you!" There was a sudden cry of alarm behind Tom and for a moment
he was tempted to run. But he turned slowly and looked back. The man at
the newsstand was shouting at him.

"Ya tryin' to steal my paper?" he yelled.

Tom looked down and saw that he was still holding the paper he had
picked up to hide his face from the Marines. He smiled, reached into his
pocket for a coin, and flipped it back to the man.

"Sorry," he called and walked on.

He hurried through a tunnel to the open area of the field where the
other passengers were waiting in jet cars. He slipped into the nearest
one and settled down beside a fat woman. She looked at him archly,
sniffed audibly, and turned to stare out the window. Tom merely grinned
and settled deeper in the seat. In a moment the jet cab was speeding
across the small field to the waiting passenger ship.

Safely inside the ship, Tom sank into his assigned seat, buckled his
acceleration belt, and listened to the voice of the skipper counting off
the seconds until blast off.

"Five, four, three, two, one, _zero_!"

There was very little acceleration shock, since this was a vessel
designed for the comfort of the passengers. In fact, Tom found it
difficult to determine just exactly when it left the ground. The force
of the drive pushed him deep in his seat, to be sure, but it was a
gradual pressure and not at all like the sudden violent jerk that came
when he gunned the _Polaris_.

He smiled. There was considerably less power in this ship than in the
_Polaris_!

The thought of the giant rocket cruiser made him think about Roger and
Astro. He wondered what they were doing and if they had stayed out of
trouble.

During the trip back to Atom City, Tom kept to himself, avoiding the
other passengers on the ship as much as possible, taking his meals in
his berth. The cadet had a lot of thinking to do. Though temporarily
safe, he knew he couldn't dodge the Solar Guard forever. He kept track
of his pursuit by stereo newscasts which the ship picked up from both
Mars and Earth, and he was pleased to learn that the Marines and Solar
Guardsmen were still searching for him in Marsport.

There was one bit of information that was general news to the others on
the ship, but of particular interest to Tom. He had sat up in his berth
and listened.

"... The report of a sabotage attempt on a highly secret project now in
progress at Space Academy was denied today by project officials and
Commander W