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

succession. "That Martian monkey. He-he . . ." Roger stopped and began stripping off his
tunic. "He put ants in my astrogation chair!"
"Ants!" Strong turned to Thistle. "Is that true, Cadet Thistle?" he growled.
"Well, no, sir. Not exactly," replied the little cadet innocently.
"Then what exactly did you do?" demanded Strong.
By now, Roger had stripped down to his shorts and was picking the ants from his body
and his clothes. Tom and Astro could hardly repress their laughter as they helped him.
"I've been making a study of the structure of the society of ants, sir," announced Thistle
with complete composure. "When I learned we were going out to the asteroid belt, I figured I
would have a lot of spare time and could do a little research. Manning accidentally
overturned the jar and-" He stopped and shrugged.
"I'll turn you over, you little space grub!" Roger cried.
"Stow that gaff!" roared Strong, and then turned back to the little cadet, frowning.
"Thistle, you should know better than to bring insects aboard a spaceship!"
"But, sir," protested Thistle, his face still a mask of innocence. "I thought I could-"
"I don't care what you think!" snapped Strong. "The space code says, and I quote: 'No
spaceman, at any time, under any conditions whatsoever, shall bring aboard, or have
brought aboard, or precipitate the bringing aboard of any animal life of any size or nature
without the express permission of the commanding officer of that vessel,' unquote."
"Yes, sir. I know," Thistle replied, with a glance at Roger who was still digging the ants
from the seams of his tunic. "But an insect isn't an animal, is it, sir?" he asked blandly.
"That's enough!" Strong roared.
"Yes, sir! Sorry, sir!"
By that time Tom had finished spraying the deck with a small insect bomb, and Astro
was helping Roger back into his uniform.
"Don't let anything like this happen again," Strong said sharply, then he checked his
watch. "All hands to stations," he announced. "Stand by to raise ship."
"Could you wait a minute until I get squared away, sir?" asked Roger, struggling into his
trousers.
"No time, Roger. We have our blast-off time and orbit scheduled. Thistle will raise ship."
As Thistle whistled lightly and turned his attention to the huge astrogation panel, Roger's
face clouded over and he continued dressing silently.
Tom, Astro, and Strong trooped off the bridge without another word. But when they
reached the control deck, they burst into laughter.
"I won't say that Thistle let those ants loose on purpose"-Astro chuckled-"but he's way
ahead so far."
Tom grinned in agreement. "I just hope this practical joking doesn't go too far," he said.
"It had better not," Strong said firmly. "Fun is fun, but out in space, where the slightest
mistake can cost a man's life, it ceases to be funny. Take your stations!"
"Aye, aye, sir!" Tom replied.
As Astro hurried below to the power deck, and Strong strapped into an acceleration
chair, Tom took his place at the control panel and began the routine of adjusting the dozens
of dials and switches in preparation for blast-off. He flipped on the intercom and called:
"Control deck to all stations, check in!"
"Power deck, aye!" Astro's voice crackled over the intercom. "Ready for blast-off."
"Radar bridge, aye!" replied Thistle. "Ready to raise ship!"
Tom turned his attention to the astral chronometer and watched the sweeping red
second hand move around the face of the clock. When it touched thirty, he called again:
"Energize the cooling pumps!"
On the power deck below, Astro threw the switch that started the mighty pumps and a