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

"The decision," continued the governor, "has been made only after much debate in the
Solar Council Chamber. There have been many arguments pro and con. A week ago a
secret vote was taken, and the project was approved. We are going to establish a Solar
Alliance colony on a newly discovered satellite in orbit around the sun star Wolf 359, a
satellite that has been named Roald."
"Wolf 359!" exclaimed Roger. "That's more than thirteen light years away-" He was
stopped by Tom's hand clamped across his mouth.
Governor Hardy looked at Roger and smiled. "Yes, Wolf 359 is pretty far away,
especially for a colony. But preliminary expeditions have investigated and found the satellite
suitable for habitation, with fertile soil and an atmosphere similar to our own. With the aid of
a few atmosphere booster stations, it should be as easy for a colonist to live there as he
would on Venus-or any tropical planet."
"Where are you going to get the colonists, sir?" asked Strong.
Hardy began to pace back and forth in front of Walters' desk, waving his hands as he
warmed up to his subject. "Tonight, on a special combined audioceiver and teleceiver
broadcast to all parts of the Solar Alliance, the president of the Solar Council will ask for
volunteers- men who will take man's first step through deep space to the stars. It is a step,
which, in the thousands of years will eventually lead to a civilization of Earthmen throughout
all space!"
 Tom Roger, and Astro sat in silent awe as they lis-d to the plans for man to reach
toward the stars. Spacemen by nature and adventurers in spirit, they were united in the belief
that some day Earthmen would set foot on all the stars and never stop until they had seen
the last sun, the last world, the last unexplored corner of the cosmos.
"The colonists," continued Hardy, "will come from all over the system. One thousand of
them-the strongest and sturdiest men out of the billions that inhabit the planets around us;
one thousand, to live on Roald for a period of seven years.
Tom, his eyes bright, asked, "Won't everybody want to go, sir?"
Walters and Hardy smiled. "We expect a rush, Corbett," answered Walters. "You three
and Captain Strong have been selected to aid in screening the applicants."
"Will there be any special tests, sir?" asked Strong. "I have to agree with Corbett that
just about everyone will want to go."
"Yes, Strong," said Hardy. "Everyone will want to go. In fact, we estimate that there will
be literally millions of applicants!"
Roger emitted a long, low whistle. "It'll take years to screen all of them, sir."
Hardy smiled. "Not really, Manning. The psycho-graphs will eliminate the hundreds of
thousands of misfits, the men who will want to go for selfish reasons, who are running away
from the past, or are dissatisfied with their lack of success in life and embittered because of
failure. We can expect many criminal types. Those will be eliminated easily. We have set a
specific quota from each of the satellites, planets, and asteroid colonies. I have already
established the stations for the preliminary screening. We will screen the remainder until we
have the required thousand."
"What will our part be, sir?" asked Tom.
"Once each applicant has been approved by the psychographs, his background will be
thoroughly investigated. We may find criminal types who show the blackest of careers, but
who would turn over a new leaf if given the chance and prove to be more valuable than men
with the best of backgrounds who merely want to get away from it all. We don't want that kind
of colonist. We want people who have faith in the project; people who are not afraid of work
and hardships. Your screening job will be simple. Each of you has a special talent which
Commander Walters feels is outstanding. Corbett in leadership, administration, and
command; Manning in electronics; Astro in atomic power and propulsion. You will talk to the