h less than a quarter supply of reactant fuel, you will
be disqualified. Stand by to blast off!"

"Uh-huh!" was all the acknowledgment Strong received from the Martian.
Famed for his daring, Sticoon was also known for his taciturn
personality.

"Clear ramp! Clear ramp!" Strong boomed over the public-address system.
When he received the all-clear from the enlisted spaceman on the ramp,
Strong flipped both the public-address system and the intercom on.
"Stand by to raise ship!"

He glanced at the astral chronometer. "Blast off, minus five, four,
three, two, one--_zero!_"

Tom, Roger, and Astro crowded to the viewport in Strong's command shack
to watch the bulky Martian's ship take to space. With Sticoon at the
controls, there was no hesitation. He gave the ship full throttle from
the moment of blast-off and in three seconds was out of sight. There
wasn't much to see at such speed.

The three members of the _Polaris_ unit left the shack to return to
their task of inspection. They passed the maintenance hangar where Kit
Barnard was readying his ship for blast-off in the next half hour.

"Any last-minute hitches, Kit?" asked Astro, vitally interested in the
new reactor unit and its cooling system.

Kit smiled wearily and shook his head. "All set!"

"Good." Tom smiled. "We'll try to be back before you blast. We've got to
check Quent Miles' ship now."

As the three cadets approached the sleek black vessel with its
distinctive markings, the air lock opened and Quent Miles stepped out on
the ladder.

"It's about time you three jerks showed up," he sneered. "I have to
blast off in twenty minutes! What's the idea of messing around with that
Barnard creep? He hasn't got a chance, anyway."

"Is that so?" snapped Roger. "Listen--!"

"_Roger!_" barked Tom warningly.

Quent grinned. "That's right. Lay off, buster. Get to your inspecting
and let a spaceman blast off."

"Kit Barnard will blast off after you, and still beat you back," growled
Roger, stepping into the ship. He stopped suddenly and gasped in
amazement. "Well, blast my jets!"

Tom and Astro crowded into the air lock and looked around, openmouthed.
Before them was what appeared to be a hollow shell of a ship. There were
no decks or bulkheads, nothing but an intricate network of ladders
connecting the various operating positions of the spaceship. Everything
that could be removed had been taken out of the ship.

"Is this legal?" asked Roger incredulously.