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Updated: May 12, 2025
I handle you until you either wash out and go home, or you finally blast off and become spacemen. If you stub your toe or cut your finger, come to me. If you get homesick, come to me. And if you get into trouble" he paused momentarily "don't bother because I'll be looking for you, with a fist full of demerits!" McKenny continued his slow inspection of the ranks, then suddenly stopped short.
Mike waited for the six boys to form a circle around him, while he held the mercuryball, a twelve-inch plastic sphere, filled with air and the tricky tube of mercury. "You all know the rules," announced McKenny abruptly. "Head, shoulders, feet, knees, or any part of your body except your hands, can touch the ball.
Carrying Manning's luggage as well as their own, they finally stepped on the slidewalk and began the smooth easy ride from the monorail station to the Academy. Both having felt the sharpness of Manning's tongue, and both having been dressed down by Warrant Officer McKenny, they seemed to be linked by a bond of trouble and they stood close together for mutual comfort.
As the boys jumped off the slidewalk, a cadet, dressed in the vivid blue that Tom recognized as the official dress of the Senior Cadet Corps, walked up to McKenny and spoke to him quietly. The warrant officer turned back to the waiting group and gave rapid orders. "By twos, follow Cadet Herbert inside and he'll assign you to your quarters.
All had visions of becoming Space Cadets, and later, officers in the Solar Guard. Each dreamed of the day when he would command rocket ships that patrolled the space lanes from the outer edges of Pluto to the twilight zone of Mercury. They were all the same. "All right now! Let's get squared away!" His voice was a little more friendly now. "My name's McKenny Mike McKenny.
Like a clap of thunder Warrant Officer McKenny's voice jarred the boys out of their silence. He stepped forward like a bantam rooster and faced the startled group of boys. "I wanna know just one thing! Who stepped off that slidestairs first?" The boys all hesitated. "I guess I was the first, sir," said Astro, stepping forward. "Oh, you guess you were, eh?" roared McKenny.
We're really in? We're cadets?" "That's right." McKenny looked at a clip board in his hand and read, "Cadet Corbett, Tom. Qualified for control deck. Cadet Astro. Power deck." Astro took a deep breath and started another yell, but before he could let go, McKenny clamped a big hand over his mouth. "You bellow like that again and I'll make meteor dust out of you!"
"I don't hold with anyone doing another man's work, but if a Solar Guard officer, a Space Cadet, or even a cadet candidate gives his word he'll do something, he does it!" McKenny shook a finger in Astro's face, reaching up to do it. "Is that clear?" "Yes, sir," was the embarrassed reply. McKenny turned to Manning who stood listening, a faint smile playing on his lips. "What's your name, Mister?"
Let's play fair and square, the way we did with the Arcturus unit." "If you feel that way, Manning," answered Astro coldly, "you can quit right now! We'll handle the Capella guys ourselves!" Before Roger could answer, McKenny blew the ready whistle and the three boys lined up along the white chalk line preparing for the dash to the waiting ball. The cadets in the stands were hushed.
But right now you're Earthworms, the lowest form of animal life in the Academy!" As the boys snapped to attention again, Tom thought he caught a faint smile on Cadet Herbert's face as he stood to one side waiting for McKenny to finish his tirade. Suddenly he snapped his back straight, turned sharply and stepped through the wide doors of the building. Quickly the double line of boys followed.
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