re you going to get us
out of here, or not?"

Astro whirled around, his face grim, his hands balled into fists, ready
to fight. "What's that, Mann--?" He stopped. Roger was smiling and
holding out his hand.

"Whether you like it or not, you poor little waif, you've just made
yourself a friend."

Tom came up to them and leaned against the door casually. "When you two
stop gawking at each other like long-lost brothers," he said lazily,
"suppose we try to figure a way out of this dungeon."

[Illustration]

CHAPTER 19

"Tom--Roger!" shouted Astro. "I think I've got it!"

Astro, on his knees, pulled a long file blade away from the hatch and
jumped to his feet.

"Did you cut all the way through?" asked Tom.

"I don't know--at least I'm not sure," Astro replied, looking down at
the hole he had made in the hatch. "But let's give it a try!"

"Think we can force it back enough to get a good hold on it?" asked
Roger.

"We'll know in a minute, Roger," said Astro. "Get that steel bar over
there and I'll try to slip it in between the hatch and the bulkhead."

Roger rummaged around in the jumble of broken parts and tools on the
opposite side of the power deck and found the steel bar Astro wanted.
After several attempts to force the hatch open had proven futile, Tom
suggested that they try to file the hinges off the hatch, and then
attempt to slide it sideways. After much effort, and working in shifts,
they had filed through the three hinges, and now were ready to make a
last desperate attempt to escape. Astro took the steel bar from Roger
and jammed it between the bulkhead wall and the hatch.

"No telling what we'll find on the other side," said Astro. "If the
sand has covered up the ship all the way down to here, then we'll never
get out!"

"Couldn't we tunnel through it to the top, if it has filled the ship
down as far as here?" asked Roger.

"Not through this stuff," said Tom. "It's just like powder."

"Tom's right," said Astro. "As soon as you dig into it, it'll fall right
back in on you." He paused and looked at the hatch thoughtfully. "No.
The only way we can get out of here is if the sand was only blown into
the deck outside and hasn't filled the rest of the ship."

"Only one way to find out," said Tom.

"Yeah," agreed Roger. "Let's get that hatch shoved aside and take a
look."

Astro jammed the heavy steel bar farther into the space between the
hatch and the bulkhead, and then turned back to h