Swift, the second
member of the _Arcturus_ crew. Astro, a few feet in back of them,
running with surprising speed for his size, saw that it was going to be
a close race between himself and Allen, the third member of the
_Arcturus_ unit. He bowed his head and drove himself harder, the roar of
the crowd filling his ears.

" ... Go Astro!... Go Astro!..."

Pounding down for the kick, Astro gauged his stride perfectly and with
one last, mighty leap swung his right foot at the ball.

There was a loud thud drowned by a roar from the crowd as the ball
sailed off the ground with terrific force. And then almost immediately
there was another thud as Allen rose in a desperate leap to block the
ball with his shoulder. It caromed off at a crazy angle, wobbling in its
flight as the mercury within rolled from side to side. Swift, of the
_Arcturus_ crew, reached the ball first and sent it sailing at an angle
over Tom's head to bounce thirty feet away. Seeing Astro charge the
ball, Tom threw a block on Allen to knock him out of the play. The big
Venusian, judging his stride to be a little off, shortened his steps to
move in for the kick. But just as he brought his foot forward to make
contact, the ball spun away to the left. Astro's foot continued in a
perfect arc over his head, throwing him in a heap on the ground.

Two thousand voices from the stands roared in one peal of laughter.

While Astro lay on the ground with the wind knocked out of him, Schohari
and Swift converged on the ball. With Astro down and Tom out of
position, the _Arcturus_ unit seemed certain of scoring. But again the
ball rolled crazily, this time straight to Roger, the last defender. He
nudged it between his opponents toward Tom, who, in turn, kicked it
obliquely past Allen back to Roger again. Running with the grace and
speed of an antelope, the blond cadet met the ball in mid-field, and
when it dropped to the ground in front of him, sent it soaring across
the goal with one powerful kick!

As the cadets in the stands sent up a tumultuous cheer for the perfectly
executed play, the whistle blew, ending the period and the _Polaris_
unit led, one to nothing.

Breathing deeply, Astro and Roger flopped down near Tom and stretched
full length on the grass.

"That was a beautiful shot, Roger," said Tom. "Perfectly timed!"

"Yeah, hot-shot," agreed Astro, "I'm glad to see that big head of yours
is good for something!"

"Listen, fellas," said Roger eagerly, ig