blast off right away, sir?" he asked.

Walters nodded grimly. "Yes. And I'm going with you. I'll leave Major
Connel in charge while I'm gone. I would prefer to have him go, but he's
been working with Dr. Dale on some new idea about reinforcing the force
field and I can't pull him off it. You and I will have to do what we
can."

Strong turned to the tower operator and ordered the rocket cruiser
_Polaris_ readied for immediate space flight, concluding, " ... and have
a full complement of Space Marines aboard. And I want Warrant Officer
Mike McKenny as squad leader."

"Have you forgotten, sir?" interjected the enlisted spaceman who was
taking Strong's orders. "Warrant Officer McKenny cannot take
acceleration."

"All right, get--" Strong hesitated. "Get me Jeff Marshall, Professor
Sykes' assistant."

Walters nodded. "Good idea. Jeff can take care of any lab tests we may
have to make and also knows how to handle men. As a matter of fact,"
Walters continued, "if Jeff does well on this assignment I might put him
up for a commission in the Solar Guard. He did well on that last trip
into deep space during that trouble on Roald."

"Yes, sir," said Strong. "And I'll gladly endorse it."

"Is that all, sir?" asked the enlisted man.