CHAPTER 8
"All clear ahead, Bill!"
Tom Corbett stood at the radarscope and watched the thin white linesweep around the face of the instrument. "Nothing in space but us!" heannounced.
The veteran spaceman grunted and grinned at the curly-haired cadet hehad grown to like and respect in the short time they had been together.Not only did Tom know how to handle a ship, spelling the pilot for a fewmoments to have a walk around the control deck, but he was good companyas well. More than once, Tom had surprised the Martian spaceman with hissober judgment of the minor decisions Sticoon had to make in flight.
"Why don't you try to contact Manning again, Tom?" Sticoon suggested."He might be awake now."
Tom grinned, but in his heart he did not think it very funny. It was nojoke that Captain Strong had called him to contact Roger. And Tom wasworried. So far, he had not been able to reach the blond-haired cadet.He settled himself in front of the communicator and began calling theblack ship again.
"Rocket ship _Space Lance_ to rocket ship _Space Knight_! Come in!"
He waited. Nothing but static and silence greeted him.
"_Space Knight_, come in!"
He waited again as the sleek white ship plummeted deeper into spacetoward the first refueling stop on Deimos, one of the small twin moonsof Mars. Still there was no acknowledging reply from the black ship thathad streaked ahead of them after the blast-off.
"I'm going to try to contact Kit Barnard," said Tom. "Maybe he can pickup Miles' blip on his radar."
Tom made the necessary adjustment on the audioceiver and broadcast thecall for the owner-pilot of the _Good Company_. Finally, after repeatedtries, he heard a faint signal and recognized the voice of his unit mateAstro.
"What's the matter, Astro?" asked Tom. "I can hardly hear you."
"We're having trouble with the by-pass lines to the generators," repliedAstro. "We've cut down to standard space speed, and Sid and Kit aremaking repairs now."
"Have you heard from Roger?" asked Tom across the vast abyss of spaceseparating them. "I've been trying to contact the _Space Knight_ for thelast six hours and can't get any acknowledgment."
"Haven't seen it," replied Astro. "Lost contact with her a long timeago. She moved ahead at emergency space speed and we lost her on ourradar an hour after we blasted off."
"O.K., Astro. Hope Kit gets his wagon going again. We've got to make arace of this, or the people throughout the system will be disappointed."He turned and winked at Wild Bill.
"Listen, you curly-haired twerp!" roared Astro, and it seemed to Tomthat he could hear his friend without the loud-speaker. "We're going togive you the hottest run of your lives when we get going!"
"O.K., Astro," said Tom. "If you can contact Roger, tell him to get intouch with Captain Strong right away. He's probably blasted off on the_Polaris_ by now."
"Right, Tom. End transmission."
"End transmission."
Tom turned back to the skipper of the _Space Lance_ with a feeling ofdespair. "I can't figure it out, Bill," he said. "Roger's pulled someboners before, real rocket blasters, but refusing to answer a call fromStrong--" He shook his head.
The audioceiver suddenly crackled into life. "_Space Knight_ to _SpaceLance_, check in!" Quent Miles' voice was harsh and clear.
Tom jumped back to the microphone. "_Space Lance_, Cadet Corbett here!"he shouted eagerly. "Go ahead, _Space Knight_! Where's Manning?"
"Still asleep!" replied Miles. "Just wanted to tell you boys good-by.I'm not stopping to refuel at Deimos! I'm going right on through toGanymede! End transmission!"
Only static filled the control deck of the _Space Lance_ as Tom clutchedthe microphone and pleaded desperately for Quent Miles to answer him."Come in, Miles! This is Corbett on the _Space Lance_ to Quent Miles onthe _Space Knight_! Come in, Miles! Come in!"
Bill Sticoon shook his head. "Miles must be nuts trying to get toGanymede without refueling," he muttered. "Traveling at emergency spacespeed, he'll eat up his fuel before he gets one third of the way toJupiter!"
Tom looked at Sticoon. "And Roger's with him."
Sticoon nodded grimly. "They'll wind up drifting around in space halfwaybetween Mars and Jupiter. Finding them will be about as easy as lookingfor a pebble in the Martian desert."
* * * * *
"Have you found the _Space Lance_ yet, Astro?" asked Kit Barnard,glancing over his shoulder at the giant Venusian, standing at theradarscope.
"I think I'm getting it now," said Astro. "Either that or I've picked upan asteroid."
"Not likely," said Kit. "We're too far from the belt to have anythingthat big drifting around without being charted. It must be Sticoon."
"Boy!" chuckled Astro. "This reactor really packs a load of power!"
"How are we doing on fuel, Sid?" Kit called into the intercom.
"We lost a lot trying to prime the pumps," replied the young crew chief."We have to touch down on Deimos and refuel."
"That's all right," replied Kit with a smile. "We're gaining on Sticoonfast. We should make Deimos about the same time. I wonder where QuentMiles is by now."
"Probably wishing he had stopped for fuel!" interjected Astro with asour look on his face.
"See if you can pick up Sticoon on the audioceiver, Astro," said Kit."Ask him for an estimated time of arrival on Deimos. One of us willhave to come in first."
Astro flipped the switch on the panel and began his call "_Good Company_to _Space Lance_, come in!"
"Right here, Astro," replied Tom immediately. "Boy, you certainly areburning up space! What have you got in your fuel tanks? Light speed?"
"Just a little thing we whipped up," said Astro with a grin. "What isyour ETA on Deimos, Tom?"
"Less than five minutes. Four minutes and thirty seconds, to be exact.Think you can beat that?"
"If we can't beat it, we can equal it!" said Astro. "See you on theMartian moon, buddy! End transmission!"
Steadily, the _Good Company_ rocketed through space, eating up the milesand gaining on the _Space Lance_. Both ships now made contact with thecontrol tower on Deimos and received landing instructions.
"_Space Lance_ will touch down on Ramp Three, _Good Company_ on RampSix," crackled the voice of the Deimos tower operator, "and don't forgetyour approach orbits!"
"Have you heard from the _Space Knight_?" called Tom.
"Sorry, _Space Lance_," came the reply, "there has been no contact with_Space Knight_."
Tom began to feel the fingers of fear creeping up and down his spine.Quent Miles had carried out his plan of going on to Ganymede withoutrefueling, threatening not only his own life, but Roger's as well.
Sticoon completed the three circling passes around Deimos and shouted toTom over his shoulder. "Stand by, Corbett. We're ready to go in!"
Tom strapped himself into his acceleration chair and, watching theatmospheric altimeter, a delicate instrument that recorded their heightabove the surface of a heavenly body, began to call off the indicatedfigures.
"Five thousand feet, four, three--dropping too fast--compensate forlesser gravity--two thousand, one, five hundred, two hundred--" Tombraced himself and seconds later felt the impact of the ship settlingstern first on the concrete ramp. "Touchdown," he sang out in a clearvoice.
While Sticoon secured the control deck, closing the many switches andcircuits on the master panel, Tom opened the air lock. Almostimmediately, special-trained crews swarmed into the ship to refuel herand prepare her for the next lap of the race. Tom and Sticoon steppedout onto the spaceport of the tiny moon of Mars and gazed up at the redplanet that loomed large over the horizon. As a transfer point for thegreat passenger liners that rocketed between Venusport, Atom City, andMarsopolis, the refueling station at Deimos was well staffed andexpertly manned.
Standing at the air lock, Tom and Sticoon heard the blasting roar of the_Good Company_ coming down in a fast, expert touchdown, and they hurriedacross the spaceport to greet their rivals.
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bsp; When the air lock opened, Tom immediately began to kid Astro and Sid,while Sticoon and Kit Barnard compared flight notes. A Universal Stereoreporter rushed up with a small portable camera and conducted aninterview that was to be telecast back to Earth. Both spacemen werereluctant to voice any predictions of the outcome of the race, but Tomnoticed that Kit was smiling and seemed in good spirits. Tom, with allhis worries about Roger, could not help but feel happy that theindependent spaceman was proving his reactor.
A man in the uniform of a Solar Guard major appeared. He introducedhimself as an official monitor of the race, appointed by CommanderWalters, and asked them for a report.
"Captain Sticoon has followed all regulations, sir," said Tom.
"And Captain Barnard, Cadet Astro?" asked the officer.
"Same thing, sir," replied Astro. "Captain Barnard has followed therules of the race exactly."
"Thank you," replied the officer and started to turn away.
"Any word from the _Space Knight_, sir?" Tom asked quickly.
"Nothing, Corbett," the officer replied. "We received the same messagethat Captain Miles would attempt to go on through to Ganymede withoutstopping here at Deimos for refueling."
"And you've heard nothing from him since, sir?" asked Astro.
"Nothing, why?" The officer looked at both of the boys sharply."Anything wrong?"
"No, sir," said Tom. "It's just that Cadet Roger Manning is monitor onthe _Space Knight_ and we haven't been able to talk to him since weblasted off from Space Academy."
"I wouldn't worry about it if I were you, Cadet Corbett," snapped themajor. "I've heard of Cadet Manning's reluctance to stick toregulations. I suspect you will be hearing from him soon enough, whenthe ship runs out of fuel and starts drifting around in the asteroidbelt. Those individualists always scream for help when they get introuble."
"Yes, sir," said Tom stiffly.
"I already have a squadron of ships standing by to go to theirassistance when they do send out a distress alert."
"Yes, sir," said Tom. "Will that be all, sir? Cadet Astro and I wouldlike to have a bite to eat before we blast off again."
"Yes, that will be all, Corbett. Don't wander off too far." The majorturned and walked toward the ships without another word.
"Wonder what's eating him?" said Tom.
"Never mind," said Astro. "Come on. Let's grab a bite while we have thechance."
They headed for the restaurant in the control building of the spaceport,but were recognized by the reporter of the stereo company who badgeredthem into stepping before the camera and making statements about therace. He tried to get the boys to commit themselves as to who they hopedwould win, and to offer an opinion on what had happened to the _SpaceKnight_. But neither Tom nor Astro said anything but that the best manwould win. There were the usual eager spectators too, thousands from thelarge cities on Mars who had taken the ferry rocket up to the spaceportto see the ships come in for refueling. As soon as Tom and Astro couldtear away from the stereo reporter, they were mobbed by the onlookerswho clamored for autographs. Finally the two cadets had to forego theirmeal and return to their respective ships to escape the wilddemonstration.
Seated in his acceleration chair on the control deck of the _SpaceLance_, waiting for Bill Sticoon to come aboard, Tom found his concernfor Roger overriding his enthusiasm for the race. When Sticoon appearedand began to prepare the ship for blast-off, Tom went through themotions mechanically. The _Space Lance_ was scheduled to leave first,with Kit Barnard following at the exact time interval of their arrivals.The Deimos tower operator's voice droned over the loud-speaker on thecontrol deck of the _Space Lance_ " ... minus five, four, three, two,one"--then the breath-taking pause before the climactic--"_zero!_"
The ship shot spaceward, rockets roaring loudly in the thin atmosphereof the small satellite. The next moment, before the horrified eyes ofthousands of people, the _Space Lance_ exploded a few miles above theground.
Astro stood frozen at the viewport of the _Good Company_, his eyesglazed with shock as he watched the Martian ship disintegrate far abovehim. All he could do was mutter brokenly, "Tom ... Tom ..."