Danger in Deep Space Page 8

  CHAPTER 8

  "There--there!" shouted Captain Stefens into the mike aboard the jetboat circling around the station. "I think I see something bearing aboutseventy degrees to my left and up about twenty on the ecliptic! Do yousee it, Scotty?"

  Tom, in the bucket seat of the jet boat, strained his eyes but wasunable to see over the control board.

  Terry Scott, in a second jet boat ten miles away, answered quickly,"Yes, I think I see it, sir."

  "Good!" shouted Stefens. "Maybe we've found something."

  He spoke to Tom over his shoulder, keeping his eye on the floatingobjects in the black void of space. "Come to the starboard aboutone-quarter full turn, Corbett, and hold it. Then up, about twenty-fivedegrees."

  "Aye, aye, sir," said Tom. He began to maneuver the small gnat-sizedspace craft to the proper position.

  "That's good!" shouted Stefens. "Now hold that. Let me see. I thinkwe've hit pay dirt."

  From the right, Tom could see the red flash of the rockets of TerryScott's jet boat, which Astro had volunteered to pilot, coming intoview. As soon as order had been restored aboard the station, searchparties had been sent out to look for survivors.

  Carefully Tom slowed the space craft in response to Stefens' briefcommands and soon came to a dead halt in space. There, hovering rightabove them, visible through the crystal dome of the jet boat, Tom couldsee two space-suited figures floating effortlessly. A moment laterScott's craft came alongside, and the two small ships were lashedtogether with magnetic lines. Tom and Stefens hurriedly pulled on theirspace helmets. They adjusted the valves regulating the oxygen supply intheir suits, and Stefens slipped back the sliding top of the jet boat.Out on the hull he secured a line to a projecting ring, and ordering Tomto stand by, he pushed himself off the ship into the bottomless void ofspace.

  The line trailing behind him, Stefens drifted toward the two helplessfigures. He reached them in less than a minute, secured the line totheir belts, and signaled Tom to haul in.

  Near by, Terry Scott and Astro watched as the three figures were pulledto safety.

  Quickly the top of the jet boat was closed, oxygen pressure in the craftwas restored, and the four men took off their helmets.

  "Whew!" said Loring. "I sure want to thank you for pulling us out of thedeep!"

  "We sure do, sir!" added Mason. Then, with a quick look at Loring, heasked softly, "Were there any other survivors?"

  Stefens' face was grim. "Not one. After we untangled the mess, we foundbodies of two men. It was pretty bad. A little later something wasspotted on the radar, and we hoped there might be survivors. Luckily foryou, we came to look!"

  _Tom could see two space-suited figures floatingeffortlessly_]

  "By the rings of Saturn," swore Loring softly, "Jardine and Bangs werebrave men. They practically forced us to pile out when they saw theywere going to crack up." He turned to Mason. "Didn't they, Al?"

  "Yeah, yeah, sure brave men," Al Mason agreed.

  "Nothing to be done for them now, of course," said Stefens. "Whathappened?" He paused, and then added, "You don't have to tell me if youdon't want to before you make out your report, but I'd sure like toknow."

  "I don't really know what happened, sir," said Loring. "We had made adeal for a ride back to Earth with Jardine and were sleeping back on thecargo deck. All of a sudden, Jardine came running in. Told us we wereabout to pile into the station and for us to suit up and get out. Weasked him about himself, but he said he was going to stay and try tosave the ship. We piled out, and--well, we saw the whole thing from outhere. Like a big splash of light. It must have been pretty bad on thestation, eh?"

  "Plenty bad, but thanks to Cadet Corbett here, there wasn't a singleinjury. He warned everybody to get off that side of the station. A lotof damage but no casualties."

  "Don't you have any idea what made the ship crash?" asked Tom quietly.

  Loring looked at Tom but spoke to Stefens. "I told you all I know, sir.Can I expect to be questioned by everyone in the Solar Guard. Includingcadets?"

  Stefens bristled. "It was a civil question, Loring," he said stiffly,"but you don't have to say anything if you don't want to!"

  Loring and Mason had not expected such a strong defense of the cadet,and Loring was quick to make amends. "I'm sorry--I guess I'm still abit shaken up," he muttered.

  Stefens grunted.

  "It wasn't pretty, you know, watching that ship go up and not be able todo anything about it," Loring continued plaintively. "Jardine andBangs--well, they're--they _were_ sorta friends of mine."

  They were silent all the way back to the station, each with his ownthoughts--Stefens puzzling over the cause of the crash, Loring and Masonexchanging quick furtive glances and wondering how long their storywould hold up, and Tom wondering how much Roger's changing the powercircuits on the radar had to do with the crash of the ship.

  "That's right," snapped Connel to the two enlisted spacemen. "I said Iwanted the radar section of the communications deck closed and sealedoff until further investigations. You can hook up and use one of themonitors in the traffic control meantime."

  The two red-clad spacemen turned and walked away. Stefens stood to oneside.

  "Don't you think that's carrying things a little too far, sir?" he askedConnel.

  "I'm doing this as much to protect Cadet Manning as I am to prosecutehim! I want to be sure there was no connection between the crash of the_Annie Jones_ and his tampering with the radar circuits!" Connelreplied.

  "I guess you're right, sir," replied Stefens. "Those two survivors,Loring and Mason, are having coffee in the mess if you want to talk tothem."

  "Did they change their story?" asked Connel.

  "None at all. They were hooking a ride back to Atom City, and they wereasleep in the cargo hold. Jardine, one of the pilots, came in and toldthem to pile out. They did."

  "Ummmmh," mused Connel. "I know those two, Loring and Mason. Had alittle trouble with them recently on a trip to Tara. Suspended theirpapers. So if they were just hooking a ride, it might be they're tellingthe truth!"

  "I have a report here on the damage to the station, sir, if you'd liketo listen to it," said Stefens, handing his superior a spool ofaudiotape.

  "Good! Did you make out the report yourself?" asked Connel.

  "Yes, sir. With the assistance of Terry Scott and Cadet Corbett."

  "Good lad, that Corbett," said Connel and paused. "The whole unit isgood! If it weren't for that hare-brained Manning, I'd say they had asbright a future in the Solar Guard as any unit I've seen!"

  "I'll buy that, sir!" said Stefens with a smile. "That Corbett picked uptraffic-control operations like a duck takes to water. And it's been along time since Jenledge on the power deck raved about a cadet the wayhe does about Astro."

  Connel smiled. He was reluctant to press for an investigation of theradar deck, knowing that if he did, it would mean a damaging black markagainst Manning. But justice was justice, and Connel came closer toworshiping justice than anything else in space!

  Connel placed the spool of tape in the audiograph and settled in a chairto listen. He didn't like the entire affair. He didn't like to think oflosing a cadet of Manning's ability because of one stupid mistake. Hehad recommended a thorough investigation. There was no other way. IfManning was cleared of the responsibility for the crash, he was free,and it would not show up against his record. If he wasn't, however, thenhe'd have to pay. Yes, thought Connel to himself, as Stefens' voicebegan to crackle harshly on the audiograph, if Manning was guilty, thenManning would most certainly pay. Connel would see to that.

  Deep in the heart of the space station, Loring and Mason were huddledover steaming cups of coffee whispering to each other cautiously.

  "Want more coffee, Mason?" asked Loring.

  "Who wants coffee when there's going to be a Solar Guard investigation?"whined Mason. "Suppose they find out something?"

  "Relax, will ya?" muttered Loring reassuringly. "Connel doesn't suspecta thing. Besides, he has that cadet
under arrest!"

  "Yeah," argued Mason, "but you don't know those guys at Space Academy.All this honor stuff! It's not like a regular investigation. They don'tstop digging until they dig up _real facts_! They'll find out we stowedaway and ..."

  Loring calmly added cream and sugar to his coffee. "They can't prove athing. Jardine and Bangs are dead, and the ship's nothing but a pile ofjunk."

  "They'll find out, I tell you, and now we've got murder on our hands!"

  A door behind Mason suddenly opened and Stefens 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 ustransportation back to Venusport."

  "You'll have to wait for the jet liner from Earth," said Stefens. "Seeme in about two hours. Right now, I've got to make arrangements for theinvestigation of the crash."

  "Sure, sir," said Loring. "Ah--say, Captain, what do you expect theinvestigation to turn up?"

  "The true facts," replied Stefens. "Whether the crash was due to thenegligence of Cadet Manning or something that happened on the ship."

  "Then you really think the cadet may be responsible?" asked Loringsoftly.

  "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 nerveswalking back and forth like that. Everything will be O.K." Tom triedhard to keep any apprehension out of his voice.

  "Nothing will make those two guys on the spaceship O.K.," said Roger. Hekicked 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 andAstro bringing him his meals. Tom had watched his unit-mate grow moreand more bitter over the turn of events and was afraid Roger would dosomething rash.

  The central communicator over the door suddenly buzzed, and the threecadets waited for the announcement.

  "... Cadets Corbett and Astro report to rocket cruiser _Polaris_ forindoctrination on hyperdrive--on the double--by order of Major Connel."

  Tom and Astro got up. Astro found it hard to hide his eagerness to beginindoctrination on hyperdrive, and it was only his deep concern for Rogerthat kept him from letting out one of his bull-throated bellows.

  "Take it easy, Roger," said Tom. "The investigation will be over andwe'll be on our way to Tara before you know it."

  "Yeah, you space Romeo," growled Astro, "crawl in the sack and rest yourbones. You're lucky you can miss this."

  Roger managed a weak smile. "I'll be O.K. Go ahead and learn about thathyperdrive before you explode."

  There was an awkward moment while the three cadets stared at oneanother. The deep friendship between them didn't need to be expressed inwords. Abruptly, Tom and Astro turned and left the room.

  Roger stared at the closed door for a moment and then flopped on hisbunk. He closed his eyes and tried to go to sleep. Whatever happened, hethought, it wouldn't do any good to knock himself out.

  As he lay there thinking back to the first months at Space Academy whenhe had met Tom and Astro, he heard a knock on the door and he turned tosee 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 thecrash!" said Roger.

  "I wouldn't say that, kid," said Loring grimly. "I wouldn't say that atall."

  "What do you mean?" demanded Roger.

  "A shame"--Loring shook his head--"young fella like you winding up onthe 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 toeat, because it costs too much to haul up solid grub. Once you've beenon the prison rock, you can't ever blast off again. You're washed up asa 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 yourradarscope wasn't working right. Then they'll come to me and ask me whathappened aboard the _Annie Jones_."

  "Well," demanded Roger, "what did happen?"

  Loring glanced at Mason. "Just this, kid. Jardine and Bangs were on theteleceiver and the radar for fifteen minutes trying to pick up yourbeam. 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. Ifwhat they said was true, Roger knew there could only be one outcome tothe 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 toface Roger. "I'm not suggesting anything, Manning," he said. "You're abig boy and should know what's good for you. But"--he paused andmeasured his words carefully--"if I were you, I wouldn't wait around forConnel or anyone else to blast my life to pieces by sending me to aprison 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 jetliner coming in from Atom City that would make a stop at Venusport. Heglanced at his watch. Thirty minutes. He didn't have much time.