On the Trail of the Space Pirates_ A Tom Corbett Space Cadet Adventure - Carey Rockwell [255]
"Polaris to fleet! Single up for landing! Ships to follow the Polaris and touch down in order of their fleet numbers!"
On the control deck of the command ship, Vidac began barking orders to Tom. The three cadets had been reassigned to their original stations because of their intimate knowledge and sure handling of the giant ship.
"Prepare the ship for touchdown, Corbett!" yelled Vidac.
"Yes, sir," said Tom. He flipped on the intercom and barked orders to Astro below on the power deck.
"Stand by to reduce thrust to one-quarter space speed, Astro. Stand by forward nose braking rockets."
"Right," replied Astro.
"Hey, Roger!" yelled Tom. "How far are we from the surface?"
"Estimated distance to touchdown is two hundred thousand feet," answered Roger crisply.
"Reduce thrust to minimum, Astro," barked Tom, his eyes watching every dial and meter on the control board.
"Distance one hundred fifty thousand feet," reported Roger. "Looks like an open plain right below us. Maybe we'd better try for it, eh?"
"I guess so," said Tom. "Relay your scan down here to the control-deck scanner." Tom gave it a quick glance, saw that there was plenty of room on the plain Roger had mentioned to hold the entire fleet, and turned to Vidac. "Request permission to touch down, sir," said Tom.
"Granted," replied Vidac.
The curly-haired cadet turned back to the control board and once again checked his instruments. Behind him, Vidac and Governor Hardy watched the surface of Roald as the Polaris began to turn for her tailfirst landing.
"Cut all thrust at one hundred thousand feet, Astro," ordered Tom.
"Aye, aye," replied Astro.
"One hundred ten thousand feet," reported Roger. "One-O-seven, one-O-four, one hundred!"
Almost immediately, the blasting roar of the rockets was cut to a whisper and the ship began to drop toward the surface of the satellite.
Vidac jumped forward and grabbed Tom's shoulder. "What're you trying to do, Corbett? We're falling!"
"I have no data on the gravity of Roald," said Tom calmly. "The best way to find out is to check our rate of fall. I can then gauge the amount of braking power necessary."
Behind the two spacemen, Governor Hardy smiled. He stepped forward and tapped Vidac on the shoulder. "Whatever your difficulties coming out here with them, Paul, you've got to admit that they know how to handle this ship."
"Yeah," growled Vidac. "Too bad they don't know how to handle themselves as well."
Tom smarted under the sarcasm but concentrated on the task of getting the ship safely to the ground.
"Fifty thousand feet," reported Roger. "I'd say that the gravity of Roald is about 2.7 over Earth's, Tom."
"O.K., Roger," replied Tom. "Give her one-quarter thrust, Astro. We'll have to feel our way down."
As the rumble of the main rockets started again, Tom waited for the ship's descent to be checked, and sudden concern welled up within him as the ship failed to respond.
"Thirty-five thousand feet," reported Roger from the radar deck.
"Full thrust, Astro," called Tom, anxiously watching the approaching surface of Roald. He checked his instruments again and his heart jumped up into his throat. The needles of all the gauges and meters were dancing back and forth as though they were being flicked with invisible fingers.
Tom grabbed the intercom and shouted wildly. "Astro! Emergency space speed! We've got to get out of here!" Tom whirled around to face Vidac and Hardy. "You'd better call Professor Sykes up here, right away," he declared.
"Why? What's the matter?" stuttered Hardy.
"Something's interfering with our whole electrical system, sir," replied the cadet.
"What's that, Corbett?" snapped Sykes, stepping quickly through the hatch into the control room. Tom was about to repeat his statement when suddenly the rockets blasted loudly, and the ship tossed and rocked, throwing everyone off his feet. Astro had applied emergency power to his reactors, sending the