lar Alliance.

No, Vidac shook his head. He's not here to investigate the uranium, he's
here either to check on the cadets or make a routine inspection of the
colony. And if it's the former, he'd give Strong enough proof to bury
the cadets on a prison rock for life.

Vidac turned to the teleceiver. "Get the spaceport," he ordered. "Tell
the spaceport officer to prepare a welcoming party to blast off in ten
minutes. They will meet Captain Strong of the Solar Guard in the cruiser
_Orion_. Communications control will give them his position." He flipped
off the teleceiver and settled back in his chair, smiling. Nothing in
the world like a big fuss to throw a man off guard, he thought. And
Steve Strong, as the first visitor from Earth since the colony was
founded, would get a tremendous welcome!

* * * * *

" ... Are you sure?" asked Tom, his face brightening. "You heard it
yourself?"

Jeff Marshall smiled. "Roald is going crazy. They're preparing the
biggest welcome for a spaceman since Jon Builker's return from his first
trip in space!"

"Boy," said Astro, "what a break!" He slapped Roger on the back. "We'll
be out of this can an hour after Captain Strong lands!"

"I knew you wanted me to help you try to escape," said Jeff. "I had
already begun to make plans."

"No need for that now," said Tom. "If we tried to escape, we'd be doing
the very thing Vidac would want us to do. He could say it was an
admission of guilt."

Roger agreed with a nod of his head. "There's only one thing that
bothers me now."

"What's that?" asked Astro.

"Professor Sykes," he said. "We've been so worried about our own necks,
we've forgotten about him."

"Well," said Astro, "what about him?"

"What really happened to him," mused Roger, "and why?"

"I wish I knew," said Tom. "But I'll bet Vidac knows."

"Sure," agreed Roger. "But I still say why and what?"

The blond-haired cadet looked around at the faces of his friends. There
was no reply to his question.

* * * * *

Every citizen of Roald, man, woman, and child, was at the spaceport to
watch the giant cruiser _Orion_ settle slowly to the ground. Vidac
watched it through squinting eyes. He had secretly hoped that the
uranium disturbances would cause the ship to crash, thus eliminating his
difficulties before they could begin, but he couldn't help admiring the
way the big cruiser was handled. When the hatch opened a