 Chapter 16 of Danger in Deep Space This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org Danger in Deep Space by Cary Rockwell Narrated by Sam Holloway Chapter 16 Well, fellows Said Tom, stifling yawn It looks like we did it But I could use some more sleep That five hours was just enough to get started on Yeah Agreed, Roger Sourly But where does this Venusian Lumix get off grabbing all the credit? He looked at Astro If I hadn't built the fuses for your little firecrackers Firecrackers? Yelp, to Astro Why, you skinny space fake If I hadn't built those nuclear reactors You wouldn't have anything to set off Connell appeared in the small mess room of the Polaris His hands full of papers and drawings When you've finished congratulating each other I'd like to say a few things He snapped Congratulate him Exclaimed Roger Skipper, his head so thick that the noise on the power deck Can't even reach his eardrums Just one more word, manning Ground Astro And I'll take a deep breath and blow you away One more word out of either of you Rod Connell And I'll throw you both in the break With Mason and Loring Suddenly, he glared at the five spacemen Who's on prisoner watch today? He asked The four cadets and Mr.Shinny looked at each other Then at Roger Uh, I am, sir Roger confessed I had a sneaking suspicion you would be Said Connell Get at manning One of the first things an officer of the solar guard learns Is to care for the needs of his men At prisoners, before himself Did you know that, cadet manning? Uh, yes sir I was just going to Mumbled Roger Then go below and see that Mason and Loring Get their rations Yes sir Said Roger He got up and collected a tray of food All of you report to the control deck In five minutes for briefing Said Connell And followed Roger out of the door How do you like that? Said Astro We break our backs for the guy and we no soon have finished And he starts the old routine again That has nothing to do with it Astro Said Tom Put yourself in his position We've only got one or two things to think about He's responsible for it all Just like he was when I sailed with him 25 years ago Said Shinny He swallowed the remains of his tea And reached for a plug of tobacco He's all spacemen from the top of his head To the bottom of his space boots I'm rather inclined to agree with you Tom Said Alfie Leader Champ carries with it the greatest of all burdens Responsibility for other people's lives You, Garment, as a control deck canette What do well to mark Major Connell's pattern of behaviour Listen Ground Astro If Tom ever turned out to be a Rocket Buster like Connell I'd... I'd... Don't worry Astro Tom said laughing I don't think there'll be another Major Connell in a million light years Shinny laughed silently His small frame shaking slightly Say it again Tommy Not in the whole universe will there be another like old blast-off Connell On the deck below the mess room Roger balancing a tray carefully on one hand Opened the electronic lock of the brig And then stepped back quickly levelling a Peralo ray gun Alright Mason, luring He yelled Come and get it The door slid open And luring stuck his head out Any funny business Roger warned And I'll stiffen you so fast you won't know what hit you It's about time you showed up Ground luring What are you trying to do? Starves to death? That's not a bad idea Said Roger Luring took the tray Roger motioned him back inside the brig and slammed the door shut He locked it and leaned against the grill Better read it while you can He said They don't serve it so fancy on a prison asteroid You'll never get us on a prison asteroid Wanting to Mason Don't kid yourself Said Roger As soon as we get the reactor unit set We're going to send this hunk of copper back to earth And then take you back They'll bury you Who's going to do all that? Snapped luring A bunch of punk kids And a loudmouth solar guard officer Yeah Retorted Roger Kid at Manning Connell's voice roared over the intercom You were ordered to report to the control deck In five minutes You're already one minute late Report to the control deck on the double And I mean double Loring and Mason laughed Oh blast off Connell's really got your number Hey kid Ah rocket off you pinheaded piece of space junk Didn't take him long to dump in your tubes Connell roared again Blast your hide Manning Report Better raise ship Manning Said Loring You might get another nasty demerit Roger turned away in race to the control deck He entered breathlessly and stood beside his unit mates While Connell eyed him coldly Thank you Kid at Manning Said Connell We appreciate your being here Yes sir Mumbled Roger Alright Barked Connell You know your assignments We'll take the jetboats as before And go out in pairs Tom and myself Master Owen Roger And Shini and Alfie We'll set up the reaction charges And Junior at the points marked on the chart screen here He indicated the chart on the projection Copy them down on your own charts Each team will take three of the reaction units My team will set up at points one, two and three Astron Roger at four, five and six Alfie and Shini at seven, eight and nine After you set up the charges Attach the triggers for the fuses And return to the ship What's your timing? If we fail, it'll be more than a year Before Junior will be in the same orbital position again How much time do we have left Corbett? Tom glanced at the clock Exactly two hours sir, he said Not much Said Connell But enough It shouldn't take more than an hour and a half To set up the units And get back to the ship to blast off All clear? Any questions? There were no questions All right Said the officer Put on your space gear and move out Handling the lead encased charges carefully The six spacemen loaded the jet boats And one by one blasted off from the Polaris To positions marked on the map Working rapidly Each of the teams of two moved from one position to another On the surface of the desolate satellite Connell, referring constantly to his watch Counted the minutes as one by one The teams reported the installation of a reactor unit This is Shinny Just finishing installing reaction charge one at point seven This is Manning Just finished installing reaction charge at point four One after the other the teams reported Connell, with Tom piloting the jet boat Finished setting up their units at points one, two and three And headed back to the Polaris How much time sir? Asked Tom as he slowed the small craft for a landing Less than half an hour Corbett Said Connell nervously Had better check on Shinny and Alfie He called into the audio phone Major Connell to Shinny and Higgins Come in Shinny Higgins Shinny here Came the reply We're just finishing up the last unit Should be back in five minutes Make it snappy Said Connell Less than half an hour left We'll make it Snorted Shinny Coming in for a touchdown Said Tom Better strap in sir Connell nodded He laid several straps across his lap and chest Gripping the sides of the seat Tom sent the jet boat in a swooping dive, cut the acceleration And brought the small ship smoothly inside the huge airlock in the side of the Polaris I'd better get right up on the control deck and start warming up the circuit sir Said Tom Good idea Tom Said Connell I'll try and pick up Manning and Astro Tom left the officer huddling over the communicator in the jet boat Major Connell to Manning and Astro Come in Called Connell He waited for a moment and then repeated Manning, Astro, come in By the rings of Saturn Come in There was the loud roar of an approaching jet boat Shinny guided the ship into the Polaris with a quick violent blast of the breaking rockets The noise was deafening Belay that noise you blasted space-brained idiot Roared Connell Cut that acceleration Shinny grinned and cut the rockets The jet boat catapult deck was quiet And Connell turned back to the communicator Come in Manning, Astro This is Major Connell Come in On the opposite side of the airless satellite Roger and Astro were busy digging a hole in the hard surface Nearby lay the last of the explosive units to be installed Connell's voice thundered through their headset phones Boy, is he blasting his jets? Commented Roger Yeah Grunted Astro He should have to dig this blasted hole Well, this is where it's got to go If the ground is hard, then it's our tough luck Said Roger If we stick it anywhere else, it might mess up the whole operation Astro nodded and continued to dig He held a small spade and jammed at the ground How much time have we got left? He gasped Twenty minutes Replied Roger You'd better hurry Finished now Said Astro Get the reactor unit over here and set the fuse Roger picked up the heavy lead box and placed it gently inside the hole Remember Astro cautioned Set the fuse for two hours No, you're wrong Replied Roger I've set the fuses each time, subtracting the amount of time since we left the Polaris I set this one for 20 minutes You're wrong, Roger Said Astro Its maximum time is two hours Listen, you Venusian clunk Exploded Roger I built this thing so I know what I'm doing But Roger Protested Astro Twenty minutes Said Roger and twisted the set screw in the fuse Okay, it's all set Let's get out of here The two cadets raced back to the jet boat and blasted off immediately Once in space, Astro turned to Roger Better check in with Major Connell before he tears himself to pieces Yeah Agreed Roger I guess you're right He flipped on the audio communicator Attention, attention Manning to Major Connell And making flight back to Polaris All installations complete What took you so long, Manning? Barked Connell in reply And why didn't you answer me? Couldn't, sir Said Roger We had a tough time digging a hole for the last unit Come back to the Polaris immediately Said Connell We're blasting off in 15 minutes Very well, sir Said Roger Presently the jet boat circled the Polaris And made a landing run for the open port Roger braked the small craft And brought it to rest alongside the others That's it, Space Boy Said to Astro All out for the Polaris Express back home Just be sure you give me a good course, Manning Grunted Astro Heaving his huge frame out of the small cabin of the jet boat And I'll give you all the thrust you want Astro secured the jet boats while Roger closed the airlock hat Shutting out the last view of the rugged little planetoid Roger threw the landscaper mocking kiss So long, Junior See you back home The two cadets climbed the ladder leading to the control deck Seated in front of the control panel Tom watched the sweeping hand of the solar clock Connell paced nervously up and down behind him Shani and Alfie stood to one side Also watching the great clock How much time, Corbett? Asked Connell for the dozenth time Junior gets his kick in the pants in ten minutes, sir Replied Tom Fine, said Connell That gives me just enough time to notify Space Academy To get ready to receive Junior's signal You know what to do? I don't have anything to do, sir Answered Tom nodding to the solar clock over his head In nine minutes and twenty seconds The reactor units go off automatically at one second intervals Roger and Astro entered the control deck and came to attention Connell returned their salute and put them at ease All right, our work here is done Said Connell No point in hanging around any longer Tom, you can blast off immediately Yes, sir Replied Tom Connell climbed the ladder to the radar bridge to contact Space Academy Astro, Roger, Shani and Alfie went to their posts and began quick preparations for the blast off One by one, they checked in to Tom on the control deck Power deck ready to blast off Reported Astro Radar bridge all set Clear trajectory forward and up Said Roger Energized the cooling pumps Balled Tom into the intercom The great pumps began to wheeze under the strain of Astro Sudden switch to full load without the usual slow build up Tom watched the pressure needle rise slowly in front of him and finally reached out and gripped the master switch Stand by to raise ship He yelled Blast off, minus five, four, three, two, one, zero He threw the switch The great ship shivered, vibrated and then suddenly shot away from the pressure satellite Tom quickly adjusted for free for by switching on the synthetic gravity gyro generators and then announced over the intercom Major Connell Cadet Corbett reporting Ship space-born at exactly thirty-one sir Very well Corbett Replied Connell Space Academy sends the crew a well done Everything set back home to take over the beam as soon as Junior started his way back How much time until zero blast off on the satellite Tom glanced at the clock Less than two minutes sir All right Said Connell over the intercom Everybody to the control deck You wanna see Junior do his stuff In a moment the six spacemen were gathered around the Magnoscope waiting for the final act of their great effort Breathlessly their eyes flicking back and forth from the solar clock to the Magnoscope they waited for the red hand to sweep around Here it comes Said Tom excitedly One second, two seconds, three, four, five On the surface of the planetoid giant mushrooming clouds appeared climbing into the airless void One by one the reactor units exploded Connell counted them as they blew up One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight He paused Junior began moving away from them Nine shouted Connell What happened to nine? Roger shouted Astro You made a mistake on the timer But I couldn't I Connell spun round his eyes blazing, breathing hard What time did you set the last one for Roger? He demanded Why, twenty minutes to blast off time sir Answered the blond-headed cadet Then it won't go off for another forty minutes Said Connell But sir Began Roger and then fell silent The room was quiet Everyone looked at Roger and then at Connell Honestly sir I didn't mean to make a mistake I pleaded Roger Connell turned around His face suddenly looked very tired That's alright Roger He said quietly We've all been working pretty hard One little mistake is bound to show up in an operation like this He paused It's my fault I should have checked those fuses myself Does it make so much difference sir? Asked Astro A lot of difference Astro Said Connell He sat down heavily But how sir? Asked Tom It's very simple Tom Answered Connell His voice was strangely quiet Junior spins on its axis in two hours Just as Earth spins in twenty-four hours I thought we had the explosion's time So that at the proper moment We'd push Junior out of his orbit around Tara And the greater orbit around Alpha Centauri By utilizing boat speeds Plus the initial thrust But by being one blast short Forty minutes late The explosion will take place When Junior is forty minutes out of position He paused and calculated rapidly in his mind That's about forty-eight thousand miles out of position When it goes off Instead of sending Junior out to space It'll blast it right into its own sun Isn't there something we can do sir? Asked Tom Nothing Corbett Answered Connell weirdly Instead of supplying the solar lines with copper In another week Junior will be hardly more than a molten piece of space junk He looked at the teleceiver screen Already Junior was falling away Stand by for full acceleration Hyperdrive Said the big officer in a horse whisper We're heading home End of chapter sixteen Chapter seventeen of danger in deep space This is a LibriVox recording All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain For more information or to volunteer Please visit LibriVox.org Danger in deep space By Cary Rockwell Narrated by Sam Holloway Chapter seventeen The subdued whine of the Hyperdrive Filled the power deck and made Roger Wintz As he stepped through the hatch and waved at Astro He climbed down the ladder and stopped beside the big Venusian Who stood stripped to the waist Watching the pressure gauges on the power deck control board Hiya Roger Said Astro with a big grin Hello Astro Replied Roger and sat down on a stool nearby Excuse me a minute hotshot Said Astro Gotta check the baffling around reaction tube three The big cadet hurriedly donned a lead lined protective suit And entered the reaction chamber After a moment he reappeared and took off the suit He poured a glass of water handed it to Roger And poured another for himself Gets pretty hot down here He said I don't like to use the air conditioner when I'm on Hyperdrive Sucks my power output and reduces pressure on the oxygen pumps Roger nodded absently at the needlessly detailed explanation Astro looked at him sharply Say what's eating you Honestly Astro Said Roger I've never felt more miserable in my life I don't mind you get you down Roger Said Astro The major said it was a mistake anyone could make Yeah Fled Roger But have you seen the way he just talks Talks? Asked Astro blankly Yeah talks Said Roger No yelling or blasting off or handing out demerits like they were candy Nothing Why he hasn't even chewed Alfie out since we left Junior He just sits in his quarters Astro understood now and nodded his head in agreement Yeah you're right I'd rather have him fusing his tubes in the way he is now Tom must feel pretty rotten too Said Roger I haven't seen much of him either Or Alfie Put in Astro Neither of them have done anything but work I don't think either of them have slept since we left Tara It's all my fault Said Roger I've nothing but a loudmouth bag of space gas With an asteroid for a head He got up and lurched toward the ladder Hey where are you going Yelled Astro Almost forgot Yelled Roger from the top of the ladder I've got to feed our prisoners a meal And the way I feel I'd like to shove it down their throats Roger went directly to the galley off the control deck And prepared a hasty meal for Loring and Mason He pouted it on a train and went below to the brig Alright Loring He ground Come and get it Well well well Sneered Loring Where's the big manning spirit You boys are kind of down since you blew that little operation Listen you space crawler One more word out of you And I'll bring you out in the passageway And pound that head of yours into space junk I wish you'd try that you little squirt Snarled Loring I'd break you in two Okay pal Said Roger I'm going to give you that chance He opened the door to the cell and Loring stepped out Holding the Perala ray gun on him Roger relocked the door Left inside Mason stuck his face close to the grill Give it to him Loring He hissed Take him apart Roger threw the Perala ray gun in the corner of the passageway And faced the heavier spacemen He held his arms loosely at his side And he balanced on the balls of his feet A slight smile played at the corners of his mouth Still breaking Loring He said quietly Why you Snarled Loring and rushed in He swung wildly for Roger's head But the cadet slipped inside the punch And drove to hard right to Loring's midsection The prisoner doubled over Snagged back and slowly straightened up Roger's lips were drawn tightly In a grimace of cold anger His eyes were shining hard and bright He stepped in quickly And chopped two straight lefts to Loring's jaw Then doubled the spacemen up again With a hard right to the heart Loring gasped and tried to clinch But Roger threw a straight jolting right to his jaw The prisoner slumped to the floor Out cold The fight was finished Roger went over, picked up the Peralo ray gun And opened the cell door again Alright Mason He said coldly Drag him inside And if you want to try me for size Just say so Mason didn't answer He merely hurried out And grabbing Loring by the feet Dragged him inside Roger slammed the door and locked it Rubbing his knuckles And feeling better than he had felt for days He started back to the radar bridge As he neared Major Connell's quarters He heard Connell's voice He stopped and listened outside the door It's a beautiful job of calculation Tom Connell was saying I don't see how you and Higgins could have done it In so short a time And without an electronic computer to aid you Beautiful job Really excellent But I'm afraid it's too risky Well I've already talked to Astro and Mr. Shinny sir Said Tom And they volunteered I haven't spoken to Roger yet But I'm sure he'd be willing to try Roger stepped through the door Whatever it is Said Roger I'm ready Eve's dropping on your commanding officer Said Connell Eyeing the blonde-headed cadet speculatively It's a very serious offence I just happened to hear my name mentioned sir Replied Roger with a smile Connell turned back to Tom Go over that again Tom Well sir Said Tom Junior's falling into the sun at a speed of 22 miles a second right now But we could still land a jet boat on Junior Set up more nuclear explosions to blast him out of the sun's grip And send him on his way to our solar system We wouldn't get as much speed as before But we'd still save the copper By this time Astro and Shinny had joined the group And were standing outside the door in the passageway Listening silently Connell tucked at his chin Let's see he said If we could get back to Tarin three days He looked up at Astro Do you think you could get us back in three days Astro? Major Connell for another crack of genius Rod the big Venusian I'd get you back in a day and a half All right Said Connell That's one problem But there are others What sir? Asked Tom We have to prepare reactant fuses And we have to build new reactor units If we could do that If Astro can get us back Said Shinny And Roger and this smart young fella here Alfie can make up some fuses I'll build them their units After all Astro showed me how once I guess I can follow his orders Good said Connell Now there's the element of time How much time would we need on Junior? He looked at Tom Let me answer this way sir Said Tom We'd only have two hours to plant the reaction charges And trigger them but that should be enough Why so close Tom? Ask Roger It has to be Answer Tom We know what the pull of the sun is And the power of the jet boat When the sun's pull becomes greater Than the escape speed of the jet boat The boat would never clear It would keep falling into the sun I based this figure on reaching Junior At the last possible moment He had to take at least five men To set up the five explosions we need Me used Connell That means one of us will have to stay on the Polaris There was an immediate and loud chorus of Not me From everyone Alright Said Connell We'll draw numbers One, two, three, four, five and six The man who draws number six Will stay with the Polaris Yes sir Said Tom Glancing around We agree to that Connell went to his desk And wrote quickly on six slips of paper He folded each one, dumped them in his cap And offered it to Astro Alright Astro Said Connell Draw Astro licked his lips and stuck in his big paw The Venusian fingered several Then pulled out a slip of paper He opened it and read aloud Number two I go He turned and grinned at the others Connell offered his cap to Alfie Alfie dipped in two fingers and pulled out a slip Number four I go He squealed Roger and Shinny drew numbers one and three Tom looked at the major Go ahead Corbett Said Connell After you sir Said Tom I said draw one Wrought Connell Yes sir Said Tom He reached in and quickly pulled out one of the two remaining slips Number six He said quietly I stay Connell Not bothering to open the last one Slapped the hat on his head and turned away But sir Said Tom I uh Connell cut him off with a wave of his hands No buts He turned to the others Manning Higgins Get me a course back to junior And make a clean and straight Astro Shinny Stand by on the power deck for course change Tom Get on the control deck We're going back to snatch a hot copper filling Right out of a son's teeth Once again the energy of the sixth baseman was burned In 24 hour stretches of improvisation and detailed calculations Roger and Alfie redesigned the fuse to ensure perfect coordination of the explosions Astro and Shinny surpassed their previous efforts By putting enough power in the five small reaction units To more than do the job required Tom standing long watches on the control deck Devoted his spare time to the tortuous equations That would mean failure or success to the whole project And Major Connell, alert and alive once more Drove his crew toward greater goals than it had achieved before Nearly three days later the Polaris appeared over the twin oceans of Tara And glided into an orbit just beyond the pull of the planet's gravity Above the spaceship last minute preparations were made by the red eyed spacemen In constant contact with Space Academy Using the resources of the Academy's scientific staff To check the more difficult calculations The six men on the Polaris worked on Connell appeared on the radar bridge And flipped on the long-range scanner I have to find out where Junior is He said to Roger and Alfie That doesn't work sir Said Roger What do you mean it doesn't work Exploded Connell Junior's falling into the sun sir The radiations are blocking it out from our present position Couldn't we move to another position? Asked the officer Yes sir Said Roger We could But to do that would take extra time and we haven't got it Then how are you gonna find Junior? Asked Connell Alfie's busy with a special scanner sir One that's especially sensitive to copper Since the sun is composed mostly of gas With this filter only Junior will show up on the screen By the rings of Saturn Explained Connell You mean to tell me that Alfie Higgins Is building a new radar scanner? Just like that Why yes sir Answered Roger innocently Is there something wrong with that? No, no Said Connell backing off the bridge Just go right on You're doing fine Yes siry Fine He literally ran from the bridge Most humorous of you manning Said Alfie Smiling I'll tell you something funnier than that Said Roger I feel the same way he does Is there anything you can't do Alfie? Alfie thought for a moment Yes there is He said at last What? Demanded Roger I can't shall I say Make as much progress as you do with the space dolls Roger's drawer dropped Space dolls You mean girls? Alfie nodded his head Said Roger When we get Junior on his way home And we get back to the academy I promise you I'll show you how to really blast your jets with the space lovelies in Atom City Alfie put out his hands seriously And if you do that for me Roger I'll show you how to use the new electronic brain they recently acquired in Theacanomy Only one other person can operate it But you definitely have the potential Roger stared at him stupidly Huh? Yeah, oh sure Gradually the mass of data was brought together and coordinated And finally as Tom stood beside him Major Connell checked over his calculations I can't see a thing wrong with it Tom Connell said at last I guess that's it Figuring we land on Junior at exactly 1700 hours We'd reached a point of no return exactly two hours later Shall I alert stations to blast off for Junior? Asked Tom Yes Asked Connell Bring the Polaris to dead ship in space about 300 miles above Junior And thus we'll blast off in jet boats Yes sir Said Tom His eyes bright he turned to the intercom All right you space babies He announced This is it Stand by to blast Junior Here we come End of Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Of Danger in Deep Space This is a LibriVox recording All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain For more information or to volunteer Please visit LibriVox.org Danger in Deep Space by Cary Rockwell Narrated by Sam Holloway Chapter 18 Dawn broke over the tangled jungles of Tara Followed by the bright sun of Alpha Centauri Rising out of the eastern sea And slowly climbing higher and higher In the dense unexplored wilderness Living things, terrible things Opened their eyes and resumed their never-ending quest for food Once again Alpha Centauri had summoned One hemisphere of its satellite planet to life Meanwhile high in the heavens above Tara Six earthmen blasted into the flaming brilliance Of the sun's star Using delicate instruments instead of claws And intelligence instead of blind hunger They prepared to do battle with the sun star And force it to release the precious copper satellite From its deadly consuming grasp The crew of the Polaris assembled on the control deck Of the great spaceship And facing their commanding officer Waited patiently for the word That would send them hurtling out to their target The jet boats are all ready sir Reported Tom We're dead ship in orbit around Junior At an altitude of about 300 miles Does that mean we're falling into the sun too? Gasp Shinny It sure does Mr. Shinny Said Alfie And more than 20 miles per second The jet boats have enough power to get them back From Junior to the Polaris Mr. Shinny Reassure Tom And then the Polaris can blast off from here The jet boats wouldn't go much higher off Junior This close to the sun But if we go beyond the two hour limit The Polaris can't blast off either Commented Roger Triley Alright Is everything set? Ask Colonel Astro is the reactant loaded? No sir Said Astro But it's all ready to go in Good Said Colonel Now we all know how important And how dangerous This operation is I don't have to tell you again You stay here in the control deck Tom And keep in touch with us in Junior At all times You know what to do Yes sir Replied Tom I'm to stand by and give you a minute by minute Warning check until final blast off time Right Said Colonel And remember We're counting on you to tell us When to blast off We'll be too busy down there to pay any attention I understand sir Replied Tom His face was passive He was well aware of his responsibility Very well Said Colonel finally The rest of you board your jet boats And this is going to be The hottest ride we'll ever take And I don't want it to get any hotter Suddenly their faces grim masks The five spacemen filed out of the control room Leaving Tom alone Presently he heard the cough of the rockets In the jet boats as one by one The small spacecraft blasted out of the Polaris Suddenly Tom began to shake As he realised the importance of his task The responsibility of counting time For five men Time that could cost them their lives If he made a single mistake Miscounted by a minute The expedition to junior would end Not only in failure But in tragedy As quickly as the thought came Tom pushed it aside And turned to the control board No time now for fear Now more than any other time in his life He had to keep himself alert And ready for every emergency As a child he had often dreamed Of the day when As a spaceman He would be faced with an emergency Only he could handle And in the dreams he had come through With flying colours But now that it was a reality Tom felt nothing but cold sweat Breaking out on his forehead He turned his whole attention To the great solar clock overhead Time had already begun slipping away Ten minutes of the two hours had swept past They must be on junior by now he thought And flipped on the teleceiver He focused on the satellite surface There in front of him were the three jet boats Major Connell, Roger, Astero, Alphie And Mr. Shini Was so close that Tom felt as though He could touch them They were unloading the first reactor unit With Astero and Shini digging the home Tom glanced at the clock Turned to the microphone and announced clearly Attention, attention Corbett to Connell One hour and forty-eight minutes Until blast-off time One hour and forty-eight minutes To blast-off He flipped the switch And watched the screen with rising excitement The crew on the satellite had completed The installation of the first reactor unit He saw them blasting off in their jet boats For the second spot He adjusted the teleceiver And tried to follow them But they disappeared He glanced at the clock Attention, attention Corbett to Connell One hour and forty-seven minutes To blast-off One hour and forty-seven minutes To blast-off On the satellite In the deep shadow of a protecting cliff Each of the five earthmen Paused involuntarily When they heard Tom's warning Forget about the time Snapped Connell By the blessed rings of Saturn We'll finish this job If it's the last thing we do Connell went to each of the working figures And adjusted the valve Regulating the air-cooling humidity control On their space suits Getting pretty hot, eh, boys? He joked As he stopped one And then the other To make the delicate adjustment Counteracting the heat That was increasing each second They remained on the satellite How hot do you think it is, sir? Asked Roger Never mind the heat, said Connell These suits were designed To withstand the temperature Of the light side of Mercury It gets boiling there So I guess we can stand it here For a while One by one Alfie, Shini, Roger and Astro Completed their assigned roles Digging the holes Placing the reactors inside Setting the fuse Covering it up Then quickly gathering the equipment Piling back into the three jet boats And heading for the next point Landing they would tumble out of the small spacecraft Almost before the rocket had stopped firing Begin their frantic digging in the hard surface Over and over They heard Tom's crisp, clear count of time Five minutes passed Then ten Before they knew it A full half hour of the precious time had vanished They completed the installation of the second unit And climbed back into the jet boats The first two units had been buried At points protected from the sun by cliffs And they had been sheltered from the burning rays But approaching the position for the third reactor unit Connell searched in vain for some shade He wasted five precious minutes Scouting an area of several miles But he could find nothing to protect them On the flat plane Better put in the ultraviolet glass shields In our helmets boys He called into the jet boat communicator It's gonna be mighty hot And dangerous Aye aye sir Aye aye sir Aye aye sir Aye aye sir Came the replies from the other two jet boats Soaring close by Roger began refitting their space helmets With the dark glass That would shield them from the strong rays Of the enlarging sun Ever been outside in the direct path of the sun With no protection Roger? Asked Astro No Replied Roger Have you? Once Said Astro softly On the second moon of Mars, Phobos I was building rockets on the old chemical burners I was on a freighter called the Happy Space Man A tube blew on us Luckily we were close enough to Phobos to make a touchdown All the leak would have reached the main fuel tanks And blown us clean up to another galaxy What happened? Asked Roger I had to go outside Said Astro I was Junior Rocket Man in the crew So naturally I had to do all the dirty work Tom's warning call from the Polaris control deck Tuned to the open communicators of all the jet boats And spoke through the loudspeaker Attention, attention Corbett to Connell One hour and twenty minutes to blast off time One hour and twenty minutes to blast off time The two cadets looked at each other as they heard Tom's voice But neither spoke Finally Roger asked What happened on Phobos? No one bothered to tell me Continued Astro That I had to protect myself from the ultraviolet rays of the sun Since Phobos didn't have an atmosphere It was one of my first hops into space And I didn't know too much I went outside and began working on the tube I did the job all right But for three weeks after My face was swollen And I couldn't open my eyes I almost went blind Roger grunted and continued to line the clear plastic Fishbowl helmets with the darker protective shields Connell's voice rang through the cabin Over the communicator I guess we'd better go down And get it over with I don't see anything that will give us Any protection down there Be sure your humidity control has turned a ball away As soon as you step outside at a jet boat You're going to be hit by a temperature of 400 degrees Hi, Ise Came Shinny's reply over the intercom Roger flipped the communicator on And acknowledged the order Astro and Shinny followed Connell's jet boat In the long sweeping dive to the surface of the satellite Stepping out of the air-cooled jet boat The torrid, unprotected surface of the flat plane Was like stepping into a furnace Even with spacesuits as protection The Five Earthmen were forced to work in relays In the digging of the hull for the reactor unit Attention, attention Corbett to Connell One hour exactly to blast off time One hour, 60 minutes to blast off time Tom flipped the Teleseva microphone off And on the Teleseva screen Watched his space mates work under the broiling sun They were ahead of time, one hour to complete two more units Tom allowed himself a sigh of hope and relief They could still snatch the copper satellite From the powerful pull of the sun Suddenly Tom heard a sound behind him And whirled around His eyes bunged in horror Loring He gasped Take your hand off that microphone, Corbett Snarled loring Or I'll freeze you How did you get out? Tom stammered Your buddy menning Sneered loring with a short laugh Decided he wanted to paste my ears back So I let him He was so anxious to make me lose a few teeth That he didn't notice the spoon I kept Spoon? Asked Tom incredulously Yeah Said Mason, stepping through the door A Peralo Reagan levelled at Tom A few teeth for a spoon A good trade We waited for your pals to leave the ship And then I short circuited the electronic lock on the brig Tom stared at the two men, unbelievably All right, Corbett Get over there to that control board Growled loring, waving the Peralo Reagan at Tom We're going back to Tara Tara? Exclaimed Tom But Major Connell and the others, they're down on the satellite If I don't pick them up they'll fall into the sun Well, ain't that too bad? Sneered loring Listen to that, Mason If we don't hang around and pick them up They'll fall into the sun Mason laughed harshly and advanced toward Tom I only got one regret, Corbett That I can't stay around to see Connell and Manning punk fry Now get this wagon out of here and get it out quick End of Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Of Danger in Deep Space This is a LibriVox recording All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain For more information or to volunteer Please visit LibriVox.org Danger in Deep Space by Cary Rockwell Narrated by Sam Holloway Chapter 19 Major Shouted Astro Look, the Polaris! The Polaris is blasting off The five earthmen stared up at the silvery spaceship That was rapidly disappearing into the clear blue void of space Without hesitation, Connell raced for the nearest jet boat And roared into the communicator Corbett! Corbett! Come in, Tom! He waited. The silence of the loudspeaker More menacing than anything the spaceman Had ever encountered before Again and again, the solar officer Tried to raise the cadet on the Polaris Finally he turned back to the four crewmen Who hovered around the jet boat, hoping against hope Whatever it is, he said I'm sure Tom is doing the right thing We came down here to do a job And we're going to do it! Get moving! We still have to set up the rest of these reactor units Without a word, the five men returned to their small ships And followed their commanding officer The sun grew larger and the heat more intense With each minute, since each minute Brought them almost 1300 miles closer To the sun's blazing surface With the humidity control and air-cooling mechanisms In the spacesuits working at top capacity But affording little relief Alfie, Roger, Shini and Astro Buried the fourth reactor unit And headed for the fifth and last emplacement Occasionally one of them would turn And cast a swift glance at the clear blue space Overhead, secretly hoping to find The rocket cruiser had returned Or they would strain their ears For Tom's voice counting off the minute So carefully for them But they saw nothing and they heard nothing Concentrated on their jobs, working like demons To complete the installations as planned They could not stop now and wonder What had happened to the Polaris Or even hope for its speedy return They had a job to do and they went about it Silently, efficiently and surely Astro stood up, the small spade In his hand hanging loosely at his side He watched Roger and Alfie bring The last of the reactor units From Major Connell's jet boat They gently lowered it into the hull While Shini, under the watchful eyes Of Major Connell, set the fuse Shini stepped back and Astro began Covering up the lead box That's it! said Connell We're finished! What Connell meant was that they were finished With the placement of the reactor units But he knew immediately that his words Had been taken to mean something each felt But had not dared to put into words Connell started to correct this misunderstanding But caught himself in time It would not do, he thought There was no excuse for what they knew to be the truth Alright, everyone in my jet boat He snapped Astro, you and Roger take all the fuel Out of the other boats and pour it into mine It'll be a tight squeeze But we can all fit into one craft No use expanding fuel wastefully Astro and Roger bent to the task Of draining the fuel from their jet boats And loading it into Connell's Alfie came over to join them While Shini and Connell scanned For some sign of the Polaris This is really a desperate situation To be in, isn't it, Roger? Asked Alfie Offhand I'd say yes George Roger But since we've got two big huskies Like Astro and Major Connell along I don't think we'll have much trouble Why not? Asked Alfie We'll just let them get out and help push And if that doesn't work Snorted Astro We'll stick Manning outside And let him talk about himself That'll give us enough gas I believe Said Alfie emphatically That you're joshing me Manning No Whatever gave you that idea Asked Roger in a hurt tone This is a serious situation, isn't it? Asked Alfie, looking at Astro It sure is Alfie Said Astro soberly And I'm the first one to say I'm a little scared Alfie smiled I'm very glad you said that, Astro He said Because I feel exactly the same way He turned and walked back to Major Connell What was the idea of telling him that? Hised Roger at Astro What are you trying to do? Get the little guy space happy or something? Look at him Said Astro I'm twice his size He figures if a big guy like me is scared Then he's got a right to be scared too Roger grunted in appreciation Of the way Astro had treated Alfie's fears And turned back to the loading of the fuel Major Connell walked over And watched them transfer the last of the fuel into the tanks How much have you got there, Astro? He asked I'd say enough to sustain flight for about three hours, sir Considering we'll have such a big load Hmm Mused Connell You know we're up against big guards, don't you? Roger and Astro nodded If Tom doesn't come back soon We'll be so far into the pull of the sun Even a ship the size of the Polaris wouldn't be able to break out How much time have we got, sir? Asked Roger Not too much, Manning Said Connell Of course we can blast off in the jet boat And get up a few hundred miles In case Tom does come back Then he won't have to bring the Polaris down here But if time runs out on us up there We'll have to come back And take our chance on Junior being blasted out of the sun's grip There was a pause while Astro and Roger considered this That would mean Asked Roger That we'd be here when the reactor units go off, wouldn't it, sir? That's right, Manning Said Connell Admitting to the danger Even if Junior were blasted out of the pull of the sun We couldn't survive the explosions Couldn't we blast off in the jet boat and then land after the explosions, sir? Asked Astro Hmm, yes Admitted Connell We could do that But the radioactivity would be so powerful We couldn't last more than a few days We have no anti-radiation gear Not even food or water He paused and scanned the sky No, he said in a surprisingly casual voice The only way we can get out of this Is for Tom to come back and get us Shini and Alfie came over and joined the group around the jet boat No one said anything There wasn't anything to say Each of them felt the heat burning through his space suit Each felt the same fear tugging at his throat There was nothing to say The Polaris was not to be seen The sky was empty of everything except Alpha Centuri The great burning mass of gases That once they'd all seen as only a quiet twinkling star in the heavens Never dreaming that someday it would be pulling them relentlessly Into its molten self Tom Corbett had a plan He sat at the control board of the great rocket cruiser Apparently watching the needles and gauges on the panel But his mind was racing desperately The two-hour deadline had just passed The great solar clock had swung its red hand past the last second Only a miracle could save the five men on Junior now But Tom was not counting on miracles He was counting on his plan Keep this space wagon driving Corbett Ordered Lauren from behind him Keep them rockets wide open Listen Lauren Cleeded Tom How about giving those fellows a break If I don't pick them up they'll all be killed Ain't that too bad Snarled Mason Look Said Tom desperately I promise you nothing will happen to you We'll let you go free Well Lauren cut him off Shut your trap and concentrate on them controls You and Major Cottle and them other punks Are the only guys between me staying free Or going back to a prison asteroid So you don't think I'm going to let them stay alive do you He grinned crookedly You dirty space crawler Ground Tom and suddenly leaped up from the control seat Lauren grazed the Peralo Reg on threateningly One more move out of you and I'll freeze you so solid You think you're a chunk of ice Yelled Mason stepped to the other side of the control deck They had Tom blocked on either side Now get back to them controls Corbett Snarled Lauren Well I'll give it to you right now Okay Lauren you win Said Tom He sat down and faced the control panel He tried hard not to smile They had fallen for it Now they were separated Mason remained on the opposite side of the room Tom took a deep breath Crossed his fingers And put the next step of his plan into action He reached out and pulled the master acceleration switch All the way back The Polaris jumped ahead as if shot out of a cannon Hey Ground Mason What are you doing? You want more speed don't you Demanded Tom Okay Said Mason But don't try any funny stuff I don't see how I can You've got me nailed with that parallel ray Tom replied He got up leisurely So as not to excite the nervous trigger finger of Lauren And turned slowly What is it this time? Demanded Lauren I just gave you an extra burst of speed All the Polaris will take Now I've got to adjust the mixture of the fuel Otherwise she'll kick out on you And we'll have to clean out the tubes Yeah Sneered Lauren Well it happens to know you do that Right on the control board He motioned with the parallel ray gun Get back down On regular space drive you do Agreed Tom But we're on hyperdrive now It has to be done there He pointed to a cluster of valves And wheels at one side of the control deck One of those valve wheels Stay where you are Said Mason I'll do it He moved to the corner Which one is it? He asked Tom gulped and struggled hard To keep the terrible nervousness out of his voice He had to sound as casual as possible The red one Turn it to the right hard He said Lauren sat down and made some bent over the valve wheel He gave the wheel a vicious twist Suddenly there was the sound of a motor Slowing down somewhere inside the great ship Tom gripped the edge of the control board And waited Slowly at first but surely Tom felt himself beginning to flow To off his chair Hey Yelled Mason I'm floating It's the gravity generators Yelled Lauren Corbett's pulled a fast one We're in free fall Tom lifted his feet And pushed as hard as he could Against the control panel He shot out of the chair And across the control room Just as Lauren fired his ray gun There was a loud hiss as the gun was fired And then the thud of a body against the wall As Lauren was suddenly shoved By the recoil of the charge Tom huddled in the upper corner Of the control deck like a spider His legs drawn up underneath him Waiting for Mason to fire But the smaller spaceman was tumbling Head over heels in the centre of the room The more he exerted himself The more helpless he became His arms and legs splayed out In an effort to level himself As he kept trying to fire the ray gun Tom saw his chance And lunged through the air again Straight at the floating spaceman He passed him in mid-air Mason made an attempt to grab him But Tom wrenched his body to one side And pulled the ray gun out of the other's hand He flipped over and turned his attention to Lauren Who was more dangerous Since he was now backed up against a bog head Waiting for Tom to present a steady target Lauren started to fire But Tom saw him in time And shot away from the wall toward the hatch He twisted his body completely around And with his shoulder hunched over Fired at Lauren with his ray gun The charge hit the target and Lauren became rigid His body slowly floating above the deck His back to the wall braced for the recall Tom brought his arm around slowly And aimed at Mason He fired and the spaceman stiffened Tom smiled Neither of the spaceman Would give him any more trouble now He pushed slightly to the left And shot over to the valve Mason had unwittingly turned off Tom turned it on And clung to an overhead pipe Until he felt the reassuring grip Of the synthetic gravity Pull him to the deck Lauren and Mason, in the same positions They had been when Tom fired Settled slowly to the deck Tom walked over and looked at both of them He knew they could hear him For smart spaceman like you two Said Tom You sure forgot your basic physics Newton's laws of motion remember Everything in motion tends to keep going Tom fired and less influenced by an outside force Firing the ray gun was the outside force That will land you right in the prison asteroid And you better start praying That I can pull those fellows off that satellite Because if I don't You'll wind up frying in the sun with us He started to drag them to a locker And release them from the effects of the ray blast But remembering their cold-blooded condemnation Of Connell and the others to death on the satellite He decided to let them remain where they were He turned to the control board And flipped on the microphone He was too far away to pick up an image on the teleceiver But the others could hear him on the audio If, thought Tom, they were still alive Attention, attention Polaris to Major Connell Major Connell, can you hear me? Come in Major Connell Astro, Roger, somebody come in He turned away from the mic and fired The starboard jets full blast Making a sweeping curve in space And heading the Polaris back to Junior End of Chapter 19 Chapter 20 This is a LibriVox recording All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain For more information or to volunteer Please visit LibriVox.org Danger in Deep Space by Cary Rockwell Narrated by Sam Holloway Chapter 20 There's only one answer boys Said Connell The jet boat was crowded Alfie, the smallest Was sitting on Astro's lap For more than an hour they had circled Above the copper satellite Searching the surrounding skies in vain For some sign of the Polaris Major Said Roger, who was hunched over The steering wheel of the small spacecraft We're almost out of fuel We're almost out of fuel We're almost out of fuel We're almost out of fuel We're almost out of fuel We'd better drop down on the night side of Junior The side away from the sun At least there we'd be out of the direct heat Very well Roger Said Connell In fact we could keep shifting Into the night side every hour Then he added quietly, thoughtfully But we're out of fuel you said Yes sir Said Roger There's just enough to get down Roger sent the craft in a shallow dive Suddenly the rockets cut out The last of the fuel was gone Roger glided the jet boat To a smooth stop on the night side Of the planetoid How much longer before the reactor units Go up? Asked Chinny Connell turned, thinking he had heard Something on the communicators Then answered Chinny's question Only four hours He said The crew of Spaceman climbed out Of the jet boat into the still blackness Of the night side of the planet There wasn't anything left to do They sat around on the hard surface of the planet Staring at the strange stars overhead You know Said Astro I might be able to set up something To convert some of the U-235 in the reactors To fuel the jet boat Impossible Astro Said Alfie You'd need a reduction gear And not only that But you haven't any tools to handle the mass If you opened one of those boxes You'd be fried immediately by the radiation Alfie's right Said Connell There's nothing to do but wait Major Connell turned his face up As far as he could in the huge fishbowl helmet To stare at the sky His eyes wandered from star cluster To star cluster From glowing regulus To bright and powerful Sirius He stifled a sigh How much he had wanted to see More and more and more Of the great, wide, high and deep He remembered his early days As a youth on his first trip to Lunar City His first sensation at touching an alien world His skipper, old, wise and patient Who had given him his creed as a spaceman Travel wide, deep and high The skipper had said to the young Connell But never so far, so wide or so deep Is to forget that you're an earth man Or how to act like an earth man Even now, years later The gruff voice rang in his ears It wasn't long after that that he had met Shini Connell smiled behind the protection of his helmet As he looked at the wizened spaceman Who was now old and toothless But who'd still had the same merry twinkling in his eyes That Connell had noticed the first time he saw him Connell had signed on as first officer On a deep space abound for Titan Shini had come aboard and reported to Connell as Rocketman Shini had promptly started roaring through the passageways Of the huge freighter in his night-shirt Singing snatches of old songs at the top of his voice It had taken Connell four hours to find where Shini Had hidden the bottle of rocket juice Connell laughed He looked over at the old man fondly Say, Nick Said Connell, addressing the man by his given name For the first time You'll remember the time it took me four hours To find that bottle of rocket juice You hid on the old Titan freighter Shini cackled His thin voice coming over the headphones of the others As well as Connell's I sure do, Lou Replied Shini using Connell's first name They were just old spacemen now Reliving old times together Funny thing though You never knew I had two more bottles hidden in the tube chamber Why, you old space crawler Fraud Connell You put one over on me Roger and Astro and Alfie had never known Connell's first name They rolled the name over in their minds Fitting the name to the man Unknown to each other They decided that the name fitted the man Lou Connell Say, Lou Asshini Where in the blessed universe did you come from? You never told me There was a long pause A place called Telfer Estates In the deep south On the North American continent I was raised on a farm close by I used to go fish late at night And stare up at the stars He paused again I ran away from home I don't know if... If... Anyone's still there or not I never went back There was a long silence as each man Saw a small boy fishing late at night Barefoot His toes dangling in the water A worm wiggling on the end of a string More interested in the stars that twinkled overhead Than in any fish that might swim past and seize the hook Where are you from, Nick? Asked Connell Pawn in space Cackle chinny On a passenger freight A carrying colonists out to tighten Never had a breath of natural fresh air Till I was almost a grown man Nothing but synthetic stuff under the atmosphere screens My father was a mining engineer I was the only kid One night a screen busted And nearly everybody suffocated or froze to death My father and ma was among them I blasted off after that Been in the deep ever since And you know By the blessed rings of satin I'd be on a nice farm near Venusport Living on a pension If you hadn't kicked me out of the solar guard Why are you broken down, old piece of space junk? Rod Connell Ha, you order! Connell never finished what he was going to say Attention! Attention! Roger, Astro, Major Connell, come in, please This is Tom on the Polaris As if they'd been struck by a bolt of lightning The five spacemen sat up And then raced to the jet boat Connell to Corbett Rod the Major Where are you? What happened? I haven't got time to explain now, sir Said Tom Loring and Mason escaped And forced me to take them to Tara I managed to overcome them And blast back here Meet me up about 50 miles above Junior, sir I'm bringing the Polaris in No Yelled Connell It's no use, Tom We're out of fuel We've used up all our power Then stand by Said Tom grimly I'm coming in for a landing No, Tom Rod Connell There's nothing you can do We're too far into the sun's pull You'll never blast off again I don't care if we all wind up as cinders Said Tom I'm coming in The communicator went dead And from the left Over the close horizon of the small satellite The Polaris swept into view Like a red-tailed fire dragon It shot up in a pre-touchdown manoeuvre And then began to drop slowly To the surface of the planetoid No sooner had the Polaris Touched the dry airless ground Than the airlock hatch was opened From the crystal port on the control deck Tom waved to the men below him Shini climbed into the lock first Followed by Astro, Alphie, Roger and Connell While Roger and Alphie closed the hatch Astro and Connell adjusted the oxygen pressure And waited for the supply to build to normal At last the hissing stopped And the hatch to the inner part of the ship opened Tom greeted them with a smile And an outstretched hand Glad to have you aboard He joked After the backslapping between Roger Astro and Tom was over Connell questioned Tom and his strange departure From the satellite It was just like I told you, sir Explain Tom They got out of the brig He paused, not mentioning the spoon That Lorring had used or how he'd gotten it They forced me to take them to Tara I managed to get the gravity turned off And gave them a lesson in free fall fighting They're still frozen stiff up on the control deck Good boy! Said Connell I'll go and have a talk with them Meantime Astro You and Shini and Alphie get below And see how much fuel we have in emergency supply We're going to need every ounce we have Aye aye sir Said Astro The three hurried to the power deck Connell followed Roger and Tom to the control deck Lorring and Mason were still in the positions They were in when Tom had fired his Peralo Ray Connell took Tom's gun and switched to the neutraliser He fired twice and the two men rose shakily to their feet Connell faced them, his eyes burning I'm going to say very little To you two space crawling rats Snapped Connell I'm not going to lock you in that brig I'm not going to confine you in any manner If you make one false move I'll corp mashin' you right here and now You've caused enough trouble with your selfishness Jeopardizing the lives of six men If we fail to get off this satellite It'll be because you put us in this position Now get below and see what aid you can give Astro And if either of you so much as raises your voice I'm going to let him take care of you Is that clear? Yes sir Mumbled Lorring We understand sir And we'll do everything we can to make up for what we've done The only thing you can do Is to stay out of my sight Said Connell coldly Lorring and Mason scuttled past Connell and climbed down to the power deck Attention attention control deck major Connell Sir this is Roger on the radar bridge I've just checked over Tom's figures on thrust sir And I'm not sure but I think we've passed the point of safety Thanks Roger Said Connell He turned to the intercom Paradeck check in Paradeck I Said Astro Lorring and Mason there Asked Connell Yes sir I'm putting them right to work in the radiation chamber sir I'm piling all emergency fuel into the reaction chambers to try for one big push Why? Asked Connell I heard what Roger said sir Replied Astro This'll give us enough thrust to clear the sun's gravity But there's something else that might not take it What? Asked Connell The cooling pump sir Said Astro They may not be able to handle a load as hot as this We might blow up Connell considered this for a moment Do what you can Astro I have absolute faith in you Aye aye sir Said Astro And thank you If this one can hold us together I'll get her off Connell turned to Tom who stood ready at the control panel All set sir Said Tom Roger's given me a clear trajectory forward and up All we need is Astro's push Unless Astro can build enough pressure on those cooling pumps To handle the overload of reactant fuel We're done for We'll get off this moon in pieces Power deck to control deck Come in Astro Said Tom Almost ready Tom Said Astro Maximum pressure is 800 and we're up to 770 now Very well Astro Replied Connell Let her build all the way to an even 800 and blasted my command Aye aye sir Said Astro The mighty pumps on the power deck began their piercing shriek Higher and higher they built up the pressure Until the ship began to rock under the strain Stand by Tom Ordered Connell And if you've ever twisted those dials twist them now Yes sir Replied Tom Pressure up to 791 sir Reported Astro Attention All members strap into acceleration cushions One by one Shini and Alfie, Loring and Mason, Astro and Roger Strap themselves into the acceleration cushions Roger set the radar scanner and strapped himself in on the radar bridge Connell slumped into the second pilot's chair And took over the controls of the ship Strapping himself in while Tom beside him did the same The whine of the pumps was now a shrill whistle that drowned out all other sounds And the great ship bucked under the force of the thrust building in her heart In front of the power deck control panel Astro watched the pressure gauge mount steadily Pressure up to 796 sir He called Stand by the fire all rockets Roared Connell Make it good, you Venusian clunk yelled Roger 799 sir Bellowed Astro Astro watched the gauge of the pressure creep slowly toward the 800 mark In all his experience he had never seen it above 700 Shini tomb his merry eyes shining bright watched the needle jerk back and forth and finally reached the 800 mark 800 sir Bellowed Astro Fire all scared rockets Roared Connell Astro threw the switch On the control board Connell saw a red light flash on He jammed the master switch down hard It was the last thing he remembered End of chapter 20 Chapter 21 of Danger in Deep Space This is a LibriVox recording All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain For more information or to volunteer Please visit LibriVox.org Danger in Deep Space by Cary Rockwell Narrated by Sam Holloway Chapter 21 Tom stirred He rolled his head from side to side His mouth was dry and there was a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach He opened his eyes and stared at the control panel in front of him Instinctively he began to check the dials and gauges He settled on one and waited for his pounding heart to return to normal His eyes cleared and the gauge swam into view He read the figures aloud Distance in miles since departure 14,500 Something clicked He let out a yell We've made it! We've made it! He turned and began to pound Connell on the back Major Connell, Major, wake up sir, we've made it We're in freefall, juniors far behind us What? Top? What? Connell said, rolling his eyes In all his experience he had never felt such acceleration He glanced at the gauge Distance! He read 15,000 miles! The gauge ticked on We've made it, sir! Said Tom Astro gave us a kick in the pants we'll never forget Connell grinned at Tom's excitement There was reason to be excited They were free He turned to the intercom But before he could speak, Astro's voice roared into his ears Report from the power deck sir Said Astro Acceleration normal Request permission to open up on hyperdrive Permission granted! Said Connell Look sir Said Tom On the teleceiver screen junior is getting his bumps Connell glanced up at the screen One by one the white puffs of dust from the reactor units Were exploding on the surface of the planetoid Soon the whole satellite was covered with the radioactive cloud I'm sure glad we're not in that baby now Whispered Tom Sim here, spaceman! Said Connell It was the evening of the first full day after leaving junior Before the routine of the long call back to space academy had begun The Polaris was on automatic control And everyone was assembled in the mess room Well boys Said Connell Our mission is a complete success I've finished making out a report to space academy And everything's fine Incidentally manning He continued If you're worried about having broken your word When you escape from this space station Forget it You more than made up for it by your work in helping us get a loring and Mason Roger smiled gratefully and gulped Thank you sir Loring and Mason Who'd eaten their meal separately from the others listened silently Loring got up and faced them The room became silent Loring flushed I'd like to say something He began hauntingly If I can Go ahead Said Connell Well Said Loring It's hard to say this but Mason and myself well He paused I don't know what happened to us on the first trip out here major But when we saw that satellite and the copper Something just went wrong inside One thing led to another and before we knew it We were in so deep we couldn't get out The faces around the table were stony Expressionless Nobody deserves less consideration than me and Mason And well you know yourself sir That we were pretty good spacemen at one time You picked us for the first trip out to Tara with you Connell nodded And well sir the main thing is about Jardine and Bangs I know we're going to be sent to the prison asteroid and we deserve it But we've been thinking sir about Jardines and Bangs as wives and kids They must have lost everything in that crash of the Annie Jones So if the major would recommend that Mason and me be sent to the Titan Mines Instead of the Rock We could send our credits back to help take care of the kids and all No one spoke That's all Said Loring He and Mason left the room Connell glanced around the table Well He asked This is your first struggle with justice Each of you Tom Roger Astro Alfie Will be faced with this sort of thing during your career as a spaceman What would you do? The four cadets looked at each other Each wondering what the other would say Finally Connell turned to Alfie Your first Alfie Said Connell I'd send them to the mines sir Said Alfie Connell's face was impressive Roger Same here sir Replied Roger Astro Asked Connell I'd do anything to help the kids sir Said Astro And orphaned himself Tom Tom hesitated They deserve the Rock sir I don't have any feeling for them But if they go to the Rock That doesn't do any more than punish them If they go to the mines They'll be punished and help someone else too I'd send them to Titan and exile them from Earth forever Connell studied the cadets a moment He turned to Shini Think they made a good decision Nick I like what young Tommy here had to say Lou Answered Shini Best part about justice Is when the man himself suffers from his own guilty feelings Rather than what you do to him as punishment I think they did all right All right Said Connell I'll make the recommendation as you've suggested Suddenly he turned to Shini What about you and all this Nick I don't mean that you were hooked up with Loring and Mason I know you were just prospecting And you've proved yourself to be a true spaceman But what will happen to you now I'll tell you what's going to happen to me Snap Shini You're going to re-enlist me in the solar guard Right here Right now What Exploded Connell And then you're going to retire me Right here Right now With a full pension Why you all space crawling Suddenly he looked around the table And saw the laughing faces Of Tom, Roger, Astro and Alfie All right He said But between your enlistment And your retirement I'm going to make you polish Every bit of brass on his space wagon From the radio mask to the exhaust tubes Shini smiled his toothless smile And looked at Tom Get the logbook Tommy He said This is official I'm going to do something no other man In the entire history of the solar guard Ever did before What's that Mr Shini? Asked Tom with a smile Enlist, serve time And retire with a full pension All on the same blasted spaceship The Polaris End of chapter 21 Danger and Deep Space was produced And edited by Stuart Bell And was narrated by Sam Holloway Major Colonel was performed by Porick O'Icker Tom Corbett was performed by David Alt Roger Manning was performed by Matthew Baker Bill Loring was performed by Matthew Ward Mr Shini was performed by Peter Yersley Astro was performed by Megan Argo Al Mason was performed by Greg Lestor Captain Strong was performed by Peter Yersley Alfie Higgins was performed by Patty Cunningham Terry Scott was performed by Brett Downey Captain Steffens was performed by Stuart Bell Commander Walters was performed by David Sloan Captain Jenlage was performed by Matthew Ward James Jardine was performed by David Sloan Enlisted Guard Read by Jody Bly Leyland Bangs was performed by David Lawrence Connell's first skipper was performed by Jody Bly Spaceport control read by Laurie Ann Walden Decentral communicator was performed by Ernest Batinama And the restaurant vice was performed by Stuart Bell Jetliner San Francisco was performed by Patty Cunningham End of Danger in Deep Space by Cary Rockwell