Sabotage in Space Page 4

  CHAPTER 4

  "Halt!"

  Roger growled the order into the darkness and unslung the paralo-rayrifle from his shoulder, bringing it around to firing position. "Advanceand be recognized," he said flatly.

  Nothing moved. Even the air seemed still.

  "Advance and be recognized," Roger ordered again. Still nothing moved.The cadet glanced around quickly in the direction of the guardhousewhere he knew there was a communicator to the sergeant of the guard.Should he call for help? He decided against it and moved forward towardthe noise he had heard, his finger poised on the trigger of theparalo-ray gun.

  "Advance and be recognized," he called again. As he walked slowlybetween the huge packing cases piled outside the newly constructedhangar, he saw a shadowy movement to his left. He raised the deadly raygun, and his finger tightened on the trigger.

  "Advance and be recognized," he said over the sights of the gun.

  "_Mee-ooo-wwww!_"

  A tiny white kitten flashed out of a gap between two boxes and ran tohis feet, purring, rubbing up against his space boots.

  "Well, blast my rockets!" Roger laughed. He slung the gun over hisshoulder and reached down to pick the kitten up in his arms. He beganstroking its fur and making little soothing noises. He started back tothe other end of his patrol post.

  "You're a cute little fella," murmured Roger, nuzzling the kittenagainst his chin. "But you almost got blasted."

  "Guard! Stand to!"

  Startled, Roger whirled around to see Firehouse Tim behind him, hisbattered and beaten face clouded with rage. "Drop that animal at once,"the petty officer roared.

  Roger stooped over to let the kitten run free and it dashed away into acrack between the boxes and disappeared.

  "Manning," began the enlisted spaceman, "the next time I catch you notattending to your duty, I will bring you up on charges of neglect! Carryon!" Rush spun on his heel and vanished into the darkness.

  "Blasted muscle-bound squirt!" sneered Roger under his breath,shouldering his rifle and resuming his slow patrol outside the hangar.

  For three weeks, Tom, Roger, and Astro, along with the three members ofthe _Capella_ unit, had been spending close to eight hours a day onguard duty, eight to ten hours a day in classroom work, and the rest ofthe time studying. They only averaged some two to three hours of sleepper day. They were dead tired but they stuck to their task doggedly,without complaint.

  Around them, the work on Professor Hemmingwell's project had proceededwith amazing speed. The tunnel promised by Dave Barret had been finishedin less than five days, with the rail for the monorail spur installedoverhead as each yard of the shaft was completed. In the second week,scores of cars loaded with building materials began rolling into thedeserted plain several miles away from Space Academy. Then, one morning,nearly a thousand construction workers arrived and built a hangar inthirty-six hours. No sooner had the huge building been completed than atight guard had been placed around it. Specially designedidentification tags were issued to the guards and workers on theproject. Gradually the huge store of cases and boxes outside the hangarhad been moved inside, with all but a few of the smaller ones remainingoutside. The secret work inside the hangar was advancing rapidly, butthis did not enter into the thoughts of the three cadets of the_Polaris_ unit, nor of the _Capella_ unit. The harsh disciplineinstituted by Tim Rush and the extra study necessary for the end-of-yearexams had forced the cadets into a round-the-clock struggle not only tokeep awake but to make the class promotion lists.

  Roger paced off the required distance, wheeled smartly, and in so doingcame face to face with Astro, who was patrolling another side of thehangar.

  "I just saw Firehouse," said Astro quietly. "Did he catch you goofing?"

  "Yeah," growled Roger. "I found a kitten and he walked up just as I washolding it."

  Astro grinned. "I wouldn't be surprised if that pocket-sized giantdidn't send that cat down there to tempt you."

  "How's Tom?" asked Roger. Astro, in his patrol, came in contact withboth unit mates.

  "Sleepy. He's having a tough time with that chapter on space law. Hedidn't sleep at all last night."

  "He better keep awake," said Roger. "That little fireman's got hisrockets hot tonight. He'll blast Tom sure if--"

  "Wait a minute," said Astro suddenly, looking off into the darkness."What was that?"

  Roger spun around, his rifle in his hands, ready to fire. "What is it?"he asked.

  "I don't know," replied Astro in a whisper. "I thought I saw somethingmove inside the hangar." He pointed to a large window. "Sort of a shadowagainst the frosted glass."

  "Are you sure?"

  "Of course I'm sure."

  "I'll investigate. You get Tom and call Firehouse."

  "Right," replied Astro, and raced down the path, alongside the hangar.

  Grasping his rifle firmly, Roger inched toward a nearby door. He openedit a crack, then flattened himself against the wall and watched Astrorun toward the other end of the hangar. He saw the big Venusian say afew quick words to Tom and then rush off toward the guardhouse and thecommunicator. Tom waved to Roger, indicating that he would enter theopposite door of the hangar.

  Roger dropped to his hands and knees and poked his head through the opendoor, peering around from one end of the huge dark chamber to the other.Then, taking a deep breath, he rose and stepped quickly inside. Heclosed the door behind him and stood still, listening for some sound.

  Suddenly there was a flash of light from the opposite wall. Rogerbrought the paralo-ray gun up to his shoulder quickly and was about tofire when he realized that the light he saw was Tom opening the door onthe opposite side. He breathed easier and waited until he coulddistinguish Tom's moving figure clearly, and then walked stealthilyforward on a parallel line.

  It was the first time Roger had been inside the hangar since it had beenconstructed and he was not sure of his way around, but gradually, themoonlight filtering in through the frosted plates of Titan crystalilluminated the huge forms of the machines around him.

  He stopped and gasped. Without even realizing it, he emitted a longwhistle of astonishment. Before him, reaching up into the shadows of thecavernous hangar, was the gleaming hull of a huge rocket ship. Twohundred feet long, the space vessel stood on its stabilizer fins,ladders and cables running into the open ports on both sides.

  Roger waved to Tom, who had also stopped to stare at the giantspaceship, and the two of them met beneath the gleaming hull.

  "What's the matter?" asked Tom. "Astro said you saw someone."

  "_I_ didn't see a blasted thing," said Roger in an exasperated whisper."That big goof said _he_ did."

  "Wow!" said Tom, looking up at the ship. "This is some baby. I never sawone with lines like that before. Look at the funny bulges on the lowerside of the hull."

  "Sh!" hissed Roger. "I just heard something."

  The two cadets stood silently, ears cocked for the slightest sound inthe huge hangar. They heard a distinct tapping sound from somewhereabove them.

  "It's coming from inside the ship!" said Tom.

  "You climb in the other port," said Roger. "I'll take this one."

  "Right," said Tom. "And remember, if there's any trouble, shoot firstand ask questions later."

  "Check."

  Tom slipped away from Roger and moved to the opposite side of the ship.Slinging the rifle over his shoulder, he climbed up the ladder silentlytoward the open port.

  Making his way noiselessly through the air lock, he entered the hugemain deck of the ship and was able to see his way around by the faintglow of the emergency reflectors in the bulkheads. Tiny, sparklinggemlike pieces of specially coated Titan crystal, they glowed withsteady intensity for many hours after having been exposed to any form oflight. The deck was a mass of cables, boxes, tools, and equipment. Tomnoticed curious-looking machines behind, what he judged to be, the oddbulges on the outside of the hull. Ahead of him, a hatch was partiallyopen and he could see light streaking through the opening. He gri
ppedhis rifle tightly, finger on the trigger, and moved forward.

  At the hatch he paused and looked into the next compartment. From theopposite side, he saw another hatch partially open and the outline ofRoger's head and shoulders. Between them, a man was bending over amakeshift desk, copying information from a calculator and a set ofblueprints. Tom nodded across to Roger and they both stepped into thecompartment at the same time.

  "Put up your hands, mister, or I'll freeze you so hard it'll take asummer on the Venus equator to warm you up," Roger drawled.

  The man jerked upright, stumbled back from the desk, and moved towardTom, keeping his eyes on Roger. He backed into the barrel of Tom's raygun and stopped, terrified. He threw up his hands.

  "What--wh--" he stammered and then caught himself. "How dare you do thisto me?" he demanded.

  "Shut up!" snapped Tom. "What are you doing here?"

  "None of your business," the man replied.

  "I'm making it my business," snapped Tom, pressing the gun into theman's back. "Who are you and how did you get in here?"

  The man turned and looked Tom in the eye. "I have a right to be here,"he stated coldly. "I'll show you my identification--" He brought hishands down and reached into his jacket, but Roger stepped over quicklyand brought the barrel of his gun down sharply on the man's head. Heslumped to the floor with a groan and was still.

  "What did you do that for?" growled Tom.

  Roger didn't reply. He reached down into the unconscious man's jacketand pulled out a small paralo-ray gun stuck in the top of his waistband."Some identification," Roger drawled.

  "Thanks, pal," said Tom sheepishly. "Let's search him. Maybe we can findout who he is."

  As Roger bent over the fallen man, there was a commotion in the hangaroutside the ship, followed by the sound of footsteps clattering up theladders to the ports. Seconds later, Astro, followed by Tim Rush and asquad of enlisted spacemen, surged into the compartment. Rush stoppedshort when he saw the man on the floor.

  "Great jumping Jupiter," gasped the petty officer, then whirled on Tomand Roger. "You space-blasted idiots!" he shouted. "You good-for-nothingharebrained, moronic dumbbells! Do you know what you've done?"

  Tom and Roger stared at each other in amazement. Astro, standing to oneside, looked confused.

  "Sure we know what we've done," declared Tom. "We found this guy in herecopying secrets from some blueprints there on the desk and--"

  "Copying secrets!" screamed Rush. "Why, you ding-blasted idiots, that'sDave Barret, the supervisor of this whole project!"

  The man on the floor stirred and Firehouse ordered the squad of enlistedmen to help him up. Just then, there was a bellow of rage from thehatch. Major Connel stepped into the compartment, his face a mask ofdisgust and anger.

  "By the rings of Saturn!" he roared. "I've been sitting in thelaboratory for the last hour and a half waiting for Dave Barret to comeback with vital information, so we could get on with our experiments,and I find that you--you--" Connel was so furious, he could hardly talk.

  He faced the three cadets. "There isn't anything in the books that saysyou should be disciplined for this--this--outrage, but believe me,Cadets"--his voice sounded like thunder in the small compartment--"thisis the very last time I'll stand for this kind of stupidity."

  Tom gulped but stepped forward bravely. "Sir," he said clearly, "I wouldlike respectfully to submit the facts for the major's honestconsideration. Neither of us has ever seen this man before and we foundhim copying information from these blueprints. When I challenged him,he said he was going to show us his identification. He put his hands inhis jacket to get it, but Roger saw a gun in his belt, and thinking hewas going to use it, Roger hit him on the head." Tom stopped, clampedhis mouth shut, and stared the major in the eye. "That's all, sir."

  Connel returned the stare, his eyes meeting those of the cadet for afull half minute. "All right," he said finally. "I guess it's just acase of misjudgment. But," he added scathingly, "in the face of the_Polaris_ unit's record, you can understand my initial opinion."

  As Dave Barret was assisted from the ship by the guards, Connel turnedto Rush. "Firehouse!" he barked.

  "Yes, sir?"

  "See that these cadets don't cause any more mischief."

  "Yes, _sir_."

  "Dismissed," snapped Connel.

  "All right, you space brats," bellowed Rush, "back to your patrol!"

  Tom, Roger, and Astro left the ship and returned to their posts outsidethe hangar. Just before they separated to resume their endless marcharound the hangar, Tom winked at his unit mates. "At least we didn't getdemerits," he said.

  "Only because Connel couldn't find any reason to give them to us,"sneered Roger. "What a busted rocket he's getting to be!"

  "Yeah," agreed Astro quietly.

  The three cadets began their round again, their eyes heavy with lack ofsleep, their arms and legs leaden, and their desire to become successfulSpace Cadets more determined than ever. But they didn't know they hadstarted a chain reaction that would affect their very lives.