tail of the construction would catch
his eye.

"Come on, Roger," Tom sighed. "Let's go on to the next ship. This
lovesick Venusian can catch up with us later."

They turned away and left Astro alone on the power deck, doubtful that
he had even noticed their departure.

The trials had been suspended at nightfall, and the ships that had
already blasted off left sections of the huge spaceport empty. The day
had been a grueling one for the cadets, and Tom and Roger climbed
wearily on the nearest slidewalk that would take them back to the
Academy grounds. Just as they rode through the main field gate, Roger
nudged Tom. "Look! There's Quent Miles up ahead of us," he said. "Isn't
he scheduled to blast off in the morning?"

"Yes. Why?" asked Tom.

"He hasn't called us in to inspect his ship yet."

"Maybe he isn't ready yet," said Tom. "Probably still souping it up."

"I've been watching him. He hasn't done very much."

"What do you mean?"

"He's the only one working on his ship," replied Roger. "Not one
helper."

Tom snorted. "You're beginning to suspect everything, Roger. He might be
going to get a part or grab a bite to eat."

"Where? In Atom City?" asked Roger. "That's the slidewalk to the
monorail station." He pointed to the black-suited figure as he hopped on
another moving belt that angled away from theirs.

"Oh, forget it," groaned Tom. "I'm too tired to think about it now.
Let's just report to Captain Strong and get some sack time. I'm all out
of reactant."

"I suppose Astro will spend half the night trying to figure out what it
took Kit Barnard years to build," mused Roger.

"And if I know Astro," chuckled Tom, "he'll get it figured out too!"

As the two weary cadets continued their ride into the Academy grounds,
on another slidewalk going in the opposite direction, Quent Miles
watched the darkening countryside closely. It was several miles from the
Academy to the monorail station, and the moving belt dipped and turned
through the rugged country that surrounded Space Academy. Suddenly Quent
straightened, and making certain no one was watching him, he jumped off
the slidewalk and hurried to a clump of bushes a few hundred yards away.
He disappeared into the thick foliage and then reached inside his tunic
and pulled out a paralo-ray gun.

"You in here, Charley?" Miles whispered.

There was a movement to his left and he leveled the gun. "All right!
Come out of there!"

The bushes parted and Charley