Chapter 17

“Astro! Roger!” yelled Tom. He opened his eyes and then felt the weight on his chest. A section of the control board had fallen across him pinning his left arm to his side. He reached for the railing around the acceleration chair with his right and discovered he still held the switch for the water sprinkler. He started to flip it on, then sniffed the air, and smelling no trace of smoke, dropped the switch. He unstrapped himself from the acceleration chair with his right hand and then slowly, with great effort, pushed the section of the control board off him. He stood up rubbing his left arm.

“Astro? Roger?!” he called again, and scrambled over the broken equipment that was strewn over the deck. He stumbled over more rubble that was once a precision instrument panel and climbed the ladder leading to the radar deck.

“Roger!” he yelled. “Roger, are you all right?” He pushed several shattered instruments out of the way and looked around the shambles that once had been a room. He didn’t see Roger.

He began to scramble through the litter on the deck, kicking aside instruments that were nearly priceless, so delicately were they made. Suddenly a wave of cold fear gripped him and he began tearing through the rubble desperately. From beneath a heavy tube casing, he could see the outstretched arm of Roger.

He squatted down, bending his legs and keeping his back straight. Then gripping the heavy casing on one side, he tried to stand up. It was too much for him. He lifted it three inches and then had to let go.

“Tom! Roger!” Tom heard the bull-like roar of Astro below him and stumbled over to the head of the ladder.

“Up here, Astro,” he yelled, “on the radar deck. Roger’s pinned under the radar scanner casing!”

Tom turned back to the casing, and looking around the littered deck desperately, grabbed an eight-foot length of steel pipe that had been snapped off like a twig by the force of the crash.

Barely able to lift it, he shoved it with all his strength to get the end of the pipe beneath the casing.

“Here, let me get at that thing,” growled Astro from behind. Tom stepped back, half falling out of the Venusian’s way, and watched as Astro got down on his hands and knees, putting his shoulder against the case. He lifted it about three inches, then slowly, still balancing the weight on his shoulder, shifted his position, braced it with his hands and began to straighten up. The casing came up from the floor as the huge cadet strained against it.

“All--right--Tom--” he gasped, “see if you can get a hold on Roger and pull him out!”

Tom scrambled back and grabbed Roger’s uniform. He pulled, and slowly the cadet’s form slid from beneath the casing.

“All right, Astro,” said Tom, “I’ve got ‘im.”

Astro began to lower the casing in the same manner in which he had lifted it. He eased it back down to the floor on his knees and dropped it the last few inches. He sat on the floor beside it and hung his head between his knees.

“Are you all right, Astro?” asked Tom.

“Never mind me,” panted Astro between deep gasps for breath, “just see if hot-shot is O.K.”

Tom quickly ran his hands up and down Roger’s arms and legs, his chest, collarbone and at last, with gently probing fingers, his head.

“No broken bones,” he said, still looking at Roger, “but I don’t know about internal injuries.”

“He wasn’t pinned under that thing,” said Astro at last. “It was resting on a beam. No weight was on him.”

“Uh--huh--ahhh--uhhhh,” moaned Roger.

“Roger,” said Tom gently, “Roger, are you all right?”

“Uh--huh?--Ohhhh! My head!”

“Take it easy, hot-shot,” said Astro, “that head of yours is O.K. Nothing--but nothing could hurt it!”

“Ooohhhh!” groaned Roger, sitting up. “I don’t know which is worse, feeling the way I do, or waking up and listening to you again!”

Tom sat back with a smile. Roger’s remark clinched it. No one was hurt.

“Well,” said Astro at last, “where do we go from here?”

“First thing I suggest we do is take a survey and see what’s left,” said Tom.

“I came up from the power deck,” said Astro, “all the way through the ship. You see this radar deck?” He made a sweeping gesture around the room that looked like a junk heap. “Well, it’s in good shape, compared to the rest of the ship. The power deck has the rocket motors where the master panel should be and the panel is ready to go into what’s left of the reactant chamber. The jet boat is nothing but a worthless piece of junk!”

The three boys considered the fate of the jet boat soberly. Finally Astro broke the silence with a question. “Where do you think we are?”

“Somewhere in the New Sahara desert,” answered Tom. “I had the chart projector on just before we splashed in, but I can’t tell you any more than that.”

“Well, at least we have plenty of water,” sighed Roger.

“You had plenty of water. The tanks were smashed when we came in. Not even a puddle left in a corner.”

“Of course it might rain,” said Roger.

Tom gave a short laugh. “The last time it rained in this place dinosaurs were roaming around on Earth!”

“How about food?” asked Roger.

“Plenty of that,” answered Astro. “This is a passenger ship, remember! They have everything you could ask for, including smoked Venusian fatfish!”

“Then let’s get out of here and take a look,” said Tom.

The three bruised but otherwise healthy cadets climbed slowly down to the control deck and headed for the galley, where Tom found six plastic containers of Martian water.

“Spaceman, this is the biggest hunk of luck we’ve had in the last two hours,” said Roger, taking one of the containers.

“Why two hours, Roger?” asked Astro, puzzled.

“Two hours ago we were still in space expecting to splash in,” said Tom. He opened one of the containers and offered it to Astro. “Take it easy, Astro,” said Tom. “Unless we find something else to drink, this might have to last a long time.”

“Yeah,” said Roger, “a long time. I’ve been thinking about our chances of getting out of this mess.”

“Well,” asked Astro, “what has the great Manning brain figured out?”

“There’s no chance at all,” said Roger slowly. “You’re wrong, Corbett, about this being midday. It’s early morning!” He pointed to a chronometer on the bulkhead behind Astro. “It’s still running. I made a mental note before we splashed in, it was eight-O-seven. That clock says nine-O-three. It doesn’t begin to get hot here until three o’clock in the afternoon.”