[Illustration]

They talked for nearly four hours before Alfie was finally satisfied
that he knew all the facts. He left them with the same somber attitude
he had when he first arrived, and when the boys were alone, they each
felt a chill of fear. The full meaning of a defense lawyer hit them.
They were in serious trouble. After a few moments of silence, Tom rose
and went into the bathroom to take a shower. Astro flopped on his back
in his bunk and went to sleep. Roger began throwing darts idly at his
"solar system" over his bunk. It was a map of his own design depicting
the planets revolving around the sun, only each planet was represented
by a picture of a girl, and his own grinning countenance was the sun. He
was known to have made dates by throwing a dart at the map blindly and
taking out the girl whose picture he had hit.

When Tom returned a few minutes later, he looked at his unit mates and
shook his head. Never, in all the adventures they had shared or all the
tough situations they had been in, had either Roger or Astro given up as
they seemed to be doing now.

"And," thought Tom miserably, "with good reason too! I feel like tossing
in the sponge myself."

* * * * *

The huge Space Academy gymnasium had been converted into a temporary
courtroom, and at ten A.M. the following day the cavernous chamber was
packed with all the cadets who could get off duty, in addition to a
liberal sprinkling of Solar Guard officers and instructors who were