The curly-haired cadet turned back to the control board and once again
checked his instruments. Behind him, Vidac and Governor Hardy watched
the surface of Roald as the _Polaris_ began to turn for her tailfirst
landing.

"Cut all thrust at one hundred thousand feet, Astro," ordered Tom.

"Aye, aye," replied Astro.

"One hundred ten thousand feet," reported Roger. "One-O-seven,
one-O-four, one hundred!"

Almost immediately, the blasting roar of the rockets was cut to a
whisper and the ship began to drop toward the surface of the satellite.

Vidac jumped forward and grabbed Tom's shoulder. "What're you trying to
do, Corbett? We're falling!"

"I have no data on the gravity of Roald," said Tom calmly. "The best way
to find out is to check our rate of fall. I can then gauge the amount of
braking power necessary."

Behind the two spacemen, Governor Hardy smiled. He stepped forward and
tapped Vidac on the shoulder. "Whatever your difficulties coming out
here with them, Paul, you've got to admit that they know how to handle
this ship."

"Yeah," growled Vidac. "Too bad they don't know how to handle themselves
as well."