Walters. Strong flipped the switch and
the teleceiver screen darkened.

Fifteen minutes later, the _Dog Star_ blasted off from Mars, heading for
Venus.

During the trip back to the young planet that was rapidly growing into a
major industrial center rivaling Earth, Strong received a report from
Space Academy that the bartender had been picked up. His name was Joseph
Price, and after questioning him under truth serum, Solar Guard security
officers found the man's mind to be so filled with criminal plots and
counter-plots, it would take several weeks for the psychograph analyst
to learn the name of the man he claimed would know the whereabouts of
Wallace. This was disappointing news for Strong, especially since the
report included news of a second, third, and fourth strike by Wallace
and Simms on spaceships near the asteroid belt.

Reaching the starting place of their adventure, Venusport and the Solar
Exposition, Strong and the three cadets went immediately to a small
suburban section of the great city and the home of Nicholas Shinny.

Shinny lived comfortably in a small house made of Titan crystal,
enjoying himself during the day catching Venusian fatfish and watching
the stereos at night. Once an enlisted spaceman, he had been retired
with full pension and was living in ease and comfort. When Strong and
the three cadets arrived at the elderly spaceman's house, they found him
busy teaching a young Venusian wolfhound puppy how to retrieve.

"Well, blast my jets!" cried the old man. "If it ain't Tommy, Roger, and
the big fella, Astro! And Captain Strong!"

"Hello, Nick!" said Strong with a smile. "You're a sight for space-blind
eyes!"

"Heh-heh-heh," cackled Shinny, his merry eyes twinkling against his deep
space tan. "It's mighty good to see you boys. Come on in the house. I
got a mess of fatfish just pulled out of the stream and some of the most
delicious biscuits you ever had in your life!"

"Well, thanks, Nick," hesitated the captain. "But we're in--"

"Can't be in too much of a hurry to eat," snapped the old man with a
grin. "Anything you got to say is better said when you got a bellyful of
Molly's cookin'."

"Molly!" cried Tom. "But, Mr. Shinny--"

"When--" gulped Astro, "when did you--"

"Hey! Hold on!" cried the old spaceman. "Just damp your tubes there,
youngsters! You're way off course. Molly ain't nothing but an electronic
cook I got installed in the kitchen. She cooks better'n any
space-brained