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Though a few inches shorter than Astro, he was what Astro might become in thirty years, heavily muscular, with a barrel chest that filled the gold-and-black uniform tightly. He stood balanced on the balls of his small feet like a boxer, hands hanging loosely at his sides. A bulldog chin jutted out of his rough-hewn face as if it were going to snap off the head of the nearest cadet.
He could only stare at the shimmering tower ahead. "It's all I've ever wanted to do," said Tom at length. "Just get out there and be free!" "I know what you mean. It's the greatest feeling in the world." "You say that as if you've already been up there." Astro grinned. "Yup. Used to be an enlisted space sailor. Bucked rockets in an old freighter on the Luna City Venusport run."
With the humidity-control and air-cooling mechanisms in the space suits working at top capacity but affording little relief, Alfie, Roger, Shinny, and Astro buried the fourth reactor unit and headed for the fifth and last emplacement. Occasionally one of them would turn and cast a swift glance at the clear blue space overhead, secretly hoping to find the rocket cruiser had returned.
Tom and Roger broke into loud cheers and pounded each other on the back. "Great Jupiter," gasped Roger, "I feel as though I've been sitting up with a sick friend!" "Your friend's going to make a full recovery," asserted Astro. "Did you see Major Connel?" asked Tom. "Yeah," said Astro. "I think he had a lot to do with it. I saw him talking to the head maintenance officer."
"Maybe he won't notice." "Some chance," groaned Roger, running after Tom and Astro. "That old rocket head wouldn't miss anything!" The three boys raced back to the electric elevator and were silently whisked to the air-lock level. They hurried aboard the Polaris and into the control room. Major Connel was seated in a chair near the chart screen, studying some papers.
"I dub thee Polaris the Second," said Tom in formal tones and gave the nearest beam a kick. Astro and Roger gave a lusty cheer. Steadily, silently, the raft bore them through the never-changing scene of the canal's muddy banks and the endlessness of the desert beyond.
"If you have an idea, spill it," said the major. "How about releasing the prisoners, taking over a ship, and blasting off?" "And have the Solar Guard fleet blast us out of the skies? No, sir! Come on, we've got to get moving!" "We could still try to release Carson and the others," said Astro stoutly. "We can try all right, but I don't think we'll be very successful."
"If Captain Strong is thinking about putting those passengers back aboard, I think you'd better tell him about the radiation. I haven't been able to flush it all out yet. And since we only have three lead-lined suits...." He left the statement unfinished. "I get you, Astro," replied Tom. He turned back to the teleceiver and faced Strong. "Astro says the ship is still hot from radiation, sir.
Tom put his mask back on and headed for the door. Astro followed him. They opened it a little and peered into the swirling mist. "Then it's being pumped in directly," Tom asserted. "Through a duct leading directly up into this room from somewhere below." Astro nodded. "Then there's only one thing left to do. Go down through that trap door and see what we can find." He stepped forward.
"Think Astro'll make it?" asked Phil. "I don't know," answered Tom, "I saw him sweating over there like a man facing death." "I guess he is in a way." Astro took his place in line and shrugged his shoulders when Tom leaned forward to give him a questioning look. "Go ahead, Tom," urged Phil. Tom turned and dropped his tube into the green-bordered slot and waited.
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