self a sigh of
hope and relief. They could still snatch the copper satellite from the
powerful pull of the sun.

Suddenly Tom heard a sound behind him and whirled around. His eyes
bulged in horror.

"Loring!" he gasped.

"Take your hand off that microphone, Corbett," snarled Loring, "or I'll
freeze you!"

"How--how did you get out?" Tom stammered.

"Your buddy, Manning," sneered Loring with a short laugh, "decided he
wanted to paste my ears back. So I let him. He was so anxious to make me
lose a few teeth that he didn't notice the spoon I kept!"

"Spoon?" asked Tom incredulously.

"Yeah," said Mason, stepping through the door, a paralo-ray gun leveled
at Tom. "A few teeth for a spoon. A good trade. We waited for your pals
to leave the ship, and then I short-circuited the electronic lock on the
brig."

Tom stared at the two men unbelievingly.

"All right, Corbett, get over there to that control board," growled
Loring, waving the paralo-ray gun at Tom. "We're going back to Tara."

"Tara?" exclaimed Tom. "But Major Connel and the
others--they're--they're down on the satellite. If I don't pick them up,
they'll fall into the sun!"

"Well, ain't that too bad," sneered Loring. "Listen to that, Mason. If
we don't hang around and pick them up, they'll fall into the sun!"

Mason laughed harshly and advanced toward Tom. "I only got one regret,
Corbett. That I can't stay around to see Connel and the Manning punk
fry! Now get this wagon outta here, and get it out quick!"

[Illustration]

CHAPTER 19

"Major!" shouted Astro. "Look! The _Polaris_! The _Polaris_ is blasting
off!"

The five Earthmen stared up at the silvery spaceship that was rapidly
disappearing into the clear blue void of space. Without hesitation,
Connel raced for the nearest jet boat and roared into the communicator.

"Corbett! Corbett! Come in, Tom!"

He waited, the silence of the loud-speaker more menacing than anything
the spaceman had ever encountered before. Again and again, the Solar
Guard officer tried to raise the cadet on the _Polaris_. Finally he
turned back to the four crewmen who hovered around the jet boat, hoping
against hope.

"Whatever it is," he said, "I'm sure Tom is doing the right thing. We
came down here to do a job and we're going to do it! Get moving! We
still have to set up the rest of these reactor units."

Without a word, the five men returned to their small ships and followed
their commanding officer.