"Like I've been run through a set of gears," mumbled Astro. "How about yourself?"
"O.K.," replied Tom. "Was it"—he paused—"was it tough in the air lock?"
Roger smiled. "Not as tough as it must have been on you up here. We realized what was going on as soon as we found out we were losing air."
The blond-haired cadet shook his head and Tom noticed that both Roger and Astro were weak from their ordeal in the chamber.
At the control panel, Coxine was bawling orders to his crew. "Jet boats one, two, three, four, and five! Stand by to blast off!"
The three cadets looked at each other helplessly.
"Russell, check in," continued the burly spaceman.
"Russell here!" replied a voice on the intercom.
"You're in charge of the party. I want you to do one thing, and one thing only! Take the largest ships on the spaceport and blast off. Don't touch anything else! Just the ships. Those you can't get off the ground, leave. We'll blast them later!"
"Aye, aye, sir."