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"Spaceman's luck, both of you," said Astro. "Just plain ordinary luck," commented Roger, "and plenty of it!" The three boys quickly strapped themselves into acceleration seats, with Tom hooking up an emergency relay switch that he could hold in his hand. He hoped he would remain conscious long enough to throw the switch and start the water sprinkler in case the ship caught fire.
"O.K., sir," said Tom, then smiled and added, "We're sorry your fishing was interrupted." "I wasn't catching anything, anyway." Strong laughed. "I've got to go. See you back at the Academy. Spaceman's luck!" "Same to you, sir," replied Tom. The screen blurred and the image faded as the connection was broken. Tom turned to face his sleepy-eyed unit mates.
But" he paused and measured his words carefully "if I were you, I wouldn't wait around for Connel or anyone else to blast my life to pieces by sending me to a prison for one little mistake!" The hatch slid closed behind the two spacemen. Roger stood up and began packing a small spaceman's bag. There was a jet liner coming in from Atom City that would make a stop at Venusport.
He was busily putting a plot together in his mind a plot as dangerous as it was criminal. The jet cab slammed to a stop at a busy intersection of the city. This was Spaceman's Row, and it dated back to Venusport's first rough and tough pioneering days.
If I'm going to splash in, I'll take it on solid ground, even if it is Mars and not Venus. I don't want to wash out in space!" "That goes for me, too," said Roger. "O.K.," said Tom. "Here we go. Just keep your fingers crossed that we hit the desert instead of the mountains, or we'll be smeared across those rocks like applesauce. Spaceman's luck, fellas!"
We'll drop you and get out of here. But don't worry. We have your orbit fixed, and we'll find you when the screens are clear." "Suppose they find us while you're gone?" Rip said. "It's a chance," O'Brine admitted. "You'll have to take spaceman's luck on that one. But we won't be far away. We'll duck behind Vesta, or another of the big asteroids, and hide so their screens won't pick up our motion.
On Spaceman's Row, Roger found the new freedom from discipline enjoyable at first, but now the novelty had worn off. Having visited all of the interesting places on the Row, existence there had become boring. His one attempt to leave Spaceman's Row had nearly met with disaster. Running into a squad of Solar Guard MP's, he had made a hurried escape into a near-by jet taxi.
Astro continued softly, "You can't answer Mr. Hot-shot Manning, but I can!" "What do you mean?" asked Tom. "I mean that Manning doesn't know what it is to really have it tough!" "You got a real hard luck story, eh, big boy?" snarled Roger. "Yeah, I have!" growled Astro. "I got one that'll make your life look like a spaceman's dream. At least you know about your father.
When they had discovered that Roger was missing it had been a terrific blow. Unaware that Roger, in his confused state of mind, had been an easy victim to Loring and Mason's trickery and had innocently walked into their trap, the two cadets felt that his escape was a breach of trust. Roger had given his spaceman's word that he would confine himself to his quarters.
Both replied that everything on the ship was ready to blast off immediately. Tom turned back to the teleceiver. "No questions, sir," reported Tom. "We're all set to blast off." "Very well, Corbett," said Strong. "I'm going to make as much speed as possible to get these people on Mars. The crew of the Lady Venus will take over the radar and power decks." "O.K., sir, and spaceman's luck!" said Tom.
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