sir!" exclaimed Tom. "We have five projectiles! We can usethem as torpedoes!"
"Jumping Jupiter!" exclaimed Astro. "What a terrific idea!"
"What a terrific pipe dream!" snapped Connel. "Those projectiles don'thave any warheads!"
"They could still do a lot of damage if they hit that ship," assertedTom.
"And how do you expect to aim them?" demanded Connel. "There's notenough juice in the batteries to steer them!"
"We'll just fire them straight ahead, sir," broke in Roger. "Look!" hecontinued, pointing to the scanner screen. "Devers' ship is justcircling us now. And he's on the same plane of the ecliptic. If he holdsthat course--"
"He'll cross our bow!" exclaimed Astro excitedly. "A perfect shot!"
"Ridiculous!" shouted Connel. "Preposterous! It'll never work in amillion light years! He'll fire another torpedo and we'll be blastedinto space dust!"
"But we can try it, can't we, sir?" asked Tom, grinning.
"Of course we can!" roared Connel. "I've never given up a battle yetand, by the stars, I'm not going to now!"
Forgetting rank and protocol, the three cadets danced around the major,slapping him on the back and howling their enthusiasm. Connel could notrestrain a momentary grin and then his features assumed his usualbulldog look.
"Knock it off!" he shouted. "We've got work to do. Manning!"
"Yes, sir?"
"Keep your eyes nailed to that scanner!" Connel bellowed. "Sing out ifDevers changes course by so much as a hair!"
"Aye, aye, sir!"
"Astro!"
"Sir?"
"Put space suits on Professor Hemmingwell and Barret and stand by withthem on the control deck."
"Aye, aye, sir!"
"Corbett, you and I will check the projectiles. Make sure they're infiring order!"
Spinning on his heel, Connel left the radar bridge. Alone for just aninstant, the three cadets of the _Polaris_ unit clasped hands in silentdetermination and then plunged into their various assignments.
Five minutes later, Connel and Tom returned to the control deck to findAstro waiting for them. Professor Hemmingwell and Barret, both in spacesuits, were seated on acceleration couches. As Connel walked up to him,Hemmingwell raised his head slowly, still under the effects of thesedative.
"What's--what's happening, Major?" he asked haltingly.
"Professor," said Connel, "one of two things is going to happen. Eitheryour ship will be blown to space dust or Carter Devers will be finishedand we'll bring your ship back to Earth!"
"Good, good," murmured Hemmingwell.
"And as for you, Barret"--Connel turned toward the man angrily--"now youcan see what kind of thanks you get for your dirty work! Your boss isjust as willin
g to get rid of you as he is to destroy this project!"
Barret flushed under Connel's glare and turned away.
At the control panel, Tom opened the circuits to the five loaded firingchambers and then turned to Connel. "All set to fire, sir!" he called.
"Any word from Manning?" asked Connel.
"Not while I've been here," replied Astro.
Connel picked up the intercom microphone. "Hello, Manning!" he shouted."What's the story?"
"Coming up to the last chapter," replied Roger over the intercom."Devers is holding course. Should cross our bow in two minutes!"
"Good," replied Connel. "Keep us posted!"
Replacing the microphone, he turned to Tom. "Stupid fool!" he snorted."He should've fired another torpedo and wiped us out. What's the matterwith him?" Connel abhorred stupidity, even in an adversary.
"Maybe he thinks we've already had it," suggested Astro. "With our sternblasted away, he might figure all the air's gone out of the ship."
"Let's hope he keeps on figuring that way," said Connel. "Everythingready to fire, Corbett?"
"All set, sir," the young cadet replied. "I've hooked up all circuits tothis button." He pointed to a button on the control panel. "We'll blastin salvo."
"Oh, we will, will we?" exclaimed Connel.
"If you think it's advisable," Tom amended hurriedly.
"Of course it's advisable!" snorted Connel. "We're almost aiming blindas it is. A salvo will give us a bigger spread. Besides," he added,"with a whole barrel of luck, we might hit him with two of theprojectiles. That would really do some damage."
"I'd like just a little potful of luck," murmured Astro, "and be able toland one."
"Heads up, down there!" Roger's voice suddenly sang out on the intercom.
"Devers crossing our bow yet?" asked Tom.
"He's still holding course," said Roger. "But he's training his numberone starboard tube this way. He's going to blast us again!"
"How long do we have to wait for that bow shot?" demanded Connel.
"Another forty-five seconds at least!" came Roger's reply.
"Blast it!" muttered Connel. "Plenty of time for him to fire."
Barret suddenly rose from his acceleration couch, screaming, "You can'tkeep me here! Let me go!"
Astro grabbed him quickly and threw him back down. "Stay put," hegrowled.
"No," cried Barret, frantic with fear. "It's murder! Let me go!"
"Relax and enjoy it, Barret," snorted Connel. "It's your boss who'sdoing it!"
"What about Professor Hemmingwell, sir?" asked Tom. "Shouldn't we--?"
"No," Hemmingwell spoke up from his daze. "I want to stay with my ship."
"Hey!" Roger cried over the intercom. "We're getting company!"
"Company?" exclaimed Tom. "What're you talking about?"
"A Solar Guard cruiser," replied Roger. "Coming up to port. About fivehundred miles away. Hey! It's the _Polaris_!"
"It must be Captain Strong!" shouted Tom.
"He won't do us much good now," muttered Connel. "How much time do wehave, Roger?"
"Get set down there. Only another ten seconds and Devers will be righton our bow."
"On the ball, Tom!" ordered Connel.
"Ready, sir."
The seconds ticked by slowly. One--two--three--four--Beads of sweatappeared on Connel's brow. Astro clenched and unclenched his fists.Hemmingwell closed his eyes calmly and waited. Barret slumped back inhis couch, almost paralyzed with fear.
"Coming up, Tom!" cried Roger.
Tom didn't reply. He kept his fingers poised on the firing button. Andthe seconds ticked off slowly, maddeningly. Seven--eight--nine--!
"They've fired," Roger shouted. "Point-blank! We're going to get it!"
"Fire, Tom!" shouted Connel.
Even as Connel spoke, Tom's finger pressed down hard on the firingbutton. The ship quivered as five projectiles blasted from the firingchambers and winged their deadly way through space. The control room ofthe ship was silent, everyone waiting for the impact of the torpedo andpraying that somehow, someway, they could know whether their own attackhad succeeded even if they lost their own lives in the attempt todestroy Devers' ship.
There was a sudden, blasting roar and a brilliant white flash of lightfilled the cabin. The deck heaved violently, then dropped sickeningly.Under the force of the explosion, everyone was thrown to the deck andlay deathly still.
* * * * *
In the wardroom of the rocket cruiser _Polaris_, Captain Strong, MajorConnel, Professor Hemmingwell, and Roger and Astro were sipping tea andcalmly discussing the events of the past hour.
"Your ship wasn't too badly damaged, Professor," said Strong. "We'lltake her in tow and bring her back to Space Academy. She'll be good asnew."
"I'm afraid you'll have to do without the services of Dave Barretthough, sir," commented Connel dryly. "He's got a previous engagement ona prison asteroid and it's going to take him a long time."
"I can do very well without him," said Hemmingwell. "As a matter offact, I would have done extremely well without him before." He pausedand shook his head. "I feel so ashamed of myself when I think of thethings I said to those boys." He nodded toward Astro and Roger. "And allthe time they were right."
Astro grinned shyly. Roger was about to open his mouth and make atypically flip remark when the hatch opened and Tom appeared, a bandagecovering his head. The two cadets jumped toward him and snowed him underwith affectionate slaps on the back.
"Wait a minute!" cried Tom. "I'm injured. Look at my head!"
"You couldn't have hit the control panel with anything better!" snortedConnel.
"But what happened?" asked Tom.
"Two of the projectiles hit Devers' ship," said Roger. "One of them onthe power deck. Must've smashed the reaction tanks and made the stuffwildcat, because it blew him into rocket dust!"
"_The projectiles blew Devers' ship into rocketdust!_"]
"But his torpedo! He fired at the same time!" said Tom.
"This unit is the luckiest in the universe," said Roger proudly. "One ofthe other projectiles smacked the torpedo and exploded the warhead. Wewere bounced around by the shock wave but that's all!"
"Well, I'll be a Martian mouse," sighed Tom. "Then everything is O.K.now?"
"So far as you three are concerned, it's perfect," said Strong. "Barrethas spilled everything. You're cleared of all charges!"
"What about Pat Troy?" asked Tom.
"He's in the clear, too," said Strong. "You may remember that he refusedto tell us who he was working for besides Professor Hemmingwell and thatmade us suspicious of him. Well, we found out, when he regainedconsciousness a short time ago, that he is a security agent for theSolar Alliance Council. He had been assigned to work with the professorand to help protect him. Barret has admitted that he tried to murderTroy."
"Humph!" snorted Connel, suddenly rising.
The room was intensely quiet and Tom, Astro, and Roger felt that therewas something coming. Strong could hardly suppress a grin as Connel tooka paper from his tunic.
"This message was received just fifteen minutes ago," he said. "Itreads, quote, Major Connel, Solar Guard. With reference to OperationSpace Projectile, information has come to us that the Space Cadet unit,known as the _Polaris_ unit, has contributed in an outstanding andextraordinary way to the successful completion of this highly valuableproject. As Senior Line Officer of the Academy, it is hereby requestedthat you bestow upon this unit some form of expression of the gratitudeof this Council for their remarkable and inspired behavior in the faceof relentless odds. Signed, Secretary General, Solar Council, Venusport,Venus. Fourteenth of June, 2354, end quote."
Connel slipped the paper inside his tunic and faced the three cadets.
"All right, you heard it!" he growled. "And you deserve it. You havethree weeks' leave. But when you come back," he added, "watch out!"
"Oh, for the life of a Space Cadet!" said Tom, grinning at his unitmates. "It's
wonderful!"
+--------------------------------------------------------------+| Transcriber's Notes || || || The following typos have been corrected. || || particularly particular || stomach. That stomach that || I"ll I'll || an attempt at murder," "an attempt at murder," |+--------------------------------------------------------------+
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