Under the fear of being washed out,
the weaker ones would not pass. The Solar Guard could not afford to have
cadets and later Solar Guard officers who could not function under
pressure.
She began handing out the tubes and, one by one, the green-clad
candidates stepped to the front of the room to receive them.
"Excuse me, Ma'am," said one cadet falteringly. "If--if--I wash out as a
cadet--as a Solar Guard officer cadet"--he gulped several times--"does
that mean there isn't any chance of becoming a spaceman?"
"No," she answered kindly. "You can become a member of the enlisted
Solar Guard, if you can pass the acceleration tests."
"Thank you, Ma'am," replied the boy and turned away nervously.
Tom Corbett accepted the tube and hurried back to his seat. He knew that
this was the last hurdle. He did not know that the papers had been
prepared individually, the tests given on the basis of the entrance
exams he had taken back at New Chicago Primary Space School.
He opened the tube, pulling out the four sheets, printed on both sides
of the paper, and read the heading on the first: ASTROGATION,
COMMUNICATIONS, SIGNALS (_Radar_)
He studied the first question.
" ... What is the range of the Mark Nine radar-scope, and how far can a
spaceship be successfully distinguished from other objects in space?..."
He read the question four times, then pulled out a pencil and began to
write.
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