Craig Comfort_

_Captain Terra, and his Earth Cadets are dedicated to the principle
of "Earth Above All" and have sworn their lives to the preservation
of Earth and its peoples, and to the protection of Earth against the
hostile aliens constantly threatening the planet._

_Program One, Act One_

_Bobby, Captain Terra's youthful aide, is attacked one day by a
strange creature which he describes as half-man, half-snake. He
reports the incident to Captain Terra, who calls a special session
of his Earth Patrol to determine how best to deal with this
enemy ..._

Tom read the prospectus through, and then dictated a letter to its
producers to call for an appointment.

At the bottom of the mail pile, he found an enthusiastic letter from a
theatrical producer named Homer Bradshaw, whom he had dealt with briefly
during his career at Ostreich and Company.

_Dear Tom,_

_Great to hear about your new connection! Have a fabulous gimmick
that ought to be right down your alley. Am thinking of producing a
new extravaganza entitled: "Be It Ever So Humble."_

_This will be a real classy show, with plenty of chorus line and
top gags. We plan to kid the pants off this spaceman business, until
those bright boys in the glass hats cry uncle. I've already lined up
James Hocum for the top banana, and Sylvia Crowe for the female
lead. You know Sylvia, Tom; she'll make space flight sound about as
chic as a debutante's ball on the Staten Island Ferry. This is the
way to do the job, Tom--laugh 'em out of it._

_If you're interested in a piece of this, you can always reach me
at ..._

He was about to call it a day at five-thirty, when he got a visiphone
call from John Andrusco. When he walked into the immense office at the
other end of the floor, he saw a glassy-eyed man standing at Andrusco's
desk, twirling his hat with nervous fingers.

"Tom," Andrusco said cheerfully, "want you to meet somebody. This is
Sergeant Walt Spencer, formerly of the UN Space Commission."

Tom shook the man's hand, and he could feel it trembling in his own.

"I called Walt in here specially, thanks to that memo you sent me, Tom.
Great idea of yours, about talking to some of the boys who've actually
been in space. Walter here's willing to cooperate a hundred percent."

"That's fine," Tom said uneasily.

"Thought you two ought to get together,