"You'd be transporting an entire satellite from one star system to
another!"
"That's right, Corbett," said Connel. "I've just finished talking to
Space Academy and they've given me permission to do anything I think
necessary to accomplish just that. Now pay close attention to me, all of
you. We haven't much time."
Tom, Roger, Astro, Alfie, and Mr. Shinny gathered in a close circle
around the major on the control deck of the _Polaris_ and watched him as
he drew several rough diagrams on a piece of paper.
"Getting the satellite back is the trickiest part of the whole
operation. Astro, are you sure you made a correct estimate on the amount
of reactant fuel in the _Space Devil_?"
"Yes, sir," replied Astro. "I checked it four times, and Mr. Shinny
checked it, too!"
"All right, then, listen," said Connel. "I've given the satellite a
name. From now on we call it Junior. And this will be known as Junior's
Pitch! I've explained how Junior is a captive satellite revolving around
Tara, the same way our Moon revolves around Earth. We have two problems.
One is to blast it out of Tara's grip. And the other is to take
advantage of Tara's orbital speed around its sun Alpha Centauri, _and_
Junior's orbital speed around Tara.
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