Tom. "Remember, the order for us to report back was
signed by Commander Walters, not the cadet supervisor of leaves. I think
that means something special."

Suddenly the monorail roared out of the tunnel and into brilliant
early-morning sun again.

The three cadets turned quickly, their eyes sweeping the valley for the
first sight of the shining Tower of Galileo.

"There it is," said Tom, pointing toward a towering crystal building
reflecting the morning light. "We'll be there in a minute."

Even as Tom spoke, the speed of the monorail slackened as it eased past
a few gleaming structures of aluminum and concrete. Presently the white
platform of the Academy station drifted past the viewport and all
forward motion stopped. The doors opened and the three boys hurried to
the exit.

All around the cadets, men and women in the vari-colored uniforms of the
Solar Guard hurried through the station. The green of the Earthworm
cadets, first-year students of the Cadet Corps; the brilliant rich blue
of the senior cadets like the _Polaris_ unit; the scarlet red of the
enlisted Solar Guard; and here and there, the black and gold of the
officers of the Solar Guard.

The three cadets hurried to the nearest slidewalk, a moving belt of
plastic that glided silently across the ground toward Space Academy. It
whisked them quickly past the few buildings nestled around the monorail
station and rounded a curve. The three cadets looked up together at the
gleaming Tower of Galileo. Made of pure Titan crystal, it soared above
the cluster of buildings that surrounded the grassy quadrangle and
dominated Space Academy like a translucent giant.

The cadets stepped off the slidewalk as it glided past the Tower
building and ran up the broad marble stair. At the huge main portal, Tom
stopped and looked back over the Academy grounds. All around him lay the
evidence of mankind's progress. It was the year 2353, when Earthman had
long since colonized the inner planets, Mars and Venus, and the three
large satellites, Moon of Earth, Ganymede of Jupiter, and Titan of
Saturn. It was the age of space travel; of the Solar Alliance, a unified
society of billions of people who lived in peace with one another,
though sprawled throughout the universe; and the Solar Guard, the might
of the Solar Alliance and the defender of interplanetary peace. All
these things Tom saw as he stood in the wide portal of the Tower
Building, flanked by Astro and Roger.

Turnin