uld hear their voices, "He broke
out of Monkey's grip!" "He broke the guy's jaw with one punch!"

Tom turned blindly to the corner where he had been sitting and slumped
to the deck. Someone shoved a cup in his hands and he gulped its
contents blindly, hardly tasting the foul rocket juice or feeling it
burning his throat.

The cadet was sure now that he would be caught. Monkey had been a
popular member of the crew and some of his friends were certain to even
the score. But to Tom's surprise, there were no questions and a few of
the men came over to pat him drunkenly on the back. A couple of them
dragged the unconscious man out of the compartment and up to sick bay.
The others soon forgot the fight and continued their merrymaking.

Tom sat alone and silent in the corner, his strength returning slowly.
He had faced his first obstacle and had won. But he knew that what lay
ahead of him made the fight insignificant by comparison. He decided his
next move would be to acquaint himself with the ship and, if possible,
get a paralo-ray gun.

As the men continued their drunken singing and yelling he mumbled an
excuse about soaking his fist in cold water and managed to escape from
the crowded compartment.

Outside in the passageway, the cadet began to figure out the plan of the
ship, first locating the power deck by its roaring purr. He climbed a
ladder to the next deck, walked slowly down the passageway toward what
he thought to be the control room, and leaned against the hatch. He
heard the soft tinkle of a radar signal and his heart skipped a beat. He
had stumbled onto the astrogation and radar bridge. Wondering if he
should burst into the room and attempt to overpower the men on duty, or
wait for a better chance later, he was suddenly startled by a sharp
voice in back of him.

"You--spaceman!" Tom turned to stare right into the face of Bull Coxine!

The big man looked at Tom with piercing eyes.

"What's your name?" demanded Coxine.

"Uh--uh--they call me the Space Kid!" he finally managed.

"Space Kid, eh?" mused Coxine. "I don't remember seeing you on the
Rock."

"They held me in the tower for a month trying to make me take the
psychograph rehabilitation. I got out when the blasting started."

"What were you on the Rock for?" asked Coxine. "You're pretty young to
be sent to the Rock."

Tom thought desperately of a crime he could have committed that would
send him to the prison asteroid. Suddenly he got an idea.