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There'd be a Gehenna of a bill to pay when they started decelerating. On the planet, more bombs were going off just outside atmosphere beyond the sunset line. "Ship observed. Altitude about a hundred to five hundred miles hundreds, not thousands 35° North Latitude, 15° west of the sunset line. Ship is under fire, bomb explosions near her," a voice whooped.
Rip wondered what it was. He knew the cruisers had to be careful not to cross the thin line that might lead to war. The Sagittarius loomed closer, decelerating with a tremendous exhaust. The Connie couldn’t have failed to see it, Rip knew. He was right. The Consops cruiser suddenly blasted more heavily, rushing in the direction away from the Federation ship. The direction was toward the asteroid.
"Radiation is the least of our problems. I'd rather get an overdose of gamma then get blasted into space." A yell rang in his helmet. "Here comes the Connie!" Rip looked up, startled. The Consops cruiser passed directly overhead, about ten miles away. It was decelerating rapidly. Rip wondered why they hadn't spotted it earlier, then realized the Connie had come from the direction of the hot side.
And at the same moment, the Aquila flashed above the horizon, also decelerating. The Connie was caught squarely. A suave voice spoke on the universal band. "This is Federation SCN Sagittarius, calling the Consolidation cruiser near the asteroid. Please reply." Rip waited anxiously. The Connie would hear, because every control room monitored the universal band.
They had heard from Ku Sui, but that had not answered the old tormenting question of how he would come. It was more puzzling than ever. The visi-screen showed nothing, and it should have shown the Eurasian's decelerating ship even at twice thirty minutes' time away.
The snapper-boats blew their front tubes, decelerating, and squashed down to the asteroid in a roar of exhaust flames, sending the Planeteers running out of the way. Rip thrust harder with his space knife and yelled, "Tell them!" The Connie officer nodded. "Turn up my communicator." Rip turned it on full, and the Connie barked quick instructions.
But the ship was still decelerating, and he would have to wait. He put his head against the chair rest and settled down to wait as patiently as he could. Brennschluss was a long time coming. When the deceleration finally stopped, Rip didn't wait for gravity. He hauled himself out of the chair and the squad room and went down the corridor hand over hand.
"The man behind the panel took the asteroid to Lar Tantril. He is our opponent." Those were his words, but he did nothing. He seemed content to stand with cold, intent face looking back through the infra-red electelscope. The Sandra's speed sank to three hundred, two hundred and soon a hundred, and the asteroid, which was of course also decelerating, crept up remorselessly.
Radio the San Francisco fields that we will be coming in soon, and we need a large electro-magnet one designed to work on about 500 volts D.C., and some good sized storage cells; how many will have to be decided later, depending on the room we will have for them. I'll start decelerating now so we can make the turn and circle back.
I looked him in the eye with all the glare I had. He stepped back a pace. "Why don't you jump him," he called to the crowd. The wall annunciator hummed and spoke. "Captain Greylorn, please report to the bridge. Unidentified body on main scope." Every man stopped in his tracks, listening. The annunciator continued. "Looks like it's decelerating, Captain."
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