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"That's all right, Roger," he said quietly. "We've all been working pretty hard. One little mistake is bound to show up in an operation like this." He paused. "It's my fault. I should have checked those fuses myself." "Does it make so much difference, sir?" asked Astro. "A lot of difference, Astro," said Connel. He sat down heavily. "But how, sir?" asked Tom.
Tom brought his fist up, with the thumb extended and wiped it across his chest in the traditional spaceman's signal that all was clear. "I didn't scratch one of 'em, sir," he said, smiling. "Good enough," said Connel. "Keep it that way." He watched the monitor screen as the liner San Francisco settled into landing-port eleven.
"All right," said Connel, "here's what we'll do." Quickly the major outlined a plan whereby Tom would sneak through the lines of the Nationalists around the administration building, while the rest of them created a diversionary move. It was a daring plan that would require split-second timing.
"Fine," said Connel. "That gives me just enough time to notify Space Academy to get ready to receive Junior's signal. You know what to do?" "I don't have to do anything, sir," answered Tom, nodding to the solar clock over his head. "In nine minutes and twenty seconds, the reactor units go off automatically at one-second intervals." Roger and Astro entered the control deck and came to attention.
They were surprised to see that their smashing attack had gone unnoticed, and Connel reasoned that the constant roar of activity in the canyon had covered the sounds of their raid. "We'll have to hurry, sir," said Astro as they turned into the lane leading to the prison. "Ten minutes to twelve." "It's no good, Astro," said Connel, suddenly pulling the cadet back and pointing to the building.
"This is the stuff I told you about, Professor," he said as Hemmingwell looked at it curiously. "What stuff?" asked Connel. "Portable heaters for the crew's space suits, just in case " Barret paused meaningfully. "In case of what?" growled Connel. "Why, ask them!" replied Barret, gesturing toward the group of civilian crewmen who had been selected for the test flight of the spaceship.
"Are there any specific orders, Commander?" "Use your own judgment, Lou," said Walters. "You know what we want and how far to go to get it. If you learn anything, we'll start a full-scale investigation. If not, we'll forget the whole matter and no one will get hurt." "And the Solar Guard won't get a reputation of being nosy," added Strong. Connel nodded. "I'll take care of it."
As a practical approach to this course, the Academy officials had established a Cadet Council for the settlement of disputes and infractions of rules by the cadets. It was to this cadet governing body that the fight between the Polaris and the Capella units was referred by Major Connel. The Academy had buzzed with talk since the fight, and sides were drawn hard and fast.
Even now, years later, the gruff voice rang in his ears. It wasn't long after that that he had met Shinny. Connel smiled behind the protection of his helmet, as he looked at the wizened spaceman, who was now old and toothless, but who still had the same merry twinkle in his eye that Connel had noticed the first time he saw him.
They skidded to a stop when they saw Barret with his hands in the air and Astro's finger on the trigger of the blaster. "By the blessed rings of Saturn!" roared Connel. "Not again." "Put down that gun," demanded Rush, stepping forward quickly. Astro lowered the gun and Barret dropped his hands. "What's the meaning of this?" demanded Connel, his face reddening with rage.
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