el, suddenly pulling the cadet back and
pointing to the building. "Look at all the guards--at least a dozen of
them."

Astro waited a second before saying grimly, "We could try, sir."

"Don't be a pigheaded idiot!" roared Connel. "Nothing will happen to
those men now, and in five minutes there'll be so much confusion around
here that we'll be able to walk over and open the door without firing a
shot!"

Suddenly there was an explosive roar behind them and they spun around.
On the opposite side of the canyon three rocket ships were hurtling
spaceward.

"They must have spotted our fleet coming in," said Connel, a puzzled
frown on his face.

"But how could they?" asked Astro. "We knocked out their radar!"

Connel slammed his fist into the palm of his hand. "By the stars, Astro,
we forgot about their monitoring spaceship above the tower! When we
knocked out the main station here in the canyon, it took over and warned
the base of the attack!"

From all sides the canyon reverberated with the roaring blasts of the
Nationalist fleet blasting off. Around them, the green-clad rebels were
running to their defense posts. Officers shouted frantic orders and
workers dropped tools to pick up guns. The building that held Carson and
the other planters was suddenly left alone as the guards hurried to
ships and battle stations.

Connel counted the number of ships blasting off and smiled. "They don't
stand a chance! They're sending up only two heavy cruisers, four
destroyers, and about twenty scouts. The Solar Guard fleet will blast
them into space dust."

Astro jumped up and started to run.

"Hey, Astro! Where are you going?" shouted Connel.

"To find Roger!" Astro shouted in reply. "I'll meet you back here!"

"Right!" shouted Connel, settling back into concealment. There was no
need to release the planters in the guardhouse now. Connel was satisfied
that in a few moments the rebellion against the Solar Alliance would be
defeated. He smiled in prospect of seeing a good fight.

* * * * *

"Bandit at three o'clock--range twenty miles!" Aboard the command ship
of the first group of attacking Solar Guard squadrons, Captain Strong
stood in the middle of the control deck and watched the outline of an
approaching Nationalist cruiser on the radar scanner. The voice of the
range finder droned over the ship's intercom.

"Change course three degrees starboard, one degree down on ecliptic
plane," orde