Spears, Coglin, and Duke jumped into the chairs and Tom walked around
them eying them coldly. "Now, Misters," he said, "you are to blast off,
make a complete circle of the Earth, and return to the Academy spaceport
for a touchdown. Is that clearly understood?"

"All clear," chorused the boys.

"Stand by to raise ship!" bawled Tom.

"Power deck, check in!" snapped Duke from the first chair. "Radar deck,
check in!"

"Just one moment, Mister," interrupted Roger. "When you issue an order
over the intercom, I want to see you pick up that mike. I want to see
all the motions. It's up to you, Misters, to make us believe that you
are blasting off!"

"Very well," replied Duke with a nervous glance back at his unit mates.

"Carry on!" roared Tom.

Then, as Tom, Roger, and Astro sprawled on their bunks, grinning openly,
the three Earthworm cadets began their simulated flight through space.
Going through the movements of operating the complicated equipment of a
spaceship, they pushed, pulled, jerked, snapped on imaginary switches,
read unseen meters and gauges, and slammed around in their chairs to
simulate acceleration reaction. The three cadets of the _Polaris_ unit
could no longer restrain themselves and broke into loud laughter at the
antics of the aspirants. Finally, when they had landed their imaginary
ship again, the Earthworms were pounded on the back heartily.