hit.

When Tom returned a few minutes later, he looked at his unit mates and
shook his head. Never, in all the adventures they had shared or all the
tough situations they had been in, had either Roger or Astro given up as
they seemed to be doing now.

"And," thought Tom miserably, "with good reason too! I feel like tossing
in the sponge myself."

* * * * *

The huge Space Academy gymnasium had been converted into a temporary
courtroom, and at ten A.M. the following day the cavernous chamber was
packed with all the cadets who could get off duty, in addition to a
liberal sprinkling of Solar Guard officers and instructors who were
keenly interested in their pupils' handling of orderly democratic
procedure.

As the cadet judge opened the proceedings, Commander Walters, Major
Connel, Captain Strong, and Lieutenant Wolchek, unit commander of the
_Capella_ crew, watched intently from their seats in the back of the
gym. Up forward, at two small tables immediately in front of the
Council's platform, the _Polaris_ and _Capella_ units sat rigidly, while
their defense lawyers arranged papers and data on the table for quick
reference. Little Alfie Higgins didn't say a word to Tom, Roger, or
Astro, merely studied his opponent, Cadet Benjy Edwards, who was acting
as attorney for the _Capella_ unit. Edwards, a beefy boy with a florid
face, looked across the chamber and sneered at Tom. The young cadet
repressed a quick shudder of anger. There was bad blood between the two.
Once, Tom had found Edwards bullying a helpless group of Earthworm
cadets, forcing them to march and exercise under a broiling Martian sun
for no reason at all, and Tom had put a stop to it. Edwards had taken
every opportunity to get back at Tom, and now he had his best chance.

From the beginning, the trial was argued bitterly. Though the issues
were clear-cut--illegal possession of the study spools, out on the
quadrangle after hours, and fighting--Edwards tried to accuse the
_Polaris_ unit of irrelevant infractions. But Alfie Higgins was his
equal. From the beginning, he admitted that the _Polaris_ unit was
guilty of the first charge, but made a strong claim that they had more
than made up for the infraction by risking censure to return the spools
to their rightful owners. In addition, he forced Tony Richards to admit
that he had accepted Roger's apology. The Council agreed to drop that
charge and to hold the second charge in ab