"Aye, aye, sir," said the guard, stepping toward the secretary, but Walters stopped him and addressed the man.
"I"ll give you one last chance to tell me where your base is and how many ships you have," he said.
The secretary looked down at his feet and mumbled, "I don"t know where the base is, and I don"t know how many ships there are."
"Then what does this list we found in your tunic mean?" snapped Strong.
"These are the names of ships that have been lost in s.p.a.ce."
"I don"t know. That list was sent to me over the audioceiver by my superior. I was to relay it to Mercury should they accept our proposal to join forces against--" He stopped.
"Get him out of my sight!" barked Walters.
The guards closed in around the little man and he slowly shuffled out of the office.
"I wonder how many more there are like him in our organization, Steve?"
The commander had turned to the window and was staring out blindly.
"I don"t know, sir," replied Strong. "But I think we"d better be prepared for trouble."
"Agreed," said Walters, turning to the Solar Guard captain. "What do you suggest?"
"Since we don"t know how many ships they have, where their base is, or when they plan to attack, I suggest putting the Venus squadrons in defense pattern A. Meanwhile, call in three additional squadrons from Mars, Earth, and Luna. That way, we can at least be a.s.sured of an even fight."
"But we don"t know if they"ll attack here on Venus. Suppose we weaken Earth"s fleet and they attack there?" 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.
In homes, restaurants, theaters, arriving and departing s.p.a.ce liners, in every public and private gathering place, the citizens of Venus heard the announcement.
"As commander in chief of the Solar Guard, I hereby place the entire planet of Venus under martial law. All public laws are suspended until further notice. All public officials are hereby relieved of their authority. A ten P.M. until six A.M. curfew will go into effect immediately. Anyone caught on the streets between these hours will be arrested. An attack is expected on the city of Venusport, as well as other Venusian cities, momentarily. Follow established routine for such an occurrence. Obey officers and enlisted men of the Solar Guard who are here on Venus to protect you and your property. That is all!"
In the living room of Sinclair"s house Tom waited impatiently for the sound of Sinclair"s yacht taking off before attempting to free himself from the rope on his wrists. But when a half-hour had pa.s.sed with no sound from outside, he decided not to waste any more time.
Relaxing completely, the curly-haired cadet began working his wrists back and forth in the loop of rope. It was slow, painful work, and in no time the skin was rubbed raw. George and Mrs. Hill watched him, wide-eyed. They saw the skin of his wrists gradually turn pink, then red, as the cadet pulled and pushed at the rope. A half-hour had pa.s.sed before he felt the rope slipping down over the widest part of his hand.
Slowly, so as not to lose the precious advantage, he pulled with all his strength, unmindful of the pain. He heard a sharp gasp from Mrs. Hill and then felt the rope become damp. His wrists were bleeding. But at the same time he felt the rope slipping over his hands. He gave a quick tug and the rope slipped off and dropped to the floor, a b.l.o.o.d.y tangle. He spun around and untied the foreman and his wife quickly, removing the gags from their mouths gently.
"Your wrists!" cried Mrs. Hill.
"Don"t worry about them, ma"am," said Tom. He looked at Hill. "How long have you been tied up?"
"Just about an hour before you came," answered the foreman. "I found Sinclair in front of a teleceiver in his room. It"s in a secret panel and I didn"t know it was there. I waited and heard him talking to someone in Venusian. But he spotted me and pulled a ray gun."
"Do you know where he"s gone?" asked Tom.
"No, but I sure wish I did!" said the burly foreman stoutly. "I have something to settle with him."
"That"ll have to wait until the Solar Guard is finished with him. Come on!" Tom started toward the door.
"Where are we going?" asked Hill.
"To the _Polaris_! I"ve got to warn the Solar Guard of their plans.
They"re going to attack the Venusport garrison and take over Venus!"
"By the stars!" gasped Mrs. Hill. "Here I"ve been feeding that man all these years and didn"t know I was contributing to a revolution!"
Tom was out of the door and running toward the _Polaris_ before she had finished talking. George followed right behind him.
As the cadet raced across the dark clearing one hope filled his mind--that the _Polaris_ would be in the same condition in which they had left it.
The port was still open where Sinclair had caught him and he climbed inside the giant ship quickly. As soon as he entered, he snapped on the emergency lights and searched the ship carefully. After examining every compartment, and satisfied that there was no one aboard, he made his way back to the radar bridge. There, he saw immediately why Sinclair had felt free to leave the ship. All radar and communications equipment had been completely smashed.
The young cadet returned to the control deck and called down to George Hill, waiting in the air lock. "George! Get Mrs. Hill aboard quickly.
We"re blasting off!"
"Blasting off?" the foreman called back. "But I thought you were going to contact Venusport!"
"I can"t," replied Tom. "Sinclair has smashed the communications and the radar. We"ll have to take our information to Venusport in person. I only hope he"s left the rockets and atomic motors alone."
"How about using the teleceiver in the house?" asked the foreman, climbing up to the control deck.
"Can"t take a chance," said Tom. "This is top secret. They might have the teleceiver tapped."
"Do you know how to handle this ship alone?" asked George, glancing around at the great control board. "I don"t know anything about a ship this size."
"I can handle it," said Tom. "Get Mrs. Hill aboard!"
"Here I am, Tommy," said Mrs. Hill, climbing up into the control deck.
"I have some bandages and salve for your wrists."
"There"s no time, Mrs. Hill," said Tom. "We"ve got to--"
"Nonsense!" she interrupted firmly. "You just give me your hands. It"ll take only a minute!"
Tom reluctantly held out his wrists and Mrs. Hill expertly applied the salve and bandaged the cadet"s raw wrists. Admittedly feeling better, Tom turned to the master switch and found it missing. For a second panic seized him, until he remembered that Major Connel had hidden it. He felt under the pilot"s chair and breathed easier, pulling out the vital instrument.
"Better get into acceleration chairs," said Tom, strapping himself into his seat. "This might be a rough take-off."
"Watch yourself, Tom," cautioned George. "We aren"t afraid for ourselves, but you"ve got to get to Venusport!"
"If he"s left the power deck alone, everything will be O.K."
The young cadet stretched out a trembling hand and switched on the automatic firing control. Then, crossing his fingers, he flipped on the main generator and breathed easier as the steady hum surged through the ship. He thought briefly of Astro and Roger, wishing his two unit mates were at their stations, and then switched on the power feed to the energizing pumps. There was a second"s wait as the pressure began to build, and he watched the indicator over his head on the control panel carefully. When it had reached the proper level, he switched in the reactant feed, giving it full D-12 rate. He glanced at the astral chronometer over his head automatically and noted the time.
"Stand by!" he called. "Blast off minus five--four--three--two--one --_zero_!"
He threw the master switch and a roaring burst of power poured into the main tubes. The ship bucked slightly, raised itself from the ground slowly, and then suddenly shot upward. In less than a minute the _Polaris_ had cleared atmosphere and Tom turned on the artificial-gravity generators. He made a quick computation on the planetary calculator, fired the port steering rockets, and sent the ship in a long arching course for Venusport. Then, unstrapping himself, he turned to see how Mr. and Mrs. Hill had taken the blast-off.