"You don't know your anatomy yet, pal," drawled Roger. "Move your hand
down a couple of inches. Things only get you in the stomach."

"Oh, is that a fact?" growled the big Venusian. Suddenly, without any
apparent effort, he picked up the blond cadet and held him high in the
air. "Which way shall I drop him, Tom? On his head or the seat of his
pants? Seems to me it won't make much difference."

Tom laughed at the spectacle of Roger flailing the air helplessly, then
suddenly stopped and grabbed Astro by the arm. "Wait, Astro," he called.
"Look! There's someone in the ship!"

"What?" cried Astro, dropping Roger and turning to the _Polaris_. The
three cadets saw light gleaming from the control-deck viewport.

"Well, I'll be a space monkey!" exclaimed Roger. "Who could it be?"

"I don't know," replied Tom. "Governor Hardy is at the Luna City Hotel,
and Captain Strong is the only one besides us who has the light key to
open the air lock!"

"Well, what're we waiting for!" said Roger. "Let's find out what's going
on!"

The three cadets climbed into the ship and raced up the companionway to
the control deck.

"No one here," announced Roger as he stepped through the hatch. He
turned to Astro. "You were the last one out of the ship. Are you sure
you locked it up?"