"
"Wait a minute," said James. "What kind of a crack is that?"
"No crack at all. Just the way I feel about you passenger gents who
don't know a rocket tube from a ray-gun nozzle."
"Look, Manning," returned James. "No need to get sore, just because you
couldn't do any better than the Space Cadets."
"Blast off," shouted Roger, "before I fuse your jets."
Tom spoke up. "I think you'd better go, Captain."
"I've got six men outside," sneered the other. "I'll go when I'm ready."
"You're ready now," spoke up Astro. He stood up to his full height. "We
don't want any trouble," the cadet from Venus said, "but we're not
braking our jets to get away from it, either."
James took a good look at Astro's powerful frame. Without another word
he walked away.
Tom shook his head. "That pal of yours is a real Space Cadet fan, isn't
he, Roger?"
"Yeah," said Astro. "Just like Manning is himself."
"Look," said Roger. "Look, you guys--" He hesitated, as though intending
to say something more, but then he turned back to his dinner. "Go
on--finish your food," he growled. He bent over his plate and ate
without lifting his eyes. And not another word was spoken at the table
until a young man approached, carrying a portable teleceiver screen.
"Pardon me," he said. "Is one of you Cadet Tom Corbett?"
"Why--I am," acknowledged Tom.
"There's a call for you.
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