Part 21 (1/2)

”I'll turn around and leave.”

”Then start turning, Strong,” snarled the giant prisoner, ”because I ain't got nothing to tell you except how much I hate your guts!”

Astro moved forward slightly, but Strong held him back. ”O.K., Bull. If that's the way you want it, I'll leave.”

”Why don't you let the young punk try something?” challenged c.o.xine. ”I ain't had any exercise in a long time.”

Strong looked at the huge man and said coldly, ”I wouldn't want the death of a piece of s.p.a.ce sc.u.m to show on his record.”

Then, as if the s.p.a.ce and sky overhead had suddenly been torn open, there was a flash of light followed by the roar of a tremendous explosion. The ground trembled. The air seemed to moan in agony. Strong and Astro wheeled around and looked toward the tower that s.h.i.+mmered in the light of the late afternoon sun. To their horror, they saw the unmistakable mushrooming cloud of an atomic blast rising in the synthetic atmosphere behind it.

”By the craters of Luna--” gasped Strong.

A second flash and explosion rocked the prison asteroid and suddenly the tower disappeared. Almost immediately, a s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p appeared over the small planetoid and began systematically pounding the surface installations with atomic blasters.

”Captain Strong,” cried Astro. ”Tom and Roger--they were in the tower!”

”Come on,” yelled Strong, ”we've got to get back!”

”You ain't going nowhere, Strong,” snarled c.o.xine behind him. ”I've been waiting a long time for this!” He suddenly struck the Solar Guard officer with a heavy rock and Strong slumped to the ground unconscious.

Before Astro could move, c.o.xine smashed him to the ground with a blow on the back of the neck. They both lay deathly still.

Then, as the atomic bombardment of the penal asteroid continued, the giant s.p.a.ce criminal jumped into the jet car and sped away.

CHAPTER 11

”Fire!” bawled Major Savage to his crew of gunners.

At the other end of the field one of the remaining two undamaged rocket destroyers blasted off to battle the invading s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p.

Tom and Roger had been on a tour of the great central tower with Major Savage when the attack came and had been ordered to find safety in the open fields. The major knew the tower would be one of the first targets.

Sprawled on the ground behind a bunker, they saw the major, his s.p.a.ce jacket torn from his back, standing in the middle of the field, quietly issuing orders to scarlet-clad s.p.a.cemen, desperately trying to organize the penal asteroid's defenses.

The s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p, which had somehow managed to penetrate the tight radar warning screen around the prison, had struck with merciless precision.

Again and again, its atomic blasters had found the most important installations and had wiped them out. The first target, after the tower had been shattered, was the underground launching ramps for the asteroid's small fleet of rocket destroyers. But even after a direct hit, the guards were able to ready two s.h.i.+ps to fight the attacking s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p. The first was already diving in, her small one-inch blasters firing repeatedly.

Suddenly, Lieutenant Williams, in command of the second s.h.i.+p, came racing up to Major Savage, to report that his radarman had been hit and the s.h.i.+p couldn't blast off.

”Here's where I get into the act!” Roger jumped up immediately, and with a brief ”So long, s.p.a.ceman” to Tom, raced off to join Lieutenant Williams.

”s.p.a.ceman's luck,” yelled Tom as the officer and the cadet ran toward the waiting s.h.i.+p.

Looking skyward again, Tom saw the first destroyer diving toward the attacking s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p, trying to get in range with her lighter armament.

Suddenly there was a burst of brilliant light. The lighter s.h.i.+p had been completely destroyed by a direct hit.

Sick with horror, Tom looked away and watched the s.h.i.+p Roger had joined blast off under full acceleration. It roared s.p.a.ceward in a straight line, disappearing at incredible speed.