"
The three cadets only beamed their enthusiastic approval.
"Tara," continued Strong, "is your destination--a planet like Earth in
many respects, in orbit around the sun star Alpha Centauri. You'll take
the _Polaris_ directly to the Venus space station, where the transmitter
has been given primary tests, outfit the _Polaris_ for hyperdrive, and
blast off!"
"Excuse me, sir," interrupted Tom, "but you say 'you'?"
"I mean," replied Strong, "_you_, in the sense that I won't be going
along with you. Oh, don't worry!" said Strong, holding up his hand as a
sudden look of anticipation spread over the faces of the three boys.
"You're not going alone! You'll have a commanding officer, all right. In
fact, you'll have the nearest thing to the perfect commanding officer in
the Solar Guard!" He waited just long enough for each boy to search his
mind for a suitable candidate and then added, "Your skipper will be
Major Connel!"
"Major Connel!" the three cadets cried in unison.
"You mean Major 'Blast-off' Connel?" uttered Roger unbelievingly.
"That's who I mean," said Strong. "It's the best thing in the universe
that could happen to you!"
Roger stood up and saluted smartly.
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