more minutes."

Tom hesitated. It had been a long time since the two units had played
together, but orders were orders. He looked at Roger and Astro. "Well,
what about it?"

"Sure," said Roger. "We'll wipe up these space jokers in nothing flat!
Come on!"

There was a mock yell of anger from the _Arcturus_ unit and the two
teams raced back to their starting positions. In the remaining minutes
of play, the cadets played hard and rough. First one team would score
and then the other. A sizable crowd of cadets had gathered to watch the
game and cheered lustily as the players tore up and down the field.
Finally, when both teams were nearly exhausted, the game was over and
the score was eight to seven in favor of the _Polaris_ unit. Roger had
made the final point after Tony Richards had left the game with a badly
bruised hip. A substitute called in from the bystanders, an Earthworm
cadet, had eagerly joined the _Arcturus_ team for the last minutes of
play but had been hopelessly outclassed by the teamwork of the _Polaris_
unit.

Promising a return match soon, Roger, Tom, and Astro hurried to their
lockers, showered, and dressed in their senior cadet uniforms of vivid
blue, then raced to the nearest slidewalk to head toward the main group
of buildings that made up Space Academy.

Whisked along on the moving belt of plastic that formed the principle
method of transportation in and around the Academy grounds, Tom turned
to his unit mates. "What do you think it'll be?" he asked.