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And as for that that man Vidac, if he ever turns off the teleceiver again when I'm talking to him, I'll go to the Solar Council itself. I'm an officer of the Solar Guard and demand respect!" His harangue concluded, Sykes turned and stalked toward the hatch. "Just a moment," called Hardy, stepping around the desk to confront the little scientist.
Above his head, the teleceiver screen brought him a clear picture of the Academy spaceport. He watched the giant cruisers take to the air one by one and rocket into the vastness of space. The clock hand reached the ten-second mark. "Stand by to raise ship!" Tom called into the intercom. The red hand moved steadily, inexorably. Tom reached for the master switch.
Walters paused, looking troubled. Then he sighed. "I guess you're right. Put the plan into effect immediately. It's the only thing we can do." At exactly midnight every teleceiver on Venus was suddenly blacked out for a moment and then came into focus again to reveal the grim features of Commander Walters.
"Aye, aye, sir," said Astro. When the Solar Guard captain signed off and his image faded from the teleceiver screen, Astro and Roger numbly complied with Newton's abrupt orders, bringing the ship to a dead stop in space and opening the starboard air lock. Then the two cadets sat in the main deck of the small scout and waited, their faces showing their concern. Neither felt like talking.
Watching the wildly flying missiles on the teleceiver screen, Connel breathed a sigh of relief. "Wow!" he snorted. "Glad we're out of that mess." "But what are we going to do about them, sir," asked Tom, a worried frown wrinkling his forehead as he watched the screen. "We can't just leave those things there. Some other ship may " "Don't worry about it," Connel broke in brusquely.
Should an emergency arise, you will call for assistance on the special teleceiver and audioceiver circuits open to you, numbers seventeen and eighty-three. You are to circle each fueling stop three times before making a touchdown, and make a final circle around Titan when you arrive. "Stand by to raise ship! And spaceman's luck!" Strong turned and flipped on the intercom to the control tower.
"Tonight, on a special combined audioceiver and teleceiver broadcast to all parts of the Solar Alliance, the president of the Solar Council will ask for volunteers men who will take man's first step through deep space to the stars. It is a step, which, in the thousands of years ahead, will eventually lead to a civilization of Earthmen throughout all space!"
"Is one of you Cadet Tom Corbett?" "Why I am," acknowledged Tom. "There's a call for you. Seems they've been trying to reach you all over Atom City." He placed the teleceiver screen on the table, plugged it into a floor socket and set the dials. "Hope's there's nothing wrong at home," said Tom to his friends.
"Take over, Corbett." Tom turned to the teleceiver. "Rocket cruiser Polaris to spaceport control." " ... Blast off minus two six hundred forty-eight...." "I read you clear," said Tom. He clicked off the teleceiver and turned back to the intercom. "Stand by to raise ship! Control deck to radar deck. Do we have clear trajectory forward and up, Roger?" "All clear forward and up," replied Roger.
Connel quickly cut back the nose braking rockets and again opened the main drive rockets as the ship plummeted tailfirst toward the surface of Mars. "Two hundred feet!" came the warning call over the intercom. Connel glanced up at the teleceiver screen over his head that showed the spaceport below. The concrete runways and platforms were rushing up to meet the giant ship.
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