"Joseph Green - Forgotten Star" - читать интересную книгу автора (Green Joseph)

"We better hurry!"
The rocketubes were beginning to blast with full power when the boys reached their
seats. Quickly they strapped themselves in.
The Pioneer had been hurtling through space at tremendous speed. Now the great ship
was rapidly braking. The boys felt their bodies sinking deeper and deeper into the air-foam
cushions. The pressure built up continuously until it seemed that a massive weight pressed
down on them.
The pressure lasted for less than a minute.
Then suddenly it was gone! A sharp jolt, and then the roar of the rocketubes stopped
abruptly. A strange stillness settled over the ship.
The S.S. Pioneer was resting on the ground at Luna Spaceport!
During the landing operations, the seats in the main passenger cabin had been pivoted.
In spaceflight, passengers sat one behind the other. On land, the deck became the wall-with
the seats mounted on it, one above the other.
Clumsily, the passengers lowered themselves down metal cleats in the wall.
The boys stayed in their seats while the other passengers were leaving. They stared out
of the viewport. Far below, tiny figures were scurrying about at the base of the spaceship.
"One of them must be Dig," Ken said.
A huge tower was rolled across the field toward the spaceship. From the top of the
tower a tube-like gangway telescoped toward the Pioneer. Crew members, clad in
spacesuits, guided it into the open hatch of the airlock.
Another tube-like gangway joined the tower to the domed spaceport building.
"Let's go, Ken."
The boys climbed down through several floors of the ship to the airlock deck. Just as
they were about to enter the gangway, a sharp, angry voice stopped them.
"One moment!"
Sergeant Brool was standing in the shadows of the room.
"I thought you knew enough about the spaceways to trust the Space Guards!" he said,
stepping forward.
Jim gulped and looked away. His face turned red. He felt rather than saw Ken's sudden
dismay.
"Because of you, Dig Allen is in grave danger!" the Guardsman snapped. "I found one
spacesuit missing from the locker! Dig has just four hours of oxygen in that suit! What will he
do when it's all used up?"


3 The Mysterious Prowler

The boys stood silent and downcast as the Guardsman lashed them with his angry
words.
"Dig took that spacesuit and slipped off with the crew," the sergeant roared. "Now he's
out there with just four hours of oxygen!"
"He ... he can recharge the tanks," Jim said lamely.
"Where?" The sergeant thrust his face at Jim. "He's known here at Spaceport and in
Luna City! He won't risk getting caught! No, he's desperate, and he'll tiy some spacecrazy
stunt!"
"We couldn't give him away, sir!" Ken pleaded. "We promised!"
"No, I suppose not," said the Guardsman, his face softening. "I might have done the
same in your place. Be off with you!"
The boys hurried into the gangway tube and stepped on the glideway. A plastic belt