"This is no game," said Tom. "We're fighting starvation, perhaps death!
And, believe me, if this colony goes the way of all space dust, it will
be a long time before there'll be another fleet of a thousand ships
gambled on a star colony!"

Logan nodded his head. "That's the way I look at it, Tom," he said.
"Regardless of what kind of beef we might have with Hardy or Vidac and
his crew, we all have to work together to make Roald a colony. A
successful colony!"

Returning to Fleet Ship Number Twelve, which was to be used for quarters
by the colonists until their homes could be erected, the three cadets
and Jeff Marshall said good-by to the Venusian farmer and continued on
toward the _Polaris_.

"Did Professor Sykes find any indication of what might have caused the
instruments to act up during the landing, Jeff?" asked Tom. The
curly-haired cadet referred to the professor's investigation started as
soon as the _Polaris_ had landed.

"Nothing so far, Tom," replied Jeff. "But it must be something big. He
packed a lot of gear into a jet boat and blasted out of here this
morning."

"What do you suppose it is?" asked Astro.

"I don't know," replied Jeff. "I can't even guess."

"I can," said Roger, "and if it's what I think it is--well, I just hope
it isn't, that's all." The blond-haired cadet stopped talking abruptly.