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In the center of the circular room Tom noticed a round desk that was raised about eight feet from the floor. This desk dominated all activity in the busy room. Inside it stood a Solar Guard officer, watching the monitoring teleceivers. He wore a throat microphone for sending out messages, and for receiving calls had a thin silver wire running to the vibrating bone in his ear.
Inside each of the massive ships, Earthmen gathered around the scanners to look ahead across the abyss of space and gaze at their new home. Finally the momentous order came crackling through the teleceivers. "Polaris to fleet! Single up for landing! Ships to follow the Polaris and touch down in order of their fleet numbers!"
"This is an official order, Corbett. So you have priority over all civilian transportation." The Solar Guard captain smiled. "I've tied up a whole bank of teleceivers in Atom City searching for you. Get back to Space Academy fast commandeer an air car if you must, but be here by six hundred hours!" The captain waved a cheery good-bye and the screen went dark. "Space maneuvers," breathed Astro.
"Put the ship on automatic flight, attack-approach pattern number three. Then stand by to send a message to whoever's manning that ship!" "Aye, aye, sir!" replied Tom. He hurriedly set the delicate device that would fly the ship in a preplanned course of zigzag maneuvers and opened the circuits of the teleceivers. "All set for the message, sir," reported Tom.
"Two-way teleceivers, Corbett," said Scott with a smile. "When you arrived on the Polaris, didn't you have a view of the station on your teleceiver?" "Yes, sir," answered Tom, "of course." "Well, these monitors picked up your image on the Polaris teleceiver. So the traffic-control chief here could see exactly what you were seeing."
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