There was a loud mumble as everyone began talking at once.
"How are we going to get it back home, sir?" asked Tom. "Wouldn't hauling it back in spaceships cost too much?"
"Yes, it would, Corbett," answered Connel, "but I've got an idea how we can lick that problem."
"Can't see how you can lick it," snorted Shinny, "unless you take the whole blasted satellite back!"
"That's exactly what I'm going to do!" answered Connel.
"What?" exclaimed Roger, momentarily forgetting he was addressing a senior officer. "How in blazes are you going to do that?"
Connel turned to the chart-screen projector and switched it on. Immediately an image of Earth and its Moon, and much farther away the sun, was visible. Connel stepped to the screen and pointed to Moon.
"The Moon is a captive satellite of Earth, revolving around Earth the same way Earth revolves around the sun. It's the same situation we have here. This satellite is a captive of Tara, and Tara is a captive of Alpha Centauri. The difference is that the satellite is a peanut compared in size to the Moon, being only about fifteen miles in diameter. I'm not sure, but I think I can get enough reactant energy out of the Space Devil's fuel supply to blast the satellite out of Tara's grip and send it back to our solar system in one piece!"
"You mean, sir," asked Tom, perplexed, "you'll tear the satellite out of Tara's gravitational pull?"
"That's right, Tom," replied Connel, "using the same principle to clear gravity that we use on the Polaris or any spaceship. Enough power from the rockets will blast the Polaris off Tara. Well, if you can get enough power, you can blast this satellite out of Tara's grip also, since the only thing holding it here is the gravity of Tara—the same thing that holds the Moon in orbit around Earth!"