He chided himself for not thinking of it before and darted toward the air lock that coupled the two ships together in space.
He turned a corner in the companionway and saw the door to the coupling chamber ahead. It was open. He dashed inside.
"Greetings, Corbett!" sneered Ross Miles. He stood just inside the doorway, the ray gun leveled at Tom.
"We figured you'd get around to thinking about the other ship sooner or later," said Quent behind him, jamming the ray gun in his back. "So we just came here and waited for you."
"Go get the other one, Quent," said Ross. Jerking Tom sideways into the coupling chamber, he rammed his gun into the curly-haired cadet's stomach. "I'll get this guy fixed aboard the other ship, and then set the firing chambers so they'll blow up."
"What are we going to do with Manning?" asked Quent.
"We'll figure that out later. Hurry up! Corbett probably called the Solar Guard."
"That's right, I did, Miles," said Tom. "They're probably closing in on you right now."
"Is that so?" snarled Quent. "Well, it's too bad you won't be alive to say hello to them."