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"Radiation is the least of our problems. I’d rather get an overdose of gamma than 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 and realized the Connie had come from the direction of the hot side.

Back on the asteroid, the Planeteers started laying the second atomic charge. Rip selected the spot, found a near-by crystal that would serve to house the bomb, and Kemp started cutting. The Planeteers knew what to do now, and the work went rapidly. Rip kept an eye on his chronometer. According to the message from Terra base, he had about fifteen minutes before the Consops cruiser arrived.

Besides, radar screens were more dependable than eyes, even though they could pick up only solid objects. If the Consops cruiser happened to be searching visually, it would see this blast. But the chance had to be taken. It wasn't really much of a chance. "One minute," he said. He faced the asteroid, then darkened his helmet, counting to himself.

If the Consops cruiser happened to be searching visually, it would see the blast. But the chance had to be taken. It wasn’t really much of a chance. "One minute," he said. He faced the asteroid, then darkened his helmet, counting to himself. The minute ticked off slowly, though his count was a little fast. When he reached five, brilliant, incandescent light lit up the interior of the boat.

It was quite another to face the nuclear drive ship with its missile ports cleared for action. The Connie knew he had lost. Rip and the Planeteers saw the Consops ship suddenly flame away, then turn and dive for low space below the asteroid belt, in a direction opposite to the one the Scorpius had taken. The Planeteers' helmet communicators rang with their cheers.

"Ah, you do not know each other? Commander, I have the honor to make known Lieutenant Foster of the Federation Special Order Squadrons. He is in command on the asteroid." The Connie blurted, "So! I send boats to help you and you fire on them!" So that was to be the Consops story! Rip thought quickly, then held up his hand in a shocked gesture that would have done credit to the Frenchman.

The commander leaned forward. "We’ll find that asteroid for you, Mr. Planeteer. We’ll put you on it and see you on your way. Then we’ll ride space along with you, and if any Consops thieves try to take over and collect that thorium for themselves, they’ll find Kevin O’Brine waiting. That’s a promise, boy." Rip felt a lot better.

"They were afraid word of this thorium asteroid would leak out to Consops and it has. A Connie cruiser blasted off from Marsport and it's headed this way." He watched the faces of his men carefully, to see how they would take the news. They merely looked at each other and shrugged. Conflict with Consops was nothing new to them.

The Planeteers on the asteroid blinked with the speed of the cruiser’s getaway. Fire flamed from the stern tubes for an instant and then there was nothing but a fading glow where the Scorpius had been. Rip had a mental image of everything movable in the ship crashing against bulkheads with the terrific acceleration. And in the same moment, the Consops cruiser reacted.

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.