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Updated: June 5, 2025
He fought to keep his feet under him and almost succeeded, but his knees hit the ground and pistol and knife bit into them painfully. Two figures came into his view, locked tightly together, arms flailing. It was Dowst and the second Connie. He got to his feet and was moving to the Planeteer’s aid when Santos’s voice shrilled in his helmet. "Sir! Look left!" Rip whirled.
There was complete darkness with all belt lights out, but he groped his way to the Connie Dowst had been patching, felt for his helmet, and put his own against it. He yelled, "Do you hear me?" "Yes." Then he asked, "Why did you patch me?" It was a perfect opening. "Because we don't want to kill you. Listen. We have all but four of you. Understand?" "Yes. What will you do with us?"
Rip supervised the stacking and then the placement of the rocket launcher at the entrance. "All hands inside the boat," he ordered. "Dowst, be ready to take off at a moment's notice. You'll have to buck this box around as never before." He explained to the pilot his plan to dodge, keeping the asteroid between the boat and the cruiser. "We'll make it, sir," Dowst said.
Even though both boats had been careful to match velocity with the asteroid as closely as possible, the slight difference remaining caused them to drift sunward. Rip cut his jets in to compensate, and saw Dowst do the same. Another few miles toward the sun, and the landing boat wouldn't have the power to get away from Sol's gravity.
It was about a supply ship, a chemical drive rocket job, that had blasted into an asteroid a few years before. Private Dowst shrugged, too. "Too bad. High vack was waiting for him. Nothing you can do when Old Man Nothing wants you. Not a thing in space!" Rip listened, interested.
He called for Dowst, then carried the instrument to the center of the cross formed by the four men. Using the instrument, he rechecked the lines from the center out. They were within a hair or two of being exactly on, and a slight error wouldn't hurt, anyway. He knew he would have to correct with rocket blasts once the asteroid was in the new orbit. "X marks the spot," he told Dowst.
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.
"Blast," Rip ordered. A pulse of fire spurted from the top of each boat, driving them bottom-first toward the asteroid. "Land at will," Rip said. The asteroid loomed large as he looked through an opening. It was rocky, but there were plenty of smooth places. Dowst picked one. He was an expert pilot and Rip watched him with pleasure.
The Connie prisoners were pretty well bunched up, gliding along like a herd of fantastic sheep. Their shepherds were Pederson, Nunez, and Dowst. The three Planeteers had a pistol in each hand. The spares were probably those taken from prisoners. The Planeteers were loaded down with equipment. A few Connie prisoners carried equipment, too. Trudeau had the rocket launcher and the remaining rockets.
The Connie who had stepped aside was advancing, pistol in hand. His light caught Rip full in the face. The young officer thought quickly. The Connie hadn't fired. Why? Suddenly he had it. The man hadn't fired for fear of hitting his friend, who was battling with Dowst. Rip was in front of them. Quickly he dropped to one knee, reaching for his own pistol. The Connie wouldn't dare fire now.
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