“Stand to, you rocket wash!” A harsh, bull-throated roar thundered over the platform of the monorail station at Space Academy and suddenly the lively chatter and laughter of more than a hundred boys w...

Tom Corbett’s first day at Space Academy began at 0530 hours with the blaring of the “Cadet Corps Song” over the central communicators: “From the rocket fields of the Academy To the far-flung stars of...

“I just can’t understand it, Joan,” said Captain Steve Strong, tossing the paper on his circular desk. “The psychographs of Corbett, Manning and Astro fit together like gears. And yet⁠—” The Solar Gua...

The first three weeks of an Earthworm’s life at Space Academy are filled with never-ending physical training and conditioning to meet the rigors of rocket flight and life on distant planets. And under...

“Will this do, Manning?” asked Tom. The three boys were in a secluded corner of the gym, a large hall on the fourteenth floor of the dormitory building. At the far end of the gym, a group of cadets ha...

“Well, Steve, how’s everything going?” Captain Steve Strong didn’t answer right away. He returned the salute of a Space Cadet passing on the opposite slidewalk and then faced Commander Walters who sto...

It was customary for all Earthworm cadets to gather in the main recreation hall to wait for the results of the manuals which would be announced on the huge teleceiver screen. Since all the units were ...

The campus of Space Academy was quiet that evening. Only a few cadets were still out on the quadrangle, lounging around in the open before returning to their quarters for bed-check. On the forty-secon...

The three members of the Polaris unit stepped off the slidewalk at the Academy spaceport and stood before Warrant Officer McKenny. “There she is,” said the stubby spaceman, pointing to the gleaming sp...

“The next event will be,” Warrant Officer McKenny’s voice boomed over the loud-speaker and echoed over the Academy stadium, “the last semifinal round of mercuryball. Polaris unit versus Arcturus unit....

“Atom City Express now arriving on track two!” The voice boomed over the loud-speaker system; and as the long, gleaming line of monorail cars eased to a stop with a soft hissing of brakes, the three c...

“The following ships in Squadron A will blast off immediately,” roared Commander Walters over the teleceiver. He looked up alertly from a chart before him in the Academy spaceport control tower. He be...

“Polaris to Commander Walters at Space Academy⁠—Come in, Commander Walters!” Captain Strong’s voice was urgent in the teleceiver. “Just worked up an assumed position on the Lady Venus,” said Roger ove...

The hatch clanked shut behind them. Inside the huge air lock of the Lady Venus, Tom, Roger, Astro and Captain Strong waited for the oxygen to equal the pressure in their space suits before removing th...

“What’s the reading on the Geiger counter now?” asked Tom. Roger looked down at the face of the radioactive measuring device and answered, “She’s been dropping for the last five minutes, Tom. Looks li...

Under the tremendous drive of the stern rockets, the silver ship suddenly hurtled forward as if shot out of a cannon. The dangerous tube slid out of the stern of the ship and was quickly left behind a...

“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 ...

“You think it’ll last much longer?” asked Astro. “I don’t know, old fellow,” replied Tom. “You know, sometimes you can hear the wind even through the skin of the ship,” commented Roger. For two days t...

“Tom⁠—Roger!” shouted Astro. “I think I’ve got it!” Astro, on his knees, pulled a long file blade away from the hatch and jumped to his feet. “Did you cut all the way through?” asked Tom. “I don’t kno...

“Got everything we need?” asked Tom. “Everything we’ll need⁠—and about all we can safely carry without weighing ourselves down too much,” answered Roger. “Enough food for a week, the rest of the Marti...

“How much water left?” asked Astro thickly. “Enough for one more drink apiece,” Tom replied. “And then what happens?” mumbled Roger through his cracked lips. “You know what will happen, Roger⁠—you kno...

“Eeeeeeoooooooow!” Astro’s bull-like roar shattered the silence of the desert. “There⁠—up ahead, Tom⁠—Roger⁠—a building!” Tom and Roger stopped and strained their eyes in the bright sunshine. “I think...