"
"Cadet Alfie Higgins"--Connel's voice climbed to a frenzied shriek--"if
you are not on this control deck in ten seconds, I'll personally see
that you are fed to a dinosaur when we touch down on Tara and you'll
never return. _Now get down here!_"
Tom and Astro, who could hear the conversation over the intercom, were
finding it very difficult to keep from laughing out loud at the
innocence of Alfie and the outraged wrath of Major Connel.
Tom, particularly, had discovered that Alfie's innocent refusal to be
bullied by Connel had made the time pass more quickly on the long haul
through deep space. More than once he had seen Major Connel rage against
the underweight cadet and become even more frustrated at his childlike
resistance. It had helped Tom forget the empty feeling he experienced
every time he called the radar deck and heard Alfie's mild voice instead
of Roger's usual mocking answer. Astro, too, had managed to forget the
loneliness he felt aboard the great cruiser by watching the antics of
Alfie and Major Connel. More than once he had instigated situations
where Alfie would get caught red-handed in a harmless error, and then he
lay flat on the power deck, laughing until his sides ached, as he
listened to Alfie and Major Connel over the intercom.
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