Danger in Deep Space | Page 7

some punk
kids out on the next trip to Tara and leave us experienced spacemen to
rot on the ground, huh?"
Strong didn't see the door slide open to admit the three cadets who
entered quietly. His whole attention was focused on the ugly glaring
faces of Bill Loring and Al Mason.
"Get this, Loring!" snapped Strong hotly. "The assignments of the
Polaris unit, whether it be to Tara or the Moon, has nothing to do with
your own breech of conduct. In any case, if they were to be assigned,
they'd do a better job than you 'experienced' spacemen who are
disrespectful of your superior officers and break regulations! If either
of you makes one more crack about the Solar Guard or Space Cadets,
or anything at all, I'll take you out on the quadrangle and pound some
common courtesy into your heads! Now get out!"
"All right, all right--" muttered Loring retreating, but with a sneer on
his lips. "We'll meet again, Mr. Bigshot Spaceman!"
"I hope so, Loring. And if we do, I hope you've taken a bath. You even
smell bad!"
From the rear of the room came a burst of laughter. Tom, Roger, and
Astro, unobserved, had been listening and watching their skipper in
action. When Loring and Mason had left the room, they advanced to
the desk, came to attention, and saluted.

"Polaris unit reporting for duty, sir!" snapped Tom crisply.
"At ease," said Strong. "Did you hear all of that?"
"Yes, sir, skipper!" Roger smiled. "And believe me, you really gave it
to those two space bums!"
"Yeah," agreed Astro, "but I don't think even you could do much for
Loring. He's just born to smell bad!"
"Never mind that," said Strong. "I suppose you heard the part about the
assignments?"
The three cadets assumed looks of pure innocence.
"We didn't hear a thing, sir," said Tom.
"You'll make a fine diplomat, Corbett," Strong laughed. "All right, sit
down and I'll give it to you straight."
They hastily took seats and waited for their skipper to begin.
"You've been assigned as cadet observers on a mission to test the range
of a new long-range audio transmitter." Strong paused, then added
significantly, "The test is to take place in deep space."
The three cadets only beamed their enthusiastic approval.
"Tara," continued Strong, "is your destination--a planet like Earth in
many respects, in orbit around the sun star Alpha Centauri. You'll take
the Polaris directly to the Venus space station, where the transmitter
has been given primary tests, outfit the Polaris for hyperdrive, and
blast off!"
"Excuse me, sir," interrupted Tom, "but you say 'you'?"
"I mean," replied Strong, "you, in the sense that I won't be going along
with you. Oh, don't worry!" said Strong, holding up his hand as a
sudden look of anticipation spread over the faces of the three boys.

"You're not going alone! You'll have a commanding officer, all right. In
fact, you'll have the nearest thing to the perfect commanding officer in
the Solar Guard!" He waited just long enough for each boy to search
his mind for a suitable candidate and then added, "Your skipper will be
Major Connel!"
"Major Connel!" the three cadets cried in unison.
"You mean Major 'Blast-off' Connel?" uttered Roger unbelievingly.
"That's who I mean," said Strong. "It's the best thing in the universe
that could happen to you!"
Roger stood up and saluted smartly. "I request permission to be
dismissed from this mission on the grounds of incompatibility, sir," he
said.
"Incompatible to what?" asked Strong, amused.
"To Major Connel, sir," replied Roger.
"Permission denied," said Strong with a smile. "Buck up! It isn't so
bad." Strong paused and stood up. "Well, that's it. It's close to eleven
A.M. and you're to report to the major at eleven on the nose. I hope
you've got the Polaris in good shape."
"We were up all night, sir," said Tom. "She's ready to go."
"She's in better shape than we are," said Astro.
"Very well, then. Report to Major Connel immediately. Your papers
have been transferred, so all you have to do is report."
Strong rounded the desk and shook hands with each cadet. "This is an
important mission, boys," he said soberly. "See that you give Major
Connel all the support I know you're capable of giving. He'll need it. I
doubt if I'll see you before you blast off, so this is it. Spaceman's luck
to each of you!"

[Illustration]
CHAPTER 3
"Well, looks like we're big boys now," said Tom, as the three cadets
strolled down the corridor away from Captain Strong's office. "They
don't hand out secret and important missions to cadet units unless
they're really on the ball!"
"But we've got Major 'Blast-off' Connel to educate," grumbled Roger.
"What do you mean 'educate'?"