d, heading for the _Polaris_. Suddenly Tom leaped
for Bush from the crouching position. He lashed out with his right fist,
while grabbing for the ray gun with his left.

Bush was not to be tricked so easily. He fired just as the cadet jumped.
But in trying to evade Tom's crashing right hand, he missed his shot and
was grazed by Tom's fist. He fell back out of the spaceship, his gun
falling inside the air-lock portal.

Tom lay on the deck, wincing in pain. The wild shot had caught him in
the right leg and he was unable to move it. He crawled across the deck,
reaching for the gun as Bush came charging up the ramp.

Meanwhile, Vidac, seeing the commotion in the hatch of the spaceship,
pulled his gun and leveled it at Tom. But Bush charged through the hatch
just as Vidac fired and he caught the full blast of Vidac's shot. He
landed on the deck beside Tom, stiff as a board.

Tom reached for the gun, preparing to fight it out with Vidac. But the
odds were against him. His leg was completely paralyzed and Vidac was
climbing into the ship. He knew he couldn't reach the gun in time.

Suddenly Vidac became aware of the jet cars streaming into the
spaceport. He stopped and turned to look at them. Then, sensing
something was wrong, he turned back to dash into the _Polaris_. The
second his back was turned was sufficient time for Tom to grab the gun
and fire. Vidac was stopped cold, his bright eyes burning with hate,
unable to move.

"You can drop that now," said a voice in back of Tom.

The curly-haired cadet whirled around to face Governor Hardy, holding a
paralo-ray rifle up to his shoulder, aimed and ready to fire.

"You're a good spaceman, Corbett," said Hardy in a cold, harsh voice,
"but this is the last time you'll ever get into my hair!"

Tom's leg prevented him from moving and he had turned in an awkward
sitting position to face Hardy. All he could do was bring his gun up
quickly and fire over his left shoulder. Hardy fired at the same
instant. At such close range neither could miss.

When Captain Strong and the colonists dashed into the ship they found
two perfect statues.

[Illustration]

CHAPTER 21

"And you kept giving Hardy wrong information?" asked Strong with a
laugh.

"Yes!" snorted Professor Sykes with a wry grin. "You see, I knew right
away Vidac was doing something funny way back--" He paused to sip his
tea. "Way back before we landed on Roald." He grinned broadly at the
people seated aro