"I'm happy that you passed the exams, boys," he said. "And I want you to
know Commander Walters and Major Connel think a lot more of you, though
they wouldn't admit it, for the way you worked to make it."

"Thank you, sir," said Astro respectfully.

"You'll have to excuse us, sir," said Tom. "We've got to get out to the
hangar and go on guard."

"Yes, and you'd better hurry," said Strong. "After that mix-up with Dave
Barret, Firehouse Tim has his eye on you. Barret put up quite a fuss
about it."

"I still don't see how Mr. Barret got in there," said Tom. "The fourth
side of the hangar faces the hills, and we three covered the other three
sides."

"However he got in," interrupted Strong, "he had a right to be there.
And he also had a right to carry sidearms."

"Captain Strong," said Roger, "we've talked about it a lot, the three of
us. And we decided that regardless of what Major Connel or Firehouse or
Barret have said, we'd do the same thing, in the same way again."

"I think you're perfectly right, Manning. But don't quote me," said
Strong, his voice serious. "This is one of the most important projects
I've ever been connected with and--" He stopped suddenly. "Well, I can't
tell you any more. That's how tight the security is on it."