ten thousand revolutions per minute.

"Is it fixed?" demanded the shop foreman, coming up beside Astro.

"Yeah, she's fixed. But I don't work on another job until you give me
another helper. That asteroid head you gave me doesn't know a--" Astro
stopped. Something out beyond the double doors caught his eye. It was
the sight of Tom and Connel entering the wooden building.

"What's the matter with him?" demanded the foreman.

"Huh? What? Oh--ah--well, he's O.K., I guess," Astro stammered. "It's
just that he's a little green, that's all."

"Well, get to work on that heater in chamber number one. It's burned a
bearing. Change it, and hurry up about it!"

"Sure--sure!" The big cadet grinned.

"Say, what's the matter with you?" asked the foreman, staring at him
suspiciously.

"I'm O.K.," replied Astro quickly.

The foreman continued to stare at Astro as the big cadet turned to his
assistant nonchalantly. "Come on, genius, get that box of tools over to
the heater!" he shouted. As he turned away, the foreman nodded to the
green-clad guard, who followed closely behind Astro, his hand on the
butt of his paralo-ray gun.

Seeing the little assistant struggling with the heavy box, Astro stopped
and picked it out of his arms with one hand. Grinning, he held it
straight out and then slowly brought it around in a complete circle over
his head, still holding it with only one hand. The guard's eyes widened
behind his plastic helmet at this show of strength.

"You're very strong, Astro," he said, "but you are altogether too
contemptuous of a fellow Venusian." He nodded to the small assistant.

"That's right," said Astro. His grin hardened and he leaned forward
slightly, balancing on the balls of his feet. "That goes for you and
every other green space monkey in this place. Drop that ray gun and I'll
tie you up in a knot!"

Frightened, the guard pulled the paralo-ray gun out of its holster, but
Astro quickly stepped in and sank his fist deep into the guard's
stomach. The man dropped like a stone. Astro grinned and turned his back
to walk toward the heater. He heard the other workers begin to chatter
excitedly, but he didn't pay any attention to them.

"Astro! Astro!" His little assistant ran up beside him. "You hit a
division guard!"

"I did, huh?" replied the big cadet in an innocent tone. "What kind of a
division?"

"Don't you know? Venus has been divided into areas called divisions.
Each division has a chief, and eve