"Carey Rockwell - Tom Corbett Space Cadet 03 - On the Trail of the Space Pirates" - читать интересную книгу автора (Rockwell Carey)

endless silver ribbon, the monorail express hurtled through the early dawn speeding its
passengers to their destination. As the gleaming line of streamlined cars crossed the newly
developed grazing lands that had once been the great American desert, Tom Corbett
stirred from a deep sleep. The slanting rays of the morning sun were shining in his eyes.
Tom yawned, stretched, and turned to the viewport to watch the scenery flash past. Looming
up over the flat grassy plains ahead, he could see a huge bluish mountain range, its many
peaks covered with ever-present snow. In a few moments Tom knew the train would rocket
through a tunnel and then on the other side, in the center of a deep, wide valley, he would
see Space Academy, the university of the planets and headquarters of the great Solar
Guard.
He reached over and shook Roger and Astro, calling, "All right, spacemen, time to hit
the deck!"
"Uh? Ah-ummmh!" groaned Roger.
"Ahhhoooohhhhhhl" yawned Astro. Standing up, he stretched and touched the top of the
monorail car.
"Let's get washed before the other passengers wake up," said Tom, and headed for the
morning room. Astro and Roger followed, dragging their feet and rubbing their eyes.
Five minutes later, as the sleek monorail whistled into the tunnel beneath the mountain
range, the boys of the Polaris unit returned to their seats.
"Back to the old grind," sighed Roger. "Drills, maneuvers, books, lectures. The same
routine, day in day out."
"Maybe not," said Tom. "Remember, the order for us to report back was signed by
Commander Walters, not the cadet supervisor of leaves. I think that means something
special."
Suddenly the monorail roared out of the tunnel and into brilliant early-morning sun again.
The three cadets turned quickly, their eyes sweeping the valley for the first sight of the
shining Tower of Galileo.
"There it is," said Tom, pointing toward a towering crystal building reflecting the morning
light. "We'll be there in a minute."
Even as Tom spoke, the speed of the monorail slackened as it eased past a few
gleaming structures of aluminum and concrete. Presently the white platform of the Academy
station drifted past the viewport and all forward motion stopped. The doors opened and the
three boys hurried to the exit.
All around the cadets, men and women in the varicolored uniforms of the Solar Guard
hurried through the station. The green of the Earthworm cadets, first-year students of the
Cadet Corps; the brilliant rich blue of the senior cadets like the Polaris unit; the scarlet red
of the enlisted Solar Guard; and here and there, the black and gold of the officers of the
Solar Guard.
The three cadets hurried to the nearest slidewalk, a moving belt of plastic that glided
silently across the ground toward Space Academy. It whisked them quickly past the few
buildings nestled around the monorail station and rounded a curve. The three cadets looked
up together at the gleaming Tower of Galileo. Made of pure Titan crystal, it soared above
the cluster of buildings that surrounded the grassy quadrangle and dominated Space
Academy like a translucent giant.
The cadets stepped off the slidewalk as it glided past the Tower building and ran up the
broad marble stair. At the huge main portal, Tom stopped and looked back over the
Academy grounds. All around him lay the evidence of mankind's progress. It was the year
2353, when Earthman had long since colonized the inner planets, Mars and Venus, and the
three large satellites, Moon of Earth, Ganymede of Jupiter, and Titan of Saturn. It was the
age of space travel; of the Solar Alliance, a unified society of billions of people who lived in