Part 12

“You guys should have set me adrift long ago!” Rock burst out. “I’ve been giving orders ever since we started, and every plan has backfired! Now there are only the two of us left!”

“We had to have a leader,” Shep said more calmly. “We chose you because we thought you were the best. We still do. Now quit feeling sorry for yourself!”

“I don’t know what could have happened!” Rock sighed, shaking his head.

“_I_ know,” Shep said. “Kalmus just happened to see you fellows coming, that’s all.”

Rock sat down wearily. “You take over from here, Shep. I’m licked.”

Shep could see that his friend was genuinely distressed. He concealed the harrowing pain he felt in his ankle and tried to think of their next move. Minutes passed without Rock speaking. He merely stared out the port at the star-jeweled sky and the shimmering ball of Earth that could look so close to a person in space and yet be so far away.

“You said that two could run this ship in a pinch,” Shep spoke to break the silence. “We’ll just have to take the _Northern Cross_ back to port ourselves and get help from the Space Guard. The boys will probably try to stall longer and keep the _Dog Star_ on the ground.”

“I guess that is the only way,” Rock admitted, then added dismally, “If the ship isn’t here when the Guard comes back, we probably won’t see the fellows anymore, that’s all.”

“What you need is a good rest, Rock,” Shep told him. “None of us has had one since we came here. Let’s get a few hours of sleep, one at a time, and then get back to the problem when we’re more refreshed. I’ll stand first watch to see if the _Dog Star_ takes off.”

“I am pretty tired,” Rock said. “This time we’ll do what you say, Shep,” he smiled feebly. “You be sure to wake me to relieve you.”

Rock stretched out in a chair and fell asleep almost immediately.

The next thing he remembered was his friend shaking him. Rock stirred sleepily.

“I guess I’ll be shot for going to sleep on guard duty,” Shep confessed. “I just couldn’t help it, though.”

Rock had no reason to doubt that the _Dog Star_ would not still be in its same spot, but some impulse prompted him to look out the port just the same. His heart suddenly seemed to go dead inside of him.

“The ship is gone, Shep!”

“Oh, no!”

The glasses revealed indisputably that the ship had blasted off. There was only a blackened ring and a depression where the _Dog Star_ had been before.

“They’ve gotten the jump on us again!” Rock said brokenly.

“Kalmus must have threatened the boys, or else Judas got the ship off,” Shep said.

“Whatever it was, they’re gone now,” Rock said hopelessly. “They can be heading for almost any place in the solar system.”

“What do you think we should do now?” Shep asked.

“Go ahead with our same plan to notify the Guard, I guess,” Rock replied tonelessly. “They’ll probably send out some cruisers to look for the _Dog Star_.”

Rock stared solemnly out the port. “It’s my fault all this has happened. My fault that we ever started out on this crazy treasure hunt and my fault that the boys are in the hands of these space pirates!”

“Don’t blame yourself, Rock. The fellows knew very well what they were getting into. It’s not your fault that things haven’t worked out.”

Rock tried to shake off the pall of despair that had dogged him for the past few hours and got busily to work. “Well, no use just sitting here on Luna talking about it,” he murmured. “Let’s get that ankle of yours bandaged and then we’ll start up the engines.”

It was going to be a tricky undertaking to manage all the complicated controls between the two of them. Shep was further hindered by his ankle that had stiffened while he had slept. Rock had remembered seeing a first-aid kit and he went for it. He wrapped the ankle tightly so that Shep would be able to get about with a minimum of pain. They had to cut the sides of Shep’s magnetic-soled shoe so that there would be as little discomfort as possible. Shep could have done without magnetic shoes altogether, being content to float about weightlessly in the ship when they were beyond Luna’s gravity pull, but this would have interfered with running the ship, which required a certain amount of body leverage.

The two got their individual duties synchronized so that there would be no hitch, Rock taking the bulk of the work.

They calculated their figures and prepared the tape for the autopilot. Then they strapped down in the couch room for the take-off. Rock still did not trust the _Northern Cross_ too far, and at this moment he was concerned lest the old ship might not respond to the lift of her jets. The next few moments would tell the story.

Rock felt the vibration of the ship as the fuel pumps went to work. The overhead prism showed the flow meter registering properly, but the big question was still whether the ship would be able to lift itself into the heights. Then a sudden movement seemed to cut Rock’s breath off in his throat. His body pressed deeply into his couch, aching, but Rock was glad. The ship was rising from the soil of Luna.

They pushed the _Northern Cross_ along at the top speed they believed was reasonably safe. The ship creaked and groaned under the burden of maximum thrust. As yet she had given no indication of suffering worse than this, but it was clear that the space vessel had seen her best days.

When the _Northern Cross_ was about two-thirds of the way home, a suspicious dot was seen on the radarscope, moving too slowly for a meteor.

“Shep!” Rock called. “Take a look at this, will you?”

Shep limped over as Rock got out his binoculars.

“I can’t believe it!” Rock blurted. “It’s the _Dog Star_!”

“What!” Shep cried, and grabbed the binoculars from Rock. “It _is_ the _Dog Star_!”

“Kalmus has got more nerve than I thought he had!” Rock said. “I didn’t think he’d risk heading straight for Earth!”

“Whatever the reason, we’ve got him in our sights,” Shep said. “What’ll we do?”

“Follow him in, I guess,” Rock answered. “Whatever station he heads for, we’ll put the Guard right on him and his cronies.”

“I’d advise our keeping our distance so we won’t scare him off,” Shep suggested.

Rock nodded. “When we get closer in, we may be able to radio a warning to the stations to be on the lookout for him.”

They followed the _Dog Star_ for an entire space day, keeping the same distance between the ships. The craft was undoubtedly still heading for Earth and its company of artificial satellites. If her occupants had spotted the other ship, they did not seem alarmed. Kalmus appeared to be walking right into capture at a time when victory seemed to be completely his. It didn’t make sense.

Hours later, Rock was interrupted from study of a sky chart when Shep cried out in an anguished voice. Rock dashed over to the port where his friend was looking out.

“There’s been an explosion aboard the _Dog Star_!” Shep blurted. “A big burst of flame poured out of it!”

“We’ve got to get to her right away!” Rock said hoarsely.

It took some time to change course and swing around in pursuit of the _Dog Star_’s new glide path. Rock fretted impatiently. He had nightmare visions of what might have happened or might now be happening to his buddies aboard the stricken vessel.

As soon as the _Northern Cross_ had matched flight paths with the other craft, Rock reduced their velocity so they could creep up on the _Dog Star_ “overhead.” The maneuver was accomplished as quickly as possible. The _Northern Cross_ now lay “above” the _Dog Star_, with a space of about a hundred feet between.

Rock set the controls on hold positions as Shep procured a long towline. The boys dressed hurriedly in space gear, then opened the air lock closest to the ragged topside hole they had seen in the other ship. They secured the safety line to an outside anchor ring, then Rock fastened the line to his own suit.

“Maybe you’d better stay out of this with that bad ankle of yours,” Rock told Shep.

“And let you go across on your own?” Shep retorted. “No, I’m sticking with you this time.”

Rock shoved off briskly from the ship’s hull and floated across the gulf of vacuum toward the _Dog Star_. He landed on the hull not far from the explosion hole that was amidships near a rocket-tube cluster. Shep pulled in the line and then launched himself across the emptiness. Rock steadied him as he landed.

The two scrambled immediately down through the gaping cavity, careful not to snag their suits on the sharp edges. The boys climbed down along the bulkheads of the corridor where smoke swirled like fog.

Reaching the floor, they were met by four running figures in space suits. The boys recognized Kalmus and his three companions in a desperate hurry.

Rock lashed out boldly at Kalmus who was rushing at him. He heard the big fellow groan over his suit radio as the blow landed. But then Rock was charged by Jack Judas. He was lifted off the floor and, because of his helplessness when not in contact with it, was sent crashing heavily against the wall of the corridor.

Rock scrambled down off the wall to resume the battle. Shep was courageously taking on all four of their attackers. Rock leaped into the middle of it all, swinging fiercely. Another blow sent him careening into the wall. Shep was flat on the floor now.

Expecting no mercy from the victors, Rock was amazed to see the four withdraw from the fight and run off down the corridor in the direction they had been heading in before. Rock and Shep tiredly climbed to their feet.

“They weren’t after us!” Shep gasped. “They were just trying to get away!”

“They’re heading for the lifeboat rockets, I guess,” Rock panted. “They looked scared to death!”

“Let’s get to the fellows!” Shep said.

They hurried along to the main control room. It was empty, so they moved farther along to the navigation room. The door was locked and from inside there came the sound of beating fists. With their heavy space boots Rock and Shep began kicking the light metal door with passionate vigor. Finally they tore the lock loose and the twisted door swung inward.

Sparky, Ed, and Johnny were sagging against the far wall, their eyelids half-closed. Leo was giggling strangely and chattering as if enjoying himself. Sparky kept crying out, “I can’t hear!”

Only Hugh appeared normal. It was he who had been beating on the door. His face was red with fright and shiny with sweat.

“The air pressure is down!” Hugh gasped to Rock and Shep. “Give us air!”

Rock and Shep slammed the door to save as much remaining air as possible and hurried to the supply room. They gathered up all the oxygen bottles that they could carry and rushed back with them. They opened the petcocks on all, and the life-giving precious gas began flooding the room.

But the gauge on the wall still showed a subnormal air pressure. Shep and Rock found space suits in the supply room and began helping their companions into them. The victims could help a little, but, except for Hugh, they were still in such a state of anoxia that their rescuers had to do most of the work.

Finally the five were safely encased in suits, with clean pressurized air filling their lungs.

When the others felt like it, they began to talk.

“Kalmus had us locked up in the navigation room while they went to eat,” Hugh explained. “Then when the explosion came, Kalmus and his men must have been in such a hurry that they forgot all about us.”

“You might know that the only thing that would have made Kalmus abandon the treasure would be the saving of his own neck,” Rock said contemptuously. “You fellows had better get a physical as soon as we get to port.”

Shep asked the fellows what had happened since their capture.

“Kalmus made us blast off soon after he caught us,” Hugh was the first to reply.

“Whatever made Kalmus head for Earth?” Rock asked. “We thought that would be the last place he’d want to carry all of you since you’d be able to incriminate him.”

“Kalmus didn’t intend to land at a space station!” Ed cut in. “He was going straight for Earth and touch down in the Arizona desert where he could unload the ore without being noticed. Then he and the others were going to sell it a little at a time over a long period.”

“Carry the _Dog Star_ directly to Earth!” Shep exclaimed. “This ship isn’t made for atmospheric travel! It would have been turned into a meteor by skin friction!”

“That’s what we tried to tell that crazy man!” Sparky said. “But he thought we were trying to fool him and get him to dock at one of the space stations. Judas knew the danger too, but Kalmus wouldn’t listen to him either.”

“How did you keep the _Dog Star_ at such slow velocity?” Rock asked.

“We shorted out the circuit to a couple of jets,” Johnny replied. “Told Kalmus it was an accident. We had Judas fooled too. We were trying to stall reaching Earth as long as possible.”

“We hoped we’d get a chance to jump the fellows,” Hugh put in. “We even had an outside hope that you might catch up with us.”

Rock went back to the earlier capture of Leo and Ed. Kalmus wanted only two of the boys to run the ship, Leo explained, so that they could be easily watched by the four. That was why they had sent Sparky back over after the transfer of the ore.

Ed said that he and Leo had made such an unsatisfactory job (intentionally) of running the ship that Kalmus had made Judas take over. But Judas was so rusty with his piloting that he botched up the controls, making a forced landing on Luna necessary. The boys then got the idea of trying to contact the _Northern Cross_ by radio, which they had done in one of Kalmus’ unguarded moments. Kalmus had been so infuriated to discover this that he had destroyed the radio. He mistakenly thought he had done it before a message had been sent.

“Let’s hope we’ve seen the last of that Kalmus bunch,” Shep declared. “If everything turns out all right for us, I don’t care whether they are ever caught or not.”

“Do you suppose they got off in the lifeboats?” Hugh suddenly asked.

During their discussion of past events, they had almost forgotten about the present whereabouts of Kalmus and his men. They went to check the escape hatches and found one of four lifeboat rockets gone.

“I don’t see how they expect to reach any of the space stations with their limited knowledge of navigation,” Sparky said.

“Even Judas can find his way home from here,” Rock told him. “We’re only a few thousand miles from the outer radio relay satellite. The lifeboats have simple instructions printed on the walls that practically anybody can follow.”

Shep changed the subject. “Anybody know what caused the explosion?”

“Probably a valve lock somewhere in the chemical fuel system,” Hugh answered. “That’s what all of us think, judging from the sound of the blast. Our tinkering with the jets might have caused it.”

“The thing to do now,” Rock said, “is to get these ships back to port, that is, if the _Dog Star_ has still got its power. I suggest we split into two groups, four on the _Northern Cross_ and three on the _Dog Star_.”

It was discovered that the damage from the explosion would prevent the _Dog Star_ from traveling at its best speed because one entire rocket section was out of order. But it would run.

They drew lots to see who would ride in which vessel. Rock, Hugh, Ed, and Shep drew the _Northern Cross_ and Leo, Sparky, and Johnny the _Dog Star_.

Rock and his three companions who would return to the _Northern Cross_ went back to the ship by way of the towline. The ghost ship still hovered overhead in the same position it had occupied before, even though the two craft were traveling at a good pace through the deeps.

The space ships were brought back into their original Earthward paths, and in a few hours’ time the braking rockets were ready to cut in.

Several futile attempts had been made to contact a space station by radio, and it wasn’t until this point that the _Northern Cross_ was able to establish its first contact over the crippled set. This was by way of a continuous signal beamed out through space by a rotating antenna atop the outermost artificial satellite, the radio relay station, 50,000 miles from Earth.

Hugh signaled for an operator and when he came in, Hugh gave the name of the ship and its position.

“Who did you say you were?” Rock heard the operator ask in amazement.

“The _Northern Cross_,” Hugh answered, “serial number A45-J, World Spacecraft, manufacturer.”

There was silence on the other end for several moments. Hugh winked at Rock. “We’ll have some fun with them,” he said.

“When did the ship go out?” the operator asked.

“Twenty years ago,” Hugh replied.

“Is this a joke?” the other retorted.

“Not at all,” Hugh assured him.

The radioman chose not to argue any further. “I’ll give you approach instructions,” he said.

“There are two ships,” Hugh told him. “We’re together.”

The operator sputtered again when Hugh told him that the _Dog Star’s_ radio was completely out. “How do you expect me to bring a ship in without a radio?” he complained.

“If you give us both instructions,” Hugh answered, “we’ll relay those for the other ship to them by suit radio. We’re close enough for that.”

“I guess you know this is highly irregular,” the operator replied. “I still think you’re pulling my leg!”

As the approach instructions were given, Rock relayed them to the _Dog Star_. The connection was rather feeble because of the low power of Rock’s suit radio transmitter, but by hooking up his own suit radio to the ship’s antenna, damaged though it was, Leo, acting as radioman, could hear well enough.

As the ships moved in parallel to the spinning station, a final adjustment by the forward jets synchronized the ships’ motion with that of the rotating station.

“Pretty good approach,” the operator admitted grudgingly. “You two will come into adjoining Docks 5 and 6. Stand by.”

Presently two sets of long, flexible metal arms reached out from the space station like the arms of an octopus and attached themselves magnetically to the sides of the ships. Then slowly the _Northern Cross_ and _Dog Star_ were pulled into their docks.

Word of arrival of the derelict space ship had been spreading all over the station apparently, for Rock and his friends found the entire high brass there to meet them as they crossed through the coupling tubes into the satellite.

The boys were conducted to the official quarters of the commanding officer where he was gathered with the other members of his staff. There Rock related the entire story of their trip. At first mention of Kalmus’ name, Colonel George had spoken to one of his officers and sent him out.

When Rock was through with his story, Colonel George shook his balding gray head, although it was a gesture not without humor.

“It sounds like a fiction piece, Merrill,” the officer said, his eyes glowing with an excitement that suggested he might have enjoyed sharing such an adventure himself.

“Not that I disbelieve you! I don’t mean that. It’s just so incredible what a group of young fellows have done!” He looked at his spellbound officers and they nodded approvingly.

“I’ve sent one of my men to see if Kalmus had docked here,” Colonel George went on. “He’s probably a scoundrel with a bad record. That must have been why he was in such a hurry to get started from the servicing station, before his references could be checked at central identification on Earth. You mentioned, Merrill, that he appeared very generous in extending credit to you. I suppose you realize now that he must have planned to take over the ship from the very beginning and therefore his original so-called credit would be only a fraction of the wealth he expected to bring back.”

“Yes, we finally guessed that, sir,” Rock said.

There was a wait until the officer returned with the facts on Kalmus. He handed a yellow sheet to the commanding officer who read it with a show of regret.

“Kalmus and his men docked here about two hours ago,” Colonel George said. “As soon as they docked, they immediately jumped on a ferry going Earthward. The ferry landed some time ago and they can be anywhere on Earth. I’m afraid Kalmus and party have given us the slip. We’ve already notified the authorities to initiate a search for them. Too bad you men were unable to get in touch with us by radio so that we could have been ready for them.”

“He may have escaped, sir,” Rock reminded him, “but not with the ore treasure, not even his own half.”

Colonel George chuckled. “That’s right. And if he should turn up to claim it, we’ll charge him with a crime that is quite serious.”

“If he and his men are ever captured, sir,” Rock said, “we’ll make a settlement with him then. He may need the money for some good lawyers.”

The colonel smiled. “I see you fellows want to do the right thing even if he hasn’t. Let me say here that I consider what you men have done, bringing into port two crippled ships, the most remarkable space performance I have ever heard about in my career. I’d have given anything to be thirty years younger and one of you!” He sighed regretfully. “In view of all this, I believe it would be embarrassing to the Space Academy not to reconsider you seven for cadet school. I’ll personally make a strong recommendation for you.”

The boys, except for their leader, were profuse in their thanks. Rock was quietly grateful and filled with a heart-warming satisfaction. For all these long weeks since their blast-off, he had suffered remorse for having brought his friends into such perils as they faced. Now it had all worked out for a purpose. Where they might never have come back, now they had not only returned without harm, but they would reclaim the opportunity for a space career that had appeared to end for them with their washout from the Space Academy.

As Rock happily thought over these things, an officer wearing the insigne of a metallurgist came into the room.

“I’ve made an assay of the ore cargo on the _Northern Cross_, Colonel,” the man said. “It’s good alconite ore and is worth a fortune, and of course the ship is quite valuable too. It’ll tell us a lot about long-period effects of space conditions.”

“Now my success is complete,” Rock thought. “Dad did not lose his life for nothing. The satellite hospital will be a living memorial to his unselfish ambition. Even with all the things that happened to us, I’m glad we took the chance.”

He was sure his friends felt the same way.

SPACE STEWARD

“Carry your bags, sir?” The gentleman tourist in the space harbor looked at the youth who had stepped out of the night. Although the boy’s clothes weren’t as fine, perhaps, as those of the other baggage carriers, there was something about him which appealed to the man. The boy had a wiry, athletic build, and his gray, sincere eyes shone with spirit and good nature.

“Sure, son,” the big, white-thatched man said, smiling. “Suite 8, ‘B’ Deck.”

“‘B’ Deck!” Jim Vance echoed. “Thank you, sir!”

He hoisted the bags easily in his strong arms. Then, handing his patron one half of a baggage check, he headed briskly for the concrete pit where the throbbing space ship rested on torpedolike tail fins.

Jim was in a tingle of excitement. This was his first customer on ‘B’ Deck. He’d get a first-rate view of the _Hercules’_ luxury quarters! Jim always swallowed hard when he neared the astronaut. She was so incredibly big, so very much like the massiveness of the space which was her real home. Though the _Hercules_ was carrying some space freight this trip, she was mainly a tourist vessel; and her destination was Venus.

“I’d give anything if I could make one trip into deep space,” he thought fervently as he stepped into the outside elevator and was carried far above the brightly lighted Miami spaceport. For an instant he seemed to share a kinship with the silent stars that encircled him like a speckled bowl.