"No, not a bit!" Sid broke into a smile. "Whew! I thought for a while it
was Quent."

"What about Quent?" asked Tom.

"I saw someone messing around on the power deck last night and thought
it might be Quent. But now that you say it was you, Astro, there isn't
anything to worry about."

Reaching a safe distance from the ramp, they stopped just as Strong
finished counting off the seconds to blast off.

"_Zero!_"

The three cadets and Sid waited for the initial shattering roar of the
jets, but it did not come. Instead, there was a loud bang, followed by
another, and then another. And only then did the ship begin to leave the
ground, gradually picking up speed and shooting spaceward.

"What was wrong?" asked Tom, looking at Sid.

"The feeders," replied the young engineer miserably. "They're not
functioning properly. They're probably jamming."

Astro looked puzzled. "But I checked those feeders myself, just before
you closed the casing," he said. "They were all right then."

"Are you sure?" asked Sid.

"Of course I'm sure," said Astro. "Checking the feeders is one of my