On the Trail of the Space Pirates_ A Tom Corbett Space Cadet Adventure - Carey Rockwell [274]
"Polaris unit—stand to!" he yelled.
Seated around the table, the three cadets stared at their captain in disbelief, then instinctively rose and snapped to attention. Their backs were straight and their eyes forward, but it was impossible for them to keep smiles off their faces. Suppressing his own elation, Strong managed to stride in front of them in mock inspection, but then could no longer hold back an answering smile.
"Unit—stand easy!"
Like three happy puppies the cadets swarmed over their skipper, pounding him on the back, grabbing his hands, and mauling him until he had to cry out for peace.
"Take it easy," he cried. "Relax, will you! You'll tear me apart!"
"You're the happiest sight I've seen in weeks, sir!" shouted Tom.
"Yeah," drawled Roger, grinning from ear to ear. "I couldn't be happier if you had brought along a ship full of space dolls!"
"When did you get here, sir?" asked Astro. "Why didn't you let us know?"
The questions tumbled out of the boys' mouths thick and fast, and Strong let them chatter until their initial burst of elation had worn itself out. Then, after quickly bringing them up to date on all news of the Academy, and news of Earth, he pulled up a chair and faced them solemnly. The three cadets braced themselves to tell him about their experiences since leaving Atom City.
"There's a lot to tell, sir," began Tom. "But we're only going to give you the facts as we know them, sir. And then let you decide."
Then starting from the beginning, when they were first relieved of their stations on the Polaris on the way out to the satellite, the three cadets related their experiences with Vidac, Hardy, and Professor Sykes. They ended with a detailed account of their being held for the disappearance of the professor.
"And you say that the colonists were forced to pay for their food on the trip out?" asked Strong incredulously.
"Yes, sir," said Tom. "And later, after the ships crashed, there was a shortage of farm tools and equipment, which meant that the colonists would have to farm with chemicals. Vidac made them sign over part of their future profits and mortgage their land holdings to get the chemicals."
"And four hundred ships crashed in landing? Hasn't anybody figured out why yet?" Strong asked.
Roger shook his head. "The instruments just went out, sir," he said. "I never saw anything like it, and when the professor wanted to go down in a jet boat first to investigate, Vidac insisted on taking the Polaris down, anyway. He brought her in by the seat of his pants…"
"Only because Tom took over when he got cold feet," chimed in Astro.
"Yeah," agreed Roger. "But the others couldn't do it. They just splashed in."
"And there hasn't been any explanation of why the instruments went out?"
"I haven't heard any, sir," said Astro. "Professor Sykes started out right after we landed to investigate the satellite, but I never heard anything more about it. When I asked him one day if he had found anything, he told me to mind my own business."
"And now you're accused of abducting and murdering the professor," mused Strong.
"That's it, sir," said Tom. "As I said, we didn't want to give you anything but the facts as we know them. There are a lot of incidents that would show Vidac is trying to pull something funny, but nothing that could be proved."
Strong nodded. "Well, it certainly looks as though Vidac is—"
Strong was suddenly interrupted by Bush who stepped into the room arrogantly, paralo-ray gun in hand.
"Time's up!" he yelled, waving the gun at Strong.
"Hasn't anybody figured out why four hundred ships crashed in landing?" Strong asked.
"I've warned you about holding a weapon on a Solar Guard officer," snapped Strong, rising to face the man. "Either put that thing away or use it."
Bush glanced at the smiling cadets and turned back to Strong.
"Your time is up," he growled. "Get out!"