xclaimed one of the men suddenly. "Settle
with this upstart later. Now let us take a vote on the issue before us.
The ship is waiting to blast off for Mercury. Do we ask for her
assistance, or not?"

There was a loud murmur among the assembled men, and Lactu held up his
hand. "Very well, we will vote. All in favor of asking the people of
Mercury to join our movement against the Alliance will say aye!"

"Aye," chorused the men.

"Against?"

Lactu looked around, but there was no reply.

Lactu turned back to Astro. "Well, Venusian, this is your last chance to
join forces with us and to fight for your mother planet."

"Go blast your jets!" snapped Astro. Immediately Lactu's eyes became
hard steely points.

"That was your last chance!" he said. "Take him out and kill him!"

The door suddenly burst open and a green-clad trooper raced across the
bare floor, bowing hastily before Lactu. "Forgive this interruption,
Lactu," he said breathlessly. "There are men in the jungle headed for
the canyon rim. Three of them!"

Lactu turned to Astro. "Your friends, no doubt!" He snapped an order.
"Capture them and bring them to me. And as for you, Astro, we are in
need of capable men to build war heads for our space torpedoes. To
ensure the safety of your friends, I would advise your working for us.
If not, your friends will die before another night falls."

CHAPTER 12

"You're right, Tom," said Major Connel. "They must be around here
somewhere. Start looking. If they're not here, it may mean he's still
alive."

It was Tom who had thought of looking for Astro's weapons. Refusing to
believe that his unit mate had been killed, the curly-haired cadet was
examining the torn jungle suit when the idea occurred to him.

Quickly Roger, Connel, and Tom spread out over the trampled area,
searching the underbrush for Astro's paralo-ray pistol or shock rifle.
Connel examined the underbrush and vines closely for scorch marks made
by the blaster. Finding none, he rejoined the boys.

"Well?" he asked.

"Nothing, sir," replied Roger.

"Can't find them, Major," said Tom.

Connel smacked his fists together and spoke excitedly. "I'm sure Astro
wouldn't be caught unawares by a couple of things like a snake or a
tyrannosaurus without putting up a fight. If he was attacked suddenly,
he would have fired at least one shot, and if it went wild, it would
have burned the vines and brush around here. You didn't find his
weapons, and ther