"Carey Rockwell - Tom Corbett Space Cadet 08 - The Robot Rocket" - читать интересную книгу автора (Rockwell Carey)

Tom grinned. "He's going to ask Thistle to take over the radar bridge," Tom said. "He's
going to instruct him-get that, instruct him-on the finer points of astrogation."
His bag closed, Astro turned and looked at Tom. "So?"
"Don't you get it? As soon as Thistle makes a wrong move, Roger will be all over him."
Astro nodded. "From some of the remarks Thistle made at the party yesterday, this is
going to be the battle of the century," he said. "Do me a favor and leave the intercom key
open so I can hear everything."
The cadets picked up their bags and strolled toward the slidestairs. "We're to meet
Roger and Thistle at the spaceport," Tom announced as they stepped on the moving
duraplast stairway that would take them down to the main level of the dormitory building.
"What are the orders?" asked Astro.
"I haven't picked them up yet," Tom replied. "We'll get them at traffic control, but it's just
routine. Out to the asteroid belt and back," Tom added over his shoulder."
"Routine?" Astro grinned. "I can remember the day when a trip out to the asteroid belt
was like a deep-space hop."
Tom nodded. "You can say that again, spaceman."
On the main level they waited in line before the sergeant-at-arms desk to sign out. Chief
Warrant Officer Mike McKenny sat behind the desk like a well-fed, satisfied bulldog. But no
cadet in the Academy was ever fooled by his seemingly complacent appearance.
Spaceman McKenny had the reputation of being as harsh as any unit commander. When
Tom and Astro stopped before him, McKenny grinned. "Well, the Polaris unit has a Martian
visitor, I hear," he said in his familiar foghorn voice.
"Yes, we have, Mike," Tom replied. "And from the looks of him, he's going to give
Manning a hard time on the radar bridge."
"From what I hear," drawled a voice in back of them, "Thistle is the hottest astrogator to
hit the Academy in the last twenty years!"
As one, Tom and Astro spun around to challenge the attack on Roger. They came face
to face with Tony Richards, the command cadet of the Capella crew, consistent rivals for
Academy honors.
"I'll bet six desserts," said Astro, glancing at Richards, "that Manning can astrogate
rings around that Martian monkey."
"Still sticking together, eh?" commented the Capella cadet. "You'd think that there
wasn't another crew in the Academy but you."
Astro grinned and pointed to the trophy case at the other side of the huge lobby, where
most of the trophies for inter-unit athletic competition bore the name Polaris. "There's your
answer," the burly cadet said. "I still bet six desserts, and on top of that I'm giving two-to-one
odds."
"I'll take that!" retorted Richards. "Two-to-one!"
"But that doesn't include Sunday's dessert," Astro quickly amended. "Not the ice cream
and pie."
Tom laughed and tugged at Astro's arm. "Come on," he said. "We've got to hit the
blue!"
With a parting wave to Tony Richards, they left the dormitory building and jumped on the
slidewalk, rolling smoothly past the door. Wide belts of plastic that moved on underground
rollers, the slidewalks crisscrossed the Academy, whisking cadets and officers silently and
efficiently to all parts of the huge installation. The moving walks were crowded with
spacemen dressed in the various colored uniforms of the Solar Guard; the red of the
enlisted Solar Guard, black and gold of the Solar Guard officers, green of the Earthworm
cadets, and the deep blue of the Senior Cadets. Shifting to an express walk at a junction
point, Tom and Astro were being carried along toward the Academy spaceport at a fast clip,