The band played on

Inside the rocket grounds, the band was playing the inevitable _Heroes' March_ while the cadets snapped through the final maneuvers of their drill. Captain Thomas Murdock stoppe...

He was right. The timing had been as bad as possible. The blob of light on the screen was obviously being buffeted about. Something seemed to hit the top and jerk it.

Murdock jumped out and into the open door of the truck. He started to shove Sheila out of the driver's seat, but she shook her head and began gunning the turbine. "I can handle...

The big multi-tube affair into which the station had grown looked normal enough in the sunlight. But the men who came out in the little space ferry showed the hell of slow poiso...