United States or Macao ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
Dominico pulled his knife, pressed the release, and the gas capsule shot the blade out. He got to work. Koa called that he was ready. Rip took the wired exploder from him and thrust it into the tube Dominico had given him. As the crystal came around again, the process was repeated. The hole was undamaged. There was more time to get clear because of the asteroid’s slower speed.
With that length of acceleration they must be high-vacking for Jupiter! He waited until the ship went into the gravity spin, then got out of his chair and stretched. He was hungry. Koa was still sleeping. He decided not to wake him. The sergeant major would see that the men ate when they wanted to. In the messroom only one table was occupied by Commander O'Brine.
Sergeant Major Koa, an experienced Planeteer with true understanding, came and stood beside him. He said, "Guess I'll never get over being jittery while waiting for the fight to start. I'm sweating so hard my dehumidifier is humming like a Callistan honey lizard. But it doesn't last long once the shooting begins. I get so busy I forget to be jittery."
There might be some last minute cutting to do. Then the lieutenant hurried off at an angle to where Dominico was plodding along with the fuel tubes. Koa had turned the tube he carried over to a Connie. Rip got it, and told Dominico to follow him. Then he angled back across the asteroid to where Kemp was holding position. The asteroid turned twice before Koa arrived.
He had planned on the asteroid's change of orbit. In a minute at most they would be back on the rock. His propulsion tube flared out, and he released it. It would travel along with him, but his hands would be free. Then he saw something else. The blast had started the asteroid turning! He reacted instantly. Turning up his communicator he yelled, "Koa! The rock is spinning!
The young officer clapped Santos on the shoulder and exclaimed weakly, "Good shooting!" The corporal turned anxiously to Koa. "The lieutenant’s pretty weak. Can’t we do something?" "Forget it," Rip said. There was nothing anyone could do. He was trapped inside his space suit. There was nothing anyone could do for his wound until he got into air. Koa untied his safety line and moved to Rip’s side.
The men knew the kind of training their officers had, and they expected them to come up with technical solutions as the situation required. "You'll have a chance to set the bombs in just a short while," he said crisply. "Let's get busy. Koa, load all bombs but one ten KT on the landing boat. Stake the rest of the equipment down.
I thought I’d read what there is about asteroids." "Go ahead," Rip agreed. He sat back as Koa began to recite what data there was, but he didn’t listen. His mind was going ten astro units a second. He thought he knew why he had been chosen for the job. Word of the priceless asteroid must have reached headquarters only a short time before he was scheduled to leave the space platform.
Rip led the way from the mixing chamber through the heavy safety door into the engine control room. His entrance was met with poorly concealed grins by the spacemen. Halfway across the room Rip turned suddenly and bumped into Sergeant-major Koa. Koa fell to the deck, arms flailing for balance—but flailing against his protective clothing.
His knees flexed to take up the shock. He came out of the crouch facing a black-clad Planeteer sergeant who snapped to rigid attention. "Koa," Rip barked. "Where can I find him?" "He’s not here, sir. He and eight men left fifteen minutes ago. I don’t know where they went, sir." Rip shot a worried glance at his wrist chronometer. He had two minutes left, before the cruiser departed.
Word Of The Day