On the Trail of the Space Pirates_ A Tom Corbett Space Cadet Adventure - Carey Rockwell [355]
The next room he invaded contained the radar-control panel, and the big cadet howled with glee as he smashed the butt of his paralo-ray gun into the delicate vacuum tubes, and ripped wires and circuits loose.
Suddenly he stopped, conscious of someone behind him. He spun around, finger starting to squeeze the trigger of his gun, and then caught himself just in time. Major Connel was leaning against the doorjamb, a wide grin on his face.
"How're you doing?" he drawled.
"Not bad," said Astro casually. "Be a lot of work here, fixing these things, eh?" He grinned.
"What time is it?" asked Connel.
Astro looked at his watch. "Twenty to twelve."
"We'd better clear out of here and head for the jungle."
Astro hesitated. "You know, sir, I've been thinking."
"If you have an idea, spill it," said the major.
"How about releasing the prisoners, taking over a ship, and blasting off?"
"And have the Solar Guard fleet blast us out of the skies? No, sir! Come on, we've got to get moving!"
"We could still try to release Carson and the others," said Astro stoutly.
"We can try all right, but I don't think we'll be very successful."
The two spacemen returned to the first floor of the building and headed for the rear door without so much as a look at the line of frozen guards along the wall. Once outside, they skirted the edge of the building, staying close to the hedge, and then struck out boldly across the canyon floor toward the prison building. They were surprised to see that their smashing attack had gone unnoticed, and Connel reasoned that the constant roar of activity in the canyon had covered the sounds of their raid.
"We'll have to hurry, sir," said Astro as they turned into the lane leading to the prison. "Ten minutes to twelve."
"It's no good, Astro," said Connel, suddenly pulling the cadet back and pointing to the building. "Look at all the guards—at least a dozen of them."
Astro waited a second before saying grimly, "We could try, sir."
"Don't be a pigheaded idiot!" roared Connel. "Nothing will happen to those men now, and in five minutes there'll be so much confusion around here that we'll be able to walk over and open the door without firing a shot!"
Suddenly there was an explosive roar behind them and they spun around. On the opposite side of the canyon three rocket ships were hurtling spaceward.
"They must have spotted our fleet coming in," said Connel, a puzzled frown on his face.
"But how could they?" asked Astro. "We knocked out their radar!"
Connel slammed his fist into the palm of his hand. "By the stars, Astro, we forgot about their monitoring spaceship above the tower! When we knocked out the main station here in the canyon, it took over and warned the base of the attack!"
From all sides the canyon reverberated with the roaring blasts of the Nationalist fleet blasting off. Around them, the green-clad rebels were running to their defense posts. Officers shouted frantic orders and workers dropped tools to pick up guns. The building that held Carson and the other planters was suddenly left alone as the guards hurried to ships and battle stations.
Connel counted the number of ships blasting off and smiled. "They don't stand a chance! They're sending up only two heavy cruisers, four destroyers, and about twenty scouts. The Solar Guard fleet will blast them into space dust."
Astro jumped up and started to run.
"Hey, Astro! Where are you going?" shouted Connel.
"To find Roger!" Astro shouted in reply. "I'll meet you back here!"
"Right!" shouted Connel, settling back into concealment. There was no need to release the planters in the guardhouse now. Connel was satisfied that in a few moments the rebellion against the Solar Alliance would be defeated. He smiled in prospect of seeing a good