!"

"By the craters of Luna!" cried Astro. "I forgot all about them!"

Tom, Roger, Astro, Hemmingwell, and Connel raced out of the air lock to
their stations. Astro poured on the power without waiting for an order
from the control deck and soon they were rocketing into the safety of
space.

Watching the wildly flying missiles on the teleceiver screen, Connel
breathed a sigh of relief.

"Wow!" he snorted. "Glad we're out of that mess."

"But what are we going to do about them, sir," asked Tom, a worried
frown wrinkling his forehead as he watched the screen. "We can't just
leave those things there. Some other ship may--"

"Don't worry about it," Connel broke in brusquely. "The projectiles will
run out of fuel in a few minutes and they'll just drift. They can be
fished out any time."

"We can go back and get them ourselves," said the young cadet eagerly.
"Roger and I can--"

"We've got more important things to do now!" thundered Connel. Switching
on the intercom, he ordered Roger and Astro to report to the control
deck. They appeared within seconds of his order and he faced the three
cadets grimly.

"Well, boys," he asked, "what's the story?"

"I guess we'd better explain, sir," said Tom.

"I guess you'd better," nodded Connel.

Tom quickly ran over the chain of events, beginning with his abduction
on Mars to their appearance on the ship, including the part Barret had
played in tricking Roger and Astro into taking the scout. As he spoke,
Connel looked more and more amazed, and when Tom finally uttered the
name of the man he thought was responsible for all the sabotage, Connel
jumped out of his chair.

"I can't believe it!" he exclaimed.

"You were nearly killed a few minutes ago, sir," said Tom. "And who
sabotaged the rings? Barret! Who was around every time something
happened? Who incited the crew to keep from taking this ship into space?
Who spread the rumor that it was jinxed? The answer to every one of
those questions, sir, is Barret. And Dave Barret is working for--"

"Let me at that sniveling space pup!" interrupted Connel, snarling his
rage. "I'll tear him apart and throw him to the buzzards!"

The enraged major jumped to the hatch but Astro and Tom barred his way,
with Roger stepping quickly in back of him, a heavy wrench in his hand,
ready to assist in any manner necessary to subdue the howling officer.

"Try to kill me!" Connel howled. "Why, I'll--I'll--"

"No, Major!" shouted Tom. "He's th