They framed me!"
"Then," mused Shinny, "you're cleared?"
"Yeah," growled Mason, "he's cleared! Cleared for a long swim in space
if Connel doesn't do what Loring tells him! Get in there!" Mason shoved
Roger into the cramped storage compartment. He locked the door and
turned to Shinny.
"Loring wants you to stand by the power deck in case Connel won't play
ball. We might have to make a run for it."
"Yeah, yeah," said Shinny, "I'll stand by the power deck."
Mason turned and walked away. Shinny followed him, a curious gleam in
his eyes.
Up on the control deck, Loring was twisting the dials in front of the
teleceiver screen.
"_Space Devil_ to _Polaris_--_Space Devil_ to _Polaris_--come in,
_Polaris_." He twisted another dial and watched the darkened screen
anxiously. After a moment the screen blurred, and Tom's face gradually
came into sharp focus.
"Loring!" gasped Tom. "Where's Roger?"
"Never mind him, you punk!" snarled Loring. "Tell that fatheaded Connel
I wanta talk to him! Make it fast!"
Tom's face disappeared to be replaced by the raging features of Major
Connel. "You murdering space rat!" he roared.
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