Ganymede, the largest moon of Jupiter, was an important way station of the Solar Alliance for all spaceships traveling between the outer planets of Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto and the inner planets of Mars, Earth, Venus, and Mercury. The colony on Ganymede was more of a supply depot than a permanent settlement, with one large uranium refinery to convert the pitchblende brought in by the prospectors of the asteroids. Refueling ships, replenishing supplies, and having a small tourist trade, it was a quiet colony, one of many spread throughout the system.
With the Solar Guard search squadrons hopelessly out of range on the other side of the asteroid belt, the cadets' only hope of saving the tiny colony lay in the beacon hidden inside the hull of the Polaris.
Leaving Wallace and half of his crew aboard the Polaris, Bull Coxine had transferred the three cadets to the Avenger and thrown them into the brig. As the ship accelerated toward the colony, Tom stared out of the small, barred viewport while Roger and Astro sprawled glumly on the hard bunks.
Roger finally broke the heavy silence. "What do you suppose Coxine meant when he said he had three passes into Ganymede?"
"Give you one guess, pal," snorted Astro.
"He obviously expects us to give him the recognition signal," said Tom.
Roger sighed. "That's what I figured. But I was hoping I was wrong."
"At least we're all immune to truth drugs," said Astro hopefully. "He won't get the recognition code out of us that way."
"That dirty space crawler wouldn't even bother with drugs," muttered Roger. "They aren't enough fun. He likes to get what he wants the hard way."
"Yes," agreed Tom. "We're in for a rough time, guys."