On the Trail of the Space Pirates_ A Tom Corbett Space Cadet Adventure - Carey Rockwell [474]
"We have to move out of here or we'll never get out," he said. "There's a Martian sandstorm coming this way. It should hit in about fifteen minutes. This will be the last flight. Then nothing will get off the ground until it blows over. May last for days."
"But what about that cadet?" asked the man nearest to the sergeant. "What if he shows up?"
"Just about all the passengers for this flight are aboard now," growled the sergeant. "Besides, do you see him anywhere?"
Tom turned his back to the troopers quickly and heard the Marine reply, "Naw."
"Then get your gear and pile on the truck outside," ordered the sergeant, "or we'll be living in this station for a couple of days."
The Marines quickly marched away from the gate, through the waiting room, and out the door.
Tom dug into his pocket for the ticket to Atom City and stepped quickly to the gate, presenting his ticket to the steward. "Spaceman Wilson!" Tom growled.
The steward checked his ticket casually and announced, "Seat fourteen, berth twelve!"
Tom walked through the gate, trying to look casual.
"Hey you!" There was a sudden cry of alarm behind Tom and for a moment he was tempted to run. But he turned slowly and looked back. The man at the newsstand was shouting at him.
"Ya tryin' to steal my paper?" he yelled.
Tom looked down and saw that he was still holding the paper he had picked up to hide his face from the Marines. He smiled, reached into his pocket for a coin, and flipped it back to the man.
"Sorry," he called and walked on.
He hurried through a tunnel to the open area of the field where the other passengers were waiting in jet cars. He slipped into the nearest one and settled down beside a fat woman. She looked at him archly, sniffed audibly, and turned to stare out the window. Tom merely grinned and settled deeper in the seat. In a moment the jet cab was speeding across the small field to the waiting passenger ship.
Safely inside the ship, Tom sank into his assigned seat, buckled his acceleration belt, and listened to the voice of the skipper counting off the seconds until blast off.
"Five, four, three, two, one, zero!"
There was very little acceleration shock, since this was a vessel designed for the comfort of the passengers. In fact, Tom found it difficult to determine just exactly when it left the ground. The force of the drive pushed him deep in his seat, to be sure, but it was a gradual pressure and not at all like the sudden violent jerk that came when he gunned the Polaris.
He smiled. There was considerably less power in this ship than in the Polaris!
The thought of the giant rocket cruiser made him think about Roger and Astro. He wondered what they were doing and if they had stayed out of trouble.
During the trip back to Atom City, Tom kept to himself, avoiding the other passengers on the ship as much as possible, taking his meals in his berth. The cadet had a lot of thinking to do. Though temporarily safe, he knew he couldn't dodge the Solar Guard forever. He kept track of his pursuit by stereo newscasts which the ship picked up from both Mars and Earth, and he was pleased to learn that the Marines and Solar Guardsmen were still searching for him in Marsport.
There was one bit of information that was general news to the others on the ship, but of particular interest to Tom. He had sat up in his berth and listened.
"… The report of a sabotage attempt on a highly secret project now in progress at Space Academy was denied today by project officials and Commander Walters. The commander said there was no basis for the report that the entire control panel of a new type ship had been destroyed."
Tom switched off his set and settled back in his bunk. He saw through the denial by Commander Walters. There was no need to