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Gradually the huge store of cases and boxes outside the hangar had been moved inside, with all but a few of the smaller ones remaining outside. The secret work inside the hangar was advancing rapidly, but this did not enter into the thoughts of the three cadets of the Polaris unit, nor of the Capella unit.
"O.K., it's all set. Let's get out of here!" The two cadets raced back to the jet boat and blasted off immediately. Once in space, Astro turned to Roger. "Better check in with Major Connel before he tears himself to pieces!" "Yeah," agreed Roger. "I guess you're right." He flipped on the audio communicator. "Attention! Attention! Manning to Major Connel. Am making flight back to Polaris.
That unfortunate and heroic American, Captain Hall, ran his vessel, the Polaris, in the shortest space of time on record, up to latitude 82 degrees 16 minutes.
He knew the moment for disciplining had passed, and that Captain Strong was just overwhelmed with concern for their safety. "Stand by the air locks, Corbett, we're coming aboard again. We're pretty cramped for space here on the Polaris." Just then Astro yelled up from the power deck. "Hey, Tom!" he called.
"He was seen leaving the service entrance at about 2100 hours. There is no report as to his whereabouts, sir." Standing at the foot of the ladder leading to the main air lock of the Polaris, Major Connel turned to Carter Devers angrily. "This is the end!" he shouted. "I've had as much of this foolishness as I'm going to take.
He would not sleep until they were free and the Polaris unit was together again out in space! Tom Corbett was also unable to sleep. He had spent the night in the village hotel tossing and turning, his mind seething with plans to aid Roger and Astro. Finally, at dawn, he got up and sneaked out of the hotel.
They followed the direction of the magnetic lines of force, and, forsaking the polar collar of the magnetised sphere, surrounded it like a ruffle. The obvious analogy with the aurora polaris and the solar corona was insisted upon by Ebert himself, and has been further developed by Bigelow.
He locked the clear plastic airtight covering of the jet boat and began flicking at the control buttons. "Strap in, you Venusian hick. Here we go!" Roger shoved a lever at his side, making the jet-boat deck airtight from the rest of the Polaris, and then, by pressing a button on the simple control board, a section of the Polaris' hull slipped back, exposing them to empty space.
At Astro's easy reply Connel could only stand openmouthed in amazement. Again, one of the three cadets of the Polaris unit had developed a revolutionary procedure that even top rocket scientists would be proud to call their own. Winking at Tom, Astro turned away and suddenly noticed Barret sprawled on the deck, unconscious. "What happened to him?" asked the big Venusian.
The three members of the Polaris unit stepped off the slidewalk at the Academy spaceport and stood before Warrant Officer McKenny. "There she is," said the stubby spaceman, pointing to the gleaming spaceship resting not two hundred feet away. "Rocket cruiser Polaris. The newest and fastest ship in space." He faced the three boys with a smile. "And she's all yours. You earned her!"
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