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If they could get under cover, there might be a chance. At least it would take the Connies a while to find them. For a moment he thought of hurrying into the landing boat and sending out a call for help to the Scorpius, but he thought better of it. They weren't certain that Connie had spotted them. He would wait until there was no doubt. Meanwhile, they had to find cover.
Presently they were approaching the crater. The Connies were just about twenty-five yards from the crater's opposite rim. Rip said, "I hate to do this, Dowst, but I can't see any way out. We have to go into the crater." Dowst merely said, "Yes, sir." The extra radiation might put both of them well over the safety limits long before Earth was reached, and they both knew it.
Space isn't very big." A short time later Rip stood in front of his asteroid base and watched the great cruiser drive into space. A short distance away a snapper-boat was lashed to the landing boat. O'Brine had left it, with a word of warning. "These Connies are plenty smart. I don't like leaving you unprotected, even within reach of Mercury and Terra, but orders are orders.
Rip kept his helmet against the Connie’s, but the man spoke in another language, which Rip identified as the main Consops tongue. When he had finished, Rip told his Planeteers to have weapons ready and to keep lights off. Time enough for light when the Connies were all disarmed. It didn’t take five minutes.
The asteroid was so close to the sun that even the powerful fighting rockets would use most of their fuel in simply combatting its gravity. "All hands stand by to repel Connies," Rip shouted, and drew his pistol. He looked into the magazine, saw that he had a full clip, and then charged the weapon.
He knew how he and Dowst could approach the craters without being spotted, now that they had removed two teams of Connies. "We're on our way. Koa, make it if you can." "Yes, sir." Dominico was already making his way back to the cave. Rip and Dowst started for the horizon at a good walk, not afraid now to use their lights, at least for a few yards.
"Sir, this is Nunez. Two Connies were prowling around, but they didn’t see the entrance. Then, a minute ago, they turned and hurried away." Rip considered. "Koa. How many Connies have you?" "Four, sir." With the five he and Dowst had taken, that meant four still at large, and from Nunez’s report, some Connie yelling had been going on.
When Dominico had reached the shelter of the crystals, Dowst crawled along, with Rip's body for his guide, passed over him, and reached cover. Rip followed. The belt lights of the two Connies were almost abreast of them. Far to their left, Rip saw another pair of lights. That was a pair he hadn't seen before. "We'll wait until they pass," he told his men.
"We'll stay under cover, except for Santos and Pederson. You two sneak out. Take advantage of every bit of cover you can find. I don't want you spotted. When a boat lands, report its position. The Connies operate on different communicator frequencies, so they won't overhear. We'll let them think they've burned the asteroid clean." He paused. "They'll search for a while.
Added together, the facts said just one thing: they had one hour in which to think of some way to hold off the Connies for an additional hour. The Planeteers were clustered around him. Rip asked grimly, "Any of you ever study the ancient art of magic?" The Planeteers remained silent and tense. "Magic is what we need," Rip told them.
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