Tom and Astro followed the blond cadet through the darkened passages of the dead ship, and after digging a small pile of sand away from the control-deck hatch, found themselves once more amid the jumble of the wrecked instruments.
For the first time in three days, the boys saw sunlight streaking through the crystal port.
"I told you," cried Astro triumphantly.
"But there still isn't any way out of this place!" said Roger. "We can't break that port. It's six inches thick!"
"Find me a wrench," said Astro. "I can take the whole window port apart from inside. How do you think they replace these things when they get cracked?"
Hurriedly searching through the rubble, Tom finally produced a wrench and handed it to Astro. In a half hour Astro had taken the whole section down and had pushed the crystal outward. The air of the desert rushed into the control room in a hot blast.
"Whew!" cried Roger. "It must be at least a hundred and twenty-five degrees out there!"
"Come on. Let's take a look," said Tom. "And keep your fingers crossed!"
"Why?" asked Roger.
"That we can dig enough of the sand away from the ship to make it recognizable from the air."