brought them here!" howled Astro.

"Yup." Roger grinned. "Do you think that squirt will know who I am? Not
in a million years. And by the time Tony and the others do find out who
has them, we'll be finished. Get it?"

"I get it, all right, you crummy little chiseler," growled Astro. "Tom,
we gotta give these back to Tony."

Tom nodded. "You're right," he said.

"Now wait a minute!" said Roger angrily. "I went to a lot of trouble to
get these things for you--"

"Look, Roger," Tom interrupted, "I would rather have one night with
those spools than a two-week leave in Atom City right now. But the
_Capella_ unit is having a tough time making the Spring passing lists.
They need those spools more than we do."

"Yeah," said Astro. "We could probably take the tests now and pass, but
they really have to study. I'm for getting them back to the _Capella_
unit right now. How about you, Tom?"

The young cadet nodded and turned to Roger who stood there, frowning.
"Roger," said Tom, "both Astro and I really appreciate it. But you
wouldn't want the _Capella_ unit to flunk out of the Academy, would
you?"

Roger gnawed at his thumbnail and then looked at his two unit mates
sheepishly. "You're right, fellas," he said. "It was kind of a dirty
trick. Give me the spools. I'll take them back to Tony right now."

"Wait a minute!" exclaimed Astro. "It's after hours. We're not supposed
to be out of the dorm."

For a second the three boys looked at each other hesitantly. Then, as
though they had telepathically conveyed their individual decisions to
each other, they turned toward the door. Tom opened it and stepped out
into the hall cautiously, then turned back and nodded. Roger and Astro
followed him quickly.

As Roger closed the door behind him, he murmured, "There's no reason for
all of us to go. I was the one who took the spools, so I should bring
them back. Why should you two guys risk getting caught?"

Astro punched him in the shoulder fondly. "We always work together,
don't we?" he declared. "If one's gonna get into trouble, we all
should."

"Let's go," urged Tom in a sharp whisper, and they all raced silently
toward the slidestairs.

Seconds later, the three cadets of the _Polaris_ unit were down in the
main hallway of the dormitory building, tiptoeing toward the front
portal. Pausing only to look into the O.D.'s office to make sure the
officer wouldn't spot them, they reached the portal and ducked out.
Pausing again to