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

expect one side or the other to win?” asked Strong.

“Of course, but not like this. We’ve been expecting a couple of days of maneuver, with both sides making plenty of mistakes that we could call them on. But here Corbett wraps the whole thing up before we can get our pencils sharpened.”

“Better stuff cotton in Corbett’s ears before he hears all this,” rasped Roger Manning over the intercom. “Or his head’ll be too big to go through the hatch.”

“Quiet, Manning,” came Astro’s voice from the power deck. “Your mouth alone is bigger than Tom’s head’ll ever be.”

“Look, you Venusian ape⁠—” began Roger, but Commander Walters’ voice boomed out again. His face on the teleceiver screen was serious now.

“Attention! Attention all units! The battle has been fought and won on the chart screen of the rocket cruiser Polaris. The Luna City attack has been repelled and the invading fleet wiped out. All units and ships will return to Space Academy at once. Congratulations to all and end transmission.”

The commander’s face faded from the screen. Captain Strong turned to Tom. “Good work,” he said.

He was interrupted by a crackle of static from the teleceiver. A face suddenly appeared on the screen⁠—a man’s face, frightened and tense.

“SOS.” The voice rang out through the control deck.

“This is an SOS. Space passenger ship Lady Venus requests assistance immediately. Position is sector two, chart one hundred three. Emergency. We must have⁠—”

The screen went blank, the voice stopped as though cut off by a knife. Strong frantically worked the teleceiver dials to re-establish contact.

“Polaris to Lady Venus,” he called. “Come in Lady Venus. Rocket cruiser Polaris calling Lady Venus. Come in! Come in!”

There was no answer. The passenger ship’s instruments had gone dead.

XIII

“Polaris to Commander Walters at Space Academy⁠—Come in, Commander Walters!” Captain Strong’s voice was urgent in the teleceiver.

“Just worked up an assumed position on the Lady Venus,” said Roger over the intercom. “I think she’s bearing about seventeen degrees to port of us, and about one-twenty-eight on the down-plane of the ecliptic.”

“OK, Roger,” said Tom. “Captain Strong’s trying to reach Commander Walters now.” He made a quick mental calculation. “Golly, Roger⁠—if you’ve figured it right, we’re closer to the Lady Venus than anyone else!”

The teleceiver audio crackled.

“Commander Walters at Space Academy to Captain Strong on the Polaris. Come in, Steve!”

“Commander!” Strong’s voice sounded relieved. “Did you get that emergency from the Lady Venus⁠—the SOS?”

“Yes, we did, Steve,” said the commander. “How far away from her are you?”

Without a word, Tom handed Strong the position that Roger had computed. Strong relayed the information to the commander.

“If you’re that close, go to her aid in the Polaris. You’re nearer than any Solar Guard patrol ship and you can do just as much.”

“Right, sir,” replied Steve. “I’ll report as soon as I get any news. End transmission!”

“Spaceman’s luck, end transmission!” said the commander.

“Have you got a course for us, Roger?” asked Strong.

“Yes, sir!”

“Then let’s get out of here. I have a feeling there’s something more than just the usual emergency attached to that SOS from the Lady Venus.”

In twenty seconds the mighty cruiser was blasting through space to the aid of the stricken passenger ship.

“Better get the emergency equipment ready, Tom,” said Strong. “Space suits for the four of us and every spare space suit you have on the ship. Never can tell what we might run into. Also the first-aid surgical kit and every spare oxygen bottle. Oh, yeah, and have Astro get both jet boats ready to blast off immediately. I’ll keep trying to pick them up again on the teleceiver.”

“Yes, sir,” replied Tom sharply.

“What’s going on up there?” asked Astro, when Tom had relayed the orders from Captain Strong. Tom quickly told him of the emergency signal from the Lady Venus.

“Lady⁠—Venus⁠—” said the big cadet, rolling the name on his tongue, “I know her. She’s one of the Martian City⁠—Venusport jobs⁠—an old-timer. Converted from a chemical burner to atomic reaction about three years ago!”

“Any ideas what the trouble might be?” asked Tom.

“I don’t know,” replied Astro. “There are a hundred and fifty things that could go wrong⁠—even on this wagon and she’s brand new. But I wouldn’t be surprised if it was on the power deck!”

“And what makes you think so?” asked Tom.

“I knew a spaceman once that was on a converted tub just like the Lady Venus and he had trouble with the reaction chamber.”

“Wow!” exclaimed Tom. “Let’s hope it isn’t that now!”

“You can say that again,” said Astro grimly. “When this stuff gets out of control, there’s very little you can do with it, except leave it alone and pile out!”

The Polaris, rocketing through space at full space speed, plunged like a silver bullet through the vastness of the black void, heading for what Strong hoped to be the Lady Venus. Tom prepared the emergency equipment, doubling all the reserves on the oxygen bottles by refilling the empties he found on the ship and making sure that all space suits were in perfect working order. Then he opened the emergency surgical kit and began the laborious task of examining every vial and drug in the kit to acquaint himself with what there was to work with just in case. He brought all the stores of jelly out for radiation burns and finally opened a bottle of special sterilization liquid with which to wipe all the instruments and vials clean. He checked the contents of the kit once more, and, satisfied that everything was as ready as he could make it, he went up to the control deck.

“Any other message from them yet, sir?” asked Tom.

“Nothing yet,” answered Strong. “If I could pick them up on the teleceiver, maybe they could tell us what the trouble is and then we could more or less be prepared to help them.” He bent over the teleceiver screen and added grimly, “If there