Vietnam or Thailand ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
Updated: June 18, 2025
"You find it easier to say that the men pretended to be Americans." "I find it easier because it is truer," was the cadet's answer. And then there were several moments of silence while the three actors of this little drama watched each other eagerly. Ignacio was fairly beside himself with triumph.
And Astro, with his native talent for mechanics, soon became the unspoken leader of the crew. Even the supervisor acknowledged the young cadet's superior ability and allowed him a free hand in the construction of the barge. After six hours of hard labor, the "mover" was finished.
"Think, for instance," he said, "of being at the mercy of that man." He was pointing toward Ignacio, who lay near them, glowering in his hate, and the sailors looked and understood. "It's better to drown, sir," said one. And the rest thought so, too, and declared it promptly. "Very well, then," was the cadet's quiet answer, "we will stay on board. We have faced death before."
The corpsman straightened up and turned to Walters and Captain Strong. "He'll be all right as soon as he wakes up." "Shock?" asked Strong. "Yes. And complete fatigue. Look at his hands and knees. He's been doing some pretty rough work." The corpsman indicated the big cadet's hands, skinned and swollen from his labor in the mines. "Wake him up!" growled Walters.
The old hag was still shaking her cane and yelling her maledictions. At that moment a man snatched the stick from her hand and aimed a blow at Clif's face. The cadet's hands were tied behind him, and he was nearly helpless. But he managed to turn and catch the blow upon his shoulders. And an instant later his foot shot out and caught the enraged Spaniard squarely in the stomach.
And if you don't want to fight to live, then go lie down in the corner and just keep your big mouth shut!" Tom stood staring at the big cadet. His head jutted forward from his shoulders, the veins in his neck standing out like thick cords. He knew Astro had been an orphan, but he had never suspected the big cadet's life had been anything like that which he had just described.
"What's the matter with the way we've been doing it?" asked Roger with a slight edge to his voice that did not go unnoticed. Vidac looked at the cadet. His mouth was smiling, but his eyes were hard. "I think, Cadet Manning," purred Vidac, "that it will be better for you not to question me, or any of my practices. A Space Cadet's first rule is to take orders, not to question them."
They both sympathized with the big cadet's inability to cope with the theory of atomic energy and fuel conservation in spaceships. In charge of the power deck on the Polaris, Astro earlier had gained firsthand experience in commercial rocket ships as an able spaceman and later had been accepted in the Academy for cadet training.
Astro stood still. The man came up to him and felt the cadet's uniform for a hidden weapon. Then he jammed the ray gun into Astro's back and ordered him down the hill. Astro started walking, hardly daring to breathe, but suddenly the man stopped. "Where are the others?" he demanded. "They ran out on me." "Ran out on you. I thought you three were supposed to be such good buddies?"
Cadet Prescott opened that first. It was a lengthy letter. The young man ran through the pages hurriedly, to make sure that all was well with his parents. Now Dick held up the other letter. This also was addressed in a feminine hand -as most of a cadet's mail is. It was a small, square envelope, without crest or monogram, but the paper and cut were scrupulously good and fine.
Word Of The Day
Others Looking