own?" cried Jane.

"We ain't," said Joe. "Governor Vidac made us all special deputies this
morning."

"But we'd do it, anyway," cried someone from the rear of the crowd.
"Those Space Cadets are guilty and we're going to see that they get
what's coming to them!" There was a roar of agreement.

Jeff nodded, stepped on the accelerator, and eased the car slowly
through the group of men. As soon as he was free, he stepped down hard
and sent the jet car racing along the highway back toward Roald City.

"Jeff--Jeff," asked Jane despairingly, "do you think they'll catch the
boys?"

"I don't know," replied Jeff grimly. "But if they are caught, the only
way we can save them is to find the professor's journal and pray that
the uranium report is in it."

"But you said the information would be there," said Jane.

"When you need something as badly as we need that report," replied Jeff,
"you never find it."

* * * * *

The three Space Cadets were watching their pursuers from a high ridge.
They had been driven back all day, and now they could go no farther.
Caught while climbing down the other side of the hills from the Logan
farm, they had narrowly escaped detection at the very beginning and had
been racing from cover to cover ever since. Now there was no place to
go. It was only a question of time before the colonists would reach the
top of the ridge and find them.

"What do you think they'll do?" asked Roger.

"We'll be sent off this satellite so fast," answered Tom, "you'll get
sick from acceleration."

"Why?" asked Astro.

"Vidac won't want us hanging around. Not since Captain Strong is here.
He'll give us a trial within an hour, sentence us to life on a prison
rock, and delegate some of his boys to take us back. We don't have a
chance."

Astro let out a low animal-like growl. "If that happens," said the giant
Venusian, "I'll get off that rock someway, somehow. And I'll find Mr.
Vidac. And when I do--"

"No need to talk like that now," said Tom. "Let's just not get caught!"

"But how?" asked Roger. "Look, over there! They've already reached the
top of that ridge on the left. The party on the right will be up there
soon too. We're trapped!"

"Wait a minute," said Astro. He picked up a huge boulder and hefted it
in his arms. "We can stand them off all day by tumbling rocks down on
them."

"And kill innocent people who don't know what they're doing?" asked Tom.
"No--put it down,