CHAPTER 18

"Fire at will! Fire at will!"

Aboard the command ship, Captain Strong roared the order to the rest of

the fleet, and the individual ship commanders of the Solar Guard vessels

broke formation and rocketed into the mass of Nationalist ships, firing

salvo after salvo of space torpedoes. But it was a losing battle. Time

and again, Strong and Tom saw Solar Guard ships hemmed in by three and

four Nationalists' vessels, then blasted into oblivion.

Strong had ordered Tom to maneuver the command ship at will, seeking

targets, yet still keeping from being a target, and the young cadet had

guided the powerful ship through a series of maneuvers that had even

surprised the experienced Solar Guard officer.

"Where's the rest of the fleet?" roared Strong. "Why aren't they here

yet?"

"I don't know, sir," replied Tom, "but if they don't show up soon, there

won't be much left to save!"

"Bandits dead ahead," droned the voice from the radar bridge calmly,

"trying to envelop us."

Tom's hand shot out for the intercom to relay orders to the power deck

and glanced quickly at the scanner. He almost cheered. "Steve--I mean,

Captain Strong. The rest of the fleet! It's coming in! Attacking from

top-side!"

"By the craters of Luna, you're right!" yelled the young Solar Guard

captain, as he saw the white blips on the scanner screen. "O.K., it's

time to stop running and fight!"

The Solar Guard reinforcements swooped down on the fighting ships with

dazzling speed, and the sky over the jungle belt of Venus base was so

thick with zooming, firing, maneuvering ships that observers on the

ground couldn't tell one ship from another. For an hour the battle

raged. During the seesawing back and forth it seemed as if all ships

must be blasted into space junk. Finally the superior maneuvering and

over-all spacemanship of the Solar Guard vessels began to count heavily,

and the Nationalist ships began to plunge into the jungle or drift

helplessly out into space. Reforming, the Solar Guard ships encircled

the enemy in a deadly englobement pattern, and wheeling in great

co-ordinated arcs through space, sent combined volleys of torpedoes

crashing into the enemy ships. The space battle was over, a complete

Solar Guard victory.

Strong called to the remaining ships of his fleet, "Take formation K.

Land and attack the enemy base according to prearranged order. The enemy

fleet is destroyed, but we still have a big job to do."

"What happens now, sir?" asked Tom, relaxing for the first time since

the space battle had begun.

"We try to destroy their base and put an end to this rebellion as

quickly as possible," replied Strong coldly.

One by one, the ships of the Solar Guard fleet landed around the rim of

the canyon base. Troop carriers, that had stood off while the space

battle raged, disgorged hundreds of tough Solar Guard Marines, each

carrying shock rifles, paralo-ray pistols, and small narco grenades

that would put an enemy to sleep in five seconds. A half-hour later,

after the last Nationalist ship had been blasted out of the skies, the

rim of the canyon was alive with Solar Guardsmen waiting to go into

action. Many had comrades in the Solar Guard ships lost in the space

fight and they were eager to avenge their friends.

"How many ships did we lose, sir?" asked Tom, after the squadron

commanders had made their reports to Captain Strong.

"Forty," said Strong grimly. "But the entire Nationalist fleet was wiped

out. Thank the universe that their radar was knocked out, or we would

have been completely wiped out."

"Thank Astro and Major Connel for that, sir," said Tom with the first

smile on his face in days. "I knew none of those green jokers could stop

those two!"

"I've got to report to Commander Walters and the Solar Alliance, Tom.

You take a squad of men and move out. Your job is to find Astro, Roger,

and Major Connel."

"Thank you, sir!" said Tom happily.

* * * * *

Down in the canyon, Major Connel had waited as long as he dared for

Astro to return with news of Roger. From his position, the tough

spaceman could not tell how the gigantic space battle had ended until he

saw the Solar Guard troop carriers land on the rim of the canyon above.

Satisfied, he decided that it was time to move.

[Illustration: _The Solar Guard troops landed on the rim of the canyon_]

He stood up, careful not to expose himself, since fighting had broken

out among the workers. Every street, shop, and corner would bring

dangers, and having stayed alive this far, Connel wanted to reach the

Solar Guard forces and continue the fight alongside his friends. Astro

was nowhere in sight when the major moved cautiously down a side

alley, and he was beginning to think that Astro had not escaped from the

base with Roger, when he saw the big cadet suddenly appear around a

corner running as hard as he could. A few seconds later three green-clad

Nationalist guards rounded the corner and pounded after him.

Astro saw Connel and ducked behind an overturned jet car, yelling, "I'm

unarmed! Nail them, Major!"

In a flash Connel dropped to the pavement, and firing from a kneeling

position, cut the Nationalists down expertly. When the last of the enemy

was frozen, Connel rushed to Astro's side.

"What about Roger?" he asked.

"I couldn't reach him," replied Astro. "The sick bay's in the main

administration building and that's so well guarded it would take a full

company to break in."

Connel nodded grimly. "Well, the best thing for us to do is get more men

and then tackle it."

"Yes, sir," said Astro. "I think we'd better head for the canyon walls

on the west. The Marines are pouring down that side."

"Let's go," grunted the major, and led the way down the narrow lane. But

when they reached the open area beyond the repair shops they saw that

the Nationalist guards had thrown up barriers in the streets and were

preparing defenses against frontal assault.

"Maybe we'd better stay where we are, sir," the big cadet said, after

scanning the Nationalist defenses. "We'd never be able to get through

now."

"Ummmh," mused Connel. "You're right. Maybe we can be of more use

striking behind the lines."

Astro grinned. "That's just what I was thinking, sir." He pointed to a

near-by barrier set up in the middle of the street. "We could pick off

the men behind that--"

"Look out!" roared Connel. Behind them, five Nationalist guards had

suddenly appeared. But they were more surprised than Astro and Connel,

and the big cadet took advantage of it by charging right into them.

It was a short but vicious fight. There was no time to aim or fire a

paralo-ray gun. It was a matter of bare knuckles and feet and knees and

shoulders. One by one, the green-clad men were laid low, and finally,

Connel, out of breath, turned to grin at Astro.

"Feel better," he gasped, "than I've felt in weeks!"

Astro grinned. One of Connel's front teeth was missing. Astro leaned

against the wall and pointed to the canyon wall where the columns of

Solar Guard Marines were making their way down into the base under heavy

covering fire from above. "Won't be long now!"

"Come on," said Connel. "They'll probably send scouts out ahead of those

columns and we can make contact with them over there." He pointed toward

a high tangle of barbed wire set up in the middle of the near-by street.

Astro nodded, and exchanging his broken ray gun for one belonging to a

fallen Nationalist, raced to the edge of the barrier with the major.

They crouched and waited for the first contact by the Marines.

"They shouldn't be too long now," said Connel.

"No more than a minute, sir," said Astro, pointing to a running figure

darting from one protective position to another.

"You, there!" shouted a familiar voice. "Behind that barrier!"

Astro glanced at Connel. "Major, that sounds like--!"

"Come out with your hands in the air and nothing will happen to you!"

the voice called again.

"By the stars, you're right!" yelled Connel. "It's Corbett!"

Astro jumped up and yelled, "Tom! Tom! You big space-brained jerk! It's

me, Astro!"

Behind the corner of a house, Tom peered cautiously around the edge and

saw the big cadet scramble over the tangle of barbed wire with Connel

right behind him. Tom held up his hand for the squad in back of him to

hold their fire and stepped out to meet his friends. "Major! Astro!"

The three spacemen pounded each other on the back while the patrol of

Marines watched, grinning. "Where's Roger?" asked Tom finally.

Astro quickly told him of the heavily guarded administration building.

"Is he all right?" asked Tom.

"No one knows," replied Connel. "We haven't been able to get any news of

him at all."

"I'm going after him," said Tom, his jaw set. "No telling what they'll

try to do with him when they see their goose is cooked."

"I'll go with you," said Astro.

"No, you stay here with Major Connel," said Tom. "I think it would be

better if just one tried it, with the rest creating a diversion on the

other side."

"Good idea," said Connel. He turned to the rest of the patrol. "Men,

there's an injured Space Cadet in the sick bay of the main building.

He's the third member of the _Polaris_ unit and has contributed as much

to victory in this battle as any of us. We've got to get him out of the

hands of the Nationalists before something happens to him. Are you

willing to try?"

The Marines agreed without hesitation.

"All right," said Connel, "here's what we'll do." Quickly the major

outlined a plan whereby Tom would sneak through the lines of the

Nationalists around the administration building, while the rest of them

created a diversionary move. It was a daring plan that would require

split-second timing. When they were all agreed as to what they would do

and the time of the operation was set, they moved off toward the

administration building. The rebellion was over, defeated. Yet the

Nationalist leaders were still alive. They were desperate men and Roger

was in their hands. His life meant more to Tom Corbett and Astro than

the smashing victory of the Solar Guard, and they were prepared to give

their own lives to save his.

[Illustration]