man grabbed him by the
feet. He was pulled roughly out of the door and stood on his feet. Out
of the corner of his eye he could see that Astro had been stood up
beside the car like a tree. Vidac turned away from the giant cadet and
started to give Bush a hand. Suddenly he stopped and pulled out his
paralo-ray gun.

"Boss, what're you doing?" cried Bush, jumping away from Tom and leaving
the cadet rocking on his feet, trying to pretend he was still paralyzed.
He toppled forward, and before he realized what he had done, threw out
his hands to break his fall.

Vidac laughed. "I have to hand it to you, Corbett. That was the best bit
of acting I've ever seen in my life."

Tom picked himself up from the ground and glared at Vidac. Bush stood to
one side, too startled to realize what had happened.

"You mean, he--he--" Bush stammered, his eyes wide with alarm.

"That's right," said Vidac. "The wonder boy of the space lanes acted as
if he was frozen. What were you going to do, Corbett? Take over, maybe?"

"You'll never get away with it, Vidac," said Tom through clenched teeth.
"You're through and you know it!"

"Not yet, my friend," said Vidac. "You've had your fun. Now get your
friend out of the car and carry him aboard the _Polaris_. We're all
going for a little ride!"

Tom turned reluctantly and began pulling Roger out of the back of the
car. He realized that he could take no more chances with the paralo ray.
As long as he was awake, there was a chance for him to do something. He
lifted Roger gently to his shoulder, turned, and staggered toward the
cruiser. Just as he was about to step inside the hatch, he heard the
faint roar of jets in the distance. He stumbled and fell purposely to
stall for time. He and Roger sprawled full length on the deck. As Tom
sat up and rubbed his knee, Bush rushed over, leaving Vidac to struggle
with the immense bulk of Astro.

"Get up!" snarled Bush. He poked the gun within an inch of Tom's face.
The cadet knew that if Bush fired at such a close range, his brains
would be burned to a crisp. He fell away from the gun.

"I wrenched my knee," he whined. "I can't get up!"

"If you don't get up by the time I count three," growled Bush, "I'll
blast you! One, two--"

The roar of the jets was closer now and Tom's heart began to race.
Feigning pain in his leg, he started to pull himself to his feet. He
glanced toward the spaceport entrance and saw a stream of jet cars
pouring into the fiel