He then turned his back while Tom checked his, and Roger
adjusted Astro's.
"All right, turn on your communicators and test them," ordered Strong.
One by one the boys flipped on the switch of the portable spacephones in
their fish-bowl helmets and spoke to each other. Strong indicated that
he was satisfied and turned toward the jet-boat catapult deck, the three
boys following him in single file.
"Astro, you and Roger take number-one boat," said Strong. "Tom and I
will take number two." His voice had a harsh metallic tone through the
headset spacephones.
Roger hurried along with Astro to the number-one boat and climbed
inside.
"Jet boat has its own oxygen system," said Astro to Roger. "Better make
use of it while we're in here and save our suits' supplies."
"Good idea," said Roger. He locked the clear plastic airtight covering
of the jet boat and began flicking at the control buttons.
"Strap in, you Venusian hick. Here we go!" Roger shoved a lever at his
side, making the jet-boat deck airtight from the rest of the _Polaris_,
and then, by pressing a button on the simple control board, a section of
the _Polaris_' hull slipped back, exposing them to empty space.
The controls of a jet boat were simplicity itself. A half-moon wheel for
guiding, up, down and either side, and two pedals on the floor, one for
going and one for stopping.
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