king a threatening step toward Roger.
"I don't have to take that from you. One word outta me, and Vidac'll
bury you in the brig."

[Illustration]

Tom quickly stepped between Roger and the angry civilian spaceman to
prevent the impending fight. He stared at Winters and smiled. "What's
the matter, Winters? Need Vidac's help in everything you do?"

"Aw, go blast your jets, you space-brained jerks!" snorted Winters. He
turned back toward the hatch, but there was noticeably less swagger to
his walk.

The three cadets smiled at each other and followed him into the main
body of the ship.

While the _Polaris_ was the command ship of the fleet, the nerve center
of the entire operation, it was still hardly more than a prison ship for
the cadets. In direct contrast, the space liner was bright, gay, and
full of life. Everything imaginable for the convenience of the colonists
had been installed aboard the massive ship. As the three cadets walked
through the ship on their way to the control deck, they passed the
auditorium where stereos were shown in the evenings and indoctrination
lectures were given during the day. They passed a number of compartments
that served as a school for the children of the colonists. There were
workshops where the colonists could make objects for their future homes
in their spare time. And in the heart of the ship was one of the most
complete and extensive libraries in the Solar Alliance. Audioslides,
soundscribers, story spools, question-and-answer tapes, everything
designed to answer just about any question the human mind could ask.

The main living quarters of the ship were arranged so that each family
had a small apartment, complete in every detail, to preserve as much of
the family life as possible. There were no governors or supervisors to
control the colonists. It had been decided to allow the colonists to
choose their own leaders aboard the ships. But they were living together
so peacefully, they hadn't found it necessary to select any one
individual to be a leader. The ship was a miniature city.

As the Space Cadets made their rounds of the power deck, control deck,
and radar deck, they were amazed by the excellence of the equipment and
the care given it. And because they saw nothing to substantiate their
suspicions of Vidac, and his hand-picked crew, on Number Twelve, they
found themselves confused about their feelings toward him.

On the power deck, Astro had questioned a rocketman clo