"Hemmingwell," snapped Firehouse. "_Hemmingwell_."
"--Hemmingwell"--nodded Roger with a wink at Astro--"we brought the suspect to the officer of the guard, Firehouse Tim Rush."
"Can that Firehouse, ya squirt!" growled Rush. "Only my friends can call me that. And you two are not in that cla.s.sification."
"O.K., Fireman," said Roger. "I can call you Fireman, can"t I? After all, you are a pretty hot rocket, and--"
"Get back to your posts!" roared Firehouse Tim in his loudest voice.
Roger and Astro grinned and hurried out of the small building. Before resuming their posts in the hangar, the two cadets stopped at an automatic soda dispenser. As they drank slowly, they looked around the hangar. The project was back in full operation now. The workers that had been cleared had heard about the arrest of their foreman, and there seemed to be more talk than work.
Dave Barret walked over to Roger and Astro. Nodding in a surprisingly friendly fashion, he said, "I want to commend you two boys on your good work a while ago. I think that traitor would have tried anything if you hadn"t been there. He might even have tried to kill me or the professor."
Roger and Astro mumbled curt thanks for the compliment.
Barret looked at them quizzically. "No need for us to be angry with each other," he said smoothly. "I realize that when we had our two little run-ins you were carrying out your duties, and I apologize for behaving the way I did. How about it? Can we shake and forget it?" He held out his hand. Astro and Roger looked at each other and shrugged, each in turn, taking the young man"s hand.
"You know," said Barret, "I"ve heard a lot about you three cadets of the _Polaris_ unit. Especially you, Manning. I understand that you know almost as much about electronics as your instructor at the Academy."
Roger grinned shyly. "I like my work."
"Well, blast my jets!" roared Astro. "That"s the first time I have ever heard Manning accept a compliment gracefully." The big Venusian turned to Barret. "He is not only the finest astrogator in the whole high, wide, and deep," he said sincerely, "but he could have had a wonderful career in electronics if he didn"t want to be a rocket jockey with me and Corbett."
"Is that so?" murmured Barret politely. "Well, Manning, you must have some ideas about the work that"s going on here."
"I sure have," said Roger. "And I see a lot of things here that could be done a lot easier."
"Hum," mused Barret. "You know something. I think I might be able to relieve you two of guard duty. After all, if Corbett can get out of it, I don"t see why I can"t put your talents to work for us here. How about it?"
Both boys almost jumped straight up in the air.
"That would be terrific, Mr. Barret!" exclaimed Astro.
"Call me Dave, Astro. We"re friends now, remember?"
"Sure, Dave," stuttered Astro. "But listen, we"d do anything to be taken off this detail and get Firehouse off our necks."
Barret smiled. "All right. I"ll see what I can do." He turned and walked off, giving them a friendly wave in parting.
Astro and Roger could hardly believe their luck. They returned to their posts and took up guard duty again with light hearts.
In his small private office, Barret watched them through the open door to the hangar and then turned to his desk, to pick up the recently installed private audioceiver. He asked for a private number in a small city on Mars, and then admonished the operator, "This is a security call, miss. Disconnect your circuit and do not listen in. Failure to comply will result in your immediate dismissal and possible criminal prosecution."
"Yes, sir," replied the operator respectfully.
There was a distinct click and Barret heard a gruff voice.
"h.e.l.lo?"
"This is Barret," the young designer whispered. "Everything"s going fine down here. I just had the foreman arrested to throw them off the track, and I have a plan to get rid of two of these nosy cadets." Barret listened a minute and then continued. "Connel and the other cadet, Corbett, have gone to Mars to inspect the receivers. Don"t worry about a thing. This ship will never get off the ground. And if it does, it will never fire a projectile."
Barret hung up and returned to the open door. He waved at Roger and Astro on the other side of the hangar and the two cadets waved back.
"Like lambs to the slaughter," he said to himself.
[Ill.u.s.tration]
CHAPTER 7
"Sound off, Corbett!"
Seated in the pilot"s chair on the control deck of the rocket cruiser _Polaris_, Major Connel bellowed the order into the intercom as he scanned the many dials on the huge control board.
"One minute to touchdown, sir," reported Tom over the intercom from the radar bridge of the _Polaris_.
"One minute to touchdown," repeated Connel. "Right!"
Connel reached for the switches and levers that would bring the giant ship to rest on the red planet of Mars. Even after his many years in the Solar Guard and thousands of s.p.a.ce flights, landing a rocket ship was still a thrill to the veteran s.p.a.ceman, and knowing that he had a good man on the radar deck made it even more exciting and demanding of his skill.
"Decelerate!" yelled Tom over the intercom.
Connel shut down the main drive rockets and at the same time opened the nose braking rockets. "Braking rockets on!" he yelled.
"One thousand feet to touchdown," said Tom.
Connel watched the dials spinning before him.
"Seven hundred and fifty feet to touchdown," reported Tom.
"Keep counting, Corbett!" yelled Connel enthusiastically.
"Five hundred feet!"
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 s.p.a.ceport below. The concrete runways and platforms were rushing up to meet the giant ship. He opened the main rockets full.
"Seventy-five feet! Stand by!" yelled Tom.
Connel"s hands flashed over the control panel of the ship, snapping switches, flipping levers, and turning dials in an effort to bring the ship to a smooth landing. There was a sudden roar of rockets and then a gentle b.u.mp.
"Touchdown!" roared Connel.