ed Solar Guardsmen and officers of the Solar
Guard. They stood around staring in disbelief at the three disheveled
cadets.

"But how did you ever survive?" asked Strong. "By the craters of Luna,
that blasted desert was hotter this past month than it has ever been
since Mars was first colonized by Earthmen. Why--why--you were walking
through temperatures that reached a hundred and fifty degrees!"

"You don't have to convince us, sir," said Roger with a smile. "We'll
never forget it as long as we live."

Later, when Tom, Roger and Astro had taken a shower and dressed in fresh
uniforms, Strong came in with an audioscriber and the three cadets gave
the full version of their adventure for the official report back to the
Academy. When they had finished, Strong told them of his efforts to find
them.

"We knew you were in trouble right away," said Strong, "and we tracked
you on radar. But that blasted storm fouled us all up. We figured that
the sand would have covered up the ship, and that the chances of finding
you in a scout were very small, so I got permission from Commander
Walters to organize this ground search for you." He paused. "Frankly we
had just about given up hope. Took us three weeks finally to locate the
section of desert you landed in."

"We knew you would come, sir," said Tom, "but we didn't have enough
water to wait for you--and we had to leave."

"Boys," said Strong slowly, "I've had a lot of wonderful things happen
to me in the Solar Guard. But I have to confess that seeing you three
space-brained idiots clinging to that raft, ready to eat a raw
fish--well, that was just about the happiest moment of my life."

"Thank you, sir," said Roger, "and I think I can speak for Tom and Astro
when I say that seeing you here with over a hundred men, and all this
equipment, ready to start searching for us in that desert--well, it
makes us feel pretty proud to be members of an outfit where the skipper
feels that way about his crew!"

"What happens now, sir?" asked Tom.

"Aside from getting a well-deserved liberty, it's back to the old grind
at the Academy. The _Polaris_ is at the spaceport at Marsopolis, waiting
for us." He paused and eyed the three cadets with a smile. "I guess the
routine at Space Academy will seem a little dull now, after what you've
been through."

"Captain Strong," said Astro formally, "I _know_ I speak for Tom and
Roger when I say that _routine_ is all we want for a long time to come!"