"Aye, aye, sir," replied Tom from the power deck.
The two cadets hurriedly closed the power units and left the ship.
"Did you hear what Captain Strong said, Astro?" asked Tom. "Search operations."
"I wonder what's up," the big Venusian remarked. "They don't set up search operations unless it's awfully serious!"
"Come on," urged Tom. "Maybe Roger's found something."
They entered the shack together and Tom called out, "Say, Roger, Captain Strong just spoke to Commander Walters at the Academy and—"
The curly-haired cadet stopped short. "Astro, look!"
"By the rings of Saturn!" exclaimed the big cadet.
The two cadets stood gaping at a huge hole in the middle of the room. The wooden floor was splintered around the edges of the opening and several pieces of the chemical feed-line equipment lay close to the edge, with trailing lines leading down into the hole. They heard a low moan and rushed up to the hole, flashing their lights down into it.
"Great galaxy!" yelled Tom. "Astro, look! It's a shaft! It must be a thousand feet deep!"