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Updated: June 2, 2025
Corporal Pederson found a small case which contained books, the latest astronomical data sheets, and a space computer and scratch board. These were obviously for Rip's personal use. He examined them. There were all the references he would need for computing orbit, speed, and just about anything else that might be required. He had to admire the thoroughness of whoever had written the order.
I handpicked them myself. The one with the white hair is Corporal Nels Pederson, from Sweden. I served with him at Marsport, and he's a real tough spacewalker in a fight. The other corporal is Paulo Santos. He's from the Philippines, and the best snapper-boat gunner you ever saw." He pointed out the six privates. Kemp and Dowst were Americans.
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.
You, too, Bradshaw." Trudeau, carrying the sledge, walked up to the spur of rock and stood with his heels against it. Pederson sat down on the ground with the spur between his legs. He stretched, hooking his heels around Trudeau’s ankles, anchoring him. With his gloves he grabbed the seat of the Frenchman’s space suit. Bradshaw took a spike and held it against the gray metal ground.
They had three tubes left, but he didn’t know if that was enough to do the job. Moving rapidly, he and Santos caught up to Koa and the Planeteers. 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 fighting rocket closed space, and the landing boat loomed large in the sight. He fired again and the shot blew metal loose from the top of the boat’s hull. A hit, but not good enough. He leaned over the sight to fire again, but before he had sighted an explosion blew the landing boat completely around. Koa and Pederson had scored a hit from the asteroid!
Koa detailed men to load the nuclear bombs into the landing craft, left Pederson to supervise, and then brought Santos with him to help Rip. "The bombs are being put on the boat, sir," Koa reported. "Fine. There isn’t too much chance of the blasts setting them off, but we’ll take no chances at all. Koa, I’m going to shoot a line straight out toward Alpha Centauri.
Rip watched, interested in how his men would tackle the problem. He didn’t know the answer himself, because he had never driven a spike on an airless, almost gravityless world and no one had ever mentioned it to him. Pederson searched the gray metal with his torch and found a slender spur of thorium perhaps two feet high a short distance from the boat. "Here’s a hold," he said. "Come on, Frenchy.
They carried twenty men and a pair of guided missiles with atomic warheads! The Rocketeers Rip ran for the snapper-boat, feet moving as rapidly as lack of gravity would permit. He called instructions. "Santos! Turn the launcher over to Pederson and come with me. Koa, take over. Start throwing rockets at that boat, and don't stop until you run out of ammunition."
Won’t the sun’s pull suck them right in?" Corporal Pederson scoffed, "Naw, Koa. If sun’s gravity be that strong, it pull us in, too." "Not quite, Pederson," Rip corrected. "Koa is on the right track. The pull of the sun is pretty strong. But I don’t think it’s strong enough to capture boats."
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