Vietnam or Thailand ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
Updated: June 10, 2025
O'Brine blinked. "Then why did they assign you? What's your specialty?" "Astrophysics." "That might explain it. Second specialty?" "Astrogation." He couldn't resist adding, "That's more advanced than the simple space navigation you use, Commander." O'Brine started to retort, then apparently thought better of it. "I hope you'll be able to carry out your orders, Lieutenant," he said stiffly.
It happens to be a very important minor planet." Rip waited, intent on the commander's words. "It's important," O'Brine continued, "because it happens to be pure thorium." Rip gasped. Thorium! The rare, radioactive element just below uranium in the periodic table of the elements, the element used to power this very ship! "What a find!" he said in a hushed voice.
But I'm nervous just the same. Great Cosmos, Commander! This is my first assignment, and they give me a whole world to myself and tell me to bring it home. Maybe it isn't a very big world, but that doesn't change things much." O'Brine chuckled. "I never expected to get an admission like that from a Planeteer." "And I," Rip retorted, "never expected to make one like that to a spaceman."
"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." Rip felt a lot better. He sat back in his chair and regarded the commander with mixed respect and something else.
We are going into no-weight. Prepare to stay in no-weight indefinitely. Rotation stops in two minutes." Rip realized why the order was given. The Scorpius could not maneuver while in a gravity spin, and O'Brine wanted to be free to take action if necessary. The voice horn came on again. "Now get it again. The ship may maneuver suddenly. Prepare for acceleration or deceleration without warning.
In the same way, the mass of thorium was known. The measurements of the asteroid were being taken. They would be compared with a chunk of thorium of the same size. If it worked out, that would be evidence enough. Commander O'Brine motioned to chairs. "Might as well sit down while we're waiting, Foster." He took one of the chairs and looked closely at Rip. Suddenly he grinned.
Rip sympathized. "Tough, sir. Perhaps the cargo from Titan will be scheduled for Terra." "That's what I hope," O'Brine agreed. "Well, here's where we part. Is there anything you need?" Rip made a mental check on supplies. He had more than enough. "The only thing we need is a long-range communicator, sir. We'll need one to contact the planet bases." "I'll see that you get one."
The order was in special cipher, though, so we're all wondering about it." The deputy commander returned, reported to O'Brine, then walked up to Rip and Southwick. "Nothing else needed," he said curtly. "We'll get off at once." Southwick nodded, shook hands with Rip, and said in a voice the deputy could hear, "Don't let these spacemen bother you.
Rip had an idea what was coming, and he didn't like it. Nor did he like Commander O'Brine. It was not until much later that he learned that O'Brine had been on his way to Terra, to see his family for the first time in four years, when the cruiser's orders were changed. To the commander, whose assignments had been made necessary by the needs of the Special Order Squadrons, it was too much.
Joe was right, he thought. To ourselves we're supermen, but to the spacemen we're just simps. Evidently O'Brine was the kind of space officer who ate Planeteers for breakfast. Rip thought of the way the commander had turned red with rage at that crack about his face, and he resolved, He may eat me for breakfast, but I'll be a very tough mouthful! Capture and Drive!
Word Of The Day
Others Looking