"Carey Rockwell - Tom Corbett Space Cadet 04 - The Space Pioneers" - читать интересную книгу автора (Rockwell Carey)

"We better take it easy, Astro," said Tom. "Turn off the lights."
THE SPACE PIONEERS



CHAPTER 1

"Go on, Astro," shouted the young Space Cadet. "Boot that screwy ball with everything
you've got!"
The three cadets of the Polaris unit raced down the Academy field toward the
mercuryball, a plastic sphere with a vial of mercury inside. At the opposite end of the field,
three members of the Arcturus unit ran headlong in a desperate effort to reach the ball first.
Astro, the giant Space Cadet from Venus, charged toward the ball like a blazing rocket,
while his two unit mates flanked him, ready to block out their opponents and give Astro a
clear shot at the ball.
On the left wing, Tom Corbett, curly-haired and snub-nosed, ran lightly down the field,
while on the opposite wing, Roger Manning, his blond hair cut crew style, kept pace with him
easily. The two teams closed. Roger threw a perfect block on his opposing wingman and
the two boys went down in a heap. Tom sidestepped the Arcturus cadet on his side and
sent him sprawling to the ground. He quickly cut across the field and threw his body
headlong at the last remaining member of the opposition. Astro was free to kick the ball
perfectly for a fifty-yard goal.
Jogging back toward their own goal line, the three Polaris cadets congratulated each
other. Astro's kick had tied the score, two-all.
"That was some feint you pulled on Richards, Tom," said Roger. "You sucked him in
beautifully. I thought he was going to tear up the field with his nose!"
Tom grinned. Compliments from Roger were few and far between.
Astro clapped his hands together and roared, "All right, fellas, let's see if we can't take
these space bums again! Another shot at the goal-that's all I need!"
Lining up at the end of the field again, the cadets kept their eyes on the cadet referee on
the side lines. They saw him hold up his hand and then drop it suddenly. Once again the
teams raced toward the ball in the middle of the field. When they met, Roger tried to
duplicate Tom's feat and feint his opponent, but the other cadet was ready for the maneuver
and stopped dead in his tracks. Roger was forced to break stride just long enough for the
Arcturus cadet to dump him to the ground and then race for Astro. Tom, covering Astro on
the left wing, saw the cadet sweeping in and lunged in a desperate attempt to stop him. But
he missed, leaving Astro unprotected against the three members of the Arcturus unit. With
his defense gone, Astro kicked at the ball frantically but just grazed the side of it. The
mercury inside the ball began to play its role in the game, and as though it had a brain of its
own, the ball spun, stopped, bounced, and spiraled in every direction, with the cadets
kicking, lunging, and scrambling for a clean shot. Finally Astro reached the tumbling sphere
and booted it away from the group. There was a roar of laughter from the Arcturus unit and a
low groan from Tom and Roger. Astro saw that he had kicked the ball over his own goal line.
"Why, you clobber-headed Venusian hick!" yelled Roger. "Can't you tell the difference
between our goal and theirs?"
Astro grinned sheepishly as the three jogged back to their own goal to line up once
more.
"Lay off, Roger," said Tom. "How come you didn't get Richards on that play?"
"I slipped," replied the blond cadet.
"Yeah, you slipped all right," growled Astro good-naturedly, "with a great big assist from