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"We’d better get to the dark side ourselves," Koa warned. He was right, Rip knew. The Connies didn’t have far to search before reaching the sun side. "Koa, you take Trudeau and Kemp. I’ll take Dowst and Dominico. Nunez and Bradshaw stay here to guard the cave. If they arrive in twos, let them get into the cave before you jump them. Bradshaw, how do you feel?" "I’m all right, Lieutenant."
The four certainly knew by this time there were Federal men on the asteroid. Unless something were done quickly the four Connies would be shooting at them from the darkness. He ordered, "All Planeteers. Kill your belt lights." The lights on the Connies they had just taken still glowed. Dowst was putting a patch on the Connie Rip had stabbed.
"These Connies would be useful to us alive, if we could capture them." It was Dowst who caught his meaning first. "You mean as hostages, sir?" "That’s it. If we could capture them, the Connie cruiser would be helpless. We could use the snapper-boat radios to warn the ship that any false move would mean harm to their men." Koa shook his head doubtfully.
Koa replied, "Kemp is, sir." Kemp, one of the two American privates, took the torch and waited for orders. "We need a hole six feet across and twenty feet deep," Rip told him. "Go to it." "How about direction, sir?" Kemp asked. "Straight down. We'll take a bearing on an overhead star when you're in a few feet." Dowst inscribed a circle around the X he had made and stood back.
I hand-picked them myself. The one with the white hair is Corporal Nels Pederson. He’s a Swede. I served with him at Marsport, and he’s a real rough space spickaroo in a fight. The other corporal is little Paulo Santos. He’s a Filipino, and the best snapper-boat gunner you ever saw." He pointed out the six privates. Kemp and Dowst were Americans.
The exhaust from the top lessened and fire spurted soundlessly from the bottom. Dowst balanced the opposite thrusts of the top and bottom blasts with the delicacy of a man threading a needle. In a few moments the boat was hovering a foot above the asteroid. Dowst cut the exhausts and Rip stepped out onto the tiny planet. The Planeteers knew what to do.
When Dominico had reached the shelter of the crystals, Dowst crawled along, with Rip's body for his guide, passed over him, and reached cover. Rip followed. The belt lights of the two Connies were almost abreast of them. Far to their left, Rip saw another pair of lights. That was a pair he hadn't seen before. "We'll wait until they pass," he told his men.
He knew how he and Dowst could approach the craters without being spotted, now that they had removed two teams of Connies. "We're on our way. Koa, make it if you can." "Yes, sir." Dominico was already making his way back to the cave. Rip and Dowst started for the horizon at a good walk, not afraid now to use their lights, at least for a few yards.
To the left of the boats was the second crater. Rip studied the ground as best he could in the Connie belt lights and decided on a plan of action. Calling to Dowst, he circled again. Presently they were approaching the crater. The Connies were about 25 yards from the crater’s opposite rim. Rip said, "I hate to do this, Dowst, but I can’t see any way out. We have to go into the crater."
"Dowst," he called urgently. "All okay?" "No," Dowst said grimly. "We got the Connie, but he got Dominico. Cut his leg with a space knife. I’m putting a patch on it. You okay?" "Yes. When you can, pull me down." "Right." Dominico spoke up. "Don’t worry about me, sir. Nothing bad. I don’t lose much air." "Fine, Dominico. Glad it wasn’t worse." But Rip knew it wasn’t good, either.
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