Astro let
out one of his famous yells and followed right at his heels. Roger
watched them running ahead and started off at a slow walk, but suddenly,
no longer able to resist, he broke into a dead run. Those around the
_Polaris_ stopped their work to watch the three cadets scramble up the
ladder. Most of the ground crew were ex-spacemen like McKenny, no longer
able to blast off because of acceleration reaction. And they smiled
knowingly, remembering their reactions to their first spaceship.
Inside the massive cruiser, the boys roamed over every deck, examining
the ship excitedly.
"Say look at this!" cried Tom. He stood in front of the control board
and ran his hands over the buttons and switches. "This board makes the
manual we worked on at the Academy look like it's ready for Galaxy
Hall!"
"Yeeeooooooww!" Three decks below, Astro had discovered the rocket
motors. Four of the most powerful ever installed on a spaceship,
enabling the _Polaris_ to outrace any ship in space.
Roger stuck his head through the radar-bridge hatch and gazed in awe at
the array of electronic communicators, detection radar and astrogation
gear. With lips pulled into a thin line, he mumbled to himself: "Too bad
they didn't give _you_ this kind of equipment."
"What'd you say, Roger?" asked Astro, climbing alongside to peer into
the radar bridge.
Startled, Roger turned and stammered, "Ah--nothing--nothing.
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