Breathlessly, their eyes
flicking back and forth from the solar clock to the magnascope, they
waited for the red hand to sweep around.
"Here it comes," said Tom excitedly. "One second--two
seconds--three--four--_five!_"
On the surface of the planetoid, giant mushrooming clouds appeared
climbing into the airless void. One by one the reactor units exploded.
Connel counted them as they blew up.
"One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight--" he paused. Junior
began moving away from them. "Nine!" shouted Connel. "What happened to
nine?"
"Roger," shouted Astro, "you made a mistake on the timer!"
"But I couldn't. I--I--"
Connel spun around, his eyes blazing, breathing hard. "What time did you
set the last one for, Roger?" he demanded.
"Why, twenty minutes to blast-off time, sir," answered the blond-headed
cadet.
"Then it won't go off for another forty minutes," said Connel.
"But, sir--" began Roger, and then fell silent. The room was quiet.
Everyone looked at Roger and then at Connel. "Honestly, sir, I didn't
mean to make a mistake. I--" pleaded Roger.
Connel turned around. His face suddenly looked very tired.
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