ere were no questions and the men began to file out of the room.
Strong was relieved to see Brett was among the first to leave. He didn't
trust himself to keep his temper with the man. As the room emptied,
Strong stood at the door and grabbed Kit Barnard by the sleeve. "Hello,
spaceman!" he cried. "Long time, no see!"

"Hello, Steve," replied Kit, with a slow, warm smile.

"Say! Is that the way to greet an old friend after four, or is it five
years?"

"Five," replied Kit.

"You look worried, fellow," said Strong.

"I am. This race business leaves me holding the bag."

"How's that?"

"Well, I made a bid on the strength of a new reactor unit I'm trying to
develop," explained Kit. "If I had gotten the contract, I could have
made a loan from the Universal Bank and completed my work easily. But
now--" Kit stopped and shook his head slowly.

"What is this reactor?" Strong asked. "Something new?"

"Yes. One quarter the size of present standard reactors and less than
half the weight." Kit's eyes began to glow with enthusiasm as he spoke.
"It would give me extra space in my ships and be economical enough on
fuel for me to be able to compete with the larger outfits and their
bigger ships. Now, all I've got is a reactor that hasn't been tested
properly, that I'm not even sure will work on a long haul and a hot
race."

"Is there any way you can soup up one of your present reactors to make
this run?" asked Strong.

"I suppose so," added Kit. "I'll give the other fellows a run for their
money all right. But it'll take every credit I have. And if I don't win
the race, I'm finished. Washed up."

"Excuse me, Captain Strong," said Tom Corbett, coming to attention.
"Major Connel ordered us to report here for special assignment."

"Oh, yes," said Strong, turning to Tom, Roger, and Astro with a smile.
"Meet Kit Barnard. Kit--Tom Corbett, Roger Manning, and Astro, the
_Polaris_ unit. My unit," he added proudly.

The boys saluted respectfully, and Barnard smiled and shook hands with
each of them.

"You've heard about the race now," said Strong to Tom.

"Yes, sir," replied the young cadet. "It sounds exciting."

"It will be, with spacemen like Kit Barnard, Charley Brett, and the
other men of the big outfits competing. You're going to work with me on
the time trials, and later the _Polaris_ will be the ship that monitors
the race. But first, you three will be inspectors."

"Of what, sir?" asked Roger.

"You'll see that