On the Trail of the Space Pirates_ A Tom Corbett Space Cadet Adventure - Carey Rockwell [257]
Tom waited for Vidac to order emergency thrust to counter the pull of the satellite. They were dropping too fast. He watched Vidac and waited for the only order that would save the ship. If he doesn't do it now, thought Tom, it will be too late.
"Vidac!" yelled Tom. "Emergency power! We're falling too fast!"
Vidac didn't answer. "Vidac!" screamed Tom again. "Emergency power!"
The man didn't move. He sat in front of the control panel as though paralyzed. Tom slipped off the straps of the acceleration chair and raced to the intercom. Vidac made no attempt to stop him.
"Astro! Full emergency thrust! Hit it!"
In immediate reply, a jolting burst of power blasted through the tubes, jerking the ship convulsively and throwing Tom to the deck. A loud, crashing sound filled the ship, followed by a strange stillness. Dimly Tom realized that the rockets had been cut and they were safely on the surface of the satellite.
He picked himself up and turned to face Vidac. The lieutenant governor was unstrapping himself from the pilot's chair. His face was ashen. He stalked out of the control deck without a word.
"Touchdown!" screamed Roger from the radar deck. "We made it. We're on Roald!"
Tom heard the blond-haired cadet, but his unit mate's excitement did not register. He was staring at the open hatch. "He lost his nerve," said Tom aloud, half to himself and half to Governor Hardy who was unstrapping himself from the acceleration chair. "He quit cold!"
"He certainly did," said Hardy. "And if it wasn't for your quick thinking, we'd be spread all over this satellite!"
Roger tumbled down the ladder from the radar deck. "Nice work, Tom," he shouted, slapping his unit mate on the back. He followed Tom's gaze past Hardy to the empty hatch.
"Say, can you imagine a guy like that suddenly losing his nerve?" asked Roger.
"No," replied Tom. "If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes I wouldn't believe it!"
"This will go on your official record of course," said Hardy. "I'll see that you're rewarded in some way, Corbett."
"Thank you, sir," said Tom. "But if you could just assure me that my reports back to the Academy will get through, I'll be very happy."
"You mean they're not being sent?" asked Hardy, seemingly quite concerned.
"No, sir," replied Tom. "At least I don't think so. And this is the first time I've had a chance to tell you."
"Well," said Hardy, "there's a lot to be done now that we've arrived, Corbett. I'll take this matter up with Vidac as soon as I get a chance." He turned and walked off the control deck.
"Well, I'll be a space monkey!" exclaimed Roger.
"Yeah," agreed Tom, "I'll be two of them!"
CHAPTER 11
"Of the thousand ships that blasted off from Earth there are only six hundred thirteen left that can be used in the construction of the first colony of Roald."
Governor Hardy's voice was firm as he addressed the assembled colonists and spacemen from the air lock of a space freighter.
There was a murmur among the colonists at this news. They knew that the landings on the satellite had been costly; that many ships had crashed as a result of the unexplained interference with the ships' instruments. And since each ship had been designed to be cannibalized into houses, workshops, and power plants, they realized the plans for the settlement would have to be radically revised.
Once the Polaris had landed safely, the other ships of the fleet had followed, each trying to find the delicate balance between the pull of the satellite and the thrust of their rockets. And since many of Vidac's hand-picked crewmen were in control, a large number of the valuable and irreplaceable ships and their supplies had been lost. They didn't burn when they crashed. Fire could have been easily extinguished. Instead, deadly radiation from the cracked firing chambers flooded the ships and their cargo, rendering them useless.
Tom, Roger, and Astro stood with Jeff Marshall and the Logan family as the governor outlined