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If there are any corrections, we'll send them to you. That will give you a check on your own figures." "Don't worry," Rip assured him, "we're going to have plenty of corrections before we're through." Deceleration had been dropping steadily. It ceased altogether, leaving them weightless. O'Brine's voice came over the speaker. "Get it! Valve crews take stations at landing boats five and six.
Now, ten minutes after Brennschluss, they were going to start deceleration. That meant they had really high-vacked it to get somewhere in a hurry. He calculated swiftly. "I don't know exactly," he admitted. "But from the ship's actions, I'd say we were aiming for the far side of the asteroid belt. Anyway, we'll fall short of Jupiter." There was a glimmer of respect in O'Brine's glance.
He paused, then added politely. "If you don't mind looking at your face, sir to see how clean the tubes are, I mean." Rip turned and got out of there. Koa was waiting in the passageway outside. Rip told him what had happened, mimicking O'Brine's Irish accent. The sergeant major shook his head sadly. "This is what I meant, Lieutenant.
He sliced off pieces of the warm stuff and chewed thoughtfully, watching O'Brine's face for a clue as to why the commander had invited him to sit down. It wasn't long in coming. "Your orders are the strangest things I've ever read," O'Brine stated. "Do you know where we're going?" Rip figured quickly. They had accelerated for six and a half hours.
He went back to the supply room and told Koa which boats were to be used, instructed him to get the supplies aboard, then made his way to Commander O'Brine's office. O'Brine was not in. Rip searched and found him in the astroplot room, watching a 'scope. Green streaks called "blips" marked the panel, each one indicating an asteroid. "All too small," O'Brine said.
"You could dump me on that asteroid with this assortment of junk, and I'd spend the rest of my life there. I don't see how you can use this stuff to move an asteroid!" "Maybe that's why the Federation sent Planeteers," Rip said and was sorry the moment the words were out. O'Brine's jaw muscles bulged, but he held his temper. "I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that, Foster.
The captain grinned at O'Brine's retreating back, then walked over to Rip. They shook hands. "I'm Southwick, SOS Two. Canadian." Rip introduced himself and said he was an American. He added, "And aside from my men, you're the first human being I've seen since we made space." Southwick chuckled. "Trouble with the spacemen? Well, you're not the first."
He had sent the snapper-boats to try to draw fire, in an attempt to find out more surely whether Planeteers or Connies had the thorium rock. "The Scorpius doesn't know what's going on," Rip told his Planeteers. "O'Brine didn't know the cruiser was waiting to ambush him, so the rocket we fired made him think the Connies had taken us over." He put himself in O'Brine's place.
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