e darkened. "Only one thing we can do now," he growled.

"What do you mean?" asked Roger.

"I mean that we're going to blast them!" Loring snarled. "Connel and
whoever else is with him!"

"But--but--" stammered Roger, "the _Polaris_ crew is down there!"

"Listen, Manning!" Loring turned to the cadet. "Have you forgotten that
you're wanted by the Solar Guard? You give that bunch down there a
chance and they'll make you a space crawler on prison rock!"

"Why--I--" stammered Roger. He knew what Loring had said was the truth.
If it was Connel, there would be no question what would happen to him.
He faced Loring. "What will you do to them?"

"One well-placed reactant bomb, and they'll never know a thing!" sneered
Loring.

"But you don't have any bombs aboard," said Roger.

"A little of the fuel and I can build one easily enough," replied
Loring. He turned to Mason. "Go below and suit up to go into the
reaction chamber," he ordered. "Get an extra lead suit out. I'll go in
and help you. And find something we can use for a trigger and a fuse."
He smiled at Roger. "It might be a little crude, but it'll be fancy
enough for what we want. I'm going to blast the _Polaris_ from here back
to your sweet little Space Academy!"

Mason and Loring left the radar bridge while Shinny and Roger watched
the white blip of the jet boat.

"That could be Tom and Astro in that jet boat," said Roger softly to
himself.

"I guess I'd better stand by the power deck while we maneuver," said
Shinny. "We wanta stay hidden until Loring and Mason get that thing
ready."

Roger nodded, and Shinny disappeared.

Maneuvering cautiously, Roger brought the _Space Devil_ around to the
night side of Tara opposite to the landing site of the _Polaris_.

Four hours later Loring and Mason came out of the reactant chamber
carrying a small lead box. They placed it gently on the deck and began
taking off their lead suits. Roger and Shinny stared at the box.

"There she is," said Loring. "Not much to look at, but there's enough
juice in there to blast the _Polaris_ into space junk!"

"Wait a minute, Loring!" said Roger. "There'll be no killing! No one
gets hurt!"

"Got a squeamish stomach, eh, kid?" Loring laughed. He slapped Mason on
the back. "Our little Space Cadet is suddenly worrying about his
friends. The same friends that wanted to send him away to the prison
asteroid."

"Blast the ship if you want," said Roger coldly, "but don't hurt the
crew