"In the reactant chamber?" asked Astro. "Impossible!"
"Remember when we first arrived at the prison asteroid? How thoroughly we were searched?"
Astro nodded.
"Remember, they even searched the s.p.a.ce between the inner and outer hulls? There"s three inches of clearance in there. If I cut into that s.p.a.ce through the reactant chamber and put the beacon inside, the noise of the jets will keep c.o.xine from hearing it, and the radioactivity in the chamber will keep them from picking it up on their detectors!"
Astro"s face spread into a wide grin, and without another word, he began preparing the cutting torches. Ten minutes later Tom emerged from the chamber and nodded triumphantly. "All set, Astro! Now all we need is the beacon."
Suddenly the _Polaris_ was rocked by a heavy explosion.
"They"re firing!" yelled Astro.
"Roger! Have you finished the beacon?" demanded Tom over the intercom.
"I need another five minutes!" answered Roger. "I have to set the signal to send out the SOS."
"Will it send out _anything_?" asked Tom.
The _Polaris_ rocked again from a second explosion.
"I don"t know, Tom," yelled Roger. "I haven"t even tested it!"
A third explosion jarred the rocket cruiser and the curly-haired cadet knew that the air lock must have been demolished by now.
"Bring down what you"ve got, Roger!" he yelled. "We"ll just have to take a chance that it"ll work. And grab yourself a s.p.a.ce suit on the way down. When they blast through the inner portal of the lock, we"ll need "em!"
"Right!" replied Roger. "Be down there in a second."
Astro and Tom hurriedly donned s.p.a.ce suits and waited for Roger to bring the beacon. In a moment the blond-haired cadet appeared with the hurriedly contrived beacon. Tom quickly placed it between the two hulls and sealed the hole in the inner hull.
A fourth explosion rocked the ship and the three cadets knew that by now the air lock had been blasted away. They put on their s.p.a.ce helmets and climbed the ladder to the upper deck.
c.o.xine met them near the air lock, two paralo-ray guns clutched in his gloved hands. Behind him, his crew swarmed in and fanned out all over the ship.
But the s.p.a.ce pirate stood on the control deck, glaring at Tom. "Whaddya know! The s.p.a.ce Kid himself!"
"That"s right, c.o.xine," said Tom quietly, "only the real name is Corbett."
Suddenly there was a triumphant shout from one of the pirates. "Skipper!
The credits! All twenty million! We found "em!"
Over their s.p.a.cephones the three cadets could hear the pirates yelling and cheering. c.o.xine bellowed for silence and the cheering quickly subsided.
Paying no further attention to the three cadets, the pirate captain ordered his men to repair the hole in the air lock and prepare for immediate acceleration. There was a triumphant gleam in his eyes as he announced their destination.
"With the Solar Guard on the other side of the belt, we"re going to hit the richest prize in the universe! The colony on Ganymede!"
He then turned and smiled at his three prisoners, adding menacingly, "And we"ve got three pa.s.ses to get us through the defenses!"
CHAPTER 19
Ganymede, the largest moon of Jupiter, was an important way station of the Solar Alliance for all s.p.a.ceships traveling between the outer planets of Saturn, Ura.n.u.s, Neptune, and Pluto and the inner planets of Mars, Earth, Venus, and Mercury. The colony on Ganymede was more of a supply depot than a permanent settlement, with one large uranium refinery to convert the pitchblende brought in by the prospectors of the asteroids. Refueling ships, replenishing supplies, and having a small tourist trade, it was a quiet colony, one of many spread throughout the system.
With the Solar Guard search squadrons hopelessly out of range on the other side of the asteroid belt, the cadets" only hope of saving the tiny colony lay in the beacon hidden inside the hull of the _Polaris_.
Leaving Wallace and half of his crew aboard the _Polaris_, Bull c.o.xine had transferred the three cadets to the Avenger and thrown them into the brig. As the ship accelerated toward the colony, Tom stared out of the small, barred viewport while Roger and Astro sprawled glumly on the hard bunks.
Roger finally broke the heavy silence. "What do you suppose c.o.xine meant when he said he had three pa.s.ses into Ganymede?"
"Give you one guess, pal," snorted Astro.
"He obviously expects us to give him the recognition signal," said Tom.
Roger sighed. "That"s what I figured. But I was hoping I was wrong."
"At least we"re all immune to truth drugs," said Astro hopefully. "He won"t get the recognition code out of us that way."
"That dirty s.p.a.ce crawler wouldn"t even bother with drugs," muttered Roger. "They aren"t enough fun. He likes to get what he wants the hard way."
"Yes," agreed Tom. "We"re in for a rough time, guys."
They all looked at each other, fully aware of what lay in score for them. Finally Astro growled, "I don"t care what he does to me. I won"t tell him a thing!"
"Same here!" exclaimed Roger.
Tom merely nodded, his face a grim, expressionless mask.
Suddenly three men led by Brooks, the radar operator, appeared in the pa.s.sageway outside the brig. Brooks stepped forward, opened the door, and gestured with the paralo-ray gun in his hand.
"All right, you punks! Outside!"
Astro started to lunge for the pirate, but Tom grabbed him by the arm.
"Take it easy, Astro. That won"t get us any place."
"You can say that again," sneered Brooks. "One crazy move like that, kid, and I"ll freeze you solid as a cake of ice! Now come on! Move!"
Tom, followed by Astro and Roger, walked slowly out of the brig, and guarded closely by the three pirate crewmen they were taken to the main air lock.
"All right," said Brooks. "The big ox and blondie, get in there!"
One of the crewmen opened the air-lock portal while the other two jabbed Astro and Roger with ray guns. The two cadets stumbled into the chamber and the door was slammed behind them.
"Lock it!" snarled Brooks.