United States or Ukraine ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
It hadn't been done. Calhoun fumed to himself. The world of Weald Three grew brighter and brighter and became a disk. The disk had ice-caps and a reasonable proportion of land and water surface. The Med Ship decelerated, and voices notified observation from the surface, and the little craft came to a stop some five planetary diameters out from solidity.
Corporal Nels Pederson spoke up in a soft Stockholm accent. "Never mind, sir. We'll get back at them. We always do!" While the Scorpius decelerated and started maneuvering for a landing, Rip did some rapid calculations.
The Connie cruiser decelerated, went into reverse, and came to a full stop about a mile from the asteroid. The Planeteers saw fire in two places along the hull, marking the exhausts of two small craft. "Snapper-boats," Koa said tonelessly. "Five men in each, if those are the regular Connie kind." Rip made a quick decision. With only one launcher they couldn’t guard the whole asteroid.
If that were true, this might be the break we'd been living for. Only manned or controlled bodies decelerated in deep space. "How did you spot it, Clay?" I asked. Picking up a tiny mass like this was a delicate job, even when you knew its coordinates. "Just happened to catch my eye, Captain," he said. "I always make a general check every watch of the whole forward quadrant.
The Connie was squared off for another run. They catapulted to safety as the cruiser flamed past, the exhaust splashing over the metal and sending sparks into the cave. Rip looked out. That, if he had guessed right, was the last run. He watched the Connie’s stern jet cut off, saw the nose exhaust as the cruiser decelerated to a fast stop. "Check your weapons," he ordered.
Nunez got a hand-driven dynamo from the supplies and tested it for use in setting off the charge. Santos stood by the rocket launcher, with Pederson ready to put another rack of rockets into the device when necessary. Rip and Koa watched the Connie cruiser. It decelerated to a stop for a brief second, then started moving again, with no jets showing. "That’s the sun pulling," Rip said exultantly.
Word Of The Day