d spaceship to land successfully on the planet
Moon, only to perish on return to Earth...."

"Candidates--staaaaaaaaannnnnd _too_!"

Like a clap of thunder Warrant Officer McKenny's voice jarred the boys
out of their silence. He stepped forward like a bantam rooster and faced
the startled group of boys.

"I wanna know just _one_ thing! Who stepped off that slidestairs
_first_?"

The boys all hesitated.

"I guess I was the first, sir," said Astro, stepping forward.

"Oh, you guess you were, eh?" roared McKenny.

Taking a deep breath McKenny launched into a blistering tirade. His
choice of words were to be long remembered by the group and repeated to
succeeding classes. Storming against the huge Venusian like a pygmy
attacking an elephant, McKenny roared, berated and blasted.

Later, when Astro finally reached his quarters and changed into the
green coveralls of the cadet candidates, Tom and Phil crowded around
him.

"It was Roger, blast him!" said Tom angrily. "He was getting back at you
because Cadet Herbert made him carry his own gear."

"I asked for it," grumbled Astro. "Ah, I should've known better. But I
just couldn't wait to see the _Queen_." He balled his huge hands into
tight knots and stared at the floor.

"Now hear this!!!"

A voice suddenly rasped over the PA system loud-speaker above the door.
"All cadet candidates will come to attention to receive the Space
Academy oath from Commander Walters." The voice paused. "_AT-TENT-SHUN!_
Cadet candidates--Staaaaannnnd _TO_!"

"This is Commander Walters speaking!" A deep, powerful voice purred
through the speaker. "The Academy oath is taken individually.

"It is something each candidate locks in his spirit, his mind and his
heart. That is why it is taken in your quarters. The oath is not a show
of color, it is a way of life. Each candidate will face as closely as
possible in the direction of his home and swear by his own individual
God as he repeats after me."

Astro stepped quickly to the window port and gazed into the blue
heavens, eyes searching out the misty planet Venus. Phil Morgan thought
a moment, and faced toward the wall with the inlaid star chart of the
sky, thinking of sun-bathed Georgia. Tom Corbett stared straight at a
blank wall.

Each boy did not see what was in front of him yet he saw further,
perhaps, than he had ever seen before. He looked into a future which
held the limitlessness of the universe and new worlds and planets to b