The screen blurred and the image faded
as the connection was broken. Tom turned to face his sleepy-eyed unit
mates. "Well, I guess we'd better take another aspirin. It looks like a
hard night!"

Hastily donning fresh jungle gear supplied the night before in
anticipation of the mission, the three cadets trouped wearily out of
their rooms and rode down to the lobby in the vacuum elevator. They
walked across the deserted lobby as though in a trance and outside to
the quiet street. A jet cab stood at the curb, the driver watching them.
He whistled sharply and waved at them. "Hey, cadets! Over here!"

Still in a fog, the three cadets climbed into the back seat, flopping
into the soft cushions with audible groans as the cab shot away from the
hotel and sped into the main highway which led to the spaceport.

The traffic was light and the cab zoomed along at a smooth, fast clip,
lulling the boys into a fitful doze. But they were rudely awakened when
the car spun into a small country lane and the driver slammed on the
brakes. He whirled around and grinned at them over a paralo-ray pistol.
"Sorry, boys, the ride ends here. Now climb out and start stripping."

The three sleepy cadets came alive instantly. Without a word they moved
in three different directions simultaneously. Tom dived for one door,
Astro the other, while Roger flopped to the floor. The driver fired,
missing all of them, and before he could fire again he was jerked out
of his seat and held in a viselike grip by Astro. Tom quickly wrenched
the paralo-ray gun from his hand.

"All right, you little space crawler," growled Astro, "start talking!"

[Illustration]

"Take it easy, Astro," said Tom. "How do you expect him to talk when
you've got him around the Adam's apple!"

"Yeah, you big ape," said Roger in a slow drawl. "Find out what he has
to say before you twist his head off!"

Astro released the man, pushing him against the cab door and pinning him
there.

"Now let's have it," he growled. "What's this all about?"

"I didn't mean any harm," whined the cab driver. "A guy calls me and
says for me to meet three Space Cadets."

"What guy?" snapped Tom.

"A guy I once knew when I was working the fields in the jungle belt. I
worked on a plantation as a digger."

"What's his name?" asked Roger.

"I don't know his name. He's just a guy. He calls me and says it's worth
a hundred credits to pick up three Space Cadets from the hotel and hold
'em for an hour