Strong stopped reading and looked at Jane and Jeff.
"This was dated the tenth." He turned the page and continued, "This is the day after, the eleventh. Listen to this! "... Vidac is sending my information to the Solar Council immediately. He was very impressed."
And so forth and so forth."
Strong closed the journal and faced Jeff and Jane again, a triumphant smile on his lips. "This is just what we needed. This journal is admissible in Solar Courts as evidence the same way a ship"s log is!
Come on. Now we"ve got to get Vidac before he gets the cadets!"
"Wait," said Jane in a fearful whisper. "Listen."
Strong and Jeff stood still. In the distance they heard the unmistakable roar of jet cars converging on the Plaza. Strong turned to Jeff.
"They"ve either found the cadets or--"
"Or what?" asked Jeff.
"I--I won"t say it," said Strong hesitantly, "but if anything has happened to those boys, I"ll personally dig Vidac"s grave!"
Jane had moved to the window and was watching the wild activity in the Plaza below. "They"re spreading out!" she cried. "They must be searching the city."
Strong rushed to the window and looked down. "That means they haven"t found the cadets!" he exclaimed.
"I"ve been thinking, sir," said Jeff. "Do you think we really have enough proof of Vidac"s guilt to make the colonists understand it was Vidac and not the cadets who could have done something to the professor?"
"We"ve got to try!" said Strong. "We"ve got to try!"
The two s.p.a.cemen and Jane left the laboratory and raced down the slidestairs and through the halls of the Administration Building to the double doors that opened onto the Plaza. They stepped into view just as the colonists were about to spread out and search the city. One of the men was standing on the steps shouting orders. Jeff recognized him as Joe, the man who had stopped him on the highway. There was a roar from the crowd when they noticed Strong, Jeff, and Jane standing in the open doorway.
Strong held the black journal high over his head and called for order.
The colonists crowded around at the base of the steps not knowing what to make of his sudden appearance.
"What are you doing here?" demanded the colonist deputy. "You"re Captain Strong of the Solar Guard, aren"t you?"
"That"s right," replied Strong. "And you"re making a big mistake accusing the cadets of the murder of Professor Sykes, when you"re not even sure the professor has been murdered! The man you want to question about that is Lieutenant Governor Vidac!"
A startled murmur ran through the a.s.sembled men. Strong continued, "I have absolute proof that Vidac received information about the biggest uranium strike in the history of the universe from Professor Sykes and plans to keep it for himself. His accusation of the cadets is a cover-up to clear himself and to throw you off the track."
The word _uranium_ spread through the crowd like wildfire.
"You"re pretty friendly with the cadets," sneered the deputy. "How do we know you"re telling us the truth, and not just trying to save them?"
"Yeah. Answer that one!" roared a voice from back of the crowd.
"Do any of you understand physics?" asked Strong.
"Physics?" asked the deputy. "What"s that got to do with it?"
"Plenty! I have information here in this journal that will prove what I just said! Read it for yourself. It"s in the professor"s own handwriting."
"I can read it," said a small man in front of Strong. "Gimme that thing!" Strong handed him the black book and told the man where to look.
The man considered it for five minutes, then turned to the crowd. "He"s right! We"re sitting on the hottest uranium rock in this galaxy!"
"Where is it?" cried someone from the crowd. "Tell us where the uranium is!"
The mob of men, forgetting all about the cadets, were now seized with the greed for riches. Strong took the journal back and tucked it under his arm.
"I"ll tell you where it is," said Strong, "when we put Vidac where he belongs! Behind bars!"
"What are we waiting for?" cried the colonists. "Let"s get that murdering s.p.a.ce crawler!"
The deputy pushed his way through the crowd and raced for his car.
Others followed and once more the Plaza echoed to the roar of jets.
Strong turned to Jeff. "You"ll find Winters up in Vidac"s quarters. I had to freeze him." He handed over the paralo-ray gun. "Get him and follow us to the s.p.a.ceport. Tell him we know everything, and if he doesn"t talk, he"ll get life on a prison rock."
"Right," said Jeff. "I"ll get a confession out of him if I have to wring his neck--and I"ll get it on a soundscriber!"
"Good. Come on, Jane," said Strong. "This is the finish of a would-be tyrant!"
Jeff turned and dashed back into the building, while Strong and Jane climbed into the jet car and roared off toward the s.p.a.ceport.
"If we only had a paralo-ray gun," muttered Roger as he and Tom sped after Vidac"s powerful jet car.
"Yes," agreed Tom. "This could be a trap, but what can we do?"
Roger was silent. They had moved out of the cave as soon as Astro had been taken down the hill and they knew exactly what Vidac had in mind.
But their need for information about Professor Sykes and their concern for Astro forced them to follow the powerful jet car into what they were certain was a trap.
"We"ll ditch the jet car after we find out where they"re going," said Tom, "and figure out something afterward."
"You think they"ll go to Sykes?" asked Roger.
[Ill.u.s.tration]
"It"s a pretty safe bet, Roger. The professor"s been well hidden, so why not hide Astro in the same place, hoping in the meantime to get us also."
"But I can"t see walking into a trap, simply because we know it"s there!"
"Roger--look! Vidac"s stopping the car! Astro"s trying to get away!"
"Astro"s fighting with Bush!" shouted Roger. "Come on! Can"t you get any more push out of this wagon?"
Tom jammed the accelerator down to the floorboard and the jet car fairly leaped ahead. Fifty yards from Vidac"s stalled car, Tom slammed on the brake, bringing the little car to a screaming halt only two feet away.
Roger was halfway out before the car had stopped moving. Beside Vidac"s car, Bush was wrestling with Astro.
[Ill.u.s.tration]
"Tom! Roger! Get back! It"s a trap!" yelled Astro.
Astro"s warning came too late. While Tom and Roger sprang to help their unit mate, Vidac slipped up on the other side and fired quickly and accurately with a paralo-ray gun. Tom and Roger were frozen just as they were about to pull Bush from Astro"s back.