it at Roger. The cadet ducked easily,
hopped over the fence, and before Wallace knew what was happening,
jolted him with three straight lefts and a sharp right cross. Wallace
went down in a heap, out cold.

Luther Simms, who had been watching the affair from one side, now rushed
at Roger with a monkey wrench. With the ferocity of a bull, Astro roared
at the small spaceman, who stopped as if pulled up by a string. Roger
spun around, made an exaggerated bow, and smiling, asked, "Next?"

At this point, aware that things were getting a bit thick, Tom strode
across the clearing, and grabbing the still smiling Roger, pulled him
away.

"Are you space happy?" he asked, "You know you goaded him into swinging
that chain, Roger. And that makes you entirely responsible for what just
happened!"

"Yeah," growled Astro. "Suppose he had hit you with it, then what?"

Roger, still grinning, glanced over his shoulder and saw Simms helping
Wallace to his feet. He turned to Astro, threw his arm over the big
cadet's shoulder, and drawled, "Why, then you'd have just taken them
apart to avenge me! Wouldn't you, pal?"

"Aw, stow it," snapped Tom. For a second Roger looked at him sharply,
then broke into a smile again. "O.K., Tom, I'm sorry," he said. "O.K.,
let's get back to work," ordered Tom.

Back at the _Polaris_, as they continued cleaning the hull of the ship,
Tom saw the two men disappear into their craft, throwing dirty looks
back at the three cadets as they went.

"You know, Roger, I think you made a very bad mistake," he said. "One
way or another, they'll try to even the score with you."

"And it won't be just a report to Captain Strong," added Astro darkly.

Roger, cocky and unafraid, broke out his engaging grin again and
shrugged his shoulders.

CHAPTER 3

"... And so we dedicate this capsule to the civilizations of the future.
Those who may dig this cylinder out of the ground in ages to come will
find within it the tools, the inventions, and the scientific wonders
which have made the era of the Solar Alliance one of peace and lasting
prosperity."

Captain Steve Strong paused, glanced at the huge crane and the
shimmering steel capsule that dangled at the end of a cable, then called
out, "Lower the capsule!"

The cheers of a hundred thousand people massed in the exposition plaza
greeted the order. The stereo camera and teleceiver scanners that were
sending the opening ceremonies of the Solar Exposition to al