appeared.
“Shut up, you fool!” Loring hissed. He turned blandly to face Stefens. “Well, Captain, glad you came. I wanted to talk to you about getting us transportation back to Venusport.”
“You’ll have to wait for the jet liner from Earth,” said Stefens. “See me in about two hours. Right now, I’ve got to make arrangements for the investigation of the crash.”
“Sure, sir,” said Loring. “Ah—say, Captain, what do you expect the investigation to turn up?”
“The true facts,” replied Stefens. “Whether the crash was due to the negligence of Cadet Manning or something that happened on the ship.”
“Then you really think the cadet may be responsible?” asked Loring softly.
“He admits to negligence, and the Annie Jones is a lot of evidence,” said Stefens with a shrug, and walked out.
“There’s our answer!” said Loring triumphantly. “Come on!”
“Where are we going?” asked Mason.
“We’re going to have a little talk with our fall guy!”
* * * *
“Ahhh, sit down, Roger,” said Astro. “Everything will be O.K.”
“Yeah,” agreed Tom. “You’re just wearing out the deck and your nerves walking back and forth like that. Everything will be O.K.” Tom tried hard to keep any apprehension out of his voice.
“Nothing will make those two guys on the spaceship O.K.,” said Roger. He kicked viciously at a stool and sat down on the side of his bunk.
Since the crash, Roger had been confined to his quarters, with Tom and Astro bringing him his meals. Tom had watched his unit-mate grow more and more bitter over the turn of events and was afraid Roger would do something rash.
The central communicator over the door suddenly buzzed, and the three cadets waited for the announcement.
“…Cadets Corbett and Astro report to rocket cruiser Polaris for indoctrination on hyperdrive—on the double—by order of Major Connel.”
Tom and Astro got up. Astro found it hard to hide his eagerness to begin indoctrination on hyperdrive, and it was only his deep concern for Roger that kept him from letting out one of his bull-throated bellows.
“Take it easy, Roger,” said Tom. “The investigation will be over and we’ll be on our way to Tara before you know it.”
“Yeah, you space Romeo,” growled Astro, “crawl in the sack and rest your bones. You’re lucky you can miss this.”
Roger managed a weak smile. “I’ll be O.K. Go ahead and learn about that hyperdrive before you explode.”
There was an awkward moment while the three cadets stared at one another. The deep friendship between them didn’t need to be expressed in words. Abruptly, Tom and Astro turned and left the room.
Roger stared at the closed door for a moment and then flopped on his bunk. He closed his eyes and tried to go to sleep. Whatever happened, he thought, it wouldn’t do any good to knock himself out.
As he lay there thinking back to the first months at Space Academy when he had met Tom and Astro, he heard a knock on the door and he turned to see the steel hatch slide back stealthily. He jumped up.
Loring stuck his head inside the door. “You alone, Manning?” he asked.
“Yeah. Who’re you?” asked Roger.
“My name’s Loring, and this is my space buddy, Al Mason. We were on the Annie Jones.”
Roger’s eyes lighted up. “Then you know I’m not responsible for the crash!” said Roger.
“I wouldn’t say that, kid,” said Loring grimly. “I wouldn’t say that at all.”
“What do you mean?” demanded Roger.
“A shame”—Loring shook his head—“young fella like you winding up on the prison asteroid.”
“Prison asteroid?” asked Roger stupidly.
“Yeah,” grunted Loring. “Have you ever seen one of them joints, Manning? They work from noon to midnight. Then they give you synthetic food to eat, because it costs too much to haul up solid grub. Once you’ve been on the prison rock, you can’t ever blast off again. You’re washed up as a spaceman. Think you’ll like that?”
“Why—why—what’s that got to do with me?” asked Roger.
“Just this, kid. After the investigation they’ll find out your radarscope wasn’t working right. Then they’ll come to me and ask me what happened aboard the Annie Jones.”
“Well,” demanded Roger, “what did happen?”
Loring glanced at Mason. “Just this, kid. Jardine and Bangs were on the teleceiver and the radar for fifteen minutes trying to pick up your beam. But there wasn’t any, because you had it fouled up!”
Roger sat down on the side of the bunk and stared at the two men. If what they said was true, Roger knew there could only be one outcome to the investigation.
“Why are you telling me this?” asked Roger quietly.
“Very simple. I don’t like to see anyone go to the prison rock!”
“Are you”—Roger hesitated—“are you suggesting that I escape?”
Loring and Mason got up and walked to the door. Loring turned back to face Roger. “I’m not suggesting anything, Manning,” he said. “You’re a big boy and should know what’s good for you. But”—he paused and measured his words carefully—“if I were you, I wouldn’t wait around for Connel or anyone else to blast my life to pieces by sending me to a prison for one little mistake!”
The hatch slid closed behind the two spacemen.
Roger stood up and began packing a small spaceman’s bag. There was a jet liner coming in from Atom City that would make a stop at Venusport. He glanced at his watch. Thirty minutes. He didn’t have much time.
CHAPTER 9
“Attention! Attention! This is a general alert!” Tom Corbett’s voice was hollow as he spoke over a solar-wide audiocast. “Wanted! Space Cadet Roger Manning. Five feet, eleven inches tall, one hundred sixty-five pounds. Blue eyes. Blond hair. Last seen wearing dress blues. Cadet Manning broke confinement to quarters on Venus space station and is believed to be heading back to Earth. He is wanted in connection with the crash of the space freighter Annie Jones and the death of two spacemen. All information regarding the whereabouts of Manning should be forwarded to Captain Isaiah M. Patrick, Senior Security Officer, Solar Guard, Space Academy, Earth. This alert is to be transmitted to all local authorities.”
Tom snapped the switch off and silently watched the glowing audio tubes darken. He turned to one side and saw Astro. The big Venusian was seated on a desk, slumped over, his head held in his massive hands.
“You know,” said Astro slowly, “I could take that guy Manning and break him in two for running out!”
Tom didn’t answer. When they had discovered that Roger was missing it had been a terrific blow. Unaware that Roger, in his confused state of mind, had been an easy victim to Loring and Mason’s trickery and had innocently walked into their trap, the two cadets felt that his escape was a breach of trust. Roger had given his spaceman’s word that he would confine himself to his quarters. Roger had broken that trust, and now the fact was being flashed around the entire solar system; Roger Manning was an escaped criminal!
“There’s nothing we can do now,” said Tom. “The whole universe knows it. He’s finished! Washed up! The only thing that could save him now would be absolute clearance by the investigation. But since he’s run out, I guess it must be the other way around. He was afraid