And if we do, I hope you've taken a bath. You even
smell bad!"
From the rear of the room came a burst of laughter. Tom, Roger, and
Astro, unobserved, had been listening and watching their skipper in
action. When Loring and Mason had left the room, they advanced to the
desk, came to attention, and saluted.
"_Polaris_ unit reporting for duty, sir!" snapped Tom crisply.
"At ease," said Strong. "Did you hear all of that?"
"Yes, sir, skipper!" Roger smiled. "And believe me, you really gave it
to those two space bums!"
"Yeah," agreed Astro, "but I don't think even _you_ could do much for
Loring. He's just born to smell bad!"
"Never mind that," said Strong. "I suppose you heard the part about the
assignments?"
The three cadets assumed looks of pure innocence.
"We didn't hear a thing, sir," said Tom.
"You'll make a fine diplomat, Corbett," Strong laughed. "All right, sit
down and I'll give it to you straight."
They hastily took seats and waited for their skipper to begin.
"You've been assigned as cadet observers on a mission to test the range
of a new long-range audio transmitter." Strong paused, then added
significantly, "The test is to take place in deep space.
Pages:
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38