The Space Pioneers by Carey Rockwell (top 10 novels to read .txt) π
"Yes, sir!" said Tom, and the three cadets saluted sharply.
"Unit--" bawled Strong, "dis--missed!"
Outside in the hall once more, the three cadets wiped their faces.
"Captain Strong definitely was not in a good mood!" commented Roger.
"I've never seen him so angry!" said Tom. "Wonder why."
"Think it might be something to do with our assignments?" asked Astro.
"Never can tell, Astro," said Tom. "And there's only one way to find out. That's to get to Commander Walters' office on the double!"
Without another word the cadets hurried to the slidestairs, each of them hungry for excitement. Already having participated in three outstanding adventures, the cadet members of the Polaris unit were eager to begin a fourth.
[Illustration]
CHAPTER 2
"There's no doubt that the s
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The three cadets looked at each other. "I guess not, sir," said Roger. "It was pretty late. After midnight."
Vidac eyed them curiously. "And you're sure you saw no one, and that no one saw you?"
"We can't be sure that no one saw us, sir," said Tom, "but I doubt it. As Roger said, it was after midnight."
Vidac whirled and sat down again. He pressed a small button on his desk and waited, silently considering the cadets, his eyes cool and level. The door opened and Governor Hardy walked in, followed by several men.
Tom suddenly realized that it was the first time they had seen the governor in nearly six weeks.
"Have you found Professor Sykes?" he demanded.
Vidac shook his head, then turned to the other men. Tom, with a sudden sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach, recognized them as the colonists who had been with Ed Bush when Roger had his last argument with the professor.
"Did you hear Cadet Manning threaten Professor Sykes?" asked Vidac.
"Yes, sir," replied one of the colonists.
"What did he say?" asked Vidac. "Repeat it for Governor Hardy."
The colonist quoted Roger's threat almost word for word and Tom noted grimly that the witness made the most of the fact that he and Astro had followed Roger out of the office after the argument. The implication was clear that they were part of the threat.
Vidac then turned to Ed Bush. "Bush, did you see the cadets last night?"
"Yes, sir," said Bush.
"Where?" demanded Vidac.
"Leaving the swimming pool with the professor."
"With the proβ!" exclaimed Tom.
"Shut up, Corbett!" barked Vidac, and then turned to Astro. "Did you say you went swimming alone?"
"We did!" exclaimed the Venusian. "We left the professor at the office. We did not see him again after that. He did not go swimming with us."
Vidac turned to Winters. "Did you see the cadets last night, Winters?"
"Yes, sir," replied the spaceman. "I had the graveyard watch and I was in the galley having a cup of coffee. I saw the cadets enter the galley just as I was leaving."
"Were they alone?" asked Vidac.
"No, sir," said Winters. "Professor Sykes was with them."
"That's a lie!" shouted Roger. "We were alone!"
Vidac merely looked at Roger and then turned back to Winters. "Then what happened?"
"Well," said Winters, "they got into an argument, the cadets and Sykes. It was about the movement of a captive planet, or something like that. Anyway, there was a scuffle, and all of a sudden the big cadet"βhe indicated Astroβ"picked up the professor and carried him out of the galley. The other two followed."
"Didn't the professor put up a fight?" asked Vidac.
"Oh, yes, sir," said Winters. "But he didn't have a chance against the three cadets."
"Why didn't you do something about it?" Governor Hardy suddenly broke in.
"I tried, sir," replied Winters calmly. "I ran after them, but they all piled into a converted jet boat and blasted out of there."
"Then what did you do?" asked Vidac.
"That's when I came to get you, sir," said Winters. "And we started looking for them." Winters paused. "Ahβpardon me, sir, but can I go now? I've been up all night and I'm pretty tired."
Vidac nodded and Winters left the room.
"You mean you've been up all night looking for the cadets?" asked Hardy. "Weren't they in their quarters?"
"No, sir," replied Vidac and turned to the cadets. "Well," he demanded, "what have you got to say for yourselves?"
The three cadets were silent.
"I must warn you," continued Vidac, "this is a serious matter and anything you say may be used against you. But on the other hand, if you speak freely and are willing to co-operate, I will do what I can to lessen your punishment."
Hardy suddenly stepped forward and slammed his fist on Vidac's desk. "None of that! There'll be no favors to criminals!" He turned to the cadets angrily.
"What did you do with the professor?" he demanded.
The cadets kept silent.
"Where did you take him?" he shouted.
Neither Tom, Roger, or Astro batted an eyelash. They kept their eyes front and their lips tight.
"I warn you, you'll spend the rest of your lives on a prison rock if you don't answer!"
Tom finally turned and looked straight at the governor. "May I speak, sir?"
"Only if you tell me what you did with Professor Sykes," replied Hardy angrily.
"You have not asked us, sir," said Tom coolly, "to tell our side of the story. You are accusing us of a crime and have already assumed that we are guilty. We are not."
"Do you deny it?" asked Hardy.
"We deny everything," said Tom flatly.
Hardy whirled around to face the colonists, Vidac, and Bush. "I want it clearly understood by everyone here that Space Cadets Tom Corbett, Roger Manning, and Astro, in the face of testimony given by eyewitnesses as to their argument with Professor Sykes, and their later abduction of the professor, do now conspire to withhold information which might help save the professor's life!" He turned to Vidac. "I want them arrested and held for investigation of their activities last night. Confine them to their quarters."
Vidac stood up and nodded his head to Bush. "Take them away. Keep a guard outside their quarters at all times."
"Yes, sir," said Bush. He pulled a paralo-ray gun from his belt and cocked it. "All right, march!"
The cadets of the Polaris unit spun on their heels in unison and marched from the room in perfect order.
"Attention! Attention! This is Captain Strong in rocket cruiser Orion calling central communications control, Roald! Come in, Roald! Orion to Roald! Come in!"
Aboard the space cruiser, Captain Steve Strong tried again and again to contact the star colony. For nearly five days, blasting through space at emergency speed, the Solar Guard captain had tried to contact the satellite, but to no avail. He snapped off the audioceiver and slumped back in his chair, a worried frown on his face.
When the second report from the Polaris unit had failed to come in, Strong had received permission from Commander Walters to blast off immediately for Roald. Walters agreed that it would be better for the captain to go alone, since the uranium discovery must be kept an absolute secret. Working by remote control relays from the control deck, Captain Strong handled the ship as easily as a jet boat and he kept the atomic reactors wide open.
He stared into the astrogation prism and sighted on the cold light of the sun star Wolf 359. Still unable to see the satellite circling the star, the captain's thoughts were on the past rather than the future. He still couldn't find any reasonable explanation for his suddenly having been taken off the Roald colony project and sent on the minor mission to Pluto. He had often thought about the man who had replaced him, Paul Vidac. Strong had heard the name before and associated it with something unpleasant. He couldn't put his finger on what it was, since he had never met the man. Certainly there was nothing illegal about him. His record had been carefully checked, or he would never have been put in the position of trust he held now. Still there was a persistent notion in Strong's head that something was wrong.
The young captain turned and walked the deck of the huge empty ship, still deep in thought. He considered the fact that no reports had come through to the Academy from the colony at all. Not merely from the Space Cadets, but from the expedition itself. Only the sketchiest details had been audioed back during the trip and absolutely nothing since their scheduled arrival on the satellite. A sudden cold wave of fear gripped the space officer. He wondered if they had arrived safely!
He shook off the horrible thought. There must be a simple, logical explanation for it all. Establishing a star colony was no easy matter. Communications could be easily disrupted for any number of reasons.
Strong forced himself to forget it. It was still a long way to the satellite and there was no point in worrying about a fact until it was established to be a fact. He stretched out on a bunk and moments later was asleep, while the giant ship hurtled through the dark void toward its destination with a thousand electronic hands and eyes to guide it safely across the immense gulf of space.
"Is he still out there?" Tom whispered.
"Yeah," growled Astro. "He hasn't moved."
"They're not taking any chances," said Roger. "When they change the guard, they take out their ray guns, just in case."
The three cadets were crowded around the door of their quarters with Astro down on his hands and knees, trying to see through a small crack. The big cadet straightened up and shook his head.
"I guess it's useless," he sighed. "Vidac is making sure we stay here."
"Well," said Roger disgustedly, "if we don't get out pretty soon, we won'tβ" He didn't finish the sentence. At that moment the door suddenly opened and Bush stepped in, two paralo-ray guns in his hands, cocked and ready to fire. Behind him was Hyram Logan and his daughter, Jane.
"You got ten minutes," said Bush, "and one funny move out of any of you and I'll blast you silly."
He closed the door and the click of the lock could be heard ominously.
"Mr. Logan!" exclaimed Tom. "How'd you manage to get in here?"
"Sonny," replied the Venusian farmer, "when you're dealing with crooks, you have to act like a crook!" He smiled and added, "I bought my way in here!"
"You mean that Vidac doesn't know you're here?" asked Astro.
"No," said Jane. "But we had to come. Vidac was going toβ" She stopped and turned to her father. "Maybe you'd better tell them, Father."
"Well," said Logan slowly, "we just heard that Vidac is going to hold trial for you three boys right here on Roald."
"Trial!" exclaimed Astro.
"How'd you find that out?" asked Tom.
"They called all the colonists together and gave us pieces of paper with numbers on them," said Logan. "Then they put all the numbers into a bowl and picked twelve of them out again. The people that held those numbers were told that they were going to be the jury at your trial for the murder of Professor Sykes!"
"Murder?" exclaimed Roger.
"Blast my jets!" roared Astro. "They can't do that! We're under Solar Guard jurisdiction!"
"That's what I told them," snorted Logan. "You see, my number was pulled. I got up and opened my big mouth. I should have kept quiet and sat on the jury, and then had my say where it would have meant something!"
"Then they took you off the jury?" asked Roger.
"Yep," said Logan. "Me and everyone else they thought might be prejudiced!"
"We came to tell you," said Jane, "because we wanted you to know what was going on and to see if there was anything we could do to help."
"We already tried to help in a lot of ways," said Logan. "We tried to get that space jerk outside to let you escape. I offered himβwell, I offered him a lot, but he wouldn't do it."
"What are you going to do?" asked Jane, looking at Tom.
"I don't know, Jane," said Tom. "But we've certainly got to do something. If we ever stand trial here on Roaldβ"
Tom was interrupted by a loud banging on the door, followed by the click of the lock. Then the door was opened and Bush stepped inside.
"All right, Logan," said Bush. "Time's up!"
"Butβbut," complained Logan, "we've only been here two minutes!"
"Time's up, I said," sneered Bush. He
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