Vietnam or Thailand ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
Updated: May 12, 2025
"Well, ring me around Saturn," breathed Tom, looking up into the sky where the black ship had disappeared from view. "Whatever Quent Miles is, he can sure take acceleration." "Spaceman," said Astro, taking a deep breath, "you can say that again. Wow!" "I hope it broke his blasted neck," said Roger. "And you saw him messing around here, Sid?" asked Kit Barnard of his young helper.
"Cadet Manning will be in charge of all electronics inspections, Cadet Astro in charge of the power deck, and Cadet Corbett will cover the control deck and over-all inspection of the ship itself." Quent Miles was on his feet again, shouting, "Do you mean to tell me that we're going to be told what we can and can't do by those three kids!" He turned and glared at Tom.
"Let's go," said Tom grimly. The three boys split up and began crawling around in the network of exposed supporting beams and struts that took the place of decks and bulkheads. It did not take them long to determine that Quent Miles' ship was in perfect condition for blast-off. With but a few minutes to spare, they returned to face Miles at the air lock. "O.K., you're cleared," Tom announced.
Astro stared at the doorway through which Quent Miles had disappeared. He scratched his head and muttered, "If it wasn't for just one thing, I'd swear by the stars that he's the same spaceman who " He stopped and shook his head. "Who what?" asked Strong. "Nothing, sir," said Astro. "I must be mistaken. It can't be the same man."
Seeing it was useless to try and jump the burly spaceman, Roger relaxed and stretched out on the deck. Miles fired again calmly, and after testing the effect of the ray with his toe, he turned to the ladder. As the spaceman climbed back to the control deck, Roger, though in a paralyzed state, could hear the communicator loud-speaker paging Miles. "Come in, Quent! This is Ross! Come in!"
Astro nodded and they ducked into a gully as Quent Miles turned once again and glanced down the street. "Wonder what's in that building?" mused Tom. "One way to find out," said Astro. "Come on. He's moving again." The gas began to thicken now, and the two cadets found it difficult to see more than a few feet ahead as they moved cautiously through the swirling death around them.
Suddenly Quent straightened, and making certain no one was watching him, he jumped off the slidewalk and hurried to a clump of bushes a few hundred yards away. He disappeared into the thick foliage and then reached inside his tunic and pulled out a paralo-ray gun. "You in here, Charley?" Miles whispered. There was a movement to his left and he leveled the gun. "All right! Come out of there!"
"With that oxygen mask," replied the big cadet, "maybe he can't see very well." "He's going on," replied Tom. "Come on. We've got to find out what he's up to. He wouldn't be concerned about someone following him if he weren't trying to hide something." They slipped around the jet car and stepped back on the sidewalk. Ahead of them, Quent Miles was walking quickly, reading all the street signs.
Tom quickly saw that if he jumped Ross, Quent would be on him in seconds. His only chance lay in their passing him, giving him the opportunity to return to the control deck and search for a ray gun for himself. And if that failed, at least he could call Commander Walters. Ross crept closer. Tom crouched tensely.
The three cadets looked at each other, feeling the tension in the air suddenly relax. Strong was busy talking to someone on the portable intercom and had missed the byplay between the three finalists. "That Quent sure has a talent for making himself disliked," Tom commented to his unit mates.
Word Of The Day
Others Looking