[Ill.u.s.tration]

CHAPTER 8

"All clear ahead, Bill!"

Tom Corbett stood at the radarscope and watched the thin white line sweep around the face of the instrument. "Nothing in s.p.a.ce but us!" he announced.

The veteran s.p.a.ceman grunted and grinned at the curly-haired cadet he had grown to like and respect in the short time they had been together.

Not only did Tom know how to handle a ship, spelling the pilot for a few moments to have a walk around the control deck, but he was good company as well. More than once, Tom had surprised the Martian s.p.a.ceman with his sober judgment of the minor decisions Stic.o.o.n had to make in flight.

"Why don't you try to contact Manning again, Tom?" Stic.o.o.n suggested.

"He might be awake now."

Tom grinned, but in his heart he did not think it very funny. It was no joke that Captain Strong had called him to contact Roger. And Tom was worried. So far, he had not been able to reach the blond-haired cadet.

He settled himself in front of the communicator and began calling the black ship again.

"Rocket ship _s.p.a.ce Lance_ to rocket ship _s.p.a.ce Knight_! Come in!"

He waited. Nothing but static and silence greeted him.

"_s.p.a.ce Knight_, come in!"

He waited again as the sleek white ship plummeted deeper into s.p.a.ce toward the first refueling stop on Deimos, one of the small twin moons of Mars. Still there was no acknowledging reply from the black ship that had streaked ahead of them after the blast-off.

"I'm going to try to contact Kit Barnard," said Tom. "Maybe he can pick up Miles' blip on his radar."

Tom made the necessary adjustment on the audioceiver and broadcast the call for the owner-pilot of the _Good Company_. Finally, after repeated tries, he heard a faint signal and recognized the voice of his unit mate Astro.

"What's the matter, Astro?" asked Tom. "I can hardly hear you."

"We're having trouble with the by-pa.s.s lines to the generators," replied Astro. "We've cut down to standard s.p.a.ce speed, and Sid and Kit are making repairs now."

"Have you heard from Roger?" asked Tom across the vast abyss of s.p.a.ce separating them. "I've been trying to contact the _s.p.a.ce Knight_ for the last six hours and can't get any acknowledgment."

"Haven't seen it," replied Astro. "Lost contact with her a long time ago. She moved ahead at emergency s.p.a.ce speed and we lost her on our radar an hour after we blasted off."

"O.K., Astro. Hope Kit gets his wagon going again. We've got to make a race of this, or the people throughout the system will be disappointed."

He turned and winked at Wild Bill.

"Listen, you curly-haired twerp!" roared Astro, and it seemed to Tom that he could hear his friend without the loud-speaker. "We're going to give you the hottest run of your lives when we get going!"

"O.K., Astro," said Tom. "If you can contact Roger, tell him to get in touch with Captain Strong right away. He's probably blasted off on the _Polaris_ by now."

"Right, Tom. End transmission."

"End transmission."

Tom turned back to the skipper of the _s.p.a.ce Lance_ with a feeling of despair. "I can't figure it out, Bill," he said. "Roger's pulled some b.o.n.e.rs before, real rocket blasters, but refusing to answer a call from Strong--" He shook his head.

The audioceiver suddenly crackled into life. "_s.p.a.ce Knight_ to _s.p.a.ce Lance_, check in!" Quent Miles' voice was harsh and clear.

Tom jumped back to the microphone. "_s.p.a.ce Lance_, Cadet Corbett here!"

he shouted eagerly. "Go ahead, _s.p.a.ce Knight_! Where's Manning?"

"Still asleep!" replied Miles. "Just wanted to tell you boys good-by.

I'm not stopping to refuel at Deimos! I'm going right on through to Ganymede! End transmission!"

Only static filled the control deck of the _s.p.a.ce Lance_ as Tom clutched the microphone and pleaded desperately for Quent Miles to answer him.

"Come in, Miles! This is Corbett on the _s.p.a.ce Lance_ to Quent Miles on the _s.p.a.ce Knight_! Come in, Miles! Come in!"

Bill Stic.o.o.n shook his head. "Miles must be nuts trying to get to Ganymede without refueling," he muttered. "Traveling at emergency s.p.a.ce speed, he'll eat up his fuel before he gets one third of the way to Jupiter!"

Tom looked at Stic.o.o.n. "And Roger's with him."

Stic.o.o.n nodded grimly. "They'll wind up drifting around in s.p.a.ce halfway between Mars and Jupiter. Finding them will be about as easy as looking for a pebble in the Martian desert."

"Have you found the _s.p.a.ce Lance_ yet, Astro?" asked Kit Barnard, glancing over his shoulder at the giant Venusian, standing at the radarscope.

"I think I'm getting it now," said Astro. "Either that or I've picked up an asteroid."

"Not likely," said Kit. "We're too far from the belt to have anything that big drifting around without being charted. It must be Stic.o.o.n."

"Boy!" chuckled Astro. "This reactor really packs a load of power!"

"How are we doing on fuel, Sid?" Kit called into the intercom.

"We lost a lot trying to prime the pumps," replied the young crew chief.

"We have to touch down on Deimos and refuel."

"That's all right," replied Kit with a smile. "We're gaining on Stic.o.o.n fast. We should make Deimos about the same time. I wonder where Quent Miles is by now."

"Probably wishing he had stopped for fuel!" interjected Astro with a sour look on his face.

"See if you can pick up Stic.o.o.n on the audioceiver, Astro," said Kit.

"Ask him for an estimated time of arrival on Deimos. One of us will have to come in first."

Astro flipped the switch on the panel and began his call "_Good Company_ to _s.p.a.ce Lance_, come in!"

"Right here, Astro," replied Tom immediately. "Boy, you certainly are burning up s.p.a.ce! What have you got in your fuel tanks? Light speed?"

"Just a little thing we whipped up," said Astro with a grin. "What is your ETA on Deimos, Tom?"

"Less than five minutes. Four minutes and thirty seconds, to be exact.