On the Trail of the Space Pirates | Page 8

is part two?" Strong
asked.
Hawks smiled. "Here it is, Steve. The Solar Alliance has decided to
open the exposition with a simple speech made by a relatively
unknown person, but one who is deserving of such an honor. They left
the choice of that person up to me." He paused and added quietly, "I'd
like you to make that opening speech, Steve."
"Me!" cried Strong. "Me, make a speech?"
"I can't think of anyone more deserving--or dependable."
"But--but--" stammered the captain, "I can't make a speech. I wouldn't
know what to say."
"Say anything you want. Just make it short and to the point."
Strong hesitated a moment. He realized it was a great honor, but his
naturally shy personality kept him from accepting.
"Steve, it may make it easier for you to know," said Hawks teasingly,
"that there's going to be a giant capsule lowered into the ground which
will contain a record of every bit of progress made since the inception
of the Solar Alliance. It's designed to show the men of the future how
to do everything from treating a common cold to exploding nuclear
power. This capsule will be lowered at the end of your opening address.
So, most of the attention will be focused on the capsule, not you." The
commissioner smiled.
"All right, Mike," said Strong, grinning sheepishly. "You've got
yourself a speechmaker!"
"Good!" said Hawks and the two men shook hands.
Tom Corbett could contain himself no longer. "Congratulations, sir!"
he blurted out as the three cadets stood up. "We think Commissioner

Hawks couldn't have made a better choice!" His unit-mates nodded a
vigorous assent.
Strong shook hands with the cadets and thanked them.
"You want the cadets for anything right now, Mike?" asked Strong.
"Not a thing, Steve."
Strong turned back to the boys. "Better hop out to the spaceport and get
the Polaris over the exposition site, cadets. Soon as you set her down,
clean her up a little, then relax. I'll be at the Galaxy Hotel if you need
me."
"Yes, sir," said Tom.
The cadets saluted sharply and left the office.
Arriving at the spaceport, they found the Polaris stripped of her guns
and her galley stocked with food. The chief petty officer in charge of
the enlisted spacemen detail was roving through the passageways of the
rocket cruiser when Tom found him.
"Everything set, chief?" asked Tom.
"All set, Cadet Corbett," reported the elderly spaceman, saluting
smartly. He gave Tom a receipt for the list of the equipment that had
been removed from the ship and signed the logbook. Tom thanked him
and made a hurried check of the control deck, with Roger and Astro
reporting from the radar and power decks. With the precision and
assurance of veteran spacemen, the three Space Cadets lifted the great
ship up over the heart of the sprawling Venusian city and brought it
down gently in the clearing provided for it at the exposition site, a
grassy square surrounded on three sides by buildings of shimmering
crystal walls.
No sooner had the giant ship settled itself to the ground, than a crew of
exposition workers began laying a slidewalk toward her, while another

crew began the construction of an aluminum staircase to the entrance
port in her giant fin.
Almost before they realized it, Tom, Roger, and Astro found
themselves busy with a hundred little things concerning the ship and
their part in the fair. They were visited by the subcommissioner of the
exposition and advised of the conveniences provided for the
participants of the fair. Then, finally, as a last worker finished the
installation of a photoelectric cell across the entrance port to count
visitors to the ship, Tom, Roger, and Astro began the dirty job of
washing down the giant titanium hull with a special cleaning fluid,
while all around them the activity of the fair buzzed with nervous
excitement.
Suddenly the three cadets heard the unmistakable roar of jets in the sky.
Automatically, they looked up and saw a spaceship, nose up,
decelerating as it came in for a touchdown on a clearing across one of
the wide spacious streets of the fairgrounds.
"Well, blast my jets!" exclaimed Astro, his eyes clinging to the flaming
exhausts as the ship lowered itself to the ground.
"That craft must be at least fifty years old!"
"I've got a rocket-blasting good idea, Tom," said Roger.
The exit port of the spaceship opened, and the three cadets watched
Gus Wallace and Luther Simms climb down the ladder.
"Hey," yelled Roger, "better be careful with that broken-down old
boiler. It might blow up!"
The two men glared at the grinning Roger but didn't answer.
"Take it easy, Roger," cautioned Tom. "We don't want to start anything
that might cause us and Captain Strong trouble