ering Earth's atmosphere, Tom gave a series of rapid orders for
course changes and power adjustments, and then, depressing the master
turn control, spun the ship around so that she would settle stern first
toward her ramp at the Academy spaceport.

"Radar deck to control deck," called Roger over the intercom. "One
thousand feet to touchdown!"

"Control deck, aye," answered Tom. "Control deck to power deck. Check
in."

"Power deck, aye," replied Astro.

"Stand by to adjust thrust to maximum drive at my command," ordered Tom.

"Power deck, aye."

The great ship, balanced perfectly on the hot exhaust, slowly slipped
toward the ground.

"Five hundred feet to touchdown," warned Roger.

"Main rockets full blast," ordered Tom.

The sudden blast of the powerful jets slowed the descent of the ship,
and finally, fifty feet above the ground, Tom snapped out another order.

"Cut main rockets! Hold auxiliary!"

A moment later there was a gentle bump and the _Polaris_ rested on the
ramp, her nose pointed to the heavens.

"_Touchdown!_" yelled Tom. "Cut everything, fellas, and come up and sign
the log. We made it--our first hop into space! We're spacemen!"

CHAPTER 10

"The next event will be," Warrant Officer McKenny's voice boomed over
the loud-speaker and echoed over the Academy stadium, "the last
semifinal round of mercuryball. _Polaris_ unit versus _Arcturus_ unit."

As two thousand space cadets, crowded in the grandstands watching the
annual academy tournament, rose to their feet and cheered lustily, Tom
Corbett turned to his unit-mates Astro and Roger and called
enthusiastically, "O.K., fellas. Let's go out there and show them how to
play this game!"

During the two days of the tournament, Tom, Roger and Astro, competing
as a unit against all the other academy units, had piled up a tremendous
amount of points in all the events. But so had Unit 77-K, now known as
the _Capella_ unit. Now with the _Capella_ unit already in the finals,
the _Polaris_ crew had to win their semifinal round against the
_Arcturus_, in order to meet the _Capella_ in the final round for
Academy honors.

"This is going to be a cinch," boasted Astro. "I'm going to burn 'em
up!"

"Save it for the field," said Tom with a smile.

"Yeah, you big Venusian ape," added Roger. "Make points instead of space
gas."

Stripped to the waist, wearing shorts and soft, three-quarter-length
space boots, the three boys walked onto the sun-ba