The scarlet-clad figure stood before them, his seamed and weather-beaten
face set in stern lines. But there was a glint of laughter in his eyes
as he noticed the grotesque and sometimes tortuous positions of some of
the boys as they braced themselves in what they considered a military
pose.
Every year, for the last ten years, he had met the trains at the
monorail station. Every year, he had seen boys in their late teens,
gathered from Earth, Mars and Venus, three planets millions of miles
apart. They were dressed in many different styles of clothes; the loose
flowing robes of the lads from the Martian deserts; the knee-length
shorts and high stockings of the boys from the Venusian jungles; the
vari-colored jacket and trouser combinations of the boys from the
magnificent Earth cities. But they all had one thing in common--a dream.
All had visions of becoming Space Cadets, and later, officers in the
Solar Guard. Each dreamed of the day when he would command rocket ships
that patrolled the space lanes from the outer edges of Pluto to the
twilight zone of Mercury. They were all the same.
"All right now! Let's get squared away!" His voice was a little more
friendly now. "My name's McKenny--Mike McKenny. Warrant Officer--Solar
Guard. See these hash marks?"
He suddenly held out a thick arm that bulged against the tight red
sleeve. From the wrists to the elbow, the lines of boys could see a
solid corrugation of white V-shaped stripes.
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