"We're going in according to plan! Train all your guns on the Solar Guard defense installations and stand by!"

"Ready any time you say the word," replied Wallace.

Jumping back to the intercom, c.o.xine gave orders to the power deck for full thrust, then ordered the radar bridge to relay the scanner image of Ganymede to the control deck.

As the rocket ship surged ahead under the added thrust, Tom strained against his ropes to watch the scanner and saw the clear image of the colony. He could make out the outline of the uranium plant, the atmosphere booster stations and small buildings cl.u.s.tered around the s.p.a.ceport. As they drew closer to the tiny colony, c.o.xine grabbed the intercom and the teleceiver microphones and barked crisp orders to both the Avengers and the _Polaris_' power decks. "Full braking rockets!"

roared c.o.xine.

Tom braced himself against the sudden reverse pressure of the powerful nose rockets, and then, in a moment, felt the _Avenger_ come to a dead stop. Watching the scanner again, he saw that they were directly over the Solar Guard garrison. c.o.xine switched the teleceiver to the colony frequency and spoke sharply and confidently.

"Attention! All citizens of Ganymede colony! This is Bull c.o.xine. Your entire settlement is under my guns. Any attempt to raise ship and oppose me will be met with instant destruction! Every citizen is hereby ordered to a.s.semble at the munic.i.p.al s.p.a.ceport within five minutes. All Solar Guard officers and men will do the same. You have five minutes to comply, or I will open fire!"

The giant s.p.a.ceman flipped off the teleceiver before anyone on Ganymede could answer. Pressing with all his might, Tom managed to see more of the scanner which suddenly showed the people of Ganymede scurrying out to the s.p.a.ceport in panic. c.o.xine watched the activity on the scanner for a second and then grunted his satisfaction.

Suddenly the hatch was thrown open and Astro and Roger were pushed into the room by two crewmen.

c.o.xine turned to them, smiling thinly. "You owe your lives to your buddy here. One more minute and you would've been walking with the angels.

Now," he added to the crewmen, "tie them up so they can see the scanner.

I want them to see how easy it is to knock off a Solar Guard garrison!"

"Why you--" Astro lunged toward the pirate but was stopped in his tracks by a blast from a paralo-ray gun behind him. The big cadet stood rigid, motionless, every nerve and muscle in his body paralyzed. c.o.xine sneered and turned back to the intercom while his men tied up the two cadets.

Tom and Roger looked at each other and, without speaking, knew what the other was thinking. Their only hope was the beacon signal aboard the _Polaris_.

After the men had tied Astro, they released him from the effects of the ray charge and threw him down beside Roger.

"How do you feel?" asked Tom.

"Like I've been run through a set of gears," mumbled Astro. "How about yourself?"

"O.K.," replied Tom. "Was it"--he paused--"was it tough in the air lock?"

Roger smiled. "Not as tough as it must have been on you up here. We realized what was going on as soon as we found out we were losing air."

The blond-haired cadet shook his head and Tom noticed that both Roger and Astro were weak from their ordeal in the chamber.

At the control panel, c.o.xine was bawling orders to his crew. "Jet boats one, two, three, four, and five! Stand by to blast off!"

The three cadets looked at each other helplessly.

"Russell, check in," continued the burly s.p.a.ceman.

"Russell here!" replied a voice on the intercom.

"You're in charge of the party. I want you to do one thing, and one thing only! Take the largest ships on the s.p.a.ceport and blast off. Don't touch anything else! Just the ships. Those you can't get off the ground, leave. We'll blast them later!"

"Aye, aye, sir."

c.o.xine strode over to the teleceiver. Immediately the image of a man in the uniform of a Solar Guard major appeared on the screen. His voice echoed in the control room.

"h.e.l.lo, c.o.xine! This is Major Sommers! Come in, c.o.xine!"

"Yeah--" replied c.o.xine. "Whaddya want?" The pirate captain stepped arrogantly in front of the teleceiver's transmitting lens, and from the look on the officer's face, Tom knew he had seen c.o.xine on his own screen.

"We've followed orders," said the major. "Our only request is that you do not harm any of the citizens--"

c.o.xine cut him off. "Stow that s.p.a.ce gas! I'll do what I please! I'm sending down a crew of men. They have certain orders. Any interference from you and I'll open fire with everything I've got--right in the middle of the s.p.a.ceport."

Tom gasped. The s.p.a.ceport was now crowded with the citizens of the tiny colony.

The major nodded gravely. "I understand," he said. "You may rest a.s.sured no one will interfere with your men!"

"Huh!" sneered c.o.xine. "You don't sound so high and mighty now that you're staring into the barrels of a dozen atomic blasters!" He snapped off the teleceiver and roared with laughter.

Tom felt a shiver run down his spine. He could imagine the frustration of the Ganymede garrison, a crack crew of fighting men, forced to surrender without firing a shot. And he had been the cause by giving c.o.xine the code recognition signal!

c.o.xine snapped an order into the intercom and a moment later Tom saw the jet boats on the scanner, rocketing down to the surface of the small satellite.

As, one by one, the small ships landed on the s.p.a.ceport, the three cadets could see the crowds of colonists fan out, allowing the jet boats to come in without interference.

c.o.xine strode up and down the control deck restlessly, but keeping his eyes on the activity below. Suddenly he rushed to the scanner, stared hard, and then let out a roar of triumph.

The three cadets saw the reason immediately. On the scanner were the unmistakable outlines of two Solar Guard heavy cruisers, four destroyers, and six scouts, hurtling s.p.a.ceward at tremendous speed.

c.o.xine spun around, balled his fists into tight knots, and shook them at the three cadets.

"I've won! I've won!" He roared with insane laughter and there was a crazed gleam in his eyes. "I've got the ships, the guns, the men, and the secret of the adjustable light-key. By the time I'm finished with the Solar Guard there won't be anything left of those crawlers but what you can hear on a story spool, and the Solar Alliance will be run by one man!" He paused, his face grew hard and he tapped his chest menacingly.

"Me!"

CHAPTER 20

"I don't care if the blasted ship blows up!" roared Captain Strong to the power-deck officer of the Solar Guard rocket cruiser _Arcturus_. "I want every ounce of thrust you can get out of this s.p.a.ce heap!"

The young Solar Guard captain turned back to the loud-speaker of the audioceiver, turned the volume dial a fraction, and listened. The steady p.r.o.nounced ping of Roger's signal beacon filled his ears.

When Strong discovered that c.o.xine had outwitted him, he had gone aboard the rocket cruiser _Arcturus_ of Squadron Ten and had continued on search patrol. He dared not break audio silence to warn the cadets aboard the _Polaris_, lest he give away the position of the ship. Later, when the radar officer of the _Arcturus_ reported a steady signal over the audioceiver, Strong at first dismissed it as some form of interference from s.p.a.ce. But when t.i.tan failed to report the arrival of the _Polaris_ on time, Strong investigated the strange sound. Taking a bearing on the signal, he discovered it came from a position dangerously close to the small Jovian colony of Ganymede. After repeated attempts to raise the _Polaris_ failed, and no distress signals had been received, Strong feared that Bull c.o.xine had won again. In a desperate effort to catch the criminal, he took repeated bearings on the signal and ordered full emergency s.p.a.ce speed toward the small satellite of Jupiter.

Contacting Commander Walters at s.p.a.ce Academy, Strong related his suspicions and received permission to carry out a plan of action.

"I want you to engage the enemy at all costs!" ordered Walters. "Blast his s.p.a.ce-crawling hide into protons! That's an order!"

"Yes, sir!" replied Strong with grim determination. "There's nothing I'd like better."

Six hours later Strong received confirmation of his worst fears. He was handed a message that read: