time before I would," said Tom. "Remember, Vidac
hasn't done anything we can actually pin on him."

"What about making the colonists pay for their food," sneered Roger.

"Vidac could say it was a precautionary measure," said Tom.

"What kind of precaution?" asked Astro.

"Well, Vidac could say that the colonists were using too much of the
supplies simply because it was free. And instead of imposing
rationing, he's making them pay, but that he wouldn't actually take
their profit."

[Illustration: _The speedy little ship shot ahead of the fleet toward
the gigantic mass of asteroids_]

"Yeah," growled Astro. "And there's just enough hokum in that to make
everyone back at the Academy happy."

"I'm afraid we'll have to go on with it," said Tom. "Not only this
exploration of the asteroid belt, but we'll have to wait for Vidac to
really tip his hand."

"From the way he operates," said Roger disgustedly, "that might be
never."

Blasting farther ahead through the unexplored region of outer space, the
cadets, who had seen a great many space phenomena, were awed by the
thickening groups of stars around them. It was Tom who finally realized
that they were getting closer to the inner ring of their galaxy and that
the stars and suns they were unable to see from Earth, or other Solar
Alliance planets, were some fifty to sixty billion miles closer.

Gulping a cup of tea and a few sandwiches, the three cadets continued
their advance toward the uncharted, unknown dangers of the asteroid belt
that lay ahead of them.

Meanwhile, back on the _Polaris_, Jeff Marshall walked into the
observatory quietly. He stood and watched Professor Sykes adjust the
prisms of his telescopes, then settle himself to an hour of observation.
Jeff knew that the professor would remain there for the next two hours.
He felt safe in going to the storeroom and taking out the communications
unit to work on it. But just to make sure, he called out, "Will you be
needing anything, sir?"

"No, I won't!" barked Sykes. "If I did, I'd ask for it!"

"Yes, sir!" said Jeff. He turned away with a slight smile on his face
and left the observatory. He walked quickly through the passageways of
the ship until he came to the storeroom hatch. He glanced around
quickly and then stepped into the quiet chamber. Pulling the cartons
away from the bench, he took out the half-completed tangle of wires, and
by the light of a small flashlight, he peered into the maze, trying to