Earthman.

Miles away, no longer visible to Astro and out of sight of the giant
rocket cruiser, Captain Strong felt the same helplessness as he
approached the asteroid belt from a different angle. He realized any
number of things could have happened on the pirate-ship. Tom could have
been captured, or if not yet discovered, unable to escape from the ship.
Strong's throat choked up with fierce pride over the gallant effort Tom
had made to warn the Solar Guard of the _Avenger's_ position.

As he neared the outer edges of the belt, he concentrated on guiding his
small ship in and around the drifting asteroids, his eyes constantly
sweeping the area around him for some sign of a drifting space-suited
figure. What Strong really hoped for was the sight of a jet boat, since
in a jet boat, Tom would have a better chance of survival.

The young captain reached the outer edge of his search perimeter, turned
the small ship into a long-sweeping curve, and flipped on the
audioceiver.

"Attention! Attention! Jet boat one to jet boat two! Come in, Astro!"

Across the wide abyss of space that separated the two men, Astro heard
his skipper's voice crackle in his headphones.

"Astro here, sir," he replied.

"I'm beginning my sweep, Astro. Any luck?"

"Not a thing, sir."

"All right. Let's go, and keep a sharp eye out."

"Aye, aye, sir," replied Astro. He could not keep the worry out of his
voice, and Strong, many miles away, nodded in silent agreement with
Astro's feelings.

* * * * *

The _Avenger_ had long since disappeared and Tom was left alone in space
in the tiny jet boat. To conserve his oxygen supply, the curly-haired
cadet had set the controls of his boat on a steady orbit around one of
the larger asteroids and lay down quietly on the deck. One of the first
lessons he had learned at Space Academy was, during an emergency in
space when oxygen was low, to lie down and breath as slowly as possible.
And, if possible, to go to sleep. Sleep, under such conditions, served
two purposes. While relaxed in sleep, the body used less oxygen and
should help fail to arrive, the victim would slip into a suffocating
unconsciousness, not knowing if and when death took the place of life.

Tom lay on the deck of the small vessel and stared at the distant stars
through the clear crystal roof of his jet boat. He breathed as lightly
as he could, taking short, slight breaths, holding them as long as he
coul