Danger in Deep Space

oung Solar Guard officer assigned the job of showing the Pola

hieve that, si

e heart of the station. When more weight is taken aboard, or w

ne to another. The fuel tanks were made of thin durable aluminite; a huge cylinder, covered with heat-resistant paint, was the air conditioner;

y endless rows-but each one of them actually pl

was one big,

nnel has made our Venusian unhappy. Even if he had given us liberty,

e dynamo, which he watched with appreciative eyes. But then Terry

And, sir, this is Cadet Astro. Major Connel wo

u, Cadet Astro. I've heard about your handiness with the thru

ved his hand to indicate

out the finest-t

proud of his power deck, proud of the whole establishment, for that matter. H

s senior power-deck chief, the Solar Alliance had jumped at the chance to keep such a good man on the job.

restrain himself from ripping off his blue uniform and going right to work on a near-by machine that

r of coveralls in my locker. You can start right to work."

Astro, and was off

, Scotty. I don't think Cadet Astro's going

and Roger came to attention, saluted, and fo

w than he'll ever be in his

ay his eyes lit up when we walked in t

tion's upper decks. They got out on the observation deck, and Scott walked directly to a

o radar communications. When the red light's on, it means photo

fore, they learned. He'd been assigned to the Solar Alliance Chamber as liaison between the Chamb

. His ship exploded. He'd been badly injured

fy at first, were changing their minds fas

die. I can't blast off any more. But he

nt out, and they

m was a solid bank of four-foot-square teleceiver screens with an enlisted spaceman or junior officer seated in front of each one. These men, at their microphones, were relaying meteor and weather information to all parts of the solar system. Now it was Roger's turn to get excited at seeing th

the Andromeda Galaxy, thousands of light years away. Most of the lights you see there are no more than that, just light, their stars,

rate with this screen? It looks as though we w

screen," Scott replied, "which is equal to the b

at, sir?"

on from atmosphere up here,

ge radarscope scanner a little to one side and partially hidden from the glow of the huge teleceiver screen. "We need a man on watch here twenty-four hours a day,

reason for that,

night crews to handle light traffic, but by midnight the station is pretty muc

huge star cluster flashed brilliantly, filling the screen with light, then faded into the endless blackness of space. Tom caught

Scott at Tom's elbow. "Come on. I'l

, he thought about the pitifully small part mankind had played so far in the conquest of the stars. Man had c

," he said, "it was expected to be just a way station for refueling and celestial observations. But now we're finding other uses for it, just as though it were a small communi

mall desks, each with a monitoring board in front of him holding three teleceiver screens. As he talked into a mike near by, each man, by shifting fr

outside?" he asked. Tom pointed to a screen in front of him tha

smile. "When you arrived on the Polaris, didn't

answered Tom

e Polaris teleceiver. So the traffic-control chi

ving calls had a thin silver wire running to the vibrating bone in his ear. He moved constantly, turning in a circle, watching the various landing ports on the many screens. Three-thousand-ton rocket liners, Solar Guard cruisers, scout ships, and destroyers all moved about the satellite lazily, waiting

to one of the secondary control

rooms, are under his command. If he thinks a ship is overloaded, he won't allow it to enter and disrupt the balance of the station. Instead, he'll order its skipper to dump part of his cargo out in space to be picked up later. He makes hundreds of decisions a day-some of them really hair-raising. Once, when a rocket scout crew

usport will never be the same after t

rbett quizzically. "That's the

r inside. As Tom approached, Stefens gave him a quick, sharp glance. I

s, this is Cade

e to at

e. "Stand up here with me and keep your mouth shut. Remember any questions you want to ask, and when I have a spare moment, ask th

and turned back to his constant ke

he approach of a ship. Stefens

et liner coming in from Mars. Watch her closely. The Venusport Space Line is overloading again...." On and on he went, w

m. "Well, Corbett," he rasped

m's sheer magic and by Stefens' sure control of

one-yet, sir," h

pped Stefens, "and they better be rocket-blastin

ring that a cadet's life got no easier as time went on. He wondered fleetingly h

rocket scout out of landing-port eight. One crew member is remaining aboard the station for medical

all too much for one young cadet