"But—but—" stammered Roger, "the Polaris crew is down there!"
"Listen, Manning!" Loring turned to the cadet. "Have you forgotten that you're wanted by the Solar Guard? You give that bunch down there a chance and they'll make you a space crawler on prison rock!"
"Why—I—" stammered Roger. He knew what Loring had said was the truth. If it was Connel, there would be no question what would happen to him. He faced Loring. "What will you do to them?"
"One well-placed reactant bomb, and they'll never know a thing!" sneered Loring.
"But you don't have any bombs aboard," said Roger.
"A little of the fuel and I can build one easily enough," replied Loring. He turned to Mason. "Go below and suit up to go into the reaction chamber," he ordered. "Get an extra lead suit out. I'll go in and help you. And find something we can use for a trigger and a fuse." He smiled at Roger. "It might be a little crude, but it'll be fancy enough for what we want. I'm going to blast the Polaris from here back to your sweet little Space Academy!"
Mason and Loring left the radar bridge while Shinny and Roger watched the white blip of the jet boat.
"That could be Tom and Astro in that jet boat," said Roger softly to himself.
"I guess I'd better stand by the power deck while we maneuver," said Shinny. "We wanta stay hidden until Loring and Mason get that thing ready."
Roger nodded, and Shinny disappeared.