CHAPTER 3
"Control deck to power deck, check in!" Tom's voice crackled over the power-deck loud-speaker and Astro snapped to quick attention.
"Power deck, aye!" replied the giant Venusian into the intercom microphone. "What's up?"
"Stand by for course change," said Tom. "Roger's picked up a meteor on the radar scanner and—"
"Here's the course change," Roger's voice broke in over the intercom. "Three degrees up on the plane of the ecliptic and five degrees starboard!"
"Get that, Astro?" snapped Tom. "Stand by for one-quarter burst on steering rockets!"
"One-quarter—right!" acknowledged the power-deck cadet and turned to the massive panel that controlled the rockets.
On the control deck Tom Corbett continued talking to Roger. "Relay the pickup to the control-deck scanner, Roger," he ordered. "Let me take a look at that thing."