THE SPACE PIONEERS ***
Produced by Greg Weeks, Joseph R. Hauser and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
[Illustration: TOM CORBETT SPACE CADET THE SPACE PIONEERS By CAREY ROCKWELL WILLY LEY, Technical Adviser]
[Illustration]
THE SPACE PIONEERS
THE TOM CORBETT SPACE CADET STORIES By Carey Rockwell
STAND BY FOR MARS! DANGER IN DEEP SPACE ON THE TRAIL OF THE SPACE PIRATES THE SPACE PIONEERS THE REVOLT ON VENUS TREACHERY IN OUTER SPACE SABOTAGE IN SPACE THE ROBOT ROCKET
[Illustration]
A TOM CORBETT Space Cadet Adventure
THE SPACE PIONEERS
By CAREY ROCKWELL
WILLY LEY _Technical Adviser_
GROSSET & DUNLAP _Publishers_ New York
COPYRIGHT, 1953, BY ROCKHILL RADIO ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ILLUSTRATIONS BY LOUIS GLANZMAN PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
[Transcriber's Note: Extensive research can find no evidence of the required copyright renewal on this work.]
ILLUSTRATIONS
_Frontispiece_
Her nose pointed skyward, the _Polaris_ was ready to blast off 21 The Solar Guard worked late into the night, examining every ship in the Alliance 50 The speedy little ship shot ahead of the fleet toward the gigantic mass of asteroids 90 The _Polaris_ landed safely on the surface of the satellite 105 Bush pulled a paralo-ray gun from his belt and said, "All right, march!" 143 "Hasn't anybody figured out why four hundred ships crashed in landing?" Strong asked. 159 "We better take it easy, Astro," said Tom. "Turn off the lights." 171
THE SPACE PIONEERS
CHAPTER 1
"Go on, Astro," shouted the young Space Cadet. "Boot that screwy ball with everything you've got!"
The three cadets of the _Polaris_ unit raced down the Academy field toward the mercuryball, a plastic sphere with a vial of mercury inside. At the opposite end of the field, three members of the _Arcturus_ unit ran headlong in a desperate effort to reach the ball first.
Astro, the giant Space Cadet from Venus, charged toward the ball like a blazing rocket, while his two unit mates flanked him, ready to block out their opponents and give Astro a clear shot at the ball.
On the left wing, Tom Corbett, curly-haired and snub-nosed, ran lightly down the field, while on the opposite wing, Roger Manning, his blond hair cut crew style, kept pace with him easily. The two teams closed. Roger threw a perfect block on his opposing wingman and the two boys went down in a heap. Tom side-stepped the _Arcturus_ cadet on his side and sent him sprawling to the ground. He quickly cut across the field and threw his body headlong at the last remaining member of the opposition. Astro was free to kick the ball perfectly for a fifty-yard goal.
Jogging back toward their own goal line, the three _Polaris_ cadets congratulated each other. Astro's kick had tied the score, two-all.
"That was some feint you pulled on Richards, Tom," said Roger. "You sucked him in beautifully. I thought he was going to tear up the field with his nose!"
Tom grinned. Compliments from Roger were few and far between.
Astro clapped his hands together and roared, "All right, fellas, let's see if we can't take these space bums again! Another shot at the goal--that's all I need!"
