Danger in Deep Space

Danger in Deep Space, by Carey Rockwell

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Title: Danger in Deep Space
Author: Carey Rockwell
Illustrator: Louis Glanzman
Release Date: November 4, 2006 [EBook #19709]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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Transcriber's Note There is no evidence that the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed. Several obvious typographical errors were corrected, one possible typographical error was left as is, and hyphenation was standardized. A list of these items may be found at the end of the text. Words and phrases surrounded by underscore's like this are in italics in the original text. Although the cover page includes the title "STAND BY FOR MARS!" that book is not included in this e-text. Enjoy!

DANGER IN DEEP SPACE

THE TOM CORBETT SPACE CADET STORIES
By Carey Rockwell
STAND BY FOR MARS! DANGER IN DEEP SPACE
[Illustration]
A TOM CORBETT Space Cadet Adventure
DANGER IN DEEP SPACE
By CAREY ROCKWELL
WILLY LEY Technical Adviser
GROSSET & DUNLAP Publishers New York
COPYRIGHT, 1953, BY ROCKHILL RADIO
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Illustrations by LOUIS GLANZMAN
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

ILLUSTRATIONS
Frontispiece
The three weary cadets assembled on the control deck 13
The junior spaceman maneuvered the great rocket ship toward the air lock 36
The jet cab raced along the highway to Venusport 54
Tom could see two space-suited figures floating effortlessly 76
Mason was frozen into a rigid statue, unable to move 133
"Remember," Astro cautioned, "set the fuse for two hours" 161
Landing, they would tumble out of the jet boat and begin their frantic digging 180
"I know we're going to be sent to the prison asteroid and we deserve it," said Loring 206

DANGER IN DEEP SPACE
CHAPTER 1
"Stand by to reduce thrust on main drive rockets!" The tall, broad-shouldered officer in the uniform of the Solar Guard snapped out the order as he watched the telescanner screen and saw the Western Hemisphere of Earth looming larger and larger.
"Aye, aye, Captain Strong," replied a handsome curly-haired Space Cadet. He turned to the ship's intercom and spoke quickly into the microphone.
"Control deck to power deck. Check in!"
"Power deck, aye," a bull-throated voice bellowed over the loud-speaker.
"Stand by rockets, Astro! We're coming in for a landing."
"Standing by!"
The Solar Guard officer turned away from the telescanner and glanced quickly over the illuminated banks of indicators on the control panel. "Is our orbit to Space Academy clear?" he asked the cadet. "Have we been assigned a landing ramp?"
"I'll check topside, sir," answered the cadet, turning back to the intercom. "Control deck to radar deck. Check in!"
"Radar bridge, aye," drawled a lazy voice over the speaker.
"Are we cleared for landing, Roger?"
"Everything clear as glass ahead, Tom," was the calm reply.
"We're steady on orbit and we touch down on ramp seven. Then"--the voice began to quicken with excitement--"three weeks' liberty coming up!"
The rumbling voice of the power-deck cadet suddenly broke in over the intercom. "Lay off that space gas, Manning. Just see that this space wagon gets on the ground in one piece. Then you can dream about your leave!"
"Plug your jets, you big Venusian ape man," was the reply, "or I'll turn you inside out!"
"Yeah? You and what fleet of spaceships?"
"Just me, buster, with my bare hands!"
The Solar Guard officer on the control deck smiled at the young cadet beside him as the good-natured argument crackled over the intercom speaker overhead. "Looks like those two will never stop battling, Corbett," he commented dryly.
"Guess they'll never learn, sir," sighed the cadet.
"That's all right. It's when they stop battling that I'll start getting worried," answered the officer. He turned back to the controls. "One hundred thousand feet from Earth's surface! Begin landing procedure!"
As Cadet Tom Corbett snapped orders into the intercom and his unit-mates responded by smooth co-ordinated action, the giant rocket cruiser Polaris slowly arched through Earth's atmosphere, first nosing up to lose speed and then settling tailfirst toward its destination--the spaceport at Space Academy, U.S.A.
Far below, on the grounds of the Academy, cadets wearing the green uniforms of first-year Earthworms and the blue of the upper-classmen stopped all activity as they heard the blasting of the braking rockets high in the heavens. They stared enviously into the sky, watching the smooth steel-hulled spaceship drop toward the concrete ramp area of the spaceport, three miles away.
[Illustration: SPACE ACADEMY U.S.A.]
In his office at the top of the gleaming Tower of Galileo, Commander Walters, commandant of Space Academy, paused for a moment from his duties and turned from his desk to watch the touchdown of the great spaceship. And