ght not have forwarded
it to him."

"You know the rules," said Roger. "Any official communication to a Solar
Guard officer is sent through regardless of where he is in the universe,
if communications are at all possible."

"You're right, Roger," said Tom finally. "I should have had some sort of
answer by now."

"You think," mused Astro slowly, "maybe Vidac didn't send the report?"

Roger hesitated and then replied, "There's one way to find out."

"How?" asked Tom.

"Take a look in the communications logbook on the control deck."

"We can't, Roger." Tom shook his head. "Vidac's got his own men planted
in every one of our departments."

"Yeah," growled Astro. "I been watching the way that guy Smith takes
care of the power deck and, believe me, it makes me burn. Why, he hasn't
washed down the atomic motor casing once since we blasted off!"

"Wait a minute!" cried Roger suddenly. "Jeff Marshall!"

"Jeff?" asked Tom. "What about him?"

"He can get to the control deck and take a look at the logbook,"
answered Roger.

"Say, that's right," said Tom.

"Come on," said Roger. "Let's finish off this tour and get back to the
_Polaris_. If Vidac's on the level, he'll have sent your report to
Captain Strong. If not, we know where we stand."

Astro shook his head slowly. "Honestly, fellas, I don't know whether to
hope he did or didn't."

* * * * *

Their tour completed, the three cadets returned to the _Polaris_. They
quickly audioscribed their report to Vidac and then hurried to the
observatory to find Jeff Marshall. Luckily the sergeant was alone and
they were able to give him all the reasons for their suspicions of Vidac
and tell him what they wanted him to do.

"But what can I say I'm looking for in the logbook?" Jeff Marshall
protested.

"We passed through a cloud of meteor dust the other day, didn't we?"
asked Tom.

"Yeah," replied Jeff, "but what's that got to do--"

"You had to report it to central weather control," said Tom. "Tell the
pilot you lost your own copy of the report and want to get the official
path out of the log. Tell him the professor wants it."

Jeff thought a moment, then nodded his head. "O.K. I'll see you later."

The three cadets returned to their quarters to wait while Jeff went up
to the control deck. He walked in with a smile, chatted with the pilot a
few moments, and then made his request.

"I want to take a look at the log a minute, Johnny," h