shouted, slapping his unit mate on the back. He followed Tom's gaze past
Hardy to the empty hatch.

"Say, can you imagine a guy like that suddenly losing his nerve?" asked
Roger.

"No," replied Tom. "If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes I wouldn't
believe it!"

"This will go on your official record of course," said Hardy. "I'll see
that you're rewarded in some way, Corbett."

"Thank you, sir," said Tom. "But if you could just assure me that my
reports back to the Academy will get through, I'll be very happy."

"You mean they're not being sent?" asked Hardy, seemingly quite
concerned.

"No, sir," replied Tom. "At least I don't think so. And this is the
first time I've had a chance to tell you."

"Well," said Hardy, "there's a lot to be done now that we've arrived,
Corbett. I'll take this matter up with Vidac as soon as I get a chance."
He turned and walked off the control deck.

"Well, I'll be a space monkey!" exclaimed Roger.

"Yeah," agreed Tom, "I'll be two of them!"

[Illustration]