t a few of _his_ ideas!"

"I didn't mean that," complained Roger. "All I said was--"

"You don't have to say a word, hot-shot," interrupted Astro. "I can read
your thoughts as though they were flashed on a stereo screen!"

"Oh, yeah!" growled Roger. "You should be that telepathic for your
exams. Why didn't you read my thoughts when I beat my brains out trying
to explain that thrust problem the other night?" He turned to Tom,
shrugging his shoulders in mock despair. "Honestly, Tom, if I didn't
know that he was the best power jockey in the Academy, I'd say he was
the dumbest thing to leave Venus, _including_ the dinosaurs in the
Academy Zoo!"

With a hamlike hand Astro suddenly grabbed for Roger's neck, but the
wiry cadet dashed along the slidewalk out of reach and the big Venusian
rumbled after him. Tom roared with laughter.

As he started to follow his unit mates, one of the passengers on the
slidewalk grabbed Tom by the arm and he turned to see Mike McKenny,
Chief Warrant Officer in the enlisted Solar Guard and the first
instructor the _Polaris_ unit had met on their arrival at the Academy.

"Corbett!" demanded McKenny. "Are those two space crawlers still acting
like monkeys out of their cages?"

Tom laughed and shook hands with the elderly spaceman. "Yes, sir," he
said. "But you could hardly call Astro a monkey!"

"More along the lines of a Venusian gorilla, if you ask me!" snorted
McKenny. The short, squat spaceman's eyes twinkled. "I've been hearing
some mighty fine things about you three space bongos, Tommy. It's a
wonder the Solar Guard didn't give you a unit citation for aiding in the
capture of Coxine, the pirate!"

"Thanks, Mike. Coming from you that compliment really means something!"

"Just be sure you keep those two space lunatics in their proper cages,"
said Mike, indicating Roger and Astro, who at the moment were racing
back and forth along the slidewalk bumping passengers left and right,
"and you'll all be heroes someday."

"Yes, sir," said Tom. He glanced up, and noticing that he was in front
of the Tower building, hopped to the walkway, waving a cheery good-by to
Mike. "Blast over to our mess and have dinner with us some night, Mike!"
he yelled to the departing figure.

"And interrupt the happiest hours in Astro's life?" bawled Mike. "No
thank you!"

Tom laughed and turned to the huge open doorway of the Tower where Roger
and Astro waited for him impatiently. In a few moments the three we