Dr. Dale just finished, Astro," he said with a wink.

The big Venusian snorted. "Can you imagine the ego of that guy? Dr. Dale
spends almost a year building that thing, with the help of the leading
electronic scientists in the Alliance, and _he_ can't wait to _tell_
them about a few of _his_ ideas!"

"I didn't mean that," complained Roger. "All I said was--"

"You don't have to say a word, hot-shot," interrupted Astro. "I can read
your thoughts as though they were flashed on a stereo screen!"

"Oh, yeah!" growled Roger. "You should be that telepathic for your
exams. Why didn't you read my thoughts when I beat my brains out trying
to explain that thrust problem the other night?" He turned to Tom,
shrugging his shoulders in mock despair. "Honestly, Tom, if I didn't
know that he was the best power jockey in the Academy, I'd say he was
the dumbest thing to leave Venus, _including_ the dinosaurs in the
Academy Zoo!"

With a hamlike hand Astro suddenly grabbed for Roger's neck, but the
wiry cadet dashed along the slidewalk out of reach and the big Venusian
rumbled after him. Tom roared with laughter.

As he started to follow his unit mates, one of the passengers on the
slidewalk grabbed Tom by the arm and he turned to see Mike McKenny,
Chief Warrant Officer in the enlisted Solar Guard and the first
instructor the _Polaris_ unit had met on their arrival at the Academy.

"Corbett!" demanded McKenny. "Are those two space crawlers still acting