"Sorry, boy," Rick muttered. The side-cutting pliers weren't the best tools, but he managed to chew off a piece of the tape. It was ragged, but it would have to do. Holding the piece of tape in the pliers, he pressed it down against the wire, forcing the wire tip into its tiny groove. Then he rubbed it with the blunt end of the pliers, trying to get a good bond between the tape and the solder of the junction. He drew back and waited. The connection was made. He knew that the rush of air outside was louder, and he suddenly realized that the cabin was very hot. Jerry Lipton would have taken over control long ago! Why wasn't the control responding? Rick fought down the fear that gripped at his throat and made breathing hard. He couldn't panic! There must be something still wrong. But what was it? The flashlight beam moved over the maze of wiring, then stopped on the coppery gleam of a cut wire. Of course! When he had pulled the alligator clip, the board had showed red. Jerry didn't know the controls were working! Rick tried to reconnect the wire he had cut. The ends barely touched; the wire had been tight. He couldn't hold contact. Jerry had to understand that the controls were working. If only he had a microphone, a key--anything with which to signal. The heat was increasing rapidly. The temperature must surely be over a hundred. Pegasus had reached the air again, and was falling out of control! CHAPTER XIX The Unyielding Ground Prince Machiavelli began to cry. He let Rick know he didn't like the heat in a series of sobbing yelps. Rick glanced up, surprised at the sudden noise, and flashed his light on the monk. The little animal was suffering from the heat, the fur of his head matted and his eyes staring. Dangling from his little chest was the stethoscope Rick had ripped away to get the tape. Rick stared at it. If only ... He fought his body's tendency to fly to the top of the rocket and got a firm grip with one leg around the channel under the spacemonk, then he took the stethoscope bell and began to tap in Morse code: T-A-K-E C-O-N-T-R-O-L T-A-K-E C-O-N-T-R-O-L. * * * * * In the blockhouse, Charlie Kassick was watching the display with an anxious eye. Suddenly the straight line--a reading of zero--that had begun when the stethoscope quit functioning began to break up into a regular pattern. Charlie couldn't read Morse code. He only knew there was something strange going on. He let out a yell that brought John Gordon jumping to his side. Gordon studied the strange pattern, a square wave shape, a blank, then a peak followed by a square wave shape, a blank, then a square wave, peak, and square ... * * * * * Rick was still tapping when he heard the sudden whine of servomotors. The rocket tilted but continued its fall, rushing toward earth while its nose swung slightly upward. Then the airfoils took hold and Pegasus began to climb once more.