"And I have."
"But--but--" Mason began to whine. "But space flight is all we know! How
will we live?"
Strong sat down and leaned back in his chair to get away from the foul
odor of Loring's breath. He stared at the two men.
"You should have thought of that before you stole a rocket scout from
the expedition and made an unauthorized flight while on Tara," Strong
replied. "You're lucky you're not accused, tried, and convicted of theft
of a Solar Guard spaceship!"
"We had permission to take that flight," snarled Loring. "That Major
Connel is so blasted space happy he forgot he gave us permission. Then
when we came back, he slapped us in the brig!"
"Do you have any proof of that?" asked Strong.
"No! But it's our word against his!" He slammed his hat down on the desk
and shook his finger in Strong's face. "You haven't any right to take
away our papers just on the say-so of a lousy Solar Guard officer who
thinks he's king of the universe!"
"Take your filthy hat off my desk, Loring!" barked Strong. "And watch
your language!"
Loring realized he had made a mistake and tried to backtrack. "Well, I
apologize for that.
Pages:
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35