On the Trail of the Space Pirates_ A Tom Corbett Space Cadet Adventure - Carey Rockwell [249]
"All right—all right," growled Astro, "but what are we going to do about it?"
"We've got to get word to Space Academy or Captain Strong someway, somehow. We've got to let them know what's going on."
"There's only one way to do that," said Roger. "But with the communications controlled by Vidac's men, we don't have the chance of a snowball on the sunny side of Mercury!"
"Then," announced Tom firmly, "we'll have to build our own communications unit."
"But how?" asked Logan.
"Roger here can make a communicator out of spit and bailing wire," said Astro. "All he needs is the essential parts."
"Look," said Tom tensely, "Jeff Marshall will be getting out of the brig when we do. He'll be working with Professor Sykes, along with us. Why can't we build one on the sly in the observatory?"
Roger thought a moment. "It's the only thing we can do. I just hope that Mr. Logan's coming here hasn't aroused suspicion."
"Don't worry about that," said Logan. "I told Vidac I wanted this information about Space Academy for Billy. That seemed to satisfy him."
"I don't know," mused Tom. "He's pretty smart."
"What else can we do?" asked Astro.
"Nothing," said Tom bitterly. "Not a space-blasting thing until we get out of here!"
* * * * *
"We've got to have that triple vacuum tube," declared Roger. "That's the only thing that will transmit a voice quickly back to Earth from this fix out in space."
The three boys and Jeff Marshall were back in their quarters after their first week of active duty again. They had surreptitiously begun collecting parts for the communicator and were sorting them out on one of the bunks when Roger mentioned the necessity for the special vacuum tube.
"How quickly?" asked Astro.
Tom explained. "The equipment we have now is strong enough to talk to the Academy, but it'll take about six hours for my voice to reach it. And then another six hours for the Academy's answer to get back to us. At the end of twelve hours we might not be ready to receive and the communications officer might pick up their answer. Then we'd be in the middle of a space hurricane!"
"I see," said Astro. "You've got to be able to talk directly to the Academy, so that when they answer, you'll be ready!"
"Right," said Tom. "We might only get ten or fifteen minutes of free time, when the professor would be away from the observatory."
"Where do you think I could get one of those tubes, besides on the radar bridge, Roger?" asked Jeff. He had been the main source of supply for the equipment used in the communicator. Since getting out of the brig, his movements had not been as restricted as the cadets'.
"That's just it," said Roger. "I remember distinctly loading all of them in the locker near the main scanner on the radar deck."
"Then we have to get it from another ship," said Tom. "The chances of getting one here, aboard the Polaris, are zero."
"Say, Roger," suddenly asked Astro, "do you think you remember enough about that triple vacuum tube to draw me a blueprint?"
"Sure," said Roger. "And you could probably build it too. But how are you going to get the inside tube vacuumized, then the second one, and finally the third. They have to be absolutely clean!"
"How about outside in space?" Astro suggested. "We could take the parts of the tube with us and assemble it out there. You can't ask for a better vacuum than outer space."
Tom grinned and slapped the big Venusian on the back. "Astro, you're the hero of the day. Come on, Roger, start drawing that tube! Astro can make it on the power deck as if he were repairing something. Make it as simple as possible."
"Right," said Roger, "all I need is the vacuum and of course the copper filament inside the inner third tube for sending and receiving. We can make it so the tubes screw together inside of each other and then seal them."
"Right," said Astro.
"Meantime," said Tom, "Jeff and I will get you a set