on my way back to Earth. You wouldn't, by any chance, be going back
soon, would you? I saw the Solar Guard cruiser come in and one of the
attendants told me that they were preparing it for immediate
blast-off--"

"Of course, Carter," Connel said briskly. "Get in. We're just going over
to inspect the receivers and then we'll be heading back."

Devers jumped into the jet car and Tom headed across the broad expanse
of the spaceport.

Connel turned to Devers and said enthusiastically, "Can you imagine,
Devers? Some young officer here at Marsport has worked out a way to
assemble and transport the receivers in a fantastically small amount of
time."

"That's amazing," said Devers. "I'd like very much to see them." He
looked at Tom and said, "Incidentally, who is your young friend?"

"Oh, sorry," replied Connel. "This is Cadet Corbett of the _Polaris_
unit. No doubt you've heard of them. He and his unit mates manage to get
into more trouble than all the monkeys in the Venusian jungle."

Carter laughed. "I've known Lou Connel long enough to know that when he
says something like that about you, son, he thinks very highly of you."

"Thank you, sir," replied Tom, not knowing what else to say.

While Connel and Devers talked of the problems surrounding the
projectile operation, Tom concentrated on his driving. He was following