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"He thought even a stupid Planeteer had sense enough to obey radiation safety rules," he yelled. "He was wrong," Rip said gently. Then, just to make himself perfectly clear, he added, "Commander O'Brine was within his rights when he made us rake radiation. But he forgot one thing. Planeteers know the regulations, too. Excuse me, sir. I have to get my men decontaminated."
"We’re finished. The safety officer passed the word to secure the tubes, which means we’re going to decelerate." He smiled grimly. "You all know they gave us this job just out of pure love for the Planeteers. So remember it when you go through the control room to the decontamination chamber." The Planeteers nodded enthusiastically.
"Dowst, where is the radio connection?" The pilot handed him a wire with a jack plug on the end of it. Rip plugged it into his belt. Now his voice would be heard on the Scorpius. "Calling Scorpius! Calling Scorpius! Foster reporting. We are under attack. Repeat, we are under attack. Over to you." The answer rang in his helmet. "Scorpius to Foster. Hold 'em, Planeteers. We're on our way!"
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. If you’re leaving, we’ll have no way to contact the planet bases." "I’ll see that you get one." The Irishman thrust out his hand. "Stay out of high vack, Foster. Too bad you didn’t join us instead of the Planeteers.
But that was because he was used to looking from the space platform at the great curve of Terra or at the big ball of the moon. Actually the asteroid was fair-sized, when compared with most of its kind. The Planeteers hauled themselves into the boats by their safety lines. Rip waited until all were in, then pulled himself along his own line to the black square of the door.
Rip ordered a survey and found the best place on the dark side to make a new base. The Planeteers cut out a cave with the torch, lined it with nuclite, and moved in the supplies. It would be their base to the end of the trip. The sun was very hot now. On the sunny side of the asteroid the temperature had soared far past the boiling point of water.
In other words, he had what he needed—except for a method of putting all the pieces together to create a bomb. If only they had a tube of some sort that would withstand the chemical explosion—the one that brought the critical mass together! He told the Planeteers what he had been thinking, then asked, "Any ideas for a tube?" "How about a tube from the snapper-boat?" Santos suggested.
Koa, he knew, had checked everything, but the final responsibility was his. In space, no officer took anyone's word for anything that might mean lives. Each checked every detail personally. Rip looked around and saw the Planeteers watching him. There was approval on the faces behind the clear helmets, and he knew they were satisfied with his thoroughness.
The four certainly knew by this time that 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.
The long hours passed, and only Rip's chronometer told him when the end of a day was reached. The Planeteers alternately worked on the surface and rested in the air of the landing boat compartment, while the asteroid sped steadily on its way.
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