The Tom Corbett Space Cadet Megapack: 10 Classic Young Adult Sci-Fi Novels Read online

  COPYRIGHT

  The Tom Corbett Megapack is copyright © 2012 by Wildside Press LLC.

  Published by Wildside Press, LLC

  www.wildsidebooks.com

  NEXT UP: Information on the Tom Corbett series.

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  INTRODUCTION

  This volume collects 7 Tom Corbett novels (the 8th volume is unavailable due to rights issues), plus 3 bonus young adult science fiction novels from the same period: Rip Foster in Ride the Gray Planet, by Blake Savage; Star Born, by Andre Norton; and The Secret of the Ninth Planet, by Donald A. Wollheim.

  MEET TOM CORBETT, SPACE CADET!

  Tom Corbett is the main character in a series of Tom Corbett—Space Cadet stories that were depicted in television, radio, books, comic books, comic strips, coloring books, punch-out books and View-Master reels in the 1950s. The stories followed the adventures of Tom Corbett, Astro, and Roger Manning, three cadets at the Space Academy as they train to become members of the elite Solar Guard. The action takes place at the Academy in classrooms and bunkrooms, aboard their training ship the rocket cruiser Polaris, and on alien worlds, both within our solar system and in orbit around nearby stars.

  TV is the medium where Tom Corbett first appeared. The stories initially closely followed the scripts written for the unpublished newspaper comic strip Tom Ranger, Space Cadet, by Joseph Greene from 1946. Green revised and renamed his lead character to more closely match Robert A. Heinlein’s young adult science fiction novel, Space Cadet, which appeared in 1948. The series aired, in different years, on all four major television networks: on CBS from October 2 to December 1950, ABC from January 1951 to September 1952, NBC from July to September 1951, DuMont from August 1953 to May 1954, and on NBC again from December 1954 to June 1955, with the final broadcast on June 25, 1955.

  The science of the Tom Corbett universe was, in hindsight, wrong in many places. Mars was portrayed a desert, Venus was a steaming jungle, and the asteroid belt was a haunt of space pirates. Still, in those days long before space probes, the conventional wisdom was that, for example, Venus was a steaming jungle. Nevertheless, Tom Corbett—Space Cadet was the most scientifically accurate series then on television, partly due to its science advisor, Willy Ley, and later because its star Frankie Thomas took an interest in astronomy.

  TV CAST

  Tom Corbett—Frankie Thomas, Jr.

  Astro—Al Markim

  Roger Manning—Jan Merlin

  Captain Steve Strong—Edward Bryce

  Dr. Joan Dale—Margaret Garland

  Commander Arkwright—Carter Blake

  Cadet Alfie Higgins—John Fiedler

  Cadet Eric Rattison—Frank Sutton

  Cadet T. J. Thistle—Jack Grimes

  Technical Advisor—Willy Ley

  Writers: Albert Aley, Stu Byrnes, Frankie Thomas, Jr., Ray Morse, Jack Weinstock, Willy Gilbert, Alfred Bester & others.

  Michael Harvey played Captain Strong for the first six episodes of the CBS series; Pat Ferris played Dr. Dale for two episodes of the DuMont series

  BOOKS

  Grosset & Dunlap published a series of Tom Corbett books between 1952 and 1956. Written under the pseudonym Carey Rockwell, with Willy Ley as technical advisor, they are:

  Stand By For Mars (1952)

  Danger in Deep Space (1953)

  On the Trail of the Space Pirates (1953)

  The Space Pioneers (1953)

  The Revolt on Venus (1954)

  Treachery in Outer Space (1954)

  Sabotage in Space (1955)

  The Robot Rocket (1956)

  The first 7 are collected here. The eighth, The Robot Rocket, is unavailable at this time due to rights issues.

  NEXT UP: TOM CORBET #1

  (originally published in 1952)

  STAND BY FOR MARS!

  CHAPTER 1

  “Stand to, you rocket wash!”

  A harsh, bull-throated roar thundered over the platform of the monorail station at Space Academy and suddenly the lively chatter and laughter of more than a hundred boys was stilled. Tumbling out of the gleaming monorail cars, they froze to quick attention, their eyes turned to the main exit ramp.

  They saw a short, squat, heavily built man, wearing the scarlet uniform of the enlisted Solar Guard, staring down at them, his fists jammed into his hips and his feet spread wide apart. He stood there a moment, his sharp eyes flicking over the silent clusters, then slowly sauntered down the ramp toward them with a strangely light, catfooted tread.

  “Form up! Column of fours!”

  Almost before the echoes of the thunderous voice died down, the scattered groups of boys had formed themselves into four ragged lines along the platform.

  The scarlet-clad figure stood before them, his seamed and weather-beaten face set in stern lines. But there was a glint of laughter in his eyes as he noticed the grotesque and sometimes tortuous positions of some of the boys as they braced themselves in what they considered a military pose.

  Every year, for the last ten years, he had met the trains at the monorail station. Every year, he had seen boys in their late teens, gathered from Earth, Mars and Venus, three planets millions of miles apart. They were dressed in many different styles of clothes; the loose flowing robes of the lads from the Martian deserts; the knee-length shorts and high stockings of the boys from the Venusian jungles; the vari-colored jacket and trouser combinations of the boys from the magnificent Earth cities. But they all had one thing in common—a dream. All had visions of becoming Space Cadets, and later, officers in the Solar Guard. Each dreamed of the day when he would command rocket ships that patrolled the space lanes from the outer edges of Pluto to the twilight zone of Mercury. They were all the same.

  “All right now! Let’s get squared away!” His voice was a little more friendly now. “My name’s McKenny—Mike McKenny. Warrant Officer—Solar Guard. See these hash marks?”

  He suddenly held out a thick arm that bulged against the tight red sleeve. From the wrists to the elbow, the lines of boys could see a solid corrugation of white V-shaped stripes.

  “Each one of these marks represents four years in space,” he continued. “There’s ten marks here and I intend making it an even dozen! And no bunch of Earthworms is going to make me lose the chance to get those last two by trying to make a space monkey out of me!”

  McKenny sauntered along the line of boys with that same strange catlike step and looked squarely into the eyes of each boy in turn.

  “Just to keep the record straight, I’m your cadet supervisor. I handle you until you either wash out and go home, or you finally blast off and become spacemen. If you stub your toe or cut your finger, come to me. If you get homesick, come to me. And if you get into trouble”—he paused momentarily—“don’t bother because I’ll be looking for you, with a fist full of demerits!”

  McKenny continued his slow inspection of the ranks, then suddenly stopped short. At the far end of the line, a tall, ruggedly built boy of about eighteen, with curly brown hair and a pleasant, open face, was stirring uncomfortably. He slowly reached down toward his right boot and held it, while he wriggled his foot into it. McKenny quickly strode over and planted himself firmly in front of the boy.

  “When I say stand to, I mean stand to!” he roared.

  The boy jerked himself erect and snapped to attention.

  “I—I’m sorry, sir,” he stammered. “But my boot—it was coming off and—”

  “I don’t care if your pants are falling down, an order’
s an order!”

  The boy gulped and reddened as a nervous titter rippled through the ranks. McKenny spun around and glared. There was immediate silence.

  “What’s your name?” He turned back to the boy.

  “Corbett, sir. Cadet Candidate Tom Corbett,” answered the boy.

  “Wanta be a spaceman, do ya?” asked Mike, pushing his jaw out another inch.

  “Yes, sir!”

  “Been studying long hard hours in primary school, eh? Talked your mother and father deaf in the ears to let you come to Space Academy and be a spaceman! You want to feel those rockets bucking in your back out in the stars? EH?”

  “Yes, sir,” replied Tom, wondering how this man he didn’t even know could know so much about him.

  “Well, you won’t make it if I ever catch you disobeying orders again!”

  McKenny turned quickly to see what effect he had created on the others. The lines of bewildered faces satisfied him that his old trick of using one of the cadets as an example was a success. He turned back to Corbett.

  “The only reason I’m not logging you now is because you’re not a Space Cadet yet—and won’t be, until you’ve taken the Academy oath!”

  “Yes, sir!”

  McKenny walked down the line and across the platform to an open teleceiver booth. The ranks were quiet and motionless, and as he made his call, McKenny smiled. Finally, when the tension seemed unbearable, he roared, “At ease!” and closed the door of the booth.

  The ranks melted immediately and the boys fell into chattering clusters, their voices low, and they occasionally peered over their shoulders at Corbett as if he had suddenly been stricken with a horrible plague.

  Brooding over the seeming ill-fortune that had called McKenny’s attention to him at the wrong time, Tom sat down on his suitcase to adjust his boot. He shook his head slowly. He had heard Space Academy was tough, tougher than any other school in the world, but he didn’t expect the stern discipline to begin so soon.

  “This could be the beginning of the end,” drawled a lazy voice in back of Tom, “for some of the more enthusiastic cadets.” Someone laughed.

  Tom turned to see a boy about his own age, weight and height, with close-cropped blond hair that stood up brushlike all over his head. He was lounging idly against a pillar, luggage piled high around his feet. Tom recognized him immediately as Roger Manning, and his pleasant features twisted into a scowl.

  “About what I’d expect from that character,” he thought, “after the trick he pulled on Astro, that big fellow from Venus.”

  Tom’s thoughts were of the night before, when the connecting links of transportation from all over the Solar Alliance had deposited the boys in the Central Station at Atom City where they were to board the monorail express for the final lap to Space Academy.

  Manning, as Tom remembered it, had taken advantage of the huge Venusian by tricking him into carrying his luggage. Reasoning that since the gravity of Venus was considerably less than that of Earth, he convinced Astro that he needed the extra weight to maintain his balance. It had been a cheap trick, but no one had wanted to challenge the sharpness of Manning’s tongue and come to Astro’s rescue. Tom had wanted to, but refrained when he saw that Astro didn’t mind.

  Finishing his conversation on the teleceiver, McKenny stepped out of the booth and faced the boys again.

  “All right,” he bawled. “They’re all set for you at the Academy! Pick up your gear and follow me!” With a quick light step, he hopped on the rolling slidewalk at the edge of the platform and started moving away.

  “Hey, Astro!” Roger Manning stopped the huge boy about to step over. “Going to carry my bags?”

  The Venusian, a full head taller, hesitated and looked doubtfully at the four suitcases at Roger’s feet.

  “Come on,” prodded Roger in a tone of mock good nature. “The gravity around here is the same as in Atom City. It’s the same all over the face of the Earth. Wouldn’t want you to just fly away.” He snickered and looked around, winking broadly.

  Astro still hesitated, “I don’t know, Manning. I—uhh—”

  “By the rings of Saturn! What’s going on here?” Suddenly from outside the ring of boys that had gathered around, McKenny came roaring in, bulling his way to the center of the group to face Roger and Astro.

  “I have a strained wrist, sir,” began Roger smoothly.

  “And this cadet candidate”—he nodded casually toward Astro—“offered to carry my luggage. Now he refuses.”

  Mike glared at Astro. “Did you agree to carry this man’s luggage?”

  “Well—I—ah—” fumbled Astro.

  “Well? Did you or didn’t you?”

  “I guess I sorta did, sir,” replied Astro, his face turning a slow red.

  “I don’t hold with anyone doing another man’s work, but if a Solar Guard officer, a Space Cadet, or even a cadet candidate gives his word he’ll do something, he does it!” McKenny shook a finger in Astro’s face, reaching up to do it. “Is that clear?”

  “Yes, sir,” was the embarrassed reply.

  McKenny turned to Manning who stood listening, a faint smile playing on his lips.

  “What’s your name, Mister?”

  “Manning. Roger Manning,” he answered easily.

  “So you’ve got a strained wrist, have you?” asked Mike mockingly while sending a sweeping glance from top to bottom of the gaudy colored clothes.

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Can’t carry your own luggage, eh?”

  “Yes,” answered Roger evenly. “I could carry my own luggage. I thought the candidate from Venus might give me a helping hand. Nothing more. I certainly didn’t intend for him to become a marked man for a simple gesture of comradeship.” He glanced past McKenny toward the other boys and added softly, “And comradeship is the spirit of Space Academy, isn’t it, sir?”

  His face suddenly crimson, McKenny spluttered, searching for a ready answer, then turned away abruptly.

  “What are you all standing around for?” he roared. “Get your gear and yourselves over on that slidewalk! Blast!” He turned once again to the rolling platform. Manning smiled at Astro and hopped nimbly onto the slidewalk after McKenny, leaving his luggage in a heap in front of Astro.

  “And be careful with that small case, Astro,” he called as he drifted away.

  “Here, Astro,” said Tom. “I’ll give you a hand.”

  “Never mind,” replied Astro grimly. “I can carry ‘em.”

  “No, let me help.” Tom bent over—then suddenly straightened. “By the way, we haven’t introduced ourselves. My name’s Corbett—Tom Corbett.” He stuck out his hand. Astro hesitated, sizing up the curly-headed boy in front of him, who stood smiling and offering friendship. Finally he pushed out his own hand and smiled back at Tom.

  “Astro, but you know that by now.”

  “That sure was a dirty deal Manning gave you.”

  “Ah, I don’t mind carrying his bags. It’s just that I wanted to tell him he’s going to have to send it all back. They don’t allow a candidate to keep more than a toothbrush at the Academy.”

  “Guess he’ll find out the hard way.”

  Carrying Manning’s luggage as well as their own, they finally stepped on the slidewalk and began the smooth easy ride from the monorail station to the Academy. Both having felt the sharpness of Manning’s tongue, and both having been dressed down by Warrant Officer McKenny, they seemed to be linked by a bond of trouble and they stood close together for mutual comfort.

  As the slidewalk whisked them silently past the few remaining buildings and credit exchanges that nestled around the monorail station, Tom gave thought to his new life.

  Ever since Jon Builker, the space explorer, returning from the first successful flight to a distant galaxy, came through his home town near New Chicago twelve years before, Tom had wanted to be a spaceman. Through high school and the New Chicago Primary Space School where he had taken his first flight above Earth’s atmosphere, he ha
d waited for the day when he would pass his entrance exams and be accepted as a cadet candidate in Space Academy. For no reason at all, a lump rose in his throat, as the slidewalk rounded a curve and he saw for the first time, the gleaming white magnificence of the Tower of Galileo. He recognized it immediately from the hundreds of books he had read about the Academy and stared wordlessly.

  “Sure is pretty, isn’t it?” asked Astro, his voice strangely husky.

  “Yeah,” breathed Tom in reply. “It sure is.” He could only stare at the shimmering tower ahead.

  “It’s all I’ve ever wanted to do,” said Tom at length. “Just get out there and—be free!”

  “I know what you mean. It’s the greatest feeling in the world.”

  “You say that as if you’ve already been up there.”

  Astro grinned. “Yup. Used to be an enlisted space sailor. Bucked rockets in an old freighter on the Luna City—Venusport run.”

  “Well, what are you doing here?” Tom was amazed and impressed.

  “Simple. I want to be an officer. I want to get into the Solar Guard and handle the power-push in one of those cruisers.”

  Tom’s eyes glowed with renewed admiration for his new friend. “I’ve been out four or five times but only in jet boats five hundred miles out. Nothing like a jump to Luna City or Venusport.”

  By now the slidewalk had carried them past the base of the Tower of Galileo to a large building facing the Academy quadrangle and the spell was broken by McKenny’s bull-throated roar.

  “Haul off, you blasted polliwogs!”

  As the boys jumped off the slidewalk, a cadet, dressed in the vivid blue that Tom recognized as the official dress of the Senior Cadet Corps, walked up to McKenny and spoke to him quietly. The warrant officer turned back to the waiting group and gave rapid orders.

  “By twos, follow Cadet Herbert inside and he’ll assign you to your quarters. Shower, shave if you have to and can find anything to shave, and dress in the uniform that’ll be supplied you. Be ready to take the Academy oath at”—he paused and glanced at the senior cadet who held up three fingers—“fifteen hundred hours. That’s three o’clock. All clear? Blast off!”