officer as the elder
spaceman left the room. He turned back to a large desk in the center of
the room where Roger Manning was busy noting figures on a large chart,
showing the areas already covered and listing the squadrons engaged in
the search.

As Strong leaned over his shoulder, Roger placed a finger on the chart.
"Squadron Ten has just completed a search of all asteroids in their
assigned area," he said, then added laconically, "Nothing."

Strong studied the chart a moment. "Well, we'll have to keep it up," he
said. "It's the only way we'll find them. A systematic search of the
belt from end one to the other." He paused and then muttered, "Only one
thing I'm worried about."

"What's that, sir?" asked Roger.

"That when we do find them, it'll be too late to help Tom."

"You really think he's aboard Coxine's ship, Captain Strong?"

"Couldn't be anywhere else," answered Strong. "And he'll be trying to
signal us, you can bet on that. Keep me posted on all radar contacts
made by the search squadrons. I want a continuous six-way radar sweep by
every ship."

"Yes, sir," said Roger.

"One more thing," said Strong, "tell Astro to get the _Polaris_ ready to
blast off. And you make sure your radar bridge is in A-one condition."

"Are we blasting off, sir?" asked Roger.

"Every ship we can get into space will give us a better chance of
finding Coxine and his crew. Now that we've got the search fully under
way there's no need to hang around here any longer."

"Glad to hear it, sir," replied Roger. "I was getting a little itchy to
hunt for those crawlers myself. And Astro can hardly keep still."

Strong smiled. "Don't worry, we'll find Tom," he said. "Wherever he is,
you can bet he's taking care of himself and doing a good job for the
Solar Guard."

Roger's eyes twinkled. "Oh, I wasn't so worried about Tom as I was
Astro, sir. He'll be pretty mad if there isn't anything left of Coxine
to pay him back for slugging him."

Strong rubbed his head and said grimly, "Astro's not the only one!"

The blond-haired cadet left the room, and Strong wearily turned back to
study the chart of the search in the asteroid belt.

Immediately upon arrival at Space Academy, two days before, Strong had
been placed in charge of the search by Commander Walters. The attack on
the prison asteroid and the escape of the prisoners had created the
biggest sensation in his life. From one end of the Solar Alliance to the
other, the visunews