s with a low oxygen supply; while still others, in the medical
field, sought for a universal antibody to combat all diseases.

Evening finally came and with it time for fun and entertainment. Tired
and leg weary, the cadets stepped on a slidewalk and allowed themselves
to be carried to a huge restaurant in the heart of Atom City.

"Food," exulted Astro as the crystal doors swung open before them.
"Smell it! Real, honest-to-gosh food!" He rushed for a table.

"Hold it, Astro," shouted Tom. "Take it easy."

"Yeah," added Roger. "It's been five hours since your last meal--not
five weeks!"

"Meal!" snorted the Venusian cadet. "Call four spaceburgers a meal? And
anyway, it's been six hours, not five."

Laughing, Tom and Roger followed their friend inside. Luckily, they
found a table not far from the door, where Astro grabbed the microphone
and ordered his usual tremendous dinner.

The three boys ate hungrily as course after course appeared on the
middle of the table, via the direct shaft from the kitchen. So absorbed
was Manning that he did not notice the approach of a tall dark young man
of about his own age, dressed in the red-brown uniform of the Passenger
Space Service. But the young man, who wore a captain's high-billed hat,
suddenly caught sight of Roger.

"Manning," he called, "what brings you here?"

"Al James!" cried Roger and quickly got up to shake hands. "Of all the
guys in the universe to show up! Sit down and have a bite with us."

The space skipper sat down. Roger introduced him to Tom and Astro. There
was a round of small talk.

"Whatever made you become a Space Cadet, Roger?" asked James finally.

"Oh, you know how it is," said Roger. "You can get used to anything."

Astro almost choked on a mouthful of food. He shot a glance at Tom, who
shook his head as though warning him not to speak.

James grinned broadly. "I remember how you used to talk back home. The
Space Cadets were a bunch of tin soldiers trying to feel important. The
Academy was a lot of space gas. I guess, now, you've changed your mind."

"Maybe I have," said Roger. He glanced uneasily at his two friends, but
they pretended to be busy eating. "Maybe I have." Roger's eyes narrowed,
his voice became a lazy drawl. "At that it's better'n being a man in a
monkey suit, with nothing to do but impress the passengers and order
around the crew."

"Wait a minute," said James. "What kind of a crack is that?"

"No crack at all. Just the wa