hem on. But here Corbett wraps the whole thing up before we can get our
pencils sharpened."

"Better stuff cotton in Corbett's ears before he hears all this," rasped
Roger Manning over the intercom. "Or his head'll be too big to go
through the hatch."

"Quiet, Manning," came Astro's voice from the power deck. "Your mouth
alone is bigger than Tom's head'll ever be."

"Look, you Venusian ape--" began Roger, but Commander Walters' voice
boomed out again. His face on the teleceiver screen was serious now.

"Attention! Attention all units! The battle has been fought and won on
the chart screen of the rocket cruiser _Polaris_. The Luna City attack
has been repelled and the invading fleet wiped out. All units and ships
will return to Space Academy at once. Congratulations to all and end
transmission."

The commander's face faded from the screen. Captain Strong turned to Tom.
"Good work," he said.

He was interrupted by a crackle of static from the teleceiver. A face
suddenly appeared on the screen--a man's face, frightened and tense.

"S O S." The voice rang out through the control deck.

"This is an S O S. Space passenger ship _Lady Venus_ requests assistance
immediately. Position is sector two, chart one hundred three. Emergency.
We must have--"

The screen went blank, the voice stopped as though cut off by a knife.
Strong frantically worked the teleceiver dials to re-establish contact.

"_Polaris_ to _Lady Venus_," he called. "Come in _Lady Venus_. Rocket
cruiser _Polaris_ calling _Lady Venus_. Come in! Come in!"

There was no answer. The passenger ship's instruments had gone dead.

CHAPTER 13

"_Polaris_ to Commander Walters at Space Academy--Come in, Commander
Walters!" Captain Strong's voice was urgent in the teleceiver.

"Just worked up an assumed position on the _Lady Venus_," said Roger
over the intercom. "I think she's bearing about seventeen degrees to
port of us, and about one-twenty-eight on the down-plane of the
ecliptic."

"O.K., Roger," said Tom. "Captain Strong's trying to reach Commander
Walters now." He made a quick mental calculation. "Golly, Roger--if
you've figured it right, we're closer to the _Lady Venus_ than anyone
else!"

The teleceiver audio crackled.

"Commander Walters at Space Academy to Captain Strong on the _Polaris_.
Come in, Steve!"

"Commander!" Strong's voice sounded relieved. "Did you get that
emergency from the _Lady Venus_--the S O S?"

"Yes, we did, Stev