He was rocked by a sharp shock, on top of it came the roar of an explosion. Something snatched at his breath.
He sat up and looked around. A cadet near him was peering cautiously over the parapet. "Allah the Merciful," he heard him say softly.
"What happened?"
"Crashed in. Dead, all dead." The cadet seemed to see him for the first time. "Get back to your quarters," he said sharply.
"But how did it happen?"
"Never mind-this is no time for sightseeing." The cadet moved down the line, clearing out spectators.
IV FIRST MUSTER
MATT'S BOOM WAS EMPTY, which was a relief. He did not want to see Burke, nor anyone. He sat down and thought about it.
Eleven people-just like that. All happy and excited and then-crrumpl-not enough left to cremate. Suddenly he himself was back up .in the sky- He broke off the thought, trembling.
- At the end of an hour he had made up his mind that the Patrol was not for him. He had thought of it, he realized, through a kid's bright illusions- Captain Jenks of the Space Patrol, The Young Rocketeers, stuff like that. Well, those books were all right-for kids-but he wasn't hero material, he had to admit.