Sabotage in Space by Carey Rockwell (reading diary txt) π
Both Tom and Astro and Tony Richards and McAvoy grabbed at their respective unit mates and tried to restrain them. In the struggle to keep Roger and Davison apart, Astro accidentally pushed Richards to one side.
"What in blazes--!" yelled Richards. He suddenly released Davison and gave Astro a shove that sent the big cadet sprawling. And then, without warning, McAvoy swung at Tom. The curly-haired cadet saw the blow coming a fraction of a second too late and caught it on the side of his head. He fell back into the bushes.
Roger yelled in anger at the sudden attack, and grabbing Davison by the front of his tunic, slammed a hard right into the cadet's stomach. Richards grabbed Roger, holding him around the head and neck, as McAvoy swung at him viciously. Seeing their unit mate pommeled, Tom and Astro charged back and the battle was on. The two units forgot about the watch officers and the strong possibility of being caught and slugged it out in the darkness
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"Coming up to the last chapter," replied Roger over the intercom. "Devers is holding course. Should cross our bow in two minutes!"
"Good," replied Connel. "Keep us posted!"
Replacing the microphone, he turned to Tom. "Stupid fool!" he snorted. "He should've fired another torpedo and wiped us out. What's the matter with him?" Connel abhorred stupidity, even in an adversary.
"Maybe he thinks we've already had it," suggested Astro. "With our stern blasted away, he might figure all the air's gone out of the ship."
"Let's hope he keeps on figuring that way," said Connel. "Everything ready to fire, Corbett?"
"All set, sir," the young cadet replied. "I've hooked up all circuits to this button." He pointed to a button on the control panel. "We'll blast in salvo."
"Oh, we will, will we?" exclaimed Connel.
"If you think it's advisable," Tom amended hurriedly.
"Of course it's advisable!" snorted Connel. "We're almost aiming blind as it is. A salvo will give us a bigger spread. Besides," he added, "with a whole barrel of luck, we might hit him with two of the projectiles. That would really do some damage."
"I'd like just a little potful of luck," murmured Astro, "and be able to land one."
"Heads up, down there!" Roger's voice suddenly sang out on the intercom.
"Devers crossing our bow yet?" asked Tom.
"He's still holding course," said Roger. "But he's training his number one starboard tube this way. He's going to blast us again!"
"How long do we have to wait for that bow shot?" demanded Connel.
"Another forty-five seconds at least!" came Roger's reply.
"Blast it!" muttered Connel. "Plenty of time for him to fire."
Barret suddenly rose from his acceleration couch, screaming, "You can't keep me here! Let me go!"
Astro grabbed him quickly and threw him back down. "Stay put," he growled.
"No," cried Barret, frantic with fear. "It's murder! Let me go!"
"Relax and enjoy it, Barret," snorted Connel. "It's your boss who's doing it!"
"What about Professor Hemmingwell, sir?" asked Tom. "Shouldn't weβ?"
"No," Hemmingwell spoke up from his daze. "I want to stay with my ship."
"Hey!" Roger cried over the intercom. "We're getting company!"
"Company?" exclaimed Tom. "What're you talking about?"
"A Solar Guard cruiser," replied Roger. "Coming up to port. About five hundred miles away. Hey! It's the Polaris!"
"It must be Captain Strong!" shouted Tom.
"He won't do us much good now," muttered Connel. "How much time do we have, Roger?"
"Get set down there. Only another ten seconds and Devers will be right on our bow."
"On the ball, Tom!" ordered Connel.
"Ready, sir."
The seconds ticked by slowly. OneβtwoβthreeβfourβBeads of sweat appeared on Connel's brow. Astro clenched and unclenched his fists. Hemmingwell closed his eyes calmly and waited. Barret slumped back in his couch, almost paralyzed with fear.
"Coming up, Tom!" cried Roger.
Tom didn't reply. He kept his fingers poised on the firing button. And the seconds ticked off slowly, maddeningly. Sevenβeightβnineβ!
"They've fired," Roger shouted. "Point-blank! We're going to get it!"
"Fire, Tom!" shouted Connel.
Even as Connel spoke, Tom's finger pressed down hard on the firing button. The ship quivered as five projectiles blasted from the firing chambers and winged their deadly way through space. The control room of the ship was silent, everyone waiting for the impact of the torpedo and praying that somehow, someway, they could know whether their own attack had succeeded even if they lost their own lives in the attempt to destroy Devers' ship.
There was a sudden, blasting roar and a brilliant white flash of light filled the cabin. The deck heaved violently, then dropped sickeningly. Under the force of the explosion, everyone was thrown to the deck and lay deathly still.
In the wardroom of the rocket cruiser Polaris, Captain Strong, Major Connel, Professor Hemmingwell, and Roger and Astro were sipping tea and calmly discussing the events of the past hour.
"Your ship wasn't too badly damaged, Professor," said Strong. "We'll take her in tow and bring her back to Space Academy. She'll be good as new."
"I'm afraid you'll have to do without the services of Dave Barret though, sir," commented Connel dryly. "He's got a previous engagement on a prison asteroid and it's going to take him a long time."
"I can do very well without him," said Hemmingwell. "As a matter of fact, I would have done extremely well without him before." He paused and shook his head. "I feel so ashamed of myself when I think of the things I said to those boys." He nodded toward Astro and Roger. "And all the time they were right."
Astro grinned shyly. Roger was about to open his mouth and make a typically flip remark when the hatch opened and Tom appeared, a bandage covering his head. The two cadets jumped toward him and snowed him under with affectionate slaps on the back.
"Wait a minute!" cried Tom. "I'm injured. Look at my head!"
"You couldn't have hit the control panel with anything better!" snorted Connel.
"But what happened?" asked Tom.
"Two of the projectiles hit Devers' ship," said Roger. "One of them on the power deck. Must've smashed the reaction tanks and made the stuff wildcat, because it blew him into rocket dust!"
Note
"But his torpedo! He fired at the same time!" said Tom.
"This unit is the luckiest in the universe," said Roger proudly. "One of the other projectiles smacked the torpedo and exploded the warhead. We were bounced around by the shock wave but that's all!"
"Well, I'll be a Martian mouse," sighed Tom. "Then everything is O.K. now?"
"So far as you three are concerned, it's perfect," said Strong. "Barret has spilled everything. You're cleared of all charges!"
"What about Pat Troy?" asked Tom.
"He's in the clear, too," said Strong. "You may remember that he refused to tell us who he was working for besides Professor Hemmingwell and that made us suspicious of him. Well, we found out, when he regained consciousness a short time ago, that he is a security agent for the Solar Alliance Council. He had been assigned to work with the professor and to help protect him. Barret has admitted that he tried to murder Troy."
"Humph!" snorted Connel, suddenly rising.
The room was intensely quiet and Tom, Astro, and Roger felt that there was something coming. Strong could hardly suppress a grin as Connel took a paper from his tunic.
"This message was received just fifteen minutes ago," he said. "It reads, quote, Major Connel, Solar Guard. With reference to Operation Space Projectile, information has come to us that the Space Cadet unit, known as the Polaris unit, has contributed in an outstanding and extraordinary way to the successful completion of this highly valuable project. As Senior Line Officer of the Academy, it is hereby requested that you bestow upon this unit some form of expression of the gratitude of this Council for their remarkable and inspired behavior in the face of relentless odds. Signed, Secretary General, Solar Council, Venusport, Venus. Fourteenth of June, 2354, end quote."
Connel slipped the paper inside his tunic and faced the three cadets.
"All right, you heard it!" he growled. "And you deserve it. You have three weeks' leave. But when you come back," he added, "watch out!"
"Oh, for the life of a Space Cadet!" said Tom, grinning at his unit mates. "It's wonderful!"
A few illustrations have been moved to an appropriate place in the text.
The following typos have been corrected.
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