are on the enlisted man's work
gang for six months!" said Tiny.

Hiding his shocked surprise, Tom hurriedly gave the boy a ten-credit
note and swore him to silence.

"Now you hurry home, Tiny, and don't tell anyone you've seen me!" he
said.

"O.K., Tom," replied the boy. "But what does it all mean?"

"I wish I knew," said Tom grimly. "And when I find out, Tiny, I promise
you I'll let you know."

When Tom was finally alone, he stood at the window, staring at the
gleaming tower, now lighted and shining brilliantly in the darkness. He
suddenly felt that he would never see the tower again.

CHAPTER 14

"Stand clear!"

Professor Hemmingwell's voice rang over the roar of activity in the
hangar as the huge new control panel was lifted along the hull to a
large hole that had been cut into the side of the experimental ship at
the control-deck level.

"Easy does it!" called the professor, standing on the deck and peering
through the hole. "Careful now!"

Now even with the hole, the panel was slowly pulled into the ship by the
workers. Even Major Connel and Steve Strong lent a hand, setting it into
place. When it had been securely anchored, a team of technicians swarmed
over the panel to begin the intricate work of connecting all the
controls to the various parts of the ship, and Hemmingwell and the two
Solar Guard officers stepped back to watch them.

"This puts us back on schedule now," said the professor, turning,
red-eyed and tired, to Connel and Strong. "It was a good idea of yours,
Steve, to prefabricate the panel and have it put into position all at
once. If we had tried to install it piece by piece, we'd be weeks
behind."

"Good work, Steve," Connel chimed in.

Strong merely nodded his thanks. He was tired. More tired than he had
ever been in his life. Not only had he supervised the construction of
the new control panel, but he had been working on a special report to
present to the Solar Guard Review Board requesting another trial for
Astro and Roger. And he had spent every spare minute haunting the MP
headquarters of the Solar Guard for word of Tom. So, he accepted the
compliments of Connel and Professor Hemmingwell with little enthusiasm.

"You better get some rest, Steve," said Connel, aware of Strong's
attitude. "I know how hard you've been working these past few days. So
knock off and I want your word that you will go back to your quarters
and get some sleep!"

"Sorry, Major," replied Stro