Stand by for Mars! - Carey Rockwell (reading in the dark txt) 📗

Astro. He was in the clear. The stands were in an uproar as the cadets saw that the game was nearly over. Astro paused a split second, judged the ball and stepped forward to kick. But the ball spun away, just as Astro swung his leg. And at that instant, McAvoy came charging in from the left, only to be blocked by Roger. But the force of McAvoy’s charge knocked Roger back into Astro. Instead of kicking the ball, Astro caught Roger on the side of the head. Roger fell to the ground and lay still. He was knocked cold. Astro lost his balance, twisted on one leg unsteadily, and then fell to the ground. When he tried to get up, he couldn’t walk. He had twisted his ankle.

The Capella unit members stood still, confused and momentarily unable to take advantage of their opportunity. Without a moment’s hesitation, Tom swept in and kicked the ball before his opponents realized what had happened. The ball drifted up in a high arc and landed with several bounces, stopping five feet from the goal.

Suddenly Richards, McAvoy and Davison came alive and charged after Tom, who was running for the ball as fast as his weary legs would carry him. He saw Richards pull up alongside of him, then pass him. Then Davison and McAvoy closed in on either side to block and give Richards a clear shot back down the field and a certain score.

Richards reached the ball, stopped and carefully lined up his kick, certain that his teammates could block out Tom. But the young cadet, in a last desperate spurt, outraced both McAvoy and Davison. Then, as Richards cocked his foot to kick, Tom jumped. With a mighty leaping dive, he sent his body hurtling headlong toward Richards just as he kicked. Tom’s body crashed into the ball and Richards. The two boys went down in a heap but the ball caromed off his chest and rolled over the goal line.

The whistle blew ending the game.

In an instant, two thousand officers, cadets and enlisted men went wild as the ball rolled across the goal line.

The Polaris crew had won eight goals to seven!

From every corner of the field, the crowd cheered the cadets who had finished the game, had won it in the final seconds with two of them sprawled on the field unconscious and a third unable to stand on his feet.

Up in the stands, Captain Strong turned to Commander Walters. He found it hard to keep his eyes from filling up as he saluted briskly.

“Captain Strong reporting, sir, on the success of the Polaris unit to overcome their differences and become a fighting unit! And I mean fight!”

XI

“Atom City Express now arriving on track two!” The voice boomed over the loud-speaker system; and as the long, gleaming line of monorail cars eased to a stop with a soft hissing of brakes, the three cadets of the Polaris unit moved eagerly in that direction.

“Atom City, here we come,” cried Astro.

“We and a lot of others with the same idea,” said Tom. And, in fact, there were only a few civilians in the crowd pressing toward the car doors. Uniforms predominated⁠—the blue of the cadets, enlisted men in scarlet, even a few in the black and gold uniforms which identified the officers of the Solar Guard.

“Personally,” whispered Tom to his friends, “the first thing I want to do at Atom City is take a long walk⁠—somewhere where I won’t see a single uniform.”

“As for me,” drawled Roger, “I’m going to find a stereo studio where they’re showing a Liddy Tamal feature. I’ll sit down in a front-row seat and just watch that girl act for about six hours.”

He turned to Astro. “And how about you?”

“Why⁠ ⁠… why⁠ ⁠… I’ll string along with you, Roger,” said the cadet from Venus. “It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a⁠—a⁠—”

Tom and Roger laughed.

“A what?” teased Tom.

“A⁠—a⁠—girl,” sputtered Astro, blushing.

“I don’t believe it,” said Roger in mock surprise. “I never⁠—”

“Come on,” interrupted Tom. “Time to get aboard.”

They hurried across the platform and entered the sleek car. Inside they found seats together and sank into the luxurious chairs.

Astro sighed gently, stretched out his long legs and closed his eyes blissfully for a few moments.

“Don’t wake me till we get started,” he said.

“We already have,” returned Tom. “Take a look.”

Astro’s eyes popped open. He glanced through the clear crystal glass at the rapidly moving landscape.

“These express jobs move on supercushioned ball bearings,” explained Tom. “You can’t even feel it when you pull out of the station.”

“Blast my jets!” marveled Astro. “I’d sure like to take a look at the power unit on this baby.”

“Even on a vacation, all this guy can think about is power!” grumbled Roger.

“How about building up our own power,” suggested Tom. “It’s a long haul to Atom City. Let’s get a bite to eat.”

“OK with me, spaceboy!” Astro grinned. “I could swallow a whole steer!”

“That’s a great idea, cadet,” said a voice from behind them.

It came from a gray-haired man, neatly dressed in the black one-piece stylon suit currently in fashion, and with a wide red sash around his waist.

“Beg pardon, sir,” said Tom, “were you speaking to us?”

“I certainly was,” replied the stranger. “I’m asking you to be my guests at dinner. And while I may not be able to buy your friend a whole steer, I’ll gladly get him a piece of one.”

“Hey,” said Astro, “do you think he means it?”

“He seems to,” replied Tom. He turned to the stranger. “Thanks very much, sir, but don’t think Astro was just kidding about his appetite.”

“I’m sure he wasn’t.” The gray-haired man smiled, and came over and stretched out his hand. “Then it’s a deal,” he said. “My name’s Joe Bernard.”

“Bernard!” exclaimed Roger. He paled and glanced quickly at his two friends, but they were too busy looking over their new friend to notice.

“Glad to know you, sir,” said Tom. “I’m Tom Corbett. This