rowed with worry.

"Are you afraid?" asked Jeff as he guided the car down the private road
leading to the highway.

"I'm frightened to death!" murmured Jane. "That man Vidac is so
ruthless!"

Jeff grunted. "I have to agree with you there. But Tom is right. We need
proof before we can stop him."

The girl shrank back. As far as one could see, the road was lined with
jet cars. Colonists with paralo-ray guns and anything that could be used
as a weapon were scrambling around in the hills.

"What does it mean?" asked Jane.

"I don't know," replied Jeff. "But I think it's a search for the
cadets!"

"Oh, no!" cried Jane.

"I hope they'll let us through," said Jeff. He pressed down on the
accelerator and started moving along the line of cars. On either side of
the highway, he saw colonists beating the bushes, looking behind rocks
and boulders, shouting at each other as they pressed their hunt for
Astro, Tom, and Roger. Jeff managed to get halfway past the line of cars
when ahead of him another jet car pulled out across the highway,
blocking it. He was forced to stop.

"Hold on there!" roared a man suddenly appearing at the side of the car,
holding a paralo-ray gun pointed directly at Jeff.

Jeff looked at him in mock surprise. "What's going on here?" he asked.

"Who are you?" demanded the man roughly.

"Jeff Marshall. And this is Jane Logan. What's all the fuss about?"

"We're looking for the Space Cadets. They murdered old Professor Sykes!"
snapped the man. His eyes narrowed and he looked at Jeff closely. "You
were pretty chummy with them, weren't you?" he asked.

"Sure, I knew them," replied Jeff calmly. "But if they've done anything
to the professor, I want them caught as badly as you do. I've been the
professor's assistant for years. He's--he's like a father to me."

Several of the other men had gathered around the car and were listening.
"That's right, Joe," said a man on the outside of the group. "This
feller's okay. And that's Logan's daughter, all right. They ain't done
nothing."

"When was the last time you saw the cadets?" demanded the man called
Joe.

"Why, a couple of days ago," Jeff replied.

There was a long pause while the man continued to look at Jeff
ominously. Finally he stepped back and lowered the paralo-ray gun. "All
right, go on. But if you see those murdering cadets, let us know. We're
out to get them, and when we do, we're going to--"

"But what right have you to do this on your