The young cadet gulped in fear. Someone had recognized him! He wondered if he should open the door or slip out of the window and leave.
"Hey, Tom!" the voice called. "This is Tiny! Come on, lemme in."
"Tiny!" shouted Tom in swift relief. He opened the door and a small boy of about twelve stepped inside.
"Hiya, Tom," greeted the boy enthusiastically.
Tom grinned his welcome. He and Roger and Astro had met the youngster on several of their trips to the village and had become great friends. They always had to tell him stories about the Cadet Corps.
"How did you know I was here, Tiny?" asked Tom.
"I followed you from the monorail station," replied the boy. "You couldn"t fool me in those civvies. Where"s your uniform?"
"Never mind that now," said Tom, kneeling before him. "Look, Tiny, can you keep a secret?"
"Sure!" said the boy gleefully. "Sure I can, Tom."
"Well, I"m on a secret a.s.signment, see?" whispered the cadet with a conspiratorial air. "And I need someone like you to help me. But you can"t tell anyone I"m here!"
"Sure, I understand, Tom. Whatcha want me to do?"
"Go to the Academy and find Astro and Roger. Tell them to come here at nine o"clock tonight. But remember, don"t talk to anyone else!"
"O.K.!" replied the youngster. "I getcha! You going to catch spies, Tom?"
"I don"t know yet, Tiny. But you do what I told you and then hurry right back to me and tell me what they said!"
The boy nodded and hurried off. From the window, Tom watched him climb on his jet bike and roar off into the gathering darkness toward the Academy.
It was nearly two hours before he heard the jet bike return and he hurried to the door, waiting impatiently for the boy to come in. When the door opened and Tiny stepped in, Tom sensed immediately that something was wrong.
"Tom!" gasped Tiny, his eyes wide with shock. "You know what happened?"
"What?"
"Roger and Astro--" the boy stopped, seemingly unable to go on.
"Didn"t you see them?" demanded Tom.
"Naw, I couldn"t. They wouldn"t let me."
"Who wouldn"t let you?"
"The guards."
"What guards? What are you talking about, Tiny?"
"The guards at the jail! Roger and Astro are on the enlisted man"s work gang for six months!" said Tiny.
Hiding his shocked surprise, Tom hurriedly gave the boy a ten-credit note and swore him to silence.
"Now you hurry home, Tiny, and don"t tell anyone you"ve seen me!" he said.
"O.K., Tom," replied the boy. "But what does it all mean?"
"I wish I knew," said Tom grimly. "And when I find out, Tiny, I promise you I"ll let you know."
When Tom was finally alone, he stood at the window, staring at the gleaming tower, now lighted and shining brilliantly in the darkness. He suddenly felt that he would never see the tower again.
CHAPTER 14
"Stand clear!"
Professor Hemmingwell"s voice rang over the roar of activity in the hangar as the huge new control panel was lifted along the hull to a large hole that had been cut into the side of the experimental ship at the control-deck level.
"Easy does it!" called the professor, standing on the deck and peering through the hole. "Careful now!"
Now even with the hole, the panel was slowly pulled into the ship by the workers. Even Major Connel and Steve Strong lent a hand, setting it into place. When it had been securely anch.o.r.ed, a team of technicians swarmed over the panel to begin the intricate work of connecting all the controls to the various parts of the ship, and Hemmingwell and the two Solar Guard officers stepped back to watch them.
"This puts us back on schedule now," said the professor, turning, red-eyed and tired, to Connel and Strong. "It was a good idea of yours, Steve, to prefabricate the panel and have it put into position all at once. If we had tried to install it piece by piece, we"d be weeks behind."
"Good work, Steve," Connel chimed in.
Strong merely nodded his thanks. He was tired. More tired than he had ever been in his life. Not only had he supervised the construction of the new control panel, but he had been working on a special report to present to the Solar Guard Review Board requesting another trial for Astro and Roger. And he had spent every spare minute haunting the MP headquarters of the Solar Guard for word of Tom. So, he accepted the compliments of Connel and Professor Hemmingwell with little enthusiasm.
"You better get some rest, Steve," said Connel, aware of Strong"s att.i.tude. "I know how hard you"ve been working these past few days. So knock off and I want your word that you will go back to your quarters and get some sleep!"
"Sorry, Major," replied Strong, "I can"t give you my word about that."
Connel"s face darkened with anger. "All right! Then do what you want.
Get out!" he shouted.
Strong merely nodded and left the ship.
Outside the hangar, he stopped suddenly when he saw Dave Barret step off the slidewalk from the Academy and stride toward him. The young captain clenched his teeth in sudden anger. He had talked to Astro and Roger many times since they had been put on the work gang and they swore that their story of their ill-fated flight was true. Strong could not believe that they would lie. He had been too close to them and had, many times, put his very life into their hands. But there seemed to be no way to break Barret"s story. He waited for the man to pa.s.s him.
"Good morning, Strong," said Barret, as though surprised. "Well, how"s the genius? Get the control panel in this morning?"
Barret was annoyed that Strong"s plan to replace the control panel had been accepted over his own. The captain returned his cold stare and nodded.
[Ill.u.s.tration]
"It"s in," he said, and then added, "I would like to ask you a few questions, Barret."