Tom, standing long watches on the control deck, devoted his spare time
to the torturous equations that would mean failure or success to the
whole project. And Major Connel, alert and alive once more, drove his
crew toward greater goals than it had achieved before.
Nearly three days later, the _Polaris_ appeared over the twin oceans of
Tara and glided into an orbit just beyond the pull of the planet's
gravity. Aboard the spaceship, last-minute preparations were made by the
red-eyed spacemen.
In constant contact with Space Academy, using the resources of the
Academy's scientific staff to check the more difficult calculations, the
six men on the _Polaris_ worked on.
Connel appeared on the radar bridge and flipped on the long-range
scanner.
"Have to find out where Junior is," he said to Roger and Alfie.
"That doesn't work, sir," said Roger.
"What do you mean it doesn't work?" exploded Connel.
"Junior's falling into the sun, sir. The radiations are blocking it out
from our present position."
"Couldn't we move to another position?" asked the officer.
"Yes, sir," said Roger, "we could.
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