Treachery in Outer Space | Page 9

forty ships in
the actual speed trials. See those big-bellied jobs? They're repair ships."
"I hadn't thought about that," acknowledged the big Venusian cadet.
"They'll probably be jazzing up those sleek babies and that takes a lot
of repair and work."
"Come on," said Tom. "We've got to get over to the meeting. Captain
Strong said he wanted us to be there."
The three cadets turned back toward the nearest slidewalk and hopped
on. None of them noticed the black ship with the red band around its
bow which suddenly appeared over the field, rockets blasting loudly as
it began to drop expertly to the ground.

From early morning the skies over the Academy had been vibrating to
the thunderous exhausts of the incoming fleet of ships. Painted with
company colors and insignia, the ships landed in allotted space on the
field, and almost immediately, mechanics, crew chiefs, and specialists
of all kinds swarmed over the space vessels preparing them for the
severest tests they would ever undergo. The ships that actually were to
make the trial runs were stripped of every spare pound of weight, while
their reactors were taken apart and specially designed compression
heads were put on the atomic motors.
The entire corps of Space Cadets had been given a special three-day
holiday to see the trials, and the Academy buildings were decorated
with multicolored flags and pennants. A festive atmosphere surrounded
the vast Solar Guard installation.
But in his office in the Tower of Galileo, Captain Strong paced the
floor, a worried frown on his face. He stepped around his desk and
picked up a paper to re-read it for the tenth time. He shook his head and
flipped open the key of his desk intercom, connecting him with the
enlisted spaceman in the next office.
"Find Kit Barnard, spaceman!" Strong called. "And give him an oral
message. Personal. Tell him I said he can't use his reactor unit unless
he changes it to more standard operational design." Strong paused and
glanced at the paper again. "As it stands now, his reactor will not be
approved for the trials," he continued. "Tell him he has until midnight
tonight to submit new specifications."
As Strong closed the intercom key abruptly, the three members of the
Polaris unit stepped into his office and saluted smartly. Strong looked
up. "Hello, boys. Sit down." He waved them to nearby chairs and
turned back to his desk. The drawn expression of their unit commander
did not go unnoticed.
"Is there something wrong, sir?" asked Tom tentatively.
"Nothing much," replied Strong wearily. He indicated the sheaf of
papers in front of him. "These are reactor-unit specifications submitted

by the pilots and crew chiefs of the ships to be flown in the time trials.
I've just had to reject Kit Barnard's specifications."
"What was the matter?" asked Astro.
"Not enough safety allowance. He's running too close to the danger
point in feeding reactant to the chambers, using D-18 rate of feed and
D-9 is standard."
"What about the other ships, sir?" asked Tom. "Do they all have safety
factors?"
Strong shrugged his shoulders. "They all specify standard reaction rates
without actually using figures," he said. "But I'm certain that their
feeders are being tuned up for maximum output. That's where your job
is going to come in. You've got to inspect the ships to make sure they're
safe."
"Then Kit Barnard put down his specifications, knowing that there was
a chance they wouldn't pass," Tom remarked.
Strong nodded. "He's an honest man."
The door opened and several men stepped inside. They were dressed in
the mode of merchant space officers, wearing high-peaked hats, trim
jackets, and trousers of a different color. Strong stood up to greet them.
"Welcome, gentlemen. Please be seated. We will begin the meeting as
soon as all the pilots are here."
Roger nudged Astro and whispered, "What's the big deal about a D-18
rate and a D-9 rate? Why is that so important?"
"It has to do with the pumps," replied the power-deck cadet. "They cool
the reactant fuel to keep it from getting too hot and wildcatting. At a
D-9 rate the reactant is hot enough to create power for normal flight.
Feeding at a D-18 rate is fine too, but you need pumps to cool the
motors, and pumps that could do the job would be too big."

"Kit's problem," commented Tom, "is not so much building the reactor,
but a cooling system to keep it under control."
"Will that make a big difference in who wins the race?" asked Roger.
"With that ship of Kit's," said Astro, shaking his head, "I doubt if he'll
be able to come even close to the top speeds in the trials unless he can
use the new reactor."
The room had filled up