ile the white-hot exhaust flare from the
rocket tubes of the sleek ship splattered the concrete launching apron
and it lifted free of the ground. Like an evil, predatory bug, the ship
blasted toward the Academy spaceport.

* * * * *

"Well, blast my jets!" Astro gasped, stopping in his tracks and
pointing. Tom and Roger looked out over the quadrangle toward the
Academy spaceport where ship after ship, braking jets blasting, sought
the safety of the ground.

"Great galaxy," exclaimed Tom, his eyes bulging, "there must be a
hundred ships!"

"At least," commented Roger.

"But they can't all be here for the trials," said Astro.

"Why not?" asked Roger. "This is a very important race. Who knows what
ship might win? It pays the company to enter every ship they have."

[Illustration: _"Great galaxy! There must be a hundred ships!"_]

"Roger's right, Astro," said Tom. "These fellows are playing for big
stakes. Though I don't think there'll be more than thirty or forty ships
in the actual speed trials. See those big-bellied jobs? They're repair
ships."

"I hadn't thought about that," acknowledged the big Venusian cadet.
"They'll probably be jazzing up those sleek babies and that takes a lot
of repair and work."

"Come on," said Tom. "We've got to get over to the meeting. Captain
Strong said he wanted us to be there."

The three cadets turned back toward the nearest slidewalk and hopped on.
None of them noticed the black ship with the red band around its bow
which suddenly appeared over the field, rockets blasting loudly as it
began to drop expertly to the ground.

From early morning the skies over the Academy had been vibrating to the
thunderous exhausts of the incoming fleet of ships. Painted with company
colors and insignia, the ships landed in allotted space on the field,
and almost immediately, mechanics, crew chiefs, and specialists of all
kinds swarmed over the space vessels preparing them for the severest
tests they would ever undergo. The ships that actually were to make the
trial runs were stripped of every spare pound of weight, while their
reactors were taken apart and specially designed compression heads were
put on the atomic motors.

The entire corps of Space Cadets had been given a special three-day
holiday to see the trials, and the Academy buildings were decorated with
multicolored flags and pennants. A festive atmosphere surrounded the
vast Solar Guard installatio