"It's all right, Tom," reassured Strong. "Happens to everyone the first
time. Carry on."
"Aye, aye, sir," replied Tom and he turned to the microphone. "Control
deck to all stations! We are in space! Observe standard cruise
procedure!"
"Power deck, aye!" was Astro's blasting answer over the loud-speaker.
"Yeeeoooww! Out where we belong at last."
"Radar bridge here," Roger's voice chimed in softly on the speaker.
"Everything under control. And, Astro, you belong in a zoo if you're
going to bellow like that!"
"Ahhh--rocket off, bubblehead!" The big Venusian's reply was
good-natured. He was too happy to let Roger get under his skin.
"All right, you two," interrupted Tom. "Knock it off. We're on a ship
now. Let's cut the kindergarten stuff!"
"Aye, aye, skipper!" Astro was irrepressible.
"Yes, _sir_!" Roger's voice was soft but Tom recognized the biting edge
to the last word.
Turning away from the controls, he faced Captain Strong who had been
watching quietly.
"_Polaris_ space-borne at nine hundred thirty-three hours, Captain
Strong. All stations operating efficiently."
"Very competent job, Corbett," nodded Strong in approval. "You handled
the ship as if you'd been doing it for years."
"Thank you, sir."
"We'll just cruise for a while on this orbit so you boys can get the
feel of the ship and of space." The Solar Guard officer took Tom's place
in the command pilot's chair.
Pages:
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108