nable to stand on his
feet.

Up in the stands, Captain Strong turned to Commander Walters. He found
it hard to keep his eyes from filling up as he saluted briskly.

"Captain Strong reporting, sir, on the success of the _Polaris_ unit to
overcome their differences and become a fighting unit! And I mean
_fight_!"

[Illustration]

CHAPTER 11

"Atom City Express now arriving on track two!" The voice boomed over the
loud-speaker system; and as the long, gleaming line of monorail cars
eased to a stop with a soft hissing of brakes, the three cadets of the
_Polaris_ unit moved eagerly in that direction.

"Atom City, here we come," cried Astro.

"We and a lot of others with the same idea," said Tom. And, in fact,
there were only a few civilians in the crowd pressing toward the car
doors. Uniforms predominated--the blue of the cadets, enlisted men in
scarlet, even a few in the black and gold uniforms which identified the
officers of the Solar Guard.

"Personally," whispered Tom to his friends, "the first thing I want to
do at Atom City is take a long walk--somewhere where I won't see a
single uniform."

"As for me," drawled Roger, "I'm going to find a stereo studio where
they're showing a Liddy Tamal feature. I'll sit down in a front-row seat
and just watch that girl act for about six hours."

He turned to Astro. "And how about you?"

"Why ... why ... I'll string along with you, Roger," said the cadet from
Venus. "It's been a long time since I've seen a--a--"

Tom and Roger laughed.

"A what?" teased Tom.

"A--a--girl," sputtered Astro, blushing.

"I don't believe it," said Roger in mock surprise. "I never--"

"Come on," interrupted Tom. "Time to get aboard."

They hurried across the platform and entered the sleek car. Inside they
found seats together and sank into the luxurious chairs.

Astro sighed gently, stretched out his long legs and closed his eyes
blissfully for a few moments.

"Don't wake me till we get started," he said.

"We already have," returned Tom. "Take a look."

Astro's eyes popped open. He glanced through the clear crystal glass at
the rapidly moving landscape.

"These express jobs move on supercushioned ball bearings," explained
Tom. "You can't even feel it when you pull out of the station."

"Blast my jets!" marveled Astro. "I'd sure like to take a look at the
power unit on this baby."

"Even on a vacation, all this guy can think about is power!" grumbled
Roger.

"Ho